Grandma's Apple Cake

Grandma's Apple Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups of sugar

1 cube of butter

2 eggs

2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking soda

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

½ teaspoon of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 pinch of salt

4 cups of slice apples

Preparation:

Cream sugar and butter; blend in eggs until smooth.  Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; mix well.  Add apples and vanilla and pour into a greased 9” by 13” pan.  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 35-45 minutes.  Let cool and serve.

New York Here We Come!!

Ok, so maybe we haven't been given our own show just yet, but here is to dreaming big! My biggest fan, has set up a Facebook page to see if we can't get some interest from some t.v producer. I'm sure some entertaining video footage will find its way to our blog at some point.

Zap It Ratings

If you enjoyed our episode on 24 Hour Restaurant Battle then check out Zap2It and rate the show.

We're on Wikipedia!!

It's insane to think how the internet has changed the "15 minutes of fame". Our episode is listed on wikipedia..who would've guessed!!

Taking a break from the kitchen

We got a much needed break from the kitchen and enjoyed a Giants game this last weekend!!

24 Hour Restaurant Battle Re-Airing

We've had several people ask about when our episode will re-air. On the Food Network website, it says the episode will re-air June 28th at 11:00 pm ET/PT time and June 29th at 2:00 am ET/PT. So set your DVR and check Mike and I out this week.

Review My Food Network Recipe

This original recipe of mine is what I'm most famous for at the fire house. I guess that would make it one of my signature dishes. Click on the title of my blog and you will be directed to the Food Network website where you can download the receipe so that you can try it and rate it!!

Cal Expo State Fair

California State Fair...Here We Come

Brothers are notoriously competitive.  Twin brothers are even worse.  My twin would always try to turn everything into a competition growing up.  "Let's see who can sink the longest basket.  Let's see who can throw the farthest.  Let's see who can run the fastest."  That competitive nature still transcends most things in our daily interactions and seems to seep into my life at the firehouse. 

As you may have read in a previous blog...the Lodi Fire team, which consisted of Captain Mike Harden and myself, took second place at last year's State Fair, "Firehouse Chefs Competition".  With my competitive nature taking over I was severely dissatisfied with last years second place...I consider second place; the first loser.  Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself since that happened to be my first ever cooking competition, but I couldnt' help the feeling of leaving there empty handed.  All in all we didn't do that bad, but there were a few tweaks that could have been made that would have given us the minuscule three points that we needed to eclipse first place.  This year those will not be overlooked...I promise that!

The main thing is that we worked well as a team, especially since my teammate and I had never cooked together before.  This year however, I feel that the stakes have been slightly raised with my recent appearance on the Food Network, and I sit here and hope that I will be able to match up to this years competition and make dishes worthy enough of the "Golden Bear" (the prize awarded to the first place team).  Our first and foremost goal is to dethrone the two year reigning champs from Woodland who have proven to be very worthy competitors.  Second is that we take the golden bear and a blue ribbon back to Lodi where it should reside at Station 1 for a long while if I have any say in it.

Bottom line is that team Lodi is coming prepared and looking very forward to this years competition.  I know it will be a hard fight, but as long as the victor that is chosen is:  worthy, deserving, formidable...and us, then everything will be just fine!:)  

CPF Fire Vision has been a huge support!!

The California Professional Firefighter' Fire Vision has been a huge support of The Mama Bear Foundation. They did a follow up segment about the show and highlighted the foundation. It's been an amazing experience meeting people who have been affected by cancer and knowing that we are on our way to helping them.

If you're interested in other stories about fire fighters, including other fire house cooks, check out www.cpf.org.

For my pork and chutney that was featured on the show, just log onto the foodnetwork.com.

Hosts With the Most

Quote of the day: "I love cooking with wine... sometimes I even put it in the food!"

Anyone close to my twin brother Kris and I know we just hosted one of the most EPIC events of our entire lives! I have experienced 2 live child births, 9/11, the Giants winning the World Series and the OJ Trial and whether those events were seen as brilliant, remarkable, tragic or down right awful... they cannot compare to what we just experienced on Thursday night, June 16th.

Kris and I were invited to participate on a tv show on the Food Network back in February. For those that know me, you know it is almost impossible to escape my presence without me telling you an extremely long winded story pertaining to some event in my life, whether positive, negative, embarrassing or just down right hysterical... it's almost unavoidable. The amazing part of this night was of the 100+ people in attendance, only a small percentage knew what was about to take place.

