JEFF'S FAMOUS REAL BACON JERKY

"Honey Glazed Sweet Heat Decadence'

Did you know Jeff had some famous 'Real Bacon Jerky' that is"Honey Glazed Sriracha Style Black Pepper" flavored ? My friend, Frank that I have know since my teenage years gifted me a package of this jerky to celebrate my 'Big Fat Birthday Month of Celebration". Frank knows what I like. We are excited to try this bacon jerky.
  I really hated to do this; but, I read the ingredient list. There is good and not so good. Bacon is the first listed ingredient. We are getting real bacon today. Sriracha sauce, honey and black pepper are other ingredients that I like. There is a whole slew of preservatives, nitrates and such that may be necessary evils to preserve this product. Finally, one ingredient that always makes my stomach turn a little somersault: "smoke flavoring". The real test and million dollar question is how does it taste?

My first impressions are of honey, black pepper and a very slight Sriracha hit. The jerky finishes with a wonderful mouth feel of bacon lusciousness. We are eating real bacon here. It is not chewy and semi tough like traditional jerky. The texture is soft but enjoyable. It is enjoyable because of all the flavor combinations listed above. They are harmonious and desirable. Sweet, savory (pepper & Sriracha) and most of all the fat in bacon love that I adore. There is a very slight hint of smoke that compliments this flavor package.. This product needs no refrigeration. I may have to carry a package on my person at all times.  Thankyou Frank

Jeff's Famous Foods

KOBE CORNED BEEF ROUND

The good people at Snake River Farms raise American style Kobe Beef. Once a year they offer a very special product of corned beef. This is not made with the traditional brisket cut of beef but from the beef round. I am not a butcher and maybe if Donna reads this she can chime in but the round cut is from the rear end section of a cow. It does not have a lot of fat marbling and can be tough if not cooked properly. The wonderful thing about American Kobe style beef it does have more fat marbling than the traditional western breeds. Our local club store carries this special beef for St. Patrick's day. Traditionally this cut of beef is boiled. You know we are not going to be so conventional and cook ours in a smoker.

Corned beef is cured in salt, sugar and spices. We need to purge some of the salt from our beef to lower the salt content. Twenty four hours before our cook, we put our beef in a pot of cold water into the refrigerator. We changed this water three times. You could see the water clouded with a briny salt solution with each rinse. Before we put our roast in the smoker we dried it and gave it a light dusting of rub. This was more to add color and crust flavor boost because this roast with the corning process was highly seasoned. We used hickory wood as our smoke. The roast smoked for 6 hours until the internal temperature reached 190 degrees. We let our roast rest for 45 minutes. It was a very long 45 minutes.

This corned beef almost brought tears to my eyes it was so good. With the purging process our roast was seasoned to perfection. It sliced very nice leaving a tender but succulent piece of beef. Ms. Goofy proclaimed this to be the 'Best Corned Beef Ever". I will have to agree.  I could use terms like; Umami, buttery, beefy, heavenly, fantastic mouth feel and so much more to describe this beef. Kobe beef has a unique beefy flavor that just needs to be experienced. I may have to go back and pick up a couple of more roasts before they are gone.

MY BIG FAT BIRTHDAY STEAK

No explanation needed here. We had a anniversary/birthday celebration at Flemings Prime Steakhouse and this was my big fat 16 ounce prime aged New York strip steak. Yummy!

VINCIGUERRA RAVIOLI

The 'Great White Hunter' and I were on a Meat Adventure which brought our journey to Jackson California. He suggested we go to Vinciguerra Ravioli to buy some pasta. The Great White Hunter, I can safely say; Has never met a ravioli he has not liked. With his limited garbled interpretive directions we managed to find Viniguerra establishment. This small pasta company is located in a building that most likely at one time was a drive-up burger establishment. It was small and eclectic looking business. There was a line at the take out only window indicating a good sign of pasta to come. We berthed 'Black Bart' our vehicle of mass meat gathering, in there spacious lot.

We took our spot in line and surveyed the small menu. It listed several flavors of raviolis and sauce. There were choices such as meat, cheese, pumpkin with sauces such as marinara or pesto. There was also fresh linguine and angel hair pasta sold by the pound.As we were in line we could here Mr. Vinciguerra giving very detailed cooking instructions to the customers ahead of us. These were very lengthy instructions that I am sure Mr. Vinciguerra has repeated hundreds of time. For some reason his instructions of "boil in water until done' had been expanded too epic portions rivaling the tome 'War & Peace". Boy could he talk. The line took forever because of the repeating of his instructional seminar.

We did finally get to purchase our pasta & ravioli. I cannot wait to get home and try them. Below you can see the man in action. I will talk to you soon because I need to 'boil in water till done;.

BACON RUB

Bacon Rub promises 'bacon wrapped flavor", Is this another hollow promise or a food revelation to rock my bacon world? "J&D's" company producers of the infamous bacon salt have come out with another bacon product that has spiked my curiosity. This is a spice rub for meat, vegetables.and has the added bonus of being 'all natural'. I guess all natural is better than all artificial. We are going to test run Bacon Rub on some grilled pork chops. I have my fingers crossed.

