Short Ribs

Not for the faint at heart, these little nuggets of deliciousness are well worth the work it takes to cook them. I   am fascinated by all the different ways you can cook them and how hard it is to make these bad. The reason I like them is because that have so much beef flavor and you need to cook the crap out of them. You can braise them, BBQ them, or smoke them. Braising is the fastest way, this weekend I choose to BBQ them.. I started at 12 pm. Shooting for dinner around 5:30-6:00 pm.

4-8 short ribs , about 2 pounds
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of 7-up
1 table spoon of Worestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, or 3 cloves
half of a jalapeno, seeded if you don't like things hot, and diced
1 tablespoon of salt and pepper


Combine all these ingredients in a Ziploc bag, let marinate for at least 3 hours, the longer the better, so if you can do this over night that would be best. This piece of meat can pretty much withhold any marinate you throw at it, get creative, add whatever you like as long as you will eat it. Put ribs on direct flame and sear both sides, 5 minutes each side. Set off to the side of the grill with meat side up (trust me...you will know)
and let cook for at least 5-6 hours with the heat in the grill not going past 300 degrees and not getting any lower then 200 degrees. Serve it with the rice of your choice!!

Smokey, Spicy Southern Collards

I have only had these once in my life and I loved them, I wanted to try this out and add some flavor to them. If you don't know about collards I hope you try this recipe, they are great for your health, loads with Vitamin D and great for digestive issues. I had these on Superbowl day, we went with a southern theme versus tailgating. I had my fried chicken and Lisa made her Mac and Cheese. I will post that tonight as well. Although Superbowl is bittersweet for us in Seattle I will still watch and take the opportunity to eat great food. OK  I have some vegetarian followers... The smoked hock can be substituted... I smoked some onions and garlic while this was cooking... that can replace the flavor as well. I will write a recipe for that too.


1 large bunch of Collard greens
1 smoked ham hock (Substitutes: bacon or smoked onion and garlic)
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of cracked black peeper
1 pinch of chili flake
1 tablespoon of hot sauce
3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of butter

3 quarts of water the ham hock, salt, hot sauce, pepper, garlic, and chili flakes add all these in to a pot and bring to a boil for 1 hour. After an hour has passed, you need to add the collards. In order to do this you need to take the stalk off of them... you can do this by bending the leaves back and removing the green. After you have done that stack the leaves, roll them up, then cut them down the center, all while maintaining the roll, then slice the roll of collards. Add them to the pot then add the butter. Let these cook for an hour and 30 minutes. Bring them to a boil to get all the water out of them... if there is some remaining moisture just strain it out.. these were amazing tonight!!

Adding Smoke to your Veggies!!

You can add smoke to any vegetable, I did this with onions and garlic. For you vegetarians out there, this is a great way to impart some BBQ flavor to any meal.

3 large onions, peeled and quartered
3 heads of garlic, cut in half
5 cups of hickory chips, or any flavor you would like
5 cups of water

Soak the chips for 30 minutes, start the charcoal at the same time... put the onions and garlic on a pan. I have a smoker at home so if you do not please Google how to make a stove top smoker, it is very easy and something you should add to your kitchen skill. Smoke your veggies for one hour, they should be soft when they come out, pull them out earlier if you want them to be a bit more crisp to add to a different dish

Email address!!

Send me your recipes!! I will post them!!
I may even use them as inspiration for my next blog!

intentionalcheftacoma@gmail.com.

Chicken Stock

 I cook a lot of chicken and recently with the purchase of my new house and all the bills that come with that I am starting to see the value in being frugal. I use a lot of boxed chicken stock, this gets expensive, but it is a great way to impart flavor in any meal that requires water. I have committed to making chicken stock every time i make a whole chicken This is how I do it....


All left over parts of the chicken
8 cps of water
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
5 ribs of celery, chopped
1 tablespoon of basil
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of salt, you may need to be more depending on the seasoning of your chicken
1 tablespoon of pepper


Nothing special to do here...add it all to a big pot and watch it go...bring it to a boil then drop the temperature to medium for about 5-6 hours....You are going to want to separate the liquid from the fat. This is were this gets complicated.. Use a noodle strainer for all the big chucks of stuff...take the liquid and a mesh strainer, you can line the strainer with the paper towels and let the fat skim that way (my preferred method) or you can cool it completely in the fridge and skim it off the top. This recipe is good for Beef and Veggies, I would put more veggies in for the vegetable stock..For beef you can use any inexpensive part of beef...I found that a beef rib is pretty good, but I use neck.

Simple Salmon

So I was trying to impress someone a lifetime ago, and I asked my very best friend Gretchen what I should cook. I was staying with her at the time in her and her husband beautiful house with a fantastic view. So when both of them out of town it was me and the idea to impress someone I would end up spending the rest of my life with....


2 pounds of salmon, fillet
2 tablespoons  of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of garlic , minced
1 tablespoon of mustard
2 teaspoons of honey
Salt and pepper to taste

When I said this was simple... I meant it! Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, except for the fish silly!! then pour it on an aluminum foil bowl you have made to fit the fish. lay the fish, meat side down in the marinade. Let the fish sit there in the refrigerator for 30 minutes....that is right, 30 minutes. Take it out and let it rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Now you can cook this many ways, but the best way is on the grill. Cook skin side on the grill, it will act as the pan for 8-10 minutes, direct heat (over the flame or coal). If you want the top caramelized a bit you can cut the time in half and sear it meat side down in a medium saute pane for 4-6 minutes flip it and finish it in the oven for  8 minutes in the oven  preheated at 350 degrees. Good Salmon should be medium rare....Enjoy!!

BBQ Pork Chow Mein

I work in the Central district in Seattle, also know as Little Saigon, China town, and Jackson Place. I am very fond of the food in this district, but it is starting to cost a bit too much. I set out this weekend to make one of my favorite's BBQ Chow Mien. It cost me about $9.00 at the restaurant. I was able to cook it from home for only $5.00, and I was able to make 2 meals out of it.


1 package of store bought BBQ pork
1 package of yakisoba noodles
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of chili paste.
3 green onions
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt to taste


Cut the BBQ pork in slices, then cut them length wise and make cubes out of these slices. in a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the pan gets hot, put BBQ pork in the sauce pan. Open the package of noodles, these tend to be packed tight so it is best if you submerge them in some warm water to make them a bit easier to heat up. Keep them in the water till the BBQ pork is heated through, about 6 minutes. Add noodles, soy sauce and chili paste.... Heat for another 5 minutes then add the green onions. Cook for an additional 5 minutes and salt to taste. If you like your noodles more spicy like I do you can add more chill paste, same with the soy, that tends to cook out pretty fast so if you want to add more once the dish is cooked and on the plate rather then add salt, that is a good alternative.