Turkey Croquettes

Still have some leftover turkey stashed away in the refrigerator? Here is one final quick and delicious recipe to use up the last of the Thanks Giving bird in a way that won't make you think you're eating leftovers. This recipe is also great with leftover roasted chicken so it's one that can come in handy more than once a year.

2 tablespoon of butter
1 onion finely diced
1 garlic clove minced or grated
2 cups of shredded Turkey or Chicken
1 cup of Mashed potatoes
1/4 cup of flour
1 large egg
Fresh Parsley
2 cups of season Panko bread crumbs
Salt and Black Pepper
Vegetable oil

In a small saute pan, melt the two tablespoons of butter. Add the onions and cooked until translucent and tender. About a minute or two before the onions have cooked, add the minced garlic clove and stir into the cooked onions. Remove from the heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked onions with the shredded turkey and the mashed potatoes. Lightly beat the egg and add the to the turkey and potato mixture. Add the flour, parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well so that everything is combined. Form the mixture into patties to whatever size you desire.

Pour the bread crumbs onto a flat dish and gently place your croquettes into the crumbs and move around so that they become coated. Place the croquettes in the refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes to allow them to firm up a bit.

Remove from the refrigerator and heat enough vegetable to coat the bottom of your frying pan over medium heat. Once the oil is nice and hot, brown the croquettes for about 3 t0 5 minutes on both sides until they're golden brown and crisp. Serve hot with your favorite sides and gravy or some cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Cranberry Panini

The day before Thanksgiving, it's the eve of the meal we wait all year for. Oven roasted turkey and all the classic sides will fill our kitchen tables and our stomachs. They will also most likely fill our refrigerators for the next few days with more leftovers than we know what to do with. I'm always looking for new and creative ways to use up those delicious Thanksgiving leftovers and this Turkey and cranberry pannini is my favorite turkey sandwich ever! Fresh roasted turkey, sweet and tart cranberry mayo, sharp cheddar cheese, and peppery arugula blend perfectly sandwiched between two slices of ciabatta bread.


Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Ciabatta Bread
Fresh Roasted Turkey Breast
1/2 cup of baby Arugula
2 Tablespoons of Cranberry relish or Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Mayo
About 1/2 cup of Freshly Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper

Slice a loaf of ciabatta bread in half length ways. In a small mixing bowl, combine together the cranberry relish and the mayo. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the cranberry mayo on both the top and bottom of the ciabatta bread.

Spread half of the cheddar cheese over top of the cranberry mayo. Take a few slices of turkey and place them over top of the cheese. Next add the arugula followed by a few more slices of turkey and the remaining cheddar.

Preheat your panini press or frying pan over medium heat. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on both the top and bottom of the bread and place the sandwich onto the panini press. Grill the sandwich until the bread is crisp and the cheese has melted - about 5 to 7 minutes. Rotate the sandwich 180 degrees half way through cooking to get criss cross grill marks. Cut the sandwich in half and enjoy!!

Tuscan Sausage and Potato Soup

In the chilly months of the year, nothing is more comforting for dinner than a bowl of homemade soup for dinner. In addition, a bowl of soup is the perfect meal for a movie night. This is a recipe I came up with after many attempts to duplicate the soup at a very popular chain of Italian restaurants. A blend of flavorful Italian sausage, tender red potatoes, with bright and crisp blanched kale in a creamy broth is an irresistible combination. Easy to make and flavor beyond belief, this is a recipe I'm sure will easily find it's way onto your dinner table frequently. quintessential

1 and 1/4 pound of Sweet Italian Sausage
1 large Onion
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic
6 cups of Chicken stock
1 bay leaf
About 6 Red potatoes
1 and 1/2 cups of Heavy Cream
Kosher Salt
Freshly Cracked black pepper
1/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
8 leaves of Fresh Basil

Place a large pot over medium heat drizzle a touch of olive oil in the bottom. If using a link of sausage, cut down the center and remove the sausage from the casing. Place the sausage into the hot pan with a pinch f crushed red pepper and crumble the sausage as you saute. Once the sausage is browned, carefully remove some of the excess fat.

