Ramen – 6/26/2013 – Invite

Posted June 25th, 2013 by Chris

Hi Kids,

For those who’ve been to college, the word ‘ramen’ probably brings to light warm and fuzzy memories of being sleep-deprived, cash-deficient and utterly starving. However, anyone who has ever visited Japan can probably attest that what we call ramen here in the states is about as close to real ramen as velveeta is akin to actual cheese. We at the cooking army hope to duplicate the unique Japanese experience of buying your soup from a vending machine then happily being screamed at by all of the employees in a restaurant simultaneously. Just trust me, it’ll be good, and possibly full of silent judgment for legitimacy.

Items!

When: This Wednesday, June 26th. Cooking starts at 6:30. Food by 7:45.
What: Miso Ramen, Shoyu Ramen, Vegetarian Shiitake Ramen, Mochi of various flavors

As usual, you should bring anything you’d like to drink. Asahi or sake would make sense, but honestly anything would probably go well with Ramen. Hope to see you all there because it’s time to eat.

-Jeremy

Most of the time at Cooking Army, we try to do a theme for our dinners. This is not most of the time. This is…some of the time! Dun Dun DUUUUUNNNN! This time we are throwing caution to the wind and cooking stuff that doesn’t really go together at all but I want to cook. So nyah! This is about as rebellious as I get. Bask in my rebellion by eating with us.

Things you should know.

When: This Wednesday, June 12th. Cooking at 6:30. Food by 7:30.
What: White Asparagus Soup, Potato Pancakes, Kristin’s Couscous Concoction

Come on and join the rebellion. All the cool kids are doing it. Cost of entry is beer or a beverage of your choice. It’s time to eat.

Southern Food – 5/29/2013 – Invite

Posted May 28th, 2013 by Chris

Hello you’ll,

I recently went to the land of the colonel and passed the signs for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I didn’t stop, so now you all get to share in our attempt to recreate the chicken and sides we love. Since I haven’t been to KFC in ages, we may all suffer together. In the past we’ve had troubles with fried chicken, so we’re adding batter in the hopes of a perfect fried outside, or at least something you can scrap away if we burn it.

When: This Wednesday, May 29th. Cooking at 6:30. Food by 7:45.
What: Battered Fried Chicken, Mac & Cheese (not from a box), Drop Biscuits, Greens

Naturally, beer is appreciated.

Enjoy,
Jason

Native American – 5/15/2013 – Recipes

Posted May 28th, 2013 by Chris

This went pretty well with just a few people showing up, but the food was damn tasty.

Fry Bread Tacoshttp://allrecipes.com/recipe/indian-tacos-with-yeast-fry-bread/detail.aspx
The tacos were great, just the meat filling was probably one of the best items of the night.

Corn Chowderhttp://www.food.com/recipe/indian-corn-chowder-349389
This was good, but took a bit longer since we doubled the recipe.

Baked Butternut Squash Stuffed with Apples and Sausagehttp://www.food.com/recipe/baked-butternut-squash-stuffed-with-apples-and-sausage-39014
This was really tasty and much easier to make than butternut squash soup. Probably my favorite, although it was close with the tacos.

Rice Puddinghttp://www.food.com/recipe/indian-rice-pudding-8670
A little soupy, you could probably use much less milk in the making of this. Very tasty with cinnamon.

Native American – 5/15/2013 – Invite

Posted May 12th, 2013 by Chris

Hey Kids,

The history of America is one of conflict, as we all know. First came the single celled organisms and they were eventually oppressed and marginalized by dinosaurs, those in turn were eventually oppressed and marginalized by meteors, which in turn were eventually oppressed and marginalized by buffalo, who in turn were eventually oppressed and marginalized by native Americans. I think the story ends there, or at least that is when I fell asleep in history class. I am certain our current feeble government is just another stepping stone toward an inevitable world of insectoid alien overlords. Anyway, of this long line of oppression, only one group managed to record any recipes, so this week at cooking army we celebrate the food of various Native American tribes.

Items!

When: Wednesday, May 15th. Cooking at 6:30. Food by 7:45.
What: Fry Bread Tacos, Corn Chowder, Butternut Squash Stuffed with Apples and Sausage, Rice Pudding

Beer would be sadly appropriate, but bring whatever you’d like to drink. Bring your poor, your starving, your pitiful masses fleeing from alien oppression. It’s time to eat.

-Jeremy

“Best of” Edition – 5/1/2013 – Recipes

Posted May 2nd, 2013 by Chris

It was a small showing tonight, but that’s ok, it was a beautiful night out!

Disappearing Pork
Marinade
1 cup fresh orange juice
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. molasses
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
6 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
Rub
6 tsp chili powder
3 tsp cracked black pepper
3 tsp kosher salt
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp granulated garlic

Directions
To make marinade: in small bowl whisk together the marinade ingredients. Trim any excess fat and silver skin from tenderloins.  Place the tenderloins in a large resealable plastic bag and add the marinade.  Press the air out of the bag and seal tightly.  Turn the bag to distribute the marinade, place in a bowl and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, turning occasionally.

