South of the Border

When it comes to waking up your taste buds, cuisine with a kick does the trick every time.  That's why I long ago added south of the border dishes to my menu many moons ago.  The moment you put a forkful of  Picadillo into your mouth, your tongue realizes this ain't your mama's sloppy Joe recipe.  Over the years I've experimented with everything from Mexican and Castilian cuisine to Brazilian fare.  While all these recipes have similarities, you'll be surprised to discover how many differences there are between Spanish dishes.  I know I was.  Below are a half dozen of my favorites.  I hope you like food that is mucho caliente, amigos.

What's to Eat?

To a chef, the scariest three words in the English language are, "What's to eat?"  That's because when asked that question, a chef can feel kind of like a prisoner caught in a spotlight.  Unlike restaurants that have printed menus, when your friends or family suddenly decide that they're hunger is your responsibility and you hadn't intended to feed them, you're on the spot to come up with a tasty treat.  To keep your blood pressure from spiking when you're suddenly put to the test, I decided to dedicate this week's blog to guerrilla cooking, Man Cave Munchies Style.

Got Beer?

One thing that every red blooded American male has in his fridge is beer, right?  While you can drink it, you can also use beer to make a number of crowd-pleasing favorites that are sure to satisfy your guests.  Below are 5 of my favorites:

Is It Hot Enough For You?

While Fall fast approaches up north, here in Florida it's still as hot as blazes.  To help remedy that situation, I thought I'd focus this week's blog on recipes designed to keep you cool when it's hot outside.  Below are five of my favorite summertime treats.

Got Groceries?

Recently, a fan sent me an email to let me know that while he loved my videos, he was all thumbs
when it came to shopping for groceries.  He then requested that I take the time to tell him a little bit about the way I martial my resources when I hit the supermarket.  So, here goes.

You Don't Have to Be a Famous Chef to Cook Fabulous Food

One of the reasons I started Man Cave Munchies back in 2012 was due to the fact that most of my
buddies didn't know how to cook.  This meant they routinely trooped over to my house for meals.  What was even funnier was that most of them loved to regale me with what Emeril or Alton Brown had whipped up on TV that week.  My response to this was usually, "Believe it or not, cooking isn't supposed to be a spectator sport.  Instead of getting mad, I decided to get even by creating a video channel dedicated to showing my buddies how to make delicious meals step-be-step.  To make the videos even more appealing, I instituted two rules:

1. The dishes had to be simple to prepare.
2. At least 35% of them had to contain beer as an ingredient.

Season 7 Highlights

You may have noticed that after a 2-year hiatus, I've started posting new Man Cave Munchies blogs and videos.  That's because during the last couple of years the traffic coming to my website has gotten to the point where I could no longer ignore it.  Nor could I ignore all my viewers and readers who have been clamoring for me to add more man cave meals, not to mention put together a cookbook that features all my recipes. So, I listened to all you loyal subscribers and decided to resume production of Season 7 starting September 1.

How to Build a Better Burger

By Carl Weiss

ManCaveMunchies.com

It shocks me to see someone order a hamburger in a restaurant.  That's because most restaurants
charge anywhere from $9.99-$14.99 for one these days.  What's even worse is that most of those fifteen dollar burgers aren't anything to write home about.  So too are prepackaged grocery store burgers and fast food burgers that look as though they've been run over by a steam roller.   The bottom line is that one of the cornerstones of North American cuisine has gotten to the point where hardly anybody knows how to make a mouth-watering, stick-to-your-ribs All-American hamburger anymore.

When Life Gives You Lemons

By Carl Weiss

Image courtesy needpix

You're no doubt familiar with the  adage, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Well, I'd like to make an amendment to that sad old saw.  Because when I have a half dozen lemons, what I like to do is make something much tastier than lemonade.  What I'm going to show you below is how to use both the rind and the juice from six lemons to make a creamy Italian liqueur and a fabulous icebox pie that's guaranteed to keep you cool when it's hot outside.

Is One the Loneliest Number When it Comes to Cooking

By Carl Weiss

Image courtesy Man Cave Munchies

I started Man Cave Munchies to help teach my bachelor buddies how to cook some tasty, basic meals that didn't require a lot of exotic ingredients.  Most of their refrigerator were either stuffed with half-eaten takeout containers or their freezers looked like the frozen food aisle at the Wynn Dixie.  In short, their idea of cooking was to nuke something out of a box when they came home from work.  When I asked them why they did this, their usual excuse was that it was too much trouble to cook for one.  My response was always, "Well, do you plan on eating for one?"

Who Says There's No Substitute for Success?

By Carl Weiss

Image courtesy Man Cave Munchies

While I've pointed out in past episodes that no recipe is chiseled in stone, what foils many chefs is coming to the realization that they don't have the necessary ingredients to complete a dish.  While there might be time enough to hop on down to the grocery store or spice shop if you've yet to begin cooking, when you're smack in the middle of preparing a meal only to realize that you're missing a vital ingredient, many chefs tend to panic.  Having been a man cave man all my adult life, I've learned that when push comes to shove, you can sometimes substitute one ingredient for another without anyone being the wiser.  Hell, improvisation is part and parcel of the man cave mantra.  Below you'll find my down and dirty list of substitutes that can save the day when you're midway through food preparation only to realize that you forgot something.

What's Cooking at Man Cave Munchies?

By Carl Weiss

Image courtesy Man Cave Munchies

After taking a 2-year hiatus from the show, I thought it was high time to finish what I started.  When I began production 7-years ago, I wanted to provide viewers with the one thing that I couldn't find on TV: a cooking show for guys.  With that in mind, I came up with a format that every guy could get behind.  Each episode would demonstrate how to prepare meals that were easy to make and that didn't require a lot of expensive equipment.  The other rule was that at least a quarter of the episodes were required to use the one thing that every guy has in his fridge: Beer.  Since the start of the show back in 2013, I've produced 70 webisodes that ran the gamut from burgers and barbecue, to Cajun, Italian and all-American favorites, including homemade liqueurs and mouth watering desserts.