Stock Yards Steaks: A gift basket that even a man could love

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1-800-Baskets.com has become the go-to online store for quick and dependable gift ideas, partnering with companies like Cheryl’s and The Popcorn Factory to bring their goods to a larger audience. But while the site contains the usual items tailored for special occasions – such as flowers, fruit bouquets and tasty treats – its newest addition will have even the most macho men excited about the prospect of receiving a gift basket, although technically it comes in a Styrofoam ice box. We’re talking about meat, and not some dainty summer sausage that’s served with crackers and cheese, but USDA Prime and Choice steaks, pork, lamb and veal from Stock Yards, who have been providing quality meat to some of America’s finest restaurants for over 100 years.

Stock Yards isn’t the first company to offer meat delivery direct to your home, but the fact that they’ve joined the 1-800-Baskets family shows that they mean business about expanding their brand. And with a variety of products available – from steak burgers and BBQ pork ribs, to seafood and steaks – there’s something for just about everyone, provided they fancy themselves a carnivore.

We recently had the chance to sample the King & Queens Collection, and while we weren’t too impressed with the 10 oz. Center Cut New York Strip steaks that were included (more on that below), the 6 oz. Complete Trim Filet Mignon steaks came off the grill tasting almost as good as what you’d get at a major steakhouse. We prepared the filet mignon a little rarer than the New York strip after discovering that the steaks had a tendency to toughen up when served at a medium-well doneness, and combined with the provided Epicure seasoning, they were the best home-cooked steaks we’ve ever had – tender and flavorful with a melt-in-your-mouth center.

Whether or not they’re worth the price depends on how much you like steak. The King & Queens Steak Collection costs $84.95 (plus a shipping charge that varies between $4.99 and $12.99 depending on the day you want them delivered), which averages out to about $23 a steak. That’s a lot more than you’d pay at a typical restaurant, and not much less than at a quality steakhouse, especially when you consider that you still have to prepare the food yourself. But for anyone that loves to grill out or just wants a special meal in the convenience of their home every now and again, Stock Yards is a great way to treat yourself or a friend, regardless of the occasion.

  

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Grub for Guys: March Madness Spread

March Madness, like most big sporting events, has become a free-for-all of food options. But just because the Madison Avenue crowd tries to pump your eyes and ears full of pizza, tacos and subs, you don’t have to fill your belly with that commercially made food (and I use the word “food” loosely). So here are a few options to try and mix things up in your own kitchen, literally.

TANGY SWEET SOY-LIME WINGS

I’ve been trying to create and perfect various wing recipes, and lately I’ve been into the sweet, tangy and spicy notes of Asian flavors, so here is the most ambitious of this group of recipes.

Ingredients:

¼ cup each soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
¼ cup sake (rice wine)
¼ cup brown sugar
1 inch piece of ginger, trimmed and chopped fine
5 lb. bag chicken wing sections (if frozen, thaw in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before using)
¼ cup vegetable oil (such as canola or peanut oil), divided
Salt and pepper to taste
Sriracha hot sauce to taste
Juice of 2 limes
1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts
¼ cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and ginger in a small bowl and whisk together. Set aside. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven on medium heat. Lay wings on a large platter or a few plates and sprinkle with salt and pepper. When you put your hand about 2 inches from the oil and can feel the heat, add half of the wings, skin side down. Sear for about four minutes per side and remove to another plate. Repeat with remaining oil, wings and salt/pepper, but after searing the second batch, return the rest of the wings to the pot, and dump in the sauce. Turn down the heat and cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove cover, and let simmer another five minutes, until sauce is reduced and thick. Using tongs, carefully remove wings to a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until browned and crispy. Remove wings to a plate, drizzle with some of the remaining sauce in the pan and Sriracha, and sprinkle with lime juice, peanuts and cilantro.

TRIO OF FAT FINGER SANDWICHES

People like tea-like finger sandwiches. They are also the food of choice for many fancy cocktail parties. But for dudes like us, they should be called something that reflects our caveman instincts, hence the name “fat finger sandwiches.” For the purpose of making this easy for you (and me), I’ll show you how to make about four sandwiches at a time, and you can multiply out as necessary.

Crispy Cristo Sandwich

Is it even worth saying that this may be the single most delicious thing I have ever made or tasted? Because, well, it really was. And after wrestling with the idea that I would have to figure out how to butter the donuts, I realized that with the sugar glaze, the donut as “bread” would become crisp on its own.

Ingredients:

Butter
4 glazed donuts, preferably Krispy Kreme
4 thin slices smoked deli ham
4 slices yellow American cheese
Cooking spray

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and throw in a pat of butter. Slice each donut, lay a slice of ham and then cheese on the bottom and replace with the top, and then place donut sandwich in the skillet and press down with a spatula. Repeat with all donuts, and when bottom begins to brown (about 60 to 90 seconds), flip the sandwich over and cook for another 45 seconds to a minute. Move to a plate as is or slice in half or quarters.

Pizza Bagel and Sausage Slider

Another super easy and tasty snack.

Ingredients:

1-2 links (fully cooked) smoked Italian sausage, sliced
8 small pizza bagels

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, fry sausage slices on each side until brown and crispy, then drain on paper towels. Meanwhile, bake pizza bagels according to package directions. Let cool a few minutes, then put a few slices of sausage on four of the bagel halves and top with remaining bagel halves.

Chicken and Wafflewich

I’ve been semi-obsessed with this classic combo lately, and this is about as simple as it gets.

