The Buckeyes vs. The Sooners!

Illustration by Chris Schoelen, The Oklahoman Graphics

This amazing graphic is the best way to describe me when it comes to this major upcoming game! This Saturday, September 17th at 7:30/6:30C my culinary and sports fandom worlds will collide, and I couldn't be more excited!  Ohio State will be hosted by the Oklahoma Sooners at the Memorial Stadium in Norman.  

The stadium will be packed to the brim as tickets have been sold out for quite some time. If you weren't one of the lucky ones to score seats, you can still be part of the action by checking out the one-of-a-kind tailgating culture that only college football can offer, by coming on out to the OU campus and walking around Saturday.  Tailgating is a celebration and colorful display of community built on the shared love of a team, and it is amazing!  So if you have never been to a campus tailgating event, this is going to be a great one to check out. 

I am so excited about this matchup!  I obviously have a connection to both teams seeing as how I have written the officially licensed tailgating cookbooks for both schools.  The Sooners and the Buckeyes have not played against each other since 1983, and this weekend the Bucks are coming to my backyard and will be aired in a prime time slot on Fox.  How exciting!

While you are checking out the tailgating/pre-game culture that OU has to offer, be sure to stop in to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.  It's free admission (you can't beat that!) and they have an amazing and eclectic collection of art from all over the world, from different periods of time, by outstanding and revolutionary artists.  And while you are taking in the gallery sights, be sure to take a detour into the museum store, aptly named The Muse.  There you will find an artistic collection of beautiful and really unique gifts for all ages and for any occasion, including items for that person who already has "everything". They are also carrying BOTH my University of Oklahoma and Ohio State Cookbooks for the big game day!  

This unusual match-up has me so excited! Not that I keep mentioning it or anything.  Why?  Because I'm from Ohio, my family attended Ohio State, and I'll always be a Buckeye at heart.  But I also love OU because it's where I got my Bachelors and Masters degrees, it's where I work, and I absolutely love Norman! 

No matter who winds up winning, I have no doubt that it will be quite the battle and I for one will be entertained the entire time!

If you would like a signed copy of either my OU or OSU cookbooks, you can find them on display in The Muse store of the FJJMA. If you are in the Norman area, and are interested in bulk orders, feel free to contact me.  

Gooooo BUCKS/SOONERS!!

Bevo Sandwiches With 3-Bean Chili

Well, today's the day!  The OU/Texas Red River Rivalry airs live today on ABC!

Excited?  Me too.  I know Sooner Fans already have some special tailgating goodies that are themed for this special event, and are traditionally set out on the watch table every year.  So let me just throw out some additional tailgating munchies that can add to this, and future gameday gatherings.

It's finally feeling a bit like football weather in Oklahoma, and around the country, and the chilled, crisp air makes me crave the classic combo of soup and sandwiches.  Relatively quick to make, and clean up, and can feed large groups on a budget, soup and sandwiches can also be a great tailgating addition without the grill or the mess and time constraints that sometimes comes with tailgating.

Let's start with the soup de jour!  I know I've put out a few different chili recipes, but this one is quick, easy, and very hearty - I call it 3-Bean Chili.  I've added okra and bell peppers in the past, but this one's easy enough that you can just see what you have on hand that sounds good, and toss it in! Here's what you'll need:

You will also need a pound of hamburger.  Today I used onion powder and garlic powder, but you can also use a yellow onion and garlic cloves instead, if you got 'em.  Ok, fry up your burger, adding the onion and garlic powders, chili powder, some dried parsley, and cracked pepper to the meat while it's cooking.  I unusually dice up some sort of green/hot peppers and toss them in at the same time so they can sauté in the hamburger drippings.  If you are using fresh onions and/or garlic, now is the time to cook them up as well - one pot cooking!

Once the burger is done, open a can of Red Gold Diced Tomatoes Chili Ready, and a can of Westbrea Natural Organic Vegetarian Chili Beans.  Don't drain the juices, add them to the chili.  Then add in another round of spices (add okra here if using), and let it simmer while you make the sandwiches.

In my opinion, the part of a sandwich that really determines whether it is awesome or average, is the bread.  I personally like to use hoagie style buns of different varieties, then cut them into bite-sized finger foods for parties.  Now-a-days, you can find many different selections, including pretzel hoagies and my new favorite - molasses buns!

Just look around at all the options at your local bakery or food market.  I frequent Sprouts, as you can tell by the pictures, but there are great varieties of breads everywhere, so try something you've never had reason to buy before, as long as you can slice it up into smaller bites, go for it!

