Crunchboy

I use different marinades for beef and chicken. I don't really have a recipe, just a list of ingredients that I often use. For Beef: worcestershire sauce thick soy sauce or chinese "gourmet" sauce lime juice garlic tequila "fajita seasonings" or mixture of chili powder, cayenne, cilantro, salt and pepper a little oil For chicken: lime juice oil (3 times as much as lime juice) garlic cilantro "fajita seasonsings" (see above) tequila

I use different marinades for beef and chicken. I don't really have a recipe, just a list of ingredients that I often use. For Beef: worcestershire sauce thick soy sauce or chinese "gourmet" sauce lime juice garlic tequila "fajita seasonings" or mixture of chili powder, cayenne, cilantro, salt and pepper a little oil For chicken: lime juice oil (3 times as much as lime juice) garlic cilantro "fajita seasonsings" (see above) tequila

Gnocchi is one of those foods that can be great or horrible. When its good, its light, soft and almost creamy, and when its bad its like tasteless lead sinkers. The strange thing about it is that it contains only 3-5 ingredients (potatoes, flour, salt, and maybe egg and/or some nutmeg). It looks so easy to make, yet I can't seem to get it right. Almost everything I've read says you want to use as little flour as possible, and to do so, you've got to allow as little water as possible into the potato. You also have to use floury potatos such as russets. While I've tried baking and boiling the potatoes, using a masher and a ricer, with egg and without egg, I can't seem to get it right. Does anyone have a tried and true recipe or know what I'm doing wrong?

I have an outdoor grill made by a company called Altima that is great for making pizza. It is one of those expensive stainless steel grills, but it has a few features that make it great for pizza. First, the interior is lined with fire brick to give it a brick-oven effect. Second, it has an infrared burner that is primarily for searing steaks, etc. (it supposedly can reach up to 1600 degrees F at the grill surface) and has very high btus, so it can reach extremely high temperatures. I'm not sure exactly how high because my temperature gauge only goes up to 650 degrees F, but it clearly goes higher than that. They sell a pizza stone as an option, but I just use one that I had before I bought the grill. A pizza cooks in 2-3 minutes on the grill. The grill also has a firebox that can be substituted for some of the gas burners. I've used it for barbecueing meats, chicken, etc., but haven't tried it for making a wood or coal fired brick oven pizza. For those who dream of a wood-fired brick oven, it would probably be a pretty good alternative, especially since it is so versatile.

I've made chili a number of times, but don't really have a recipe per se. It's probably been a little different each time. That's part of the beauty of chili -- put a bunch of stuff in a dutch oven and cook it long and slow. Here are some of my thoughts on ingredients: Meat -- I like a mixture of different textures, some ground beef or coarse chili grind, some small chunks and some larger chunks. The best meat is flanken-style short ribs taken off the small bones, but it can get pretty pricey if that's all you use. Chuck works well too. Cut it into 1 inch chunks. Put 1/3 of it in food processor and pulse for 8-10 seconds. Put another 1/3 in food processor and pulse for 3-5 seconds. Keep the final 1/3 intact. Brown the meat and set it aside. Chili powder -- Some say it's best to grind your own powder, but it's just too much work. You get what you pay for with pre-made chili powder, so spend a little more. Cumin Chili peppers -- It doesn't really matter what kinds of fresh chilis you use, just make sure you take into account their relative heat. I usually use serrano or jalapeno. I also love to add chipotles. I find it easiest to use canned chipotles in adobo sauce, which I then dice or put in a blender. Tomatoes -- Canned tomatoes are the easiest to work with and because of the long cooking times, I wouldn't bother with fresh tomatoes. Muir Glen makes a fire roasted diced tomato product that gives the chile a nice smoky flavor. Onions Garlic Cooking liquid -- You can use water but chicken stock or canned chicken broth makes for a much richer and more complex chili. I usually also add some red wine or dark beer. Peanut butter and chocolate -- Some of the other posters have also referred to chocolate chili. I add some unsweetened cocoa powder -- it gives the chili a little of a mole flavor. I also like to add some peanut butter, which gives it an earthy flavor and also helps to thicken the sauce. Beans -- I make the chili without beans because some in my family don't like them. Those of us that do add canned kidney, red and/or black beans when we reheat it up. Sour cream Cheddar cheese. It may seem like a "kitchen sink" approach to chili, but it all makes an incredibly rich and complex chili. I usually serve it on rice so that the chili goes a little further.

I saute 1 or 2 garlic cloves (depending on size) in about 2 tbls. olive oil. Shallots make a nice substitution for the garlic. I then add a can of diced tomatoes. I used to use Muir Glen, but have switched lately to Hunt's which have a brighter tomato flavor. Both brands have a larger dice than the norm, which is pretty comparable to what you get when you crush or dice your own. Add a little salt and a little sugar (I know purists will object to the sugar, but adding about 1 tsp. helps bring out the tomato flavor). Add some chopped fresh basil for the last minute of cooking time. It makes the perfect amount of sauce for a pound of dried pasta. I then throw on another tablespoon of olive oil at the end.