Chipotle Arizona Rub

The menu for tonight consists of NY strip, loaded baked potatoes and some more of the garlic bread from yesterday. Nothing fancy, but I wanted to try some of the chipotle rub I got at the street fair. The original and pistol whip rubs are just variations on the same recipe and they honestly weren't that great, so I was really hoping the chipotle wouldn't follow suit.

I started by completely coating both cuts of meat with the rub and put them back in the fridge for 2 hours, uncovered, to hopefully help it crust to the steak better. Next I fried up some maple bacon bits for the potatoes.After that I rolled russet potatoes in canola oil and salt before wrapping them in foil to get ready for grilling.

By then it was time to preheat the grill to about 375F. I left the middle grate off to cook the potatoes on so the skins didn't burn, and set the outside two to medium. With the wind blowing how it was that was just about perfect. The potatoes take about an hour this way, then it's time to open the lid for the steaks.

Cranked the outside burners up to high and put one steak on each. Cut a slit down the middle of each potato and fluffed it out, then added butter, cheese, and bacon bits while leaving them on the middle grate. The steaks took about 4 minutes per side and by that time the butter and cheese had melted all the way into the potatoes. Took the meat off the grill to let it relax while the bread toasted, and voila!

The chipotle rub made the steaks taste great. It is the only Arizona Rub I can actually recommend,  but it is a high recommendation. Though it seems like you could mix it at home without much trouble. The potatoes were fantastic, something about grilling them makes potatoes taste 10 times better than baking. The bread was still good as hell. All in all a very tasty meal.

Spicy Chicken Vegetable With Noodles

Jessi has been sick and not eating much lately. So in trying to figure something out to make her I figured what is a more iconic dish for a sick person than chicken noodle soup? Chicken noodle soup in its stock form is pretty boring though, so I threw quite a few other ingredients on top and got something damn tasty. This is a recipe for a gigantic load, and at the time I was just kind of throwing things in the pot so feel free to modify to fit your taste buds. The servings are an estimate, any time I make soup or chili a lot gets given away. I used homemade stock but if using store bought I recommend getting low sodium.


Ingredients
6 cloves - Garlic diced
2 cups - Water
6 cups - Chicken Stock
3 cups - Egg Noodles
3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Zucchini quartered then chopped
1 Mexican Squash quartered then chopped
1 Sweet Onion roughly diced
6 Carrots chopped
6 Celery Sticks chopped
1 lb - Button Mushrooms sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper chopped
Vegetable Oil
Salt
Pepper
Tone's Cajun Seasoning

Serves 20

When cutting vegetables try too keep them roughly similar sizes otherwise cooking times need to be adjusted.

Step 1 - Saute GARLIC in OIL in a large stock pot until you can smell it. Should take a couple of minutes.

Step 2 - Add WATER and BROTH. Bring mixture to a boil.

Step 3 - Add CHICKEN, MUSHROOMS, CARROTS. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cajun seasoning as you see fit, I like my food spicy so I used quite a lot. Bring back to a boil and wait approximately 5 minutes.

Step 4 - Add noodles and wait another 5 minutes.

Step 5 - Add remaining ingredients and bring back to a boil. Should be ready in about 10 minutes. The squash should be soft to the touch but still intact.


This turned out yummy with loads of healthy stuff involved. The spice took it over the top! Great whether or not you're sick.

Chef's Knife

I've been using the same old chef knife for about 10 years. It was a hand me down that won't get a fine edge no matter how it's sharpened, but it never really goes dull either. The steel is just too freaking hard. But a couple of weeks ago my new knife came in from an amazon order. A Chicago Cutlery Insignia series with an eight inch blade. It's not a Wusthof or anything, but I only paid $18 for it and the difference it makes for prep work is amazing. I highly recommend it above all of the knives I've used that run under $100, it puts the standard victorinox or dexter-russell knives to shame.

Double Mustard and Honey Chicken Legs

I've been going off of recipes, mostly from The BBQ Bible, since I got my new grill. Today, however, felt more like a winging it type of day. So I grabbed some random ingredients and threw them together for a marinade/basting sauce to put on chicken I'd gotten earlier at the store.

Marinade
5 oz - Inglehoffer Stone Ground Mustard
5 oz - Kraft Honey Mustard Dressing and Dip
3 oz - Canola Oil
3 cloves - Chopped Garlic
5 - Chicken Legs with Skin

Garlic Bread
2 oz - Butter softened
2 oz - Cream Cheese softened
2 cloves - Garlic pressed
1-2 French Bread Loaves

Serves 2 adults and 1 three year old

Step 1 - Combine MUSTARD, DRESSING, OIL, and GARLIC in a zip-lock freezer bag. Reserve 2 oz to dress chicken with upon serving.

Step 2 - Add CHICKEN LEGS to marinade and let marinate 1 to 24 hours.

Step 3 - When ready to grill preheat grill using the 2 zone method for high and medium. Brush grates and coat with oil/lard.

Step 4 -  Add chicken to hot side, move to medium if it starts flaring. Mine took about 7 minutes per side to hit 170F.

Step 5 - While the chicken is cooking combine BUTTER, CREAM CHEESE, and PRESSED GARLIC in a small bowl. Coat the cut side of BREAD thoroughly. Sprinkle with parsley or oregano flakes to add some style.

Step 6 - When chicken is fully cooked remove and place bread butter side down on hottest part of grill. After about 1 minute turn bread 45 degrees to add some diamond marks. Remove when bread starts crisping (about another minute).

I served this with a caesar salad and it was pretty damn good. The mustard flavor came through well and the honey mustard sweetened it just enough. I think it would have worked even better with a spatchcocked chicken and putting the sauce under the skin. The addition of the cream cheese to the garlic bread gave it a unique twist and tasted excellent.