Not only did Kris and I appear on a National Television Show... not only did Kris cut his thumb and perfom a pole dance routine unlike any ever executed in the history of pole dancing... not only did we both cry like two 5 year old girls with bee stings when forced to talk about our Mom.... but we got along and acted as teammates for an entire 3 day span of time translating into an entire 1-Hour episode on TV!!! There is physical proof that we were depicted as being a cohesive unit. We were shown as two individuals, more different than the sun and the moon, being presented as representing a united front. We were two polar opposites shown as the perfect balance between tall and short, right and wrong, front and back (of the house), and we proved to all of the critics that when you put OUR MINDS TOGETHER... it is truly a force to be reckoned with!

We played hosts to a large gathering of family, co-workers, free-loaders and friends and I can honestly say I feel we were the HOSTS WITH THE MOST. Where else can one attend a free event and get so much entertainment in such a small amount of time? You cant buy drama like that at the Roxy Movie Theaters downtown! There was laughing, crying, bleeding, cheering, prizes, drinks and a bonding experience not seen in the better part of a decade!

For me personally, this was hands down the best event of 2011 and I can only hope to host many more events such as this...as I play one of the Hosts with the Most.

My Uncle Donnie and I love to cook together and share new recipes!! Whether it's offering cooking advice, being my sous chef or helping our foundation put on an event, I know that I can always count on him in and out of the kitchen. My aunt PJ is always a huge support and I appreciate all of their help.

I appreciate all of the support!

The Mama Bear Foundation is something near and dear to our family. Loosing our matriarch, Patti Graves to cancer 6 years ago has altered our lives for ever. We are determined to take our experience and support the families affected by cancer.

http://www.themamabearfoundation.org/

How about this for a cliche...

Winner, winner chicken dinner!! Thanks to all of you that have watched and even rewatched the show! Mike and I had a blast and the experience was unforgettable. We feel lucky to have gotten to compete against Sierp and Jeff. They are amazing guys and what the show doesn't illustrate is what a great time we had with them over the three days of filming.

I will post more about my experience of being on the show later.

It's Getting Hot in Here

"It's getting hot in here", ...so take off all your clothes. I think somone should write a song about that! I appreciate that this article highlighted the monetary piece of making dinner at the firehouse and how the budget issues have an impact on what we cook. Most people don't know that we pay for our own meals and that cost can add up really fast.

I'm on the news!!!!

It's crazy that 35 minutes of taping is gutted down to 2 minutes.

Kole Slaw

Kris' Kole Slaw

As with all of my recipes I always put an nontraditional spin in the things I cook. Since, I can't stand mayonnaise (it's bad for you), I substituted the mayo for plain yogurt. I use this "kole slaw" as a side for my pulled pork sandwiches, as well as my pulled pork ravioli.

Ingredients:
½ cup of sour cream
¼ cup of plain yogurt
¼ cup of Dijon mustard
¼ cup of packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of buttermilk
2 teaspoons of celery salt
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of cayenne
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
½ head of green cabbage
½ head of red cabbage
1 green bell pepper chopped fine
2 carrots peeled and shredded
½ cup of grated yellow onion
¼ cup of fresh minced parsley

Preparation:
In a bowl, combine sour cream, yogurt, mustard, sugar vinegar, buttermilk, salts, pepper, cayenne and pepper flakes; whisk well to dissolve the sugar. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Toss with the dressing until evenly coated and adjust seasoning to taste. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill slightly before serving.

Firefighter Cook Off Final Round

Chicken Curry

This recipe for came from an adaption from my brother Mike's Chicken Curry. It's amazing over rice but also makes a great appetizer when you use the filling as a tostada topping.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

-6 tablespoons EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

-4 Chicken Breasts OR 6  boneless, skinless thighs

-1 small yellow onion, diced.