Next, dice the onion and place it into the hot pan with the sausage and cook until the onions are beginning to become tender. Mince the garlic and add to the sausage and onions and cook for another minute or two but making sure to stir so that the garlic doesn't burn. Add the 6 cups of chicken stock to the pot and add the bay leaf as well.

Thoroughly wash your potatoes until cold water and peel if desired. Carefully slice the potato in half length ways and cut the halves into 1/2 inch slices. Add the potatoes into the pot to allow them to cook.

Fill a medium sized pot with water and place over high heat to bring the water to a boil. While the water boils, add some ice to a large bowl and add very cold tap water. We're going to blanch the kale quickly for a minute or two and then transfer to kale right away to the ice water. this will shock the kale and lock in the beautiful green color.

To remove the kale from the stem, firmly hold the stem of the kale with one hand and wrap your other hand around it just behind the leaves. Pull your one hand down while still griping the top of the steam and the kale will quickly and easily be removed. Give the kale leaves a rough chop.

Once the water has come to a boil, add the kale and cook for only a minute or two. Remove the kale from the water and immediately plunge the kale into the ice water bath and allow the kale to cool. Drain the kale and pat dry with a kitchen towel and add into the hot broth.

Once the potatoes in the soup are tender, add the heavy cream, freshly cut basil, and grated parmesan to the broth and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with an extra grating of parmesan cheese. Perfect soup for a chilly movie night and one that all your friends and family will enjoy.

Quick Shrimp Scampi

 Need a quick dinner idea that doesn't come from the freezer section or from a microwave? Shrimp Scampi is a delicious dish that can be done in under 30 minutes. It's a great meal for a special treat on a weeknight or as a homemade date night dinner.

 

3/4 of a pound wild caught gulf shrimp (peeled and vein removed)

1/4 cup of white wine

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of Olive oil

4 cloves of garlic (Minced or grated)

1 Shallot (Diced)

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

Fresh basil and Parsley 

1 package of Linguine or angel hair pasta

Fill a large pot with water and season generously with some salt. Place over a medium high heat to bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, In a satue pan, melt the butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add the diced shallot and cook until the shallot is tender but not brown - about 7 minutes. Next add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Garlic burns very quickly so keep a close eye. Pour the white wine into the pan and cook for a few moments to cook out the alcohol. Now add the shrimp to the pan and cook until the shrimp have turned pink - this will happen quickly as well (about 5 to 7 minutes).

 

Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and the freshly chopped basil and parsley. Pour the shrimp and the sauce over the drained pasta and toss everything together. Serve hot will fresh Italian bred and a dry white wine.

Sausage, peppers, and onions with Penne

**Back again after technical difficulties kept me from posting**

Flavorful Italian Sausage with peppers, onions and pasta tossed together in a garlicy tomato sauce is one of my favorite dishes.Using both sweet and hot Italian sausage gives your taste buds the best of both worlds but feel free to use all sweet or hot to suit your liking. The key for a perfect dish of sausage and peppers to me is cooking the peppers just until they've become tender but still have a bit of crisp to them. Serve with a nice piece of bread and fresh parmesan cheese and this plate is sure to be a favorite of yours too!

Serves 4-6

1 pound link of Sweet Italian Sausage
1 pound link of Hot Italian Sausage
1 large red onion
1 medium sized Green Bell pepper
1 medium sized Yellow Bell pepper
1 medium sized Red Bell pepper
16oz can of Diced Tomatoes
16oz can of Tomato Sauce
2 cloves of Garlic
10-12 fresh basil leaves chopped
1 pound of penne pasta

Preheat your oven to 375. Place the links of sausage onto a baking sheet with a slight drizzle of olive oil on the bottom. Bake the links for about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn the sausages with tongs about halfway through cooking time. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside for now. Wash the bell peppers and cut them and the red onion into medium sized pieces. Finely mince or grate two cloves of garlic.

