Los Hermanos Copy Cat Salsa

We have a great local Mexican restaurant named Los Hermanos. 

They make some great food. 

My wife's favorite thing there is their Diablo Verde specialty drink (Pst! The secret ingredient is avocado  Don't tell them I told you).

Anyway, more to the point of this post, their salsa and chips are legendary around here.

My friend Kim has their recipe and gave it to me (Note: I stole this photo off her Facebook page. I hope you like it Kim. You only have about two photos on your page. Not much for me to pick from).

INGREDIENTS:

1-16 oz. can of whole tomatoes, drained

1-16 oz. can of Mexican style diced tomatoes

2 jalepenos, ends cut off, seeds removed and diced

2 stalks green onions, roots cut off and discarded, the rest chopped

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

This recipe is simple. Throw all the ingredients in a blender and...well...blend...until smooth.

Now you have fantastic salsa. 

The Right Way To Make Patty Melts

There are many recipes on the internet for patty melts. Most of them are basically hamburgers with out ketchup or mustard. Who the heck wants that? This is the best patty melt recipe you will find - by far. I hope you enjoy it. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 large onion cut into thin rings

2 tablespoons butter

2 lbs ground beef

2 Eggs

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon anchovy paste

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs.

1 tablespoon dried parsley 

12 slices of your favorite cheese (most use Swiss or American, I used Swiss.)

12 slices of bread

Butter to spread on the slices of bread

First, take a large onion, the largest one you can find, remove the skin and cut it into thin rings. 

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a frying pan.

Throw in your onions. 

Saute them until they are soft and browned. Set aside.

Put two pounds of ground beef in a bowl.

Add 2 Eggs, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 tablespoon anchovy paste, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, and 1 tablespoon dried parsley. 

Mix it all together.

Form into six patties and grill (know my photo only caught four of my patties on film, but ignore that. Imagine two more patties next to these).

I forgot to take a picture of this, but butter all your slices of bread on one side. Now, on a grill, place your bread on it, butter-side down. 

Put a slice of cheese on top. 

Put  1/6 of the onions on top. 

Then stick another slice of cheese on top. 

Now add another slice of bread, butter side facing out.

Grill both sides until golden brown and cheese is melted. Smash it down in the process. 

The World's Most Expensive, Most Fattening, and Most Delicious French Toast

I searched the world over for the ultimate French toast recipe. My search failed to produce anything satisfactory. I used all sorts of recipes, including a recipe from the famous Juniors restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. The more I looked, the more I found the same ol' thing, and the more disappointed I became. I decided to create my own recipe, but I had no idea where to start. My inspiration finally came when I was looking at a bread pudding recipe that I inherited from my sister-in-law Jessica (thanks Jessica). What I came up with is nothing short of pure magnificence  - a pure slice of heaven (of course eating this too often will rapidly send you to heaven after a massive  heart attack, due to all the fat, sugar and carbs in this baby).

INGREDIENTS:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon melted butter

3 slices of bread

First, beat your egg very well in a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup.

Next, add 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Now beat that in very well. 

Place 3 slices of bread in the bottom of a small baking pan, then pour the egg/cream mixture on top.

Let the egg/cream mixture soak into the bread. I aid the process by poking the bread with a fork and turning it over a few times.  It will get soggy, so be careful to not let the bread fall apart. I use a pancake turner to flip them - for stability. 

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan (yes, more butter).

Carefully put in a slice of the soaked bread. Again, I use a pancake turner to transfer it from the the baking pan to the frying pan. This ensures the bread won't fall apart. 

Cook on both sides until golden brown. 

Top with butter and maple syrup, then immediately set an appointment with your cardiologist... On second thought, don't. He will tell you to stop making this. 

Homemade Microwave Popcorn. It's Cheap and As Simple As 1,2,3

My son McCann LOVES popcorn (notice the popcorn in his mouth; maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to ask him to smile).

Anyway, his love of popcorn started last Christmas, when my parents bought us this cool popcorn popper. While it is fun and makes loads of popcorn easily, it is not feasible for making a small, quick batch. Between the popping and the clean up, it's just not worth it. We experimented and came up with a microwave version.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1/4 cup popcorn

1 paper bag/lunch sack

1 tablespoon butter, melted

salt to taste

First off, I recommend white popping corn. When I microwaved with the yellow kernels  they came out spongy. It might just be me, but that was my experience. 

Secondly, (is that even a word), anyway, I tried different methods for applying the salt and butter, like melting the butter and mixing it and the salt with the kernels before I put them in the paper bag.

 What I ended up with was a greasy paper bag and popcorn that was not buttery. So we finally resigned to adding the butter and salt at the end. Okay, here we go...

Add 1/4 cup popcorn kernels to the bottom of a paper bag/lunch sack.

Fold down top of the bag and put it into your microwave.

Push the popcorn button on your microwave and let the popcorn pop (NOTE: my microwave is pretty powerful, so I don't let it run the whole time. Otherwise, I end up with burnt popcorn and a smelly kitchen. Once I hear the popping start to slow down, I stop the microwave).

I dump the popcorn out of the bag and into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon melted butter and salt it to taste. 

This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. All you will have left are the kernels at the bottom of the bowl. 

The Ultimate Sloppy Joe

This amazing recipe comes from an unlikely source, my mother. She's not known for her cooking skills, and she admits this openly. This is the recipe she made me as wee tot and all the way up through my teen years. When my wife tasted it for the first time, she about had cow, because it was so good. I didn't know any better. It's what I ate my whole upbringing. After my wife's reaction, I began to respect this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs hamburger

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon vinegar

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup water

1 can diced tomatoes (This is not part of my mother's original recipe. I love this addition. My wife hates it)

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:

Chopped tomatoes

Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese 

Cook hamburger and onion, then drain excess fat.

Stir in 1 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar (and can of diced tomatoes if you choose).

You can put the sloppy Joe sauce on a hamburger bun or a deli sandwich bun. Which ever you choose.

Sometimes I like freshly chopped tomatoes on mine and/or...

Swiss cheese. Mmmm!

Perfect-O Italian Meatball Sandwich

I love Italian meatball sandwiches. Here is my recipe. It's  fast, simple and tastes great.

INGREDIENTS:

2 packages Italian meatballs

1 bottle Prego (or your favorite homemade spaghetti sauce.)

1 can diced Italian stewed tomatoes

1 package hoagie or sandwich buns. 

I buy prepackaged Italian meatballs. Go ahead, call me a cheater, but I say if it works, why go through all the work.  

Cook them in a large pan. 

I have a favorite homemade spaghetti sauce, but I use Prego for speed. NOTE: I don't use any other brand. I've tried Newman's Own, Hunts, and ...yuck...Ragu. I don't like any of them. Prego is the only bottled sauce I will use. Just my two cents. 

Put the Prego and a can of Italian stewed tomatoes (diced) in a medium sized pot and warm over medium heat while your meatballs are cooking. 

Mix in meatballs.

Put on a sandwich bun and eat. 

There are many choices for toppings. Parmesan cheese. 

Diced tomatoes. 

Swiss, provolone or mozzarella cheese slices.

 

And shredded lettuce. Hope you like it.