Eperimental Meal

Chicken gizzards / dirty rice / gravy

Cut up 1/2 onion

3 celery

3 carrots

Sautee with seasonings and butter ( salt, pepper, chili flakes) and 3 cloves garlic. Toss in Gizzards and simmer for 40-50 minutes. You can use either chicken stock or water. Chicken stock will give it more depth/flavor but not necessary. At this time also add bay leave and some Italian seasoning.

Separate solids from juice. Reserve juice for chicken gravy and rice. Separate Gizzards from veggies. Reserve veggies for rice. Place Gizzards in fridge or freezer to chill off in bowl.

Gizzard Gravy

2 cups of gizzard juice

3 tablespoons cornstarch

seasoning as desired.

Bring broth up to simmer boil and add cornstarch. You can add salt and pepper here. The recipe I jacked used poultry seasoning.

Dirty Rice

I always use a 2 to 1 ratio to make rice depending on how much you need.

1 cup rice

2 cup chicken broth from gizzards

2 links spicy Italian sausage

Add veggies from simmered chicken stock

Add ¼ medium onion

Add 1 red bell pepper, or use green

Add 1 jalapeno depending on tolerance for heat

Sautee sausage and cook on med/high heat until brown or cooked. Add in raw veggies and sautee for 3-5 min just to soften up a little. Add in veggies from simmered chicken stock, rice and chicken stock. Bring up to quick boil then reduce heat to a simmer for approx. 20 minutes.

Fried Gizzards

I removed the gizzards from the veggies that I simmered. Let them cool down and coated with Zatarains Chicken fry mix. I then pan fried the gizzards. They came out a little tough and when I repeat this recipe I will either use the gizzards entirely for the Dirty rice (as they were tender after they simmered) or if I am going to fry them I will only simmer them for 30 minutes then pan fry.

  

Fish Tacos

So, about a month ago me and my friend Will got the urge to BBQ a whole fish and make fish tacos with fresh corn tortillas from one of our under spots Pepe’s Hacienda. They make them in their own bakery every Saturday and come out warm and delicious. Fresh vegetables for toppings; cabbage, tomatoes, onions and cilantro. And to top it all off a homemade roumelade made from sour cream, chipotle, cilantro and lime.

So we strike out early and go to the fish market out in mayport, SafeHarbor (address and google link). Besides some of the freshest fish for cheap, they also have a small kitchen where they will fry whatever you want. Awesome place, a must go just for the food but also an excellent selection of local and foreign fish.  We end up spending like 50-70$ on a whole b-line snapper (price per Lb), a grouper filet (price), some milk fish and shrimp. We always do this. Go in for one thing and end up getting 4 or 5 different things. Like little kids in a candy store. Don’t even ask what happened to us when we went to restaurant depot. We went in just to look and ended up spending like 400$. Horrible… anyways.. The selection was awesome and the service is excellent. They will gut and clean your fish johnny on the spot.

I would recommend that you bring a small cooler to hold your fish and keep cold if you got a long drive back. They do double bag and provide you with ice, the cooler will also prevent spillage.

So we get back to the house and stuff the fish with lime slices, onion slices and cilantro. Coat it with olive oil. I could have cut some slits from back to belly on its side and seasoned it but did not as this was the first time and wanted to get the basic taste.  We cut the garnishes and make the roumelade.  Recipe.

We light the coals, dump them and start to bbq the fish on indirect heat. We cook the fish on indirect heat for 30 – 45 minutes with some cherrywood chips for smoke. Flipping every 10-15 minutes.

We pull it off the grill and place on a cookie sheet to cool off. We peeled the skin back and commenced to tearing the meat off and Placing in tacos.                             

 

So, I’m not one to brag but they came out phenomenal. We also bbq the grouper which was the best by itself and some shrimp which also came out delicious with the smoke. The milkfish was a real disappointment but it was too fishy to meld or compliment the smoke. Wrong place, wrong time. Probably more of a fry fish or stew fish but I don’t think it would hold up to a stew like a basa would.

Our other friend B-Lakes came through and thoroughly enjoyed the tacos as well. We were pairing the tacos with Widmer Drifter, and miller lite (our staple) both were good with this meal as they are both fairly light. The widmer has a strong citrus after taste and is more aggressive than miller lite but excellent for lighter fare foods as it will not overtake or outshine the food.

