SOUPED UP RAGU SAUCE

Today we are making Sketti with Store bought sauce.

What???? Store bought ???? Not so fast.

It's OK, because we are going to fix it.

If you've been following our cooking quest you know I am not fan of store bought prepared food. (except for Rotisserie Chicken) But I am trying to broaden my scope and try lots of new things.

That being said, I was raised on Ragu' Sauce. I always thought it tasted OK, but after eating my wife's home made sauce, I never went back to the Ragu'.

But sometimes you need to have some quick recipes in your arsenal (along with a .38 Special)

And this is it. Use it on a night that you get home from work late, and do not want to go out.

This is so damn quick and simple. Why go out to eat when you can make this????? 

I have a friend who says, "We can't cook, we work everyday."

Seriously ???? Never heard of 'Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals'???

Or look on the internet for some cool quick recipes????

Or spend some weekend time cooking so you'll have food for the week.

Penny and I restored a 100 year old home while we both worked.

And I was traveling 50 % of the time. So don't tell me "I can't because......"

OK, I'll get off my high horse now.

Here is what you need

2 JARS OF RAGU' TRADITIONAL

½ CUP PEPPERS CHOPPED

¼ CUP CHOPPED ONIONS

3 CLOVES GARLIC CHOPPED

A FEW SHAKES OF ITALIAN HERBS AND OREGANO

8 OZ CHOPPED MUSHROOMS ( OR A NICE JAR)

1 POUND SAUSAGE

1 POUND GROUND BEEF

Now grab a beer and in less than an hour you can have a feast.

Saute Onions, then add the peppers.

When just about translucent, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the beef and sausage and saute until brown.

Add the Sauce, mushrooms, and spices.

Cook on simmer for 30 minutes (or longer if you like)

While it cooks, go play with the dog. Or talk to the wife. Or read a book.

When you are ready for dinner, boil up some water and cook your favorite pasta following the directions on the box.

This goes great with Garlic Bread or Rolls.

Don't forget a small salad and an adult beverage.

Live long and prosper.

FRENCH FRY SMACK DOWN

Let's face it. I LOVE French Fries. I can eat 'em any way you cook them.

But I am on a quest for “The Best.” And I got to wondering.

“Which are better, homemade or store bought.”

So Penny and I thought she would grill up a couple of steaks while I played with the taters.

Off to the store I went. First thing I selected were four nice looking Russert Potatoes. At $3.99 I thought they were expensive. Then I saw the price of a good steak.

Next stop was the frozen food section. I never realized there we so many choices. I wanted a fair comparison, so I selected some Ore Ida Steak Fries with no seasoning. They were $3.38, so I the cost was about the same. No issue here.

Now it was time to head to the meat section. WOW !!! That stuff is expensive. But what the hell, I LOVE steak. Into the cart flew a couple of nice T-Bones.

I have always wanted to try the double fry recipe for fries, so why not now.

Here we go.

I am a deep fryer fan. Penny like to use a pot, but that idea scares me. I feel more comfortable using our deep fryer. And I don't have to worry about adjusting the temperature.

Let's get the taters cut up.

Cut them into steak fries and place in a bowl of water. Add a pinch of salt. Put the bowl in the cold box for at least an hour. More is better here, we are trying to remove some of the starch from the potatoes. I suggest letting it sit for a couple of hours. 

The players

Now that your fries have sat in water for a while, heat up the deep fryer to 320 degrees. 

Make sure you follow the directions that came with your deep fryer.

Remove the home made fries from the water. Pat them dry (I mean as dry as possible) Place them in the basket and lower into the hot oil.

Cook for 6 minutes, lifting and shaking the basket a couple of times. (Just like they do on Diners Drive In's and Dives.)

Lift the basket and drain the oil. Place the fries on a cooking sheet lined with paper towels and put into a warm oven.

Get your frozen fries and repeat the above. Six minutes, shake shake shake.

Now you can raise your oil temperature to 375 degrees. When ready place one set of fries into the basket and lower. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes. You'll know based on the color.

Repeat this for the other fries. (KEEP track of them, so you can properly compare.

When they were done, I used two separate bowls on the table.

