What's for Dinner?

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It Friday, and yes you guessed it, it's pizza night!

Watched the Good Eats pizza episode from 2003 or 2004 and picked up that I was only resting my dough for a few hours in the fridge before creating the pizza. So last night I got back up after I went to bed and remembered I had wanted to make a crust, drinking helped me remember that, and made a crust and stuck it in the fridge overnight. Miraculously it rose a bit and stopped, so it wasn't this big blobby thing when I took it out around 4 pm today. Pressed the bubbles out, split in two and rested for about 1 hr. Then because I couldn't find an unglazed quarry stone at the Mechanicsburg Lowes (they have them in Hanover which is just South of my home) I had to do it "naked" on the grill.

Made a plain for tomorrows' lunch (older son will scarf that one up, maybe even for breakfast) and one I haven't made for awhile, green pepper, onion and anchovies, yum to the tenth degree.

Of course washed 1/2 the pie down with a beer, will change to red wine later.

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Grannies biscuits . . . It's what's for breakfast. I know there's one missing. A good chef always tastes before serving.

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A few days ago, I picked up a lamb heart in the store, and said "What the heck. Why not? I'll figure out something to do with it."

Today, it was dreary, rainy, and cool, so my thoughts turned autumnal. So, even though the calendar still says "August," I made a lamb stew. Lamb stew with heart of lamb, that is. And, of course, garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, carrots, mushrooms, red wine, tomatoes, cannellini...

The stew was really tasty. I will admit that I was not nuts about the taste of the lamb heart, however. It tasted a bit like liver, which surprised me. I mean, heart is just another muscle -- why wouldn't it taste like other meats from the lamb?
 
And what did you pair with it.........

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And what did you pair with it.........

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Fava beans and a nice Chianti? ;)

OMG, this is too funny! This morning, I spied fresh fava beans at the market. My wife loves them. At this very moment, my wife is sitting at the table shelling them!

Hmmmm, I do have a nice chianti in the cellar.... ::
 
Wife and kids away swimming for the afternoon, so time to bottle some wine and make some ribs, right? Nope, couple at our church called and offered a bunch of roma tomatoes (and others) so I'm making sauce and trying to get the ribs going on the WSM. At least I have been able to listen to the Phillies game as I putter. Plus the OB Raspberry Rapture needed some more degassing.

T-storms close by but so far are North of us on the radar. Left enough time I can finish ribs in oven, if necessary.

Edit: Image of finished product.

Edit #2: Not as tender as the oven ribs last week (my 10 yr old called me out on that one), but the flavor was fantastic with the addition of wood (Melot oak and some Mesquite).

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"Sunday Sauce" at a friend's house on Saturday. She gave me the recipe and it seems like it has the whole barnyard in it (Ribs, Meatballs, and Sausage) and is low cooked for hours. Definitely gonna give this a try in the not so distant future!

On Sunday, I spent the day at my brother's house. He kindly "Suggested" that I cook a prime rib for the family. We all teamed together. I took care of baked potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, the roast, and the demiglas. My brothers did the corn, asparagus, and mushrooms. What a feast! Other than the yorshires coming out a little darker than I would like, the whole meal was perfect!

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The kids love breakfast for dinner, but when my wife makes it one orders poached eggs, another orders a jalapeno cheese omelet, then their are cheesy scrambled eggs and of course the standard fried egg.

When I do it I let them vote. Which ever gets the most votes (usually two) gets made for all of them. I'm usually the second vote, so I get what I want (I know, I'm a terrible father).
We almost always limit it to one style per meal, regardless of what is being served. Quicker to prepare and cook and faster/easier cleanup as well, since there will generally be fewer dishes. If they don't care for what is made, they can always eat more veggies and bread.
 
Well, I made pizza tonight, but tried something different. I have a pizza stone and peel, but decided to follow this procedure for making pizza in my trusty cast-iron pan: http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/01/the-pizza-lab-the-worlds-easiest-pizza-no-knead-no-stretch-pan-pizza.html. (I did not use no-knead dough; I can get pre-made, uncooked dough at my local mom-and-pop grocery store.)

However, my plan went a little awry (but it turned out to be in a good way). I am strictly a thin-crust, Neapolitan-style guy. However, I rolled out the dough a little large, by accident, for my 12" skillet. Thus, when I put the dough into the skillet, it went up the sides a little. Clearly, I had just "signed on" to make a deep-dish pizza!

This turned out to be a good thing, because I had tons of ingredients. Rather than tomato sauce, I made a white sauce by making a roux, adding milk, then adding in a can of truffles+mushrooms packed in olive oil. Plenty of Mozzarella on top, and crumbled Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, garlic, sauteed spinach, roasted tomatoes, sauteed peppers, and more Mozzarella. Pop that into a 500F oven for 15 minutes, top with chiffonaded arugula, and it was a perfect, deep-dish pie. We couldn't eat more than half of it! Washed it down with WE Selection Viognier. (Please excuse the crappy web-cam pictures.)

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Looks outstanding, Paul! I'm in your 'thin crust camp', but wouldn't be able to keep myself away from that deep dish.
 
Pizza on the grill fell through last night, hit or miss T-storms that weren't moving very fast.

So today, as the day progressed, the humm-i-di-tity lowered and I decided a beer can chicken would be in order (just got some pecan smokin' chips). But alas, I cleaned bottles, cleaned more bottles, racked three carboys of wine and cleaned the carboys, then bottled my Spring Chilean Pinot Grigio. Didn't leave lot's of time to start the Weber bullet, so I went and picked up some chicken parts.

Made a bbq sauce my Mom got the recipe for when in the Air Force in Lackland AFB in San Antonio. Kids love the sauce! Very simple with thick cut potato fries and some petite green beans.

Just warming ya'll up, know someone made a feast tonight and will share.

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Butts and birds! We have some neighbors coming over later. I got up at 4:30 and fired up the WSM, then threw on an 8.5lb shoulder. I'll do a beer can chicken in the Performer later. Pulled pork and chicken for din-din.
 
Not what's for dinner but what's for brunch! Late Summer Garden Frittata with husky cherry tomatoes, French tarragon, lemon thyme, basil and of course lots of chevre cheese. Only thing missing is a Mimosa! :hug

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Butts and birds! We have some neighbors coming over later. I got up at 4:30 and fired up the WSM, then threw on an 8.5lb shoulder. I'll do a beer can chicken in the Performer later. Pulled pork and chicken for din-din.

Expecting pictures, especially of a chicken on the "throne"!

I'm doing Philly style cheese steaks on Teranetti's sub rolls, nothing too exciting there. Maybe I could conjure up a side to do on the WSM?
 

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