Middle Easy: Cooking with Tim Kennedy: 'Coq au Vin' (Zombie Apocalypse edition)

After all your hoping and praying, the zombie apocalypse finally comes to fruition. It’s everything you had hoped for and more. During those times of relative peace (before the outbreak), in-between combat deployments and cage fights I recognized in my life that certain skills can be very perishable. For instance, if you do not get behind a long gun, look at the blades of grass blowing in the wind and squeeze off a few rounds your ability to shoot will diminish. Likewise if you have been too busy shooting the re-animated flesh of the dead in the head for too long you might forget how to cook something worth eating. Life just isn’t worth living if you can’t eat well.
Let me let the stage. The virus spread rapidly. Most people that weren’t prepared were “infected” rapidly. The ones that survived the initial outbreak have been fighting for their lives for the past few months. You and your chosen few are patrolling the woods when you come across an old farm. All the good animals are dead or taken...all that is left is an old mean rooster. With this recipe you can take that old crotchety grump of a bird and turn it into one of the finest of French Cuisine.

Let me introduce you to Coq au Vin (Translates as Cock of the Wine)
Ingredients

• 1/2 lb bacon slices or more
• 20 pearl onions, peeled, (cut an x on the bottom of the little pearl onions and boil for 1
minute...they will slide right out of their skin) or 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 3 lbs chicken thighs and legs, excess fat trimmed, skin ON
• 1 cup flour
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken stock use low sodium
• 2 cups or more of red wine (pinot noir, burgundy, or zinfandel - don't use cooking wine!)
• 2 bay leaves
• Several fresh thyme sprigs
• Several fresh parsley sprigs
• 1/2 lb button mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

• Method-Brown bacon in dutch over for about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon to a small plate, but keep the bacon fat. Dredge the chicken in flour and salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the bacon fat and let it brown (all sides - do it in batches - keep the browned chicken in a separate dish) Once all chicken is browned, put in onions and garlic. Brown onions for about 5 minutes. (You can add mushrooms in now or wait until you add the wine)
• Once onions are browned put in the chicken stock, red wine and herbs into the dutchoven (don't be stingy on the wine). Add back all the chicken and bacon. Bring to a simmer and lower heat. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Cook until chicken is tender (not dry) and cooked through. Once chicken is cooked remove to a separate (clean) dish again. Remove bay leaves, thyme sprigs and garlic and discard.
• Turn heat up to high on remaining liquid. Boil and reduce liquid until thick. (you can add your blood, roux, butter, thickener here) Once liquid is to your desired constancy return the chicken to reheat and coat with sauce. Test seasoning being careful to notover salt. Garnish with parsley and serve over mashed potatoes or noodles!

Bon Appetit! Se prépare a tuer tout le monde! (Enjoy your meal, and prepare to kill everyone!)

Tim Kennedy Fights for a Bigger Prize than the Strikeforce World Title

Most fighters have a calling to do something special. And for most, that calling is to achieve the pinnacle of their sport, becoming a world champion.
Make no mistake about it, Strikeforce fighter Tim Kennedy wants a world title belt, but his calling as a fighter goes well beyond the tangible assets that the sport itself can provide.
Kennedy won an Extreme Challenge eight-man middleweight tournament in the early part of his career, defeating the likes of Ryan Narte, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and Cruz Chacon, all in one night. The victory earned him a shot at a bigger tournament at Super Brawl in Hawaii, an event that would be attended by UFC president Dana White.
It was a huge opportunity for sure.
Kennedy passed on it. He had something, quite literally, more important to do.
He headed off to the Army, where he would become part of the elite Special Forces and serve tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though he’s not currently serving active duty overseas, Kennedy still has a more important calling than winning a title belt. He uses his fight career to help promote causes that are near and dear to him, charitable causes that have to do with the brothers and sisters he served alongside, and many that he didn’t, in the Middle East.
“I’m not joking, it is why I fight,” Kennedy stated recently on MMAWeekly Radio. “If I didn’t think I could represent the military and the military community the way that I do and the way that I have, I’d be done fighting.”
Lucky for MMA fans, he can and does represent the military and the military community the way that he wants. And being able to do that has lead us to his middleweight showdown with Robbie Lawler at Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson event in Chicago.
With such a strong military background, it’s no surprise that Kennedy thinks deeply about tactics when he approaches his fights.
“Robbie is such a talented and gifted wrestler, for me to do what I did against Melvin (Manhoef), which was stay on the outside, feint shots, and then actually shooting shots, scoring a takedown after the first or second try, that’s not going to work against Robbie,” Kennedy explained when comparing his last opponent to his next.

