Philly Cheese Steak

I had been waiting for a few years to make a Philly Cheese Steak and after tonight I am wondering what took me so long. Honestly, this wasn't time consuming or complicated in any way. I made a version with provolone cheese and another with Cheez Whiz (with a few jalapenos to make it interesting). Having never been to Philly I have no idea how these stack up to the real deal but I feel like I got pretty close.
I couldn't have been happier with my sandwiches. These were gooey and packed with flavour from the beef and peppers.
I will definitely be making these again!

I decided to go all out on the meat for these and used a couple of rib eye steaks.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 hoagie rolls
• 2 rib eye steaks
• small jar Cheez Whiz
• 1 large white onion
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1 medium jalapeno
•  salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Chill the meat in the freezer for 30 min.
2. Chop the onions and slice the peppers.
3. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
4. Cook the onions and peppers until soft, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Slice the meat as thin as you can.
6. Cook the meat on medium/high for a few minutes until no longer pink.
7. Line the sliced buns with cheese and top with meat and peppers.
8. Wrap sandwiched tightly in tin foil and then put in oven for 15min.
9. Devour.

Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausage and Peppers

I made a new version of my Hot Italian Sausage (post pending) and was looking for something to showcase it in without feeling like I was eating a big plate of meat. I decided to go for an Alfredo sauce.
It has been a while since I have eaten an Alfredo sauce but I used to regularly eat it at one of the food kiosks when I was in University. I would cycle between subs, pasta, and Chinese food.
This sauce hit the spot and didn't end up being too heavy despite being mostly cream and butter.
I garnished it with some cilantro to mix things up a bit and really liked the change from parsley or basil.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 box fettuccine pasta
• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2-3 hot Italian sausage
• cilantro (optional)
• Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Boil pasta in large pot.
2. Sauté the bell peppers and sausage in a little olive oil on medium-high heat. Add salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In the same pan, add the butter and allow it to melt.
4. Add equal parts flour. 
5. Turn up the heat and stir constantly.
6. Add the garlic
7. Slowly pour in the heavy whipping cream. Keep stirring.
8. Turn the heat down and add the Parmesan cheese. 
9. Thin out the sauce with some of the water from the boiling pasta (if desired).
10. Season with salt and pepper.
11. Drain the pasta.
12. Pour sauce over the pasta, and add the sausages and bell peppers. 

Monkeypod Mai Tai Recipe

When we were in Hawaii one of  our favorite meals was at Monkeypod Kitchen where we discovered a deliciously dangerous drink that would have you falling over after a couple.

The Mai Tai is synonymous with Tiki Culture and is a refreshing mix of rum and juices. There are a ton of different recipes but the egg white foam topper from Monkeypod put this drink on another level. 

I couldn't wait to get home to order a whipped cream gun to make this drink. I wasn't disappointed.

My bar savvy friend had to show me how to use a spoon to keep the layers from mixing mixing.

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce light rum
• 1 ounce dark rum
• 1/2 ounce pineapple syrup (pineapple juice and sugar reduced)
• 1/2 ounce orange curacao
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• foam (see below)

Directions:

1. Add lime, syrup, orange curacao and light rum to a mixing glass with ice. 
2.  Shake and strain over ice into a highball glass. 
3.  Float dark rum on top by pouring over a spoon to limit the splash. 
4. Top with foam from whipped cream gun.

Foam

Ingredients:

• 2 parts passion fruit puree/juice
• 1 parts simple syrup
• 2 parts egg whites
• 1 part honey
• 4 parts cold water

Directions:

1. Add everything to a whipped cream gun.

Spicy Farmers Sausage

It is going to be a bit of sausage party on the blog for the next while because I have been regularly making small batches of sausage in an attempt to find the perfect sausage for summer grilling. This spicy farmers sausage could be a contender.
I think 3 lbs of sausage is the perfect amount to be able to put together quickly. Jess and I made homemade cottage cheese, stuffed perogies, and made this sausage all on a Wednesday night while feeding, bathing and putting down a 7 month old.
I ended up smoking it for a couple hours then finishing it off at higher temperatures. The smoke flavour was awesome and the snap from the hog casing was exactly what I wanted. I am slowly getting better at stuffing the twisting the links. These were pretty spicy but won't melt your face off.

 Ingredients:

• 3 lbs ground pork 
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp garlic plus seasoning (you could use fresh garlic but this was handy and turned out tasty)
• Curing salts (if you want to cold smoke it)

 Directions:

1. Prepare your sausage casings for stuffing according to the suppliers instructions.
2. Mix the meat and spices thoroughly and refrigerate for a couple hours to have them blend.
3. Soak your wood chips in water or beer for 30 min then get your smoker ready to go.
4. Smoke your sausage at 170 F to 250 F until the internal temp of the sausages reads 165 F.