Actually baking is more art than recipe. It is done a lot by feel and way beyond my pay grade. My mother was a great baker. I am not.
I had a German baker chef during the baking part of my culinary education. That dude hated me, only reason I passed was because he didn’t want to see me anymore. That said baking is to scientifically accurate for me, I like the freedom of cooking. So I went to school, learned a lot but mostly a joke. True education I learned on the job from amazingly talented chefs who from a personal standpoint were often the worst human beings.
Everything must be weighed and measured but there is creativity in baking. I have none but I worked with some very talented pastry/baking chef’s in my time. Sadly I think it’s becoming a lost art. Easier and cheaper to just order bread and what not from some factory.
Damn—I feel like I just sat through a double header with two brawls— And I didn’t run out of col’beers!
Tonight we’re going with Easter leftovers. That puts a smoked shank portion ham smoked on the BGE on the table. Our sides are zipper peas, Ms. Jan’s homemade Mac’n’Cheese, and deviled eggs. There will be fresh fried cornbread on the side. Choice of refreshments will be Moscow Mules for the girls and Kentucky Mules for myself. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Easter leftovers here, as well. Black eyed peas with andouille over rice, mustard greens and jalapeños cornbread. Tonight aught’a take care of it. Wife will have a salad.
Normally I go with a few dashes of Gator hammock pepper sauce, but I was under strict orders to not go too spicy since we were guests at someone else’s Easter dinner. So just went with chicken broth, a little apple cider vinegar and a pinch of red pepper flakes. And of course bacon.
Just found out that I am tasked with smoking some meat for tomorrow to take to a friends' house. Thinking about smoking two chickens.
As y’all know we are limited with our pick up options over here so—last week we saw that our Pizza Hut has a new menu item for here that they call their “Melt”. We tried them for lunch last week and to say they were a very pleasant surprise would be an understatement. They’re similar to the calzone. That said, we are going with them for our supper tonight. They come in four different combinations of flavors/choices. We are going with the meat lovers with marinara sauce. I’m settled in with tumblers of Old Forester 10 year old 100 proof and Ms. Jan’s enjoying her chilled wine. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Tonight I’m going all out to put a supper on the table worthy of bringing our Gators to victory over them dawgs. I’ll be smoking two racks of Baby Backs on the BGE. The sides are our traditional fare—Ms. Jan’s homemade potato salad and deviled eggs and I’ll have a pot of barbecue baked beans to go with. The back porch Yeti is restocked with longnecks and re-iced as well as Ms. Jan’s wine is chilled and ready to go. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Making chicken tinga for tacos. Toppings are pickled red onion, queso fresca and diced avocado. Yesterday pregame we tried a place that promised Chicago dogs and authentic Chicago Italian beef sandwiches. The frank was all wrong on the Chicago dog and was more like a kielbasa. A Hebrew National dog would be much close to a Vienna Beef dog. Actually pretty close but with a bit more garlic. And of course no poppy seeds on the buns. The condiments were pretty close, though. The Italian beef was very close to the real deal. The bun should have more crustiness to hold in the moisture.
Have you tried Dave’s or big mill’s? I don’t know how authentic either of them are, I’m not a big hot dog guy, but my wife likes the dogs at both places and I’m pretty sure they both have something they call a chicago dog.
