Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

FRIED CALAMARI

Posted: January 31, 2014 in Food, frying, Recipes, seafood, Uncategorized
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On an episode of “Top Chef,” Wolfgang Puck had the competing chefs make an omelet, something you would think they could do blindfolded. They all failed. An omelet may be a simple dish, but creating a really great omelet is an art form. It’s the same with fried calamari. When I see it on a menu, I almost always order it, because it’s my litmus test for the meal ahead. If the chef screws it up, I know he or she either doesn’t have the chops, or doesn’t care, and that will reflect on the other food served as well.

To me, what makes great friend calamari are three basic elements: it needs to be wild caught in the US and properly cleaned…it needs to be fried at the right temperature for the right amount of time so that it’s perfectly cooked and not greasy…and the coating needs to be light and crispy. This recipe does it for me…

calamari

Ingredients:

1 lb. wild caught cleaned squid (thaw if frozen)

2 cups flour (I use 00 flour, but all purpose is OK, too)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup milk

1 large egg

oil, for frying ( I use non-GMO canola oil or peanut oil)

Thaw the squid and slice into bite-sized rings. In a bowl, whisk the milk and the egg together. Toss in all the squid pieces into the bowl to coat. Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

In another bowl, combine flour, oregano, paprika, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fill a large pan halfway with oil…or use a deep fryer if you have one. Preheat the oil to 350 degrees.

Working in small batches, remove the squid from the milk and egg mixture, let some of it drip off, then place the squid in the flour mixture and toss to coat. Shake off any excess flour and place immediately into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 4 or 5 minutes. Serve immediately with tartare sauce, tomato sauce, hot peppers, whatever you like.

Commentary on oil: I cook almost exclusively with olive oil. But for hot frying like this recipe requires, I go with non-GMO canola oil…or peanut oil if that’s not available. Despite what you read, most oils that are hailed as “healthy:” regular canola, corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower…are bad for you. But if you fry your food at the proper temperature using good clean oil, very little oil will stay on your food.

KRUPNIKAS: A LITHUANIAN HONEY LIQUEUR

Posted: January 10, 2014 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Recipes, Uncategorized
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I can’t believe it took this long to write about something that is near and dear to my heart…and liver.

I’ve been making a Lithuanian honey liqueur called Krupnikas for over 30 years. (And no, I won’t be posting my secret recipe here.) It’s a honey-based liqueur that is popular in eastern Europe, especially in countries like Lithuania (where my parents were born) and Poland. Though most of the Krupnikas that I’ve tasted is similar, no two recipes are exactly alike.

krupnikas

If you Google “Krupnikas,” you’ll find many different recipes for the stuff…some pretty good, some incredibly awful…and none as good as mine! But still…you can make it at home. I make it with grain alcohol, but if that’s not available in your state, you’ll have to settle for vodka.

My Krupnikas making story started with my uncle, who would make batches of the stuff in his kitchen. Because I am the godfather of my cousin, Victor (his son), starting at the then-drinking age of 18, I got a bottle from my uncle every Christmas…and by New Year’s that bottle would be gone. It wasn’t long before I got very tired of waiting 51 weeks for another bottle and I asked my uncle if he would share his recipe with me. He never did that, exactly, but he did let me sit in on a brewing session and take notes.

I took my notes home and tried to decipher what I wrote. Since there was no such thing as the internet back then, I drove all over New York in search of some of the more exotic spices used in making Krupnikas. I became a regular in several Asian and Indian stores, where they looked at me somewhat suspiciously as I brought my spices to the counter for purchase.

Over the decades, through trial and error, I tweaked and even drastically changed my uncle’s original recipe to the one that I proudly call my own today. You can’t buy it in a store (obviously), but if you have tons of money and want to go into business with me, I’m sure we can work something out! Or become my best friend and you’ll get a bottle every Christmas…and then you’ll be the one waiting 51 weeks for another!

krup glasses

Versions of Krupnikas are available in liquor stores: Old Krupnik is a Polish liqueur, and the German brand Barenjager is another. And brands like Dewar’s and Jack Daniels are adding honey to their spirits as well.

Though quite different from my own recipe, there is one authentic Lithuanian style Krupnikas made in the United States. Based out of Durham, North Carolina, the Brothers Vilgalys Spirits Company (www.brothersvilgalys.com) has a pepperier version that uses local North Carolina wildflower honey. President of the company, Rim Vilgalys, the son of my good childhood friend from New York, has done what I never got around to do: make this fabulous elixir available to the public. You’ll find it at ABC stores throughout the state of North Carolina. On line, you’ll find it at Federal Spirits, based in Washington, DC…a very interesting website full of regional spirits from around the USA and Canada. www.federalspirits.com

Sveiks! (Cheers!)

