What's for dinner?

[MadBob]

4 lbs pinto beans, 5 lbs leftover budweiser marinated ham (and the bones) from Thanksgiving, fresh minced garlic, rough chop red onions, a little kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Simmer all afternoon, nice and thick, cracker barrel extra sharp chedder cheese and some chopped green onions.
Now, I have plenty of leftover beans for another meal or 2, some refries or tostadas or a bean dip base.

[LizR]

Made this Polish Wedding Chicken last night. It is one of those "less is more" recipes. Super easy, ingredients on hand, very tasty. Definitely going into rotation. And it looked way better than the online picture - which I think is not of the actual dish. This site has some fun recipes. http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/polishmaincourses/r/weddingchix.htm

[MadBob]

Funny thing happened on the way back from the Home Depot in Lithia Springs. Just so happens that after I navigated I-20 East and took some backroads, lookie here.... The Pine Street Market!!!
Rusty had the BGE fired up and was making some baked beans out front, smelling up the hood he was!
Inside I go, Rusty all smiles (as usual). I was just going to purchase some applewood smoked bacon ends, but wait. Spicy Italian Sausage catches my eye. And then, the applewood smoked Boar bacon! So, with a little quicktime, off to the Hacienda I go. Fire up the mini Weber, wrap that sausage with the applewood smoked Boar bacon for about 18 minutes at around 350 dg indirect heat. Got some okra and tomatoes in the saucepan and some tater tots cause I ain't proud and a nice Founders Azacca IPA (or 3) to help me along and what a treat. Great sausage, and the bacon was way worth the side trip!
Makes your mouth water doesn't it!
And a little music while I am waiting on the back porch for my meal to cook...... kinda loud so my neighbors can enjoy also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCjLTXVCd1s&list=RD02Zc1ZXm-rFLA
Chow for now.....

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Strange stew tonight..  I wanted lamb stew..  I went to Publix and bought $18+ dollars worth of lamb stew meat.  When I got home it was mostly bones, I braised the meat, garlic and onions yesterday and am finishing the stew tonight.  It is pretty funky..


I am adding rutabaga, parsnips, a carrot, potatoes, some of our coriander and a few onions.   It is still funky. 

I hope we don't have to order a pizza.

I smelled it again..  I think it is because it has so many bones in it.   Damn, I am usually way good at this. 

I added worcestershire sauce, some coriander and a bit of cayenne..  I hope I catch it before I put the vegetables with the stew meat.   I can fix this, but it involves tossing the braised lamb (bones) and refrigerating the veggies for another day. 

Yes, I still do the two parts separate rather than cooking my veggies with the meat.   An old grandma method that I stick with.   

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   update >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We ate the veggies and pitched the lamb, I ate a few bites and regret it.  Deanne and I figured that was one of 3 dishes I have had to toss in the almost 20 years we have been cooking together.   And of those three one was too blisteringly hot, and the other got a salt-shaker dumped into it accidentally.    I have NO IDEA why this tasted so awful.
   

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[LizR]

We've had yucky lamb from Publix and from Kroger and I can see how a lot of lamb bones would not be a good thing. Sorry that happened to you! Besides Costco lamb racks (which are just ok), the only place I splurge for lamb any more is Whole Foods.

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Some nights you just gotta bail.   Deanne is going past several reasonably good pizza places on her inbound drive from Buckhead so we tonight will have a grand salad and a few slices of Pizza Cafe's Tavern on Main's pizza.  Not world class mind you but certainly dinner for us tonight and possibly a grubber find (I'm sure I have mentioned it before).  We do NOT do it often but we do it sometimes when the day is long, the urge to cook is less and the chase for a GREAT pizza is superseded by a need for dinner.

First time ever ordering there:   The two small pizzas we ordered were okay, but not the choices I would make again, we had the chicken wing pizza and the Hot Mexican pizza, the chicken one was okay but the Mexican pizza was really spicy and hot and not what I wanted.  The salad there is a freshly done (it seemed) chopped salad with a good made-in-house dressing.  I would have to order from them a few more times before I'd say more.  The same price point as Pizza Cafe and a bit thinner (better) crust. 

