Thursday, November 19, 2009

Waffles--You Can Even Make Them At Home

Just read where there will be a shortage of 'Eggo' brand waffles for the next year. Wow, can we survive. Today’s recipe—how to make waffles, at home. Yes, it can be done.
By Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.

Step 1. Pour a bunch of waffle mix in a big ol’ bowl NOTE- it may be called waffle flour, not sure. Anyway I have observed it comes in a big red bag. Five pounders, I believe.
Step 2. Put the bowl of waffle flour/mix under the tap—I prefer cold water—and run some in.
Step 3. Stir (can use a fork or spoon) my wife likes a wooden spoon, I do not, too rough to lick off the excess.
Step 4. Dig around in the bottom cabinets until you find that old black skillet. Trust me on this one, we all have one.
Step 5. Spoon a chunk of shortening into the skillet and turn the burner to high—super high if you have it. NOTE #2 – you can use oil (not the car kind) instead of shortening, but it is more fun to watch that big white glob of shortening skitter around in the skillet. Skitter in the Skillet—that just might be the title of my next cookbook, featuring every thing fried in a big ol’ black skillet.
Step 6. Pour a nice amount of the waffle batter into the skillet, when it starts bubbling like crazy, flip it. I like to grab the skillet handle and flip.
Step 7. Eat your delicious pancake while you pour the mix over and over again into the aging and little used waffle maker. Unless you have a Waring Waffle maker—they are the best.
Step 8. Don’t forget the syrup, Maple only.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Toast--how to make it and other stuff

Yea I know anyone can make toast. Really well here is the recipe.

Take two pieces of white bread. Put in toaster and slide the toaster lever down and wait for the bread to cook. Or does it bake or burn or something? Wait for the toast to pop up (how does it do that) and you are ready to go. If you smell something burning push the little button on the side of the toaster and you may be able to save the toast.

Now the important part or should I say most important?

Toppings/spreads and buttery stuff for the toast

While the toast is still warm spread raspberry jelly, not jam. And here is the cool deal, only need to spread the jelly on one side and nothing on the edge—it’s ready to eat. If you prefer jam to jelly just take the two pieces of heavily jellied toast and JAM them together –sorry for the toast humor, I couldn’t help myself.

Time to recap
1. white bread
2. slide toaster lever down and insert bread—remember, its not toast yet
3. Do not put mustard on toast
4. Jelly, not jam, raspberry because it is some fine tasting berry like stuff
5. Enjoy anytime of the day or even at night
6. Never ever put pop tarts in your toaster


-N-

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Just Some Good Old Chile

- Chile -
Can an Old Wyoming Teacher make Chile? Yep!

-By-

Neil Waring
Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.
This recipe is for real chili, no corn, potatoes, carrots or tofu, this is chili the way it was meant to be and the way it was meant to taste.
Best of all it takes less than an hour to make or is that cook?

One pound of lean Hamburger—90% or better (fancy chefs say ground beef but I still say hamburger)

½ Cup chopped Onion (you will need to chop it yourself, don’t use the dried already chopped stuff)

Brown the hamburger and onion together in a large skillet (this means cook them together, kinda stirs the flavors around) After the meat starts to sizzle add salt and pepper to taste—worried about the heart, leave out the salt!

Now get out the big pot and put it on the other side of the skillet on the stove.

In the big pot pour in one 16 oz can of V8 juice.

Add one can of Red beans—juice and all.

Add one can of Navy beans—juice and all.

Add one can of Kidney beans—and get this—juice and all. Chile makers that are not renowned, like the old chef here, often put too many kidney beans into chile and as my father-in-law used to say, “If I wanted Kidney Bean Soup, I would have ordered Kidney Bean Soup, but I wanted Chile.”

Add one can of Black beans, yep, juice and all.

Now turn on the burner under the big ol’ pot to medium.

Add one can of Stewed Tomatoes (don’t know why they usually come in cans of 14½ ounces, but they do) if you are not into chunks use tomato sauce.

ATTENTION—NEVER—EVER use tomato paste, this is supposed to be chile not tomato soup.

Mix the browned onion and meat into the big pot and start to add seasonings.

-And here is what you add!

One tablespoon of my own special Chile Powder—note how I never use tbsp or tsp—never could remember which is which. So use one Tablespoon—it’s bigger than the teaspoon. (The recipe for my own special chile powder is also on this blog—don’t you just love these informative blogs)? OK—OK—Ok, if you don’t have some of the Old Chefs chile powder get some at the store. WARNING—this will make the chile slightly less delicious.

