Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes - Softcover

Zien, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470043733 ISBN 13: 9780470043738

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2008

Synopsis

'I can't cook.' I hear that all the time. And it's not that you can't--it's that you don't. It's that we've been wrecked by cooking shows with their millions of complicated steps and crazy-ass ingredients. Ingredients you can't find, let alone pronounce. That's not how I want to cook. I want to eat well, but I don't want it to take a year. Who's making stuff like 'Truffled Peruvian Mountain Squab with Chilled Framboise Foam' anyway? "So this book is about food that's big in taste and small in effort. Just great-tasting stuff with no fancy techniques and definitely no over-the-top ingredients, as in everything-comes-from-a-regular-supermarket--cool concept, huh? It's just a bunch of recipes you'll easily be able to make and enjoy." -- From Sam the Cooking Guy Look inside for great recipes like these: * One Dank Tomato Pie * "Whatever" Spring Rolls * Five-Minute Stir-Fry Noodles * O.F.R.B.P.J.G.O. * Awww Nuts! * BBQ Chicken Pizza * Halloween Chicken Chili * Fridge Fried Rice * Sam's Sticky Sweet BBQ Ribs * Stuffed Burgers * Pesto BBQ Shrimp * Chili Salmon * Motor Home Meatballs * Spicy-ish Sausage Pasta * The Great Potato Cake * Brussels Sprouts You'll Actually Eat * (Fake) Creme Brulee * Chocolate Toffee Matzoh * Peanut Butter Ice-Cream Cup Things

About this title

About the Author

Sam Zien is the creator and host of Sam the Cooking Guy and Just Cook This! on the Discovery Health Channel. Since first airing in 2002, Sam has won eight Emmy Awards. His Web site is thecookingguy.com.

From the Back Cover

Sam Zien is a regular guy who cooks great food. No cutesy patter. No foo-foo ingredients. Just easy, great-tasting stuff that real people like you can make, served up with lots of humor. All of which has made him one of today's fastest-rising TV food stars—the host of Sam the Cooking Guy as well as Just Cook This! on the Discovery Health Channel. Sam's e-mail inbox has long been flooded with requests for a cookbook. Now, he finally delivers.

Just a Bunch of Recipes features 126 of Sam's all-time favorite recipes. All of them are big in taste and small in effort—crowd-pleasingdishes that skip the weird ingredients and complicated steps and focus on the flavor. You can't go wrong with any of Sam's recipes—they're all seriously good and seriously easy. Once you start fixing them for your family and friends, you'll be the one everyone turns tofor great everyday food.

For quick family meals, Sam is your man. Choose from recipes like Shrimp Tacos,Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and Steak Salad withBlue Cheese Crumbles as well as super-fast favorites such as Chili Corn Chip Bags and Tomato and Potato Chip Sandwiches. On weekends, kick things off with a Pastrami Benedict or Banana Bread French Toast for brunch—then wow your friends with "company" dishes like Tomato and Yellow Pepper Gazpacho and Teriyaki and Bacon Scallops. Try out a "Three-Two-One" Bloody Mary, Sammy-Boy's Margarita, or Lager and Lime for good measure. And for dessert, forget about it—you haven't lived until you've tried Sam's Ice-Cream Sandwich Deal, Doughnutmis? ("tiramis?" made with powdered doughnuts), and Grilled Pound Cake with Fresh Fruit.

Complete with photos of Sam as well as his inimitable take on essential kitchen tools and ingredients, Sam the Cooking Guy is all you need to start fixing food that's unbelievably easy and delicious. So make a run to the store, invite some friends, and head for the kitchen. As Sam says, "You can cook too, but some of you just don't know it yet."

Just a Bunch of Recipes features 126 of Sam's all-time favorite recipes. All of them are big in taste and small in effort crowd-pleasingdishes that skip the weird ingredients and complicated steps and focus on the flavor. You can't go wrong with any of Sam's recipes they're all seriously good and seriously easy. Once you start fixing them for your family and friends, you'll be the one everyone turns tofor great everyday food.

For quick family meals, Sam is your man. Choose from recipes like Shrimp Tacos,Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and Steak Salad withBlue Cheese Crumbles as well as super-fast favorites such as Chili Corn Chip Bags and Tomato and Potato Chip Sandwiches. On weekends, kick things off with a Pastrami Benedict or Banana Bread French Toast for brunch then wow your friends with "company" dishes like Tomato and Yellow Pepper Gazpacho and Teriyaki and Bacon Scallops. Try out a "Three-Two-One" Bloody Mary, Sammy-Boy's Margarita, or Lager and Lime for good measure. And for dessert, forget about it you haven't lived until you've tried Sam's Ice-Cream Sandwich Deal, Doughnutmis? ("tiramis?" made with powdered doughnuts), and Grilled Pound Cake with Fresh Fruit.

