What's for Dinner?

[Venatorscribe]

Home made pizza this evening. But first the wine - Rose Petal 2016 - followed by a foraging trip to the fridge for ingredients and left over meatballs from the weekend.

Had a feast tonight. DW picked up a monkfish tail (aka "poor man's lobster"). I butterflied it, some S&P, then grilled it on moderate direct heat. This was smothered in a salsa made with ho-made preserved lemons, chopped olives, capers, parsley, and oregano. We had a side dish of mustard greens, (blanched, then mixed with sauteed shallots, white balsamic vinegar, and a bit of sugar to offset the bitterness). Another side dish was our reliable smashed ‘taters (simmered, flattened, then fried up crisp, seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning). Finally, we had this wonderful dish of fresh fennel and onions (sauteed in EVOO), then braised in chicken stock and sherry; let that boil off, then caramelize the veggies; when browned, add lots of cilantro and roasted pistachios. It is an outstanding combo.
My DW and I deemed this meal "restaurant worthy," which is the highest award level in the Grapes household!


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hmm I think it is time that I give Monk fish another go...

 

[JohnT]

On Saturday (after pressing) I has a couple of friends over. as a starter, I made my creole clam stew (the first of the year). For entrée we had BIG filet mignon, grilled lobster tail, asparagus. rice pilaf, and grilled corn. I was having such a good time that I only remembered to take a pic once (the clam stew)...

 

[JohnT]

On Sunday it was raining all day. so, I headed up to my brother's house with my knife bag in hand and cooked his family some lasagna....

 

[JohnT]

Last night it was a simple marinaded chicken with buttered egg noodles....

 

[ibglowin]

Get a pair of these for next time.

Did finally get it to 190*F, but could only let it rest for 30 minutes. I don't have nice gloves to pull it with, so had to use two forks.

 

[ibglowin]

Nailed it!

I think that like @Johnd said the most important thing on a brisket is that last step that seems not very important but it really is and that that is "the rest". If you don't and slice it hot you will lose all your juice and end up with a dry brisket. Let it rest for an hour and the juices redistribute and you lose very little when you slice as evident in this pic. This was wrapped in pink butcher paper and has an incredible bark still. It was moist, tender, juicy, incredible smoke flavor as well. I never did get this guy to 200. But more important was I cooked by time and by probing the brisket. I cooked this 9.5lb brisket about 1.25 hour/lb. Pulled out at 11.5 hours and had right at a one hour rest in the paper in an old styrofoam cooler. Even our two Golden's got a few tidbits along with their evening dinner!

 

[Johnd]

Nailed it!

I think that like @Johnd said the most important thing on a brisket is that last step that seems not very important but it really is and that that is "the rest". If you don't and slice it hot you will lose all your juice and end up with a dry brisket. Let it rest for an hour and the juices redistribute and you lose very little when you slice as evident in this pic. This was wrapped in pink butcher paper and has an incredible bark still. It was moist, tender, juicy, incredible smoke flavor as well. I never did get this guy to 200. But more important was I cooked by time and by probing the brisket. I cooked this 9.5lb brisket about 1.25 hour/lb. Pulled out at 11.5 hours and had right at a one hour rest in the paper in an old styrofoam cooler. Even our two Golden's got a few tidbits along with their evening dinner!

That's a great looking brisket Mike!! I love to see a nice bark like that (regardless of whether it's crispy or moist, my personal preference is moist) and a really pronounced smoke ring under the bark. Lived vicariously through your cook this weekend, as my people wanted hamburgers for lunch yesterday, and didn't get to do a nice long cook over the weekend. Wife and I were alone for dinner last night and had two prime ribeyes which were sensational. Really hankering for a big slab of meat to cook...............

 

[Boatboy24]

Really hankering for a big slab of meat to cook...............

Working from home today and just put this 5lb hunk of belly on about half an hour ago. BLT's for dinner tomorrow night! (baseball game tonight)

 

[ibglowin]

No seasoning? Looks like you might have "accidentally" spilled a little pepper on it! LOL

Working from home today and just put this 5lb hunk of belly on about half an hour ago. BLT's for dinner tomorrow night! (baseball game tonight)

 

[ceeaton]

Working from home today and just put this 5lb hunk of belly on about half an hour ago. BLT's for dinner tomorrow night! (baseball game tonight)

I'd work from home if I'd actually get any work done (not my work, but the work they pay me to do).

 

[Boatboy24]

No seasoning? Looks like you might have "accidentally" spilled a little pepper on it! LOL

Plenty of pepper, brown sugar, and other goodies in the cure. Surface gets rinsed after that weeklong soak.

 

[Johnd]

Get a pair of these for next time.

Then you too can be a master at pulling your pork.

 

[pgentile]

Working from home today and just put this 5lb hunk of belly on about half an hour ago. BLT's for dinner tomorrow night! (baseball game tonight)

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Looking Good.

I make a porkbelly or two each year, have a 6 lb piece in the freezer that was half a fresh one from the fall. Need to pull out one of these weeks. I have never done it on the grill, always oven. How long on the grill? Do you pan saute before serving?

 

[Boatboy24]

Looking Good.

I make a porkbelly or two each year, have a 6 lb piece in the freezer that was half a fresh one from the fall. Need to pull out one of these weeks. I have never done it on the grill, always oven. How long on the grill? Do you pan saute before serving?

This is for bacon. Cured for 7-8 days, then into the smoker at 175-200 for 3-4 hours. Into a bag, then an ice bath to stop the cooking. I'll slice it up tomorrow and it'll be ready for frying.

 

[pgentile]

This is for bacon. Cured for 7-8 days, then into the smoker at 175-200 for 3-4 hours. Into a bag, then an ice bath to stop the cooking. I'll slice it up tomorrow and it'll be ready for frying.

bacon ah yes...one of these day I will attempt. But fresh porkbelly is delicious as well.

 

[ibglowin]

So not sure if I mentioned this but we headed down to Las Cruces for most of the long weekend. Arrived in time for dinner on Friday and were treated to a couple of amazing meals. First up was a six hour (132F) sous vide rib eye dinner finished off on the grill. Melt in your mouth goodness along with baked potato and steamed artichokes.

 

[ibglowin]

On Saturday we took the short drive over to El Paso for a Costco run and we stopped in at a new Whole Paycheck and low and behold the in-store restaurant/bar was having a $1.50 each Oysters on the Half Shell special. Needless to say my BFF and I could not pass this up and each of us got a dozen and had a couple craft beers to wash them down with. They had three different varieties from the upper eastern seaboard IIRC. One was a Blue Point and the other two escapes me at the moment. its been a long time since I have had fresh oysters. These were excellent and very fresh.

 

[sour_grapes]

Simple fare of farmed Atlantic salmon (pan-fried and seasoned with delicious pink peppercorn) with some roasted asparagus, green kale braised in beef stock with mushrooms and garlic, and some plain ol' white rice.

 

[sour_grapes]

On Saturday we took the short drive over to El Paso for a Costco run and we stopped in at a new Whole Paycheck and lo and behold the in-store restaurant/bar was having a $1.50 each Oysters on the Half Shell special. Needless to say my BFF and I could not pass this up and each of us got a dozen and had a couple craft beers to wash them down with. They had three different varieties from the upper eastern seaboard IIRC. One was a Blue Point and the other two escapes me at the moment. its been a long time since I have had fresh oysters. These were excellent and very fresh.

Totally jelly!

 

[Boatboy24]

bacon ah yes...one of these day I will attempt. But fresh porkbelly is delicious as well.

Have had it at restaurants, but never cooked it myself. I need to remedy that.