Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

Making chicken tagine tonight with cous cous.

 

Time to start thinking about drinking a Tom Collins now that it is getting hot. Maybe later this week.

I like Boodles for martinis. Regular Bombay for gin and tonics and a Tom Collins works for me.

Bombay Shaphire for a more refined gin and tonic. Still prefer Boodles for martinis.

 

Speaking of gin Old Raj being saffrron infused is pretty good. There are others out there that are better, but hard to get.

High level gin is not to the same level as high level tequila, but there are some hard to find and awesome gins.

 

Smoking a chicken and making scalloped potatoes with fennel.

 

Last night was leftover smoked chicken and scalloped potatoes with fennel and a nice salad.

Tonight is risotto and a salad.

Since pork shoulder was on sale at Publix for $1.99 a pound I bought a beautifully trimmed 3.7 pound bone in pork shoulder to smoke tomorrow for pulled pork sandwiches. Bought some cabbage, sweet onion and green bell pepper (already had the carrots) for a vinegar slaw. Also bought Ball Park Franks hamburger buns because for some reason pulled pork sandwiches taste better on crappy buns.

I used to make my own beans, but just getting Sonny's beans is much easier and they are the best thing that they make.

 

Smallish pork shoulder just starting to come out of the plateau (171 F). A bit slower than I thought.

I know one guy that is a commercial chef and he wraps at this temp and throws it into a 350 F oven. He says that you don't get any more smoke and it speeds things up. I agree with that. But I think that it dries out the outer meat and leaves the meat near the bone too chewy. One can fake it with saucing the dry meat and chopping instead of pulling the chewy meat. Heck, I have done this myself with a pork shoulder that was taking way too long to smoke and folks getting hungry (over two hours per pound at 250 F and still nowhere near done).

 

For anyone getting started or even with a lot of experience I strongly suggest getting a Thermapen instant read thermometer. They are not cheap, but they are the gold standard.

Now I don't use them when smoking ribs because the meat and the bone are too close together. One can judge the doneness by how much the meat has shrunken on the bone. Personally I like just a bit of "tooth" where it does come off cleanly and not falling off the bone so I don't want them over done.

I do use it when cooking steaks, but that is not necessary. With experience one can judge the doneness by touch. That is old school.

It really shines when smoking pork shoulders and chickens. They are both tricky because the meat temperature can vary wildly in the same piecve of meat. The art comes with figuring out how it will even out during the rest. Very tricky with chicken because you don't want to overcook and dry out the breast meat but at the same time you don't want to undercook the thigh meat. Sometimes you have to move the chicken, know your grill and understand what goes on when it rests.

Mostly science, but some art.

 

Tonight I am making roasted veggies (caulifower, potatoes and carrots) in a olive oil, harrissa, honey and lemon juice sauce. To be served over cous cous.

 

My wife wanted it more stew like but thought it was OK. I thought it was great the way I made it.

She was thinking more like when I make chicken tagine.

 

Since it is Tuesday my wife wanted me to make a taco bar for before the game eats. Already made pickled red onion and tomatillo/avocado salsa. There will be a choice between what most people call tacos (hard corn shell, ground meat with a packet of "taco seasoning") and chicken tinga (pulled chiken thighs in a tomato/chipotle sauce) on two soft flour tortillas. Lots of toppings to choose from.

 

Wednesday was taco leftovers. Yesterday was a chopped salad.

Tonight is defrosting some leftover chicken enchiladas. I made a fresh batch of pico de gallo as one of the toppings.

 

Tonight is clam linguini with a nice salad (romaine, escarole, curly endive, radicchio, arugula, english cuke and tomatoes with an oil and vinegar dressing) and some crusty bread.

 

Just made some fresh pesto for skirt steak with French green beans (haricots verts) and corn. I wish that outside skirt steak wasn't so pricey.

 

Mondsy was Thai take-out.

Today I made orecchiette (little ear pasta) with arugula, hot Italian sausage, scallions, fennel seeds, garlic and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Salad with escarole, curly endive, radicchio and tomatoes.

Tomorrow is fish, either mahi-mahi or grouper.

 

Well, it is mahi with a macadamia nut crust. Also yellow rice pilaf, a mixed greens salad and crab cakes as a starter.

 

Tomorrow I need an early start to have Memphis style dry rubbed ribs ready for a pregame meal. My SIL heard from her son that I make great ribs (he was visiting about a month ago). My wife's sister grew up in Cincinatti where she had ribs from Rib's King, a very famous BBQ place, and that is Kansas City style "wet" ribs and I make dry rubbed ribs. I hope she is not disappointed and will become a convert.