Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

Chun Ching is close to where I live and has a wide selection.

 

Mostly mouth feel with smaller bubbles with the more expensive champagne.

 

Going to a friend's house to make pizzas on their grill. We will be making a smoked duck pizza with hoisin sauce, red onion, and Chinese broccoli.

We are going back to the outdoor protocols what with the current spike of the omicron variant.

 

Tonight is smoked duck tacos. Last night for the pizza we used medallions from the duck breast and tonight we are using the rest of the bird. The meat tastes about the same as all the meat is dark (fatty) meat as opposed to chicken or turkey where the breast and wing meat is rather dry. But the other meat is better for shredding.

Yesterday I made pickled red onion (done in the Yucatan style) and today I made a tomatillo/avocado salsa for toppings. I will also have minced radish and shredded cabbage. I do have some dried epazote, but I think that is not a topping I want with this dish. I wish that I had a source of fresh epazote as I would have used that instead of cilantro in the tomatillo/avocado salsa.

If my wife remembers to pick up some Cointreau on the way home we will have excellent margaritas. I used Espolon blanco tequila, Cointreau, freshly squeezed Persian lime juice, and simple syrup to taste.

Don't get bent out of shape with using me Persian limes. They are not from Iran and are what you normally buy at your chain supermarket. Just want to distinguish from other limes like key, for example.

 

If it gets that cold here near downtown Gainesville I will need to bring some plants inside. Mostly my kaffir lime trees and not my cymbidium orchids.

 

Be careful.

 

Leftovers tonight.

 

Gumbo is not that hard to make. You should try it.

 

Tonight is shrimp stir fry. Gotta use up a lot of gai lan (Chinese broccoli) and baby bok choy. Also red bell pepper and Shiitake mushrooms.

I have a pork loin rubbed with garlic, caraway seeds, salt and black pepper in the fridge to make a roasted pork loin with cabbage, onion, carrots, stout, beef stock, molasses and bay leaves. Going to make that tomorrow.

Yeah, I know that the Gators play Bama in hoops at home tomorrow at 7:00 and I have great seats, but with omicron around I am not going and gave my tickets away. I am in very good health and fully boosted, but my nearly 90 year of MIL lives in the residence we built on our property and we have dinner every night. Omicron can infect fully vaxxed people, but for the most part it is either asymptomatic or mid symptoms for most people that are fully vaxxed. My MIL is fully vaxxed and booster but I just don't want my MIL to be a breakthrough case at her age.

And I can watch the game at home anyway. Last time that happened Chandler Parsons hit a deep three to beat South Carolina when I was sick with the flu. Not the miracle shot at NC State, but later the same season.