THE CHICKEN PARMIGIANA THAT CHANGED MY WIFE–UH–LIFE

Posted: January 6, 2014 in chicken, Food, frying, Italian, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Chicken parmigiana, much like pizza, is a bit more difficult to make than you might think. Sure, there’s plenty of crappy chicken parm out there, made with processed frozen chicken cutlets, bad sauce and cheap cheese. But to make a really fantastic, mind-blowing chicken parm, that’s a real skill…one that I’ve honed over my many bachelor years. So when it was time to cook something that would impress the hell out of the woman who is now my wife, I have no doubt that is was my chicken parm that won her over.

The key to this recipe is simple: don’t skimp on the quality ingredients. And my recipe makes a lot. Trust me: you will want leftovers.

Gooey, cheesy, orgasmic.

Gooey, cheesy, orgasmic.

Ingredients:

6 Chicken breasts, the best quality you can get your hands on

Alz Italian bread crumb seasoning (see recipe below)

3 eggs

olive oil for frying

Alz “Don’t Call It Gravy” tomato sauce (see recipe below)

Fresh mozzarella cheese

oregano

Thaw the chicken breasts. Lay them flat on a cutting board, and you’ll see where the chicken tender is on the side of the breast. Cut the tender off and set aside, leaving the breast which is thinner at one end and thicker at the other. Slice the breast in half lengthwise at the thicker end, keeping the knife level, so that you wind up with 2 pieces of breast meat that are the same thickness, but one will be a longer piece (the bottom) and one about half its size (the top part you sliced off.) Do this with all the breasts.

By slicing the breasts lengthwise into evenly thick pieces, there is no need to pound the hell out of the chicken breasts.

Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan. Next to the pan, set up two bowls: one with Alz Italian bread crumb mix and in the other: crack the eggs and whisk them.

Now it’s your standard breading procedure: chicken meat in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs, coating well. Shake off the excess and place carefully in the pan of olive oil when the oil comes to temperature for frying.

Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. You want it cooked all the way through, but not overcooked. Place fried chicken pieces on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Do this with all the chicken. The fried chicken at this point is delicious all by itself: chop and place in a salad, or make a chicken sandwich. My daughter gets these instead of store-bought chicken tenders, and she loves them.

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Ladle out enough  sauce to create a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the sheet. Place fried chicken breasts on top of the sauce. Cover the breasts with more sauce, then place pieces of sliced fresh mozzarella on top. Sprinkle top with a little oregano.

Place the baking sheet in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake until the cheese has melted and just starts to brown. Serve with pasta.

 

ALZ “DON’T CALL IT GRAVY” TOMATO SAUCE

It’s not hard to make a good tomato sauce. But it takes a little work to make an amazing tomato sauce. Honed from a recipe handed down by a friend-of-a-friend’s Italian grandma, it is one very important part in two of my favorite Italian comfort food recipes: my (meat)balls…and my kick-ass chicken parmigiana recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

10 cups ground and peeled tomatoes…or 3 cans (28 oz) tomatoes (real San Marzanos preferred)

2 teaspoons each: dried oregano, basil and parsley

3/4 teaspoon each anise seed and fennel seed

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 teaspoon sugar, optional

Heat olive oil in a large pot and add onions. Cook until onions are translucent, then add garlic. Stir for 10 seconds.

Add tomatoes and cook until orange foam disappears, stirring frequently.

Add oregano, basil, parsley, anise seed, fennel seed, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Add tomato paste, stirring well. Let sauce just come to a boil (which helps the paste thicken the sauce), then reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered for at least an hour, stirring constantly, until sauce reaches desired consistency.

 

ALZ ITALIAN BREAD CRUMB SEASONING

If I can’t make my own breadcrumbs from old bread, I’m OK with buying store-bought breadcrumbs. But I always buy them plain, and then season them myself. And for this recipe, I don’t use Panko.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Combine all ingredients well.

BACON INFUSED VODKA

Posted: January 2, 2014 in bacon, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Why does bacon taste “off” when it’s infused, mixed with chocolate, or even on a fast food burger? And Bakon, the bacon infused vodka you can buy at your local liquor store, is another example of “it’s better when you do it yourself.”