Like 'J&D's" bacon salt, no actual bacon is in this product. It has "Natural Smoke Flavoring". The term natural is becoming a little concern to me. The kicker ingredient is yeast extract. I have come across this ingredient in bacon products before. Yeast extract mimics the smell and taste of bacon if you pretend very hard. There is salt, sugar, paprika garlic & mustard powders to add to the mix of this rub. It does have a baconesque like smell. This is a rub and should season our pork chops with some success. The million dollar question, is there 'bacon wrapped flavor'?

Here is the verdict straight from Ms. Goofy. These chops taste great. But!!!!. I did not tell her that I used Bacon Rub. She did like the chops but did not mention or know of the so called bacon wrapped flavor. I also did not notice bacon flavor. This is a good all purpose rub. The ingredients of sugar, salt, and spices do complement and season pork and will work well with other proteins. Bacon Rub is a decent all-purpose rub but fails in bacon wrapped flavor like so many before. It was fun and tasty to give it a try.

DAT’S MY’EN

“Savor The Burn"

“Phi Ro Peppers” company, based in the coal regions of Northeast Pennsylvania has created a hot sauce; ‘Dat’s My’En’. This sauce was born out of a passion for germinating, growing, processing, and consuming hot peppers.  “Dat’s My’En” is a unique hot sauce name that originates from a local coal miners dialect which translates to a ‘possessive mine’ meaning. The sauce is a combination of habaneros, chipotles and pineapple.  Phi Ro Peppers  claims this sauce is a burst of flavor and heat that will add tropical flare to chicken or fish. It also goes good on vanilla ice cream. We shall see. Come join us while we try ‘Dat’s My’En” hot sauce.

Ingredients:
Pineapple juice (water, pineapple juice concentrate), fresh pineapple, agave syrup, ground mustard seed, vinegar , fresh habanero peppers, modified corn starch, fresh lime, salt, turmeric and spices are the listed ingredients. On the label chipotles are listed as an ingredient but the listed ingredients do not include chipotle.

Aroma & Texture:
A fresh, clean, sweet smell of pineapple nectar greets your sinuses with an opened top. A hint of cinnamon and smoke is in the background of this pleasing smell. This is a very thick puree of ingredients. There are no flow restrictors on this bottle because it does pour slowly. No seeds are present.

Taste:
Pineapple is the star today. We first notice pineapple goodness. The chipotle flavor demands your attention with the addition of slight smoke. The habanero pepper with it fruity tones pairs well with the pineapple to give this sauce a bold flavor The agave syrup with the pineapple gives it just the right amount of sweetness. The lime gives this sauce freshness. I also taste a little hint of cinnamon. I like the heat level that grabs your attention but does not punish. There is a whole lot going on here. . The all important factor of balance is working today.

Heat:
The label states that this sauce level ranks a 5 on a scale of 10. This is a little to generous for my heat ranking. This sauce is not mild but will not scorch either. I will give it a click above mild with 2 stars out of 5 on the heat meter.

Food:
Who doesn’t love meatloaf on a blustery winter day? A couple of shakes of ‘That’s My’En’ elevated this comfort dish to greatness. The sweet/hot combinations of flavors pair well with our beloved meatloaf. Yummy.
  Barbequed chicken wings are our favorites. We added a little melted butter to the sauce and coated our cooked bbq wings. This was a success. The sweet pineapple, the smoky chipotle and a little kick from the habanero made these wings  great for any occasion.
  Lastly, you know I had to try it on some vanilla ice cream. The things I do in the name of hot sauce research. Granted the sauce is great and I do love ice cream but this may be a stretch in the pairing department.

Overall:
‘Dat’s  My’en’ is a unique name for a fun sweet/savory sauce. This sauce has something for everyone. It has heat from habaneros, smoke from chipotle and the sweet flavor of pineapple to balance and complement flavors. We loved the sauce with our wings. Meatloaf was comfort food elevated a couple of notches. Vanilla ice cream? It was not really my cup of tea. Dat’s My’En  will receive this reviewers seal of approval. I know you will like it too.

Phi Rho Peppers
http://www.pirhopeppers.com/

ELECTRIC PRESSURE COOKER SHORT RIBS

Do you love falling off the bone, savory and rich decadent beef short ribs? Not everyone has the time or motivation to spend 3-5 hours to slowly cook them to perfection. Ms. Goofy bought herself an electric pressure cooker. This will cut the cooking time down to an hour. Is that even possible? We shall see. Grab a cold one and let’s plug in the pressure cooker.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 beef short ribs (about 3 1/4 pounds)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 3/4 cup dry red wine

In 6-quart pressure cooker, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high. Place flour in a shallow dish. Season beef with salt and pepper, then coat in flour, shaking off excess. Add beef to pressure cooker and cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a plate. Add onion, garlic, and thyme to pressure cooker and sauté until soft, 4 minutes. Add red wine and 1/4 cup water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, 1 minute. Return beef to pressure cooker Cook for 50 minutes on high heat. After 50 minutes the beef ribs were removed from the remaining broth.

While the ribs were cooking an aroma of beef and wine permeated the kitchen. Caution! This may trigger drooling. The remaining beef broth was strained and kept warm in a small pan. This fall- apart beef ribs would be served with egg noodles. The savory decadent broth was spooned over the meat and noodles. The verdict was success. Yes you can cook beef short ribs in under an hour and achieve stellar results. Bravo! , Ms. Goofy.