FUN YOUNG ONION RINGS

April 27, 2009
Become the Lord of the Onion Rings

Become the Lord of the Onion Rings

It’s hard to say no to someone who is fun and young (and legal, obviously).  The same goes for a delicious side order liked baked onion rings.  These finger foods are lower in fat so it doesn’t feel like a brick floating in your rotting guts.  That’s one less reason to not get laid.  These will keep you satisfied, but limber enough to make your move.  Your date won’t complain about these rings being too oily and ruining their favorite outfit when you put your ungreasy paws all over them.  So grope away like Frodo, the Lord of the Onion Rings.

Total time: approximately 30 minutes
Projected cost: $4
Drinking Buddy: Beer or soda

onion-rings-prepIngredients:
1. 1 cup of cornflakes
2. 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning
3. 1 tablespoon of sugar
4. ½ teaspoon of salt
5. 1 egg
6. 1 onion cut into ½ rounds, then rings separated

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  First crush the cornflakes without pulverizing them. Combine together with Cajun seasoning, salt and sugar.  In a separate bowl, beat an egg thoroughly.  Dip the separated onion rings in the egg and then the cornflake breading.
onion-rings-batter
Step 2
Lay each dipped onion ring on a greased baking sheet.  Throw into the oven and cook until the breading is crispy and clings to the onions (approx 20-25 min).  Use a spatula to pry each onion ring off.  Serve them up on a plate with your favorite condom-ment or with a SINWICH.
onion-rings-bakeonion-rings-served-2

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ROCK YOUR RAMEN ALL NIGHT LONG

April 16, 2009
Ramen on and on and on!

Ramen on and on and on!

So you are ready to throw down for the hot number you got lined up.  The only problem is your wallet’s emptier than a beauty queen’s head.  Fear not for money will be the least of your worries tonight.  Your mind will be occupied debating which gravity-defying position to try next.  This dish will bring your dates back to their starving student days when they would put out after two red keg cups and an inquiry about their major.  Those collegiate memories still rattle like a tower of beer cans knocked over in a hung-over stupor.  Embrace this turbo-diesel version of ramen with flamboyant flavor you won’t find in one of those tumor-inducing MSG packets.  You will have to settle for fresh vegetables and a gingerific aphrodisiac payload.  And if I were you, I’d change out of that toga before you head to work the next day.

Total time: approximately 20 minutes
Projected cost: $6
Drinking Buddy: Beer or Sake

rocking-ramen-prepIngredients (serves 2):
1. 1 teaspoon of chili sauce
2. 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3. 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
4. 2 packets of dry ramen
5. 1 egg
6. 1 bell pepper cut into strips
7. 1 onion chopped coarsely
8. ½ a lime of juice
9. 1 large handful of fresh chopped GINGER
10. 2 handfuls of mushrooms chopped coarsely

Step 1
Bring a pot of water to a roaring boil.  Place the dried ramen (discard flavor pack) in a bowl and add the hot water.  Cover the bowl for 3 minutes, break up the bunched noodles with a fork, and then drain them in a colander.
rocking-ramen-boil
Step 2
Warm up the vegetable oil in a deep pan or wok on medium-high heat.  Stir-fry the ginger and onions (approx 3 minutes); add the bell peppers (approx 2 minutes) and mushrooms (approx 2 minutes).  Kick up the flavor with the soy sauce and chili sauce.
rocking-ramen-veggies
Step 3
Dump the ramen into the veggies and mix it all up.  Squeeze in the limejuice.  Crack an egg in the center of the noodles, allowing it to cook (approx 1 minutes) before stirring it into the ramen.  Serve it up like a Samurai warrior of lust.

rocking-ramen-noodles-eggrocking-ramen-served

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GARLICKABLE FRIES

March 27, 2009

Lick it before you stick it!

Lick it before you stick it!

Agreed.  They are addictive.  Your first instinct is to run your tongue across them, indulging in as much essence as you can suck down.  It’s like a smoking crack: you know better, but you do it anyway.  You may not want to go on without it.  You will have postpartum depression and experience nasty withdrawals that will alienate those you love. We’re talking about high-grade lower fat* shit here.  The street value is ridiculous.  That is how these good baked garlic fries can be.  My advice is to get your date hooked.  Turned them into your garlic fry crack whore.  They will be under your spell and willing to do anything for their garlic fix.  I mean ANYTHING.  Be warned that garlic can be a smelly curse.  But if ye both eat of the stinking rose, neither of ye shall recoil.

