Sauteéd Chile Relleño

Here is an interesting little dish that can be personalized in a number of ways: Chile Relleño

Spanish rice is a good side!

Ingredients:
Poblano peppers (1-2 per person, Anaheim peppers also work nicely)
~1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded per pepper
Olive/Canola/Vegetable Oil

Optional:
Chicken (seasoned with paprika and chili powder and baked for 30 min at 350ºF)
Breading (typically chile relleño is served breaded and deep fried, but I don't know how to do that, and I wasn't particularly interested in deep frying)

Directions:

• Cut off top of pepper and remove core and seeds (see picture below)

I love poblano peppers, so I like to use them, but Anaheim peppers are the normal pepper of choice

• Stuff pepper with cheese Note: Optional chicken can also be stuffed into the pepper here
• Replace top of pepper to hold stuffing in

Chile Relleño is only as good as the peppers you use, so be sure to be picky at the store/farmer's market

• Sauté over med-high heat in lots of oil for roughly 12-15 minutes a side
• The goal here is to get the pepper really tender and caramelized. If you cook it properly, the pepper should cut easily and should have a nice sweet and slightly spicy flavor. If you under cook, it will still taste good, but it won't have that sweet, soft texture that characterizes chile relleño
• If you decide to deep fry, you also want the pepper to end up nice and soft, so keep that in mind as you cook

You will start to see the skin of the pepper bubble. This is normal, and you want to see it all around the pepper. Remember to cook the pepper until a fork can easily pierce through the meat of the pepper

• Serve, gorge, and repeat as necessary 

Natalie with a Captain Morgan style mailman, difficulty 6/10, style 9/10 (would have been full points if not for the napkin). Also note that Sherlock is on in the background. We are officially addicted.

 Happy cooking mailmanning!

Chicken and broccoli

Hi Drunks!

Continuing on Shakour's asian theme, I wanted to post a recipe for Chinese-style Chicken and Broccoli (or you can easily substitute beef -- I've used Trader Joe's beef tips and it was great).  It's really good, fairly easy, and you can sub pretty much any meats / veggies you want.

Note -- some of these ingredients are probably not staples that you can just grab out of your cabinet, but all can be found (fairly cheaply) at TJs.  And if you don't have something you can just leave it out or substitute.

3 tips before I make you a delicious Asian surprise (does that sound dirty?): A) for easy clean-up and marination (word?) use one of those plastic vegetable bags that you get at the grocery store to mix the marinade and marinate the meat in; 2) use low-sodium soy sauce like it says, or dilute normal soy sauce with water because if you don't it will be salty!; and D) get yourself some cornstarch (seriously, it's like a dollar) if you want the sauce to work right

Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients:
   Meat and marinade

•  2 large chicken breasts (or ~1.5 lbs beef tips), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsbp corn starch
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp ground garlic
• 2 tbsp oil (canola, olive, or vegetable)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

   Veggies and sauce

• Veggies: 2 heads broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces (or one pre-cut bag), 1/2 small white or yellow onion, chopped into thin slices, 1 cup carrots, grated or chopped into matchsticks
• 1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce, + 2 tbsp water (no water if you omit cornstarch..but don't)
• 1 tsp sesame oil (can be left out)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Splash orange juice (~1 tbsp)
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes (can adjust to taste or leave out -- this will make it pretty hot!)
• Few shakes of black pepper
• 2 tbsp oil (for the stir-frying)

Instructions:
1. Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl (or plastic bag), add meat and marinate ~hour
2. Chop your veggies! Set aside
3. Whisk together all other sauce ingredients (soy sauce through red pepper flakes) until smooth
 

Kat's ingredients -- veggies, chicken, sauce

4. Add 1 tbsp oil to a large pan or wok and heat over medium-high heat
5. Add marinated meat, marinade, and ~1/3 of the sauce to skillet, cook for ~5 minutes until cooked through, stirring often
6. Remove chicken from pan, set aside
7. Add 1 tbsp more oil (carefully! pan will still be hot), ~2 tbsp sauce, and the veggies (broccoli, onion, carrots) and cook over medium until tender, ~6 minutes
8. Add back in chicken and remaining sauce, stir until incorporated and then remove from heat
9. Mailman, Asian style.  Soo much better than mystery meat Chinese food (which is also delish when I'm tired / hungover on Sundays)

Yummmmm

PS -- If you put most of these ingredients together and cook them in some way, they will probably still be delicious :)

Selfie!  I look scary in this photo...

