MAD MEAT GENIUS APPAREL

Did you get your Mad Meat Genius Apron for Christmas? My sister 'President of Cookies' made this fine garment to protect me against kitchen spills. You may notice that I am leaning in one direction. That is because I am trying not to drop the 30 pounds of black iron. This was a gift from Ms. Goofy for our dutch oven competitions. This 16 inch oven will probably hold a side of beef.

Why am I showing you my lovely Christmas presents you may ask? I am shamelessly entering a contest from "Mangos chili and Z". She asked us to show our Christmas bounty and post about it. The prize is a cookbook from Colorado. This would be perfect to find a suitable use for some spicy jalapeno BBQ sauce that Leann sent me from the Denver area. This was to pay off a wager. Ahhh Sweet Victory!

"JUST BEET IT, BEET IT!"

Just Beet It, Beet It, Beet It, Beet It

No One Wants To Be Defeated

Showin' How Funky Strong Is Your Fight

It Doesn't Matter Who's Wrong Or Right

Just Beet It, Beet It

Just Beet It, Beet It

JustBeet It, Beet It

Just Beet It, Beet It

What did Michael Jackson have against Beets? It just so happen some beets are still in the Mad Meat Genius garden. They were harvested and baked in an oven. These are sweet treats. Serve them with a little olive oil, splash of vinegar and salt and you have a home grown treat. 'Just Beet It'!

NEW MEXICAN MARTIAN SALSA

Please check out my latest review at Peppers and More.

BARBEQUED TAMALES

Prime rib is always nice, but home made 'Christmas' tamales are just something special. I was gifted tamales from several good friends. The Chilebrown Ice Cave housed a couple of packages of leftover 'steamed masa vessels of love'. They needed to be reheated to experience the tamale comfort zone. "Boing!!!", How about firing up the grill? It just so happens that a mini meat adventure to Dittmers had just brought back some 'Sheyboygan' brats and some chicken, spinach and parmesean sausage. Some peppers and salsa were added to make this a complete meal.

Grilling the cooked tamales, kicked the flavor level up a couple of notches. The kiss of smoke added flavor to these wonderful tamales. Dittmers always deliver with quality meat products. These sausage were so very good. It also helped they were cooked on a custom Mad Meat Genius grill. This was just one merry little after Christmas grill fest.

GRILL RIGHT WIRELESS TALKING THERMOMETER

Oh boy, a new gadget for the grill. This is a talking wireless thermometer. It is made by Oregon Scientific. This is a fun and important tool. The only way to cook consistently and proper is with a thermometer. Now I will have somebody to tell me when to remove the roast from the grill/oven. You notice how I said oven. Our local government told us that we could not use our barbeque yesterday. The voice on this thermometer is female and you can program her to talk in different languages. There are preset temperatures for different types of protein. You can change the settings for beef, pork, chicken etc and also the degree of doneness.(Rare, Medium and Burnt)

The maiden voyage for the "Talker" was a prime rib roast. This would be a important piece of meat to cook properly. I do have a complaint for this device. The preset temperature for rare beef was 135 degrees. Where do they cook beef? I pull my roast out at 125 and there is carry over cooking that will bring this up to 130 degrees. Luckily, you can program this device to any degree you heart desires. I set the device to 125 degrees and to the French language. I do not know a lick of french but it sounds sexy. Who is going to listen anyway. At 125 degrees the Talker started saying something, so I pulled the roast. It rested for 15 minutes and it was bloody delicious. The Grill Right Wireless talking thermometer is a welcome addition to the Chilebrown arsenal of tools.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even the prime rib in the ice cave;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that a Big Green Egg would soon would be there;

Mojo & Oscar were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of dog cookies danced in her heads;

And Ms. Goofy in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the street there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up on the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a UPS truck, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a burly young driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be Nick the UPS man.

More rapid than the Post Office his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and cursed them by name;

"Now, Dasher! dammit, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Come on stupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to ring the bell!

