Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

I make my meatballs with both beef and pork, but I don't use any veal.

And garlic sliced like that and cooked in just a tiny bit of olive oil would melt just like a smashed anchovy filet.

 

Tonight I am making linguini with squid, fennel, lemon, and assorted spices. Tweaking what I tried with assorted things in the frig a few weeks ago: Definitely less lemon, sliced thinner, and just a light sugar coating on the lemons when I start to caramelize them.

Tomorrow is a 6:00 baseball game that I am attending so ball park food, but on Wednesday I am smoking a 5 lb pork shoulder for pulled pork sandwiches. Making Carolina slaw to go with it, of course. I will probably get some yard work done after making the slaw while the pork shoulder smokes. I am considering making some home made oven fries to go with it.

Also cleaning the oven window today. I don't think it has ever been done before and it was really caked on. We have had this gas range for many years and bought it used. First a coating of baking soda paste for 30 minutes, then used two single edged razor blades to take off as much as I could, now a second coating of baking soda paste. I think that will do it and I will be able to see into the oven again.

 

That was the quickest 5lb pork shoulder that I have ever smoked for pulling. After 5 hours at 220 F the internal temperature was 200 F to 203 F. I checked lots of places to make sure I wasn't hitting a hot spot. Usually it takes 7 to 8 hours to hit that temperature. It must have been a shoulder without much connective tissue to dissolve.

It has been wrapped in foil for 40 minutes already. I think that I will let it rest for two hours before pulling.

Carolina slaw was made this morning. Half of a head of cabbage thinly sliced and chopped, half a bell pepper chopped, two carrots julianned, half a sweet onion chopped, apple cider vinegar, canola oil, sugar, celery seed, Coleman's dry mustard, and freshly ground black pepper makes a lot of slaw. You need this slaw to go on what I think of as a proper pulled pork sandwich. And it is tasty all on its own.

 

If your chicken and rice is kind of bland a can of Rotel will fix that up really easy. I find bullion cubes and Better that Bullion to be too salty for my taste.

Have a good day with your mom. I have been missing mine for many years even though we never saw eye to eye. Mine died when she was 74 (close to 20 years ago), but my MIL (who I dearly love) is 86 and is currently living in my house while her new home is being finished on the back half of my property. Who knew that home sites near downtown Gainesville could be 1/2 acre and allow an auxiliary dwelling?

 

I don't play for that team. LOL.

 

Cooking a beer can chicken tonight with left over slaw and green beans. My 22 year old son plowed through all of the left over pulled pork that I thought we would have tonight. Also brining some thick pork chops for tomorrow. My brine has kosher salt, sugar, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice seeds, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Maybe some sort of potato gratin to go with that as well as a salad.

 

What a nice way to spend the afternoon.

 

Dinner got delayed a bit. When I was getting ready to put the gratin in the oven I found out we were out of aluminum foil to seal it up, so off to Publix.

Also I had to stage the finishing of the gratin with cooking the pork chops as both needed the oven in different configurations. Maybe some day I will have a 48" range with dual fuel and two ovens. I have the space and both gas and 3-phase already installed, but I would lose precious counter top space and I would have to plumb a vent to the outside from an interior wall where I have the gas and electric.

 

I'm guessing fresh oregano and not fresh organic.

 

Lots of leftover gratin from last night so I asked my wife what I should make to go with it and she said "Pot roast. I love pot roast" to which I replied "I hate pot roast".

On further reflection maybe I only hate pot roast the way my mom prepared it.

So today I am trying out making my first pot roast.