Fought with kitchen knives and skewers

Bah Bah Bah ba Bah.  My therapist said not to see you no more. . . What's up cats?  I hope your weekend was as awesome as mine was.   Actually, I was sick and you can count my misery by the crudded tissues littering the nothugs house.

Anyway, I needed something spicy and peanuty to get my through.  True story: a Netherlander looked at me in disgust when she discovered  I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I told her she was spitting on the American flag.  Then she described the Netherlander equivalent to a peanut butter and banana sandwich.  To wit:  Bread, white Dutch cheese, bananas and ketchup grilled like a panini.  I love living in this time.  This is another guaranteed meal--eat it with rice because it is spicy!

What you Need:
bamboo skewers, soaked
12 oz. chicken tenders, cut
4 C brown rice
Cilantro

Peanut Sauce:
1/2 C H2o
1/3 C rice vinegar
1/3 C creamy Peanut Butter
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 tsp red pepper




Spicy Peanut Chicken on a Stick

Cook the Rice first!
Sauce:  Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.
Transfer to small pan and cook, stirring over meduim heat until thickened.  Do not boil!

Then . . .
Add half of sauce to chicken in storage bag and refrigerate 30 minutes.

And . . .
Thread chicken onto skewers.  Preheat Broiler.  Then broil 2-3 minutes each side.


Lay it out on the plate and add cilantro and remaining reheated peanut sauce.  Delicious!

Total Time: 10 minutes plus refrigeration.
Drink:  Pomegranate juice
Music:  James

Sweets, babies.

Franz Kafka wrote "At one time the whole town took a lively interest in the hunger artist; from day to day of his fast the excitement mounted."(A Hunger Artist)  So let's eats some brownies.  The chocolate kind, eh?

It's the end of the week, brothers and sisters.  Friday is the Equinox. Burn some sage and kiss someone.

What You Need: 

Non stick cooking spray
1/2 C flour
3 T unsweetend coca powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 C cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
3 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
5 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 C egg
2 tsp vanilla abstract
1/2 C raspberries and 1/2 C walnuts, chopped

Homemade Brownies

Preheat oven to 350.
Coat 8x8 square baking pan with spray.
In meduim bowl stir flour, cocoa, and baking powder together.

In another bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until creamy.  Beat in melted chocolate and oil.  Gradually beat in egg and vanilla.
On low speed, beat in flour mixture until smooth.  Fold in raspberries and walnuts and spoon into pan.
Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool.


Go ahead and let these sit over night--they're much better that way.  Have a good one, folks.

Total time: 45 minutes
Drink:  Milk, from a cows teat
Music:  Bonnie Prince Billy

Drink Up Baby, Stay up all Night

For the final installment of "How to throw a party for 10$ a Person" I offer thee Sangria's.  I don't see how you could possibly go wrong with anything Spanish.  Unless of course you consider history and politics, but every one makes mistakes and--more importantly-- it's never fair to cast the shady eye of bigotry over all when just a few hold the power.

The guests of the party would tell you we got pretty drunk.  As with any Sangria--there are many-- this requires over night soaking.

What you Need: 

2 boxes Red Wine (Shiraz)
2 oranges, 2 lemons
1 apple
1/4 C sugar
1/4 Brandy
Club Soda

In case you were wondering: Sangria means
blood in Spanish.


Party Sangria

Slice up fruit.
Press fruit into sugar.
Mix Wine, fruit and
Brandy in a large cauldron.
Transfer to plastic or glass
containers and refrigerate
over night.
*We served drinks from a nice pitcher.

Pour ice into wine glass (to stretch drink out) add sangria and a splash of club soda.   

Total Time: 30 minutes plus over nite
Music:  Little Dragon

How to throw a party for $10 a person--Sides.

First, allow me to say "привет" to my viewer from Russia, "спасибо!" 

You have to have enough sides to pull off a party.  We baked up some pita bread for hummus; bought some crackers for Millers Mild and Sweet Mustard sauce and used our stores of yet ripe green tomatoes to fry up so Southern goodness.


The Equinox falls twice a year.  Translated from Latin it means equal night.  This Friday, the 23rd the day and night will be roughly the same duration.  And then after, until the Spring, the days will be shorter, colder and utter Bullocks.

What You Need: 
Green tomatoes
*It turns out it doesn't nesc.
matter how close to ripeness the 
green fruit are.  The firmer, the more easily they hold together. (ed.)
Zucchini
2 eggs and 1/2 C milk
1/2 C cornmeal
1/2 C breadcrumbs
2 t salt and 1/4 t. black pepper
Flour
Cooking Oil


Fried Green Tomatoes and Zucchini

Heat oil.  (do not burn)
Whisk together: 2 eggs and 1/2c milk – set aside
Mix together: 1/2c cornmeal, 1/2c breadcrumbs,
2t salt and ¼ black pepper –set aside
Slice Tomatoes and Zucchini
* I cut zucchini into fingers
Coat all sides evenly with flour.
Dredge through egg/milk mixture.

