Saturday In the Park...

 

Well it's a springtime Saturday in the great state, Texas if you didn't know, Bluebonnets and Indian Paint bushes are in bloom and every wildflower you can imagine is making their presence known!  The wind is also making it's presence known, it's howling out of the south, but who can really complain?  I mean it's a beautiful day and the temperature is in the 80's, all the windows in the house are open and I get to spend the day with my lovely bride!  It started off by sleeping in, a luxury afforded to the weekend and coffee sitting out front in the yard.  We then had a late lazy breakfast of poached eggs, fruit and toast, mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

 

I felt healthier just saying we ate poached eggs!  Then it was off to do our errands, a stop at our local butcher / meat market, Old Town Market.  It's a locally owned business where you can get practically any kind of meat product you could want.  Need a 3 inch bone in Rib eye, yep they will cut it special, need a bone in prime rib roast, they will cut it, trim it and tie it back on the bone.  Bottom line, if you need something from the ordinary to something special, these folks will cater to whatever it is you need.  I like supporting locally owned business'  and this is a good one!  If you get a chance visit their website Old Town Market .   I posted the recipe for poaching an egg, try it it's a quick, healthier alternative to fried or scrambled. Well if you can, get out and enjoy the rest of the day and don't let those folks you  love go hungry!   Because It's a Great Day to be Alive!   but watch out for Coyotes! Ciao ..  









What Time Is It? C'mon What Time Is It? It's Pot Pie Time!!

    

Pot Pies.... What can I add that the photo above doesn't say?  Well quite a lot actually!  First when you think of pot pies you probably think of opening the freezer and pulling out an individual box with a name that starts with an S.  Opening that box and pulling out a frozen puck, heating the oven to 350 degrees, plopping that thing in there and waiting for 45 minutes or so to eat.  Was it filling, yes, was it tasty, somewhat, did it touch your soul and make your taste buds scream with euphoric delight, I think not!  When I think of pot pies, I think of the roasted chicken I cooked earlier in the week and saved the meat off the bones.  I think of a luscious, silky, rich and wonderful gravy.  I think of potatoes, carrots, peas, corn and herbs.  I think of all those things swimming lovingly together in that gravy pool!  I think of cracking a flaky top crust and scooping out a steaming spoonful of heaven on earth.  My soul sings.  My heart swells!  My taste buds cry like an Italian at a Luciano Pavarotti opera, Ave Maria.  Can you see it?  Can you hear it? Now I know you're probably thinking, ChuckOh isn't that a little dramatic?  I say no, try this recipe and you too will be a convert.  You will see the light that takes the shape of the pot pie!  You will start to understand Italian, well maybe not but, you will learn what it is to enjoy and savor something delicious!  Check it out and see for yourself!  And if you get a chance play some Pavarotti or Bocelli while you make music in your kitchen.  Well it's Time To Say Goodbye.  Ciao! ( The highlighted words are links by the way, click on them)

 





Yo Schnitzel For my Shizzle...



Well last night I got adventurous and ran out on a limb that ended up with pork and an introduction to Mr. Schnitzle. Let me tell you this begs for gravy but, to stay traditional we didn't succumb to the gravy demons.  I'm a sucker for thin, tender, battered and fried meat!  In the south we are bottle fed white gravy from an early age and for me to not drench this in white, silky succulence well that took will power!  This turned out so well with accompanying actors. Baron Wilted Spinach and the duo of Sir Potato and Dame Carrot!  The recipe is posted in the appropriate section, take a look.  It's thin and crispy and flavorful.  Season this at each step and Oh my, slap my mama it is good!  You can even make a sandwich the next day or put it under your pillow, your choice!  It is a fine meal my friends, a fine meal.  Enjoy and as always eat what you cook!  Ciao!
A schnitzel (German pronunciation: [ˈʃnɪtsəl]) is a boneless meat, thinned with a meat tenderizer, coated with flour, beaten eggs and bread crumbs, and then fried. A popular food in many countries, it is made from veal, mutton, chicken, beef, turkey, or pork.
In German-speaking countries, the term Schnitzel means escalopes (cutlets), not just bread crumbed, fried escalopes such as Wiener Schnitzel.

Monday Musings....

Well, last night we had a wonderful dinner at the Ogle Casa.  Roasted Chicken, Sandra's Pinto's and home made Southwestern Cornbread.  I'm going to use the leftover chicken, which I've picked off the bone and make some pot pies!  I LOVE me a good pot pie and will put that recipe up tonight! Old Duke thinks we should try some Chinese instead if I read his facial expression correctly!  The recipes from last night are up and available.  If you've tried any of the recipes, let me know your thoughts I'd love to get feedback.  If you like the behind the ingredients twist let me know as well!  This time next week I'll be in Las Vegas with work entertaining a great group of Kyocera and Copystar dealers at our  national meeting.  My lovely bride and some friends are flying out to meet me after I'm finished and we're staying the weekend!  I have warned them about Vegas Charlie...  Viva Las Vegas

don't think they believe me!  Oh well better get back to work.  Check out the new recipes, comment, cheer or jeer everything is fair game!  Ciao!

