Cold winter Sundays watching playoff football scream for a large pot of chowder. A thick hearty soup warms the body and soul. My mom used to cook this in my youth, but I perfected the recipe about 5 years ago by doubling the bacon and adding lump crab meat.

Any recipe that starts with 2lbs of bacon has to be good! This is the ulitmate comfort food, best served in a sourdough bread bowl. It takes about an hour to cook, but is worth every second.

• 2 lbs bacon
• 28 oz canned clams
• 6 – 8oz lump meat crab
• 5 – 7 large russet potatos
• 1 large white onion
• 1 stalk celery
• salt and pepper
• 1 pint half and half
• 1 pint non-fat milk
• small sourdough loaves for serving (read more…)

Nothing better on a nice autumn day than a little football, a little World Series baseball, and a whole lot of comfort food. I created this jabalaya recipe several years ago. It is a Creole or red style jambalaya, with equal parts sausage, chicken and shrimp. Other meats can be substituted, such as taso, duck or lump crab meat. The important part is the ratios. You can make this recipe as spicy or as mild as you want, by varying the amount of cayenne and Tabasco. It is important to chop the onion, jalapeño, bell pepper, and 1/3rd of the sausage as finely as possible. As the mixture cooks down, these ingredients will somewhat disappear, acting more like seasonings than major elements. As you are cooking, scrap the bottom of the pan frequently. This recipe takes about 90 minutes to cook, but trust me, it is well worth the time. This is the perfect dish for Christmas Eve, a football party, or any family get-together.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs Andouille sausage
• 1 1/2 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 1/2 lbs 21-30 Count shrimp (frozen)
• 3 – 4 Yellow onions
• 3 – 4 Green bell peppers
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 5 – 6 Roma tomatoes
• 2 Bunches green onions
• 4 Cups rice
• 8 Cups hot water
• 1/4 cup grape seed oil (or canola oil)
• 20 Cloves garlic
• Spices: salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, Italian seasoning, Emeril’s essence, and Tabasco to taste (read more…)

While creating my recipe for El Fuego Del Diablo, I started toying with ideas for fruit salsas. I wanted something that could be eaten with chips like a regular salsa, used as a garnish for fish or other meats, or served as part of a dessert.

I love mangos and I love habaneros, so that seemed like a good place to start. This recipe is a little sweet, has a little heat, and goes great with any Mexican food.

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced mango
• 3/4 cup diced pineapple
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 2 finely diced habaneros
• 1 lime

(read more…)

Man cannot live on technology and politics alone. Occasonally, you gotta eat. You might as well eat well. Real men do cook, but they don’t cook like wussies. Thus begins my series of posts on my favorite recipes. Most of these I made up myself, or bastardized from the work of others, with my own special twists.

First up: SALSA!!!! Specifically, my own 4 pepper, fire roasted, burn your face off, devil’s fire salsa. This stuff is HOT but it has a great flavor to match the heat. It is addictive too. If you are a chili-head, you must try this. The key to this salsa is the BBQ. I fire roast everything. This gives it a great smoky flavor, caramelizes some of the sugars in the peppers to add sweetness, and really intensifies the flavors of all the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 5 – Green jalepeno peppers
• 5 – Red jalepeno peppers
• 5 – Serano peppers
• 5 – Habanero peppers
• 6 – Large Roma tomatoes
• 2 – Bunches of green onions
• 2 – Limes
• 1 – Garlic clove
• 1 – Bunch cilantro
• Salt and coarse black pepper to taste

(read more…)