PRIME RIB

      I love Prime Rib. It's my favorite thing in the whole wide world.

      That being said, why in the hell would you pay $25.00 to go out and only get ONE slice of this delicious steak ??

     I got this off the LONGHORN web site. Basically fifty bucks for 2 people.  We got a 3 LB prime rib on sale for $15.00.  

      You think it's hard to make ? Well, you are so so wrong my friend.

      This is one of the shortest recipes I have. Seriously. It takes no time at all.

      It is so easy and quick, you have time for some cute kitty pictures.

 “He said something about a mouse?”

“What's a 'bucket list'”

     OK, time to get to work.

     You have your prime rib, right?

     Salt and Pepper it all around. Put in a baking pan along with 2 Table spoons of oil. Or you can use a little butter and some BACON FAT....

     Brown that puppy (or should I say KITTY?) on all sides.

      Now this will sizzle and throw grease all over the stove. Live with it. Or get a really good fan.

     Ours sounds like a 747 on take off, and boy does it SUCK.

     Now that you have browned the meat. You're done. That's all you ask? Yep. That's all folks. Could it be simpler ?  'I don't think so, Tim'.

     Throw that thing in a 350 degree oven and cook for an hour (or until the internal temp is 140 degrees) Time for a beer.

     Let it rest for ten minutes. It's had a hard day.

     After ten minutes or so, cut it up and serve. 

      We served ours with the Baked Potatoes we made. And a beer.

     You won't find a better Prime Rib meal anywhere. For what you would pay at a restaurant, your wasting your hard earned money by eating out. This is one of the quickest meals we make.

     And we have time for another kitty picture. You don't get that when you eat out.

      Enjoy !!!

BAKED POTATOES

LET'S BAKE SOME TATERS

Baked potatoes. Just the words inspire me.  Not only are they 

one of the easiest things to make, you're talking about my

favorite tater. Well, next to fries and mashed. 

But first a word about using a Microwave Oven. 

DON'T DO IT !!!

STEP AWAY FROM THE MICROWAVE !!!!!

There are several reasons for not microwaving potatoes.

Microwaves do not heat evenly. Part of the potato will be at 

the correct temperate while other parts will not. This variance 

can be upwards of 30 degrees.

Micro waves also does funny things to the starch of the potato. 

I will spare you the chemistry lesson.

Micro waves turn the skin into leather and looks like hell. You 

might as well just save the time and eat your shoe.

So leave the microwave for heating water. Period.

SO here's how to properly bake a tater. Trust me on this.

STEP 1 OPEN A BEER – Drink it.

 

PICK OUT THE BIGGEST DAMN TATERS YOU CAN 

FIND. If you don't have any taters, you might want to hold off 

on the beer, and go to the store. BTW, Use only RUSSERT 

POTATOES.

Back from the store ? Good. Now you can drink that beer 

while you wash them little devils.

Place your oven rack in the middle position and pre heat to

400 degrees. If you have a GAS grill that will hold your

temperature at 400 you can use it, but I like the oven method. 

If you are cooking something else that calls for 350 degrees, 

don't despair. You can use that temp as well. You just have to

cook these boys a little longer.  In our case we were also doing

Prime Rib, so we set the oven for 350. All was well.

With a fork, pretend those taters are your ex wife and stab that 

bitch six or seven  times.

Feel better? I know I did. 

Put 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and stir in 2 Tablespoons of 

salt. You may need more water depending on the size of the 

taters. I needed a cup and a half. (Two LARGE taters) Just 

adjust salt based on the water you use.

 

Add potatoes and soak for just a couple of minutes. (Two 

minutes and 5 and a half seconds should do it)

Put potatoes on a wire rack and put rack into a rimmed sheet 

lined with foil. This is so the heat distributes EVENLY around 

the tater, and is the most important step of the day.

Bake until the internal temperature of the tater hits 205 

degrees. Use your handy dandy probe thingy.

Have a beer

When the taters hit 205, remove from the oven and brush each 

one with vegetable oil.

Return to oven and bake for an additional ten minutes.

Remove potatoes from oven and, using paring knife, make 

two slits, forming an “X”, in each potato. Using pot holders, 

hold ends and squeeze slightly to push flesh up and out. 