Coat all sides with cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture.
Fry in ½” oil in batches. Flip once to brown both sides.


Total Time: 15 minutes
Music:  Luis Santana
Drink:  Sangria

How to throw a party for $10 a person.

Our annual Fall Equinox party has been an off and off affair for the last ten years.  This year we nailed it in spectacular fashion.  I'll go ahead and tell you I doubled the recipe below to feed 15 people and 24 hours of marination is required.

The  official Equinox happens to occur this Friday on my birthday so, maybe, it would have made more sense to throw the shebang next week, but come on, it's a party.  Drinks were served, sage was burned, mysterious scratches were had-- memories were fogged.
 The summer is gasping people. . . if you listen you can hear it, softly crying, "I'm not dead yet."     

What you need:
 Marinade:
1 t. whole all spice
1 t. black peppercorn
4 whole cloves
1/4 cup brown sugar, lime juice
and soy sauce.
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 t. paprika
8 garlic cloves
3 large shallots, cut in half
3" piece of ginger, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

* process this and add to--


2 lbs boneless Chicken, cut into 1" chunks.

Veggies:
1 pineapple, cubed in 1" chunks
3 peppers, cut into 1" chunks
Mushrooms
Onions
Artichoke hearts

* If you haven't figured it out yet--we're making skewers.




Grilled Spicy Jerk Chicken Kabobs

Heat first 3 ingredients in a pan over meduim heat, cook 1 minute.
Add cooked spices to rest of marinade and process until smooth.  Add to chicken in bag and refrigerate overnight.
Cut up veggies. 

Then . . .
Assemble skewers.
*Importante!  Save marinade.
Grill skewers and baste with remaining marinade.

There you have it.  This fed enough people that we had left overs.  We've cooked this meal 2 years running and I have to say it is quite delicious.

Total Time: 45 minutes plus marination
Drink: Sangrias
Music: M. Ward

Drink, Drink.

You may have noticed that Nothugs has moved to nights.  That's right, I'm aiming for the nighttime web surfing, idle time crowd.  Welcome!

So we come to the end of another glorious week.  The Nothugs mobile broke down and we've been riding the bus hither and nether. This afternoon the wife opened her umbrella and split my lip.  Why do I feel like I am paying for something?  Perhaps it is because I do not give credit to the many chefs who provide me with dining pleasure.  So this drink  is for you.

As contributors week comes to a close I would be remiss If I did not thank once again my thugs for allowing us into their kitchen.  Let me start with tonight's donor--mother, masseur, and excellent cook Claire Westbrook.  Check out her expertise here: Timespaceonemassage.

And thanks to the others, my friends, and check out their adventures:
PittsburghVeggieFoodies
mixedplatemama
herestomyhealth
Thank you, thank you!
On with the show. . .

What you need:
Lemonade, 1/2
Iced Tea, 1/2
Ice
Vodka, as much as you can stand*

* See Comments (ed.)


A John Daley   *golfer, drinker, gambler take on the Arnold Palmer.

This drink pretty much speaks for itself.  Add a lemon for a little class, why don't ya?

Alright, brothers and sisters, have a wonderful weekend.  See you again next week.

Time: minimal
Music: Neko Case
Food: jambalaya

---Out!

Contributors Week, Mothers! pt. III

On the first Saturday of every month the Pittsburgh Veggie Foodies get together at someone's home and are treated to hospitality, good eats and steady drinks.  The dinners are themed and change every month.  The only caveat is that it will be vegetarian and organic. This month's was Southern Cooken.

Brye Dignam is the founder of the PVF's, a painter and my neighbor in Pittsburgh.   And it's the first organic desert for Nothugs.  Bravo.

* I love cooking with alcohol.  This one calls for a 1/4 cup of Brandy.  She's a fine girl.

Photos by BD

What you Need:
3lbs ripe peaches (7 to 8 cups) pitted peeled and chopped
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup sugar

Crumble
8 TBSP butter
1cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup of all purpose flour
pinch of salt





Organic Peach Crumble

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan.

Put the peaches in a bowl along with the sugar and the brandy and toss.

For the crumble, cream the butter and brown sugar together using an electric mixer, food processor or fork.

Stir or pulse in the remaining ingredients until combined and crumbly; it won't hold together like a dough. (You can make this in advance if you like; pile onto a piece of plastic and wrap, then refrigerate or freeze until about 30 minutes before you're ready to use it. Defrost if necessary, then use.)

Pour the peaches into the prepared pan. Crumble the mixture over top. Bake until golden and just starting to turn brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve warm with cream.

For recipes from the around the world: Pittsburgh Veggie Foodies