How to cut the Cable Cord

Cutting the cord has become a symbolic term for getting rid of cable.  The fact of the matter is that you need internet if you want to cut the cord and not see any drop off in what you watch...so you're still gonna have a cord, but it'll be a helluva lot cheaper.  My watchout here is that if you're the type of person that loves just channel surfing and watching a wide variety of random stuff you never planned on watching, this is not for you.  You need to know what you want to watch and then find the best way to get that content without paying for cable.

First steps, get an OTA (over the air) antenna and DVR.  You can start with just the antenna, but I recommend not half assing it.  I have a Tablo DVR that is two tuner (meaning you can watch or record two things at the same time.  I recommend a 4 tuner DVR because I sometimes have conflicts and the price difference isn't that great.

The OTA antenna will get the major broadcasting channels like CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and CW and in HD quality.  Depending on how good your antenna is and your location, you may get additional random channels like Grit, Laff, Ion, etc. I've got a cheap RCA 70 mile antenna mounted in my attic but I've also used several Mohu models in the past.  Mohu is focused on making the antenna's look cool and that's not really something I care about since it's in my attic.  You can plug your attic antenna into your existing coax cable run through your house and run about 4 tvs.  However, I run mine directly to my Tablo DVR and stream the antenna content from there to every tv in the house that has a streaming device.  This can seem like a lot of streaming devices if you have a bunch of tvs at your house, but the cost is a drop in the bucket compared to what you pay for cable every month, year after year.

You'll also need a signal amplifier for the antenna, this is the one I have.

As far as streaming devices go, Apple TV is the best and it's not even close.  The main TVs in your house need to have Apple TV to make your experience enjoyable.  Other less used tvs can have other devices like Chromecast, Amazon Firestick, Roku, etc.  Maybe these other devices catch up soon, but as of this blog post, Apple TV is the best there is for this purpose.  You can get deals on streaming devices when you prepay for certain streaming services when they have deals running (ie, Sling was giving away Roku's when you prepay for two months).  

Next is figuring out what you watch and the best streaming services to get it.  The cool thing about these services, is that there's no commitment.  It's month by month and most are really easy to turn on and off.  Sling, Hulu, Netflix are just few of your options, but are really easy to cancel and resign up.  You'll just need to look at each and see what meets your needs.  If you have want AMC, Sling is a good option, etc.  And you don't have to get them all.  That's the cable company's argument for cord cutters, "if you have a bunch of different services, you're paying as much as you would for cable.  Not true, even if you have 3-4 services going at the same time, your total spend is still usually way less than your cable bill.  

The bad part about having to watch some of your show live through a streaming service is that you can't skip commercials.   This isn't always the case, but some services like Sling that offer live and on demand options have commercials.  Another option is to just buy a season of a show on Itunes.  Instead of paying for Sling for 3 months to see "Better Call Saul" on AMC, I just bought the season for about 1/3 of what I would've paid for 3 months of Sling.  Buying the season doesn't always make sense, but in certain situations it might.

You also need good wifi or your cord cutting experience will be frustrating.  I recommend biting the bullet and getting an Eero system or really any type of mesh system.  It's expensive, but its a great investment for rock solid wifi.  If you think you have good enough wifi, I guess you could just try it and see how your original wifi setup does.  But there are so many other things we are adding to our Wifi everyday (thermostats, lights, etc) that having a great Wifi setup is becoming crucial to living with 21st century appliances.

You can also get a lot of content through certain sites streaming services HBO Max, ESPN, etc with more and more being added every day (like NBC's Peacock).  If you can "borrow" a subscriber login, you can get a ton of content that way.  Some call this theft of service but I don't like to put labels on things.

Some downside to cutting the cord:

• People that come to your house can't figure out how to operate your tvs.
• Even people living in your house may have a steep learning curve
• Watching commercials in certain situations.
• Becomes hard to channel surf
• You're giving up a one stop shop of DVR'd shows

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
1 small white or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 cups milk (I used 2% low-fat milk)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
4 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (and peeled beforehand, if desired)
1 1/2 cups freshly-grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Melt butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion, and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Stir in the flour until it is evenly combined and saute for an additional 1-minute.  Pour in the stock, and whisk until combined.  Add in the milk, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon thyme, and whisk until combined.  Continue cooking for an additional 1-2 minutes until the sauce comes to a simmer (not a boil) and thickens.  Then remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Then spread half of the sliced potatoes in an even layer on the bottom of the pan.  Top evenly with half of the cream sauce, the sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, and all of the Parmesan cheese.  Top evenly with the remaining sliced potatoes, the remaining half of the cream sauce, and the remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Then remove the foil and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the potatoes are cooked through.
Remove and sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme.  Serve warm.

Texas Casserole

Blend together 10 eggs, 3 T sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste.  Put in 9x13 greased baking dish and bake 8 minutes at 400 degrees.

Brown 1 lb sausage, 1 small green pepper, and 1 small chopped onion.  Drain well and place on top of egg mixture.

On top of meat mixture, spread 1 (10oz) can of Rotel tomatoes with chilies (drain Rotel if desired).

Sprinkle 8 oz of grated cheddar cheese, 8 oz of grated mozzarella cheese, and 8 oz of cube velveeta cheese on top

Refrigerate overnight.  Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Brown Butter Lobster, Bacon + Crispy Kale and Fontina Pasta

Ingredients

• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 4 ounce lobster tails 4-8
• 6 tablespoon butter divided
• 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 1 leaves bunch kale torn away from the stem
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pound angel pasta
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
• 6-7 ounces fontina cheese cubed
• 1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley or both chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add kale, olive oil, parmesan cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat with your hands and massage kale for about 1 minute. Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes, tossing 1-2 times while cooking, until crispy. Remove and set aside.