In a large satue pan, drizzle some olive oil and heat oven a medium high heat. Add the peppers and onions and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently during the cooking time. The goal here is to cook the vegetables long enough where they start to become tender but still have a slight crisp to them as if they were raw. Bring a large pot of water season with plenty of salt. When the water comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to directions on the package.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, slice the sausage links on a bias. Add the sausage and garlic into the satue pan with the vegetables and continue cooking for about 3 minutes to give the garlic time to cook.

Add the can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir together. Add the freshly chopped basil and salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to simmer while the pasta finishes to boil. Once the pasta has been cooked, drain and add the pasta straight into the pan with the sauce. Stir together to coat all the noodles with the sauce. Serve hot with parmesan cheese.

Butternut Squash Risotto

In the short amount of time that I've been making risotto, it's quickly become one of my favorite meals to prepare and eat. Risotto is an Italian rice dish where the rice is cooked by gradually stirring in wine and broth until thick and creamy in texture. Arborio rice is needed to make risotto as it will absorb a great deal of liquid and release the large amount of starch it contains. After the general cooking method is completed, you can add different vegetables, meat, or seafood to your Risotto and is often served with parmesan cheese. I'm all about cooking with seasonal ingredients and this time of year the butternut squashes are more than plentiful. Add some roasted butternut squash to some perfectly cooked risotto is a perfect Autumn inspired dinner.

4-5 servings 

1 medium sized Butternut Squash

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1 clove of garlic (Grated or minced)

Olive Oil

2 large shallots (Diced)

6 tablespoons of Butter (3/4 of a stick)

1 1/2 cups of Arborio Rice

1/2 cup of Dry White Wine (Pino Grigio)

4 cups of Vegetable Stock

2 cups of Chicken Stock (or another 2 cups of Vegetable)

1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese

Flat Leaf Italian Parsley 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Peel your butternut squash and cut off the top and the bottom. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and the rest of the "gunk" that you'll find in the bottom portion of the squash. Dice the butternut squash into evenly sized pieces (about 1/2 inch cubes) and place them onto a baking sheet. Toss the squash together with some olive oil, the grated garlic, and salt and pepper. Place into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the squash is tender. Set the squash aside for now.

Adding hot stock to the rice is one of the keys to making risotto. At this time before we go any further, pour our stock into a sauce pan and place it over a medium low heat. We don't want it to boil or even simmer, just heat the stock enough so that you can see steam rising. I use mostly vegetable and some chicken stock for this recipe but you can use all chicken or all veggie if you prefer. Just make sure to have about 6 cups total either way.

Meanwhile, take two large shallots and finely mince them. In a large pot or a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the shallots and cook for about 5-7 minutes until the shallots are translucent and tender. Once the shallots are cooked, add the rice and stir together to coat the rice in the butter. Add the white wine and cook for 2-4 minutes until the rice begins to absorb some of the liquid and the alcohol cooks off.

Add two ladles of the hot stock and a dash of salt and pepper and stir into the rice. Cook for about 5-10 minutes stirring very frequently. As the rice simmers, it will begin to absorb the liquid and slowly begin to release the starch. When most of the stock has been soaked up, add another two ladles of the stock.

The two pictures below are examples of what the risotto should look like when you're cooking. The first picture is what it will look like when you add more stock to the rice and the later picture is an example of what the risotto will look like when it's time to add more liquid to the pot. Continue this process until the rice is cooked through - about 30 minutes.

Once all of the stock has been stirred in, the rice should be cooked but still slightly al dente. Remove from the heat and add the butternut squash we roasted, the parmesan cheese, and some chopped parsley. Gently stir everything in together and serve the risotto hot with a glass of chilled Pino Grigio. Perfect meal for a chilly night in October and perfect for any movie night!!

 

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan is one of my all time favorite comfort foods. Crispy breaded chicken breast smothered in homemade marina sauce with fresh Italian herbs and loaded with melted cheeses - makes me hungry every time I think about. It's a classic dish that appears on just about every Italian themed restaurant in the country. Chicken Parm is just as easy to make in your own kitchen as it is to get in your car and go out an order it off a menu. Add a side of fresh pasta and some crispy Italian bread and you've got a dinner that sure to be a crowd pleaser. The beauty of this dish is that it's great for a weeknight meal, great movie night dinner, and it's also impressive enough to cook up for that special someone for a romantic dinner for two.