Next, pick out a few different kinds of cold cuts.  I personally go with a combo of sliced turkey breast, ham, and pastrami.  They are really good together, and you can add endless toppings!  But look through the pre-packaged meat section, or go to your deli counter and get whatever takes your fancy, there are tons of options.  Pick up a couple of kinds of slices cheeses.  I always get a yellow cheese (such as co-jack or extra sharp cheddar) and most definitely pepper-jack.

Now's where you get to get creative.  Choose your toppings.  I personally pile mine up with spinach/spring greens mix, alfalfa sprouts, and avocado slices, but there is no limit to sandwich toppings, so go crazy, try new combos, layer it all up and have fun!

After you've built your culinary masterpiece, slice it into equal portions suitable for a tailgating crowd, and put them on a party tray.  Serve along side a piping bowl of chili, sit back, and enjoy the game.

  Boomer Sooner!

What's Football Without Nachos?

I have been on quite the hiatus, I know, but there is good reason.  I have gone through a diet transformation over the summer, and I haven't felt better in years!  Now, don't get confused between dieting, and changing one's diet -- totally different.  You will never, ever, see me diet, I promise you that.  The dieting craze is not a wagon I am able to hang on to, and I'm not one for starving/depriving myself in any way.  However, I have undergone a major change in my eating habits and selections, so I wanted to get a good grasp on my new relationship with food, before I came over here to share my opinions on food with you.  Don't worry, I'm not going all rabbit food and no-fun on you, I'll still be covering nachos and tailgating and restaurants,  I just may throw in some creative spins from time to time about how to eat/prepare better foods. But more on that later, we've got more important things to talk about today...

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON HAD OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!!!!  WOOHOO!

Today is the day we've been waiting for, folks!  So pack up your grills, prep your goodies, and head on down to the stadium!  Or, if you are following the upswing trend of tailgating at home, get to decorating, chopping, simmering, or what-have-you.  You still have time to put up the canopy, fire up the grill, chill the beer, and decorate before your friends come over and the game starts!

Still need some ideas?  How about NACHOS?  I seriously love nachos, if you couldn't tell.  So I'm going to talk about nacho-related recipes in honor of the big day.

Do you have a copy of The Ohio State Cookbook?  Ok, turn to page 10 and find a mouthwatering recipe for Field Goal Nachos.  Or turn to page 44, for TBDBINL Taco Dip, good for dipping if your not into smothering your chips.

Field Goal Nachos

Got a copy of The University of Oklahoma Cookbook?  Page 11, OU Chili Pie, yum!  Or for dunking, try Sooner Nation Salsa on page 44.

Feel like trying something different?  How about some Baja Nachos?  This was a recipe I came up with based on that time I made my first fish tacos with Red Gold Lime Juice & Cilantro tomatoes. My Baja nacho recipe was first published in the Fall 2013 Healthy Sooner online newsletter, and can be found here.  However, I've tweeked it since then.  Here's the simpler version:

Baja Nachos

Baja Nachos

Ingredients:

3 or 4 tilapia fillets (or flounder will work too)

Melted butter (optional)

Creole seasoning (blackening seasoning)

7 oz. can (or fresh) pineapple chunks (drained)

14.5 oz. can of Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes w/Lime Juice & Cilantro (drained)

1 avocado (sliced)

8" flour tortillas

Cabbage

Monterey Jack cheese

Olive oil

Olive oil cooking spray

Instructions:

Ok, first, preheat the over to 375 degrees.  Use a pizza cutter to slice the flour tortillas into triangles (8 per tortilla).  Line a baking sheet with foil and use olive oil cooking spray to lightly coat the foil, then lay the triangles out in a single layer on the foil, and spray them with an even coat of the olive oil.  Put the tray in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the tortillas begin to crisp.  Remove and set to the side.

In a medium bowl, mix the Red Gold tomatoes and pineapple together until evenly distributed and set aside.

Then, heat up about 1-2 TBLS. of olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Rinse the fish and pat dry.  Coat the fillets in melted butter (or the olive oil- depending on if you are trying to save your calorie count for something else at the party), then coat them in the creole seasoning and fry the fish for about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Remove from heat and drain off any excess butter/oil on paper towels.  

Now, to put it all together -- Lay the baked tortilla chips out on a plate.  Break the fish fillets up into chunks and scatter them over the tortillas.  Top with cabbage, then salsa, then cheese.  Top it off with the slices of avocado and eat!

*****

Ok, that should get you started, at least in the nacho-type-stuff department.  So, enjoy today's games, friends, and food!  And have a very happy kick-off to the new football season!

