Potini’s

Who knew the greatest thing to ever come out of a martini glass would be a mashed potato bar creation tabbed a “potini!” Delicious

Chicken Adobo – Authentic Phillipines Recipe

Last night was a special night.  My Brother in Law, Paul invited us over to meet some of his best friends to have an authentic dish from the Phillipines called Chicken Adobo.  Of course being the foodie that I am, I thought this was a wonderful idea.  Paul’s best friend Hans and his girlfriend prepared the meal and I of course was the annoying guy trying to learn the secrets.  Here is what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1-2 whole chickens (cut into pieces)
1 whole garlic clove
olive oil or vegetable/corn oil
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 whole black pepper cloves
3 dried bay leaves
3 cups soy sauce
2 cups vinegar
1-2 cups 7-up/Sprite/Water (optional)

Hans informed me that this entire recipe is very easy and simple to make and after watching the preparation, I could not agree more.  To start, he said to use equal parts soy sauce and vinegar for the base of the dish.  Vinegar has a strong bite to me, so I would put 2 cups of vinegar and 3 cups of soy to serve as your marinade and your cooking sauce, so you could go either way.  Add peppercorns bay leaves, whole garlic cloves to mixture.  Add Chicken and this will help marinade your chicken as well.
An added step that could be done to create an extra layer of texture would be to sear the chicken pieces.  Heat oil and add chicken and sauté until the chicken begins to brown.  Once the browning has started, add chicken parts back to soy/vinegar mixture to finish off cooking.  Let simmer for and additional 25-35 minutes or until chicken is done.  You can turn the mixture to low to keep warm and it will stay great all day long.

Another added tip.  If the taste of the sauce is too powerful, you can add some 7-up, Sprite, or water to cut the power of the Soy/Vinegar mixture.

Serve over a bed of rice.

I want to sincerely thank Paul, Hans and his wonderful girlfriend for having us over and introducing us to this great authentic dish from the Phillipines.  Thanks.

Try this one out.  If you love food packed with flavor, this will sure to not disappoint.

Holiday Treats for the Holidays

With the holidays upon us, I started thinking this morning about what holiday desert is my favorite. With so many delicious options to choose from, How is is possible to choose a single favorite? That’s why I won’t. I will list several of my favorites. Below are my favorite holiday deserts.

Chocolate Satin Pie
Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream
Cheesecake with Brown Sugar/Bourbon Pecan topping
Creme Brulee with Fresh Berries
Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Holiday Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Cherry Pie

What is your family’s holiday favorite desert?

What are you cooking for Christmas?

With the Christmas season upon us and so many family and friends in town, I have been wondering on what I should cook for Christmas. I am thinking I may do a big breakfast casserole with eggs, chorizo, red pepper, peas, mushrooms, and goat cheese. Then serve biscuits, toast, or cinnamon rolls with. What do you think?

What are you cooking on Christmas Eve?

Which Steakhouse is your favorite?

This December was a big month for me when it comes to eating great steak as I was able to eat at 2 of Indianapolis’s premier steakhouses.  My work Christmas party was a couple weeks ago and we were surprised by going to a place I had never been.  We were surprised to learn that we were going to St. Elmos steakhouse downtown.  I absolutely loved the atmosphere.  It was a very fresh and alive place which was a great change from the typical quiet white table cloth type atmosphere that you get usually at high end steakhouses.  The food was really good.  I ordered the 32 oz (yes you read that right) blackened prime rib with BLT Salad.  The BLT Salad was the best salad that I had ever eaten.  It had huge chunks of garden tomato, smoked bacon and blue cheese on top of a bed of lettuce and topped with an oil and vinegar based dressing that was perfect.  The prime rib was very good as well.  Below is a picture of the plate they brought me.  It is safe to say I did not leave hungry.

On the way home from dinner, my co-workers and I started discussing which steakhouse was the best.  The list included Petersons, Sullivans, Mortons, Eddie Merlots, Flemings, Ruths Chris, St Elmos, Skyline Club and the Eagles Nest.  Everyone had different opinions on which was their favorite.  I had to tell them that for my money, the best place is Ruths Chris.  And with a certain milestone birth day on the horizon in December, I saw a perfect opportunity to take my wife to our favorite place.  Every single time we have been to Ruths Chris they have treated us incredibly and the steaks are also the best tasting.  We both order filet cooked medium rare with mashed potatos, asparagus and creamed spinach.  For desert it is always the creme brulee with fresh berries and decaf coffee.  Our thoughts are why mess with perfection?

What is your favorite Steak?  What is your favorite Steak House?  Post your results.  I really want to hear your feedback!

Im Back….

As some of you may or may not know, my beautiful wife Sarah Buckner recently gave birth to our 2nd child.  That is the reason you have not seen many posts from me.  We have been in the fog that is sleep deprivation during the first month of a newborn.  We are getting back to normal which means time to start posting about food again!  Here is a pic of our new addition.  Stay tuned as the the new posts will be back on a regular basis now!

Emmy Nicole Buckner