4-6 servings
For the Sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium sized onion - chopped
4 cloves of grated garlic

About ½ of dry red wine (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon)

16oz can of diced Tomatoes
16oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
16oz can of Tomato Sauce

3 tablespoons of tomato paste

1 teaspoon of sugar

8 Leaves of Fresh Basil
5 leaves of Fresh Oregano

pinch of red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
One pound of your favorite pasta

For the Chicken
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

4 Boneless and Skinless Chicken Breasts
All Purpose flour
Seasoned Panko Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
Fresh Basil
3/4 pound of Mozzarella Cheese shredded
Parmesan Cheese

Take a large sauce pan and coat the bottom with olive oil, it's about 2 tablespoons, and bring it to a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and gently saute' them for about 10 minutes until the become tender and slightly translucent. At this point, add the garlic and stir together quickly and cook for no more than a minute.

Pour the wine into the pan and stir together for about 3 minutes until liquid begins to reduce. Pour in the tomato sauce, can of diced, can of crushed tomatoes, the fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, sugar, and bay leaf and stir to combine. Turn to heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the chicken place them on a cutting board lined with wax paper. Season both sides with some salt and pepper and place another sheet of wax paper over top. Using a meat mallet or a rolling pin, pound the chicken out until they're about a half inch thick. Pre heat oven to 400 and fill a large pot with salted water and begin to bring to a boil for your pasta.

In 3 separate dishes - pour some flour in one, a beaten egg with a little milk in another, and some seasoned Panko bread crumbs in another. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom. Dredge the chicken in the flour first, then the egg, and finally into the panko bread crumbs. Once the pan is hot, place the chicken into the oil and cook just until the breading becomes golden brown on each side. It should take about 5 minutes or so. The chicken will finish cooking in the oven.

Once all the chicken has been browned, spread a little bit of our sauce on the bottom or a baking pan (enough sauce to coat the bottom). Place all the chicken in the pan and cover each breast with a scoop of sauce. Chiffonade some fresh basil and sprinkle over top of the sauce and finally top with some of the shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve along side your pasta and dinner is served!!

French Onion Soup Sandwich

Without a doubt one of my favorite meals to eat is a big bowl of French Onion soup. The blissful combo of sweet and tender caramelized onions in a savory beef broth with a crispy crouton and a layer of melted cheese is a comfort food like no other. One day, my best friend James and I were bouncing different creative recipes around and we thought about taking the contents of a French Onion soup and making it into a sandwich. We whipped up a batch and holy cow were they delicious. Turned out we were a little behind as someone else out there had already thought the same way but our recipe differs from there's and I'm confident we have the better sandwich. Caramelized onions, a combination of melted Gruyere and Cheddar cheese, and melted together on slices of French baguette or a Croissant is everything you love about French Onion soup except the bowl.

Recipe yields 2 sandwiches

2 large onions
2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 pound of Cheddar Gruyere mix
1/4 cup of dry Red Wine or Beef Broth
1 clove of minced Garlic
1/4 teaspoon of Thyme 
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
Dijon Mustard
4 slices of French baguette or 2 croissants

Start by slicing both your onions into medium slices, about 1/4 inch thick of so. I used both a sweet onion and a purple onion here because that was what I had on hand but you can use whatever kind you prefer. In a large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat and add your onions to the pan. Season with freshly cracked blacked pepper and kosher salt. It will look like a lot of onions for two sandwiches but
they are going to cook down a lot.