Tim Kennedy submits Melvin Manhoef at Strikeforce.

“I actually have to get in there and work for the clinch, work to close the distance, try to do damage in the clinch, try to do damage when I’m coming inside, try to make him respect my hands, so that I can actually score a takedown.”
But then there are some tactics that just aren’t, well, all that tactical. Like avoiding Lawler’s infamous one-punch knockout power.
“Keep your chin down and your hands up,” Kennedy answers bluntly when talking about avoiding Lawler’s big finishing move.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t prepared for the southpaw’s power shot.
He’s had some of the best strikers in the business to train alongside at Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn’s camp in New Mexico. Count Jorge Rivera, Joey Villasenor, Keith Jardine, Donald Cerrone, Brian Stann, and others among his sparring partners at his “home away from home.”
Kennedy is taking nothing for granted against Lawler. In fact, he thinks Lawler is the most dangerous fighter in the Strikeforce middleweight division, aside from middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, whom Lawler and Kennedy both lost too.
But that is precisely why Kennedy wants to fight him. Though he has a more important reason for fighting than winning belts, that doesn’t mean that a world title isn’t a goal.
“(Lawler) is consistently in the Top 10 and I just want to fight the best guys right now,” Kennedy stated.
“Strikeforce is signing a lot of really talented guys right now, a lot of guys from Brazil, a lot of guys from Japan. I would really like to welcome a lot of those guys to the United States, into my cage.
“If (Strikeforce feels) they want to put me in another fight before I can hop in there for a title fight, fine, I’ll take it. But if they’re ready for me to have another title shot, I’m hungry. I want to be in there. I want to fight for five rounds. I want to beat the champ.”
And rest assured, if he does one day become champ, Kennedy’s victory would resonate all the way to the Middle East.

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Ken Pishna is the managing editor of MMAWeekly.com.
Follow @KenPishna on Twitter or e-mail Ken a question or comment

Tim Kennedy Is 'Black and White' When It Comes to Drugs in MMA

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- MMA Fighting spoke to Tim Kennedy on Wednesday about his upcoming Strikeforce fight against Robbie Lawler, his take on Testosterone Replacement Therapy use in MMA, his recent comments on Twitter about Michael Bisping and Kurt Pellegrino and much more.

Read More: Strikeforce MMA Fighting Exclusive News Videosrobbie+lawler, tim+kennedy

Kennedy Thankful to Face Lawler

Strikeforce’s Tim Kennedy fascinates fans already with his impressive, extensive military experience, but the middleweight’s exhilarating life doesn’t stop at fighting and serving his country.
Kennedy made the commitment to serve in the United States Army in 2004, and has followed through on his obligation to his country ever since. Kennedy has been deployed overseas multiple times, and it put a hold on his rising MMA career. The possibility of the same scenario happening again is very real, and if it does, the soldier will not hesitate to make the same decision.
“I’m still 19^th Special Forces Group,” Kennedy told MMADieHards.com. “If something comes up there is always that chance.”
For now, thankfully, nothing has come up to pry away Kennedy from his family and his occupation as a professional mixed martial artist.
Kennedy was a product of John Hackleman’s gym famed “The Pit” in San Luis Obispo, Calif. but now trains full-time at Greg Jackson’s Submission Fighting in Albuquerque. Jackson’s facility is known for a stable of elite fighters, which allows Kennedy to adequately prepare for his upcoming opponent.
Kennedy meets heavy-handed Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on Saturday at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Though Lawler is tough task for anybody to defeat, Kennedy believes his training camp was equipped with the proper people to prepare him for this matchup.
“Training has been perfect,” Kennedy said. “I have great training partners and everything has gone exactly how it was supposed to. We had the regular crew from Jackson’s, plus Jorge Rivera is here getting ready for a fight, Brian Stann came in for a couple of weeks, and Keith Jardine and Joey Villasenor. I’ve been doing a lot of rounds with Diego Sanchez; he’s a really solid southpaw with good wrestling, so that was a benefit to me.”
A fantastic training camp, coupled with intelligent fighting, give Kennedy a good feeling about being victorious in this bout. If he utilizes his strengths, and avoids the left-handed Lawler’s, he is confident he will be triumphant.
“Honestly, Robbie has better wrestling credentials than I do,” Kennedy admitted. “He did a lot better than I did coming up through wrestling. He’s a dangerous ground and pounder. He’s a brawler with good takedown defense, so it’s not like I can just shoot from the outside and be able to score a takedown.
“I think I have the advantage in the jiu-jitsu, I think I’m more dangerous in the clinch, and up against the fence I think I’ll have some advantages. I think I will have more strength in the clinch, and as long as I stay away from his power right and his straight left (hands) I think I have a really good chance at winning this fight.”
Something the two combatants share in common is a loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.
Kennedy does not dwell on the defeat, but he would like another crack at Souza.
“I want to fight ‘Jacare’ again because I think he is one of the best guys in the world,” Kennedy said. “I’m not one of those guys who looks back. It was a close fight and I lost that fight, but I want to continue to fight the best. I don’t want to fight him to avenge the loss, I just want to fight him because he’s one of the best.”
Souza is the Strikeforce middleweight champion, so Kennedy could get a chance to accomplish two of his goals in one night if given a title shot. He admitted another crack at the Strikeforce belt would be good, and that things have improved since Zuffa purchased the promotion. While he is not bent on jumping ship to the UFC, a superfight between the organizations intrigues him.
“Strikeforce has been real good to me,” Kennedy admitted. “Everything that was difficult about fighting for Strikeforce has changed since the UFC took over. Some of the marketing and bureaucratic logistical process pulled portions of the fight game that were hard. The matchmaking was always difficult with Strikeforce, but now the UFC is running it their way and I think it’s gotten better. I’m happy there and I would love that belt and possibly some superfights against some of the bigger guys.”
The Strikeforce middleweight’s life is consumed with training day in and day out, but his heart lies with the Army. He, too, is happy with all that has been accomplished overseas, but does not want people to forget that there still is a war going on. The troops need everyone’s support, even if Osama bin Laden has been eliminated.
“People need to keep supporting the troops,” Kennedy said. “Yeah, bin Laden is dead, but people can’t forget that the same number of troops are still over there. The same number of dudes are still dying. Keep supporting the troops, all the non-profit groups. The Green Beret Foundation, Brian Stann’s Hire Heros, Wounded Warriors, Soldier’s Angels, those are all good groups. People (shouldn’t) forget because they’re fighting for their freedoms.”
When Kennedy is doing things unrelated to MMA or military work, he does them spectacularly.
“I’m cooking a lot,” he said. “I’m doing a lot more cooking shows and cooking articles. I think I’m also about five or six months away from being able to start competing in the top world-ranking long-range shooting competitions.”
Weaponry aside, Tim Kennedy is rarely a longshot.

