Tin Chef

Chicken Fried Steak

Use cube steaks, pound them as thin and evenly as possible, I did this and they still cam out thick so you can really smash em. For the batter use all purpose flour seasoned with salt and pepper maybe a little cayenne. for the egg mixture use one egg and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, stir in one cup of butter milk and it will bubble and foam

Pat the steaks dry, salt and pepper them, drop them into the FLOUR FIRST, coat, then into the egg mixture second, then back into the flour again for a double batter. Fry in any oil (corn is suggested) should only need an inch or less in the pan, oil temp should be at 375 degrees, I could not get mine hot enough, the hotter my oil got the better they came out so really get it so hot you think its going to burn in a secong, they should cook in three to five minutes a side. When you take them out the bottom side will get soggy eat them immediately or store on a rack with something to catch the drips.

For the gravy, save all the little burnt pieces and about two table spoons of grease in the pan.add a chopped onion, a tiny bit of dried tymhe if you have it, cook five minutes add a couple cloves of garlick minced, cook 30 seconds, add 3 table spoons flour, cook a minute (rew), wisk in 1/2 cup chicken broth, scrape, whisk in 2 cups milk, salt pepper, cayenne if you got it, cook and stir till its gravy, adjust flavors.

Cucumber Yogurt

Tried this today and I liked it pretty well. Could use some dill, I didn't have any.

I chopped up half a cucumber, pretty fine, along with 2 green onions (probably could have used more). Mixed with some vanilla yogurt. I've seen similar recipes with Greek yogurt. I've never had Greek yogurt, so I don't know what makes it special.

I think would be a good side for a spicy dish.

My New Favorite Soup

Saw this on a re-run of Malto Mario and I love it. It has a name, but I don't know what it is. It's a favorite because:

• It's simple
• It tastes good
• It makes the house smell good
• It uses stuff you were thinking of throwing away

That last point is important. This is supposed to be a rustic dish. You will be tempted to dress it up. Try it first, you don't need to.

Since this is a "use what you have" dish, there isn't a traditional recipe, but here goes.

Start with some left over, crusty bread, like Italian bread. Cut it in slices, somewhere around an inch thick. Put them in a pot, cover them with water and let them soak for a while.

Slice up some tomatos. Again, these can be ones you were ready to pitch - too soft for salad or other but not spoiled. Cut them into chunks. 1/2'' to 1"". Season, dump in the bread and water. Make sure the water covers everything. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer. The bread and tomato should fall apart. Let it get as thick as you want.

In my last batch, I used 2 slices of bread and 3 tomatoes (closer to 2 after cutting off the bad parts). I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is quite tasty.

Turkey-the other red meat?

In an attempt to cut down on our red meat consumption Kat and I have begun to substitue ground turkey for hamburger. We have done this in chilli, spaghetti, tacos, and burgers. Surprisingly you do not lose much flavor (just a little fat) when you make the switch. The key things to remember are that turkey has to be cooked a little longer and that it has a little different texture. The funny thing is when I made a turkey lasagna the other day I seasoned the turkey with all kinds of stuff (garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, onion, and whatever else I had around) the couple that I had over for dinner both thought that they were eating sausage. I picked up on the sauage flavor as well, I am not sure what it was that made it this way but as we all know sausage is great in pasta (I think better than hamburger). Turkey Burgers are another fun change of pace. When preparing these be ready for a little more shrinkage on the grill than hamburgers and spice it up. I used teriaki in mine which I think is a great complement to ground turkey. For chilli and soups just treat as you would hamburger. No big secret to a turkey taco, just make sure you use lots of CUMIN.

Cast Iron

Recently all of my skillets were dirty and I needed one to cook. So rather than do the dishes I went to my camping gear and pulled out my trusty cast iron skillet. It has not left my stovetop since and all my other skillets have been rendered useless. A lot of people think that these skillets are to much work or think that they are to hard to control. I have found that the heavy skillet does take a little more time to get used to, and a little extra care but is well worth it for a couple of reasons:

1. Even, uniform cooking. Try bringing something to a simmer with your average skillet and with the cast iron on the next burner, You will immediately notice that the number of bubbles are far greatier and more evenly dispersed all the way to the edges with the cast iron. The cast iron will be as hot on the edges as it is in the middle.

2. Ease of stovetop to oven. I love this for chicken breasts, just brown em up and then throw the whole pan right in the oven to finish, pots that can go back in forth lead to more 1 pot dinners which leads to flavor "building" and less dishes.

I recently bought Kat a cast Iron dutch oven and again I love the uniformity and versatillity. I could easly brown a five pound roast, build a sauce and braise my meat in one pan, see POT ROAST for additional comments.

Cast Iron Care

First thing to do when you get your cast iron pot is to season it. This is simply coating the pan entirely (inside and out) with shortening, then putting in a very slow oven (2oo-250 degrees) for an hour or more, then turning off the oven and letting it come down to a cool slowly. Once this is done you are ready to cook. After cooking there are different ways to handle the cleaning:

1. Sometimes just wipeing out the hot pan with a paper towel will get it clean (does not have to sparkle)

2. I use a plastice scraper to scrape off any chunky stuff a wooden spoon works well.

3. When it is really dirty, keep the pan hot after cooking and fill bottom with oil, cook a little longer while scraping with wooden spoon, pure out oil and wipe clean with paper towel.