Now just like we are making actual French onion soup the key is to cook our onions low and slow to let them caramelize and develop their sweet flavor. Stir the onions often and let them cook for about 45 minutes. The onions will be very very tender and have a rich brown color to them

Once the onions have cooked down, add the minced clove of garlic and the thyme leaves. Stir together to allow the garlic to cook for a few minutes. Next add either the red wine or the beef broth and stir together. Here is a little tip - if you're using beef broth it's silly to open on a can just for a 1/4 cup. Instead, dissolve half of a beef bouilon cube in 1/4 cup of boiling water and add to the pan. Stir together and cook for another 7-10 minutes. While the onions finish cooking in the wine or broth, shred the cheese and slice the baguette or the croissants (I've made it with both and either one works perfectly). Taste your onions for seasoning.

Spread  the outside of each slice of bread with a bit of softened butter and on the inside add a bit of the Dijon mustard. Sprinkle a bit of the shredded cheese over top and then add a layer of our caramelized onions. Add some more shredded cheese on top of the onions and place the cap on top of the sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a panini press or a preheated griddle and grill on each side until golden brown and crispy.

Wimpies AKA Sloppy Joes with the movie Billy Madison

A classic meal from our childhood done without the help of anything where the instructions simply read, "Add to browned ground beef". This is my mom's famous wimpie recipe, with a few changes of my own to bring a little heat, that all of our friends and family go nuts over. Perfect for a busy weeknight or a Summer get together, they can be made ahead and heated just before you need them. Of course they're a great last minute dinner idea when you just want to relax with your feet up watching a movie. The amounts listed will be enough for about 8-10 sandwiches.

2 pounds of ground Chuck
1 small Green Bell Pepper
1 small Red Bell Pepper
3 cloves of Garlic
1 medium sized Red Onion
A 16oz can of Tomato Sauce
1/3 cup of Chilli Sauce
1 teaspoon of Asian Chilli paste
1/2 cup of Ketchup
2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
4 dashes of worcestershire sauce
Buns

Wash your bell peppers and finely dice them along with the red onion.

Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season your ground beef with salt and pepper and brown the burger in your skillet. Break the burger up as it browns and cook until burger is browned. Drain off any excess grease and moisture that has accumulated in your skillet. The best way I've found to do this is by using a turkey baster. Don't worry about getting it all, leaving some won't hurt/

Now add the onions and peppers and stir in with the beef. Use your microplane to grate the cloves of garlic into a paste and stir that into the beef and peppers. Next, add the can of tomato sauce along with the chili sauce, chili paste, ketchup, brown sugar, and worcestershire sauce. Mix well to combine and bring everything to a simmer.

Simmer the Wimpies for at least 30 minutes stirring often to ensure they aren't sticking. The longer you let them simmer the better if you ask me so if you're not in a huge rush, give them a bit more time to cook.

Once you're ready to eat, grab a fresh bun and add a generous amount of wimpie filling. Serve with you're favorite side an a lot of napkins, they don't call them sloppy Joes for nothing folks.

Billy Madison was Adam Sandler's 1995 comedy that has remained one of his fan favorites for nearly 20 years. Sandler's style of comedy doesn't suite all, and I myself am very hit and miss with his movies but I've been a fan of Billy Madison for years.

Billy is a 27 year old rich boy with no life, no job, and no education. He spends his days drunk by a swimming pool, chasing penguins that don't exist, and waiting for his dirty magazines to arrive in the mail. One night at dinner, his father who is a successful business man and the owner of Maison Hotels informs Billy that he won't inherit the company when he retires. Instead the company would be handed to the back stabbing weasel Eric (Bradley Whitford).

Billy is upset with his fathers choice and when he asks why, Billy is informed by his father that he could never leave the company to someone who couldn't even get through grade school. Billy finds out that his father paid his teachers to give Billy good grades all his life just so he could graduate. Billy comes up with the idea that if he could go back to school and graduate on his own, that his father should give him the company instead of Eric. His father agrees and so begins the unrealistic but hilarious adventures of 27 year old Billy Madison going back to school.

Between spelling Bees, eating sloppy joes from the creepy lunch lady, and having a relationship with his 3rd grade teacher Miss Vaughn (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) - this is an off beat comedy for sure. It's one that only Sandler could pull off. There is no real moral to this story at all, but it's a film that was made just to make you laugh and that it does. Here is the trailer to Billy Madison.