Best part of the fish was the cheek meat, just behind and underneath the eyes. Nice a flavorful, more fat than the body. Overall this was a great meal and would be excellent for a group of 3-4 depending on appetite and sides. 3 of us almost killed one whole fish with no sides. The convo alone as people looked at a whole fish, probably for the first time for some, was worth it alone.

This may seem like a daunting adventure but it wasn’t. If you have confidence in your grill and bbq skills this is well worth the risk. On a scale of 1-10 for difficulty. 6.5.

Killer Guacamole

Whenever there is a party or BBQ, the host will always ask me to make some guacamole. At one function I didn’t have time to make it beforehand and made it their johnny on the spot. There ended up being like 10+ people crowded around asking questions and taking notes. It was kinda cool.  I love to make it and love to show people how to make it on their own. So here is my recipe that I have tweaked and perfected over the years. I even won a couple informal guacamole off’s with it.

Keep in mind that guacamole is very personal, meaning it is very versatile to your personal likings. Some people like it hotter, some like it chunky. I will try to give you several alternatives to cater it to your liking and level of difficulty.

Makes approx. 1-1.5 quarts.

5 chunked avacodo’s      2 packs Wholly Guacamole tips on chunking below

2  diced tomatos               1 pack pre-chopped tomato. Only use meat, deseed. Using seed and juice will cause the guacamole to become to watery.

¼ medium finely diced red onion              ½ pack pre-chopped onion  Vidalia or 4-5 green onions will also work.

1-2 limes juiced                 This depends on how much you like the lime/tang taste.

Peppers finely diced, this is completely debatable and varies with your taste/tolerance for heat. You can add 1 whole habanero seeds and all finely diced and it will give you some heat. Add 3 serranos seed and all and you will get the same affect but also add the texture/crunch of the pepper meat. Jalapenos also work very well and aren’t as hot as serrano’s. Personally I like to deseed a habanero and throw in 3 whole serrano’s. This is my personal style. When choosing peppers, make sure they are not soft. They should be firm and vibrant in color. No blemishes or dark spots.

5 squirts of a vinegar based hot sauce. I like Louisiana hot sauce personally. Tabasco, frank’s, Cholula will also work.

1 tablespoon of minced garlic. I like Christopher ranch in the bottle. Convenient.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Handful of finely chopped cilantro, I love cilantro so I usually use a little more.

Sour cream, I do not use this but some do. It is another option.

Bell peppers for crunch/texture if you cannot stand the heat of peppers.

Tips:

If you use whole avocado’s cut in half, deseed and slice in skin without cutting skin, then scoop out with spoon. This will make it easier, quicker and cleaner.

Cut all ingredients and place in bowl before mixing. The more mixing you do the more creamier or less chunky it will become. Avocados will breakdown quick.

Choosing avocado’s, I only use Haas avocado’s. The florida type have multiple littler seeds and aren’t as flavorful. Choose one’s that are dark in color and are firm not soft. Firm but not hard. If using whole avocado’s you may have to scout your store’s 3-4 days before making it because they are usually sold unripe. If they are unripe, leave them in closed bag for 2-3 days in room temperature. They will ripen up. If they are already ripe, place them in the fridge and they will keep for 2-3 days but will lose some flavor.

If it is last minute, use the wholly guacamole box. It is the best I have found out there. I have tried alott. The problem is that a lot of avocado products will use sour cream or a filler. If it is not 99% avocado, do not use it.

Guacamole should marinate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Just to let the flavors combine. Keep in fridge. When placing in bowl. Place seran wrap on top of guacamole. Make the seran wrap touch the guacamole to prevent the air/oxygen from turning the avocado from green to brown. Some water may form on top of guacamole. Do not worry, just give a quick stir before placing out with tortilla chips for everyone to enjoy and look at you with awe for such an incredible creation. Enjoy with chips, tacos, salads, BBQ chicken. Guacamole is pretty adaptable and a great garnish/side for any meal.

This is my Smoker

This is my SMOKER…..  A BBQ’ers Creed….

This is my smoker. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My smoker is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My Smoker, without me, is useless. Without my Smoker, I am useless. I must light my smoker true. I must smoke better than my competition who is trying to best me. I must smoke him before he smokes me. I will….

My bro in-law and step-father’s smoker… Very nice…