Pseudo-Fried Rice creation

I have never thought of a name for this, but let's go with pseudo-Fried Rice creation.

Also, to be sentimental for a moment. I have really enjoyed this blog because I don't get to see any of you all that often and it has been awesome to see your faces!!

Ingredients-
1 cup rice- I used brown rice and it really comes down to how much rice you want to eat.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1.5 cups frozen veggies of your choice- I just dump out half the bag usually
1 Egg - depends how much protein I want because you can always add more
salt and pepper to taste

Directions-
1. Make rice. I hope you all know how to make rice, if you don't get a rice cooker!

2. Heat the olive oil in the frying pan. Add the frozen veggies.

3.When the frozen veggies are almost done crack the eggs directly over the veggies and stir it/mix it all up. Cook until egg is done (usually a minute or so).

4. Salt and pepper to taste
5. Stir in the rice

6. Mailman and enjoy!

Clearly still working on the selfie/mailman on my phone.

Sometimes I mix it up and add a spicy seasoning to this. I have even added a hot sauce like Cholula or Siracha!

Cajun Stir Fry

Few things taste better to me on a nice, spring-like day than stir fry. Maybe it's the rainbow of vegetables that go into stir fry, or the smell of the spices cooking up. Or maybe it's because, after a long and painful midwestern winter, anything will get me into that spring-time harmony. Plus, Rickie's mom graciously bought us a brand-new wok (after I completely destroyed our 1st one after one use) and we love getting all the use out of it we can.

Below is a Cajun Stir Fry recipe Rickie likes to cook up for us. Stir fry (like anything) can be a little dull if you are always using the same ingredients and spices. So this recipe is a nice (and delicious!) change from your typical soy-based stir fry.

Ingredients

2 tbsp peanut oil, divided
1 onion
2 bell peppers (when I'm in charge of getting the peppers at the store, I tend to pick 2 green. Rickie, on the other hand, would get a red and orange. So, we make ours with 1 green and 1 red).
2 zucchini
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 lb chicken or steak
1/2 lb shrimp
3 cups pasta
cajun seasoning, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
parsley, to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions on the box, drain, and set aside to cool.

2. Cut up onion, peppers, and zucchini (add cajun seasoning, if desired).

3. Heat 1 tbsp peanut oil in a wok over medium-high heat.

4. Once hot, add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Then add peppers and zucchini, cooking for an additional 2 minutes.

5. Add chicken broth, cajun seasoning, and cayenne pepper to vegetable mix, cooking for 2 minutes.

 

 

6. Transfer the vegetable and chicken broth mixture to a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

 

7. Cut chicken (or steak) into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tbsp peanut oil in the wok, again over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 lb of chicken to wok, cooking for 3-5 minutes per side (this time could vary depending on the size of your chicken). Add cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper to chicken while cooking.

 

8. Once cooked, add chicken to the medium-sized bowl with the vegetables.

 

 



9. Add 1/2 lb of shrimp to the wok, cooking 3 minutes per side. Again, add cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper to shrimp.

All those years in Southern Maryland allowed Rickie to expertly master the art of shrimp-cooking.

 

10. Once the shrimp has finished cooking, add vegetables and chicken to the wok, along with cooked pasta. Mix together, adding additional seasoning (if desired). Add parsley to taste.

 



Rickie's refined "pinkie-up" technique for seasoning the stir-fry.

 

 

 

11. Serve, enjoy, and mailman everything!

 

 

 



Old Fashioned Cocktails

Have you ever wanted to go back to a time when men were men? Well, to celebrate manhood (and for Title IX reasons, I must also say to celebrate womanhood), I think that you would all love these tasty Old Fashioned cocktails.

Ingredients

Here is our fun cast of characters - all of them fit together perfectly to enjoy some alone time at home or to impress your friends or coworkers.