The Warrior Work of Tim Kennedy

Strikeforce® middleweight star Tim Kennedy partnered with Muscle & Fitness Magazine for an exclusive interview and photo shoot. In the video shown here, Tim takes you through his strength and conditioning routine, explaining the purpose and benefit of each exercise. To read the full interview, pick up the latest edition of Muscle & Fitness.

Robbie Lawler vs. Tim Kennedy Added to Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson Card

A fight pitting recent middleweight title challenger Robbie Lawler against Tim Kennedy has been added to Strikeforce's July 30 show outside Chicago.

Strikeforce announced the fight via Twitter on Thursday. The fight is expected to be part of the main card for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, which takes place at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago.

Lawler (18-7, 1 NC, 2-3 Strikeforce) fights for the first time since a January submission loss to Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in San Jose, Calif. Lawler got that title shot on the strength of a 50-second knockout of Matt Lindland about two months earlier in St. Louis.

Kennedy (13-3, 4-1 Strikeforce) returns after making quick work of Melvin Manhoef at Strikeforce's March show in Columbus, Ohio. In that fight, he submitted the Dutch kickboxing specialist in the first round.

Kennedy, too, has a loss to Jacare on his resume. Kennedy, a Bronze Star medal winner in the Army, fought Jacare for Strikeforce's vacant middleweight title after Jake Shields vacated the belt to sign with the UFC. That loss was his only one in six fights.

Lawler, the former EliteXC middleweight champion, has had an up-and-down stretch since winning that belt in September 2007 against Murilo "Ninja" Rua. After EliteXC folder, Lawler picked up with Strikeforce – but it was almost a year between fights for him. Since his Strikeforce debut, a loss to Shields, he had a pair of 2010's best knockouts against Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland, plus a decision loss to Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Lawler hasn't had a winning streak since 2007.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson features a main event between light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson and former pound-for-pound MMA kingpin Fedor Emelianenko, who is looking to rebound from consecutive losses for the first time in his career.

The card also features a women's welterweight title fight between champion Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, a welterweight bout between Paul Daley and Evangelista Santos and a light heavyweight bout between Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Roger Gracie.

The show will be Strikeforce's second in the Chicago area, and second at the Sears Centre. The promotion's first trip to the venue featured a heavyweight tilt between Fedor and Brett Rogers, a fight Fedor won by second-round TKO – his last victory. That main card was broadcast live on CBS. The July 30 show's main card will be televised by Showtime.