To make the rub: in a small bowl combine the rub ingredients

Remove the tenderloins from the bag and discard the marinade.  Coat evenly with the rub and lightly brush or spray with olive oil.  Allow to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before grilling. Grill over indirect medium heat until the centers are barely pink and the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees farenheit, 25 to 30 minutes, turning once halfway through the grilling time.  Remove from the grill, loosely cover with foil and allow to rest for 3 to 5 minutes before cutting into thin slices on the bias. Makes 12 servings.
Amazing as ever. For those using this recipe, note these amounts are tripled from the standard.

Roasted vegetable frittata (doubled)
We’ll need to make two frittata’s rather than trying to double it.
2 small zucchini, 1-in diced
2 red bell peppers, 1.5 in diced
2 yellow bell, 1.5 in diced
2 red onion, 1.5 in diced
2/3 c olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 t minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 dozen eggs
2 c half-and-half
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 T unsalted butter
2/3 chopped scallions, white and green parts (6 scallions)
1c grated Gruyère cheese (about 4 oz)

Roast the vegetables at 425 degrees for 15 minutes with 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. After 15 minutes, stir, add garlic and cook for another 15 minutes.

<in two large bowls>
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 dozen eggs, 1c half-and-half, 1/4c Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

In a 10-inch oven proof sauté pan, melt the butter and sauté the scallions over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Add the roasted vegetables to the pan and toss with the scallions. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat without stirring. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake the frittata for 20 to 30 minutes, until puffed and set in the middle. Sprinkle with the Gruyère and bake for another 3 minutes, until the cheese is just melted. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges and serve hot.
I heard it turned out pretty good, but everyone was pretty stuffed by the time this came out.

Festive Black Bean Chili
2 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 cup prepared Mexican-style red salsa
2 red and/or green bell peppers, chopped
3 cups cooked black beans (2 15 ounce cans, drained and rinsed)
3 cups canned whole tomatoes, with juice (28-ounce can)
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (11 ounce package)
salt to taste
Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce to taste

In a covered soup pot, cook the onions and garlic in the water on high heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and stir on high heat for a minute. Stir in the salsa and bell peppers, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the black beans and tomatoes; simmer for 10 minutes. Add the corn and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add salt and Tabasco to taste Stir in the cilantro, if desired.
Again, great as always. Could have used a bit more garlic, but I think nearly everything always could.

Grilled Veggies
Miscellenous veggies chopped up, wrapped in tin foil, doused in olive oil, and thrown on the grill.
JP “steamed” some of these instead of grilling them, but they turned out pretty good anyway.

“Best of” Edition – 5/1/2013 – Invite

Posted April 29th, 2013 by Chris

It’s suddenly warm outside! That means there’ll be one more good snow before Summer hits, but until it does, we’re breakin’ out the grill and cookin’ some of the best stuff we’ve ever cooked. That means Disappearing pork. That means Festive Black Bean Chili. We put together a Barefoot Contessa Cooking Army about a year ago and everyone said the Frittata was the bees knees, so we’re doing that too. And to do just a bit more grillin’ because it’s so nice outside, we’re gonna do up some more veggies for you plant eatin’ types.

When:  This Wednesday, May 1st.  Cooking starts at 6:30.  Food ready by 7:30
What:  Disappearing pork, Roasted Vegetable Frittata, Festive Black Bean Chili, Grilled Veggies

Bring your friends.  Bring your booze. It’s time to eat.

/Chris

Sorry folks, no Cooking Army this week

Posted February 19th, 2013 by Chris

Just what the title says, we won’t be having Cooking Army this week, but I will post an update as soon as we have a new one scheduled.

 

That’ll do, pig – 2/6/2013 – Recipes

Posted February 12th, 2013 by Chris

As opposed to last week’s vegetarian dishes, we went with all pork. And it was all really good!

Collard Greenshttp://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1750,134176-246199,00.html
We’ve done this one before and they turned out appropriately spicy, but not crying spicy.

Ham with Honey and Brown Sugar Glazehttp://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ham-with-Honey-and-Brown-Sugar-Glaze/Detail.aspx
The ham we used already had maple glaze (oops!), but it actually ended up making it taste great! (yay!)

Teriyaki Pork Tenderloinhttp://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-teriyaki-pork-tenderloin/
This was the best of the night, great teriyaki flavor and the slow cooked juice was perfect for dipping the meat into.

Bacon Wrapped Dateshttp://www.yumsugar.com/Recipe-Bacon-Wrapped-Dates-4952556
This isn’t necessarily the recipe we used, since we essentially: wrap dates in bacon, put toothpick through bacon wrapped date, put in oven until bacon is cooked. I bought a variety of bacon, the maple bacon turned out really well with these.

That’ll do, pig – 2/6/2013 – Invite

Posted February 5th, 2013 by Chris

Hey folks,

Are you a meatavore? We hope so, because this week we’re going whole hog in the meat category. We’ve selected some choice cuts of pork that should make you squeal with delight. I won’t try to boar you with the details, but we’re not gonna swindle you with low rate spam. Did I mention bacon? Because there’ll be BACON.

When: This Wednesday, February 6th. Cooking starts at 6:30. Food ready as early as 7pm.
What: Ham with Honey and Brown Sugar Glaze, Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin, Bacon Wrapped Dates, Collard Greens

Feel free to bring whatever goes good with pig, whether you’re into beer or swine… err, wine. Bring your friends, bring your carnivores, bring your bellies, it’s time to eat.