Stovetop Hot Chocolate

Start by making a chocolate syrup, made from a cup and a half of white sugar, a cup and a half of water, a cup of cocoa powder, a dash of salt, and dash of vanilla.  Let all ingredients come to a simmer and then turn it down on low.  Once the chocolate syrup is done, add as much milk as you want for the chocolate flavor you want, strong or light.  Heat the chocolate milk until hot enough to drink.

Peach Pork and Mashed Red Potatoes

My favorite cut of pork is the tenderloin and it goes great with a fruit sauce.  First I start by heating a skillet on medium high, once it's hot, I place the pork tenderloin on the hot skillet and sear it on all four sides, about a minute per side, you know it's seared when it releases easily from the pan.  Once all four sides are seared, place the pork in an oven safe casserole dish and put it in the oven at 350 deg.  I like to cook my pork to 155 deg, I use a thermometer on the inside of the pork.  I take it out at 155 deg internal temperature and let it rest and the temperature will rise to 160 deg, once it's at 160 deg, I slice and serve the pork.  While the pork is in the oven, I make the sauce in the skillet that I seared the pork in.  Once I remove the pork, I add a whole diced onion and cook it until it's translucent.  Once the onion is cooked, I add a whole clove of diced garlic.  Then I add some kind of beer or wine.  This one I used a peach Belgium beer to deglaze the pan, about a cup full.  Once the pan has been deglazed, I add a pint of water and one chicken bouillon cube, but you could also use 16 ounces of chicken stock.  I just let the sauce simmer and reduce while the pork is cooking.  Once the consistency is good, I reduce the heat to low and just keep adding the beer or wine or water to keep it the right consistency until the pork is ready.  I like to drink the wine or beer I cooked the pork with.

For an easy side dish, I peeled and rough chopped 2 pounds of red potatoes, added them to cold water, brought the pot to a boil and cooked them until done.  I drained them and then mashed them and added some milk, butter, salt, pepper, and garlic, just enough for the right flavor and consistency.

Chex Mix

For Chex Mix, I used half a small box of wheat chex cereal, half a big box of rice chex cereal, 1 cup of mustard flavored pretzels, 1 cup of crushed bagel chips, and 1 cup of mixed nuts.  I put all the ingredients in a large microwavable casserole dish.  In a small microwavable bowl, I added one stick of butter, 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of Lawry's salt.  I put the small bowl in the microwave for about a minute until the butter was melted, then I poured the melted butter mixture over the large casserole dish with the chex cereal mixture.  I put the large casserole dish with all ingredients in the microwave for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.  Once it was done in the microwave, I spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet to cool, then put in an airtight container.

Irish Coffee from Buena Vista in San Francisco

On a recent trip to San Francisco, I saw this Irish Coffee being made, and it's amazing.  It consists of one shot of Whiskey, two sugar cubes, fill with coffee, and stir.  Then top with fresh whip cream.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

First I cut the tops off the bell peppers, I like to use red since they are sweeter than the green bell peppers.  Put the open bell peppers into boiling water so they are completely covered.  I leave them in the boiling water while I make the filling.  I usually use the 90 minute ready rice and there are lots of different kinds.  I saute one onion with the top part of the bell pepper that I cut off in some olive oil until done.  Then I add a pound of ground beef and cook until done.  Then I add a jar of tomato sauce and let cook until hot.  Then I add some diced Roma tomatoes and the cooked rice.  Then dry the bell peppers and fill with the mixture.  Put them in a cake pan with high edges so they don't fall over and place in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.  Top with Parmesan for the last minute in the oven.

Pulled Pork

I bought a 4 pound pork shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches.  I made a rub for the pork with thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  I put the pork shoulder in my crock pot on low and poured in it a cup of Dr Pepper.  I let this cook on low for 8 hours.  Once it was done, I pulled off the bone and the fat layer on top and put the meat in a bowl and it was very easy to shred with a fork.