Complete with photos of Sam as well as his inimitable take on essential kitchen tools and ingredients, Sam the Cooking Guy is all you need to start fixing food that's unbelievably easy and delicious. So make a run to the store, invite some friends, and head for the kitchen. As Sam says, "You can cook too, but some of you just don't know it yet."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Sam the Cooking Guy

Just a Bunch of RecipesBy Sam Zein

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2008 Sam Zein
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-04373-8

Chapter One

I Love Brunch

The weekends are very different from the weekdays, right? So why make the food the same? Go out on a limb and make something different-and a different cereal doesn't cut it. Unless you mix two or three of them together like my Grandma Jenny used to do. (She was a cereal master. What that woman could do with Cheerios[R], Lucky Charms[R], and shredded wheat would make your head spin.)

"Three-Two-One" Pomegranate Sammy's Hash Pull-Apart Lox, Spinach, Mush Frittata French Tuna Cristo & Goat Cheese Benedict Banana Toast Blueberry Bloody Mary Champagne Browns Cinnamon Eggs & Onions room & Bacon Toast Mountain Smoked Salmon Pizza Pastrami Bread French Cinnamon Ring

Liquid Brunch

Nothing says brunch like a "hello" cocktail, and these are two that we serve to kick-start the day. But we don't have them "every day," only on brunch days for God's sake-just days that end in a y.

"Three-Two-One" Bloody Mary

Serves 1

This is a hybrid of the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary. It's made with Clamato juice instead of tomato-but don't worry, it's not like drinking a bowl of clams.

Ice 3 ounces vodka 2 ounces Clamato juice you'll find it in the store by the tomato juice 1 ounce dark beer (like Newcastle Brown Ale) -save the rest for a marinade 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 fat teaspoon prepared horseradish 1/2 teaspoon celery salt 2 or 3 good dashes of your favorite hot sauce 3 good grinds black pepper 1 large wedge of lime

Fill a cocktail shaker 1/3 of the way with ice and also add ice to a serving glass. Add the vodka, Clamato, beer, Worcestershire, horseradish, celery salt, hot sauce, and pepper to the shaker. Shake really well and pour over the fresh ice in the glass. Squeeze and drop in the lime wedge, sit back, and enjoy.

Note: The urge to hum "O Canada" is completely natural and, I assure you, only temporary.

Pomegranate Champagne

Serves 6

I'm not a huge champagne guy, and even less huge when it comes to the classic Mimosa (champagne & OJ), which I find a bit sweet. But pomegranate juice is tart and makes a very different, yet still special drink. There's really no need to buy expensive champagne when you're mixing it like this-that would just be unnecessary.

Ice One 750 ml bottle of champagne or sparkling wine by the way, "sparkling wine" is just champagne that comes from somewhere other than the "Champagne" region of France 9 ounces pomegranate juice 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Add ice to glasses, then fill with champagne and juice. Squeeze, then drop in the lemon wedge and serve.

Sammy's Hash Browns

Serves 2

Breakfast is easily my favorite meal, and over the years I'm sure I've had hundreds of pounds of lousy, weak, or tasteless hash browns (which somehow I still managed to eat). But the thought of all those bad extra calories just makes me want to scream. Learn from my mistakes and make these.

1 teaspoon olive oil 1/2 onion any color you like, diced small 1/2 red bell pepper, diced small Half of a 2-ounce package of "ready bacon," diced small 1 large russet potato, peeled and shredded just before you're going to use it Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Sour cream, for serving (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the bacon and cook for another couple of minutes. Squeeze and discard any liquid from the potato, add to the cooked onion and pepper, and mix well. Flatten down with a spatula, and cook until crispy and brown on the bottom. Then flip and cook until crispy and brown on the other side-you're cooking it like a giant pancake. Serve in wedges alone or with some sour cream.

A little inexpensive caviar on the sour cream wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, you know.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart

Makes 1 Bundt pan's worth

Hot, drippy, gooey, and cinnamon-y-the ideal weekend food. It's also the ideal "I'm sorry" peace offering. Plus, it can right a bunch of wrongs. You make it for someone and you're not only saying "I'm sorry" but also "Boy, was it foolish of me to say you're starting to age just like your mother."

