Shrimp Hibachi!

For years ago, in June 2021 my boat arrived in Colonial Beach. It was ‘on the hard’ initially. But once in the water it was my new Virginia home. Since my galley wasn’t fully functioning, I walked a short distance to Castlewood Park and got dinner from Hancho’s Hibachi. You could buy two meals for $21, so I would be set for 4 dinners (each was easily 2 meals). To celebrate that time, I give you my version of Hancho’s Shrimp Hibachi. Cook 1 cup of jasmine rice with 1 1/2 cup of water, and a bit of butter for 15 minutes. Let it rest 5 minutes. Then put it in the fridge. Do this early in the day. Make a teriyaki sauce. In a sauce pan with olive oil, cook down some thin sliced onions. Add thin sliced ginger and diced garlic. Add fresh...

Cajun Chicken and Mushroom Sandwich

Hands down, one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. And we just made it up as we went. We cut chicken breasts horizontally to make them thin, then cut them in half to fit a bun. Season with Kevin’s Cajun Seasoning (my favorite), you can use Tony’s (too much salt) or make your own. Splash a robust olive on the pile and toss to mix well. Set aside for at least 15 minutes. On our Brownstone with a low heat we added the chicken, sliced mushrooms and onion. For the onion and mushroom we used the olive oil/seasoning drippings from the chicken plate. All gets cooked down and heated well. On the chicken flip, the brioche buns went on the griddle for toasting. Dukes mayo was mixed with our hot sauce for our aoli. When done: Bun on bottom,...

Up-scaled Air-fried Toad-In-The-Hole

This was one of the tastiest breakfasts I’ve made in a while. Take two slices of Asiago bread and cut a hole in it. I used an upturned olive jar for mine. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and put on your air fryer rack. Mix some robust olive oil with garlic powder and brush it on. place a cracked egg in each hole. Grind some pepper on top. Season with Italian seasoning and parsley. Add some finely shredded Gruyere cheese. Season again, if desired. This goes into your air fryer for 7 minutes at 355°. Then I turned mine up to 400° for two minutes to brown up the cheese a bit, and to finish the eggs. The result was spectacular! Served with hash brown and hickory smoked...

Always seeking that perfect steak.

I’ve cooked this before, but tonight I focused on more of the prep work. This evening, I had a perfectly marbled rib eye. I patted it down with paper towel to get it as dry as I could. Then I generously sprinkled kosher salt on each side, and set it aside for 45 minutes. Also grind on a healthy amount of black peppercorns. The goal here is to draw out the moisture of the meat. If you cook a steak right out of the wrapping, it will steam, not sear, due to the high moisture content. Sure enough, there were pools of water on the outside of the steak after 45 minutes. Dap the steaks dry, let rest 10 minutes and repeat. Now you are ready to cook. In a cast iron skillet, melt a few tablespoons of butter and bring to a medium high heat. Add the steak when it is...

Mushroom, Garlic, Cauliflower

With one of our last cool evenings, we worked up a meal I’ve been wanting to try, a mushroom, garlic, cauliflower dish that could be a main course as well as a side. We topped ours with some air-fried seasoned chicken breasts, cut into strips and placed on top. In a skillet drizzle in a healthy amount of olive oil and heat. Add a diced sweet onion. Sweat it down for a few minutes. Add a pound of whole, cleaned, well dried mushrooms, stems and all. We used baby bells. Cook them down on medium high for about 5 minutes. Brown them up nicely. Add some cauliflower broken down to florets. Use half or full head, depending on what you like. Stir well and cover to steam, about 10 minutes. Add in some stock, we used a few tablespoons of dissolved Better than Bullion....