Iron Chef: BBBBQ Pork Tacos

September 29, 2011 by

Hi Again! I’m JWo, AK’s husband, posting this Iron Chef recipe from Cafe Beignet in New Orleans. I know right? Very meta. Also: your jealousy — I can feel it.

If this is your first Iron Chef post (it’s my second, so don’t feel too out of it), Danielle from elleinadspir created an idea that her husband would name an ingredient each week. Then, we cook with it! Last week was Balsamic Vinegar (my recipe, Danielle’s linkup). This week: BEER.

Now, my wife… she does not like the beer. She’s more a marg type of girl. So I had to sneak this secret ingredient in — how would someone do such a thing? By hiding the beer in a slow cooker OF COURSE. The best part? She loved these tacos, even after hearing it was beer’d.

I call this thing: BBBBQ Pork. the extra B is for beer. The other extra B is a typo

Ingredients

* 1 lb pork tenderloin (BBQ seasoning if you can find)
* 1 Onion
* 1 Shiner Bock (or other dark beer)
* 1 Can rotel (tomatoes and green chiles)
* 1 Can Pinto Beans

Method

* Slice onion, layer into slow cooker
* Add pork tenderloin on top of onions
* Add 2/3 of the beer. Reserve other 1/3 for another use
* pour rotel over tenderloin
* Heat on high for 4 hours (or low for all the day)

On to the Pics!

[caption id="attachment_9067" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The Before. Anticipation!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9069" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Tada!"][/caption]

This BBBBQ Pork is available on We Eatt for Sharing.

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Iron Chef: Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream

September 20, 2011 by

Hi Tipsy people! I’m Jesse, AK’s husband. My friends and I once tossed around a plan to have a real life Iron Chef competition. Like full-scale japanese iron chef, where we have to cook 5 dishes in 1 hour with 1 special ingredient. The trouble was: way too darn expensive. Cost Prohibitive to the nth degree.

So, flash forward another lifetime, and Danielle suggested we do an iron chef competition, but just 1 dish. I die.

So anyway, the secret ingredient: Balsamic Vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar can be tossed with strawberries to bring out there flavor, so I combined it (in syrup form) with home made ice cream. what WHAT!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Whole Milk
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Strawberries
  • Balsamic Vinegar

Method

  • Make sure your ice cream maker is prepared (mine takes 4 hours to fully freeze).
  • Combine whole milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a bowl, whisk. Dice 6 strawberries and add to bowl; add mixture to ice cream maker and start.
  • Pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat for 30 minutes until the vinegar is a very heavy syrup.
  • Slice more strawberries and add to a bowl of your ice cream. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the strawberries.
[caption id="attachment_9012" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The Cast of Ingredients"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9013" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Stir Stir Stir"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9009" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Balsamic Vinegar when we start"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9008" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="30 minutes later. So syruppyyyy"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9011" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Your ice cream. It's ready!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_9010" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Deliciousness"][/caption]

This recipe is also on We Eatt for your sharing pleasure.

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Guy Gift Guide: Golfer Edition

December 15, 2009 by

If your Saturday mornings are like my wife’s, there’s a 42% chance on any given week your sig will be out hitting the links. Well, at least before it got cold. But still, this should be soooo easy to buy for, right? Golf, I mean, get him golf stuff. But, you’ve probably already tried and failed at that. You’ve purchased that cute driver head cover of a tiger or a kuala or some other species, only to see (well actually to never see) him use it.

Here’s a guide on what golfers would actually want to receive. And, unlike my other guides, everything in here isn’t like a bazillions dollars. This is the last in my guest post series on what to get your guy for the Holidays. See my guide for Chefs and Geeks.

First: a Pro Tip — Steer clear of the following: clubs, putters, and golf balls. These are far too personal an item to choose for someone else. Notable exception: write a card with a handwritten note: “Redeemable for 1 putter, wedge, or wood of your choice.”

  1. Callaway HT Bag ($199) … Most guys have these golf bags that are designed for walking; that is that they’re really light. They’re made so you can walk the entire course. Does anyone know anyone who walks on a regular basis anymore? I do not, and most courses are not walk-friendly. This bag is made for the golf cart and is proud of it.
  2. 15′ Orange Head Retriever ($13) … It retrieves errand golf balls from the lake or someone’s back yard. A Necessity for anyone who isn’t a tremendous golfer. And don’t worry, you’d already know if your guy was tremendous golfer because his friends wouldn’t shut up about the unfairness of it all.
  3. Practice Net ($129.99) … Hey, it might get him out of the house and into the back yard for a while
  4. Tiger Woods 2010 for the Wii ($40) … Best golf game out there, and you might be able to find it on steep discount. (too soon?) If he already has, get this Wii Golf Club, which has cool written all over it.
  5. Nike or Callaway shirt ($27) … This technology shirt (get any that say Dry-Fit or Fit-Dry) is the most awesome shirt ever. Really, I love these things, and you’ll have the extra benefit of being able to dress your man for the golf course.
  6. Lessons from your local golf club: Really, this is the best gift. Even a set of three 30 minute lessons on putting will be remembered for a long, long time. You’re welcome Internets.

If you want help choosing which golf club to get lessons at, leave me a comment below with your City and I’ll suggest one for you.

Jesse is a guest author; his claim to fame is being Tipsy Society author AK’s husband. He creates websites at http://comalproductions.com.

