Behind the Bites

Feast Your Eyes


  • Homemade French Fries

    Great homemade french fries are not as easy as they seem to make. Getting the crispy outside and soft, pillowy inside takes some work. I think they are the greatest side dish of all-time and are totally worth going the extra mile for. In fact, I would rather overcook a…

    Read more: Homemade French Fries
  • Country Fired Chicken with Pepper Gravy

    What do you do when you get home from a luau featuring a limbo contest and a surf-thrash band? Make a batch of country-fried chicken and a side of pepper gravy is what you do! That’s what I did anyway. I’ve been out and about in Austin lately feeling out…

    Read more: Country Fired Chicken with Pepper Gravy
  • Cheesy Beef Rotini

    Pasta and cheese go together like yin and yang. Add ground beef and you get shamalama ding dang! I bought a 3-pound package of ground beef on sale that I divided for three meals. The first of which was this scatch-made, hamburger-helper-esk pot of yummy goodness. I made this for…

    Read more: Cheesy Beef Rotini
  • Eggs over easy

    I can plate up some mean biscuits and gravy and other breakfast favorites, but I had never been any good at making a fried egg over easy. Broken yolks and a glob of egg is how they usually ended up — which in turn would become scrambled eggs. One of…

    Read more: Eggs over easy
  • Nacho Cheesy Rice

    I enjoy making dishes like this for work during the week. It stores well and reheats nicely in the microwave, but most importantly, it really is a tasty dish. I can eat it like a dip with tortilla chips or garnish with chili flavored corn chips for texture. The rice…

    Read more: Nacho Cheesy Rice
  • Friday Night, Taco Night

    Fresh corn tortilla, steak, cilantro and onion with chipotle ranch sauce. Friday dinner is reserved for tacos. When I first moved to Austin I set aside Friday nights to hit new taco joints in search of the ultimate taco. I didn’t find the ultimate, but I did find the elements…

    Read more: Friday Night, Taco Night
  • Chorizo Pork Taco with Chipotle Ranch Sauce

      Fresh made corn tortilla, chorizo, cumin crusted pork, refried beans and red onion — drizzled with a chipotle ranch sauce — a tasty treat indeed! A little snack thrown together with odds and ends left over from weekend experiments. Decided to snap a shot. Scrumptious!The sauce recipe: CHIPOTLE RANCH…

    Read more: Chorizo Pork Taco with Chipotle Ranch Sauce
  • A new adventure has begun

    I’m just getting settled in Austin, Texas! A great opportunity has come my way and for the second time in my life, I decided to pull up stakes and leave the comforts of the Midwest and Northern Indiana. I packed up my place outside Chicago. Spent the holidays with my…

    Read more: A new adventure has begun