Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

What part of ther hog do you use for stew? Growing up we used feet and knuckles although my dad thought that using feet would be a waste when you could have had pickled pig's feet that he loved. And necks.

Pork shoulder would make a lovely and rich stew.

 

We never did use the trotters. Probably not enough meat on them.

 

Smoking two slabs of St Louis cut pork ribs and making a corn scramble (seared corn, diced tomatoes, scallions and apple cider vinegar and butter). Some other sides are being brought by guests. We planned on having folks over with an afternoon game scheduled but now will have to miss watching most of the doubleheader nightcap.

 

My wife is making asparagus risotto tonight. I get the evening off.

 

I can't top that.

I am grilling ground chuck hamburgers on the KJ and making oven fries with russet potatoes. I plan on making my Espolon blanco, Cointreau, fresh lime juice and simple syrup margaritas as the dinner beverage.

Here is the recipe of my margaritas. Juice the limes and add enough simple syrup to balance the tart with the sweet. This is the big "art" in the recipe. Whatever volume of liquid you have add the same volume of Cointreau. Again this is tricky because the Cointreau will add some sweetmess so you want the lime juice and simple syrup to still be a little tart before adding the Cointreau. Then add the tequila to double the volume again.

 

Making a green chicken posole today. The green comes from tomatillos. Roasted and ground pepitas give the soup body and a nutty flavor. I use diced white onion, cubed avocado hit with lime juice to keep it from turning brown, chopped radish, epazote or oregano and shredded romaine as the toppings.

Not nearly as much time and effort as making a posole rojo and is really good.

 

Going out for dinner is a treat because somebody else does all the dishes.

I bet that at the Horne's kitchen they make food just as good as what they get going out.

 

I love cooking for friends. It is a great delight for me.

 

Tonight I am making Thai red curry with shrimp, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and red bell pepper. Of course will add some kaffir lime leaves from my tree that is getting too big to cart into the garage when it is really cold. Thinking about grafting onto some citrus root stock to have some more trees and maybe some gifts.

Thai eggplant is out of season. I have a plant that made it through the winter, though.

 

The leaves are distinctive.

 

I was going to make hotdogs as a pregame meal but my MIL's Toyota Corrolla needs a new ignition coil and we share this car. Yeah I know that I could limp back and forth to the grocery store as well as to our local Autozone on three cylinders but my MIL would be worried sick the entire time. You have got to cut slack to your 90 year old MIL. I'll fix it tomorrow. I have replaced the other three coils in the last few years and might remember which one is the old one.

If all goes according to plan my wife will be bringing the dogs and buns home for the pregame meal.

 

The only thing hard about changing the coil was paying for it. It was about $83 for the part after tax. Seems like they were cheaper when I did the other three a few years ago.

Then got roped into building an Ikea bookcase for my son. He had a nice solid wood bookcase from Wood You that I finished but it got sent off to his older brother's apartment in DC. Pretty sure it was solid poplar. I hate Ikea stuff. It won't last. My older sister used to call it Icky-Ah. Best thing there is the meatballs.

All that as a prelude for dinner. Chili spaghetti for those going to the game. Not enough time left to make a decent pregame meal. I am staying home to baby sit our puppy. I volunteered for Saturday service so that I could channel swap between the Gator game and the Final Four.