Now run away! dash away! dash away all!"

My apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

RAIDER SANTA'S

The Raider Santa's, 'Bro-in-law John', 'Chef Ray', and Chilebrown would like to remind you there are only 3 shopping days left till Christmas. There still is time to buy that barbeque or Kramer knife for your loved one. If he was naughty a 40 pound sack of lump charcoal would not be so bad. HO-HO-HO!

OAKLAND RAIDERS V DENVER BRONCOS

Today two mortal enemies will take the field of battle. There will be a bloody fight with many people getting hurt and that is not even on the field. The Oakland Raiders will combat the Denver Broncos. This match up has always been a fierce contest of two rivals. The Raiders will be starting with the third string quarterback. I am confident the Silver & Black will be victorious.

A fellow food blogger Leann from “Mangos chili and Z” just so happens to be a Denver Bronco fan. I know, we all have our faults. We have been sparring back and forth who will be the winner today. Hence we are going to have our own little battle. The contest is to make a dish that would be enjoyed by the other team’s fans. I will make a dish for Denver Bronco fans. I have picked Apple Dumplings because bronco’s like apples and a victory would be sweet. It just so happens that an old family recipe is in my repertoire. Let the battle begin.

Dough
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening or lard (I used half butter and half shortening)
6 to 7 tablespoons cold water

This is your basic pie dough recipe. Cut the shortening into the flour. Add salt. Blend water into flour mixture. Knead briefly till the dough forms. Wrap in plastic wrap and reserve in the refrigerator.

Sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 ½ cup of water
2 tablespoons butter
¼ teaspoons cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil and shutoff heat. Let cool slightly. Take 4 baking apples, peel and core apples. Divide the pastry dough into quarters. Roll dough on a floured surface. Roll into a square large enough to cover apple. Place apple into center of dough. Sprinkle core cavity of apple with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Take a ½ tablespoon of butter and put on top of the apple core cavity. Fold the dough up and cover apple entirely. Place in dish and pour sauce around dumplings. Bake in 425 oven for 40-45 minutes.


Yes a victory would be sweet just like these dumplings. This is a recipe my family has made for years. It was one of my father’s signature dishes. Let the battle begin.

GO RAIDERS!!

COVERED MEAT PIE

Covered Meat Pie or Calazone, whatever you may call it, it was darn tooting good. It was a beautiful clear sunny day in the Bay Area. This was a perfect day to fire up the wood burning oven. I checked our local government website to see if they would grant permission to build a wood fire today. Thank goodness the coin flip made it legal to burn wood and use your barbeque. Bureaucracy be damned. The beehive was stoked with almond wood. Once the fire is going, a soothing calm is enjoyed watching the flames flicker.

Some pizza pie dough was made. It is a secret recipe that I will share with you. Homemade sauce is mandatory for all pizza made in the Mad Meat Kitchen. Leftover pulled pork, green chile, cheese and mushrooms would be the filling. With every thing set it was easy to just roll out a couple of rounds of dough. One round was placed on top and the edges were pinched to hold all the goodness in. The calazones hit the oven and were done 6 minutes later.

A beautiful day and some wonderful eats. Does it get any better?

CHRISTMAS LIST

This would make a wonderful Christmas present for the Mad Meat Genius in your life.

Kramer Knife

SATANA'S SASSY SAUCE

Today we have a fun hot sauce from the wild and crazy guy, Larry from 'Peppahead.com.' This is another limited edition sauce from Peppahead's chile patch. Peppahead went to great lengths to insure the quality of these ingredients. It was late in the season, the weather was turning cold and the habaneros had not ripened fully. Peppahead took these peppers and placed them into the back seat of his car. The car was like a portable green house. He took the peppers with him to the farmers markets and would place them in a warm spot while he sold his sauces and pepper products. When the peppers were ripened to the perfect degree he blended them with numerous other peppers. What resulted was a unique, flavorful treat for the hot sauce enthusiast.

