Atomic Chef Spices

“Blue Sky” Salsa Recipe

Atomic Chef — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:02:55 +0000

25 ripe Roma tomatoes(top removed)
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 Fresh jalapenos
1 Onion large chopped and roasted.
3 TBLS Atomic Chef “OMG” Spice
2 TBLS Atomic Chef “Reel and Rifle” Spice
1 TBLS Atomic Chef “Ranchers Steer Rub” Spice
1/2 cup Louisiana hot sauce
3 Tbls Chili powder
1 Tbls cayenne
2 heaping TBLS chopped fresh garlic

In a food processor rough puree all food ingredients. To make the roasted onion: large chop the white onion,toss with 1 Tbls. olive oil,place on baking sheet and cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Finally stir in all seasonings and hot sauce. Chill and serve.

Winning Steak Marinade Recipe

Atomic Chef — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:09:52 +0000

This winning marinade can be used with any cut of steak. Before marinading use a fork to perforate your steaks so the marinade can better penetrate the steak. This also shortens the time that you need to marinade. Besides the “Atomic Chef” seasoning that you need I always caution cooks to use very good wines in all recipes calling for wine. This Little Penguin Cabernet is a very drinkable. The dryness balances perfectly with the savory spices to create a very complex taste. ince we have had this success I am now perfecting a chicken marinade to use with Boneless/Skinless chicken breasts.

Watch for this on our site soon. ~Mike

Download and Print Chef Mike’s Grand Master Winning Recipe – Steak Marinade. Use the recipe for yourself or package it with the gift set for the Holidays!

4 8 oz. Steaks
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/8 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Atomic Chef “OMG” Seasoning
2 Tablespoon Atomic Chef “Rancher’s Steer Rub”
1 Tablespoon Fresh Chopped Garlic Clove
¼ Cup Fresh Chopped Green Onions
½ Cup Little Penguin Cabernet

Mix all ingredients in large one gallon zip lock bag. Place steaks in bag and put in refrigerator for four (4) hours. Grill steak over hot coals to desired temperature, seasoning both sides liberally with Rancher’s Steer Rub. Let steak rest for ten minutes before serving

Sunday Morning Breakfast

AtomicChef — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:54:03 +0000

I was remembering the other day how special Sunday mornings were for me when I was growing up. On these mornings, Dad cooked breakfast. I don’t know how or why that tradition started. His breakfast duty just seemed logical: Since mom cooked breakfast the rest of the week, Sunday was her day off.
I think it was good for me to see my dad preparing food, as well as helping with the clean up. It taught me that we should all share in all duties in the kitchen…and around the house.
As I was thinking about those Sunday mornings, I tried to remember whether the food was any good. I can’t. And it really doesn’t matter anymore. I just know that I never went away from the table hungry. I think the tradition was truly more important than anything. My dad took pride in taking on that task, a task that probably began as a difficult one, a task that soon proved to him that he could be successful in the kitchen.
Now that I’m a dad, I know that making breakfast can be quite simple, though as proficiency improves, so can the menu ideas. If you’re new to breakfast making, try some of these simple ideas…then expand as your skills improve:
*Toasted English muffins with triple-berry jam (found at the farmers market)
with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with chives. The secret to
moist scrambled eggs is to use cream instead of water and to cook very
slowly over a low flame while stirring almost constantly.
*Fresh hashbrowns—Boil potatoes until just barely cooked, then run them over a
cheese shredder; heat up a skillet before pouring in a bit of oil, then a bit
of butter; slip the shreds into the pan and fry until brown on one side, then
flip to the other. You can fry with chopped onion or chives if you like.
*Fresh buttermilk biscuits with honey butter—Flip through your favorite recipe
book for a good basic biscuit recipe. When the recipe says “stir just to
mix,” it’s important that you do just that. Overmixing can destroy good,
light biscuits.   The honey butter is made by mixing in some honey with
soft butter—to taste. You can always add more if it isn’t as sweet as you
like it.
*Pancakes made from scratch with strawberries and syrup—Again, find a very
basic, very easy pancake recipe to follow. When you get brave, you’ll
find yourself wanting to add blueberries, wheat germ (maybe not),
orange juice instead of water or milk, granola…anything to doll them
up! Slice up some strawberries for the top and drizzle warm syrup over
everything. Mmmm.
*Omelets—(See the chef’s demo.) Heat up an omelet pan, brush it with oil, mix
  up a couple eggs, and slide them into the hot pan. Let them cook without
  stirring until the surface begins to congeal, then add any ingredients you
  wish (COOKED bacon, COOKED onion, COOKED green pepper,
  some crumbled blue cheese) before folding the omelet over and serving.
  (Note: The secret is to cook added ingredients (except cheese) to the
  cooked eggs. Never add cold, uncooked onions, for example, to hot eggs.)
*Waffles with whipped butter and blueberry syrup—Get a good stick-free waffle
  iron to save yourself some gray hair. The rest is easy, especially because
  blueberry syrup is sold in the syrup aisle at your favorite grocery store!
Even if you begin your Sunday morning breakfast tradition with buttered toast and your favorite jam, it’s important that you just begin. It’s the tradition in the kitchen that counts the most!