Rock on Tavern on Main

http://tavernonmainsnellville.com/

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Rock On Pizza Cafe. 

http://www.pizzacafe.com/

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[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

An ad-lib pork stew tonight, seemed like a stew night.  It wanted to be lamb but the lamb I saw at the store was both expensive and pumped full of fluids.   So it is pork, browned off in its own fat ( cut off and rendered ahead of time ), dusted with Deez-Nuts rub from Meat Church in Texas, (that was almost a mistake because there is sugar/agave powder in the mix and it blackened the pan)( so I had to brown the pork chunks in two batches, take them out of the pan and completely clean the big enameled cast iron 10qt pot before I could continue). Some celery & 15 cloves of garlic going in in two shifts, a large white onion also going in in two shifts, two nice-size carrots in the braise.  No good stock in the house so I use Minor's chicken stock and water, 5 bay leaves, that part is stewing now.   Then I'll add two purple top turnips, One or two more stalks of celery, one bulb of fennel, and the other half of the onion (chopped) and perhaps one more carrot.  We have no starch in the stew so I have a nice Boule from Publix that is a Parmesan/Rosemary loaf that we will lightly toast and serve with the stew.   I did use a nice dash of my new Blis fish sauce (bourbon barrel aged) and some love and attention. 

About an hour out from dinner at 6:59..  Alexa is keeping my time, I'm doing the dirty work.

http://blisgourmet.com/products/barrel-aged-fish-sauce

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[LizR]

Mike - did you mail order that fish sauce or did you find it locally? I'm curious but not sure I want to pay for shipping as well as the premium price. Thanks

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Mike - did you mail order that fish sauce or did you find it locally? I'm curious but not sure I want to pay for shipping as well as the premium price. Thanks

I disliked the shipping cost too Liz, so I asked a chef to order it for me.   I paid about $14.00 per bottle I think, but an eyedropper full of it is all that is needed for most dishes.   Contact a chef you know and ask them to get it for you.. 

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[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

Been cooking a bit..   Here is last nights efforts and comments. 

Finch Creek Farm  braised cabbage and onion, FCF sweet potato (baked) and a Springer Mountain skinless Chix thigh with hatch Chile and Meat Church Honey Pig rub (cooked indoors).   

Having that cabbage right out of the ground and the sweet potato just a short while in the curing chamber makes a world of difference. Springer Mtn. chix, I skinned 'em and browned the thighs in the fat rendered off from the skin (and poured the rest out).

Easy, farm to table, and a reason to be thankful. 

[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

For the first time in my life I used "instant mashed potatoes" for dinner tonight.   I have used them in the past as a thickenr for stews and such but have NEVER USED THEM for a finished product of mashed potatoes.    Impressions to follow. 

I looked at Cooks Illustrated to find the ones that ranked highly and bought those, made from REAL potatoes and all.   but the laundry list of "other things" that go into these is massive.

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[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

I am so bad at this.      I have a ton of info about lamb stew that I want to share..   Please let me add it here when I have time.


Our lamb stew tonight is way off the charts good. and it is because of a few things.   First I sourced the thick cut lamb chops locally (arm chops) and cooked them first a few days ago.  I let them sit (bone in after really browning them in several batches) in the broth created by me with a S-load of garlic, homemade chicken stock and shaved onion. 

Let me finish this later, I'll add pictures of some of the process and perhaps the finished bowl of stew.. 

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[Mike GadgetGeek Stock]

 There are NO, NOT ONE, recipe for the baby parsnips that we are harvesting at Finch Creek Farm on the internet.   I am blanching mine tonight  maybe poaching is a better term ) and then shocking them, making a sage/onion brown butter sauce ( I almost hate to call this a sauce ), and adding some pecorino at the last few minutes for the parsnips.  The rest of the dinner will be LO Honey baked ham made into sandwiches with amazing cheddar brought back from the Left coast, I'm sure you can find Tillamook (sp) cheddar here locally but we found some at the Ferry building in San Fran and called it luggage.  No George Foreman will be used tonight but some wonderful sliced Vidalia onions and some Ray's ( look up that name ) mustard will make us a good Sam Handwich. 

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[LizR]

Sounds good Mike!

I made this a couple of nights ago when the weather was still a bit cool. Yummy! http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6850-chicken-fricassee-with-vermouth

[JakeMiller98]

I always go to St. Louis Catering if I have no time preparing for dinner.