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When my wife and I got together, she would tell me her fish stories. Her family did not grow up a fishing family, as a matter of fact, I think they did very little of it. However, they loved fish, and one story she has is that when she would travel to visit cousins, her parents would insist that she bring them smoked fish from Port Washington, Wisconsin. She would have to bring a carry on of smoked fish! I’ve tried that fish, and not only was it wonderful, it had a phenomenal smoke smell. A smoke that if brought on a plane would get some heads turning!

That wonderful smoked fish that my in-laws would travel close to a hour for no longer exists, and based on those stories, and the memories of how great that smoked fish was, I decided to provide my take on smoked fish for my wife. No travelling necessary. Furthermore, I ended up smoking more trout that weekend and freezing it for later use, it was just that good.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 4 fresh trout, gutted, skin on
• 1 gallon cold water
• 2/3 cups of brown sugar
• 1 cup of kosher salt
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 1 cup of cherry wood chips, soaked in water for 2 hours

Start by adding the water, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, and garlic to a large enough container where you can fully submerge the trout. Stir the mixture to get all of the salt to dissolve.  This is your fish brine and will have an impact on the fish. It will add a bit of flavor, while at the same time keeping the fish moist throughout the smoking process. Once dissolved, add the trout, place a cover on the container and place in a refrigerator for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the fish from the brine, and rinse the fish off under cold water. Pat the fish with some paper towel to remove some of the water.

Your next step is to get your smoker going. I use a drum smoker, and use charcoal as my base, and when the coals are heated, put the water pan in the middle layer, top rack, and lay on the fish. Cover the smoker, add the soaked wood chips on and around the heated charcoal, and cook on medium-low for about 3 hours.

Due to the fact that trout are fairly small is size, they do not take that long to cook. Keep an eye on the temperature, and your result should be a fish that is not dried out, but firm and ready to go. The meat should be opaque.

When the trout is cooked, remove it from the smoker, and let it come to room temperature.

Now, the possibilities are endless.  I enjoy how my wife and her family grew up eating smoked fish. Basically grab a fish, put it on your plate, add a bit of cooked rice as a side, and dig in. The smell is nothing but amazing and the texture and flavor of the fish is phenomenal.

Other ideas are to use some of the fish in salads, pastas, or sandwiches. However you use this smoked fish, I am certain you will enjoy!

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It has been awhile since I last made soft pretzels, and I thought I would entertain my kids with the thought of fresh, homemade soft pretzels, not only that, but to create a beer and cheddar cheese sauce that my wife and I love.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 package of active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Cooking Spray
• 12 cups water
• 2/3 cups baking soda
• 1 egg, beaten
• Kosher salt

Begin by adding 1 1/2 cups of the water to a mixing bowl. If you have a KitchenAid mixing bowl, use that. Add in the sugar, salt, and package of yeast. Gently stir, and walk away from it for about 5-10 minutes, or until the yeast foams.

Once the mixture has foamed, add in the flour and melted butter. Use your dough hook attachment, and begin mixing on medium speed for about four minutes. Your dough should be smooth and begin coming off of the sides of the bowl.  Remove the dough from the mixer and add it to another bowl. Drizzle the vegetable oil on top of the dough, and toss it to the other side, making sure the exterior is oiled. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for about two hours.

The goal is to have the dough rise, about twice the size of which you placed it in the bowl.

Once the dough has risen, uncover, and give a good smell. I love the smell of fresh dough. Nothing beats that wonderful yeast smell. Well, bacon probably beats that, but still, it is a great smell.

For the next few steps you will want to have everything prepared as things go pretty quickly.

To a large baking sheet, spray the cooking spray on it. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Beat the egg in a small bowl. Add the salt to a small bowl.

In a roasting pan, if you have one, add the water and the baking soda, and bring it to a boil. If you do not have a roasting pan, use a  deep skillet or another vessel that can hold that water to a boil.

