Chili cheese dogs and fries!

Always a crowd pleaser, chili cheese dogs and fried.

WARNING, I made way more chili then needed for the dogs and fries. I'll be turning that into just chili, or maybe burritos. Haven't decided yet.

Started out cooking up about 1 1/3 lbs of ground beef. Get that browning and crumbled, and added Lawery's seasoning, and seasoning salts. Stir as needed on medium heat until pretty much done. Normally I'd drain off the grease, but not for chili, and certainly not for chili dogs. Need a good runny chili. Mix in a good pour of Tiger sauce, and 1/2-2/3 cups of cheddar. While that's cooking, diced half a yellow onion, and rough chop two jalapenos. Add those as the beef cooks. To all of that, added 2 can's of Wolf brand chili with no beans, and a can of chili beans. Finish cooking and stirring, and start the dogs.

You can cook hot dogs just about however you want. I cooked them up in a frying pan. Just got a good light crisping on the outside, and keep them from over cooking on one side and being cold and 'uck' on the other.

That's about it. No real fancy cooking or tricks. Just great food!
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Cheapo Nachos.

So, this isn't so much cooking, or a recipe. This is my quick, easy, cheap, tasty nachos.

Lay out a layer of corn chips. Sprinkle some bacon bits on them, then cover with shredded cheese. I prefer sharp cheddar. Pour a little Tiger sauce over it all. Cook in the microwave for 30 seconds. (Or more, or less... you know your microwave, I don't) Now do another layer of the same. Nuke it again, for a bit longer then the first time. Top it all off with sour cream, if that's what you like. I do!
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Ground beef bonanza

Time for another delicious edition of Corrys crazy cooking. Tonight, I turned chuck ground beef, into some far less ordinary.

Started out by crumbling and browning up about 1 1/4 lbs. of ground chuck. Once that's just about done, season to flavor. I used rosemary, cilantro, and seasoning salts (see spaghetti recipe for what that is). Add to that, Tiger sauce and balsamic vinegar, my secret to great ground beef. Continued cooking, while mixing in about 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar. Reduce that to the lowest possible heat, cover, and stir as occasionally.

Now that all by itself, would taste pretty good. But why? That needs MORE STUFF! Cooked up 2 boxes of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes, one cheesy scalloped, one sour cream and chives. Once that was all into a nice size casserole dish, baked it for about 27 minuets at 450. After that, take out of the oven to so the sauce thickens nicely.

With that in the oven, took 2 cans of whole kernel corn, and 2 cans of french cut green beans. Cooked those with a good sprinkle of Lawery's seasoning salt. Once that was nice and hot, drained off the water. Take the corn and beans, and mix in with the ground beef. Mix and simmer on medium to low heat for about 5 minuets.

Went back and forth as to if this should be layered together at this point as a casserole or not. A quick sample of the beef mix, and potatoes made up my mind. It is defiantly a two entree meal.

Total cook time of about 45 minuets. Cost around $9.00. Made 4-5 servings. Not those wimpy normal servings. I'm talking about 4-5 servings for me and my brothers. Man size servings, for man style food!

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Whats on the table today?

So I figured I'd start a blog about the food that I throw together. Has to be some people out there interested in what I like to make. Today's dish was spaghetti. But you'll quickly learn that nothing a make is ever that simple. So here's how I did it.

The key to good spaghetti, the noodles. You can make the best sauce ever. If you mess up the noodles, you might as well just squirt ketchup on them. Get enough water boiling to cook however much pasta you need. I suggest guessing low. If you don't have enough, you can add a little more later. Once the water gets a good rolling boil, add salt. This increases the boiling point, and lets you cook the pasta hotter. The salt water also makes average pasta have some actual flavor. When the water starts to boil again, then add the noodles. I prefer long, whole noodles, but whatever you and yours like. After you've got them in the water, pour in vegetable our even better olive oil. Keep them stirred the ENTIRE time the pasta is cooking. The oil will help keep the noodles from sticking and clumping, but don't take any chances. Now its a wait and see guessing game. You have to test a noodle often until they are almost done. You want the pasta to be al dente, or nearly but not quite fully cooked. It should be soft and 'wiggly', but when you bite in the middle should have just a little texture and firmness. Undercooked pasta doesn't taste good, but overcook is just as bad. You stop cooking before the pasta is fully done because once you take it off the heat, it will continue to cook for several minuets. After removing from heat, strain the noodles, and rinse them with hot water. This washes away starches that add a flavor and texture to the dish that you just don't want. Now, the trick. While the noodles are still hot, sprinkle Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Then stir the pasta in on itself. The parm will cook right into the noodles. If you think Parmesan on top of the sauce is good, you're in for a treat. Just be sure to tell everyone eating there's no need to add more. That can, and often is overkill.

Started out by cooking just over 1 lb. of ground beef. I prefer leaner options, but we had some 74/26 in the fridge that needed to be used, so that's what I went with. Cooked that in a large, deep sauce pan on just a bit more then medium heat. Kept it from burning by breaking it up before and as it cook, and in general just not letting it set in the pan in any one position long. Once it was about half cook, I drained off as much of the grease as possible. Reduced heat a bit and cooks about 5 more minuets. At this point, it was time to get some flavor going. So, into the spice cabinet. Saw something I hadn't used before, and gave a sniff. Smelled good, so "Seasoning salt" went in, in a good portion. Turns out it was salt, paprika, celery, turmeric, and black pepper. Along with that, went in 2 good pours of medium grind black pepper, and a heavy sprinkle over it all of Italian season (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and garlic). Along with all that, was two things most wouldn't think of, or dare try, but I've done some extensive trial and error. Added about 1/3 cup of flour, it soaks up the grease to hold in that great fat flavor, without making the sauce thin, and separating. Then after mixing that in well with the seasonings, poured in about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. That always gives any ground meat a great tangy flavor. Stir consistently until the meat is done, or VERY close. Undercooked ground beef, especially if its not lean, just tastes like crap. I could have taken the time (and bought all the ingredients...) to make sauce, but lets be honest, the jar'ed stuff is good, if you jazz it up. So in went 4 jars of traditional prego. Poured those evenly over all of the meat. Don't stir or mix it up at this point. Let it cover everything, and cook on low heat for around 6-8 minuets. Might just be my style, but I think mixing the sauce with the seasoned meat quickly lets flavor out. Once the sauce starts to simmer, and some of the grease starts to separate through to the top, then turn up to medium heat and stir. When the sauce has started a good consistent simmer, its done. Leave on low heat to keep warm, or serve.


So that's what I made today. It was pretty good. I've made better spaghetti, but it cost a lot more, and took a whole lot longer to prepare. The most time consuming part of doing this simple recipe is getting a big pot of water to a strong boil.