White, Gold, and Red Habaneros, Red Savina, and Dorset Nago chiles are the peppers used in this sassy concoction. They were mixed with rice wine vinegar, white onions, lime juice, shallots and zanthan gum. They were blended together and presented in a 5 fluid ounce container. The label shows a sassy female looking devil looking over a fiery cauldron of habanero peppers. It is a fun label, but one of my pet peeves of Peppaheads labels are, you have to have great eyesight or have a magnifying glass to identify all the details and text.


The sauce has a wonderful habanero odor with a hint of vinegar trailing. The sauce is thin in consistency but not in flavor. If you like habaneros this sauce will not disappoint. The fruity hab flavor shines through with a burn to back it up. The heat level will grab your attention and keep you in a pepper choke hold for a while. It is not for the novice capsicum consumer. It will please the heat seekers with a wonderful pepper heat jolt. It was the perfect compliment to some Lumpia. It burned so good!!!

Peppahead sells his products mail order and at several farmers markets. His sauces are made in limited quantity's. They are worth seeking out. It is always fun to see what he makes next.

Peppahead

BACON MAPLE TEA

Let me start this Madness by telling you that I am tea challenged. My only experience with tea is having the obligatory cup to start your Chinese dinner. I have had too many teas from the local watering hole that were from Long Island. When it comes down to it, I am a tea novice. When I saw bacon tea, the writing was on the wall. 52.Teas.com was selling a Bacon Maple Tea with free shipping. This was too good to be true.

When the tea was received a shock and awe moment occured. This tea did not come in a dunking bag with the string. It was loose tea and I was perplexed for a brief moment. Dr. Biggles was contacted because he is very knowledgeable and he has a nice camera. He told me about some metal contraption that you loaded and suspended in hot water. That idea was not going to work for me. Some cyber research revealed that you need a teapot, kettle, strainer and tea cups. The only item that was found was a strainer. Improvisation would have to be in order. A gravy boat wold be my teapot. A glass measuring cup and the microwave was my kettle. Coffee cups would have to do. The coffee mugs were warmed and the tea was steeped for 10 minutes in the foil covered gravy boat. The liquid was poured through the strainer into the mugs for tasting.

On inspection of the loose tea, it seemed that there were little baco-bits mixed through the leaves. The smell of the uncooked tea was sweet like maple with a grassy green type odor. The steeped tea smelled like bacon according to Ms. Goofy(Tea challenged also) . I did not get that bacon smell. Ms. Goofy took a sip and proclaimed it taste like tea and set her cup down and went back to her coffee. After my sip a sweet taste was an after flavor. A couple of seconds later a bitter flavor came over my taste buds. It was awful, I could not hack away this sensation. You know what? Chilebrown will not offer an opinion of this tea. It would not be fair because; was it brewed properly? Do I even know what good tea tastes like? Wow I apologize. Hey Zoomie, You want some Bacon Maple Tea with that fruitcake?

"BABY" PULLED PORK

Life is good!!

PULLED PORK BABY

It is 8:30pm Pacific Raider Time, do you know where your children are? I know where my pork shoulder baby is. It is in the Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker. It is going to take a 225-250 degree sleep as long as it takes. The weather forecast is 41 degrees with a chance of showers. The smoker is blanketed with a covered patio and green foliage fence. Extreme weather will only affect cooking temperature and time. I have the baby and the cradle, alarmed with temperature probes to keep it safe and slow cookin. It will awake transformed into the most wonderful ‘Pulled Pork Sandwiches’. ‘Sleep baby, Sleep.’

HAPPY HABANERO CHRISTMAS

Happy Habanero Christmas, to all you crazy, wacky, Chileheads. Have you done your shopping yet? I have a great Christmas idea. Why not make some home made hot sauce for your friends and family? You could even give some to your boss who is hot sauce challenged. Who ever you make this gift for it will be received with gratitude and admiration that you have taken the time to give a gift from the heart/kitchen.