OK, back to the dough. Take the dough and divide it into about 8-10 balls. The dough will be a bit sticky, so use a bit more vegetable oil to lightly coat your hands.

Take each ball and begin to roll it into a rope like shape. Once you begin to get the rope, grab both ends and swing it a bit. Your goal here is to get the rope to be about 7 inches long, or so.

Lay the rope down, and cut about 2 inch pieces. Add these pieces to the boiling water. Let these cook in the water for 20-30 seconds. What happens here is that the dough begins to soften, par cook, and enlarge a bit. Remove with a slotted spoon, trying to remove as much water as possible, and add the cooked dough to the oiled baking sheet.

Brush the egg wash onto the top of each pretzel bite, then sprinkle each one with kosher salt.

Repeat this process for the remaining dough balls.

Once the baking sheet is filled with some pretzel bites, add them to the preheated oven and cook for about 15 minutes. They should come out golden brown. The smell is amazing. Take it in. Remove them from the baking sheet and place on a wired rack to cool.

Repeat this process until all of the pretzel bites have cooked.

As the pretzels cook, make the cheddar cheese beer sauce.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces of light beer
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cracked black pepper

Add the beer to a sauce pan. Bring it to a boil. Toss the flour with the cheese. Once the beer is boiling, add the cheese and flour mixture, dial down the heat, and stir constantly. Toss in some salt and pepper. Stir, and add to a serving bowl.

When you are ready to plate, add the pretzel bites to a plate with a small bowl of the beer sauce, and dig in.

The flavor of these pretzels are just phenomenal to say the least. Packed with this yeasty smell and flavor, every bite is nicely salted, and that beer and cheese sauce, well, I will let you judge. A perfect snack any time of the day, and better yet, a great game day appetizer that will get all of your friends and family dipping everything into that beer and cheddar cheese sauce! Enjoy.

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This bacon jam was not only phenomenal on the burger and could be my go to condiment for burgers now, but in its simplest form is awesome on pretty much anything, including a basic cracker.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 1 lb of good bacon, cut into pieces
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
• 1/2 tbsp Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 cup of strong coffee
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar

Begin by heating a large cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the sliced bacon pieces, and begin cooking this, rendering all of the fat, and cooking just until slightly crisp, but not super crispy. This will take about 10 minutes or so. During this time, prepare the rest of the ingredients.

When the bacon is cooked, remove with a slotted spoon onto some paper towel to remove any excess fat. Pour off most of the bacon grease, reserving for a later use. Return the skillet back to the heat and add the tablespoon of butter. Toss in the onion and garlic, and let them begin to sweat, cooking on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring along the way.

When the onions and garlic and cooked, add the salt and pepper, along with the brown sugar. Give a good stir, letting the sugar begin to melt away into the onions. After a couple of minutes, add the remaining ingredients and let it come to a boil. Toss in the bacon, stir, and add this to a slow cooker, on low heat, for 3 hours.

After a few hours in the slow cooker, place the mixture into a food processor and pulse down for your desired consistency. I like mine to have some recognizable bacon pieces, but pieces that are not extremely big, almost like bacon bit consistency. Return the mixture to a sauce pan, and cook on medium heat until most, if not all of the liquid evaporates, leaving you with a jam like consistency.

Store in a sealed container for up to three weeks, if it lasts that long.

When you are ready to serve, feel free to spread this on pretty much anything. The texture is spot on, and the flavor is something out of this world. You get the sweetness from the onion, sugar, and maple, and a subtle but ever so delicious bitterness from the coffee, along with the smokiness of the bacon and a slight sourness from the cider vinegar, this bacon jam was something else. Give it a shot and let me know your thoughts! Hope you enjoy.