Beans Beans Good For Your Heart, The More You Eat...

OK, You know the ending to that rhyme, but let's not go there shall we!  Contrary to the impression some folks have gotten from this blog, I'm not the only cook in the Ogle Casa.  My lovely bride is just as handy and better looking to boot!  She makes all kinds of dishes on her own and we work well together, wink, wink!  Today, Sunday it's a cool and rainy day in the great state of Tejas, so we are cooking comfort foods.  She is making her oh so versatile and delicious Mexican style pinto beans and I'm roasting a whole chicken a little later and we will both collaborate on a homemade Poblano pepper, corn and pepper jack cheese cornbread. I've added the recipe for the beans in the recipe section and will add the rest of the meal a little later. This makes a large batch which you can freeze in quart bags and bring out another time.  So eat them beans hombre's and senoritas and make your heart feel GREAT!

 

The pinto bean is a variety of common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). It is the most common bean in the United States and northwestern Mexico, and is most often eaten whole in broth or mashed and refried. Either whole or mashed, it is a common filling for burritos. The young pods may also be harvested and cooked as green pinto beans.
In Spanish, they are called frijol pinto, literally "speckled bean", and in South America it is known as the "poroto frutilla", literally "strawberry bean". In Portuguese, they are called feijão carioca in Brazil (literally "carioca bean") and feijão catarino in Portugal. It is named for its mottled skin (compare pinto horse), hence it is a type of mottled bean.

    

Casa de Ogle Breakfast Tacos!

This is a special treat around Casa de Ogle. I mean it's when I know the kids are coming over or it's a holiday and everyone is at our house for a late breakfast, this is a go to!  I grew up in east Tennessee and the entire time I was a kid through my teenage years had never eaten or seen a tortilla!  Can you believe that!  I had never had my taste buds tantalized by the spicy loveliness of Mexican food!  In other words I was a deprived child!  Not really but I have since come to the conclusion, how did I survive without the tortilla?  After I moved to Texas I had my first Mexican meal and picked up that strange, warm flat bread like thingy, and now I'm hooked, literally you will never open my fridge and not see tortillas.  You can put anything in a tortilla, chicken... check, beef.... check, cheese... check, slice of ham with mustard or just a little hot sauce folded up whatever it is, it's better in a tortilla!  In this recipe which will be posted in the recipe section, we will be filling that south of the border gift to the gods with spicy chorizo, eggs and an onion, potato, jalapeno and garlic hash.  I know, your mouth is getting ahead of your brain, which happens to me often, just ask my family and some coworkers.  But eventually it catches up and starts to make sense!  In this case you will experience bold flavors and just a little spicy heat wrapped in the ever so lovely... tortilla.  Ladies and gents I give you Casa de Ogle's chorizo, egg and potato hash breakfast tacos!

 



 And to keep this educational, a little history behind this flat bread staple...
A tortilla (or flour tortilla to differentiate it from other uses of the word "tortilla") is a type of thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. Originally derived from the corn tortilla (tortilla in Spanish means "small torta", or "small cake"), a bread of maize which predates the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, the wheat flour tortilla was an innovation after wheat was brought to the New World from Spain while this region was the colony of  New Spain. It is made with an unleavened, water based dough, pressed and cooked like corn tortillas.
Flatbread tortillas have been eaten for thousands of years in north, northwest and northeast Mexico, where they are a staple, as well as many southwestern US Native American tribes. More recently, other countries have begun producing them to serve the expatriate Mexican market and the growing demand for Mexican food, particularly in North America, Europe and Eastern Asia.
Tortillas are commonly prepared with meat to make dishes such as tacos, burritos (a dish originating in northern Mexico), and enchiladas. Tortillas are also used to make baleadas, a typical dish from Honduras.

Cicer Arientinum! Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Chick Pea!

The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its seeds are high in protein. It is one of the earliest cultivated legumes: 7,500-year-old remains have been found in the Middle East. Other common names for the species include garbanzo bean, ceci bean, channa and Bengal gram.