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Guy Gift Guide: Geek on the Go

December 8, 2009 by

Your Sig-other is always talking about Hertz, or HDMI, or H-something-something-yada-yada-yada, right? If so, here’s a list of gift ideas for the geek on the go. You can also read about my guy gift guide for chef guys.

But a secret about most geeky guys I know — we all like to envision ourselves travelers, even if the most we ever get out is to the grocery store for nonfat organic milk. Wait, I mean the liquor store for liquor, amirite??

umm, ok, so on to the gifts:

jw-gift tech

  1. Cradlepoint Travel Router $98 – Plugin your 3G usb card into the router and it creates a wifi hotspot for you. So if your family is driving across the country, you power up your laptop and this cradlepoint into your power inverter (gives you a real power plug from your car), and then watch Hulu all the way to grandma’s house!
  2. SlingBox Solo $179 – OK, so get this. You leave the slingbox at home, hooked up to your Tivo or cablebox or satellite or whatever. You then go on a trip, get on wifi, and then either with your computer or with your iTouch/iPhone and run the slingbox app (there’s also a blackberry version). Then you watch your home tv live and control it. People, I’m talking pay $8 for hotel internet, then watch your home DVR collection of Lost or the football game from earlier that night. Magic meets the future!
  3. Survival Kit in a Can $14 – So if your guy is like me, he thinks he could survive on his own in the wilderness. I mean how hard is survivor really ? With this kit, he (and by he I of course mean I) might have a change for another 24 hours on his own. At least until the pizza arrives. I also thought this book on the US Armed Services Survival Guide was cool looking.
  4. iPod Touch $181 – If he doesn’t have an iPhone, he’ll want this just to download and install apps. I personally make due on the phone side with an old blackberry and use the iTouch (iPod Touch = iTouch) for a ton of stuff. Like the grocery shopping app, or the Amazon Kindle Reader app. Best part = no monthly fees!
  5. TheJooJoo $499 – ok, so this is a bit risky, but if you want to truly wow your techie sig’other, this is a gift to show him that you like him a lot. The “joojoo” (means magic) was originally going to be the “CrunchPad”, but it morphed into this tablet PC that I personally think is going to rock. At $499 its a bit expensive, but for couch web browsing it will be most awesome.
  6. Western Digital HardDrive $109 – I’ve had external harddrives before, but honestly they were way too “external” — this fits in your pocket or bag and lets you keep a backup of your videos and pictures. If you have a Tivo, use TivoToGo to copy over shows and movies before your trip … if you don’t have a tivo, umm why?
  7. Wilife Security System $279 – A security system that you can login into from the road and check out what’s going on at the homestead. Also, it detects motion and starts recording, so if someone does break into your house it’ll have evidence for you. How this hasn’t made CSI yet I have no idea.

Jesse is a guest author; his claim to fame is being Tipsy Society author AK’s husband. He creates websites at http://comalproductions.com.

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Guy Gift Guide – Chef Edition

December 1, 2009 by

Your significant other is a guy and a chef, and you are looking for ideas to get him for Christmas and/or other Holidays celebrated at the end of the calendar year. I’m here to help… I’m Jesse, the husband of Tipsy AK, and a self-proclaimed chef wannabe.. mostly wannabe. Here are seven ideas to purchase for that inner chef of yours:

  1. Square grill pan ($99) so most guys grill steaks outside, but at some point try to move it inside, searing the steak on the cooktop and finishing in the oven. The trouble I always found was that most grill pans have this very annoying long handle. With this grill pan, you can put the grill directly in the middle of the oven without a handle. Score!
  2. Shun Japanese Vegetable ($119.95) Knives are pretty personal, but if he doesn’t have this knife he’s missing out. This knife is very sharp, fits nicely in your hand, and is unique (which helps increase bragging potential).
  3. Food Grinder for Stand Mixer ($49) Things guys enjoy: sausage and hamburgers; with this grinder, your man can buy steaks and grind his own hamburger meat which is cool for 2 reasons: a) ever had a burger thats 1/3 brisket, 1/3 sirloin, and 1/3 chuck? (Thomas Keller has). b) Making your own sausage? come on, that’s just awesome.
  4. Herb Grinder ($9.95) Many recipes, such as homemade pizza, call for fresh herbs… I’d like to use this to grinder up and chop fresh rosemary for focaccia bread, or maybe some fresh thyme for a steak. Either way, simple and easy gift.
  5. Granite Mortle & Pestle ($32.95) I heart this, honestly I do. You use this to grind up garlic, or create your own spice rub with whole peppercorns. You can even grind up the avocados and ingredients and serve guacamole at the table in this thing. love it.
  6. Bialetti Mukka Express Cappuccino Maker ($72) I like to think that Mukka really means Mocha, even though there’s no evidence to support this theory… What I like about this maker is that you can make cappuccinos, or in my case mochas, with no fuss at all. You add water, ground espresso, milk and you set it on the stove. Consider this a way to save much moneys in 2010 (cow or aluminum … your choice!).
  7. Cooking Class ($60 or so) .. Houston has Leisure Learning, Texas has Central Market cooking classes , and everywhere else has Sur La Table cooking classes has excellent cooking classes too. I’ve been to several and have loved every.single.one and learned something new every time.

Jesse is a guest author; his claim to fame is being Tipsy Society author AK’s husband. He creates websites at http://comalproductions.com.

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