One teaspoon of ground Paprika (yum and a nice red also)

One teaspoon of Cumin or for the light hearted or light stomached like myself ½ teaspoon of Cumin. This stuff has some real bite to it, so be careful. How good is cumin, the ancient Egyptians took it with them to the happy hunting grounds—it was that good.

Add another big pinch of Black Pepper or a couple a good shakes.

Add ¼ teaspoon of ground Sage—nice western smoky flavor.

Now turn the burner up and heat this stuff to an almost boil—keep stirring between sips of your favorite beverage.

This makes a very thick rich chile, if you would like it a little soupier, (not sure if soupier is a real word) anyway if you don’t want it so thick, add another 16 ounce can of V8—should be about right.

Serve with chopped green onions, shredded cheese and crackers---do not, under any circumstances, use them little round crackers. Get regular crackers, grind um up in your hands and put on chile. Or for a real treat put crackers in the bowl first and pour soup on top. WOW!

Note—do not let anyone pour any kind of hot sauce into this fine chile and do not try to stretch it with water—No water in this chile.

This will make 6-8 big bowls of fine Wyoming Chile—Enjoy!


Side note at the bottom—I once added some water and then added some white gravy mix to thicken—not so good.

Friday, March 27, 2009

-My own famous Chile Powder-

By famed and loved Wyoming Chef, historian, award winning writer and all around good guy—all right, all right, I admit I wrote that about myself but this is some really good Chile Powder—a true chef never say’s yummy.

Wyoming Chile Powder (this is a secret recipe do not let it out of your site—if you use this powder in a Chile cook-off you will be disqualified for making God like Chile in a mortal contest)

This Chile powder can be modified for your own truly unique flavor—now do not—do not—get carried away as some lesser Chile cookers do and clean out the fridge adding left over corn, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms or whatever else you find in the refrigerator to your Chile. Those things were left over for a reason –no one wanted to eat them, put them in the compost because the dog isn’t going to eat veggies. When the powder is this good don’t mess up the Chile.

Now this is step by step, you might want to rip this part out and pin it with one of your refrigerator magnets to the range hood where you can see it – real good.
Making the Chili Powder--Take two or three dried chilies, find them in any super market in little plastic bags over by the peanuts and grapes—WARNING—DO NOT POP ONE OF THESE PEPPERS IN YOUR MOUTH AS YOU DRIVE HOME FROM THE GROCERY STORE UNLESS YOU HAVE ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF DR. PEPPER WITH YOU.

I like poblanos (Chile’s) they are mild but have great flavor. Grind them up (now how you do this is up to your personal preferences but I like those little choppers for about twelve bucks, you can use the Waring Blender but when the wife makes a strawberry smoothie it may not taste quite the same as BP, before Peppers) ***makes about 3 tablespoons (however much that is)

The Powder

3 tablespoons

Your ground poblanos (the peppers—remember)

1 teaspoon
Cayenne pepper to taste, start with only some, add as needed

2 teaspoon’s

Add Cumin to taste—careful with this stuff it will fire-up the taste


One or a couple of spoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons


Black Pepper
1 teaspoon

Oregano—to taste
2 teaspoon’s

Celery Seed—yes celery seed
1 teaspoon

Ground Sage
1 teaspoon

Salt
1 teaspoon

Add 3 pounds of brown gravy mix ********* just kidding

Put the above ingredients in a brown paper bag and shake the hell out of it—pour it into your popcorn bowl and scoop into shaker. Buy one of those big ol’ shakers at the dollar store. Get this, for only a dollar.
If you are bad at math the above mix will make about 7 tablespoons of Chile powder depending on how good you are at measurin’ and spillin’.

Feel free to multiply this recipe by any number you wish and make a really big jug-o-powder.

Happy Eatin’

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Time to Fire up the Stove

Neil Waring

Revered Wyoming Chef, outdoor cooking expert, admired woodsmen and honored citizen.


Have you missed the ol' cooking lessons--here they come again?

I’ve been out of the kitchen (wife’s orders) and away from the Barbeque (can’t find it in the snow) for way too long. But the sun is shinning and it’s starting to look like cooking time for the old revered chef.

So here is what you can look for in the next few days—yep days, I know, I know it has been a long time, but I have been busy.

Chili (Red not Green, green is for sissies)

How to grill a veggie burger (don’t know why you would want to do this—but)

How to make a tossed salad (bet you got this one figured out already)

And a look at my new diet plan for fatties over 60 (like me)