Chef Aaron was honored by his hometown when Mayor Gwendolyn Faison and City Council presented Mr. Aaron McCargo Jr. with the Keys to the City of Camden, NJ. September 25 is now officially Aaron McCargo Jr. day in Camden.
When Big Daddy gets in the mood to celebrate - he gets in the mood for his favorite dish - Extra Crispy Chicken Wings - at his favorite spot in Jersey for wings, the Jug Handle Inn.
Big Daddy was celebrating the great news regarding the renewal of Big Daddy's House on Food Network during a photo shoot this week at the Jug Handle Inn in Cinnamonson, NJ. As you can clearly see, the photographers and Chef Aaron were hard at work (hmmmm ... really?) during their photo shoot.
But when Big Daddy celebrates - he doesn't just dream about wings - he also dreams about his favorite hoagie spot - Carmen's Deli in Bellmawr, NJ.
We take cheesesteak claims very seriously in the Philadelphia/NJ region so Big Daddy ordered 3 cheesesteaks and we put them through the official 3 step Philly/NJ cheesesteak tasting protocol ---
Awesome cheesesteak. Heaping portions of steak covered in melted American cheese and onions and covered with the official "hot pepper" of NJ - Hoagie Spread.
Big thanks to Ronny and Elaine from Carmen's Deli.
LINKS / REFERENCES
You asked for it !! You begged for it !!
Big Daddy was in the mood to celebrate mentorship and played mentor to a very special guest - his baby brother Donovan.
Chef gave a big shout-out to his mentor - Clem - who was instrumental in inspiring Chef Aaron to pursue his creative soup development.
Chef must've had Philly fever (GO EAGLES !!) and decided to construct a hearty Cheesesteak Soup. After chef sliced a juicy beef tendorloin into cubes - he dipped them in seasoned flour and placed the cubes on a bed of sauteed onions cooking in a large stockpot.
Once the meat started to brown, Chef Aaron added water and beef bouillon and brought it all to a boil. Heat was turned off and yellow cheese was added start it's slow melt.
It was time to start the Fried Fish Sandwich so chef created another one of his famous assembly lines composed of 3 bowls - 1 for flour - 1 for eggs - 1 for Panko bread crumbs.
Once fish made it through the assembly line and coated they were added to a pan containing Grapeseed oil to start a quick fry.
Big Daddy started beaming when thinking about his special mentor - mom - and started constructing his carrot slaw and had Donovan help him start mixing ingredients for a Sweet Potato Pie
Donovan started getting the bread bowls ready for the Cheesesteak Soup as the McCargo brothers sprinted to the finish line.
Big Daddy's wife Kim loves breakfast in bed - so chef decided to wake up early and start rocking in the kitchen.
Chef scooped out some refried beans, added some sour cream and heated the mixture. Whipped up some eggs, added salt, pepper and chives.
Chef then browned ground beef in a large saute pan and then added onions, garlic and pepper.
After heating up the eggs in another pan - burrito construction began by laying out the tortillas, spreading the refried beans, adding beef mixture and folding.
Topped off with the egg and some cheese and Big Daddy was ready for Part Two - the Super-Stuffed French Toast - a Camden Police favorite !!
Chef started by prepping slices of brioche bread by pressing down and forming small pockets into their centers. Using cherry and apple fruit filling - chef started filling the bread pockets with the fruit.
More bread slices were brushed with egg and served as tops for the stuffed french toast before they were popped onto a grill press.
Big Daddy reminisced about the Camden police led by Jason begging for breakfast at the ol' restaurant but this breakfast was for Big Daddy's wife so he finished off with a strawberry garnish.
Chef Aaron decided to cook up some breakfast grits - so he diced up bacon, onions, scallions and sliced some American cheese.
The grits were topped off with the sauteed bacon and onions and scallions and were ready to eat.
Chef sliced and diced bananas, strawberries and a pineapple. In a large martini glass he added granola, yogurt and then fruit in layers. Chef then made it snow again and topped it off with a sugary, coconut and orange zest flake fest !!