Red Gold Product Review & Giveaway

Hey guys!  Guess what?  It's football season!  That means cooler weather (well, not yet), team pride, and tailgating parties/cookouts!  We all have our favorite representative colors and no matter the rivalries, we also share a love of Gameday treats.

Now, I have a confession to make.  Before last month, I didn't know there were nacho-making alternatives out there, so I have just been advocating Rotel brand Tomatoes and Green Chilies for any and all Tex-Mex type recipes.  I know, sounds crazy right?  However, Red Gold asked if they could send me a variety pack of their products to try out, and I said that I would try them and review them in an honest post.

*Disclosure: Now mind you, although Red Gold provided me with some of their products for free, my opinions here about those products are my own.  I was not asked to write a favorable review.  I always give honest and straight-forward opinions about all products, services, and restaurants on OMG, Have You Tasted This? and will not sacrifice the integrity of this blog for any reason - ever.

That being said, I have now tried several of Red Gold's products and I want to share my opinion with you about them.

First off,  I like to make chicken quesadillas a few times a month (this recipe has been revised again, I'll update it soon).  They have become a staple in my house.  I have always just grabbed and used Rotel for this recipe, but the last time I made them, I used Red Gold's "Queso Ready" Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies instead, and there was definitely a difference in quality.  When I open a can of Rotel, I usually pick out about 10-20% of the under-ripe tomatoes before adding them to my dish.  Still, the tomatoes I use that are left are rather pale, but I use them anyway, because I didn't realize there were options.  When I opened the Red Gold can, I immediately noticed the vibrancy in the color of the produce, and I didn't find but maybe one or two not-quite-ripe tomato cubes, as opposed to the large quantity in Rotel.  This already told me that the attention to quality detail was better from the Red Gold company, and that is a huge deal for me.  The Red Gold brand also contained much less sodium (380 mg vs. Rotel's 520 mg), more calcium and iron (4% vs. Rotel's 2%), and more Vitamin A (15% vs. Rotel's 8%) per serving.  The flavor of the Red Gold Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies was good, and the heat from the chilies was nicely balanced.  Based on my experience, I will be buying the Red Gold product over Rotel from now on.

Another product that I tried from Red Gold was the Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro.  Remember the blog post I did about the fish tacos?  Well I decided to try them at home.  I had never blackened fish, (or anything else for that matter) and I wasn't sure what to do to make a spicy/sweet pineapple salsa.  But hey, I'm all about winging it, so I read up on how to "blacken" fish and went to the store and bought a can of diced pineapple, still unsure of what I was going to do with it exactly.  I dipped the tilapia in melted butter because I am all about eating healthy that's what I thought sounded good in some of the recipes I found.  I dipped it in the creole seasoning, and fried it for about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Yay!  The fish looked right, now what about the salsa?  I looked in the cabinet and saw the Red Gold tomatoes and thought that the lime juice and cilantro might go well with the fish seasonings. So I opened the can of pineapple and dumped it in a bowl with the drained Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro and mixed it all up.  It tasted great!  The citrus lime flavor mixed well with the pineapple, and the tomatoes and cilantro blended out the different tones and made a great tasting pineapple salsa for my fish tacos.  I got out the flour tortillas, placed the fish on them, followed by cabbage, the pineapple salsa, shredded Monterrey jack cheese, and topped it all with sliced fresh avocado.  D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!  This would also be good in the chicken quesadilla recipe, just FYI.

Ok, one more product that stood out to me from the Red Gold family, was Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup.  Yes, you read that right.  Jalapeno ketchup!  I was like, holy cow, why haven't I ever thought of this?  Genius!  Ok, so the first thing I thought that it would go well on was meatloaf.  I haven't tried it on meatloaf yet, but I surely will the next time I make it.  What I DID have it on though, was cheeseburgers.  YUM!  Seriously, this is the best thing to happen to ketchup...well, almost.   I had one problem with it - it is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is a bit of a letdown for me.  I never buy ketchup made with HFCS, or anything else if I can help it.  But, if you don't have an issue with HFCS, then by all means, try this because it does taste wonderful!  I liked it because it was different.  In my opinion, Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup is very well balanced between tangy, sweet, and spicy and I really loved dipping my homemade fries in it as well.  So if you want to add kick to your eggs, beef, chicken (oh, I tried this on some fried chicken fingers too, and it was better than the bbq sauce that came with them), potatoes, or whatever else you can think of, get some of this ketchup.

