Tag: cooking

5 wildly impressive outdoor cooking videos you need to see

Get the scoop on outdoor cooking.

You might be used to chowing down on a granola bar during a hike. Most campers are probably familiar with roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over a fire. But have you ever packed up your cutting board, knives, pots, and pans for a full day of outdoor cooking? While this level of cuisine requires more effort than the average person is willing to put in, watching skilled chefs work their magic in front of gorgeous scenery is undeniably entertaining.

If you’re not ready to prepare filet mignon on your next camping trip, do the next best thing and watch someone else do it. Today, there are a variety of social media stars creating outdoor cooking videos. Start your journey down the rabbit hole with these five videos.

How to make the perfect s’more on your next camping trip

No fancy techniques necessary for this tasty treat.

S’mores — the classic fireside dessert known and loved by countless campers. How do you make them? All you need is a crackling fire, graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. If kids can make a s’more over a campfire in the middle of the woods, it should be almost impossible for people to mess up the recipe. Unfortunately, “The Great British Baking Show” achieved this seemingly impossible task in its disastrous s’mores challenge episode.

Twitter was quick to call out the show’s less-than-faithful interpretation of s’mores. A quick look at celebrity chef Paul Hollywood’s s’mores recipe illuminates how “The Great British Baking Show” needlessly complicated the simple sweet. Digestives? Homemade marshmallows? Dark chocolate ganache? Who needs all that when you can toast a marshmallow over the fire and sandwich it and some chocolate between two graham crackers?

If you want to make the perfect s’more on your next camping trip, just follow the steps below. Trust the process and incorporate one clever trick to make the tastiest s’mores you’ve ever eaten.

A toasted mashmallow being put on a graham cracker.

How to make s’mores

A basic s’more is easy to make. Skewer a marshmallow on a stick, toast it over a fire, then put the toasty, melty marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. But how do you make a perfect s’more? How do you ensure the ideal combination of toasted marshmallow and melted chocolate as you bite into your graham cracker-y snack?

The trick is to set up a melting block to warm up your chocolate in preparation for the marshmallow. Before you start toasting the marshmallows, set up a block of wood by the fire but away from direct flame. Here, you can place your chocolate on a graham cracker and let the fire’s warmth start to melt it. Once you finish toasting your marshmallow, the chocolate will be perfectly gooey. Sandwich all the ingredients together and get ready for the best s’more you’ve ever tasted.

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Liz Marek Hosts the Sugar Geek Show

Liz Marek is an author and instructor who has been creating fun and creative food since 2009. She named her school “Sugar Geek Show” because of her obsessions with baking and #geekculture. Liz often combines her love for comic book characters, movies and anime into her cake creations. Her content is coming soon to The Food Channel!

Liz Marek is an author and instructor living in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two children. Liz has been creating fun and creative food on her YouTube channel, which can be found at youtube.com/sugargeekshow, and at her online cake decorating school, found at www.sugargeekshow.com, since 2009. She named her school “Sugar Geek Show” because of her obsessions with baking and #geekculture. Liz often combines her love for comic book characters, movies and anime into her cake creations. Her content is coming soon to The Food Channel!

Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis: Day Three

Shortcut cooking at its best!

We don’t live on baked goods alone, but apparently baking has a new fascination. People who have never made bread before are trying it, putting packaged yeast in the endangered column. Cinnamon rolls, banana bread, even hot cross buns have all crossed my feed from everyday cooks.

Perhaps it’s a primordial need for carbs, and bread feels more virtuous than baking cookies. However, not everyone has the baking gene, and the desire for something comforting and yeasty doesn’t necessarily have to be fulfilled with hours spent waiting for something to rise before  baking.

Enter biscuits and gravy. My grandmother can be credited (or blamed) with my love for this  dish. She’d roll out fresh biscuits, fry up the sausage, and use the remaining grease to make the most delectable gravy my childhood heart could imagine. She’d bring it all to the table with flour smudged up her forearms and, often, in her hair. The smell throughout the house was tantalizing, and just the memory makes me salivate just a little.

