Chefs
Hi, we are Bryan and Jessie - a recently married couple who enjoys cooking at home, eating at our favorite local restaurants, and trying new restaurants and recipes. We also have two pets - Brew, a black lab, and Alton Brown, a domestic shorthair.
Foods we couldn't live without: blue cheese, potatoes, gin, popcorn, garlic and butter
Number of cookbooks we own: 57 and counting
Favorite kitchen tools: Shun knives, Le Creuset cookware
For more information, click here.
spicy Archive
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Spicy stuffed poblano peppers
Stuffed peppers is one of our favorite meals and with the lake effect snow we had today, stuffed peppers with a kick hit the spot. I paired the stuffed poblano peppers with orzo cooked in chicken stock and corn. We had two large poblano peppers and two small poblano peppers, so the recipe below does [...] -
Smothered hashbrowns, Mexican style
We’ve fast become breakfast people, at least on the weekends. We’ve experimented with several breakfast items and we definitely have our favorites of poached, fried, baked and scrambled eggs, fried, baked or microwaved bacon, french toast, homemade bagels, etc. But we’ve fallen into a bit of a rut so I decided to change things up [...] -
Review: Short’s Brewing Co. Bloody Beer
I’ve been a fan of bloody beers for years, but haven’t tried one pre-made for me. My favorite version of bloody beer I used to make involved Cave Creek Chili Beer and V8. (I discovered Chili Beer at World Market.) So when I saw Short’s Brew Bloody Beer at a local liquor store, I had [...] -
Hearty root vegetable soup
After several days of eating rich food and with cold weather here to stay, we wanted to have something healthy to eat so a hot bowl of hearty root vegetable soup sounded delicious. I’m slowly turning Bryan into a soup man and with great flavor, heat and texture, this soup was a winner in our [...] -
Stuffed Pizza Tomatoes
As we’ve written in the past, Bryan and I like to cook together – we’ve been each other’s sous chefs and we have split meal duties. The other night, we were able to be in the kitchen together after what seems like a long few months of work, events, travel and losses in our family. [...] -
Recipe Review: Braised Chicken Thighs and Legs
My mom tried this recipe a few weeks ago and suggested we give it a try. Like her, I have a plethora of recipes bookmarked, copied, saved, earmarked and so on, which is where she found it (bookmarked after seeing it on the Today Show). We’ve been into planning menus lately, which is great because [...] -
Pass the ramen shrimp, please
If you are new to our blog or have not met me, you should know I’m not a big fan of eating seafood and/or fish. There are two main reasons – texture and taste. However, Bryan insists we try to have more variety in our diet, so we’re taking baby steps and experimenting with shrimp [...] -
Horseradish Vodka Recipe Review
There seems to be some controversy on whether or not drinking the morning after you’ve had a few the night before helps cure your hangover or hair of the dog. Personally, I’ve found a great Bloody Mary does the trick (along with some greasy food, of course). I will admit I was skeptical of trying [...] -
Mood Cooking – Hot Stir-fry
I came home from work the other night as, what some of my coworkers would say, an angry bird. For some unknown reason, I was in a bad mood and I decided to take my mood out on some stir-fry. -
Tater Tot Hot Dish
Comfort food is an important part of our lives. Yes, we can make some elaborate dishes, but sometimes comfort food is all that we want. After a few nights of missing dinner at home for work, I was able to cook later in the week and I had one dish in mind. Over our various [...] -
Quick and Easy Sopa Noodles
Mexican food is one of my favorite kinds of food to eat and cook. How could I not like it when it typically combines spices, cheese, onions and various herbs? One of my standby dishes is sopa, which is a tasty and easy-to-make noodle dish. You’ll have to forgive the fact that I don’t have [...] -
Spicy, cheesy burger on a pretzel bun
It was 37 degrees here today, so I started thinking about summer. And of course thinking about summer leads to thinking about burgers. This recipe calls for a few "specialty" items, but you should be able to find pretzel rolls at your local grocery store, and you can order the special pickles I use online, or find another generic brand of spicy pickle if you can. -
Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe, Simple and Delicious
One of our readers asked that I post my recipe for jalapeno cornbread, so this is just for you, Jessica. 2 boxes Jiffy corn mix 1/2 C. corn (I use canned corn with peppers, drained) 3/4 C. shredded pepper jack cheese 1/4 C. diced canned jalapenos Make corn mix per instructions on box. Stir in [...] -
Easy Football Playoffs Chili Recipe
The NFL playoffs are upon us, meaning playoff games on Saturdays and Sundays. A weekend’s worth of games, the recent cold snap and record snow falls are even more reason to have the fixins for chili in your kitchen. I’ve tried a few different chili recipes out there, but my tried-and-true recipe remains the same. [...] -
Tito’s + Zing Zang = Good.
While in Iowa for Thanksgiving we happened across a great brand of vodka and a flavorful, spicy Bloody Mary mix. Tito’s Vodka is handmade in Austin, Texas, and distilled six times, according to the manufacturer. The taste is smooth, especially considering how inexpensive it is. We also found a Bloody Mary mix that was just [...]