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This upgraded bacon cheese ball is something that is not only good for a holiday party, but something that is really good any day of the week and can hold its own as leftovers. I’m now curious if it would be great as a grilled cheese sandwich, and I am sure I will give that a shot the next time I make this bacon cheese ball.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeds removed, finely diced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, finely diced
• 8 pieces of your favorite bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of red onion, minced
• 1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
• 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
• pinch of black pepper
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• Pita chips

Begin by adding everything but the walnuts and a few tablespoons of the jalapeno and red bell peppers to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining peppers and walnuts to a plate, and mix that up a bit. Now, to the cheese mixture.  Mix everything to incorporate all of the ingredients into the cheese. Shape into a ball.

Take the cheese ball and roll it around on the plate, coating it with the peppers and walnuts. Place this on a serving plate, cover with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

When you are ready to serve, place a knife into the bacon cheese ball, line the perimeter of the ball with pita chips, and dig in.

Every bite is just loaded with huge flavor. Sweet, smokey, spicy, and creamy, this cheese ball just trumped the boring old classic.

As a side note, this cheese ball ended up being something that my wife and family members love. Could it be the bacon, or could it the cheese? Whatever the case, it is pretty awesome. Hope you enjoy.

Let’s get started.

Serves 4

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 1 1/2 cup of masa harina
• 1 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 cup of Deli ham, thinly sliced and chopped, per arepa
• 1/4 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, per arepa
• Your favorite hot sauce

Begin by adding the masa harina and salt to a small mixing bowl, and mix it around with your fingers. Next add the water, and begin mixing, and kneading until the dough comes together. Continue kneading the dough until it forms a smooth dough, and no longer is sticky. At this point in time you can add a bit more masa harina if it is too sticky, or a bit more water if it is too dry. You basically want to form a medium sized ball that you can flatten down a bit, about a 1/2 inch thick by the width of your palm, approximately 3 inches.

Continue this process until you have formed all of the arepas.

Next, heat a large cast iron skillet on medium heat. The goal is to use a heavy skillet that can retain really good heat. Add the oil and swirl it in the pan. Add the arepas to the heated oil and let them cook for 4 minutes on each side. You want a golden exterior on both sides.

During this time, preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

When the arepas as golden on each side, add them to a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven.

With a sharp knife, make an incision in the side of the arepa, cutting through the arepa, making an opening. The goal is to not slice this all of the way through, just a nice incision that will allow you to stuff them with the ham and cheese.

If you notice the knife is doughy, much like you would see when you pull a knife from cooking a cake or bread, place them back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so.

Next, stuff a bit of the cheese inside of the arepa, then some ham, then more cheese on the top of the ham. Place them back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted.

When you are ready to serve, plate them, and serve with a simple salad and a nice drizzle of hot sauce.

The end result is nothing but awesomeness. You have a crunchy exterior with a soft interior, the fresh aroma from the masa, and with the melted cheese and ham, well, you know where I’m going.  Give them a shot, and I hope you enjoy.

Note: I also served these with roasted chicken, cheese, and guacamole, but once again the creations are endless as to what you put inside of them.

You see, I fell in love with the crab rangoon when I moved back to Wisconsin, and one of the first restaurants my wife and I ate at, after we pulled in with the big moving truck, was an American Chinese restaurant that served these deliciously hot bundles of joy.

So instead of making the classic crab rangoon, I thought I would replace the crab and make it a bit more accessible by making a wonderful tasting shrimp rangoon. Not only does it cost less to make, but it also tastes just a good, if not better, than a crab rangoon.

Let’s get started:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup of green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature
• Wonton wrappers
• Small bowl of water
• Canola Oil, approximately 3 cups
• Bowl of ice water

Begin by boiling some water, and once boiled, add a generous pinch of salt, and toss in the your shrimp. I realize you can buy precooked shrimp, but something about buying precooked shrimp has always bothered me. Not sure why, but if you want to take the precooked route, by all means go ahead.

Cook the shrimp just until they begin to float to the top. They do not take very long to cook. Once they float, remove them with a slotted spoon and toss them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Add the shrimp to a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely chopped. Add in the green onion, worcestershire sauce, black  pepper, and cream cheese. Pulse this mixture until everything is incorporated. Remove and clean the blade from the cheese and shrimp mixture.

