Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

Baked ziti tonight.

 

Lots of leftover baked ziti for dinner tonight.

I "winged" the ragu for the ziti and it was really good. Almost as good as the oxtail ragu I make but a lot cheaper. Pork shoulder is a lot cheaper than ox tail.

 

Scallops seared in a spicy oil and served on a bed of flat leaf parsley and cilantro. Yellow rice pilaf as a side.

 

I have to ask how you fry the pork.

When I make carnitas it starts as cubes of pork shoulder (butt) and ends up frying in its own fat in a hot oven. I would make it more often if it wasn't such a mess to clean up. Really tasty, though.

Is your pork steak a shoulder cut? I have used boneless shoulders for steaks on occasion. Do you add oil to fry so that the pork keeps some of its fat?

 

Gotcha.

That is usually a pretty lean cut.

 

We had a lot of extra spice oil from the scallops from the other night so we are sauteing shrimp in the spice oil to serve over linguini with a salad. I spent about 40 minutes shelling shrimp this afternoon because for this kind of dish you want smallish shrimp with the shells off. I could have been quicker but I like getting as much tail meat as possible.

 

My wife is cooking dinner tonight. Yesterday I got the updated covid booster and have been running a fever with chills, really tired and a sore arm all day. Just starting to feel better.

Same as it ever was after the first jab. The good thing is that it is a strong sign that it is working.

We have some extra uncooked shrimp from yesterday. Maybe a shrimp appetizer tonight. I like garlic shrimp but my wife is in charge and I bet she will make some shrimp cocktail.

Funny story from my childhood. Every Christmas my mom would make shrimp cocktail and my younger brother hated it. I always found a way to sit next to him at dinner. SCORE!

 

Feeling a lot better today but still not quite 100%. But good enough to take my dog on our usual 2.5 mile morning walk.

Tonight I am making chicken tinga for tacos. Have some red onion being pickled right now as a topping. Also picked up some perfectly ripe Hass avocados to dice as a second topping.

Planning on margaritas as the dinner libation.

 

Had a friend and his elderly mother over for the tacos last night and also to watch the Lady Gators play volleyball. Sadly no leftovers.

Tonight I am keeping it a lot simpler. I am going to poach some boneless skinless chicken thighs and shred them into "Spanish" rice with diced tomatoes. I thought that I had a can of Rotel but I don't. Pity.

 

Smoking two chickens and making a roasted poblano potato gratin,