Last year we had a big family event where 16 of us ended up in one house, sharing the cooking and clean up and having a wonderful time, with other family members nearby. At one point I suggested biscuits and gravy, and the next thing I knew we had 26 coming for breakfast. I took the shortcut of open-and-bake biscuits, but did the quick gravy from scratch—and the method below shortens it even more. In our theme of supporting local restaurants while still cooking, try this out on your carb-craving family.

Shortcut Biscuits & Gravy

Sure, you can make biscuits from scratch, or pop open a can (which is my usual go-to shortcut). However, times like these call for a quick drive through your favorite biscuit breakfast place. The easiest thing to do is drive-thru a Brahm’s, if you have one in your  area. Trust me, we’ve tested a huge sample of biscuits and gravy, and while Another Broken Egg Café has the best, Brahm’s is a good back up  found in more places.

For biscuits alone, though we tend to favor Hardee’s biscuits, but you may have other great choices in your  town. If you aren’t going to take the easiest road  and just pick up the full meal, the following is  about as easy as we can make it!

Step 1: Send someone to pick up the hot biscuits, as many as you need (and don’t fear the leftovers). If they don’t sell the biscuits by themselves, ask for them deconstructed. OR, pop open and bake a tube of Grands.

Step 2: Meanwhile, fry up one tube of Jimmy Dean regular/mild sausage in a frying pan.

Step 3: Add ¼ cup flour to the cooked sausage.

Step 4: Add 2 ½ cups whole milk and stir quickly.

Step 5: Add a little salt and a LOT of black pepper.

Step 6: Serve with coffee and juice. Leftovers, if any, microwave just fine.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Grands Homestyle biscuits (if baking at home)
  • Jimmy Dean sausage
  • Flour
  • Milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • Coffee
  • Choice of juice

As always, be sure to plan ahead and limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!

 

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

 

Cooking in a COVID Crisis: Day Two

If you are tired of cooking or running out of recipes here’s day two of our solution, complete with an easy recipe for your family during this crisis.

Photo of Chick-fil-A

This  is Day Two of our somewhat random series of recipes and other food ideas that might take the pressure off cooking right now. After all, you are likely working from home, fitting in classroom lesson oversight, keeping things reasonably clean and not really sure how many more meals you can make without help. These recipes are specifically designed to rely on a little outside help—giving you the benefit of helping local restaurants AND staying home.

Mom’s Chicken & Stuffing

This is a recipe that came from my much-loved mother-in-law, with a shortcut or two from her version. Part casserole, part fancy dish, it is perfect for everyday or company (not that you are having any company, but you know what I mean). You can prepare it at any point when you need a break throughout the day, or even the night before, and bake it just before ready  to eat.

Step 1: Order chicken strips or nuggets from your favorite drive-through or delivery spot. We like Chick-fil-A (who doesn’t) and are also fans of Slim Chickens, if you have one of those in your area. Get enough to fill the bottom of your casserole dish with one layer.

Step 2: Cover the chicken with one can of Cream of Mushroom soup mixed with half a can of water. If you have a large casserole dish, adjust your quantity as needed.

Step 3: Prepare a stuffing mix, such as Stove Top and mound the stuffing over the top of the chicken and soup.

Step 4: When ready to bake, put it in the oven and bake uncovered at 325 degrees for one hour.

Step 4: Add sides such as green beans, canned pears, or a salad.

Step 5: Serve, add a drink and dessert, and pull out a family  board game for the rest of the evening.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Cream of Mushroom soup
  • Stuffing mix, with the butter required to make it
  • Side dishes such as vegetable and fruit

If you prefer to do this the “hard way,” which isn’t that hard, just get some fresh chicken tenders at the grocery store, dip them in a series of flour, then egg, then bread crumbs, and fry until done. Layer these into the bottom of your casserole dish and follow the rest of the instructions from there.

You  can also use a package of herb seasoned bread crumbs, such as Pepperidge Farms, instead of a prepared stuffing. This recipe is so versatile—you can even use different soups, such as Golden Mushroom or Cream of Celery, if your family isn’t into the mushroom flavor.

As always, be sure to plan ahead and limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!

