What's for Dinner?

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Sounds like a lovely dinner!

Started out with fried calamari. It comes with ... a cilantro/sesame/sriracha aioli dip. The calamari was incredibly tender and they use a tempura-style batter which was a nice change.

Ohh, boy, I realize it didn't turn out quite as well as you hoped, but that sounds ... :HB :HB :HB
 
Time to exercise that liver!!! :)

Didn't realize how out of shape it is. I'm getting my fill just with beer. Wine will have to wait for next weekend. Long gone are the days of putting away a couple of six packs on a Sunday afternoon. If I can get to six I will be amazed (and probably feel it tomorrow morning). Couldn't even finish my steak. Never got to the twice baked tater. Will be enjoying both for lunch tomorrow.
 
Tonight was simple, corn, asparagus, potatoes, and pork ham steaks. I must say that ham steak has to be the best pork I've ever eaten. Home grown, not store bought. I think from now on I'll get farm raised hogs from now on. The flavor was so much better
 
Well, I found the lower limit of temperature... I made a rack of babyback pork ribs. As I usually do, I baked them in the oven for 4 hours at low temperature to start. Later, I heat them up to 500 or turn on the broiler or finish them on the grill to crisp them up. For the low-temperature segment, I generally do them at 250, and they fall off the bone. Today, I tried 200F. This turns out to be too low. They were fine and tender and all, but the texture was a little firmer than I wanted. It was like, say, prime rib (which is not at all bad!), but they were not melt-in-your-mouth tender. Good to know where the lower limit is!

Served this with some leftover sides -- the summery cous-cous from last night, and some braised chard from 2 nights ago. Washed down with a WE SI Argentinian Malbec, which seemed lovely to me tonight. (I have been underwhelmed by this in the past.) It is a simple, straightforward wine, not at all complex, but tasty enough as it is.
 
Well, I found the lower limit of temperature... I made a rack of babyback pork ribs. As I usually do, I baked them in the oven for 4 hours at low temperature to start. Later, I heat them up to 500 or turn on the broiler or finish them on the grill to crisp them up. For the low-temperature segment, I generally do them at 250, and they fall off the bone. Today, I tried 200F. This turns out to be too low. They were fine and tender and all, but the texture was a little firmer than I wanted. It was like, say, prime rib (which is not at all bad!), but they were not melt-in-your-mouth tender. Good to know where the lower limit is!

Served this with some leftover sides -- the summery cous-cous from last night, and some braised chard from 2 nights ago. Washed down with a WE SI Argentinian Malbec, which seemed lovely to me tonight. (I have been underwhelmed by this in the past.) It is a simple, straightforward wine, not at all complex, but tasty enough as it is.

You can do them at 200, just have to boost your cook time. During hunting season, I smoke baby backs on my Primo for an hour at 200, foil them and put them back on just before we head out to hunt. Four hours later, they come out of the foil and back on the Primo to glaze on some Sweet Baby Rays for another hour. You could slide the bones out if you wanted, super tender, smoky, I'm getting hungry.....
 
85 and sunny today so we're bringing back summertime. Burgers seasoned with woosty sauce, McCormick burger seasoning and loads of fresh chopped scallion. Tots (of course) and corn on the cob on the side.
 
86*F and Sunny (had to outdo Jim) so grilled up an inch thick ham steak. Served with a leaf lettuce salad (romaine is hard to get around here all of a sudden) and various types of chips (some had sweet potato, I had jalapeno). All along giving my testimony over the phone so I could be served a subpoena (later tonight or tomorrow) to show up in court for a major traffic violation one of my neighbors was involved in and that I witnessed, oh joy, but someone has to do it.
 
Got busy this morning and diced up a leftover London Broil to make sandwiches tonight. I could forsee some caramelized onions, green peppers and gooey cheese, topped with some hot peppers. Might have to take some to make a nice roast beast samwich for lunch, or top my salad with it and forgo the carbs associated with the bread.

4-12-17_chopped-steak.JPG
 
We had our Easter feast yesterday (Saturday), due to conflicting schedules of our guests. We had a total of 5 at dinner, and so, with the able assistance of my wife's girlfriend, I decided to go pretty much all out.

I made a fancy-schmancy amuse-gueule (which is what French people actually call what we call an amuse-bouche), which I adapted from a Joël Robuchon recipe. I seared scallops in smoking hot butter, then cut them in half, loaded in a layer of caviar, covered with the top half scallop, topped with crushed pink peppercorns, then smothered in a sauce made from reduced wine and seafood stock, shallots, lemon zest and juice, and heavy cream, and served this on a flash-seared leaf of escarole. This was paired with a Chateau Ste. Michelle Pinot Gris.

Next, I made an appetizer of deep-fried artichoke hearts, covered with Parmigiano-Reggiano and truffle oil. (Still with the Pinot Gris.)

Dinner was rack of lamb, dry-brined, then marinated in olive oil with fresh thyme, rosemary, and garlic, then roasted in a 450F oven. I made a sauce/relish sort of like a chimichurri, with mint, parsley, preserved lemon, lemon-macerated shallots, roasted almonds, and roasted garlic. This was served with sides of pearl cous-cous with feta cheese and fresh marjoram, and then roasted broccoli with apricots steeped in white balsamic vinegar, Kalamata olives, capers, lemon, and hot Calabrian cherry peppers. Also had a simple salad of arugula and spring mix with a lemon/olive oil/thyme dressing. DW had just flown in from a business trip to San Fran, and so she brought a nice loaf of sourdough bread. This was all washed down with a blend of two Zinfandels: a recent (fruit-bomb) 7 Deadly Zins, mixed with a stored 2010 Cline, which is much less fruit-forward. The blend came out nicely.

I had procured some cannoli from a Italian bakery, but we were too stuffed to eat them! Anyone want a cannolo? ;)

I've run the dishwasher twice, and yet the kitchen is still a mess! Only negative of the meal was that I overcooked the lamb! I only had it in for 15 minutes, but it got to medium, dang it! :m
 
I'd like to make those crawdads an Easter tradition! Might have to find a new family if I do that (girls wouldn't eat them, more for me). Had a traditional Ham dinner, with smashed sweet taters (baked taters for the two of us who don't enjoy the sweet ones) and green beaners. Served it with a nice hoppy 60 minute IPA clone. Best part was that I arrived home to the smell of ham in the oven and did nothing but sit my fat butt down and enjoy a meal that I didn't have to cook! Happy Easter everyone.

4-16-17_ham-boner.JPG
 
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