The next step is to make the rangoons. Take about one tablespoon of the mixture and add them to the middle of a wonton. Brush the edges of the wonton with water, then fold into a triangle, try to remove as much air from the triangle so that only the mixture is well formed, then gently press the edges to seal.  Repeat.

Heat your oil in a pot small pot until it reach 375 degrees. Slowly add in the formed wontons, being careful not to bunch them up, an cook until they are a nice, golden brown. These do not take very long to fry. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towel.

Repeat until all of the shrimp rangoons are cooked, but remember to try a couple along the way.

This will be a nice surprise to your guests, and possibly a familiar surprise as well. The real treat is that when biting into them, they will be left with some very nice, and succulent shrimp. Hope you enjoy.

As my interest has grown around the ideas of Korean style cooking, I stumbled across an image a few years back of a Korean style pancake that was loaded with green onions. I knew how to make pancakes, the non-savory type of course, but these savory type of pancakes sparked my interest, and grew to what became my version of a Korean pancake.

Let’s get started. (Makes approximately 5-6 pancakes)

Ingredients for pancakes: [Print this Recipe]

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 2 whole eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups of water, approximately
• 1 whole bunch of green onions, half of them thinly sliced, the other part sliced thinly lengthwise
• 1 shallot, minced
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup of canola oil

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:

• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 3 Thai Bird’s Eye Chilies, smashed

Begin by adding everything but the oil, green onions, and shallots to a mixing bowl. Mix really well until you have a light pancake batter. The goal is to not have a thick batter, almost like a crepe batter, if you have ever made those.

Fold in the green onions and shallots, mixing along the way, then let the batter sit, at room temperature, for about ten minutes.

During this time, make the sauce. Combine all of your ingredients, mix well, and set aside.

When you are ready to cook the pancakes, heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

Ladle on the pancake batter, enough to almost fill the pan. Let these cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side. When the pancake is cooked on the bottom side, much like you would check for a classic, American pancake, flip, and cook on the other side for the additional amount of time.

When the pancake is cooked, remove and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Repeat, until the pancakes are cooked.

When you are ready to serve, slice the pancake into quarters, stacking them nicely on a plate, and serve with the dipping sauce.

The result is a pancake that is out of this world in flavor. Texturally, the pancake is loaded with green onions, but oddly enough, not over powering, and the pancake itself is a bit crisp, yet spongy. When dipping it into the sauce, the bite is just balanced with a great soy and vinegar spice.

Explore, and talk to random people about food. You might be glad you did. Enjoy.

As I was driving home from my thirty minute commute from work, I turned the radio off, cleared my mind, and began thinking of something unusual to make, and that is when I decided to take some really great Asian flavors and turn them into a meatball, only to be eaten in a nice bed of lettuce.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [ Print this Recipe ]

• 2 lbs of chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped, plus more leaves for serving
• 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for serving
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 head of boston lettuce, cleaned and patted dry
• 1/2 cup of red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded, thinly sliced

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 2 Thai bird chili peppers, lightly smashed
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 limes, juiced

Begin by adding the chicken, garlic, shallot, salt, chili flakes, and fish sauce to a food processor and pulse it a few times until everything is finely chopped and mixed. Fold in the mint and cilantro, and let this marinate for about 30 minutes.

While this marinates, make the dipping sauce. Combine everything into a small mixing bowl, and set aside. This stuff is great, trust me.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In the meantime, take the chicken mixture out, and begin making your meatballs. I tend to go with a golf ball sized meatball, and wetting your hands with a bit of water helps prevent the meat mixture from sticking to your hands. Add the sugar to a plate, then take the meatballs and lightly roll them in the sugar. Add the meatballs, one by one to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I’m a fan of parchment paper. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes. The sugar will begin to caramelize the meatballs, and wow, are they good.

