What's for Dinner?

[geek]

Antipasto and big hamburger at my friend's Italian restaurant.
Just good!!

 

[vernsgal]

Happy belated Birthday Mike

 

[Boatboy24]

Mommy has back to school night at the preschool where she works. So tonight its burgers with the boys. Simple, no nonsense meal. Burgers seasoned with McCormick burger seasoning and a little Stubbs BBQ seasoning, cooked over charcoal and spent oak cubes. Tots and some cut up cukes, carrots, peppers and cherry tomato on the side. Washing it down with a 'Slow Press' 2014 Paso Robles Cab. And milk for the kids, of course.

 

[ceeaton]

Mommy has back to school night at the preschool where she works. So tonight its burgers with the boys. Simple, no nonsense meal. Burgers seasoned with McCormick burger seasoning and a little Stubbs BBQ seasoning, cooked over charcoal and spent oak cubes. Tots and some cut up cukes, carrots, peppers and cherry tomato on the side. Washing it down with a 'Slow Press' 2014 Paso Robles Cab. And milk for the kids, of course.

So that's a Cab with a milk chaser for them, so they get their calcium and Vit D.

 

[jgmann67]

I guess my wife got the memo - burgers and salad here too.

 

[JohnT]

Made fried chicken and mac-n-cheese with the niece...

here is a shot of the chicken frying.

 

[Boatboy24]

Do you have a heat lamp in your kitchen, @JohnT ?

 

[Kraffty]

and a big ole industrial stove?

 

[JohnT]

It is a Viking range. Came with the house...

I plan on being buried in it!

 

[JohnT]

Two months ago, I joined with a group of great folks to process and can tomatoes. We shared in 467 quarts!

My share of all of that was 60 quarts. Since the day I received my share, I have been trying to find the time to make some sauce. This weekend, I was determined!

So, on Saturday, I took 4 quarts and started to simmer it down. The aroma wafting through the house was incredible. I have not had pasta for a number of months (diet) and with the wife down in Florida, there was no one to stop me from enjoying the fruits of my labor (sinister grin while rubbing my hands together)..

After an hour of simmering down the tomatoes, my brother showed up with a surprise 4 pound packet of stew meat. He wanted to know if I would make him some porkolt (a type of Hungarian beef stew with mushrooms and onions). In exchange, he was willing to help me rack wine.

Doing a quick inventory of what I had in the house, it turned out that I had everything I needed. OK, so change of plan. The simmering tomatoes went into the fridge, and porkolt with spaetzle it was.

It was fun to get a surprise visit from my brother. We spent a good part of the day cooking, racking wine, and chowing down on some good home cooked Hungarian food. I did not lament too much over the lost opportunity for some tomato sauce. There is always Sunday.

Life is good, but would have been better if I remembered to take some pictures.

 

[JohnT]

On Sunday, after picking the wife up at the airport, I went to the grocery store for some ground beef, veal, pork, some sausage, and a nice loaf of Italian bread. I have been on an apple pie kick lately, so I also remembered to get some pie crust dough.

Once back home, I browned the sausage in olive oil, then browned the meat/drained the fat.

I then added a large diced onion, a diced red bell pepper, then the tomatoes from Saturday (see above). I then added a fist full of fresh thyme (my herb garden is still alive) and some dried basil. I got it simmering just in time to sit and enjoy the NYG game (9am).

Here is two pics.

Pic 1: Took this right after adding the simmered tomatoes (from Saturday) to the pot on Sunday morning

Pic 2: The sauce after 3 hours of simmering. I simmered it down another inch or so until I had a nice thick sauce.

I can not tell you how great it tasted! Best sauce ever!

 

[JohnT]

On Sunday, while the sauce was simmering and the NYGs game reached half time, I ran across the street to the farm stand for a sack of apples (they pick them daily).

I peeled/cored/and sliced them, added some lemon juice, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I then put curst into pie pan, added the filling, and spotted the top of the filling with small cubes of butter. I then added the top crust, crimped and trimmed the edges of the pie, cut a vent hole in the center and had the pie in the oven by the time the third quarter of the game started. I new world's record!

It came out great. Firm, but moist and the crust was nice a flakey.

I love Sundays!

 

[montanaWineGuy]

I can not tell you how great it tasted! Best sauce ever!

Looks great. I have a hard time doing sauce, salsa, etc. in a pot. I've switched to using a crock pot. Start Saturday morning, enjoy Sunday night.

 

[JohnT]

Looks great. I have a hard time doing sauce, salsa, etc. in a pot. I've switched to using a crock pot. Start Saturday morning, enjoy Sunday night.

The key is to reduce the sauce over time. I started with a gallon of tomatoes and reduced it by half.

I have stayed away from crock pots because I do not think that they do a good job in reducing a sauce or browning meat (a good first step to any good soup, stew, or sauce). Please let me know if I am wrong here.

This is also why I like gas stoves and thick walled pots. You have great control and (because the pot is thick walled) the heat distributes evenly without burning and can reach temps that are perfect for browning meat.

They can have my Viking range when they pull it out of my cold dead hands!

 

[Boatboy24]

OK, the weather is cooling off and that's got me craving some sort of comfort food. I was complaining to my wife last night that with sports, scouts, and other activities, I haven't cooked a 'real' meal in over two weeks. Those are the times that we usually sit down as a family and have a nice dinner together. As it turns out, we are free this Saturday night and we both agreed that we won't put anything on the calendar. Our oldest has a baseball game that day, but he'll be done by 2:30, giving me plenty of time to cook a nice meal for dinner. I tend to gravitate toward Italian, as it is relatively easy and everyone loves it. But I fear the family may be getting fatigued. So I'm looking for ideas. I do plan on making some fresh bread (another thing I've not done in quite a while). Otherwise, I'm all ears.

 

[JohnT]

How about a good old fashioned Sunday roast??

 

[ibglowin]

I tend to gravitate toward Italian, as it is relatively easy and everyone loves it. But I fear the family may be getting fatigued. So I'm looking for ideas. I do plan on making some fresh bread (another thing I've not done in quite a while). Otherwise, I'm all ears.

 

[Kraffty]

I love short ribs! I don't know if this is a "thing" but I once went on a fishing trip where one of the guys, from Jersey, served short rib simmered in tomato sauce for about 12 hours. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.
Mike

 

[Boatboy24]

Thanks for the suggestions. After posting and seeing @JohnT 's response, I started thinking braised beef. Leaning toward an Italian style, maybe served over polenta.

 

[ceeaton]

Thanks for the suggestions. After posting and seeing @JohnT 's response, I started thinking braised beef. Leaning toward an Italian style, maybe served over polenta.

Chicken or ribs on the bullet? Your long range forecast looks pretty awesome for Saturday and Sunday, perfect smokin' weather. I saw some baby backs on sale Sunday at my local Giant.