Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

Tonight is a riff on a NYT Cooking recipe for caramelized cabbage with pasta. The biggest difference is in caramelizing the cabbage. It cannot be done in 10 minutes! It takes at least 45 minutes.

 

Getting take-out gyros to eat while watching Gator bball.

 

Asparagus risotto for the veggies and chili for the carnivores.

 

Chicken enchiladas for the carnivores and sweet potato enchiladas for the veggies.

Margaritas and Mexican seared corn.

Tomorrow I am smoking two slabs of St Louis cut ribs while a bunch go off to watch the Gator basketball game. With Carolina slaw and mac and cheese.

 

Bought the ribs from my butcher at Publix today. Two full racks for $25 seems like a good price. Less than $1 per rib.

 

I have lots of camellias. Some of show quality that I grafted because you can't get them in retail trade. Many years ago I was into showing camellias in competition and was even a camellia judge.

I have a queen sago but not really suited to how cold it can get in Gainesville. It has been burned all the way back several times but is hanging on.

I have two Zamia fischeri. They are not misnamed Zamia vazquezii which is a common misnaming so actually quite rare in residential landscapes. I bought them at Selby Gardens in Sarasota and they are doing great.

 

Got the KJ going aiming for 400F to 450F for grilling grouper for fish tacos. I know that mahi is cheaper and does the job but my fish monger was out of mahi and nobody will complain. Simple marinade of lemon juice, olive oil and salt.

Had lunch in St Augustine (actually Vilano Beach) with an old college friend and his wife. My wife tagged along. I missed the college dorm floor reunion in late October. We were a pretty close knit group and many of us have kept in contact. It was great.

 

I could not resist. LOL.

I made pickled shrimp with fennel for our Christmas Eve soiree. Peeling two pounds of medium shrimp takes some time and effort. I like trying to get all of the tail fan meat so that slows me down a bit.

My in town SIL dropped off all of her knives and asked me to sharpen them. I sharpen to the Japanese standard of 15-degrees and most European/US knives are at 20-degrees and I had never sharpened her knives before. So it was a lengthy process to grind down to the Japanese standard. And I will have to warn her to be careful because the knives are now a lot sharper than they were before. I know that they say that a dull blade is more dangerous than a sharp blade but her knives were so dull that I don't think that they posed a real danger even with a slip. They were about as sharp as kindergarten scissors.

Also made a batch of bird blocks with crunchy peanut butter (Peter Pan on BOGO rules!), lard, corn meal, oatmeal, flour and sugar.

Also got the tree on its stand and in the house. I think it will hold its needles because it was REALLY heavy so it must be full of water. I know that I will be tasked with getting all the lights and ornaments down from the attic. We had to have a tree this year because we have grand nieces and nephews visiting for Christmas. And we do have a fireplace so we can hang stockings. With how much care I can't say. Santa should get a tumbler of that Knob Creek. LOL.

 

I am working on my skills. I do some woodworking and properly sharpened chisels are what is required. Running them through my Porter Cable grinding wheel is only the first step. Several dry and several oil steps get you where you want to be. But I am slow to get there.

Amen to warning folks when I have sharpened blades for them. It can cut you to the bone with a slip.

 

Almost forgot that I did a decalcification on the boiler of my Gaggia superautomatic espresso maker.

I remember going to the barber shop where the barbers would stropp the blade before a straight razor shave. Nothing better. Old school. Just like chin music.

 

15 lb turkey on the KJ smoked low and slow. 6 hours and 15 minutes. Looks perfect. Took 15 minutes longer than I guessed. Used my thermocouple to check temps instead of the dome thermometer and it ran low (230 F) for an hour or two. I didn't give the correct "Kentucky windage" with the initial temp. You need to run hot so when the large amount of cool meat goes in the temps will drop. A big bird will soak up a lot of the thermal energy stored in the ceramic. It was bigger effect than I thought. I should have gotten the KJ up to 280F at least to start.