Orca Beans, High West Whiskey, and Fried Chicken + Giveaway: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

High West Whiskey and Bob's Red Mill Orca Beans

Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar takes a different turn this week with a little cooking challenge from Bob's Red Mill. They sent me some heritage beans called Orca and I thought there would be no better way to add smoke to them than the Campfire Whiskey from High West Distilling. The orca beans get their name from the black and white coloring similar to a killer whale. After soaking the beans over night I sauteed some red onion and garlic in olive oil then added my soaked beans and the soaking liquid. After simmering for half an hour, I threw in some Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning and a few splashes of High West Whiskey. I let the beans simmer for another hour, adding a little water along the way, until they were tender but not mushy. Served alongside some fried chicken, these orca beans hit the spot! 

Here's some news even greater than my meal, though! Bob's Red Mill is offering up a bag of beans and a $30 gift card to purchase whatever you'd like from their site. Enter the giveaway below through Rafflecopter and you could win the prize! One winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the winner will be notified and displayed here on 11/20!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fried Chicken alongside Whiskey Orca Beans

GIVEAWAY: LCI Basic Knife Skills Leisure Class

BASIC KNIFE SKILLS AND COOKING HOW TO'S
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 - 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Chef Derrick Beverly, CEC, ACE, CDM

I'm giving away two spots for this upcoming leisure class at the Louisiana Culinary Institute to one lucky winner. You and a guest will be able to attend the class on Monday, November 4th from 5:30 to 8 PM. Chef Derrick Beverly will show you how to use and feel comfortable with your kitchen knives. He will show you how to properly cut vegetables, meats, and fish. He will also teach you basic cooking techniques that you can use in your own kitchen. Plus, you can bring your kitchen knives and get them sharpened (limit 3 per person)! At a minimum, a chef's knife is required for this class but you might as well bring your whole set or at least three that you'd like to get sharpened. The two tickets to this class are a $250 value that I'll be giving away to one lucky reader!

To win, leave a comment below telling me how you'd like to improve your knife skills. It could be learning how to properly hold a knife, learning when to use each kind of knife, or getting pro tips on how to chop and onion or dice a bell pepper. For an extra chance to win, send a tweet to @biteandbooze and @LAculinary with the link to this post in it or mention Bite and Booze and the Louisiana Culinary Institute on Facebook when sharing the link to this post!

You have until the end of the day on Wednesday to enter and I'll be informing the winner of their free leisure classes on Thursday!

Also, gift certificates for LCI leisure classes are available and are perfect for holiday gifts. If you know anyone interested in cooking or entertaining, they'll love an LCI leisure class!

For more about LCI, watch this video that I helped produce with TommysTV:

Virtual Potluck, OXO, and Bite and Booze present Cruzan Rum and Cane Syrup Brined Turkey Wings with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce

Cruzan Rum and Cane Syrup Brined Turkey Wings

OXO recently sent me a gift pack with all sorts of amazing goodies for a Virtual Potluck Thanksgiving.  There were silicon pot holders with magnets, poultry shears, a turkey baster, a fat separator, an adjustable potato ricer, a digital thermometer, and a silicone basting brush.  Happy holidays, indeed.  So the challenge was to cook up something for Thanksgiving using a handful of the products.  Since chicken wings wouldn't be all that "Thanksgiving" of me, and since I recently re-established my love of turkey legs at the State Fair, I thought that perhaps some Sasquatch sized turkey wings could hit the spot!  I started them off in an overnight brine of Cruzan aged rum and Steen's cane syrup.

Removing Turkey Wings from Oven with OXO Silicone Pot Holders

Brine:
1 Cup Cruzan Rum
1 Cup Steen's Cane Syrup
2 Tbs Salt
2 Tbs Black Peppercorns
Water to Cover

Mix together rum, syrup, salt, and peppercorns.  Our over turkey wings in a container to brine overnight.  Add water to cover the wings, shake to mix everything together, and refrigerate over night.

The OXO Digital Thermometer

After the brine, I dried the turkey legs off and placed them in a large pan.  I rubbed the outside with my own Jay D's Blazin' BBQ Rub, then put them in the oven at 350F for an hour.

Jay D's Blazin' BBQ Rub:
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Black Pepper
1 Cup Smoked Paprika
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Chile Powder
1/4 Cup Garlic Powder
1/4 Cup Onion Powder
2 Tbs Cayenne

Whisk all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  Store extra in a spice jar or shaker of some sort.

OXO Basting Brush is Perfect for BBQ Sauce!