 

(1) 2 fingers (2 ounces) of Whisky, Bourbon, Rye, or Brandy (bourbon is the best)
(2) 1-2 sugar cubes (depending on how sweet you like your drinks)
(3) 2 dashes bitters
(4) 1 orange slice
(5) 1 cherry
(6) 2 dashes water (some people like club soda instead - but that is a mistake and removes the manilness of the drink)
(7) ice cubes
(8) awesome cocktail glass

Step One

Place sugar cubes, orange slice, bitters, and water into the glass. Mash together with muddle until the sugar cubes are dissolved into the water. Focus on getting the orange slice smashed into the bitters - it adds nicely to the finished product to have the citrus taste evenly distributed throughout the cocktail.

Step Two

Add whisky (or other form of alcohol) into the mixture and stir thoroughly.

Step Three

Add ice and cherry for garnish.

Step Four

Enjoy in Don Draper fashion and mailman it.

Brie Pasta

This is one of my favorite recipes, probably because it combines two of my favorite things: 1) brie; and 2) pasta. Not to mention, it is incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients

10 oz. pasta (I think that a longer, somewhat thinner pasta works best, like a spaghetti or a fettuccine)
1/2 cup leftover pasta water
4 pieces bacon
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lb brie, cut into cubes (although it may be tempting, stick with regular brie, rather than reaching for the low-fat or low-cal brie. It really makes a big difference)
10 basil leaves (fresh or dried basil)


Instructions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta. Drain pasta when al dente, but reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, cook bacon until crispy. When done, remove and cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Once cool, cut the bacon into bite-sized pieces.

3. Heat olive oil (about 1 tbsp) in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add garlic and cook for roughly 30 seconds.

4. Add cubed brie into the skillet, as well as the reserved pasta water. Stir constantly until the brie is completely melted. Once melted, add the pasta, bacon, and basil. Toss together to combine.

5. Enjoy to the fullest extent possible and try to refrain from scarfing it down like a crazy person. (Refraining from scarfing this dish down might be the hardest step!)

This Brie Pasta did not last long after I took this picture!

 

 



 

 

Curry Chicken Salad

 Curry Chicken Salad

4 Cups cooked chicken, shredded (Use a rotisserie chicken for flavor and ease)

1/3 Cup Mayo (I used light)

1/3-1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (1 small plain container)

1 tsp curry powder (Recipe called for red but I couldn't find it and the yellow/orange was delicious)

4 green onions, sliced

1/2 red pepper, diced small

1/2 Cup roasted cashews (if already salted add less salt)

salt and fresh pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk together mayo, greek yogurt, and curry powder.  In a larger bowl, mix shredded chicken, green onions, and red pepper.  Pour curry mixture over chicken mixture and toss until mixed well.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Toss in cashews right before serving.  I served it on whole wheat pitas, but it's delicious by itself as well.

 

Spicy Tomato Soup with beans, veggies and pasta

a.k.a. I'm not very good at creating a name for this one

This is a very quick soup which combines two of my favorite food items: soup and beans.

Ready to begin my food photography career.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil (as much as you need to cook veggies)
2 carrots (peeled & chopped)
1 red onion (or another type if you're a weirdo)
1 red pepper (or green for kitten)
3-4 cloves garlic
26 oz jar marinara sauce or crushed tomatoes
28 oz veggie broth (two cans)
1 can white beans (I like cannellini beans)
1/2 c small pasta (like small shells or something)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depends on how spicy you like it. A little goes a long way)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

1. Saute the veggies for 5-10 minutes in olive oil in a soup pt.

2. Add everything else except for cheese: seasonings, broth, pasta, beans and tomatoes (sauce or crushed). Simmer for at least 20 minutes or however long you can wait.

3. Garnish with cheese and don't burn your mouth.

8/10 difficulty: Selfie, at work, mailmanning a hot food

Spaghetti Carbonara

looks good huh? 

Well this is one of my favorite mom dishes that I had growing up and I always thought it would be so hard to duplicate, but it's one of the easiest things I have made recently. Also there literally is no way to screw this one up, which is good for me because I tend to lose focus halfway through recipes anyways. 

The ingredients
1lb of spaghetti
6 slices of bacon
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
3/4 cup of parmesan cheese
salt 
freshly ground pepper 

Here we go...

First thing, you need a glass of wine or brewski to enhance your cooking abilities.