To serve, add the meatballs to a serving dish alongside the sauce. Have a plate of lettuce available, along with the thinly sliced red onion, cucumber, and the fresh mint and cilantro.

This is finger food, and hence why I wanted to bring that experience that night with my wife. Nothing like eating with your hands, there is just something about that.

Take a piece of Boston lettuce, add a meatball, a couple slices of red onion and cucumber, along with a sprig of cilantro and fresh mint leaves. Drizzle some of the sauce in the lettuce cup, fold, and get to it.

The result is nothing but a drive into flavor town. Hope you enjoy, and to my wife, I love you.

P.S. These would also be pretty fantastic on a sub sandwich of some sort, on the same lines of a banh mi.

When I came home, she still had that same excitement. I also grew with excitement. Not due to the fact that I had to do much of the work, but due to the fact that I would soon have pumpkin seeds to roast. As soon as I carved off the top of the pumpkin, my daughter got right in there, extracting all of the flesh, and separating the seeds. She is one who does not mind the slimy interior of the pumpkin. As she was doing this, my boys interest grew in carving their pumpkins, and we got started on them as well. The funny thing is they wanted nothing to do with putting their hands into the slimy interior, and shortly bailed on the project. But my daughter kept at it, gutting all three pumpkins.

As I normally make savory pumpkin seeds, I decided this time around to go with a movie theater style pumpkin seed, and wow, am I glad I took this approach.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 2 cups of pumpkin seeds, cleaned
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

That’s it. Three simple ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Get started by laying the cleaned seeds onto a large roasting pan, spreading them out. You can let these sit overnight to dry, or you can pat them dry with some toweling. Once dry, add them to a large bowl.  Add in the melted butter, and salt and mix really well.

Add the seeds back to the roasting pan, spreading them out once again and place in the preheated oven. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring about 15 minutes in. Remove them from the oven and serve.

These seeds were so addicting that they had my entire family coming back to them like every few minutes. I am not kidding. They were that awesome.

But, I am there, and as often as I joke around that I should be managing the store because I know where everything is at, and have helped a numerous amount of people find things in aisle three, the fact is that my kids are growing, and eating a lot of things in sight. The one pizza is now two, the one loaf of bread is almost consumed at lunch. You know what I am saying. With that said, rice has become somewhat of a staple throughout the week. We are probably cooking rice at least three times a week. Not one cup, but close to three cups of rice. They love it, and I do to, as I can throw in some nice jasmine rice into the rice maker, forget about it, and make the rest of the dinner.  But there are times where we have plenty of leftover rice, and that is exciting to me because there is nothing better than leftover rice than to make a killer fried rice.

With that said, you might have read from my previous posts, I am hooked on kimchi.

With my remaining jar of kimchi, and my leftover rice, I was bound to throw some classic kimchi fried rice together, and now, so should you.

Lets get started.

Ingredients: [Print this Recipe]

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 cups of leftover jasmine rice, room temperature
• 2 cups of kimchi, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
•  pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 whole egg, per serving

Begin by adding the one and a half tablespoon of canola oil to a heated wok, or pot. Toss in the garlic and kimchi, and give a good stir. Toss in the rice and incorporate all of the ingredients, making sure the kimchi coats the rice. Reduce the heat, and continue to stir and flip the rice around. Add in the sesame oil, about half of the chopped green onions, and toss in the salt and pepper. Stir, and remove from the heat.

In a separate skillet, heat the other half tablespoon of oil, then crack the egg, cooking sunny side up. The goal is to have a cooked egg, with the yolk warmed through, and when breaking into the cooked egg, the creaminess of the yolk, with the stir fried rice, well, that really sets you into a whole other world.

To plate, get a serving bowl out, per person. Add a good amount of rice into the bowl, shower with some sliced green onions, and top with the egg. Slice into that egg and get in there. A bit of spice and salt, this fried rice is really balanced well with the creaminess of the egg. It’s a must try.