To make bacon infused vodka, I use the bacon I love to eat: my own homemade stuff. But your favorite store-bought bacon will work just as well.

bacon vodka

Some bacon infused vodka recipes have you cook the bacon and soak the strips in vodka for a week or so. But I like this idea better:

Cook your favorite bacon in a pan. Eat the bacon. Set the fat aside. For a 750 ml bottle of vodka, use 2 tablespoons bacon fat. Place both in  a mason jar, shake well, and let it sit at room temperature for about 6 hours, shaking occasionally. After 6 hours, place the mason jar in the freezer. The alcohol will not freeze, but the fat will. After 30 minutes, strain through paper coffee filters and you’ve got bacon infused vodka!

Cheers!

2013 IN REVIEW

Posted: December 31, 2013 in Uncategorized
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My thanks to all of you for checking my blog out in 2013. Party your ass off, but have a safe and happy new year! Please tell your friends to follow this blog and don’t forget to “like” my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Livethelivecom?ref=hl

See you in 2014! ~~AL

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,400 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

THE GREATEST DRINK AT THE GREATEST BEACH BAR ON PLANET EARTH

Posted: December 28, 2013 in Caribbean, Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, mixology, Recipes, travel, Uncategorized
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I know that winter has only started. But I’m cold, dammit, and I’m thinking about the Caribbean!

One of the tastiest rum drinks you can make, and one that certainly brings you back to the Caribbean—or at least makes you feel like you’ve been there—is the legendary Painkiller. It was invented on the tiny island of Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, at the famous Soggy Dollar Bar. Located on White Bay, a stretch of the whitest most beautiful sand in the Caribbean, surrounded by beautiful turquoise waters, there is no dock. You have to anchor your boat offshore and swim…hence the name: the Soggy Dollar.

SOGGY1

Daphne Henderson was the owner of the Soggy Dollar years ago, and she is credited for inventing the Painkiller, which used Pusser’s rum, a British rum that is readily available here in the United States. Charles Tobias, a businessman that received permission from the British Royal Navy to commercialize Pusser’s rum in 1980, tasted the Painkiller and realized the potential of this amazing drink. He took some Painkillers home to the island of Tortola, where he experimented in recreating that drink, coming up with what he thought was something that was as good as—if not better than—the original. He called it the Pusser’s Painkiller.

Tobias never found out what Daphne Henderson’s original recipe was, but when he brought his own Pusser’s Painkillers back to the Soggy Dollar, and had a tasting battle between the two recipes, his recipe apparently won 10 out of 10 times. With 4 Pusser’s bars and restaurants in the Caribbean and 2 more in the states, Tobias quickly made the Pusser’s Painkiller the signature drink of these now-famous establishments…and perhaps the most popular drink among the sailing community in the US, Caribbean and West Indies.

The drink itself is simple…

PUSSER’S PAINKILLER

4 parts pineapple juice

1 part cream of coconut

1 part orange juice

Combine these 3 ingredients, with lots of fresh grated nutmeg in a glass with ice. How much Pusser’s rum you use depends on how hammered you want to get! A Pusser’s #2 uses 2 parts rum…a Pusser’s #3 uses 3 parts rum…and a Pusser’s #4 uses 4 parts rum!

I’ve had several Pusser’s #4’s back in the day when there was a Pusser’s bar on the island of St John in the USVI many years ago. I’ve also sampled them in the BVI at the 2 Pusser’s locations on Tortola.  But I still prefer going back to Jost Van Dyke and knocking back a few at the place where the Painkiller was born, the greatest beach bar on planet Earth: The Soggy Dollar Bar.

I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to go back. But my bathing suit is already packed.

SOGGY2

Thanks to my buddy, Dr Chezwick, for the photos. No children were harmed during this catamaran trip.

WHISKEY SLUSH FOR THE HOLIDAZE

Posted: December 16, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Uncategorized
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This is my version of a holiday drink I was introduced to by my mother-in-law from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I knew I was marrying into the right family after one sip!

Whiskey slush

Ingredients:

9 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 “Constant Comment” tea bags
12 oz frozen OJ concentrate
12 oz frozen lemonade concentrate
2 cups whiskey (I use Crown Royal)
7Up or Sprite

Boil water and sugar, making sure sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and steep tea bags in liquid for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags.
Add OJ, lemonade and whiskey. Mix well, pour into a freezeable container with a lid. Freeze.
To serve: Scoop the slush out of the container (it doesn’t freeze solid) and mix in a tall glass with 7 Up.