1. BACON! Cook the bacon and smell the goodness. Save 2 tbsp of bacon grease for the pasta. 
2. Cook the noodles just like you did all of senior year of college when we pretended we could cook.
3. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and salt together. 
4. Cut the bacon up into small pieces (a food processor is ideal, but I do not have one so I just let the bacon cool and I did it with a knife). 
5. In a pot add the pasta, milk/egg mixture, bacon, bacon grease, and a half cup of cold water. Mix everything up quickly so the eggs don't cook too much. 
6. Sprinkle the parmesan and freshly ground pepper on top and serve. 


HEALTHY UPDATE! The Italian way uses cream instead of milk, so this is actually a healthy recipe! 

Here is a grad student in his element, however he has no support for the Iowan team. Sorry Hawkeyes, but you stink. 

"Fried" chicken, Kitten's special broccoli and sweet potato fries (no, they aren't like special brownies...but they are delish)

Hi Drunks!

Chicken mailman

So this is really three recipes in one -- this takes a little prep, but just throw foil on all your pans and then clean-up is just throwing away foil.  Make sure to really spray the pans with cooking spray (or olive oil) so the stuff doesn't stick, especially true for the chicken and sweet potato fries.  I usually make all three at once in the oven, so it's actually pretty easy.  Just add some cooking time if you're doing that.

I stumbled across this chicken recipe recently, tried it, and it was incredibly good.  I really don't know why, the ingredients aren't crazy but it's so delicious.  The one thing I will say is that you do need to get the white vinegar.  I know it's annoying because you may not have it at home, but you will want to make this over and over again.  The vinegar makes the milk acidic so it breaks down the chicken a bit.  You can replace the vinegar with lemon juice if you have that around.

"Fried" Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:

• ~1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar (or lemon juice); any milk is fine, I use skim.  If you are a freak human that keeps buttermilk around, that would be delicious also.
• 2 large chicken breasts
• ~1/3 cup flour
• Seasonings (adjust to your taste -- I like it garlicky and spicy so this is what I use, but any combination of spices would work; be careful, this is pretty spicy!): 1 tablespoon seasoning salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon  cayenne pepper, dash of onion powder

Instructions:
1. Place vinegar / lemon juice and milk in a decent sized bowl (needs to fit the chicken).  Let sit for ~5 minutes.
2. While that is sitting, cut the chicken breasts into pieces.  I use big costco chicken breasts and usually cut each into ~6-8 pieces, but it really doesn't matter.
3. Put the chicken into the milk/vinegar mixture.  Let soak for ~20-30 minutes.  I always forget this part and then end up eating dinner 30 minutes later than planned.  So don't forget it, go have a beer!  Also make sure chicken is mostly covered in liquid, if not add more milk.
4. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees (my oven sucks so I usually do 425)
5. Put a 9x13 (or really whatever size) metal pan or cookie sheet covered in foil and coated in cooking spray and/or olive oil into the preheated over for a few minutes so it warms up
6. Throw the flour and all spices in a 2-gallon plastic bag
7. Transfer the chicken pieces to the plastic bag with the spices, making sure to shake excess milk off each piece.  Throw away the milk mixture, unless you like chicken milk.
8. Shake it up until chicken is coated!  I usually have a bit of leftover flour mixture, so no worries if that happens to you.
9. Remove chicken from bag and spread out on warmed-up pan (make sure the pan is nice and coated with spray otherwise chicken will stick).
10.  Bake 25 minutes, flip, bake 20 more (or until crispy and brown -- will vary based on oven)
11. Mailman chicken.  We usually dip in BBQ or hot sauce, and then mailman, but it's so good by itself also.
**Leftovers are AWESOME for a buffalo chicken salad the next day.  Just throw on top of some spinach with veggies (I like carrots, celery, peppers, onions) and squirt on some hot sauce.
_________________________________________________________________________________

The following two recipes are my go-to sides for chicken.  So easy, so delish.  If you don't have cornstarch for the sweet potato fries, that's okay, they just won't get as crispy (but will still taste awesome).  Ditto if you don't have time to soak them.