Or you can do it my way and just slice that puppy down the 

center. 

Put a bunch of butter on top. Season with a little salt and a lot 

of pepper. I'll pass on the sour cream. But if you want to ruin 

it, go ahead. 




Oh, and while you are screwing it up throw on 

some green chives for color. You can serve yours with a 

Cosmopolitan.

I would have included more pictures but taters are taters. Not 

much to look at , but BOY ARE THEY GOOD !!!

Serve with chicken or steak.  In this case, we had PRIME 

RIB!!

CHEATER CHICKEN

     This is my favorite Chicken recipe because it is so simple and easy. It is almost like cheating in the kitchen. Thus the name.

      It all starts with 1 stick of KERRY GOLD GARLIC & HERB butter. It is the heart of the whole recipe.

You will also need:

1 LB OF SMALL RED POTATOES

6 CHICKEN LEGS

      You can use combination of Legs and Thighs. (Just don't crowd the pan) We used 6 legs because that's what we had in the freezer. Normally I would use ALL thighs.

      Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butter into 4 or 5 pieces and put in a 9 x 11 baking dish. Put the dish into the oven until the butter is melted.

      While the butter is melting take your potatoes and cut those puppies in half.

      Now that the butter is melted, put the taters and the chicken in the butter. Roll ever thing around a bit to get them all coated with the butter.

      Add a bit of Salt & Pepper

      Bake 30 minutes, then turn over chicken

      Bake another 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

Doesn't that look great !!

     That's all there is to it !! It's beyond simple, and makes for a great weekday meal. No need to say “I don't have time to cook.” 

I served mine with Lima Beans... and a beer !!

ENJOY !!!

RESTAURANT REVIEW : THE LUNCHBOX

      Since we had to make a trip downtown for the farmers market we decided to have an early Saturday lunch. And the choice today was the Lunchbox.

      Located in downtown Ocala, the Lunchbox has been a staple for breakfast and lunch for several years.

      We lived in the Downtown Historic District for over 25 years and saw many restaurants come and go in this location. The best was Abios's, a wonderful Italian restaurant. We spent many an evening walking downtown to the bars and restaurants. The Lunchbox and Harry's are our favorites. And of course, Marks Steak House when I can afford it. And there are a couple of new places I want to try.

     Now the location at the corner of S.E. 1st Avenue and East Fort King is housed by the Lunchbox, a small but great little place. They are open for breakfast and lunch MON-SAT 7AM to 2:30 PM.

Old lunch boxes on display

      One of the reasons we have not gone more often was the fact that they only served “waffle Fries.” They are not my favorite so we avoided lunch time at the Lunchbox.

     Also known for their great breakfasts we noticed a few months ago they now serve regular fries, so we decided to check out their lunch menu. In my quest for the “Best Burger” in town, I chose the Bacon Cheeseburger while Penny had the Patty Melt.

     Make sure you have plenty of napkins because these burger are JUICY !!!! Mine came with Onion, Lettuce, tomato, and of course BACON.

I was so excited about eating this delight the picture came out a LITTLE out of focus...

      The burger was superb and is definitely in the run for the “Best Burger In Ocala”. Penny thought the onions on her patty melt could have been cooked a bit more. Since I don't care for cooked onions on a burger, I can not comment. 

      I had un sweet tea with my burger and it was some of the best tea I have ever had. Most restaurants dilute their tea as they want to get as much out of a batch as they can. This tea was good.

      The fries were perfect and were NOT over salted. This is a problem in many restaurants. They tend to over season the fries. You can always add salt to your fries, but you can't take any away. (Take note Mr FIVE GUYS)

      With a seating capacity of only 53, you should be prepared to wait awhile for a table. However our short wait was worth the time invested.

     They have a wide assortment of breakfast and lunch dishes. The biscuits and gravy looked delicious. 

  

      Do not expect the servers to fall all over you. They are busy and do their job well. Our server was friendly and attentive. I am not a big fan of servers who want to take up my time 'visiting'. Don't worry, you'll get your tip.