While shopping at the Alemany Farmers market, a booth with some beautiful red habaneros grabbed my eye. They were three dollars a pound. That is very cheap. A pound of habaneros will go a long way. This is when the light bulb went off. Let’s make some hot sauce. We rushed home as fast as the bumper to bumper traffic would take us. It is the Bay Area you know.

Once home the Habeneros were washed. We then cut the stem and halved them. A word of caution, I know you have heard this before. Wear gloves or suffer. I have worked with peppers before and was pretty confident of not getting burned. I washed my hands with frequency. This is not enough. Some how I got a little capsicum oil on my face and eventually it made it to my naughty parts. How it got there is a mystery. It was not fun! Let’s get back to the cooking. The peppers were put in a non stick pan with a coarsely chopped onion. A splash of vinegar, water and a little sea salt was the whole ticket. This mixture was simmered for 15 minutes.

After the mixture was cool it was placed in a food processor. I blended this Holiday mixture until it was a smooth puree. Some cider vinegar and water was added to thin this mixture down. Another warning should be heeded. Hide the children and pets. This mixture when blending is highly abrasive to the eyes and nostrils. What we do to make Hot Sauce is challenging. It then was funneled into clean hot sauce jars.

This was some great tasting sauce. The taste test was with a bacon tamale. The heat level is in outer space. It is one of the hottest sauces I have tasted that did not have extract. I was pretty darn proud. Once the fire went down the true fruity habanero flavor shined through. The cider vinegar really rounded the flavor. Give a gift of Love and make some hot sauce. "Merry Habanero Christmas!"

BACON TAMALES

Christmas time has many traditions for lots of different people. One tradition that I like is the Christmas tamale. Tamales traditionally are stuffed with chicken, pork, and beef. There are even sweet tamales made with cinnamon and raisins. Tamales can be stuffed with anything your imagination desires. How about bacon tamales? Oh yes, bacon, roasted peppers and jack cheese will fill these corn masa tubes of joy. The secret to good tamales is fresh masa. Masa is a corn based dough that is used to wrap the filling. Fresh masa can be purchased at Mexican specialty markets or you local tortilleria. Todays masa was purchased at 'La Finca' in Oakland California. We are using some peppers that we procurred last summer. They were fresh roasted and sealed away in the Chilebrown Icecave.

Bacon Tamales

1. 4 pounds of fresh masa
2. 2 dozen corn husks
3. 1 pound of sliced bacon (fried till crisp and cut into large chunks)
4. 1 pound of roasted green peppers cut into strips
5. 1 pound of jack cheese cut into strips
6. 1 cup of bacon fat (Do not be scared! This will make your tamales rich and delicious)
7. 3/4 cup chipotle in adobo puree

The only trick to making tamales is to have all your ingredients ready and in place. Take your masa and add chipotle puree and bacon fat. Mix well. Take a corn hush and add 1/4 cup of masa and spread evenly into a square shape. Add a strip of cheese, pepper and bacon. Fold into cylinder and fold bottom end up. Place assembled tamales into a steamer and cook for aprox 40 minutes. When the dough is firm and the cheese is melted they are done.

These tamales where served with some grilled steak, rice and some refried beans. More bacon fat was added to the beans. Christmas time only comes around once a year so do not fret about the bacon love. This is one hearty meal. The tamales were so good that I went straight to the couch to celebrate. This is comfort food that puts a smile on my face. The green chile gave this tamale a little kick in the pants. Cheers!

BBQ in DECEMBER!

Just grillin, before the storm. The new grill is "Frightening, Magnificent, Wonderful, Beautiful, and a little Imposing". On the grill are some , trimmed, flattened, seasoned 'Rib Eye's' from James, the coordinator and CEO of the "Under The Bridge Club!. Oh my!