Best Broccoli Ever -- so easy; can easily be made with asparagus or cauliflower instead of broccoli and it will also be awesome
Ingredients:

•  Two heads broccoli, chopped and large stems removed (buy the pre-cut bag if you're busy)
• ~2 tablespoons olive oil, I don't really measure just dump a bit and toss until it's coated
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
• Grated Parmesan (if desired)

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400.  If you're cooking something else in there, I'd recommend going to 425, but honestly anywhere between 350-425 degrees will work just fine, just adjust the baking time.
2. Cover a large baking sheet or 9x13 with aluminum foil.  Coat in cooking spray.
3. Put broccoli in pan.  Add olive oil and mix with your hands until broccoli is well coated.
4. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  I usually mix again and sprinkle some more on so everything is coated well.
5. Bake 20-30 minutes, depending on how crispy you want it, shaking the pan once or twice while baking.
6. Sprinkle on some Parmesan if desired.  Mailman. Repeat.

Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients:

• 2 small sweet potatoes, skin on, cut into thin fries (I usually get ~15-20 fries out of each potato)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ~2 tablespoons cornstarch (optional)
• Spices: Salt, Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, anything else you would like.  Can also just use a bit of seasoning salt if you're feeling lazy :)  I would recommend the cayenne though -- nice and spicy!

Instructions:
1. Optional: Let cut sweet potatoes soak in water for ~1+ hour.  It'll be easier to get them crispy if they soak.
2. Pre-heat oven to 425 (also can be adjusted -- will just take longer if lower)
3. Coat a big baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spray with non-stick cooking spray
4. Shake sweet potatoes dry if you soaked them (don't have to be 100% dry)
5. If you don't have cornstarch, put fries on pan and skip to step 7.  If you have cornstarch, throw a scant tablespoon into a large plastic bag, throw in a big handful of fries (about 1/3 of fries), and shake to coat.  Remove fries and lay on baking sheet. Note -- I've found that using an empty vegetable bag from the grocery store (those long clear plastic ones) works best for this.  Hold it near the top so there's an air bubble and just shake a bunch until the fries are fully coated.
6. Repeat until all fries are covered in cornstarch (I usually do it 3 total times)
7. Drizzle olive oil onto fries, mixing with your hand so they are all coated
8. Shake on spices, make sure to mix a bit with your hands so they get coated with everything.
9. Arrange fries so they are not touching
10. Bake 20 minutes, flip, continue baking until crisp (usually ~15 minutes, depending on oven; if I'm cooking everything together I usually bake them an extra 25).
11. Mailman.  Mailman. Mailman.

Whole meal mailman

Stuffed Flank Steak and Crash Red Potatoes

For whatever reason, flank steak makes me think of Notre Dame. Maybe it's because South Dining Hall was the first (and maybe only) time I've seen and/or heard of  flank steak. Or maybe it's because I can relate almost any aspect of my life back to Notre Dame somehow. So I thought to myself, "What would be a better recipe for my inaugural blog post than flank steak?!"

And, alas, here we are. Here is a DELISH recipe for stuffed flank steak (for which I take 0 credit--I found it on Pinterest) and some crash red potatoes (which work as a great and easy side for virtually any dish).

Stuffed Flank Steak

Ingredients
1 flank steak (1.5-2 lbs.)
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed (you could also use 1 bag of fresh spinach and steam it down)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (my family really hates blue cheese, so we substituted feta cheese)
1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red peppers, drained and chopped (again, you can roast your own red peppers for this ingredient.)
2 tbsp seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg yolk
3/4 tsp garlic salt
3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Lay your flank steak on a cutting board (or other flat surface). Hold a sharp knife parallel to to the surface, carefully cut the flank steak in half length-wise without cutting all the way through. Open up the steak like a book.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the spinach (be sure to drain the water first), cheese, red peppers, bread crumbs, egg yolk, and 1/4 tsp of garlic salt and pepper.

4. Press the filling onto the steak, leaving a 1/2-1 inch boarder around the edges.

5. Roll up the steak to enclose the filling. The grain of the meat will be running from left to right. Be sure to tuck all loose fillings back into the steak when you're done.

6. Tie the steak with cotton twine (about 4 pieces of twine should work) to secure.

7. Rub the outside of the steak with olive oil and the remaining 1/2 tsp each of garlic salt and pepper.

8. Roast the steak for 35 minutes, then increase the heat to a broil and broil for 10 more minutes, turning it once. Let the steak sit for 10-15 minutes to cool, then cut the twine, slice, and serve!


