Breaded [Insert Meat Here]

We use this super easy method for making delicious breaded meats (namely pork tenderloins). You can also try cube steak or thin chicken.

Ingredients:

Breading:
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide

Egg Wash:
Eggs
Milk

Frying:
Oil

In a cast iron skillet, heat up about 1/2-1 inch of oil to medium low.

Make the egg wash by whisking up eggs and milk with a 1/1Tbsp ratio (1 egg, 1 tbsp milk) in to a bowl. It's not a science, but it seems to work for me. If it's too slimy and eggy, try 2 tbsp milk per egg. I usually go through 2-4 eggs.

To make the breading, put flour in a bowl (1-2 cups at a time for small batch, 4-5 cups for big batches).  Throw in salt, pepper and Hoobly/Homicide and mix. You are going for a dirty look. Again, not a science, you just want the flour to look dirty.  If you are looking for spice, feel free to drop in some ground cayenne, habanero, etc...

With one hand, dip the meat in the egg wash, and then transfer to the flour bowl. With your other hand, cover the meat with the flour mixture. With the flour hand, put the meat back in the egg wash. Use your egg hand to cover the meat in the egg wash.  Transfer to the flour bowl again, and use your flour hand to get the meat covered in the flour mixture.

Place the doubly coated meat into the skillet, and let it cook for a bit. you can check it occasionally, but let it be for at least 5 minutes before checking on it. What we are going for here is a slow cook as opposed to a flash fry.  Flip the meat once the side in the oil is golden brown. The second side should get golden brown pretty quickly.

Serve on french bread with Hoobly Mayo, maybe some onions, cheese and/or bacon

Zzzip! Zip go the Zippers!

So, Saturday is homecoming at my beloved NIU. It will mark the 3rd of 4 homecoming games in a row for my Huskies.  @Purdue (W), @ Kent State (W), Akron, @Central Michigan.  In honor of playing the Akron Zips (fear the dadgum Roo), I'm going with Roo Chili this weekend.  This is a recipe from my good buddy Casey (with a minor modification to use Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide in place of Tony Cachere's

The Meaty Part

1 pound of meat  (We are using Roo, but venison is also a tasty choice)
1/2 med white onion diced
2 jalapenos diced
1 "hotter" pepper diced (perhaps an Anaheim or habanero)
1 tbsp olive oil

Put oil into a pan (I prefer cast iron) and heat over medium-high heat
Put onions in pan and cook until clear
Put peppers and meat in to pan, and brown the meat (I throw some Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide on this mixture, but that's an optional step)

The Sauce and the Flava

1 Large can of Tomatoes and chilis (Like this one: Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies
1 can Black Beans (Reduced Sodium version of: Bush's Black Beans)
1 can Dark Read Beans (Reduced Sodium version of: Bush's Dark Red Beans)
1 can medium or hot chili beans (Hot or Medium version of: Bush's Chili Beans)
1 can water

Put everything above into a CrockPot (including the meat mixture)

Sprinkle on enough black pepper to create a thin coating across the top of the ingredients
Repeat with Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide
Add Chili Powder to taste

Set the crockpot to low, and cook for 8 hours.

Be sure to test the flavor after a couple hours and adjust spices accordingly

Spicy Teriyaki Hawk Wings

In prepration for the Northern Ilinois @ Iowa game this past weekend, I decided I needed a themed food. We've done Roo Chili when we've played Akron, Frog Legs for TCU and eagle eggs when playing Eastern Michigan. I decided to take an old Betty Crocker recipe and modify it a bit for this game.

The original recipe is here:  http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-teriyaki-chicken-wings/6a08731d-b616-4293-b9f6-a1ed29a3aabc

Here's what I did:


I combined the following in a big bowl:

1&1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons minced fire roasted garlic
2 teaspoons ground ginger (I use the Spice World jarred versions for both this and the garlic)
2 cups soy sauce (Kikkoman, don't be a cheap ass)
1&1/2 cups water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
The amount of the following varies according to taste preferences
Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide Seasoning (Any cajun seasoning should work, but this is my homemade special)
Ground Habanero
Ground Red Pepper
Ground White Pepper
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Cayenne Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper  (Use more than one kind of pepper to help increase the feeling of heat)
Sriracha ( I used a 10 second squirt to start)


I then added the following to the bowl
2 2.5lb bags of tyson frozen chicken wings (try to shoot for 4-5 pounds of chicken wings)

Mix the wings around and get them all covered.