Bring pasta water to a boil and prepare pasta according to directions.

While the kale is cooking and the water comes to a boil start working on the bacon. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 7 minutes. Remove bacon from pan and set aside on paper towels to drain. Once cooled, crumble. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat.

To prepare the lobster, lay the lobster tails flat on a cutting board with the shell side facing upward. Using a very sharp, large knife, cut the tail in half lengthwise and slice all the way through the shell. Season the meat side lightly with salt and pepper.

Bring the skillet used for bacon back to medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add 1 tablespoon butter and swirl to coat. Place the lobster tails meat-side down in the pan and sear for 5 minutes or until the shells turn bright red. Remove tails from the pan and set aside.

To the same skillet add another tablespoon of butter. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, add the pasta, crushed red pepper, cayenne and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss well and cook for 2 minutes, just until the pasta is hot. Once the pasta is hot add the tomatoes and cubed fontina cheese. Then remove the pasta from the heat, drizzle with lemon juice and toss well. Add in the crispy kale.

In a separate small skillet melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat until just browned. Butter will melt, foam and froth, then begin to brown along the bottom. Whisk browned bits off of the bottom of the pan.

Pop the lobster meat out of the shells and divide the pasta among plates or bowls. Top each plate with lobster meat and a sprinkle of chopped basil. Drizzle with browned butter and top with the crumbled bacon.

Sweet Potato Chili

INGREDIENTS
3 lbs ground beef or ground sirloin
1 1/2 white onions, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
3 (14oz) cans tomato sauce
3 (14oz) can petite minced tomatoes
3 cups beef stock - approx.
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
6-8 Tbsp chili powder
4 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
optional: ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

In a saute pan, brown beef over medium heat until cooked through. Drain excess fat. Transfer cooked beef to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker. Stir to combine.
Cook on SLOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours.

Flank Steak

Needed:

1 flank steak around 1.25 to 2 pounds
2 T garlic infused EVOO
3 t dried chopped parsley flakes
3 or 4 fresh garlic cloves chopped fine
½ t salt
2 t lemon juice
¼ t fresh ground pepper (12 grinds)

Using a sharp knife trim any excess fat. Scrape off the fine membrane on the one side. Rinse under cold running water and then dry. Option here: I use a Jaccard to assure my flank steak is tender. Combine the above ingredients, and mix well. Lay meat on a piece of Saran wrap and spread the mixture evenly on both sides. Since a flank steak has a strong grain pattern to it with a stringy texture I work the mixture into the meat using the backside of a spoon. Finish wrapping with more Saran wrap and then seal tightly in a food safe plastic bag compressing out air. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, though 30 is better and 48 is best and do not disturb it!

Next day:

Sauté 8 oz of sliced white button mushrooms in 1/3 stick of real butter and salt to taste and sit aside, but do not drain! (BTW lately the sliced mushrooms are thicker than they used to be so I find they work with this meal better when further sliced in half while still raw.)

In a saucepan create the following au jus:

2 T Heinz Chili Sauce
a pinch of marjoram
a pinch of thyme
a generous pinch of hickory smoked salt
2 generous dashes of Tabasco
2 generous dashes of Worcestershire
5 oz of Burgundy
1 beef bouillon cube
2 oz of water
sprinkle of salt and fresh ground pepper


Mix these ingredients well and add several slices of onions, broken apart and left as rings or cut in half. Simmer the pot until it starts the fine bubble stage. At this point add the mushrooms and their liquid and stir well. This can be done in advance, left to cool and refrigerate until time to reheat and serve with the meal.

Grilling the meat:

Flank steak is thin and if overcooked it will become tough very quickly.

Remove meat from refrigerator and place on counter for at least 2 hours before grilling time.

Fire up your BGE and stabilize at 650 to 700 degrees dome as you will be grilling direct. Unwrap the meat and quickly place on the grill for a mere 2 minutes for first side, flip for 2 more minutes and  remove the meat as the cooking is done!

Quickly cut the meat across the grain in thin strips of ¼” to 3/8” slices. Prepare the plates with meat and garnish with the warm au jus/mushroom mixture. We love this meal with mashed potatoes also garnished with the mixture.

Nutella Chocolate Cake "AKA The Best Chocolate Cake Ever"

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Nutella Chocolate Cake

Yield: 8 inch cake

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

 

Nutella Icing

1 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread

4-5 cups powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp milk or water

 

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

 

 

Instructions

1. Prepare four 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom, and grease the sides.

2. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.

3. Add eggs, buttermilk and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Add vanilla to boiling water and add to mixture. Mix well.

5. Pour into four 8 inch cakes pans and bake at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs. I baked the cakes in two batches, two at a time, with about 1 1/2 cups of batter per pan.

6. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

7. Make icing while cakes cool. Beat together butter and shortening until smooth.

8. Add Nutella and mix until smooth.

9. Slowly add 4 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

10. Add 2-3 tbsp of milk or water and mix until smooth.

11. Add fifth cup of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

12. Add more water or milk until the right consistency.

13. Once cakes are cool, remove cake domes from top with a large serrated knife.

14. Place first layer of cake on cake plate. Pipe an even layer of icing onto cake.

15. Add second layer of cake and pipe another even layer of icing on top.

16. Add third layer of cake on top and pipe another even layer of icing on top.

17. Top icing with fourth layer of cake.

18. Place chocolate chips in a metal bowl.

19. Microwave heavy cream until it starts to boil. Remove from microwave and pour over chocolate chips.

20. Cover bowl with saran wrap for 5-7 minutes.

21. Whisk chocolate and cream until smooth.

22. Allow to sit for a few minutes until it just starts to thicken, then pour over the top of the cake.

23. Once chocolate ganache has firmed up, top with remaining icing and sprinkles, if desired.