*Baked garlic fries are not low fat, just less fattening than the deep fried version.

garlic-fried-prep1Total time: approximately 50 minutes
Projected cost: $2
Drinking Buddy: Beer, preferably Belgium like Chimay or Leffe

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 2 tablespoons of olive oil
2. 2 teaspoons of salt
3. 1 teaspoon of black pepper
4. 2 large potatoes
5. 4 cloves of garlic chopped finely

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel the potatoes, and then slice the potatoes lengthwise every ½ inch on one side, and then flip them 90 degrees and cut more ½ inch strips, thus creating fries.
garlic-fried-taters
Step 2
Throw the fries in a bowl and toss in the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and toss it together with your hands.
garlic-fried-toss
Step 3
Lay out the fries evenly along the baking sheet, leaving space between them.  Bake them for approximately 40 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through cooking.  The fries will be crisp and slightly browned.  Dump them onto a plate with a paper towel and blot out the excess grease.
garlic-fried-bake
Serve on a platter with your favorite condom-ment!

Baked Garlic Fries are the Devil's plan

Baked Garlic Fries are the Devil's plan

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FRISKY FRIED RICE

March 11, 2009
Sometime you just get lucky

Sometime you just get lucky

Desperation leads to innovation.  That is what I learned making this ridiculous rice dish.  I was traveling in a foreign land where I met a local girl who spoke little English and I little Spanish.  But we were both hungry so I invited her over for lunch at my Uncle’s place with a very limited kitchen.  I was way out of my element not only from culture shock, but also from a cooking environment lacking even something simple like black pepper.  But I had professed in no uncertain terms, “soy un jefe de cocina muy excellente!”  So I went to work the only way I know how, recklessly.  There was an old bag of rice, some veggies I bought off a truck, 1 weird seasoning jar and the Lizano salsa, my new favorite condiment.  This stuff has as many uses as Astroglide, but far tastier to most.  My chica bonita was well impressed with the random dish I concocted out of thin air.  Her hunger for food was satisfied, but only my sexy gringo ass could satisfy her sweet tooth.  The takeaway for this sordid tale I offer you is that you can eke out a feast from an ice cube and cinnamon stick if you are clever.  It’s like making a condom out of saran wrap, but not as idiotic.

Total time: approximately 20 minutes
Projected cost: $5
Drinking Buddy: Moonshine that you made out of rubbing alcohol and grape soda*

*This is sarcasm. Cook To Bang does not endorse making yourself blind from homemade moonshine.  Save that for the hillbillies.

frisky-fried-rice-prepIngredients (serves 2):
1. 1 tablespoon of seasoning of your choice (Spike Vege-sal used in this pic)
2. 4 tablespoons of Lizano salsa (available at most local Latino markets) OR other favorite hot sauce
3. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
4. 1 coffee mug of dried white rice
5. 1 large carrot
6. ½ a lemon worth of juice
7. 1 onion
8. 1 egg
9. 1 handful of raw almonds

Step 1
Fill a coffee mug up with dried rice and pour it in a medium sized pot, then two mugfuls of water.  Bring the water to a boil on high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and cook covered until rice fully expands (approx 10 minutes, read instructions).  Use a fork to fluff the rice like a porn star.
frisky-fried-rice-boil1
Step 2
Cut up the onions and carrots into bite-sized pieces.  Heat up a decent sized pan with olive oil, then sauté the veggies until they soften (approx 3 minutes).  Add the seasoning and almonds and cook until the almonds soften (approx 2 minutes).
frisky-fried-rice-veggies
Step 3
Add the rice to the pan and mix them all up.  Crack the egg onto top of the rice and quickly beat it so it cooks into the rice.  Squeeze the lemon juice on top and crown it all with the blessed Lizano sauce.  Behold, an edible feast made from pure gumption.

frisky-fried-rice-mix-egg-sauce

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I AIN’T NO ANGEL HAIR PASTA

March 3, 2009
Angel, devil, these are just words.  We're all sinners.  Embrace it!

Angel, devil, these are just words. We're all sinners. Embrace it!

