Nacho Boats

     Between all the sports games and the holidays coming up, I decided to give you all a simple but very tasty snack to make.  The original idea was started by my mother but I have greatly modified it since then.  So sit back and learn how to make Nacho Boats.

Nacho Boats
by The Pirate Chef

Ingredients:
Tostitos Scoops tortilla chips
Shredded Cheese (I like to use Kraft 4 Cheese Mexican Blend, not the one with taco seasoning)
Salsa
Shredded Lettuce (you can buy a bag of lettuce shreds or do it yourself)
A small can of sliced black olives

Directions:
1) Place as many whole tortilla scoops as you can on a plate, I did a small plate for show.

 2) Fill the scoops as much as you can with shredded cheese, don't worry if you get a little on the plate, it's pretty easy to clean up.

3) Add a dollop of your favorite salsa on top of each pile of shredded cheese.

4)  Put in microwave and heat for just long enough to melt the cheese; it could up to a minute for larger plates.

5) Add a layer of shredded lettuce to each scoop of melted cheese.

6) Top each scoop with a sliced olive (you could also do a sliced jalapeño for more heat)

 

7) Eat and enjoy!

It's quick and easy, but is really tasty.  Since each nacho boat can be easily picked up and eaten without making a mess, it's a much cleaner version of nachos for when you just want a simple snack.

Enjoy!
The Pirate Chef
Cook or Die

BOOTY!

The prizes are in! Check it out mateys!

Thanks to Maple Street Biscuit Company for the $10 gift card!

Thanks to Abita Brewing Company for the Bayou Bootlegger shirt!

Thanks to Captain Morgan for the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum poster!

Thanks to St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum for the 2 free admissions!

And a big thanks to Colleen Messner of The Spice & Tea Exchange of St. Augustine for the mini pack of spice grinders, a $40 value! Also included in this one will be 4 recipe cards using other seasonings and spices of theirs and my recipe for Pirate's Bite Chili!

I have also included 4 of the car decals, a replica gold coin, 2 push-button wine bottle openers (which is my standard use one around here), and a dragon key chain knife with a bottle opener as the wings.

Remember to like and share the contest post for your chance to win!

https://www.facebook.com/ThePirateChefPage/photos/a.425123381029648.1073741829.421942278014425/603301033211881/?type=3

2nd Annual Pirate Chef Contest!

     It's that time again for my annual Pirate Chef contest!  So far, we have prizes from The St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum, Code Rum, Captain Morgan, and Abita Brewery (makers of Bayou Bootlegger)! Will there be more?  What will they be? Only time will tell!

     The rules are simple, the contest is a simple drawing for prizes and entries will be taken for likes and shares from one of the pages listed below.  Likes and shares and such from other people's pages can't be tracked well and we don't want anyone to lost out on a chance to win some nice booty!  Pressing "Like" or "Share" will net you one entry.  If you "Like" or "Retweet" the post on twitter, you will net one entry as well.  You will get one entry if you recommend the blogger page as well! 

     The drawing will by at 10am on September 19th, Talk Like A Pirate Day!  All entries must be in by 11pm on September 18th.

     You do not have to be local to win as I will ship them out soon after the drawing.

     More prizes will be added and details of said prizes will be given out in the weeks ahead, so keep an eye out to find out what treasures you could win!

https://www.facebook.com/ThePirateChefPage/
https://twitter.com/PirateChefPage
http://thepiratechefpage.blogspot.com/

Underrated Ingredient - Part 4 (What else can I do with pan drippings?)

     So this is the last part in this little series on pan drippings; what they are, what can they be used for, etc.  So as such, I figured that we'd go into some different uses for the drippings, and hopefully that will change your mind next time you go and think about throwing them out.

     One of my favorite uses for leftover pan drippings is using them to make rice.  You heard me right, I use pan drippings for when I make rice.  Most people bring water to a boil when they make rice, and some people add butter to the water as well.  I like to use pan drippings as it adds lots of flavor and works just as well.  If you are one of those people that uses water and butter for their rice, than use all the pan drippings and don't skim any of the fat out.  For a slightly healthier version, let the pan drippings cool in the fridge, the fat will form a layer on the top that can be scooped out and you can use the rest for great flavor.  Don't worry about not having enough pan drippings, you can add water to get to the amount of liquid you need without diluting it too much, as long as you don't have more water than drippings.