Crash Red Potatoes

Ingredients
12 small red potatoes (or new potatoes, if you prefer)
3 tbsp olive oil
kosher or sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
rosemary

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook them until they are fork-tender. While the potatoes cook, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. On a sheet pan, drizzle olive oil. Place the potatoes on the cookie sheet, leaving space between each potato.

3. With a potato masher, gently press down on each potato until it slightly mashes.

I hope your sheet pan looks better than my mom's!

4. Brush each potato with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden-brown and enjoy!


This whole dinner was delicious. I'm glad I could snap a picture seconds before we started  eating, because the food did not last long!

 

And, of course...


THE MAILMAN!

Clearly we have not mastered the art of mailmanning yet, since we all look deranged.

 

Chai Chicken

Here is a little recipe of my own invention. Being that almost all the meat I eat is chicken, I get bored of it frequently. However, this recipe is excellent at breaking up the monotony and allowing your taste buds to have a little vacation from the daily grind. Also it only takes ~30 minutes to cook, so its great for during the week.

Yum in the tum!

Ingredients:
Chicken breast(s)
Cinnamon
Garam Masala

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F 
2. Coat both sides of chicken with cinnamon, then with garam masala (cinnamon is the base layer)
• Be generous with both spices (cinnamon especially), such that the entire chicken breast is covered with spice
3. Bake for ~30 minutes at 350º F, depending on thickness of chicken breast (30 min for thin, 45 min for thick)
4. Enjoy!

After a tough day at work, Natalie got a nice spicy lift out of Chai Chicken

Happy cooking mailmanning!

Cookies, really delicious cookies even if you accidentally slightly overcook

Chocolate Chip Cookies - using Alton Brown's recipe, with slight variation

Measurements are in ounces because I used a food scale, but I have provided the other measurements.

Ingredients-
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
12 ounces all purpose flour (1.5 cups)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
8 ounces light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ounce milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but the recipe asked for whole milk)
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces dark chocolate chips (the whole bag!)

Directions-
Melt butter in saucepan. Set aside to cool slightly
Whisk egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and milk
Add butter and sugars to mixer and mix on med/low for 2 min.
Put mixer on low. Add egg mixture.
Combine flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add to wet ingredients.
Once mixed add chocolate chips!
Put in fridge for an hour (the batter is pretty liquid-y)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Bake for about 9 minutes (I used a toaster oven and they were ready after 7 mins, but toaster ovens are strange things to bake in).

Consume, with milk or baileys and coffee! (It was slighly difficult to take a "selfie" while mailmanning, but I did it!)

Ginger Ale Ribs

For our inaugural post I thought I'd do something a little special, so here is a rib recipe that takes a while, but based on Natalie and I's full bellies, was well worth the wait.

If you don't enjoy this feast, I don't know whats wrong with you.

Ingredients:
2-3 Liters of ginger ale (the better the ginger ale, the better the ribs)
4-5 lbs of spare ribs
16 oz your favorite BBQ sauce (I highly recommend Garland Jack's Secret Six)
1-2 foil trays
Optional:
Dry rub of your choice

Directions:

1. Place ribs in container completely submerged in ginger ale (tupperware works well), let marinate in fridge ~24 hours
2. Next day: preheat oven to 350º F
3. Place ribs into foil tray(s), cover with foil, and bake for 4 hours
4. Upon removal, the ribs will be fall-off-the-bone tender, so be sure to be gentle when you take them out of the oven
5. Carefully remove ginger ale from ribs
6. If you are planning on adding a dry rub, do it here
7.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours (up to 36 hours is fine)
8. Remove from refrigerator and slather BBQ sauce onto meat side of ribs
9. Place ribs on medium-high heat grill, meat side down
10. Spread BBQ sauce over non-meat side, cook for 7-10 minutes per side, depending on heat of grill, just until the BBQ sauce has caramelized a bit
11. After flipping, add a light coating of fresh BBQ sauce to meat side
12. Remove from heat, gorge, repeat as necessary

Natalie with nice mailmanning form. She was starving and  not too happy about waiting three days to eat these. But once the ribs were ready, I think she enjoyed them all the more.

 

Being the graceful mailman that I am, I didn't need a single napkin after eating these ribs. I did however, require a nap.

Cyana will be very pleased with these bones when I go to work all next week.

Thanks for reading, and happy cooking mailmanning!