-1 small jalapeno, 1 serrano pepper both finely chopped

-6 to 8 tablespoons Madras Curry Powder

-4 tablespoons Cayenne

-2 teaspoons Cumin

-1 teaspoon chili powder

-2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

-1 tablespoon of fresh ginger

-1/3 of a bunch of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

-1/4 cup to ½ cup of heavy cream

-1 or 2 doll ups of cream cheese or plain yogurt

 This recipe is for 4 regular size breasts or about 6-8 boneless, skinless thighs or a combo of the two.  Add additional ingredients if adding additional chicken.  Dice meat in small, fine pieces.  I like to slice them when still partially frozen.  In a Dutch oven, put in about 2-3 tablespoons of Olive Oil.  Once hot, add chicken.  I like to season at each stage so take about 3 tablespoons of Hot Curry- My favorite is called a Madras Curry Powder.  Also put in about another half teaspoon of cayenne, salt, pepper and ½ teaspoon of chili powder and another ½ teaspoon of cumin.  Once chicken is about 90% cooked….(only about 5 - 7 minutes), remove from dutch oven and place in a bowl.  Drain chicken fat but do not wash out- that’s all flavor!!  Pour in 3 more tablespoons of Olive Oil.  Once hot add diced onion and peppers.  Add in 3 more tablespoons of curry powder, 1 – 2 teaspoons of cayenne, ½ - 1 teaspoon of cumin and stir.  After about 2-3 minutes, add in garlic and ginger.  After about another 2-3 minutes of stirring, add chicken back in to mixture.  Another 2-3 minutes later, add in cream and cream cheese.  Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently until mixture is well blended and sauce is thick but still creamy.  Stir in cilantro and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Serve with Nan bread or tortillas and serve over basmati rice.  Note: when cooking rice, put about 4 Bay Leaves and 5 or 6 Cloves in rice.  Remove cloves and leaves before plating.

CPF Fire Vision

I'm not even sure what I would owe for making it in the CPF Fire Vision publication! I'll keep you posted.

Support from our local paper

I don't know if I'm going to be able to live this one down!!! It's tradition that if you make the paper you owe everyone at the firehouse ice cream!! The shear amount that I'll owe for this article is mind-boggling!!

Real-Eats

An interesting article about the show, 24 Hour Restaurant Battle. Mike and I are featured in the photographs.

Pork and Cranberry Chutney

My twin brother Mike and I are on an episode of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle. Follow the link to the episode to download the recipe for my version of a pork with a cranberry chutney.

Cook with Passion

To cook or not to cook...that is the question! With the schedules that we keep who has the time to cook these days? With the price of gas making the cost of food steadily increase and McDonald's able to give you a grease laden Big Mac meal (Super-Sized even) for less than the cost of a gallon of gas; I ask, "what are we supposed to do?" We need to eat, and I know that I am not the only one concerned with how they look naked, so can we really afford to ingest a caloric mother load that is going to reside on our hips for days to come? More than likely the adults in the household have jobs that ask them to be there until 5pm or after, (some of which require our significant others to put in 20 or so more hours a week then they get paid for) and who would be willing to trust a teenager with the evening's fare; likely to consist of macaroni and cheese from a box, served with a side of eloquently bronzed tater tots...

My Mama, a legend in her own right, was a phenom when it came to using leftovers or items from the pantry to create a meal fit for a King that could easily provide sustenance for a family of four. The staples in the house consisted of pasta, cheese, cream of mushroom soup and a protein of sorts, which singularly may sound dull and lifeless; but when put together, with love (that is the secret to all good tasting meals) turned into a symphony of flavors yet to be replicated!

This is my challenge to all of you faithful readers of The Jogger Chronicles: at least 1 night a month, try to cook from the things that you have left yourself in the pantry. It is okay to assemble a casserole or throw everything except the kitchen sink into a tortilla and call it a burrito, just make sure that you use leftovers or already purchased pantry items. When making a trip to the store sounds like the worst idea on the planet, and you couldn't stand the thought of wasting 1,500 calories on fast food, utilize what you have to create a masterpiece! I personally try to do this every two weeks or so, and I will do my best to give ideas or recipes that I have done in the past to get the creative juices flowing. The plan this week was to be as healthy as possible...including zero salt used in the recipe! The other night between the fridge and the pantry I had:

fresh spinach (about 4 cups)
1 green bell pepper (finely diced)
1 onion (cut in half and sliced thin)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 can of garbanzo beans (no salt added)
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of olive oil

In a pan I heated the olive oil and sauteed the onion, bell pepper, garlic and crushed red pepper flake until the onions were translucent (about 5 minutes). I added the vinegar and the spinach, and cooked until the spinach wilted. Lastly I added the chickpeas and cooked until they were heated through. Toss with Parmesan cheese if so desired...

I was very hesitant when I was putting all of this together, very unsure of how it would taste and scared to serve it to others. It turned out way better than I had anticipated and really the only fat in it was from the olive oil...and that's good fat. Not every meal or side dish that I put together with leftovers or from the pantry is figure friendly, but if I have the chance to make it good and good for you then that it forever the goal.

Stay tuned for more random ramblings from this guy...and remember that if you are going to bother with making food from scratch; make sure to do it with love...it makes all of the difference in the world!!!!