Ingredients:

6-8 small breaded chicken strips
4 double maple waffles (such as Eggo)
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. hot sauce
2 pats butter

Directions:

Bake chicken strips according to package directions and set aside. Meanwhile, combine syrup and hot sauce in a small bowel. Toast waffles and spread butter on each slice. Then, top two waffles with chicken strips and drizzle with syrup. Top with other waffles (they should be those waffles that are perforated that you can break into four large finger sandwiches) and serve.

PIMENTO CHEESE CANOES

Because you need some vegetables (well, maybe not!), here is an easy and tasty way to put three food groups together.

Ingredients:

1 bunch celery
½ cup pimento cheese (in a jar, looks like cream cheese)
Handful of slivered toasted almonds (Trader Joe’s has them pre-toasted like this)

Directions:

Wash and trim celery, leaving them as long “canoes.” Spread cheese on each and sprinkle with almonds.

BLOODY MIKEY SHOOTER

I imagine this would be a kickass hangover cure, although I haven’t tested that theory just yet.

Ingredients:

½ cup tomato juice or vegetable juice
1 Tbsp. Buffalo wing sauce
1 Tbsp. hot pickled cherry pepper juice
Juice of half a lime

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small juice glass and stir. Drink up! (Note: This makes one shooter, but you can use this guideline to make as many as you want).

  

Product Review: Joe Horn’s Bayou 87 BBQ Sauce

During his playing career, Joe Horn was an electrifying receiver who made play after play even though opposing defenses were keyed in on him week after week. Horn became a fan favorite during a career which saw him set the Saints career mark in touchdowns and make the Pro Bowl four times in five seasons. But what the fans loved even more than his production was the way he played and fought for every inch every time he had the ball.

Even though his playing career is over, “Hollywood” Horn is grinding it out in a different arena: the business world.

“I knew I’d go into business but I didn’t know what venue I’d go into,” said the Saints 2010 Hall of Fame inductee. “So when I retired, everyone thinks they can barbecue, so my brother said, ‘Joe you need to put this in a bottle man. Let people taste this.’ I love to barbecue. This is my product. I stand by it. I guarantee it.”

Building something from the ground up is nothing new to Horn. After playing two years at tiny Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi, Horn found himself working at a Bojangles restaurant in Fayetteville, Mississippi with no prospects of playing football as a career. Down to the final $6 in his possession, Horn spent $3.99 on a Jerry Rice workout video from a local Blockbuster and studied the drills and moves Rice performed in the video. Horn then made a highlight video of himself working out and sent the tape to multiple professional teams across America and Canada. One response Horn received was from the Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL, who offered him a contract after viewing the tape and in his first year accumulated 1,414 yards on 71 catches. The rest is history.

Read the rest of this entry »

  

Review of Double-Double at In-N-Out Burger

We were on the road recently in Ventura, California, and we jumped at the opportunity to grab a legendary In-N-Out Burger. This wasn’t a new thing for us, but some of our friends had never tried these delicious concoctions. As you cans see from the photos, we went with the Double-Double burgers. It looks like many double hamburgers you’ll find today at other fast food spots, but the taste of this burger surpasses all of them and lives up to its legendary status. You can taste the quality of this burger, as you won’t find one sitting under a heat lamp. They use fresh beef and have their own patty making factory. By focusing on burgers and not cluttering the simple menu with chicken or other options, In-N-Out can deliver the goods over and over again.

While the burger was amazing, the French Fries were average at best and the shake was nothing special. Everything here revolves around the incredible burgers.

Another thing to keep in mind is In-N-Out Burger’s not-so-secret secret menu. You’ll see from the pics above that the official menu at In-N-Out Burger is very simple. Over the years, loyal fans have order all sorts of variations and some of them have become staples for customers who goes there regularly. The company published their own guide to some of these “secret” menu items here, and here’s one of many blog posts on the topic.

If you don’t live on the West Coast you’re SOL on this one. Just make sure you try them when you head out West.

  

Domino’s new wings and boneless chicken. Mmmm Good.

Bullz-Eye tested the new Domino’s boneless chicken wings and regular chicken wings to see what all the hype was about. Our friend Phil over at Domino’s sent over a variety of different samples and we filled up on some good fair! Ever since the new Domino’s pizza hit the market last year we have been interested in the transformation at Domino’s and even took a trip to visit Domino’s headquarters in Michigan to get a behind the scenes look at what Domino’s did to change course with a vastly improved pizza.

Ok, This post is about the new Domino’s chicken wings so let’s get back on track. Domino’s sent over both boneless chicken and regular chicken wings in Hot, BBQ and Sweet Mango Habanero. The Domino’s chicken is billed as the next chapter in the Domino’s story of reinvention and we are happy to report this chicken is very good. My fellow chicken wing fanatics and I first noticed how tender the chicken was on the wings. Lean and tender was the best way to describe the new Domino’s wings and the flavors are vibrant and accurate. The favorite was the Sweet Mango Habanero and when dipped in the provided Ranch or blue cheese containers forget about it!

The new boneless wings are made with 100 percent whole white breast meat lightly breaded with savory herbs and they are simply delicious! The boneless chicken are not covered in sauce but rather they come with dipping sauces consisting of hot, BBQ and new Sweet Mango Habanero and of course ranch or blue cheese for dipping. All of the flavors were very good but again the new Sweet Mango Habanero ranked # 1 with our group.

Domino’s appears to have more winners on their hands (including alot of flavored sauce – ok just reached for a napkin and I’m good) and we look forward to getting our grub on with the new Domino’s all white breast meat boneless and regular wings while watching a good sporting event on the big screen. Hey, It’s the American Way!

Don’t forget to check out the Domino’s Pizza Bracket on Facebook. The company is down to the Final Four pizzas, competing to become the fan favorite pizza champion.