Tonight we’re going with ol’faithful— Burgers and Dogs are on the grill with all the trimmings. Ms. Jan wanted Tater Tots tonight as opposed to chips or fries so guess what..... We have both worked in the yard today so the ice cold longnecks and chilled wine are here for our enjoyment! Life is good in Gator Nation!
My oldest brother and his wife are in town, visiting from Virginia. He's the one who had the heart surgery I told ya'll about not long ago. He's towing a big trailer and camping at various locations here in Florida along with their 3 cats. Brand new 1 ton Silverado and brand new Grand Design travel trailer. He leaves on Wednesday to meet up with our other brother, who lives in Lake Worth, at Sebastian before setting up at another campground for a week. Then they will head back to Virginia. Last night I brought take-out Chinese over to Mom's for us. Mom enjoys having her oldest son here - but doesn't care for his wife so much. I'm with her 100%. I've never known such a complainer in my entire life. I don't know how my brother does it.....yikes!
Tonight it’ll be leftovers—but tonight’s leftovers are Ms. Jan’s pot roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, lady finger peas and butter beans. The lone change is I’ll fry cornbread instead of another basket of yeast rolls. Finished mowing the yard today as thunderstorms interrupted me the other day. Ice cold longnecks and chilled wine are ready for our enjoyment on the back porch. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Slow cooking pork ribs in oven. Sealed in foil temp at 275. I love using this method for corned beef. Here meat falls off bone. My fave bbq sauce is KC Masterpiece. Gonna have my fave tossed salad with spinach, tomatoes, chopped sweet onions and radishes. Got a six pack of Sam Adams. Yes, life is good in the Gator Nation.
I do something like that with my corned beef. I rinse it well, throw away the "flavor pack", cover with thinly sliced garlic (think "Goodfellas") and onions and put in a roaster on a rack with about one half cup of water and use aluminum foil to get a good seal. It takes a long time. Usually about six hours. As for ribs I like them to have a little bit of "tooth": Easily pulled off the bone, but not falling apart when I take it off the smoker.
Tonight I’ll be grilling chicken halves seasoned with coarse black pepper and Everglades seasoning. And yes, Pat’s Homade on the last two turns. Inside we’ve got a fresh pot of green beans and new potatoes and fresh bi-color cob corn. There will be jalapeño cornbread on the side. The back porch will supply us with a beautiful sunset this evening and we will enjoy that along with ice cold longnecks and chilled wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
I too slow cook ribs in oven, but with some (not a lot) dry rub. Then put on grill for the last minute or so of searing. As to sauce, at the end on the grill, so it gets warm enough. I use combo sauces as in sometimes Pat's and Jack Daniels mixed together or say the Sugar free one I cant recall the name. Oft times I add orange rind to the sauce (got that add from a good buddy who makes the best sauce from scratch).
Here's one of my favorites, not for all souls. Oxtail. Buy the big meaty oxtails. Put in pressure cooker with some red wine, salt and pepper them Get them cooked to "almost" tender, but not really ready. I use a non electric old fashioned pressure cooker from Germany that is far far better than the electric one I got from Williams and Sonoma. To cook them I get the pressure up, then turn it off, then restart again, then when it's ready turn it off. Sometimes open it up to test the ox's tail Anyway, when the oxtail are ready, I dump in a large pot of my Grandfathers pasta sauce and let it simmer in that. I traded that Italian style with a buddy whose mother was from the islands and his was great, more of a Caribbean style with yellow rice. We both loved each others. Dueling Oxtail. The judge called it a tie.
I make an oxtail ragu that is so decadent and delish. I like to serve it over rigatoni or bucatini. Oxtail also makes for a great soup. Of course they are really beef tails. They were really cheap when I was a kid and now they are pricey. Much the way of flank steak. Anyway tonight I am making a chicken and fennel tagine served over cous-cous. Tomorrow will be sautéed rapini with sweet Italian sausage and a caprese salad.
Tonight we are taking the night off from cooking and using one of our local restaurants to pick supper up from. Ms. Jan’s let it be known that she’s pizza hungry so we’re going to be picking up from Fat John’s Pizza which has been really good every time we’ve tried them. Don’t look for it to be any different tonight. Another back porch sunset is on tap for the evening, and we’ll enjoy that with ice cold longnecks and chilled wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
We are going to put the finishing touches on Ms. Jan’s Pot Roast tonight with open-face roast beef sandwiches. Always so good. Another pleasant day (73* high with some breeze) made our working in the flower beds and with some new shrubs a nice day. Afternoon/evening ice cold longnecks and chilled wine on the back porch with an enjoyable sunset are being enjoyed as the day wears on. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Since I had half a head of cabbage that needs to be used I bought a small (four pound) pork shoulder to smoke tomorrow for pulled pork and will make Carolina slaw. I thought that I had beans to soak for making baked beans, but they were black-eyed peas. Damn. I guess we will settle for Sonny's baked beans.
Had flounder this morning for breakfast. Been a while since I've had fish this early in the day but brings back memories of some of the camping trips I went on in my yoot!
You have never had kippers for breakfast? Actually the best fish I ever had for breakfast is a story I have told here many times: Native brook trout from northern Wisconsin when I was a little kid. I saw them swimming in the pail the evening before. Memory etched into my mind because it was so good.
I've had all KINDS of stuff for breakfast before. Cold pizza comes to mind as just one.....but trust me...there are others!!!
Six hours in on a slightly less that four pound pork shoulder at 250 F and it is still on the plateau. That is why you smoke by temp and not by time. BTW, I just gave the Carolina slaw a swirl and a taste. Awesome. It is going to be really late.