Like I said before, I wanted to give an honest review about some of the products that were given to me by Red Gold.  And I can honestly say, that they have definitely made me into a buyer of their products, at least some of them, over other brands.  Their website has a really interesting family history flip book that I recommend checking out.  You can find it here, along with other information about Red Gold.  

Now through October, Red Gold is hosting the Red Gold Run To Crush Hunger Competitive 5k & Family Walk.  Click on the link to find out how you can help/participate.  Following the run, there will be a chili cook-off as well, with a cash prize for the winner! 

Want to try grilling with these products?  Here are a couple of recipes provided by Red Gold.  Give them a go - enjoy!

Spicy Tomato Burger

1 lb ground beef

1 14.5 oz can of Red Gold Tomato w/Green Chilies

Salt and Pepper

Option: Pepper Jack Cheese

Combine beef & tomatoes (drained). Form into patties. Season. Add cheese to center of each patty for an added kick. Grill.

As desired, serve on toasted bun. use Jalapeño Ketchup or Chipotle Mayo. Layer spicy peppers.

Caribbean Chicken Burger

1 lb. ground chicken

1 14.5 oz can of Red Gold Lime Juice & Cilantro

Salt & Pepper

Combine ground chicken and Red Gold tomatoes (drained). Form into patties. Season. Grill

As desired, served on Toasted bun or lettuce. Layer guacamole or avocado or roasted pineapple slice. Top with a mango chutney or fruit salsa.

Those of you who follow me on FaceBook and Twitter, heard about Red Gold's summer grill/smoker giveaway last month, right?  They also gave away 1000 aprons for their Summer Grillin' Party Sweepstakes.  That was an awesome giveaway and I hope you participated.  If you missed out on the prizes, you have another chance right now.

**The Giveaway**

I have one Red Gold grilling apron that I will gladly give away to anyone who posts the best (most embarrassing) tailgating or grilling story in the comments below.  You have until September 30th, so if you can't think of any stories to tell, get out there and make some!

Bringing The Stove To Buckeye Grove!

We are getting close to college football kickoff!  Are you excited?  I am too.  The season of tailgating is once again upon us!  Speaking of tailgating, remember last year when I had posted on my Facebook page that I was working on a new cookbook?  Well, the time has come to announce that the new tailgating book is...

The Ohio State University Cookbook!!

Co-written with my sister, this book is my second, and her first, in the line of university themed tailgating cookbooks from Gibbs Smith Publishing.  It is due out on August 1st.  We were super jazzed about getting to do this particular book, because my sister and I are Buckeyes at heart no matter where we live or what we do on our journey of life!  

Julie is an OSU alum with a master's degree in education from Ohio State.  She currently lives in Ohio with her husband and daughters.  I received my master's in professional writing from the University of Oklahoma, and authored Gibbs Smith's OU themed cookbook last year.  However, I was born and raised in Ohio and once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye!

Saw this on a shirt from Donkey Tees.  If you want the shirt, go here.

I will be flying back home for a short time to visit family as well as do a couple of signing events to help promote The Ohio State University Cookbook.  Here is a brief list of upcoming events, but keep checking back on the Upcoming Events Page for the most up to date info:

• Amos Memorial Public Library

          Tuesday, August 13th @ 6:30pm

          230 E. North St.

          Sidney, Ohio

          -In the Art Gallery

Both events will feature samples of some of the recipes from the cookbook, and Julie and I will both be there to sign.  So, stop on by and see us if you are in the area.  We look forward to seeing you!

Gooooo Bucks!

Boomer Sooner!!

Today is the day for all Sooner fans - The Cotton Bowl 2013!!  I was just sitting here wondering the percentage of Normanites who took off work early, or mysteriously caught some sort of sickness today, just to get out and gear up for the game tonight?  It's okay to have football fever, my friends.  Especially when your team makes it to a bowl game!

Ok, so the pre-game actually starts tonight at 6:30 (Central time) and kickoff is at 7pm.  So, if you haven't already been to the grocery store - good luck!  Go!  Take off work now and get thee to a food supplier!  And for goodness sake, DO NOT FORGET THE BEER!  You still have time to put together some awesome gameday recipes, especially if you bought the University of Oklahoma Cookbook, so don't panic.

Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M.  Both teams stand 10-2 so it should be an exciting game, to say the least!  So start coughing loudly if you are still in the office, and get some supplies.  Don't have the book with you to make your super-fast grocery list?  Here, start off with these, and remember, you can never buy too much cheese...or corn chips.

Ok, you got this!  Now get out there and start your watch party!  We got a bowl game to win!

Boomer Sooner!!