I may seem like an angel by providing the world with my culinary creations.  Despite my commitment to helping my fellow my man and loving my neighbor(‘s wife), I am not a holy roller with a halo floating above my head. Shocking, I know.  But take heart. In spite of my lack of high morals and self-righteousness, I do have good intentions.  Sure I am perverse and refuse to wait until marriage to indulge in carnal delight. Yet my reader’s happiness and health is of the utmost importance to me.  In fact, the United States Surgeon General has appointed me to a task force to get people to eat better and exercise more.  Hence, I encourage that all of you of appropriate age (children and elderly need not apply) to COOK TO BANG regularly.  Sure some televangelist might condemn me to burn in eternal damnation, but ask yourself this: How cool will the eternal afterlife be with guys with glued on hairweaves telling you what a miserable sinner you are?  I’ll take the hot tub in hell packed full of nymphomaniacs.

i-aint-no-angel-hair-prepTotal time: approximately 15 minutes
Projected cost: $6 (excluding wine)
Drinking Buddy: Red or white wine

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 1 cup of white wine
2. 2 tablespoons of olive oil
3. 1 tablespoon of salt
4. 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
5. 3 garlic cloves chopped finely
6. 1 onion chopped coarsely
7. ½ lemon worth of juice
8. Parmesan to your liking
9. 8 ounces of dried angel hair pasta

Step 1
Warm up the olive oil in a decent sized pan on medium-high heat.  Sauté the garlic until they whiten (approx 30 seconds), sauté the onions until they become translucent (approx 2 minutes), and then flavor it all with salt. Next cook the cherry tomatoes until they soften (approx 3 minutes), before adding the lemon juice and white wine and allow it to simmer while you move on to Step 2.
i-aint-no-angel-hair-sauce
Step 2
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and break in the angel hair pasta.  Follow the instructions and cook until the pasta becomes al dente.  Drain, wash out the excess starch and pour the pasta into the sauce and cook together until heated through.  Serve onto alone of with some kickass ENTRÉE.  Grate as much Parmesan as you feel worthy.
i-aint-no-angel-hair-pasta

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BANANA-RAM-YA MILKSHAKE

February 28, 2009
Do wop babaloo bop do wop BANG BOOM!

Do wop babaloo bop do wop BANG BOOM!

Just imagine yourself a young, horny kid in the 50’s.  Too bad societal pressures would keep you from indulging your every whim like James Dean.  No, you would be expected to settle for some awesome chrome car and a letterman jacket or pressed Donna Reed blouse.  Sounds good in their theory, but do you really want to wait until marriage to bang to your hearts content?  Chances are you would be locked in to a loveless marriage fueled by Dean Martin, scotch, and keys in the punchbowl parties.  Luckily, 50+ years and a sexual revolution later, we can indulge our carnal desire milkshake without having to buy the whole rancid cow.  Bear in mind that back then the concept of lactose intolerance was not even a glimmer in the milkman banging the bored housewife’s eye.  But we can thank the 50’s for the malt shop culture.  Back then they couldn’t bang so they consumed high calorie treats.  Now we can do both.  So sip your milkshake while you lift up that poodle skirt and doo wop to your heart’s content.

banana-milkshake-prepTotal time: approximately 2 minutes
Projected cost: $5
Drinking Buddy: If you are hardcore you could pour in some vodka

Ingredients (serves 2):
1. 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
2. 2 cups of milk
3. 2 tablespoons of honey
4. 1 banana
5. 1 handful of pistachios

Step 1
Break the banana in half and drop it in the blender along with the ice cream, honey, pistachios and milk and blend it to perfection.  Serve it up cold before things get really hot!

banana-milkshake-blender

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MELLOW JELL-O MAKES’EM BELLOW

February 6, 2009
Class up the Jell-O by setting them in citrus rinds

Class up the Jell-O by setting them in citrus rinds

Jell-O shots are a symbol of youthful indiscretion.  The very use of them conjures up memories of high school or college parties.  Turning alcohol into a solid, easily tossable form indicates a clear problem with authority.  Anyone making, serving or slurping these lacks maturity and predictability.  Shame shame, they know your name!  If the kid in you still wants to play hard, read on.  If you are shaking your head with disappointment, might I recommend the AARP website where they offer great tips for keeping your shuffleboard skills tip top during winter.  Fact: Jell-O shots are silly. Fact: Jell-O shots are a crapshoot of adventure.  Part of the fun is seeing how hard they’ll hit you (CTB recommends caution, of course).  Chances are good that you’ll end up drunkenly manhandling someone who will hopefully molest you right back. Both your chins will be stained from gelatin and your brains tainted with booze.  Do Bill Cosby proud and say it loud, “There’s always room for Jell-O!”

jello-shots-prepTotal time: approximately 4 hours
Projected cost: $6 (excluding vodka)
Drinking Buddy: You’re eating your drink, Mm mm!