1 cup pecan pieces 1/2 cup raisins 12/3 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Three 10-ounce packages refrigerator biscuits, quartered

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a Bundt pan really well and scatter half the pecans and raisins in the bottom. Stir 1 cup of the sugar and all the butter in a small pot over medium heat until melted and well combined. Keep on very low heat. Mix the cinnamon with the remaining 2/3 cup of sugar in a large bowl. Drop half of the biscuit quarters in the bowl of cinny-sugar, a few at a time, to coat them well with the mixture and then put them in the Bundt pan on top of the pecans and raisins. Drizzle half the melted butter mixture evenly over the biscuits and top with the remaining pecans and raisins. Finish by coating the remaining biscuits with the cinny-sugar, put them in the Bundt pan, and drizzle with the remaining butter. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown and the top springs back when pushed lightly. Remove from the oven and carefully turn upside down on a platter big enough to handle some of the gooey caramel-y stuff running down the sides.

And here's your big moment: you walk over to your loved one with this warm, amazing-looking thing and apologize for whatever you did. If they forgive you, everything's cool and you enjoy the pull-apart together. If they don't, you just walk away, taking the pull-apart with you to eat alone. Seriously, either way it ends pretty good.

Lox, Eggs & Onions

Serves 2

Lox-thinly sliced cured salmon-goes really well with eggs. Okay, so if you're not Jewish this'll be more in my ethnic camp than yours, but it's a classic and worth trying. And in case you like it so much you think about converting, we just happen to be taking applications right now.

1/2 tablespoon butter 1/4 cup small diced yellow onion One 4-ounce package lox, chopped fine 4 large eggs, beaten Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste come on, would you expect any other kind of salt in this recipe? but go easy on the salt because the lox is already salty.

Melt the butter in a large nonstick pan over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown I said "starts"; I didn't say all "becomes burned up," about 5 minutes. Add the lox to the onion, cook a bit, and allow to heat through. Pour in the eggs and cook like scrambled eggs, stirring to break up, until they're done to your liking. I just mean make them as moist or dry as you like. I don't like mine too dry.... Okay, I don't like mine dry at all.

Spinach, Mushroom & Baon Frittata

Serves 8

Don't shy away from brunch because you think you have to stand in the kitchen and make 75 poached eggs and a jillion pancakes. This easy frittata throws together in no time, requires no baby-sitting, and still rules the day-make that the next day ... it may even be better the next day.

One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted 10 large eggs, beaten 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine 1 red bell pepper, diced small 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms One 2-ounce package "ready bacon" One 6-ounce bag baby spinach 3/4 cup freshly-shredded Parmesan cheese (not the powdered kind) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Sour cream, for serving (optional) Salsa, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Squeeze and drain the spinach of as much water as possible. Put in a large bowl with the eggs and set aside. Heat a large-ish pan over medium heat and add the oil, garlic, red pepper and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pepper and mushrooms have softened, about 10 minutes. Toss in the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until it has gotten a little crispy. Dump the fresh spinach on top and stir in until it's wilted way down. Add the mushroom-bacon mixture to the eggs with 1/2 cup of Parmesan and the salt and pepper, and mix well. Pour into a buttered 9 x 9-inch casserole dish and top with the remaining Parmesan. Bake until fully set, about 25 minutes. Slice and serve with a dollop what a stupid word of sour cream and a splash hey, I needed something equally dumb of salsa, if desired.

French Toast Mountain

Serves 2

I made this one day when my kids were little and they still ask for it today. Everyone likes it. Everyone except for Mrs. Cooking Guy, that is-she just eats fruit in the morning. Can you say b-o-r-i-n-g?

2 large eggs, beaten in a large bowl 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons butter 5 slices bread-white, wheat, whatever Syrup Powdered sugar

Beat the eggs with the sugar and cinnamon and stir in the milk. Preheat a nonstick pan or griddle over medium heat. Add the butter and spread it around. Working with however many bread slices will fit in the pan or griddle, dip the bread in the egg mess and transfer to the pan to cook so far just like regular French toast, right? Cook until golden-y brown and beginning to get just very slightly crispy around the edges, then turn and cook the same way on the other side. Remove from the heat, cut the bread into 1-inch squares, and place in a mountain-like pile on two plates. Drizzle with syrup first; this would be the "cascading waterfall" part of the mountain. Then dust the top of the pile with powdered sugar; this gives it the "snowy peaks" part of the mountain. Okay, so I like to play with my food. What's the big deal?

Tuna Cristo

Makes 2 sandwiches

This is the way-less-sophisticated cousin of the classic "Monte Cristo," which is made with ham, chicken, and Gruyre cheese-but I honestly think mine is easily as good and a heck of a lot easier 'cuz you've always got tuna in the cupboard. You've always got tuna in the cupboard, right?