 After an hour in the oven, I used the OXO digital thermometer to ensure I had reached at least 165F inside the turkey wing.  That's the "cooked throughout" temperature for chicken and turkey, in case you were wondering.  I flipped the turkey wings over to get to the under side.  Using the OXO silicon basting brush, I slathered a generous portion of Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce on the wings (you don't get that recipe!).  I put them back in the oven for 10 minutes, then flipped them over, gave the other side a fresh coating of sauce, and returned them to the oven for another 20 minutes.  After that, I feasted on my rum and cane syrup brined turkey wings with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce!  Tasty!

Cruzan Rum and Cane Syrup Brined Turkey Wings with Jay D's Louisiana Barbecue Sauce

But wait... there's more!

Do you want some OXO goodies of your own in time for Christmas?  I've got some to give away!  Here's how you enter:

1) Share this post on your Facebook wall tagging Jay D's Bite and Booze Blog for one entry
2) Share this post on Twitter tagging @biteandbooze for a second entry
3) Leave a comment on this post for third entry giving me another boozy brine idea besides cane syrup and rum

All entries will be tallied and I'll use random.org to pick the winner!  One lucky person will receive the exact same gift bundle from OXO that I did, which means silicon pot holders with magnets, poultry shears, a turkey baster, a fat separator, an adjustable potato ricer, a digital thermometer, and a silicone basting brush! I'll keep taking entries through Cyber Monday!

Also, make sure to like OXO on their Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter too!

Cheers!

Toasted Pecan and Parmesan Quinoa plus a Giveaway!

As part of the Bob's Red Mill and California Olive Ranch Healthy 2012 Challenge with the Virtual Potluck team, one of our missions was to create a side item using a whole grain and a olive oil.  I decided to further the challenge by only using ingredients that I already at home instead of going out shopping for more.  The quinoa seemed like a great choice for a side item, so I started there.  After getting two cups of water boiling I poured in one cup of quinoa along with a little salt.  That needed about 12 minutes to cook, so I then turned my attention to what else would go with the quinoa, which by itself is rather bland like most grains.  Fortunately I found some pecan halves and thought that the nutty flavor might go well with the quinoa.  I grabbed the olive oil and some smoked sea salt from the Red Stick Spice Company as well.  

I mixed about a cup of the shelled pecans with two teaspoons of olive oil and one teaspoon of smoked sea salt.  After the pecans were well coated, I spread them out of a baking sheet and toasted them in the oven at around 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.  

After a little more seasoning to finish up the quinoa, I threw the dish together.  I placed the toasted pecans atop the quinoa and then grated some fresh Parmesan cheese over the top.  The result ended up being quite satisfying, especially for my first attempt at quinoa!

Want some Bob's Red Mill grains and olive oil from the California Olive Ranch?  Read blow for the details about how you could win some!

• Visit either Bob's Red Mill or California Olive Ranch's Facebook pages and retrieve this week's Virtual Potluck code word. Then use that code word in a sentence, when commenting on this blog post. 

Additional Entries:

• For an extra entry: Follow BRM, COR and VirtualPotluck's Twitter profiles and tweet about the contest linking to this blog post and using the #virtualpotluck hashtag. Then comment again, letting me know you've done so, by providing the link to your tweet.

• More Blogs, More Ways to Win: Get additional entries in each week's giveaways by visiting our host blog and finding other participating VP bloggers sites to comment on.

Viking Cooking School Outdoors Cooking Class Giveaway

By now I hope you've heard about the Viking Cooking School Outdoors that is coming to Baton Rouge.  If you've been paying any attention to the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket, Bite and Booze itself, or my Twitter or Facebook pages, you would know that I'm actually going to be one of the chef instructors for the first-of-its-kind outdoor cooking experience!  I'm pretty excited.

So with that, I'm giving away an awesome prize package through Bite and Booze.  The package includes:

Admission for 2 into the Viking Cooking School Outdoors class of your choosing,
A one-night stay at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center (where the cooking school is), and
A $100 gift card to the Kingfish Restaurant at the Hilton

So how do you win this prize that is valued at up to $500?  Simple.  Make sure you like the
Viking Cooking School Outdoors - Baton Rouge Facebook page.

Once you've done that, post on the page's wall saying something clever about how you want to win the Bite and Booze prize package.  Bonus points (AKA extra entry) if you also like the Jay D's Bite and Booze Blog page and tag it in your post! I'll keep tabs of everybody who likes the page and posts on the wall, and then we'll randomly select one lucky winner!!  Couldn't be much easier... unless you don't use Facebook.  If that's the case, have a friend enter on your behalf!  Make sure to do this by Labor Day (Monday, September 5th).  I'll announce the winner on September 6th.