The result !!!

 HOME MADE

STORE BOUGHT

The store bought fries came out a little crisper than mine. And they looked a little nicer. But the home made fries had better taste. Penny said it was NO CONTEST. And I trust her. I felt the same way. In a 'pinch' there is nothing wrong with store bought. But I would NEVER serve them to company.

Store bought on the right. We were STUFFED

Since I have some left, we may try those in the oven. Stay tuned to Kill It Cut It Up and Cook It.

By the way, the steaks were good too.

Live long and prosper.

GRILLED CHICKEN LEG QUARTERS

Now that we have our grill ready, let's get to the Grilling part of our show.

Penny will be our guest cook tonight, as she shows me the ins and outs of grilling on the Big Green Egg.

I am working up the the day that she will actually allow me to touch the egg, without the world coming to an end.

You will need 2 leg quarters

Crisco Oil

Greek Seasoning (Cavenders)

Glaze of your choice 

Your grill at 350 degrees. (Don't forget the drip pan)

(Note: we use a plate setter on the egg. If you are using a Weber you will need to grill the chicken INDIRECT)

And of course, an adult beverage (Take internally)

Pat chicken dry with paper towel and trim off any extra fat

Oil the chicken with Crisco (both sides)

Add some Greek Seasoning on both sides 

PUT ON GRILL FOR TWENTY MINUTES – CHECK THE COLOR

Raise grill to 400 turn chicken over and grill for twenty more minutes. 

When the internal temp of the chicken reaches 180, turn off the heat (close all the vents)

 Yeah, I know it says 190.

Brush on your GLAZE and let sit on grill for 5 minutes

Serve with a tater or veggie......(also add an adult beverage)

Simple, isn't it ???

Yepper.....

See you all next time !!!!

Live Long And Prosper

HOW TO PROPERLY START YOUR GRILL

OK, so it's been awhile. I DID NOT FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH, We got a bit busy here and have not had a lot of cooking time. And a winter cold put both Penny and I out of commission for damn near a month.

Football season is over. My Gators finished up the year by beating Florida State in the final game of the regular season. Then they capped off a 10-3 season with the mauling of Michigan in their bowl game. Finished at #7 nationally.

Not bad for a team that the year before was 4 and 7.

But it is time to move on. I know it's January and all my friends up north are shoveling snow, but here in the south, we are sitting on our courtyard, with an adult beverage in our hand. 

And we are getting ready to fire up the grill.

So, so have a new grill, some charcoal and a can of lighter fluid.

Now you are ready to start that grill.

Not so fast. (As Lee Corso likes to say)

I do not believe that chemicals are good for you. I have to wonder what kind of chemicals are getting into our food, when we use them to start the charcoal.

I always had a better way.

I am not going to go into great detail about the history of charcoal. I encourage you to use your google buddy and educate yourself.

There are many types of grills and charcoal. I have my favorites and I am sure you do too.

I am not a fan of the traditional charcoal briquette. We ONLY use LUMP Charcoal. It's the real deal. And I believe there are less chemicals in the lump charcoal.

Now let's talk about fire.

I do not use lighter fluid for ANY reason. Nor do we use those briquettes that are soaked in lighter fluid.

I always liked the electric starter. Slip it under some charcoal and plug that puppy in.

Unfortunately our new house has GFCI outlets on the outside and these will trip with this type of starter.

Not wanting to have an unsafe outlet outside, I decided to go another route.

Enter my brilliant wife. (Who is Godess of Google) She showed me the proper, safe, and HEALTHY way to start your grill.

We use a Big Green Egg at our house and have for over 12 years.

Yes, I made the table

This method should work on any type of charcoal grill.

 

This is so easy, I wished I had thought of it.

Here is what you'll need.

Take three paper towels, Wad them up and soak them with cooking oil.

Put them under some charcoal and light. That's all there is to it.

No muss, no fuss. No accessory to let cool and store.

And NO CHEMICALS !!!!

Now that we have our grill started, let's do some CHICKEN. We'll talk about Grilled Chicken next time here on KILL IT CUT IT UP AND COOK IT.

But first, a cute puppy

Live long and prosper.