     Another alternative use for pan drippings that I enjoy is when it gets colder and soup/chili/stew is on the menu!  For these dishes, you definitely want to skim the fat out of the drippings.  Adding pan drippings to the cooking soup/stew/chili adds some wonderful flavor and depth to the dish, just make sure you are adding the right kind of drippings though; beef to beef or chicken to chicken.  If you add beef to chicken, you could mask the chicken flavors with the stronger beef, and if you add chicken, you may not taste it at all.

     One thing I have not tried yet but I have heard of is using pan drippings to make a vinaigrette for your salads.  There are several recipes out there for this and from what I can see, they range from barely any drippings to quite a bit depending on whether we are talking chicken or beef.  Plus, there are a few mentions of using pan drippings from roasted chicken in the dressing for potato salad, chicken salad, or pasta salad.

     I hope this helped to open your eyes to the wonderful world of pan drippings and got you thinking about saving them in the future for other uses than just gravy.  Stay tuned as next week, I will have a special announcement for you all!

Underrated Ingredient - Part 3 (Au Jus)

     So we continue with talking about another use for pan drippings, that underrated ingredient of the kitchen, au jus.  Ahh, au jus.  That wonderful, flavor packed, dipping liquid we all love with a good french dip sandwich.  But just what is au jus, how is it made, and what else can it be used with?  All in good time my friends, all in good time.

     Let's start with what au jus means.  It's simply just a French term for "with juice" which refers to the juices that drip out of the meat during the roasting process.  It is most commonly seen in a little ramekin-type dish along side a french dip sandwich or a nice slice of prime rib.  But these are not the only uses for au jus, but that will be covered more shortly.

     There are several ways to make au jus, from the very very simple to the more complex, all depending on how you are going to use it and how much you need.  So let's start with the simplest way to make it and for now, we'll stick with au jus from roasted beef.  So you want to start by skimming off most of the fat from the top of the pan drippings, this is easier to do if they have been sitting for a little while.  We don't want a lot of fat in our au jus, but we do want some so don't worry about trying to get it all out of there.  Next you'll want to place the roasting pan with the pan drippings on two stove burners and turn them on to medium heat.  Whisk in about 1 1/2 cups of good beef stock (you can use broth if you can't get stock, but never use bullion), making sure you scrape the bottom of the pan so you get those browned bits loose.  Once you get everything mixed together well, bring it to a boil and cook until it reduces slightly, about 5 minutes should be fine.  Put into a small ramekin cup or bowl and serve with your food.

     Another popular variation of this uses both beef stock and red wine.  Instead of using 1 1/2 cups of beef stock, use 1 cup of beef stock and 1/2 cup of red wine.  It is important to note that the better the quality of beef stock and red wine you use, the better the flavor of your au jus will be.

     You can also make au jus from roasted pork, chicken, lamb, or any meat you want.  If you want to make a chicken or pork au jus, use chicken or pork stock (respectively) and a nice white wine as a red wine will be overpowering.

     Now, besides from the classic uses of au jus that we are all familiar with, there are several other ways to use this wonderful substance.  I'm going to keep this part generic because you can use any meat and au jus for them.  It can be used in a hot sandwich as a dipping sauce, or just spoon it over a nice open-faced sandwich for a lighter rendition of the gravy topped version.  You can drizzle it over sliced meats on your plate for a flavor enhancement that will beat any gravy out there.  One of my personal favorite ways to use left over au jus after finishing up a good sandwich is to dip my fries into it.  If you haven't tried it yet, do!  It's really quite tasty.

     That's it for this time, but be on the lookout for the next one as I wrap this little journey up and talk about some of my favorite uses for pan drippings, some of which are not what most people would think about!

Underrated Ingredient - Part 2 (Gravy)

  So we continue with this little series about my favorite underrated kitchen ingredient, pan drippings, by going into the most common way to use this wonderful substance.  I am speaking of gravy, that wonderful concoction that goes well on anything breaded, fried, mashed, roasted, etc.

     There are many different types of gravies out there, from pan gravy to sausage gravy, but I'm going to focus on pan gravy because it's made from pan drippings.

     So there are a few different ways to make pan gravy and I'm going to go through the three main ways of doing it and you can choose your favorite way for yourselves.  Regardless of which style you go for, they all start the same way, with a roasting pan of drippings from your main entree.