 



Hummus is the Arabic word for chickpeas, which are often cooked and ground into a paste and mixed with tahini, sesame seed paste, the blend called hummus bi tahini, or chickpeas are roasted, spiced, and eaten as a snack, such as leblebi. By the end of the 20th century, hummus had emerged as part of the American culinary fabric. By 2010, 5% of Americans consumed hummus on a regular basis, and it was present in 17% of American households.
I've always loved chick peas but they tend to, well let's just say I need to be outdoors the next day!  But hey they're good for you, that's all that matters right!  Put em in a salad, or a soup, or maybe in a vegetable stew or just eat them out of the can by the handful.  Get all fancy and make some Middle Eastern dish with the legume chick pea as the center piece!  Put them on skewers and roast them, just kidding, I was seeing how far you would go!  Heck why not make a big ol batch of Hummus!  It's a great snack and can be used in a whole bunch of ways, in a Pita sandwich or as a dip as shown above, I made that doesn't it look pretty?  Jump on over to the recipe page and check out the recipe for the Hummus shown above in the soups and side dishes as well as my Roasted Red Pepper and Hummus Pita sandwich recipe in the Main dish category.  Make it, eat it, comments, cheers or jeers are always welcome!  Get off your duff and cook! Ciao!

Construction Zone!!!

 

Well Folks, I've had the old hard hat on, broken out the shovel and hammer and have been working on the design of my blog.  I will continue to work to get it better so bear with me!  I have redesigned the recipe section into four areas each with a link to the recipes associated with that course!  I was having capacity issues and this is working a lot better!  Jump in and comment, this whole blog design has been quite the adventure... see ya down the road...   The Road Goes On Forever!

Folk's, Lettuce Wrap Ourselves Around The Ground Breast Of The Noble Bird, Turkey!

 

Well, did you know the turkey is a large bird in the Meleagris genus, which is native to the Americas. One species, Meleagris gallopavo (commonly known as the Wild Turkey), is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species. The other living species is Meleagris ocellata or the Ocellated Turkey, native to the forests of the Yucatán Peninsula.^[1] Males of both turkey species have a distinctive fleshy wattle or protuberance that hangs from the top of the beak (called a snood). They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As in many galliformes, the male (tom or gobbler) is larger and much more colorful than the female (hen). A baby turkey is known as a poult. 

And did you know the Romans referred to lettuce as lactuca (lac meaning milk in Latin), an allusion to the white substance, now called latex, exuded by cut stems.^[9] This word has become the genus name, while sativa (meaning "sown" or "cultivated") was added to create the species name.^[10] The current word lettuce, originally from Middle English, came from the Old French letues or laitues, which derived from the Roman name.^[11] The name romaine came from that type's use in the Roman papal gardens, while cos, another term for romaine lettuce, came from the earliest European seeds of the type from the Greek island of Cos, a center of lettuce farming in the Byzantine period.^[12]

 



Bring these two together and throw in some extra magic like Sriracha, pine nuts, onion, garlic, parsley, and Serrano peppers.  Add some soy sauce mixed with toasted sesame oil and by crickety you have yourself a handful of deliciousness that will make your eyes twinkle, your mouth water and shout Amen to the health gods!  Can I get an Amen?  When I'm on the road and trying to watch my girlish figure, these are often a go to meal.  After all there are only so many styles of elastic waist pants to select from right!  So hop on over to my recipe section for this scrumpdillyicious bite of heaven that will keep you slim and trim enough that folks will think you're a Hollywood star!

 

 
 
 



L





One Night At Cooking Class....

So, last night my lovely bride and I accompanied by two friends took a cooking class at our local high end grocery store.  That's me on the right, I know I can see the resemblance to the Swedish Chef, uncanny wouldn't you say!  The class was a birthday gift from my darling children, yes they can surprise me occasionally!  We prepared a "Casual Italian Meal".

  All I can say is I felt sorry for the young lady in charge of our group!  Now mind you she is a culinary school graduate and works as a line cook in a restaurant in Dallas.  Me I'm just an old dude who loves to cook!  We each had a part to do in preparing a dish, well the instructor in me felt it necessary to "assist" some of the newbies in techniques and tips!  I bet that surprises anybody who knows me!  I have great knife skills and know these ingredients well, we had made Veal Marsala two nights earlier and boy was it delicioso I'd even go so far as to say better than their method!  I sometimes think people cook too technically ahem, our classic trained instructor, and don't just go with the flow!  It must stem from working in those kitchen line conditions.  But I joked frequently and kept the class lively, my wife says I was being juvenile but hey in my mind I'm a 16 year old kid!  She was all business sautéing that spinach and wilting it down!  But I got all serious and a little competitive when we started making crepes for the Spinache Crespelli!  Bring it on!



 When she was showing someone how to make a béchamel sauce, I've done it many,  many times by the way, the instructor got sidetracked and it burnt!  She got a little discombobulated and I stepped in and got to work making a new batch! I saved the entire evening and meal for everyone in attendance, well in my mind I did!  We ended up with a Pear Frangipane Tart, all I can say is wow!  I would spread that Frangipane Almond Frangiopane on anything, my pillow, my entire body and love every minute of it, it was that good!   The bottom line with this new experience is, get out there, cook, enjoy and have fun, put on some Marvin Gaye, Let's get it on, and dance with your partner!  I'm making crepes this weekend to swoon my lady!  They don't call me Chef Chizzle for nuttin'  Ciao Baby!  I leave you with this.. Fun Cooking