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I was thinking of making it tomorrow morning, going to services, then eating for lunch, so I'd start it around 5-6 am, could run it on high until 9:30, then add the hominy and turn it to low and eat around noon.

Have you used the dried posole before? Is there a big flavor difference from that and the hominy? I could order some dried posole, wasn't sure if it was worth it flavor wise as I can usually find a few different types of hominy around these parts. Almost did from Bueno, but they only had frozen. One of the hispanic markets around here has got to have it, just haven't found it, yet.

I could not find canned hominy (totally out) but they had lots of the frozen/dried stuff. I used the frozen stuff yesterday. I researched it and found that (at altitude you need to soak it over night in water) or it (like pinto beans) will take all day, and all night to get done. You may be able to get away with cooking it fora only an hour or two like it says on the package but I can't.

I soaked overnight then started making dinner around 9AM. I got the crock pot on high around 11AM and added the hominy and let it rip on high until about 3PM and it finally tasted pretty done and I switched it to low for a couple hours more and by 6PM was very nice and done. YMMV.
 
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We had NYE dinner of surf 'n' turf with grilled NY Strip steak and Dungeness crab and lots of garlic butter; asparagus and shiitake mushroom saute (ginger, shallots, sherry); haricots verts with creamy gorgonzola and pecans; and au gratin potatoes. Lots of sparkling wine from New Mexico and New York. :)
 
NYE celebration. Chilean Sea Bass with an Orange Ponzu reduction (Thanks Costco!) over Jasmine rice with a side salad of baby spinach and kale with an Asian vinaigrette. Paired with an Austin Hope Treanna Chardonnay and an Adelaida Picpoul Blanc (both from Paso Robles) We also had a bottle of Gruet Sauvage NV Sparkling wine (NM)

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Haven't done this chicken recipe in a while, so why not do it with three different cuts? Wings, thighs, and BSBs in the "Roadside" marinade/baste. Spring green salad with ho-made lemon vinaigrette and taters roasted in ho-made butter, thyme, rosemary and finished with a little parmesan. Haven't grilled anything in a couple weeks, so it was nice to get back in the saddle.

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Day off, pizza experiment day! Have been reading a lot about hydration levels and how it relates to the pizza cook time. Most pizzas on my baking steel in a 525*F oven average 7-9 minutes cooking time. I use a 70% hydration dough for those per the book I'm reading (Ken Forskish - The Elements of Pizza).

For an outdoor cook on the KettlePizza, they call for a lower hydration level (60% range). At first that doesn't seem to make sense, you'd think, higher temps, more water, but the dough loses moisture more with time of the cook than temp of the cook, so a KettlePizza or wood fired oven cook is usually a quicker cook (I was averaging around 3.5 minutes with the four I did today @ 815*F at the back of the stone, 725*F at the front).

Everything seemed to work as it should have, gave away 3 pizzas so far (wifey will take 3 to work). Made 8, just remembered I need to go up and make a GF one for my son who is currently at work.

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GF pizza made, I gave him some leftover bacon from Saturday morning. If I'm in bed by the time he gets home I'll hear him yell "Coooool".
 
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Enjoying the fruits of NYE plus some new delectables. Surf 'n' turf, but this time it was rack of lamb (garlic, aminos, thyme); and Dungeness crab leftover from NYE, with garlic butter; roasted fennel; gai lan (AKA Chinese broccoli) with garlic, etc.; and red beans with parsley, garlic, etc.. Washed down with two wines: a nominal Claret from Paso Robles, which was excellent (2018 Donati Family Vineyard), and a ho-made Pinot Gris (which was adequate).

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Nice day around here, actually hit 59 in the car on the way home (I think it's pretty accurate). Giant (know as Guy-ant around these parts) had some turkey loin/breast parts on fire sale. Whipped up a batch of fajita seasoning now that I have some real chile powder (Special Reserve Red Chile Powder - Two 6 oz. Packages - Bueno Foods) and started up the Weber kettle with a charcoal/hickory wood mix. After about 1 hour of marinating, threw them on the grill and cooked a bit underdone. Sliced and threw them into a pot with some sliced bell peppers and several types of onion. I made some quesadillas for dinner, kids are slowly invading the kitchen and making what they prefer (and hence I have moved to the dungeon). It was yum!

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Mrs. WM81 wanted meatballs for dinner, so I opened a bottle of Marsala. She was a bit surprised that I simmered the meatballs in Marsala, but was highly pleased with the result.

This was Monday. Last night I made chicken cutlets in Black Forest Port sauce.

Dinner is often some kind of meat, either plain or dusted in cornstarch or flour, sauted, then simmered in some wine with some herbs, thickened and served over pasta or rice. Usually with a salad and some vegetables. No one gets bored, as it's never the same twice. Making everything up as I go produces that result. ;)

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And now for dinner........ Thursday night......... Ho-made Pizza night! Made the sauce and the pizza dough. Sourdough for the Detroit Style pizza and an experiment of 50/50 KA Bread Flour and Caputo 00 flour. Baked at 500F for 10 mins and then finished off with the broiler for ~3mins at the end. Both were excellent!

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A little cooler today (low 40s vs low 60s) so decided to make something in the oven. My Son who still lives here likes lasagna as leftovers, so I decided to cook up one of those, gluten free of course. The Barilla lasagna sheets made from corn cook up and taste pretty much like their gluten rich counter parts, maybe a few dry edges if they aren't covered in sauce when cooking.

Lot's of veges with some ground sausage for flavor. Set up pretty quickly (15 minutes) after cooking, so we did get to eat before 7 pm, small victory since I forgot to purchase ricotta cheese on the way home and had to run out to get some (put me in the hole time-wise by 45 minutes). Still yum!


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Mrs WM81 wanted fish for dinner last night, so she went the local HT to see what was available. As luck would have it, they had 1 piece of haddock left (it's not commonly available in central NC). Since the haddock was a bit small, she decided to buy us each a crab cake (yeah, twist my arm!).

I beat an egg with a shot of Texas Pete (hot sauce) and seasoned salt, and thin it with lime juice. Roll white fish (haddock, cod, pollock, etc) in egg and then in bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs) and pan fry. Served with gnocchi from World Market and steamed broccoli.

The wine? 2021 FWK Chardonnay. I'm REALLY pleased with how this one turned out, and will make it again.

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I've got a couple of cans of salmon in the cupboard -- I may make salmon cakes for dinner Sunday. Mrs WM81 loves 'em and we haven't had that in a while.
 
Day off, pizza experiment day! Have been reading a lot about hydration levels and how it relates to the pizza cook time. Most pizzas on my baking steel in a 525*F oven average 7-9 minutes cooking time. I use a 70% hydration dough for those per the book I'm reading (Ken Forskish - The Elements of Pizza).

For an outdoor cook on the KettlePizza, they call for a lower hydration level (60% range). At first that doesn't seem to make sense, you'd think, higher temps, more water, but the dough loses moisture more with time of the cook than temp of the cook, so a KettlePizza or wood fired oven cook is usually a quicker cook (I was averaging around 3.5 minutes with the four I did today @ 815*F at the back of the stone, 725*F at the front).

Everything seemed to work as it should have, gave away 3 pizzas so far (wifey will take 3 to work). Made 8, just remembered I need to go up and make a GF one for my son who is currently at work.

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GF pizza made, I gave him some leftover bacon from Saturday morning. If I'm in bed by the time he gets home I'll hear him yell "Coooool".
"Leftover bacon"???? I didn't know such a thing existed! 1673134621278.png
 

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