Ingredients:
1. 1 package of Jell-O, chef’s choice on flavor
2. 2 cups of vodka
3. 2 cups of water
4. Handful of separated mint leaves
5. 6 lemons or oranges to half & hollow out

Step 1
Bring the water to a roaring boil.  Dump in the Jell-O mix and stir until the powder dissolves completely (approx 2 minutes).  Turn off the heat and pour the cold or room temperature vodka into the mix.
jello-shots-heat-and-mix
Step 2
Cut the lemon or oranges in half and hollow them out.  Use a ladle to pour the unformed Jell-O liquid to the brim of each hollow rind.  Place in the fridge and allow them to cool and harden (approx 4 hours).  Halfway through the process, place a mint sprig in each half and allow them to set.  Serve the Jell-O shots up
jello-shots-lemon

There's always room for Jell-O!

There's always room for Jell-O!

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5 ORGASM ALARM VEGGIE CHILI

January 31, 2009
Red Pepper 42, Black Bean 42, Hut Hut Hike!

Red Pepper 42, Black Bean 42, Hut Hut Hike!

I’m gasping for air as I write this post.  Good god is this veggie chili sexy, healthy and satisfying.  Trust me when I say this is going to be a challenge to not eat it all before I bring it to the Super Bowl party this weekend.  It’s like waiting for marriage to engage in sexual relations.  It’s a nice idea in theory.  But seriously, why?  Sure it might feel great to finally experience pure ecstasy with the person you will spend the rest of your life.  But then again it might be a huge let down when you finally claim what’s yours.  Luckily you don’t have to worry about that with this chili dish.  It actually tastes better the next day once the flavors have wrapped their legs around the veggies and grinded until they make culinary cunnilingus.  If you do manage to keep this ridiculously healthy chili around for the Super Bowl or other party, you will certainly be busy taking down phone numbers from eager foodies with an appetite for you.  Take a number.

Total time: approximately 45 minutes
Projected cost: $8
Drinking Buddy: A beer, margarita or other football-watching beverage

veggie-chili-prepIngredients (serves a party or 2 hungry people for days):
1. ½ cup of vegetable oil
2. 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
3. 1 8-ounce can of corn
4. Sour cream for garnish
5. 1 teaspoon of salt
6. Shredded cheddar cheese for garnish
7. 2 tablespoons of ground cumin
8. 1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes
9. 1 can of garbanzo beans
10. 1 can of black beans
11. 2 stalks of celery chopped coarsely
12. 1 green pepper chopped coarsely
13. 1 red pepper chopped coarsely
14. 4 cloves of garlic chopped finely
15. 2 dried New Mexico chilies
16. 1 large carrot peeled and chopped coarsely
17. 1 yellow pepper coarsely
18. 1 onion chopped coarsely.
19. 2 handfuls of mushrooms chopped coarsely

Step 1
Heat up the vegetable oil in a stockpot on medium-high.  Sautee the garlic solo until they brown (approx 30 seconds). Cook the onions until they become translucent (approx 2 minutes).  Throw in all the carrots, celery, yellow, red and green peppers and cook until they soften, stirring occasionally. (approx 15 minutes)
veggie-chili-veggies
Step 2
It’s time to spice things up.  Cup up the New Mexico chilies, then toss them into the pot with the mushrooms let it simmer (approx 2 minutes).  Now smack it all up with ground cumin, oregano and salt and cook in the flavor (approx 10 minutes).
veggie-chili-chile-spice-shrooms
Step 3
Open up the can of tomatoes and drain the juice into a bowl before chopping the tomatoes up coarsely.  Add the tomatoes and juice onto the pot and cook until the tomatoes dissolve and become part of the sauce (approx 10 minutes).

veggie-chili-tomatoes

Step 4
Drain the liquid from the cans of corn, garbanzo beans and black beans, then dump them all into the pot and cook them with all the other goodies until they become united in their chili power (approx 10 minutes).  Serve up with a sexy selection of toppings like shredded cheddar, sour cream and diced red onions.

veggie-chili-corn-beansveggie-chili-served

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DON’T ARTICHOKE YOUR CHICKEN

