Superbowl Prep - Sausage balls with a Spicy Dippin' Sauce

Next Sunday, I am having a few friends over to watch the big game. They are all some pretty serious eaters so I thought I would go through a quick dry run on what I was going to prepare to eat. One appetizer that I usually knock out of the park is my Sausage Balls, served with a spicy Dippin' sauce. Not only is this one incredibly tastey, but its easy to do.
Ingredients for sausage balls (4 Servings?):

1. 1 Pound ground pork
2. Chili powder
3. 1 Bulb roasted garlic
4. Salt + Pepper
5. 1 Egg
6. Bread crumbs
7. Parmesean cheese

Mix the ingredients above ingredients and for into little balls. Cook on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes or until done.
Ingredients for the chili sauce:

1. 6 Guajillo Chiles (medium heat)
2. 3-? Japones Chiles (small red hot ones)
3. 2 Cloves garlic
4. 3/4 cup vinegar
5. 1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar
6. Salt

Combine the above ingredients in a pot and boil for a few minutes to soften up the chiles. Puree the mixture in your food processor and thats it.

Couples That Pickle Together Stay Together

During my travels to Columbus, OH, last week, one of my buddies had me try some homemade pickled cauliflower. Though I've pickled a number of different veggies over the years, I never got around to pickling cauliflower. Last weekend I changed all of that.

Bring the following pickling conconction to a boil:

1. 1 Cup of Water (Adjust as necessary. You'll need enough to cover your vegetable mixture)
2. 1 Cup of Vinegar (See above)
3. 1 Large Sliced White Onion
4. 1 Teaspoon of sugar
5. 2 Teaspoons of salt

Ingredients:

1. Garlic
2. Carrots
3. Jalapenos
4. Cucumber,
5. Caulifower

I purposely left off measurements for the veggies. Its really up to you what you want to put in. Obviously add more jalapenos to heat things up. I ended up with 1 head of cauliflower, 2 jalapenos (should have added more actually), 1 cucumber, 2 carrots, and 5 cloves of garlic.

Slice up the veggies, place the veggies in a glass jar, and pour in the hot pickling conconction. I like to now cover the jar to retain the heat for as long as possible to ensure the veggies cook a bit. Use your pickled veggies on everything from burgers to crackers.

Dirty Pleasure

Here is a dirty guilty pleasure of mine.

I was actually never a big White Castle fan until recently. My friends were always telling me I was missing something. Therefore I felt I had to start giving them another shot. That and the fact that I think "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" is a movie gem, made me try 'em out again.

Now its gotten so bad that every time I land in Columbus, Ohio I head straight for the beautiful white keep. I first realized I had an actual problem when I realized I was sitting in my rental car, in freezing cold weather, parked outside of a White Castle with a pile of cheeseburger on my lap. Its so bad that I hit the White Castle on the way to the airport this afternoon and brought a 6-pack of burgers back to Philly with me. Oh the sweet aroma of burgers in the airplane cabin.

Vinegar Based Chili Sauce

Here is the recipe for the chile sauce I made the other day with my jalapeno poppers.
Here's what you need:
6 Dried Japones Chiles (small, red, hot ones)
3/4 Cup Vinegar (Plain cheap kind)
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Cloves garlic
Salt

Boil the above mixture for about 15 minutes. Let cool and puree in your food processor.

Ridiculously Chili In West Chester

I don't know about where you live but it has been ridiculously cold here in PA recently. So cold that even I haven't been venturing out much to grill. However, the cold weather hasn't prevented me from eating well. Last night's menu included chili, corn bread, and rice. Now I don't actually make chili that often but when the BBQB does it he does it right.

Ingredients (feeds 8 people who know how to eat):

3 pounds of cubed chuck steak

1 pound of ground beef

1 can of kidney beans (optional)

Rice (or spaghetti)

Corn bread (BBQB likes his with jalepenos and corn)

~4 Dried Anchi Chiles

~5 Guajillo Chiles

2 Bell peppers (diced)

~4-6 Cloves of garlic (diced/crushed)

1 Can of pelled plum tomatoes (16oz)

1 Can crushed tomatoes (16oz)

1.5 Onions (1 for the chili and half diced for a topping)

~4 stalks of celery

1-3 Tablespoons cumin powder

1-3 Tablespoons chili powder

1-3 Tablespoons paprika powder

Sour cream (as a topping)

Salt

Pepper

Grated cheddar (as a topping)

Splash of cream (use in the chili sauce side)

Here's how to put it all together.

First, soften the dried chiles by soaking them in warm water for a bout 15 minutes

Add the onion, bell peppers, celery, and garlic to a huge pot and sautee them in a bit of olive oil. When the onions are about done add in the ground spices and sautee them for a minute or so as well. Next add the tomatoes. Make sure to break up the whole ones. Depending on my energy I will sometimes sautee the cubed chuck before adding it to the pot. Last night I basically fried a few of them up and then just tossed the rest in. I did however make sure to first fry the ground beef and drain off the excess fat. I like fat as much as the next guy but you don't want your chili to turn into greasy mess. Turn the heat down to low and start simmering the mixture. While thats cooking away start working on your chiles. After you have soaked them for 15 minutes drain them, remove the stems and place into your food processor. Add enough water to the food processor allow the chiles to liquidify. Remove half of the pureed chiles and add to the chili pot. Add a splash of cream, pinch of salt and puree it all together. This will be used as a side sauce.

That's it. Let the chili simmer for a least a couple of hours. Add spices as you see fit. Make sure you serve your chili with rice (or spaghetti) and plenty of hot sauces for people to choose from.

Pork Chops and Jalepeno Poppers with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

I haven't had the chance to bust out the grill yet this year but tonight I did whip up something worth writing about. At the end of last year, a friend of mine in Ohio butchered a hog and gave me some chops and sausage meat. Tonight I finally had time to cook them.

For the chops, I decided on simply seasoning them with salt and pepper and frying them in pan with olive oil and butter. A few minutes a side was all they needed.

As for the sausage meat, I decide on doing my stuffed jalepenos. Take a jalepeno, slice it in half, pull out the seeds and white stuff and stuff with cheddar cheese. Next, put the jalepeno back together and cover it with sausage meat. Coat the concoction with bread crumbs and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

They are probably fine on there own but I also decided on making up some sweet chili dipping sauce. I'll post the recipe to that later.