For more ways to win a $100 gift card to the Kingfish Restaurant, tune into the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket on Saturdays at 5 PM on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.  I give one away every week!

Cheers and good luck!

Shopping Made Easy with CSN

I do a fair amount of my shopping online these days, so I appreciate when I find a website that has everything I need in one place.  You can find everything from cutlery to dining room sets (many with free shipping!) on the over 200 sites brought to us by CSNStores.com.   I was actually just thinking about buying a new chef's knife when they contacted me about doing a product review.  Stay tuned to Bite and Booze to see what I pick and how it turns out!





*Bite and Booze received no compensation for making this post.  I will, however, receive a gift card to the CSN Store of my choice to purchase a product for review.  Still, all opinions are my own and the review will be honest and professional.

Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning Giveaway #2

Welcome to the Bite and Booze Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning Giveaway: Round 2!

The fine folks at Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning have graciously donated some fine products to be given away through Bite and Booze.  Slap Ya Mama is a Certified Cajun company in Ville Platte, Louisiana which produces an array of seasoning options including their original Cajun seasoning, a white pepper blend, hot sauce, fish fry, seafood boil, and their new etouffee sauce.  What sets Slap Ya Mama apart from other Cajun seasonings is that their mixture contains more red pepper and other spices that make great tasting Cajun dishes without filling the product with such high levels of sodium that leave you with over-salted food.  Slap Ya Mama is "recommended for all dishes, from popcorn to seafood, breakfast to late night snacks, gourmet foods to French fries."

Our two grand prizes are SYM Gift Mugs that come stuffed with a 8 oz can of regular seasoning, a Slap Ya Mama koozie, and a Cajun roux spoon!  Two other winners will receive a 16 oz can of Slap Ya Mama original blend seasoning and a purple and gold SYM koozie.

2 Grand Prizes:

 Slap Ya Mama Travel Mug with 1 can of SYM Original Cajun Seasoning, 

a SYM Koozie, and a Cajun roux spoon (not shown)

Two Other Prizes: 

A 16 oz can of Slap Ya Mama Original Cajun Seasoning, 

and a purple and gold SYM Koozie (not shown)

To enter the giveaway contest, please fill out THIS SIMPLE FORM.  Before you will be eligible to win, you will also need to be following Bite and Booze on Twitter OR be a fan of Bite and Booze on Facebook (doing both will double your chances of winning).  You can also increase your chances of winning by "retweeting" or "sharing" this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media platform that you may use (use the share button below to make it even easier).

The contest will end at midnight central time the night of Sunday, May 16, 2009!  I'll be in touch with the winners shortly after that.  Thanks for entering, and have fun making all your food so good that it makes you want to "slap ya mama!"

Slap Ya Mama Giveaway

Bite and Booze is proud to team up with Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning for the holidays and present you, the loyal Bite and Booze readers, with a chance to win great Slap Ya Mama gift bags!  Slap Ya Mama is a Cajun seasoning company from Ville Platte, La. which produces an array of seasoning options including their original Cajun seasoning, a white pepper blend, hot sauce, fish fry, and seafood boil.  What sets Slap Ya Mama apart from other similar Cajun seasonings is that their mixture contains more red pepper and other spices that make great tasting Cajun dishes without filling the product with such high levels of sodium that leave you with over-salted food.  Slap Ya Mama is "recommended for all dishes, from popcorn to seafood, breakfast to late night snacks, gourmet foods to French fries." 

The Slap Ya Mama Gift Bag

Five (5) Slap Ya Mama Gift Bags ($18.00 value each through their website) will be given away to five random contest entrants.  The gift bag includes:

•12oz. Box of “Slap Ya Mama” Fish Fry

•5floz Bottle of “Slap Ya Mama” Pepper Sauce
•8oz Canister of Original Blend
•8oz Canister of White Pepper Blend
•8oz Canister of Hot Blend

To enter the giveaway contest, please leave a comment about your thoughts on Cajun foods in the space provided for this post.  Feel free to be humorous, comment about your best Cajun meal ever, share your favorite Cajun/Creole restaurant from wherever you are from, or tell everyone how much you love Slap Ya Mama.  Make sure that you leave a way for me to get in touch with you: email, twitter name, facebook profile, google account, etc.  I will contact the winners to get a physical mailing address so Slap Ya Mama can ship your gift bag.  Only U.S. residents are eligible (due to shipping costs) and shipments cannot go to a P.O. box.  Other than that, everyone is welcome!  The contest will end at midnight central time the night of Wednesday, December 16, 2009 to make sure there is time to get your gift bags shipped to you by Christmas!

Please share this contest on your preferred social media outlet and join Bite and Booze on facebook and twitter




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