SUCKLEBUSTERS ORIGINAL PEPPER SAUCE

The Mad Meat Genius kitchen loves chicken wings. Some people deep fry these chicken appendages. We BBQ the wings and give them a bath of Hot Sauce and butter.Thats it, that is all she wrote. The secret to good wings is to have a first class hot sauce. I think we may have found a splendid sauce called 'Sucklebusters Original Pepper Sauce.' Sucklebusters is a hot sauce, condiment and spice company located in Texas.

SucklebustersPeppers sauce has the usual suspects of ingredients. They list peppers, water, vinegar, salt, sugar, onion, garlic, spices and xanthan gum. Peppers and spices are such generic terms. I wonder if they use jalapenos or the deadly Bhut Joklia peppers. After a taste I would guess the ghost pepper was not used. One of the secret spices is definately cumin.

The whiff test revealed cumin and vinegar. A little sample of the sauce had a cumin, pepper and vinegar taste with a little hint of onion. This sauce has a coarse texture. Peppers seeds and flakes are present in this mash. The heat level was a slight notch above tobasco sauce. It leaves a pleasant glow on the tongue. I think this sauce may pass the Wing test.

We coated our wings with some 'Sucklebusters Hoochie Mama rub'. They were then grilled over a medium hot mesquite charcoal fire. After the wings were cooked they were bathed in some melted butter and some Original Pepper Sauce. These wings were stupendous. They're grrreat!" Did I sound like Tony the Tiger? Sucklebusters original pepper sauce has left a warm glow of approval on our tastebuds.

http://www.sucklebusters.com/

MAD MEAT GENIUS BBQ GRILL

Have you ordered your ' Mad Meat Genius Grill today. This is a custom grill made by the 'Huntington Company. They are a company in New York City. Huntington custom grills makes a custom grill to your order.They take a very thick piece of steel and turn their magic into anything you would like. We ordered a grill with the 'Mad Meat Genius' logo. Two months later we have a huge piece of cutom steel cut with our design that will last a life time.

The instructions say to treat this massive piece of steel like a cast iron pan.We washed and dried our grill. We then rubbed oil all over it. A fire was built in the Weber barbeque. The 'MMG' grill was set over a small fire of charcoal. The soon to be 'black iron' was coated with a thin coat of oil. Once the charcoal fire was set. the grill was secured and left until the fire burned down. You know this is important. If you cure steel correctly you will have a non stick utensil. This utensil just so happens to be a custom rig with a Mad Meat Genius twist.

We let the fire burn down to a lonely ash.The grill cooled a.couple of hours. Later another charcoal fire was started. Once we had charcoals going we checked the "Spare the Air" website. If you burn in your fire place or start a barbecue you may be subject t0 a 400 dollar fine "Whoops!: We did check the "Spare the Air? day website first, because our tax dollars have been allocated to a bureaucracy that.(Whoa, I am sorry).

We took some bacon and cured our new grill. This is going to be one fun cooking utensil!!!!!

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE GRAVY/STUFFING

Chilebrown has just set a record for eating gravy and stuffing. Dinner was delicious. I tried to use some restraint on my food consumption. I only had two helpings of everything to begin the food marathon. The turkey was nice and the pies were sweet, but I live for the stuffing. A quick nap on the couch was in order. It helped that the Oakland Raiders stunk up Cowboys stadium. A quick refresh and all of a sudden I was hungry again. A fast trip to the Chilebrown Ice cave and a huge mound of stuffing and gravy was found. This stuffing is special to me. It is comfort food to the top level. Home made bread is an important ingredient. Vegetables, Italian sausage, water chestnuts and spices round out this bread pudding of Love.


