Remoulade Dipping Sauce

This sauce is a perfect pairing for fish dishes. It's great for crab cakes, fish tacos, baked salmon, and any other seafood plate that might need a little perk.

What you'll need:
(all veggies are measured as being minced)

• 3 tsp Light Mayo
• 1/2 tsp Celery
• 1/2 Green Pepper
• 1/8 tsp Worcestershire or Light Soy Sauce (whatever you have)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1/4 tsp Franks Red Hot
• 1 tsp Ketchup
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Spicy Mustard
• 1/4 tsp Onion

Mince all vegetable ingredients as finely as possible and add to a mixing bowl with the rest of ingredients. Mix VERY well. Before adjusting the flavors, let this sit mixed and chilled for about 15-20 first and give it a few stirs in between. Then kick up the flavor with extra Red Hot, Garlic, Lemon, or Mustard. Whatever your taste prefers. If you'd like to cool the flavor down, add a little more mayo and Ketchup. (Make this recipe easier by using your food processor to mince!)

MAN FOOD: Beef Jerky

For this the inaugural edition of Man Food we're making Beef Jerky!



Fact: I love meat. Yea I said it.
Fact: Meat has a slight portability issue.

Solution: Beef Jerky
Better Solution: Homemade Beef Jerky.
The ingredients:

• Soy Sauce (1/3 cup)
• Worcestershire sauce (1/2 cup)
• Liquid Smoke (Just a few drops)
• Black Pepper (1/2 teaspoon)
• Onion Powder (1/2 Tbsp)
• Garlic Powder (1/ Tbsp)
• Cola (1/4 cup, Optional)
• MEAT! (1 to 2 lbs.)

Before you begin, there are a few different ways to dry your Jerky, I used a dehydrator, you can use an oven, or even a box fan and air duct filters. I chose the dehydrator for the simple reason is that we were in the middle of a heat wave and it did not seem like a fun idea to have my oven battle my air conditioning for control over my house.

This one specifically

Choosing your steak. Fat does not preserve well choose a steak with light marbling, and when you do come across a bit of fat trim it out. Drying Beef Jerky was originally a way to keep meat from spoiling. Leaving in fat will not add as much flavor as it will just set you up for failure. I don't tolerate failure. At least not when it comes to my Beef Jerky. (If you haven't noticed it yet Beef Jerky will be capitalized in every instance to emphasize its greatness)

Lets get to the meat. This is a pretty simple technique

1. Cut your desired steak into thin strips, I go about an inch wide and 1/4 inch thick. Different sizes will dry at different rates, so try to be uniform.
2. Into a bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk them together. Here's the optional cola part. If your looking for a slightly more mild/sweet flavor. Coke or Pepsi will grant your meaty wish. About 1/4 cup
3. Marinade in a Ziploc bag for 3-6 hours, unless you used cola then the acidity of the cola will turn you meat into a mushy mush thing.
4. Dry your meat, use a paper towel to damp dry the excess marinade, the meat itself has absorbed all it will by now and wet meat will only take longer to dry
5. This is the final stage in which normal everyday meat finishes its beautiful metamorphosis into Beef Jerky (see capitalized)                                                   

Drying your meat:

Stove: Put your stove on its lowest setting (probably warm) and hang the steak strips from the rack with tooth picks and tin foil underneath to catch all the drippings. This should take about 10 hours

Dehydrator: This particular batch took me about 4 hours, check your user manual for more details, different models dry at different speeds

Fan: As this is Alton Brown's Method we can use his suggestion of 8 to 12 hours

Pro tip: Your Jerky will continue to dry slightly after its freed from the confines or your drying apparatus. Remove it just before optimal dryness is achieved.

And there you have it, you just birthed a masculine haunch of Beef Jerky. Look at it, its goddamn glorious.My favorite uses for Jerky are as followed; movie snack, driving snack, zombie Apocalypse survival snack, breakfast, lunch, second dinner, hiking treat, and as an aphrodisiac.

If you like this article or any other article, or want to suggest a recipe or anything else you can reach us at Itsbestservedhot@gmail.com All feedback is welcome.

Zuke and Mac

I have relatives who live in Italy...here is their masterpiece. It's pasta with a zucchini marinara. Thanks Aunt Janie and Uncle Michael!

What you'll need:

• 1/4 Large Yellow Onion
• 4 Zucchini
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomato
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 Stick Butter
• 1 Egg
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Basil
• Salt
• Pepper

Make It:
Chop and Sautee onion with a dash of salt and pepper in a medium pan with extra virgin olive oil.
Chop and cube zucchini after deseeding it. I made that mistake once and it sucked. Add de-seeded Zukes to onions.
Continue to sautee until the zucchini is tender.
Add the diced tomato to the zucchini and let it cook on low for about 30 minutes. Add seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Boil your pasta while your zucchini and onion are finishing up. I like using whole wheat thin spaghetti, but this also works well with farfalle (bow ties), and angel hair.

While the pasta is cooking...

In a mixing bowl add that 1/2 stick of butter, cubed. Oh yes, the whole thing. (Where's my healthy agenda you ask? Well, the answer is simple...somtimes a sacrifice needs to be made. This is one of those times. But honestly, you can get away with only using a quarter stick and be okay.) Next, add the raw, beaten egg.

Before draining the pasta when finished, set aside a cup of the used pasta water.

In the mixing bowl containing the butter and egg, add the HOT pasta and mix very well. The pasta will cook the egg and melt the butter.

Then, add the zucchini sauce! If is slightly dry, pour some of that used pasta water in there and mix it up until it reached your desired looseness. If you want to add the cheese, sprinkle it over the top.