Cover the bowl and put that magic concoction in the fridge and let it sit overnight (don't try to shortcut this, your patience will be rewarded)

The next morning, dump the whole bowl of goodness into a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours.

Once the 4 hours has passed, remove the wings and let them cool.

While the wings are cooling, strain out the liquid from the crockpot into a pan

Put the pan on the stove and bring the liquid to a boil. (You can throw in some more homicide and/or some more sriracha if you aren't scared)

While the liquid is coming to a boil, mix up some corn starch and cold water (read the package for ratios)

Whisk this corn starch concoction into the boiling liquid from the crock pot.

I used 4 tablespoons of corn starch, but experiment on your own and get the sauce to how you like it.

Once mixed well, let boil for a few minutes.

Strain the sauce again, and let cool.

Once cooled, put the wings and sauce in a freezer bag, seal it up and toss it in the fridge.

Once you are ready to cook the wings, empty the contents of the bag directly onto a grill (the tailgating method) and get a high heat going to sear the outside of the wings

Alternative: Empty the contents of the bag onto a cookie sheet and broil the wings on high for a few minutes a side to achieve the same results.

If done right, the wings will have a sweet flavor with some heat that will sneak up on you.

Good luck, and hope you enjoy the wings as much as we did.  Go Huskies!

Apparently I fail at technology

Not sure how I killed all the old blog posts, but I did. I'm going to start recreating them from scratch...my bad

Hoobly Mayo

This is a  tasty cajun mayo for sandwiches

1 Cup Mayo (the thicker the better. I use the State Fair brand mayo from walmart)
1 Tbsp Hooby Joobly/Huskie Homicide

Just like the dip, you put it in the fridge for 3 hours minimum (preferably overnight) to get the right consistency and color.

Hoobly Dip

This is a chip dip using the Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide

Combine the following:

1 Cup Mayo
1 Cup Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide

Mix well ( I use a whisk)

Cover, and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight)   This will allow the seasoning to soak up some of the moisture and give a good texture.

Cajun Beer Batter

This is a beer batter recipe from http://deedeclares.blogspot.com/2012/01/tuesday-treat-beer-battered-cheese.html that has been slightly modified

It was amazing, and we use it for deep frying EVERYTHING....it's amazing

Ingredients:
1 cup  flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Hoobly Joobly/Huskie Homicide
1 cup beer (abita)
4 cups peanut oil
1 egg white
Something to fry

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and Hoobly. Gradually pour in the beer. Whisk briskly. Cover and allow mixture to stand 90 minutes.
2. In a large, deep skillet, heat the peanut oil to 375 degrees.
3. Whip the egg white into the batter. Dip food into the batter.
4. With a slotted metal spoon, place coated foods a few at a time into the hot oil. Fry 2.5 to 3 minutes, until a crisp golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

NOTE: if going for cheese sticks, try using string cheese that has been frozen. Works pretty good

Hoobly Joobly (aka Huskie Homicide)

So, I love cajun seasoning. The wife is from the Louisiana/Texas and we have an annual Mardi Gras party.  I love me some Tony Cachere, but it's a bit salty and we really can't control the heat levels (I know they make multiple seasonings with various heat levels).  I decided we needed to come up with something that we could use for our cajun dishes that we could also hand out as favors to our party goers.  This is what I came up with.

I started with the Emeril's essence recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-essence-recipe/index.html

I omitted the Thyme (because I didn't feel like buying thyme) and toned the salt down a bit.

I needed to make A LOT, so here is what I did. I bought a big ass bucket from home depot (and a lid)

Ingredients (I use Chef's Quality bulk spices for most of this)

4.5-5 lbs of Paprika
4.5-5 lbs of Garlic Powder
1 lb Ground Black Pepper
1 lb Cayenne Pepper
19 oz onion powder
12 oz Oregano
8-12 cups of Salt

Dump all that into the bucket
Put the lid on tight
Shake it like a Polaroid picture
Roll it on the ground like you were Donkey Kong trying to Kill Mario
Hold it tight and do the hoola hoop hip motion
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat

This next part is REALLY important....
Let it settle before you open it. You just made some sneezing powder and it will wreak havoc on your nose.

Let it sit for a couple days and it will get a nice orange tint.

I ordered bottles and shaker lids with the cool tamper evident seals from US Plastics Co.  Fill up the bottles, screw on the lids and hand out to your guests.

I'll post some recipes using the Hoobly soon.