Chilebrown's Thanksgiving Stuffing

1. Home made Bread (Cook 5 days beforehand. Slice into cubes two days before)
2. 1 onion chopped
3. 4 cloves garlic chopped
4. 2 celery stalks chopped
5. 1 can whole water chestnuts chopped into large chunks
6. 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
7. 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
8. salt and pepper
9. 1 cube of butter
10. 1 red bell pepper chopped
11. 1 pound of Italian sausage (cooked and cooled)
12. 3/4 pound mushrooms chopped
13. warm chicken stock

Saute the onions, garlic, peppers and celery with cube of butter in pan. Cook for about 10 minutes. Take a large bowl and combine all the rest of the ingredients except chicken stock. Gradually add chicken stock stirring until a moist mixture is achieved. Place stuffing into turkey cavities. If you have left over stuffing place into pan and bake in oven. Bake until there is a crispy outer crust and heated through entirely. Cook bird as directed in oven or bbq. Serve with buckets of gravy

It is all about the stuffing. I wish we did not have to wait to next Thanksgiving for more stuffing. I think I am going to eat some more stuffing. The couch is looking a little lonely.

Sunflower in November

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

To all friends and family, You are the best. Let's eat too much and enjoy the day.

SUCKLEBUSTERS FRESH SALSA FIXINS

Summer is over. The tomatoes have come and gone. The days of fresh salsa are only a fond memory on the taste buds of my mind. What is a Chile Freak supposed to do? Today SuckleBusters has come to the rescue. They have a packaged salsa that is so easy to make, it is scary. Open a can of diced tomatoes, add water, Sucklebusters, and give it a stir. Let rest in a refrigerator or in my case, the Chilebrown Ice Cave, for 30 minutes. ‘Quick and Easy’, just like the package says. I love salsa, so let’s give it a try.

The ingredients are few and simple. Onion, peppers, cilantro, garlic, lime powder, and salt are the same ingredients that I use for my pico de gallo. The only difference is these ingredients are dehydrated and I use fresh.

The dried ingredients have a pungent fresh aroma. Once the salsa has rested and rehydrated for 30 minutes a very pleasant lime/citrus smell will grab your senses. You can smell the cilantro too. I need to find some chips and dig in right away.

Wow, this salsa taste just like summer. Sucklebusters has mixed and balanced a winning combination of spices and vegetables. It would be no surprise if this bowl of salsa was devoured faster than the time to make it. I have only one small complaint. This is one MILD salsa. There is no detectable heat. There is a pepper flavor, but not even a tickle of heat.

We tried this salsa with some tortilla chips. It tasted great. The citrus seasoning gives it a fresh flavor. Luckily there was a little left for some quesadillas. Once again, this salsa brings back the memories of summer. Sucklebusters makes a great salsa mix that is easy to make and easier to devour. You only need to add your own heat if you are a Chilehead like me.

KRAMER KNIVES ON THE NEWS

In case you missed the Morning News today, a segment about Bob Kramer and his knives was aired. Below you can watch and learn about this 'Master Bladesmith'. Ms. Goofy and I met Bob and toured his facility. We proudly own a set of his originals. It has taken awhile to collect them, but it is worth it. You can view a couple of the knives here. Be sure to sharpen your knives and get ready for Turkey Day.

BARBEQUED CRAB CAKES

The first of the sweet Dungeness Crabs have been plucked from their watery homes. They have been harvested and sent to our local fishmonger. Chilebrown rushed down to the 'International Market' to get some of these crusty crustaceans. Barbequed crab cakes were the quest. This was the first weekend since the commercial season has started. The price was a whopping 3.99/pound for live crab. My baby weighed in at a little under two pounds. That is a little small for the first of the season.



We rushed Crusty home and gave him a 10 minute bath in rolling, boiling, scalding, salted water. We removed the suit of armor and formed the crab into cakes. We used a recipe like this. A mesquite fire was built. It had just finished raining and the air was clear and brisk. Building the bbq fire had a soothing vibe, like the calm after the storm. A trusty black iron warrior was called in to battle, to tame this ring of this fire. A plunge in a hot butter bath was all these beautiful cakes needed.



We love our Dungeness crab. It is so sweet and delicious. A hint of smokiness is what the barbeque added. We will be enjoying crab for the next couple of months. Oh Yeah!