One 6-ounce can tuna, drained well I like the packed-in-water kind 2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper 2 tablespoons mayo Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 4 slices bread 2 slices cheese provolone or fontina is great here 2 tablespoons butter 2 large eggs, beaten

In a bowl, mix the tuna, red pepper, mayo, and salt and pepper well. Spread the mixture evenly on 2 of the bread slices, add a slice of cheese on one of the bread slices, and top with the second slice of bread. Repeat with the remaining bread slices. I realize this may be really obvious, but trust me, there'll always be a person who wonders what to do with the remaining slices of bread.

Preheat a nonstick pan over medium heat, add the butter, and swirl it around. Dip each sandwich in the beaten eggs like you're making French toast. Cook the sandwiches until golden brown. Turn and cook on the other side until the cheese is melted. Serve warm probably also not necessary, but why stop now, right?

Smoked Salmon & Goat Cheese Pizza

Makes one 12-inch pizza

I don't want you thinking I use lox a lot because I'm Jewish and we make some sort of commission on it (the commission's on the kosher salt). It's that lox just screams brunch or breakfast to me-so bring it on.

5 ounces goat cheese, softened One 12-inch prebaked pizza crust go thin if you have a choice, or not-I mean, who am I to dictate what kind of crust you use? 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced One 4-ounce package lox 3 tablespoons small capers, drained (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Spread the goat cheese over the crust, sprinkle with half the dill, and then top with the onion. Bake until the crust starts getting crispy, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with the lox, the remaining dill, and the capers if you're so inclined, which you should be. Slice into wedges and serve.

Pastrami Benedict

Makes 4 Bennys

Let me put it this way: if an order of regular eggs Benedict is like a pretty, delicate woman-my version is like her 250-pound Harley-riding older brother Gus. I like Gus, and so will you.

1 cup beef gravy no need to make it- you can buy it at the store 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish 4 large eggs 6 ounces thinly sliced pastrami 2 English muffins, split Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Mix the gravy and horseradish together in a small pot and warm over lowish heat. Poach the eggs (see Note). While the eggs poach, grill the pastrami on both sides in a nonstick pan over medium heat. While the eggs poach and the pastrami grills, toast the muffins. You're seeing that there's a process and order here, right?

Build it like this:

Place grilled pastrami on each toasted English muffin, top with an egg, and spoon horseradish gravy over the top. A little freshly ground black pepper would be a good thing right now, and you're done. Holy crap.

Note: This is not meant to be Poached Egg 101, but here are two options: I go unsophisticated with a small metal ramekin (about 1/2 cup in size), which I butter well, crack an egg into, and put in a covered pan of gently boiling water that comes about halfway up the side of the ramekin. About 2 minutes later you need to watch the time the white is set and the yolk is still soft-beautiful. The other option is to quickly stir a cracked egg into a swirling pot of rapidly boiling water-but that always ends for me in a creepy, stringy, and completely un-servable egg mess. But you decide.

Banana Bread French Toast

Serves 4 or 2 if you eat it like I do

This is one of the fanciest store-bought things you'll ever make. Oh sure, you can make your own banana bread from scratch, but why bother? I either buy a mix or a loaf already baked. My vote is for the mix; that way you've always got it. Keep a box in the pantry and make it the night before.

3 large eggs 3 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier 1 tablespoon sugar 2 tablespoons butter Eight 1-inch-thick slices of banana bread 1/4 cup maple syrup, warmed

Beat the eggs in a flat bowl. Stir in the milk, Grand Marnier, and sugar. Melt the butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture and cook until golden-y brown on the bottom. Turn and cook on the other side. Serve with the maple syrup.

Note: Once, in an emergency, I purchased banana bread slices from a gas station market, and it was still really, really good.

Blueberry Cinnamon Ring

Serves 8

I love those little refrigerator biscuits. They can come in handy for a ton of things. Made with frozen blueberries, this crazy ring kills.

2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup frozen blueberries-the baby guys, if you can find them 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1/2 cup sugar Two 10-ounce cans (24 count) refrigerator biscuits seriously

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a Bundt pan really well. Place about half of the berries on the bottom of the pan. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl. Separate the biscuits and dip in the sugar mixture. Place the sugar-coated biscuits flat side beside flat side in the bottom of the pan, until a full circle of them is completed. Put the remaining berries on top and push some of them in between the biscuits. Bake until brown and firmish to the touch, about 30 minutes. Loosen the edges carefully, turn upside down on a large platter, and serve.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Sam the Cooking Guyby Sam Zein Copyright © 2008 by Sam Zein. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470043733
• ISBN 13: 9780470043738
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256