PORK CHOPS WITH CRISPY FENNEL

Posted: December 12, 2013 in barbecue, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, garden, grilling, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Inspired by a garden full of fennel and my fanatical love for all things pork, this recipe just happened this past fall. I use Berkshire heritage pork when possible, a far tastier and healthier choice over standard pork you find in a supermarket. I get it at: http://www.heritagepork.com.

pork chop fennel

 

Ingredients:

 

4 Berkshire pork chops

4 tablespoons finely chopped fennel bulb

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

4 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

extra fennel bulb and fennel fronds

extra olive oil, salt and pepper for sauteing

 

Combine the chopped fennel, sage, garlic salt, black pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Mix well and spread it all over the pork chops. Let them stand for an hour at room temperature.

Light a hot grill. Grill pork chops until done…with quality pork, that does not mean cook it to death!

Chop extra fennel bulb into thin strips about an inch long. Remove fennel fronds from their stems. Saute bulb strips in olive oil, salt and pepper until they are almost crisp. Toss in fennel fronds and cook until fronds and bulb strips are crisp.

Serve pork chops with crispy fennel and fronds on top.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT CROSNES ARE?

Posted: December 8, 2013 in Food, garden, Recipes, Uncategorized
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A few years ago, at Le Saint-Amour, a great restaurant in Quebec City, the dish I ordered had these small strange-looking root vegetables sitting next to the roasted duck entrée. They resembled tiny twisted parsnips…or caterpillars! I needed to know what these things were, and so I asked my French waiter, who came back with a piece of paper that had the word “crosne” written on it. He said: “I don’t know how they say it in English.”
Back at the hotel room, I went right to the laptop and started a search on-line and discovered that crosnes (pronounced crones) are also known as Chinese artichokes, and although they are somewhat common in European gardens, they are really difficult to find in the states.
The plant is a relative of mint (though the leaves have no aroma), a perennial, is easy to grow, spreads on its own, and has those small, convoluted and delicious root clumps (known as tubers to gardeners.) So what’s not to like? Well, apparently, it’s not the gardeners that don’t want to deal with them…it’s the cooks! The tubers are very small and therefore need a little extra effort to make sure they are washed clean before cooking. They don’t need to be peeled (now that would be a pain in the ass) but to many chefs, even the washing is too much of a hassle.
Now it seems that many more chefs are discovering crosnes, and they just can’t get a hold of them.
Harvesting crosnes in the garden. I leave the small tubers in the ground for next season's crop.

Harvesting crosnes in the garden. I leave the small tubers in the ground for next season’s crop.

As a rabid gardener, I found all of this pretty interesting so I searched for sources of buying crosne seeds or plants for my own garden. It took a while (most growers were in Europe or Great Britain), but I finally found a source in Oregon that sold the plants and I bought a few for my home garden.

A relative of the mint plant, crosnes are pretty hardy and are tough to remove once well established, so they need to be planted in an area where you don’t mind if they take over. The tubers are ready to harvest around October, and as long as I leave some in the ground over the winter, the crosnes will be back again the next year. Seems pretty low-maintenance for such a delicious little treat!

photo (2)

As for preparation, a light saute in olive oil and butter, salt and pepper is all they need, until cooked but crisp. They also go well with a deep, rich reduction like I had with my duck at Le Saint-Amour.

KILLER HOLIDAY EGGNOG

Posted: November 29, 2013 in Cocktails, drink recipes, Drinks, Food, mixology, Uncategorized
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Let’s face it: there’s no such thing as healthy eggnog. This recipe kicks ass but is also a heart attack in a glass.

My buddy, Rick Sammarco, a former bartender at Mill’s Tavern in Providence, RI, credits his father, Al, for this eggnog. The original recipe calls for a lot more of everything. I’ve cut it down to a “more reasonable” size. It’s been so long since I bought ice cream, that I didn’t even know that the standard half-gallon size was replaced by a 1.5 quart size!

A word about salmonella: most cases are caused by raw chicken, not raw eggs. Eggs you get in the supermarket are washed so the chance of salmonella, found on the exterior, is minimal. (The inside of the egg is sterile.) Plus, you’re dumping a lot of booze into this drink and that will kill bacteria. In fact, some recipes say to make your eggnog weeks in advance to “sterilize” the drink.

eggnog

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream (I use Breyer’s)

1 pint half and half

15 whole eggs (raw)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 

At least 3/8 cup of each:

spiced rum (I use Capt. Morgan)

whiskey (I use Crown Royal)

brandy (I use E&J)

 

Let the ice cream soften 1 day in the fridge. Mix ice cream, eggs, vanilla, half and half in a blender.

Add spices and liquor. Blend until it’s frothy.

Taste, and add more cinnamon and nutmeg if you like.

After fully blended, let sit in fridge 12-24 hours for flavors to blend. Even longer is better.

 

 

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