Sweet and Salty Kettle Corn

Is it raining out?? Are the kids haunting you for snacks and you just don't know what to make them?? Well look no farther! I have a recipe that not only will your kids love, but you will too!
Don't have kids, No problem!! This is great for a movie, or just lounging around the house type of day!

Here's what you'll need:

• Oil (Enough to cover the kernels about halfway)
• Popcorn Kernels (Remember this stuff expands to about 45 times its un-popped size)
• Sugar (1 Tablespoon)
• Salt (To taste)
• A pot WITH a lid (1)

That's all it takes for a sweet and savory snack that's big in taste and low in cost!
Follow these simple steps and you'll be on your way to stuffing your face with this awesome kettle corn. (Don't worry, we don't judge.. Simply because we do it too :-)

In a large pot pour in some oil just a little bit more than whats needed to coat the bottom. Next dump in the sugar! I use a few tablespoons (at the max!) I find that to generally be sufficient. Now, the amount of pop corn you want to make will vary. For 2 people, I generally find that 1/2 c is PLENTY. Fire up the heat allow the oil to get hot WITH the kernels and COVER! Covering is important, why? Because they fly with molten hot sugar on them. Once they start popping, shake the pot in a circular motion to get all the sugar on each kernel, continue until you don't hear such rapid popping. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Allow to cool for a minute and enjoy!

Lettuce Wraps

Crunchy and delicious. Super Simple. Fun and healthy.  Trifecta! : )

What you'll need:

• 1/2 Head Iceburg Lettuce
• 1lb 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey
• 1 Carrot
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1 Handful Dry Roasted Peanuts
• 1/2 Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1/2 Jalepeno

Dipping Sauce:

• 2 tbls Hoisin Sauce
• 1 1/2 tbls Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Lite Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Ginger
• 1 Clove Garlic
• Fresh Lemon
• 1 tbls Rice Wine Vinegar

Start this off with making the sauce. I like to make the sauce as a a little potent because ground turkey is very bland and flavorless and tends to soak up all the flavor of this sauce when it's cooked in. 

Very simply mince the 1 garlic clove and ginger as finely as you can. Add all the ingredients of the dipping sauce together in a mixing bowl and whisk until completely mixed or peanut butter blends completely.

Let this refrigerated while we work on everything else. Taste test...is the sauce a little salty for your taste? Add a little water and a teaspoon of sugar!

Julienne (cut into thin, long strips) the carrot, cucumber, jalepeno and peppers. In a small bowl add some Rice Wine Vinegar and let them soak. Chop up the jalepeno a little more if you're afraid of the heat.

Rise your 1/2 Head of Iceburg lettuce well and gently pull off the "cups" and arrange on a plate.

In a medium dry heated pan, add the ground turkey with the other minced garlic clove. As is begins to cook, start chopping the meat until it starts to look crumbled. Cook thoroughly for approximately 15 minutes.

Once the turkey is about 80% done, add the sauce and let it cook in. (*If you broke the rules and are using ground beef or chicken or turkey that is not 99% fat free, please drain the fat from your pan before adding the sauce we made.) Have extra sauce? Good! Put it in a small cup on the side for dipping! Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, or until the turkey is done cooking.

Then, drain the vegetables that were soaking in the Rice Wine Vinegar.

Arrange the veggie blend on a large serving plate next to a small pile of peanuts with the lettuce cups and a small cup of the dipping sauce in the center.

In a small bowl, serve the ground turkey on the side or on the plate for individual servings.

Let the fun begin by building your wraps with all your favorite pieces!


*Editors note:  I mentioned serving this with peanuts. They are supposed to be on the plate until I realized my lovely boyfriend ate them all. So, you get a dinosaur instead. Don't eat the dinosaur.

Pasta Dinner in a Dash!

Don't have much time to cook a meal? In a hurry, on your way out? Or is it just getting too late and want food now?? Well here's a simple recipe that you can make in roughly 20 minutes!

 Here's what you'll need:

• 1 lb of your favorite pasta. (any type works great!)
• 1 jar of your favorite sauce (or pre-prepared sauce.. remember, under 20 minutes!)
• 1 pkg of a ground meat. (I like turkey and chicken because it's healthier.)
• 1 large pot of water
• 1/2 Tbls Onion Powder
• 1/2 Tbls Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Tbl Basil
• 1/2 Tbs Oregano
• Dash of Red Pepper Flakes
• And a Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Directions:
First thing is first, fill the pot with water, and put it on the burner. This WILL take the longest. Now once the pot of water is waiting to boil put a medium sized pan on high heat and let it get hot. Once its relatively hot, chuck in the ground meat, this time I used chicken. I threw onion powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper on it - feel free to add whatever flavors you like! Once you throw the meat in, get your spatula and start breaking apart the meat while mixing in the spices at the same time. Allow meat to cook fully then throw in the jar of sauce in the same hot pan and allow to simmer until the pasta is completely finished. Once your pasta is finished, throw that into a strainer create a bed of pasta on a plate. Turn off the sauce, and place in the middle of your pasta bed.

Enjoy!




The entire meal takes as long as it takes to basically boil water!!
(P.s. That bread, butter and garlic will return at a later post.. So make sure you check back for something awesome!!)


Have picky eaters mom? Use fun animal shaped pasta!

Mango and Avocado Salad

This isn't really a salad. I came across this recipe when I decided to go on a raw food cleanse. Needless to say, I needed to get super creative. I don't know where I found this idea, but here it is:

What you'll need:

• 1 Mango
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt
• Lime

Make It:

Cut up your ripe mango and avocado into cubes. How do you cut a mango you ask? Find out HERE. Use the same technique for the avocado.

Put your finished cubes of fruit into a bowl and add the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, dash in some salt, and squeeze half of the lime on top. Mix all ingredients gently and let chill.

Serve happily!