A new home for Benny's Food and Drink Writing and Recipes

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Love Letters to Food

I have never had much success with writing, outside of love letters. I honed my writing skills by writing hundreds of pages to girlfriends across the country. Of these hundreds of pages, about 500 were written in three months to the woman who is now my wife. I wrote to her on almost every subject, but the underlying message in every sentence was simply – I love you.

I have imagined myself a writer since I began writing love letters at 12 years old. Although my affections were initially dedicated to N. N. and T. M. in elementary school, [everyone who knew me then knows who they are] I eventually turned into a little Romeo. I realized that I wanted to talk to a lot of girls, and found that I was better at writing to them.

I loved through my words. I felt a tingle in every crush, that critical excitement. I hardly doubted the strength of my will and unabashedly wrote to all of my crushes. Once I had written a handful of letters and received a handful of kisses in return, I believed that my success as a writer was confirmed.

I got married in March of 2010. When I wrote my wedding vows I promised a lifetime of love letters to my wife. I promise I won’t disappoint on that Natalie.
I have decided that I also want to write about food.
I have always loved food… as much as I have loved to love…
Benny’s favorite foods will now be recipes, tasting notes, and love letters to food.

I am happy to say that a few of my friends and family members have grown to love the recipes I have posted so far. I will continue to post recipes for food I love. Writing about food will be a joy for me. I hope you will join me in the thrill of devouring a few words about food. I hope my words about food will remind you of the joy of a first kiss. Please treat yourself to an affair with Benny’s Favorite Foods.

RED & BLUE Deviled Eggs

Spicy RED Deviled Eggs
Boil eggs for 11 minutes and cool with cold water within a minute
De-shell and slice cleanly through the middle with a long non serrated blade
Squeeze the round side to pop the hard yolk into a bowl
Mash 5 whole yolks with a spoon and include:
1 inch block of feta cheese (crush the feta against the edge of the bowl first)
A tiny drizzle of vodka (or cream)
2 tsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. ketchup
2 dashes tabasco
1/2 tsp. chili (try Sambal Oelek)
2 shakes garlic salt
2 shakes black pepper
2 shakes cayenne pepper
Garnish with chives and dill

BLUE (cheese) Deviled Eggs
Boil eggs for 11 minutes and cool with cold water within a minute
De-shell and slice cleanly through the middle with a long non serrated blade
Squeeze the round side to pop the hard yolk into a bowl
Mash 5 whole yolks with a spoon and include:
1 cm block of danish blue cheese (crush the cheese against the edge of the bowl until paste)
A tiny drizzle of vodka (or cream)
2 tsp. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. regular mustard
1/2 tsp. very finely diced chives
2 shakes garlic salt
2 shakes black pepper
2 shakes cayenne pepper
Garnish with onion salt

Benny’s Cheat Trifle
• 1 package prepared pound cake, cubed (Angel Food for a lighter option)
• 1 package frozen blueberries
• 1 package frozen raspberries
• 1 package frozen blackberries
• ¼ C slivered almonds (2 oz. Disorono for a substitute for those with Almond allergy)
• 2 packages instant vanilla pudding mix (low sugar pudding is available – one instant package generally requires ½ C cold milk)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Place cubed cake in bottom of large glass serving bowl. Layer the blueberries, raspberries and blackberries on top of the cake. Sprinkle with Disorono liqueur or slivered almonds.
2. In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix, condensed milk and 1 cup of whipped topping, stir well. Pour mixture over frozen berries. Top custard with remaining whipped topping. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours or in refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours (enough for the berries to thaw before serving).
3. Thin layers make the outside of the serving bowl look more attractive, so play with your arrangement as much as you like. It all ends up yummy and funny looking once served.

Blow Your Horn Red Beans and Rice
2 T kosher salt, paprika, granulated garlic, onion powder, freshly ground black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, celery salt
1 C onion, chopped
1/3 C celery, chopped * The Holy Trinity (onion, celery, garlic)*

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 T butter

1 C your favorite spicy sausage

4 pieces thick cut bacon, cut into little cubes

1 ½ C small red kidney beans

2 C + chicken stock

1 T red wine vinegar

1/4 C tomato sauce

3 T pure cane sugar

1/4 C green onions, thinly sliced

2 C rice, boiled with half water, half chicken stock, then add 3 bay leaves

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 t Tabasco

Mix together the Holy Trinity - onions, celery, garlic (some consider the trinity onion, bell pepper, celery, so choose to your taste).

Melt the butter over medium heat and add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, 1/2 of the seasoning, the bacon and the sausage, turn the heat to medium high.

Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color. Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining trinity, chicken stock, vinegar and seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours. The first hour is low maintenance; an occasional stir and making sure the beans are covered with liquid. The second hour, you want to check back a little more often, the beans will really start to absorb some liquid and you don't want them to stick. After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the tomato sauce, the sugar, Tobasco, Worcestershire, and 1/2 of the green onions.

Make your Rice with chicken stock and water and add bay leaves after boiling and before you cover on low heat.
Cook the beans for another half hour.

To Serve:
Remove the Bay Leaves. Mound a ½ cup of Rice each onto serving plates. Cover with a generous helping of the Red Bean mix. Garnish with the remaining green onions. Make sure there is a bottle of hot sauce on the table. Perfect compliments to this meal are a simple vinaigrette salad, and Louis Armstrong on the stereo.