Down Home BBQ Rib Dinner with the film Crazy Heart

Head on down to the Southern region of the United States and you're guaranteed to find more BBQ shacks than you can image. All of them have their own secret sauce, spice combinations, and cooking methods to help set them apart from their competition. Though these BBQ shacks truly do have the world's best, good barbecue can be made in your own kitchen. Throw in some classic side dishes of buttermilk biscuits and crispy onion rings and we'll be bringing the South right to our own kitchens. Of course the only thing more loved in the Southern states than barbecue may be country music. In 2009, the world was told the emotional story of the fictional Country Music singer Bad Blake in the outstanding film Crazy Heart. A fantastic story, superb acting, and great music make this movie one of the best films made in recent years.

1 rack of Pork Ribs
1 cup of Ketchup
1/8 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/8 cup of Light Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons of Honey
2 Tablespoons of Mesquite Grill spice
2 teaspoons of dried mustard
1/2 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon of Siracha Chilli Paste
1 Shallot (Grated)
1 clove of Garlic (Grated)
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Generously season the ribs with salt and pepper and sprinkle on a bit of our grill seasoning. Tightly wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and place them in the oven to bake for 2 hours.

Whisk together the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, grill spice, mustard, chilli paste, worcestershire sauce, shallot, and garlic in a medium sized sauce pan. Simmer the sauce over medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand until ready to baste our ribs on the grill.

Onion rings are a great side dish to go with these ribs. Here is the link to my full recipe for the onion rings. While the ribs continue to bake, slice the onions and get them soaking in the buttermilk. Before you pour the buttermilk over the onions, pre measure out 1/2 cup that we'll need for our biscuits.

To make our biscuits. We'll need 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 3 tablespoons of very cold butter, 1/4 cup of freshly grated cheddar, 2 chopped scallions, and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Start by combing the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or even a food processor - cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is very coarse. Add the buttermilk, scallions, and cheddar cheese and mix together just until the dough has formed. Flour a cutting board or your counter top and gently pat the dough ball flat. Use a large glass or a biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits and place them on an un greased  cookie sheet. Place the biscuits in the fridge until we're ready to bake them off.

Once the ribs have finished baking, remove them from the tinfoil. Heat your grill to a medium high temperature and transfer the ribs to the grill. Using a silicon barbecue brush, load up our ribs with our homemade sauce on both sides. Grill the ribs for about 15 minutes on each side, keeping a close eye on them and adding more sauce throughout the grilling process. Once the ribs have about 10 minutes left, heat your oven to 400 degrees and bake our biscuits for about 10-12 minutes until they're golden brown on top.

By now our ribs are grilled perfectly and because we baked them for low and slow before we grilled them, they'll be nice and tender. Cut the rack of ribs up into portions. Serve next to our southern style buttermilk biscuits, and our crispy friend onion rings. I'm hungry now just thinking about it!!

Crazy Heart was instantly hailed by audiences and critics as one of the best movies of the year in 2009. Jeff Bridges earned himself an Academy Award for his complex performances as the the fictional country singer Bad Blake. Bad was once on top of the industry as one of the best singer/songwriters in all of music. His fall from grace now has him struggling to make ends meet. Life on the road has taken it's toll on Bad's personal life and his health. Failed marriages, a distant son he has no connection with, and the once sold out crowds he'd play too are now a handful of people in bowling alley's and side bars.

Bad can't help himself but reach for the light and a reserection of his life and his career when journalist Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) asks to interview him. Despite the apparent differences between the two, they begin a romantic relationship and soon Bad has the closest thing to a family. Jean and her four year old son Buddy may be what Bad needs if he can only free himself of the demons he still battles and the grip they have on him. Robert Duvall and Collin Farrell costar in one of great American films that I think a lot of people missed.

Jeff Bridges gave the performance of a lifetime in Crazy Heart and his Oscar award was well deserved to say the least. His role as Bad Blake was one he was destined to portray and he makes what would have been just another ordinary movie into something truly spectacular. Click here to watch the trailer on YouTube to Crazy Heart.