4. If the pan is still to dirty here is my own secret. Heat two tablespoons of oil in pan about medium hot, throw in a diced onio, cook onion for a few minutes stirring and scraping with wooden spoon, onions will begin to loosen and soak up flavor. when onions are browned, turn up hear to high and pure in a couple cups of hot water (enough to sumerge and dirt part of pan) bring up to a simmer while scraping with wooden spoon and then dump. Your pan will be sparkling clean, and may need to be reseasoned.

5. occasionly wash out with soapy water then reseason. (I reseason after every couple uses)

6. You cannot hurt your cast iron, you can only hurt the seasoning. When you hear things like dont cook tomatoes or use soap on these skillets it is just because you will have to reseason afterwards.

White Chilli

I made a wonderfull white chilli the other day, this is to remind me to come back and put up the recipe, Believe it or not it consists of almost a dozen peppers in one pot!

Best Restaraunts in Manhattan

Here are a few of my favorite spots to dine in Manhattan

Doe's Eat Place

The only place to go to get a great steak in this town. Serving only steak and sides these guys know there way around a cow. With different cuts available daily all served by the pound it brings a unique dining experience to manhattan-with single steaks that can feed five or more people! If you love a good steak there is nothing else in town that comes close to Doe's. This is the place to take that client or special lady. Check out the fried chicken on Sundays!

Rock-a-belly Deli

A quaint little samwhich shop in Aggieville this place is easy to fall in love with. I started going here because it was close to campus and fairly cheap. What I found was one of the coolest little places in town. With a simple menu of samwhiches, this place does the small stuff right. With three of four soups prepared daily, and a large selection of vegetarian meals, and great atmosphere this is the place to come for some homecooking or maybe just a good conversation. Besides the great eats  Rock a Belly features a full bar and outdoor dining on the back patio. Adding to the fun is the constant playing of some of the best in laid back regae music. If you are coming be ready to wait, it only seats twenty or so patrons, but is well worth it.

The Little Grill

This is a restaruant that you would never know exists unless you live here. It is the old Rocky Ford Tavern out at the lake. It was bought out a few years ago and converted to a small Jamiacan theme restaraunt. Right away you are in for a treat as you will not find Jamaican food anywhere else. They have a full menu for those of you who cant handle the house specials of Jerk chicken and Pork (my favorite). The added bonus of this place is again the small capactiy and friendly folks, with live music and cheap beer even on saturdays and all days in between. Much of the live music is performed by the owner/cook/band leader. His band Muzzuzi (not spelled right) has made a name for itself as the top regae band in town.

Mexican in Manhattan

El Cazador (The Hunter)

This is the original. For good, fast mexican food you can not beat it. The restaruant is small, dark and intimate, a good place for a date. The food is good with no stinkers on the menu. Service is friendly and very fast. This is the place that I fell in love with Mexican food, Once eating there three times in one day! It has had its problems with illegals a couple years back so you know it is authentic and delecious.

Los Patrillos

For a little more of an upscale feel there is los Patrillos. Offering a similar quality in food to El Cazador it is a little cleaner and brighter but does not have the same ambiance as Cazador. The food is always good but many times I have found my order to be incorrect. The service here is probably the worst out of the manhattan Mexican Joints but it is still a good dining experience.

La Fiesta

This is the newest one in town and is fast becoming a favorite. It is very bright and clean, missing the authentic feel and going with more of a party atmosphere. They have a ton of seating so the wait is never long. Being new they have a few kinks to work out but they made up for slow service with free cheese dip and a conversation with the kitchen manager. Again the atmosphere is very fun and the servers are quick with a joke and a refill of there 64oz Margaritas! The menu here has the other restaruants covered plus some dishes you will not find anywhere else, Prices are a dollar or two less per plate then anywhere else in town as well. The only problem they seem to have is the line to pay can get slow and upset some patrons when busy.

Hillside Cafe

This is the only Mexican place in town that I have not tried. It was a big hit when it was located in Junction City, with many manhattanites making the trip. Now that it has moved to Manhattan I have continued to here good things about it but Have yet to make the trip. From what I know it is a family owned restaraunt that is fairly small, a place to go when you want to have some good food, not impress a client. I will eat there soon and update this.

Mangos

This week's "battle" is mangoes. I've never, bought or eaten mangoes, so this should be fun.

I bought some today, 2 for $3. I have no idea if that's a good price or not.

My book says that you should be able to smell the perfume when they are ripe. I don't smell them yet, so I haven't done anything with yet. Here are some of the things I am thinking about.

• Mango salsa - maybe on pork or fish.
• I was thinking of grilling them, but someone told me they don't stay together well. We'll see.
• Mangoe pieces and oranges in a spinach salad
• Drink - mango, something and rum
• Mango smoothie (wish I had an ice cream maker)

As I make stuff, I'll add to the comments. You do the same.

Manattan, KS - Mexican Restaurants

I am a huge fan of Mexican food.  Actually, that is the only thing I want to eat if we dine out.

La Fiesta

This restaurant has my gold star of approval.  They have only been open for a few weeks and this restaurant is at the top of my list.  To start, their chips and salsa are a great way to start your dining experience.  Their chips are light and crispy and the salsa has wonderful flavor.  The queso is the best of anywhere in town.  They use a white cheese (I'm not sure what kind, no one will give away this top secret information) that is melted perfectly and doesn't set up after sitting on your table for a few minutes.  The Sancho is my favorite.   It is delicious.  My boyfriend loves their burritos, tacos and enchiladas.  He says they're the best in town.  Their food tastes fresh and is obviously made to order.  Your meal will be presented well, but watch out, the plates are hot.  I highly recommend this restaurant!!  For a change of pace, try their burrito Jalisco if you like pork.