January 27, 2009
One good choke deserves another

One good choke deserves another

Hey, you there!  Halt!  Step away from the chicken.  It didn’t do you no wrong.  I can speak as a character witness for the fowl.  He ain’t a bad bird.  The guy is just a feathered freak doing his thing.  There is nothing shameful in doing your thing.  Besides, why settle for a night in pummeling that innocent mound when you can be out there getting someone else to choke that bad boy?  Trust me when I say both you and your chicken will both be better off for it.  Which brings me to this pure unadulterated APHRODISIAC bomb.  You are eating a 98.5% payload of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals to fuel the evening’s cardiovascular requirements.  And if that wasn’t enough for you, at no additionally cost, we’ll also throw in an extra kick of sexy time explosion with the spicy aioli to give you a head start in the hot and sweaty department.  We here at COOK TO BANG standby our warranty.  If you don’t like it, you can return it.  We’re THAT confident in our product.  Happy munching.

Total time: approximately 45 minutes
Projected cost: $6
Drinking Buddy: White wine is a classy touch, especially something dry like Chardonnay

steamed-artichoke-prepIngredients (serves 2):
1. 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
3. 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
4. 1 large artichoke
5. 1 lemon cut in half
6. ½ a dried chipotle pepper
7. 1 clove of garlic chopped finely

Step 1
Steam the artichokes on high heat until the artichoke opens up and you can pull out the leaves with ease (approx 35-45 minutes).  While they steam, make the sauce in Step 2.  When the artichokes are steaming with APHRODISIAC loaded goodness, cut them down the middle slowly.  Use a spoon to scoop out the very center where the wispy flowery pieces nest, leaving the artichoke heart intact (the dish’s G spot).  Set them on a plate and squeeze one of the lemon halves into open artichoke.

steamed-artichoke-steaming1

Step 2
Cut up the dried chipotle chili finely.  Mix it together with garlic, ½ a lemon, mayonnaise, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Refrigerate until the artichoke and your date are ready to rumble.

steamed-artichoke-sauce

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READY FOR BEDDY SPAGHETTI

January 25, 2009
Sweet simple satisfaction

Sweet simple satisfaction

COOK TO BANG generally advocates you kinky cooks out there to impress the hell out of your chosen conquest.  And with good reason.  The CTB method of seduction came out of much research I bravely endured for you, my dear reader.  But sometimes, depending on your target, simplicity in seduction can be the key.  Don’t overdo a first date with a five-course meal complete with champagne and a four-string quartet.  You’ll look like a jackass, a jackass who ain’t getting laid.  You can play it off casually like you’re throwing together a meal last minute. Invite your date over for a drink before going out to some fancy restaurant written up in your local paper.  Then have a friend call your phone and pretend it’s the restaurant informing you they cannot seat you.  Feign annoyance, apologize, pour them another drink and offer to cook instead.  Your date can find out by “accident” that you happen to be a kickass cook who made something sensational with next to nothing.  This spaghetti dish screams nonchalance. Plus it’s vegetarian and vegan friendly, and healthy as hell.  It’s win win.  READY FOR BEDDY SPAGHETTI makes a great starter, light entrée or can compliment a nice piece of meat.  Heh heh… ready-for-beddy-spaghetti-prep1

Total time: approximately 25 minutes
Projected cost: $6
Drinking Buddy: Red wine or prosecco

Ingredients:
1. 2 tablespoons of olive oil
2. ½ cup of white wine
3. 1 teaspoon of salt
4. ½ pound of dried spaghetti
5. ½ a lemon worth of juice
6. 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
7. 3 garlic cloves diced finely
8. 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes cut in half
9. ½ a red onion chopped coarsely

Step 1 Boil the spaghetti al dente.  Rinse out the excess starch.  While the pasta boils, move onto Step 2. ready-for-beddy-spaghetti-al-dente Step 2 Heat up the olive oil in a deep pan or wok on medium-low heat.  Sauté the garlic until the begin to brown (approx 30 seconds).  Throw in the red onions and sauté until they soften and become translucent (approx 2 minutes).  Squeeze in the lemon juice and allow the citrus to be absorbed (approx 2 minutes).  Next sauté the cherry tomatoes with the salt until they soften (approx 3 minutes).  Finally add the white wine and simmer covered on super low heat (approx 15 minutes). ready-for-beddy-spaghetti-sauce Step 3 Dump the cooked spaghetti into the sauce and mix it all together thoroughly allowing the pasta to heat up.  Serve up the spaghetti on a plate with Parmesan if you like.  Bravo! ready-for-beddy-spaghetti-mix AddThis Social Bookmark Button