     In order to start, place the roasting pan on your stove burner and bring the liquid up to a simmer, this will make it easier to loosen whatever might be stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Believe me, you want those little pieces of food because they add a lot of flavor to your gravy.  If you don't have enough liquid in the bottom of the pan, add a some liquid to it so that you have enough to stir up.  You can use water, broth or stock, or wine.  This is called deglazing the pan.  You want to use a spatula or whisk to break the food bits loose from the bottom of the pan.  Do not use a metal turner/spatula as it will damage your pan and possible put little pieces of metal into your gravy, not good!  Once that is done, move onto the next step.

     This is where gravy making takes a few different paths as it is type to add the thickening aspect to give us that wonderful texture that allows the gravy to coat so well.  We can add either flour, roux, or a cornstarch slurry to get us to our final product.

Flour:  If you grew up with lumpy gravy, or gravy with little white balls floating in it, your mother most likely used flour to try to thicken her gravy.  This is my least favorite way of doing it and here's a few reasons why.  Unless you make a flour slurry (flour and water whisked well together), it is way too easy to end up with flour lumps.  Also, you really have to make sure it's cooked well so you don't get that flour flavor in your final product.  For pan gravy, this process is definitely not the best when it comes to pan gravy.

Roux:  This is the traditional French way of thickening up gravies, sauces, and other items.  You can make a nice gravy roux by melting butter in a pot or pan and whisking flour into it.  Heat a pot or pan with a cup of butter over medium heat.  When it starts to bubble, slowly add 1 3/4 cups of flour while whisking it together.  You want to keep whisking it while the mixture bubbles so that you don't get clumps of flour. It will reach the white stage after about 5 minutes, this is where the roux just starts to lose its flour flavor and will help to thicken the gravy.  The longer you cook the roux, while whisking, the darker it will get and the more it will thicken that gravy, but two warnings for you!  Do not walk away from the roux!  Roux can burn easily and it is not a good thing, either in flavor or in smell.  Also, the darker a roux is, the more of a nutty flavor it will add to your gravy so take that into account when making it.  Finally, just whisk in small amounts of roux into your bubbling pan drippings in order to make your gravy.  After about 5 minutes, you can add more if necessary.

Cornstarch Slurry:  This is my preferred way to make gravy from pan drippings as it seldom, if ever, creates lumps and it doesn't really affect the flavor of it either.  You want to use equal parts of cornstarch and liquid to get the right thickening power.  Put about a tablespoon of cornstarch in a small bowl, then stir in a tablespoon of cold water, broth, wine until the cornstarch is dissolved.  Make sure the liquid is cold or at most, room temperature, as this will prevent clumping.  This will make enough to thicken 1 cup of pan drippings, you can make more for larger batches of gravy.  Now, just whisk the slurry into the simmering pan drippings and continue to whisk until the slurry is fully mixed in and the gravy thickens up.  Do be careful though to not continue cooking for too long as it may start to thin out again.

Next time, we'll be talking about another common use for pan drippings, au jus!

Underrated Ingredient - Part 1

     So I have two things today for the lot of you!  First, I started a Twitter account so those of you on there can follow along easily and get updates there as well.  Just go search for The Pirate Chef Page or @PirateChefPage on Twitter to follow along there!

     Secondly, I want to do a little multi-part series on what I consider one of the most underrated ingredients in the kitchen.  That would be pan drippings!  I know, it makes a good gravy and that's it for most people, but it can do so much more than that if you just let your imagination go with it.

     So what are pan drippings?  They are the leftover remnants of whatever meat that was being roasted in the oven, usually a mix of rendered fat, juices, and seasonings that have dripped down and lay in the bottom of the pan.  In other words, pure culinary goodness!

     The pan drippings are composed of two main parts, the rendered fat and the meat juices, with the seasonings mixed throughout.  These can be used together to add flavor and fat to a dish, or they can be separated into the juices and the fat.  The juices alone will add lots of flavor but maintain a healthier addition by not including the fat that some dishes or people might not need.  Whereas the rendered fat can be used for adding flavor and richness in some foods, or even pan-frying in for a whole new level of deliciousness!

     This is where I will end this post, but in the next one, I will talk about the most common use of pan drippings, gravy!