     Lunch aside, they also serve an AWESOME breakfast and some of the best coffee in town.

     All in all, it was a great experience and a great lunch. One of the best places in Ocala.

http://thelunchboxocala.com/ Check out the menu

SLO-COOKER CHICKEN AND RICE

      As promised, here is another version of the Chicken and Rice 'No Peek' recipe.

      I liked that recipe, but Miss Penny thought it could be improved upon. And we have been looking for some good recipes we could use with the Slo-Cooker. So, let's experiment.

      Slo-Cookers are great when you are short on time, and want a good meal. You can come home at noon, put this together and go back to work. After work, your house will smell great, and you'll have a feast. We will get at least two weekday meals out of this recipe. Or you can take it to work the next day for lunch. NO NEED to go out for lunch. It's always fun to impress your co-workers when you bring your own food for lunch. And when you tell them at YOU made it... Boy,  that's fun.

     It's also a great recipe to use on a busy weekend as well

      I did not eat a lot of Rice growing up. It was always dry and tasteless. You could patch your driveway with my mothers rice dishes. So I always stayed away from rice. But over the years I have learned that it does add texture to some recipes and is a fair replacement for potatoes. (No, I didn't mean that. Nothing replaces a tater)

     Let's take a look at what we need.

12 OZ WHITE MUSHROOMS (CHOPPED)

1 CAN CREAM OF CELERY SOUP

1 CAN CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP

1 CUP CHICKEN BROTH – (You did make broth, right ?? Don't use that store bought crap)

6 OZ BOX IF UNCLE BEN'S LONG GRAIN & WILD RICE

 Here is the Rice we like

CHICKEN (3 THIGHS & 5 LEGS)

OK, you can use Chicken Breasts if your Doctor is coming over, but seriously, I have always been a leg and thigh guy. And they add a lot more flavor to the dish.

In a large bowl, mix broth into the soup

This gives you and idea on how big the mushrooms should be.

Put into Slo-Cooker

Add ½ Cup of water

Add 1 TSP of Pepper

Add Mushrooms and RICE (include the seasonings that came with the Rice)

Add Chicken

Grind Pepper on top of Chicken (about 1 TSP)

Looking good !!

DO NOT ADD ANY SALT – The soup and rice have more than enough !!!! Hey, we have to eat healthy, right ??

Cover and cook for 4 hours on low, then 1 hour on MED (or leave it on low until you get home from work. Check chicken temperature with your handy dandy temperature tool. It will probably be done.

      Don't expect large pieces of mushrooms. They cook down into almost nothing. But they add SOOOO much flavor to this dish

      That's all folks !!!

We made some Lima Beans and Hot Rolls to go with our Chicken and Rice

All in all, I thought it was better that the NO PEEK recipe, and easy to make using the SLO-COOKER.  Enjoy !!!

NO PEEK CHICKEN (I PEEKED)

This is a slight modification of a recipe I found on line. We weren't sure how this would turn out, but were pleasantly surprised.

 

http://77easyrecipes.com/no-peek-chicken/

1 box Uncle Ben’s Long Grain Wild Rice (original recipe)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans water
4 Chicken THIGHS and 4 Chicken LEGS

    I suppose if you want to screw it up, you could use chicken breasts instead. BUT, you get better taste doing it this way.

     There is nothing easier than this. Really, I ain't yanking your chain here. It takes minutes to prepare and you can drink beer while it cooks.

      In a greased 9 x 13 pan, mix the box of rice, cans of celery and mushroom soup and one can of water. Arrange the raw chicken on top of the rice mixture. Cover and seal with foil. 

Here is the Rice we used

      Bake at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours and “Don’t Peek!” Your house will smell amazing!

WHEN we finally peeked, it was not close to being done...and 

the chicken was not even starting to brown.

So we changed it up a bit ..

We removed the foil and put it back in the oven (set on 

convection) for another 30 min until the chicken is up to temp.

Now the house smells amazing. 

Needs to cook a little longer...... Use your handy dandy temperature probe thing.  

 

With this modification , this recipe worked for us and tasted 

GREAT . It's a 'keeper' 

Next up, a BETTER recipe for this, using a SLO-COOKER !