Category Archives: Dude Food Dishes

Bourbon Banana Bread

Bourbon Banana Bread….3 of my favorite things

…Because I always want an excuse to add booze to my bread.

Ingredients

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
3 very ripe bananas mashed
2 beaten eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. (teaspoon) baking soda
1 Tb Jack Daniels

Topping (put on after baking for 40 minutes)

3 Tb butter
3 Tb brown sugar
3/4 cup pecans

Melt 3 Tb butter with 3 Tb brown sugar in a sauce pan on medium heat and stir in 3/4 c. pecans. Stir until pecans are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.

Cream butter and sugar. Add bananas, eggs and Jack Daniels. Combine baking soda with flour and stir into banana mixture. Bake in greased bread pan for 40 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Pull out the pan after 40 minutes, pour on the brown sugar/butter/pecan topping and bake for another 10 minutes.

It turns into a crusty, sugary, buttery, pecan nutty delish of all delish. OMG.

Smoked Gruyere & Guinness Potato Soup

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Beer and Cheese, why yes please!

Boozy and Smoky usually brings up visions of a dive bar. For me, I think Potato Soup.

Potato soup was my grandmother Ronnie’s specialty– and spending summers and Christmas vacations in Connecticut, it didn’t matter whether it was 90 degrees or -9 below zero— I always requested her potato soup. She didn’t add the bacon, cheese or BEER to her soup, so I just decided to up her game a bit. Hope you don’t mind, Ronnie!

Boozy, Smoky Potato Soup

Ingredients

4 Idaho baking potatoes
½ Vidalia onion chopped
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 Tb butter
¼ cup flour
¾ cup Guinness beer
2 cups of half and half
2 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup smoked Gruyere cheese (plus more for topping)
Cooked and crumbled bacon (bake strips at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, blot with paper towel and then crumble)
Chopped chives

Instructions

Peel and chop 4 Idaho baking potatoes.
Boil water in a large soup pan or dutch oven and toss potatoes in—simmer until tender, 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop up ½ of a large Vidalia onion with 3 chopped garlic cloves and saute in 1 Tb butter. Stir for about a minute on medium heat until onion and garlic gets light golden in color.
Add ¼ cup of flour and stir for one minute.
Add ¾ cup Guinness beer, 2 cups of half and half, 2 tsp of Worcestershire, 1 tsp of ground mustard and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Stir until mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes.
When potatoes are soft, drain them and set aside 2 cups.
Take rest of potatoes and mix with onion/garlic/Guinness mixture. Add one cup of chicken stock.
Put soup in blender or food processor in 2 batches (don’t fill too high or blender will explode!) and blend till smooth.
Pour soup back into soup pan/dutch oven and add the 2 cups of softened potatoes. Add 1 cup of smoked gruyere cheese shredded. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Top with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions and more gruyere.

https://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2013/09/boozy-smoky-potato-soup/

Meaty Monday: Buttermilk Thyme Chicken Thighs

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What’s up, tender juicy chicken thighs?

This is my new favorite way to prepare chicken! In the past, I’ve used buttermilk for frying chicken, but since I’m trying to keep things ~~extremely~~ relatively healthy, I decided to branch out into the buttermilk marinade style. The buttermilk really tenderizes the chicken beautifully. This is inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe that used a portion of the marinade for salad dressing (and that’s put aside BEFORE you marinate the chicken!…We’re not prepping a salmonella salad, y’all!)

Try my version– it’s fabulous and super easy. And, it’s perfect if you’re low-carbing.

Marinade:
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup full fat mayo
2-3 Tb fresh thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt

Chicken:
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into chunks
1 Tb butter
1 Tb olive or canola oil

Whisk together and set aside 1/2 cup to use as salad dressing.

Cut up boneless skinless chicken in chunks or strips and soak in remaining marinade for 2 hours in fridge. Heat up a grill pan on medium/high with 1 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil. When pan is hot, put chicken chunks in (don’t crowd them) and grill for about 7 minutes per side on medium heat. Don’t move them around in the pan too much– let them sit and sizzle so they get that yummy, crunchy, caramelization!

1 pound of chicken pieces will require 2 batches of grilling. Replenish with more butter/oil before grilling second batch.

Serve with a salad tossed with the leftover dressing. Top chicken with a few sprigs of thyme before serving.

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon….

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Nothing better than crispy bacon….

Bacon is gooooooood. And it’s super easy to get crispy by cooking it for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. (Sometimes, it’s closer to 15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs, so keep an eye on it.) Personally, I prefer regular, center cut bacon. Thick cut doesn’t get as crispy. Put down some foil on a sheet pan for easy cleanup. Drain on some paper towels and get your bacon on.

Holy Guacamole!

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Holy Guacamole with Holy Homemade chips

Guacamole:

4 avocados
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Palmful of fresh cilantro chopped
1 diced jalapeño (no seeds)
Juice of one lime squeezed
1 tomato chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Mash avocados with lime juice and fold in rest of ingredients.

Homemade Chips:

Corn or flour tortillas
Canola or corn oil

Cut corn or flour tortillas into triangles. Meanwhile, heat 2-3 inches of canola or corn oil in a deep rimmed frying pan or Dutch oven on medium heat until it sizzles if you flick a little water on it. Pop tortillas into oil and flip over when browned on one side. They may bubble up, which I love! Drain on paper towel and sprinkle kosher salt on chips.

Dip in guac and enjoy!