Brian Lane - Mind Games with a Serial Killer

I first began cooking when I was 16 years old. My mother had to begin working when we lost my father and I became the family cook. For awhile, my brothers and sister were very unsure about eating my meals. I had began cooking strictly by package directions and still made my share of mistakes. The bad part was when I had to eat those mistakes. Needless to say, I learned very quickly what “exact measuring” meant. I only regret that I never took any cooking classes while in school. It wasn’t until I was on my own that I began “creating.”

As you read through these recipes, you may raise your eyebrows in surprise or wonder at some of the ingredients I have listed. Believe it or not, those ingredients work very well in those recipes if used in just the amounts I have listed. Questions have been asked of me as to why I put this or that in such and such recipe. My first reply is usually, “If you’ve never actually tasted this particular combination, please don’t condemn it.” Granted, my tastes (and those for whom I’ve cooked these recipes) may differ somewhat from yours. For instance, not everyone relishes the taste of Malt Vinegar like I do. Usually, you’ll find Malt Vinegar used (and sold) in fast food restaurants specializing in seafood. But when combined in the right proportions with the other ingredients, it adds a certain tang that greatly enhances the flavor of the food. That brings to mind the only rules I have when cooking. The first, being: “ Try it , the taste may grow on you !” and second: “ Don’t be afraid to experiment with different tastes and ingredients — you might create a winner !” That’s how the majority of my recipes came into being.

You may notice that in nearly every instance, I’ve refrained from the use of egg yolks. Usually, only the albumen, or eggwhite, finds its way into my recipes. The reason for this is my fear of the outright consumption of the cholesterol that resides in egg yolks. The egg yolk contains over 90% of the cholesterol found in eggs. I’ve been asked, if all I use is the albumen in my cooking, what happens to the left over yolks? Let me put it this way—My cat comes a-running when I cook and she’s got the shiniest, prettiest fur in the neighborhood.

Like many non-professional cooks, I use a lot of brand name ingredients (®) in my recipes. I’ve always tried to give credit where credit is due. The companies that make those brand name ingredients can make them a lot better than I can—faster, too! I suppose a different brand could be used, according to your own personal tastes, but I’m faithful to the brands that I use. For instance, I prefer Best Foods® Real Mayonaise over, say, Miracle Whip®, whether I’m making a turkey sandwich or my Deviled Eggs.

Another preferred choice is the butter I use. Shedd’s Spread Country Crock® tub Butter is my personal favorite. I feel compelled to stress, however, that whichever brand name you use, butter or margarine, I recommend the soft, tub butter over any stick-type butter for your meals. The reason, which I cannot go into in these pages, involves the manner in which the butter is processed in making it “hard” to retain its stick, rectangular form even when it gets soft. (You can check with any health store or local Health Department to find out exactly what the process actually is.)

One of the recipes included in these pages is my prize-winning chili. And yes, my chili did win some chili cook-off contests. Three of them consecutively in three years. I’ve been repeatedly asked for my recipe and upon reading the list of ingredients am asked, “Don’t you put beans in your chili?!” Like it’s a sin to leave out the beans. I have to emphatically reply, “No! Beans don’t belong in chili!” As far as I am concerned, anyone who puts beans in their chili, is doing so to hide the taste of their chili. Their chili won’t stand up to others on its own merits! I’ve attended some chili cook-off contests where chili containing beans were disqualified. And I agree with those rules. The way I see it, beans are a dish you eat out on the trail swapping ghost stories while the cattle are asleep! Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t dislike beans. In fact, my favorite are Pork and Beans, Lintel Beans, Black-eyed Beans and Green Beans. Some of the others I’ll eat, but I wouldn’t cross the street to get them.

Before each recipe is a brief history of how I came about creating that particular recipe. In most instances, the dish was created because of someone or something. A few were specifically created for someone and one or two just happened by accident while fooling around in the kitchen. However they came about, though, doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the time was taken to experiment with new tastes and mixing of ingredients. After all, who ever would have thought to put cheese inside fish, or mayonaise and mustard in chili or to barbeque chicken in the oven, or… You get the picture? Don’t be afraid to try something new or to do something different from the usual, accepted way of cooking something!

In closing, remind yourself that just because you were taught to cook corn-on-the-cob by boiling it in water, don’t be afraid to wrap it in aluminum foil with butter and toss it on the barbecue grill with those spare ribs! Barbecued corn-on-the-cob tastes surprisingly good.

Enjoy reading, enjoy cooking, and savor the tastes!

Baked Beans plus

Side Dish – Meat

Barbequed Cheeseburgers

Main Dish – Meat

Beer-Batter Shrimp

Main Dish – Seafood

‘Burger “Secret Sauce”

Condiment – Sauce

Cheddar Perch with Beer-Batter

Main Dish – Seafood

Cherry-Apple Muffins

Dessert – Snack

Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

Main Dish – Meat

Chicken Cacciatore

Main Dish – Meat

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge

Dessert – Snack

Coffee Cake

Dessert – Snack

Country Barbeque Sauce

Condiment – Sauce

Creamed Beef and Mushrooms

Breakfast – Meat

Deviled Eggs

Appetizer – Snack

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Lunch – Eggs

Fricasee Chicken

Main Dish – Meat

Giblet Gravy

Condiment – Gravy

Holiday Whipped Potatoes

Side Dish – Vegetable

Lasagna

Main Dish – Meat

Marinated Ribeye Steak

Main Dish – Meat

Mushroom and Cheese Casserole

Main Dish – Vegetable

One-Eyed Flapjacks

Breakfast – Combo

Oven Barbequed Chicken

Main Dish – Meat

Pizza Biscuits

Appetizer – Combo

Sautéed Bell Peppers and Mushrooms

Side Dish – Vegetable

Shrimp and Pasta Chowder

Soup – Seafood

Soda Swirl Cupcakes

Dessert – Snack

Spice Muffins

Dessert – Snack

Strawberry Turnovers

Dessert – Snack

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Main Dish – Meat

Sugar Cookies

Dessert – Snack

Sweet Chili

Main Dish – Meat

’Tater Boats

Side Dish – Vegetable

Vege-Meatloaf

Main Dish – Meat

Vegetarian Pizza

Main Dish – Vegetable

Western Clam Chowder

Soup – Seafood

Western Omelet (w/ Quail Eggs)

Breakfast – Eggs