Accomplishment: An Appetite for Life

Atomic Chef — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:34:47 +0000

Within the human unit creeps the notion that cooking is about reading recipes, looking at pictures and reassuring oneself that it can never look that good coming out of my oven.

The word is not the thing.

Cooking takes time.
Cooking needs questions answered.
Cooking takes you in the kitchen, making mistakes –but growing more knowledgeable.

As with more things than you can imagine perseverance and spirit will bring about accomplishment.

Which leads to you sitting down to a great meal.

Today’s recipe: Blazin’ Base

2 cups soy sauce
1 small package frozen chopped spinach
3/4 cup green onions
juice of 1 lime
1 TBLS chopped garlic
1 chopped habenero pepper
Simmer above ingredients in a small sauce pan for 1 hour
Cool and add 1.5 cups smoky BBQ sauce,1.5 cups red hot sauce, and 1/4 cup Cajun seasoning blend

Take this base and use it as your own spicy wing or pork chop sauce or add it to Alfredo and stir into pasta.
Did I mention–accomplishment.

~AC

Complete: An Appetite for Life

Atomic Chef — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:34:30 +0000

There is nothing in this life that evokes ethereal pleasure more than enjoying a glass of wine with dinner.

It is all in the balance between the two. Neither should over-power the other. The stoic rules that used to describe best practices are gone. It is much more about what you like. Obviously you want complementation.

I look for wines that are balanced inherently. Good quality wines are found by doing the research. I trust magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast to suss out quality and then look at price points for great buys.

I cook dinner around the wine. Usually employing the wine in a sauce or vinaigrette. Many times I will put a small amount in the marinade.

This provides a blending effect that is wonderful.

At the table you complete the experience by noting the compliments.

Today’s Blue Sky Recipe:

Roasted Garlic-Chipotle Mayo

Roast 1 bulb of garlic and squeeze out 2 TBLS
Find Chipotle in adobo sauce at the store. You need 2 chilies
Blend in processor 2 cups mayo
Season with essence, white pepper, chili powder, salt.

Use for sandwich spread or a dipping sauce. Great with Coastal Estates cab. 2006

“body meets kick”

~AC

Bold Flavors: An Appetite for Life

Atomic Chef — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:33:30 +0000

As in all arts, cooking is imitation. You try and recreate what you have seen, tasted or smelled before.

It is not easy and often times leads to miscalculations. This is why understanding recipes and how they can be so helpful works.

Always read then reread recipes. In all sources for recipes there are differences. The one constant is measuring. For first tries, be as accurate as possible. Then develop your own take on it as you make it a number of times.

Start a recipe file for winners and attempt to be consistent with your final presentation.

It is this consistency that will be a bright spot in your repertoire. You will be able to hone your culinary skills so that even the most difficult recipes seem doable.

My sources for recipes vary but I find most by looking through cooking magazines at the checkout counters. Multitasking on the cheap.

My cooking theme for this season: Bold Flavors – No Borders.

Cuban Sauce
2 cup heavy Mayo
3 tbls Heinz 57
1 tsp each: gran. garlic, gran. onion, white pepper, cayenne, Lawry’s seasoned salt
3 Tbls. smoky BBQ sauce
3 dashes Tabasco

~AC

Fun and Loving: An Appetite for Life

Atomic Chef — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 03:36:11 +0000

I have been reading Julia Childs’ latest book My Life in France. A must read for all you foodies out there. I now am going to get her first book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

There was also a movie – but this is not a rom-com. This is great food on a plate from your stove.

Cookery and Bookery are two separate issues. Yet are so entwined. The essentials of the latter make for the performance of the former.

As I move through this season I am already starting to think about the holidays and what a great time we will be having in our kitchen. Things just seem a bit dreary with this weather and all. I want snow?

Today’s recipe, Balsamic Vinaigrette, is for the Rustic bread salad from our menu. It is one of the basic formulas of all vin’s. 3 to 1, oil to vinegar. Then adjust the flavor to suit your style. I like bold italian such as Oregano and Marjoram. Seldom do I create heat within my vin’s; it doesn’t play well with greens.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 cup Olive Oil (good not necessarily EV)
1/3 cup imported balsamic vinegar
1 clove chopped garlic
1 Tbls minced onion
Season with S and P. Add oregano, marjoram, basil either chopped fresh or dry.

~AC