 

 

Cooking in a COVID-19 Crisis

Are you running out of recipes? Unsure whether to eat out or cook at home? Torn between supporting local restaurants versus braving the grocery store aisles? Here’s day one of a solution, complete with an easy recipe for your family during this crisis.

Photo by Sara Cervera on Unsplash

Day One

When I look at most recipes online or in cookbooks I pass. In fact, I’ve always said that I read cookbooks as though they are works of fiction. Beautiful photos, striking ideas, flavors that sound delicious—but ingredients and instructions that are far beyond what I have any desire to do.

Even in these days of #stayathome, I’m still working, doing my share of hours-long Zoom meetings and following through with my assignments. In fact, I think that there is an extra burst of creativity in some of my work, since I’ve cut out the commute, the make-up, even the getting dressed—like a good part of America. Which means I still don’t have the pure time it takes to do a lot of cooking, let alone the ability to shop for ingredients or equipment (is saffron an essential? Hmmm).

Then there’s the argument that we should be supporting local restauranteurs as much as possible. We’ve done our share of take out and, in fact, have spent a somewhat exorbitant amount on extra tips. We even bought Easter dinner from one of our finer dining establishments, because when else can we sample their variety and easily store the leftovers?

However, I am actually cooking more than usual. As I follow social media, it seems the world is, as well. I see comments about how kitchen appliances have never had such a work out, and how dishwasher detergent should have been what was hoarded. I see people seeking recipes and worrying because they, too, are working AND teaching their children AND preparing not just one, but often three meals a day. No wonder the stats show hot dog sales have been up.

So, without benefit of photos, I’ll take a few days to post simple recipes that are doable with simple ingredients. This is not to say that “simple” is a new idea, but some of these are geared to my own #stayhome experience. If nothing else, perhaps this will help a few of my friends as I share what’s worked for me. Here goes day one, with a recipe that crosses both the home kitchen and the restaurant world.

Spaghetti &  Meatballs in the time of COVID-19

Don’t have time for prep and want to support a local restaurant? Here’s how.

Step 1: Call any local sub shop and order deconstructed meatball sub sandwiches, one per person you  are feeding. Arrange for curbside pick-up or delivery. (We used Firehouse Subs because their meatball subs are really good).

Step 2: Open a jar of spaghetti sauce and put the meatballs in the sauce to warm them back up.

Step 3: Prepare a salad and dressing to accompany the meal (if desired)

Step 4: Take the sandwich bread and turn it into garlic bread, spreading a garlic/butter mixture on it. Just before serving time, broil the bread to melt the butter and make it toasty. Your deconstructed sandwich may come with cheese, and you can use it on the bread for cheesy-garlic bread.

Step 4: Cook your spaghetti (we like thin spaghetti or angel hair) according to package directions.

Step 5: Serve salad, spaghetti with sauce and meatballs, add a little Parmesan cheese to taste, and you have a meal! Add dessert if you’ve been baking then suggest the family do clean-up, and go back to binge-watching Tiger King.

Ingredients needed from your pantry (or the grocery store):

  • Spaghetti sauce
  • Spaghetti noodles
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Prepared garlic
  • Butter
  • Salad/salad dressing ingredients

You can dress up  your  bread with a sprinkle of sweet paprika or Italian spices. You can use garlic powder or the jarred garlic pieces. You can even get Italian sausage and cook it up  in small pieces to throw in if you want to extend the meal—or buy prepared meatballs from the meat department. There are countless ways to make a simple Italian meal your own.

Be sure to plan ahead and limit your trips to the grocery store, and be safe out there!

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James Smith-Williams Explains NFL Draft Preparation, Interning at IBM

In addition to racking up an impressive stat line as a defensive end at NC State, James Smith-Williams has had two internships at IBM and uses his off-the-field experience to excel on-the-field. Here’s how he’s preparing for the 2020 NFL Draft and some of the fun ways he’s spending his free time.

In addition to racking up an impressive stat line as a defensive end at NC State, James Smith-Williams has had two internships at IBM and uses his off-the-field experience to excel on-the-field. Here’s how he’s preparing for the 2020 NFL Draft and some of the fun ways he’s spending his free time.