Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

Made jambalaya with andouillie and smoked turkey thighs.

 

Sometimes I need a spanish chorizo, but I agree that it is a great "go to" sausage. I should learn how to make my own. The only problem is that when I smoke a pork shoulder I hardly ever have any leftovers to turn into sausage.

 

Many times for 'normal' cooking I use boneless/skinless like when I make various pasta and chicken dishes, chicken tagine, and posole verde with chicken, for example. But for grilling/smoking I always leave the skin on.

And when I leave the skin on for smoking a chicken or making a "beer can" chicken I applied the rub between the skin and the meat. Yes, it can be done with a bit of effort.

And for jerked chicken it is essential to leave the skin on.

 

Tonight I grilled a mess of skin-on chicken legs finished with Pat's Ho-Made BBQ sauce so that my youngest boy would be fed (and there should be lots of left-overs if he doesn't eat them all tonight) and then made chicken tagine (a North African dish) with skinless and boneless chicken thighs for my wife and I.

 

I love smoking ducks. YUM!

 

Tonight was an unexpected challenge.

The plan was to make German potato salad and grill brats before going to the Lady Gator volleyball match. With some cold beers, of course. When I walked around the corner to go to Publix (I have to leave my driveway open because we are building a garage/MIL suite behind our house and my street does not have on street parking) I was greeted by a flat tire. Not a big deal except that one lug was on so tight that trying to get it off cracked the OEM lug wrench. ARGH! Going back home and getting a 6 point 19mm socket on a long handled 1/2" ratchet got it off. And made it easier to jack the vehicle up. I did think about taking my floor jack, but didn't.

But the space saver spare has never been used since this 2002 model year vehicle left Detroit. Good thing that I could go get a bicycle pump. It had only 20 psi and should have been around 60 psi. 150 stokes on my floor pump got it to spec.

By now time was tight and I was getting pretty ripe.

Flat tire was dropped off to get patched, victuals were purchased and prepared, dinner was served, shower was taken, and we got to the Exactech Center in time to buy tickets and see the very end of the player intros.

And the #1 Lady Gators did win.

Not done as planned, but a very successful dinner.

 

<joke>If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.</joke>

 

Tonight it is just me and my 21 year old son for dinner. When he was really little he would eat almost anything. One birthday (mine) I made pasta with scungilli and a fra diavolo sauce and he ate it up. I think he may have been two or three years old. Now getting him to try anything new is like pulling teeth.

Tonight it is thick center cut pork chops with garlic mashed potatoes and peas. Kind of boring.

But tomorrow will be more fun. A great friend of my wife is visiting and she wants me to cook a nice dinner. Right now I am thinking about pasta with a sun-dried tomato and roasted red pepper sauce with shrimp and a pear/radicchio/blue cheese salad. I wanted to make a braised oxtail sauce to put over bucatini, but my wife nixed it as being too rich. But it is so good. Same problem with braised short ribs ... too rich.

Her friend is originally from Jamaica and has had my jerked chicken before and she loved it, but there is not enough time to do that one correctly. If I had only known a few days ago. I have enough Scotch bonnets that are fully ripe in my garden. Sigh.

 

Making carnitas. The pork shoulder and oranges, along with spices onion, and garlic, have been braising for almost two hours. It is not quite ready for the hot oven to finish it off. Usually two hours is enough, but this time it needs more time. Already made pico de gallo and a tomatillo/avocado salsa (the kind of thing you might find in an authentic taqueria) to go with it.