Looks Can Be Deceiving

Supper, Tuesday November 07: barbecue; polenta and feta; sauteed mixed vegetables.

This meal doesn't look like much but man o man was it good. First we have to dispense with a few definitions. This is for you Stephen. 

First, barbeque is an acceptable spelling. I like the q. 

Second, in eastern and central North Carolina barbeque means slow cooked pork over indirect low heat with smoke. You can achieve this a number of ways, open pit to electric with chips, but the goal is the same, tender, sweet, smoky, goodness. I need to be clear on this. Barbeque is not any old meat cooked on a grill and covered in glop. Barbeque is that method, slow, low, indirect, smoky, and the meat it renders. As for barbeque sauce, sauce is something you put on barbeque. The sauce is not what makes it "barbeque." The meat and the method does. The sauce is there to enhance the experience. If you can't eat it without the sauce then you have done something wrong. 

That said, for all its lack of visual appeal, this was the best pork shoulder I have ever smoked. After I brought it in and let it rest I started to pull the meat apart and the bones came out with 2 fingers. I didn't chop the meat. I just pulled it apart with my fingers. I added some Lexington style sauce to it. There are no words.

That polenta was pretty tasty too. It was made from roasted cornmeal a great smoky accompaniment. 

Oh, and you don't need anything more complicated than a kettle grill. Next time I will document.

Green Soup Is Always A Little Intimidating

Supper, Sunday November 07: nasturtium and leek soup;* wilted greens salad, whole wheat biscuit.

*We had a friend over for dinner. Traditionally this would be made with chicken stock. Our friend is a vegetarian so I made this with vegetable base instead. Truth be told that is what I would normally use. I make my own meat stocks but I use a commercial vegetable base concentrate. I use it whenever anything needs a little flavor boost and or some salt. Rice, add a little base. Polenta, add a little base. Soup a little weak, add a little base. 

Wait, It's Not Friday

Supper, Saturday November 04: fried catfish; lima beans; pickle.

Fish Friday is a bit of a joke for us. We don't proscribe to any such dogma. We like fish though and I try to get it in as much as I can. Friday is as good as any other day, so I like to get it in at least on Friday. This time I missed it so Saturday it is. 

If you are not a fan of lima beans I suggest you try an experiment. Get some FRESH limas. Not canned. Not frozen. Simmer them in just enough water to cover until tender. Drain, add a little butter and a pinch each of salt and pepper. You might change your mind.

No, You Didn't See That

Supper, Thursday November 02: leftover pot roast veggies; Fried squash and okra; buffalo chicken skin.

My intention here was to be cheeky. Alexis jokes about eating "bucket of skin" 'cause she likes crispity chicken skin. So when I got some chicken thighs on sale recently I skinned and deboned them for use in stir fry or somesuch. I saved the skin for my little joke. They are just fried in the deep fryer til crispy then I tossed on a bunch of pepper sauce.

It was really good.

I feel dirty.

It Doesn't Look Like Leftovers

Lunch, Thursday November 02: re-task enchiladas (left over burrito filling from the previous nights restaurant, seared corn tortillas, verde, cheddar); mexi-rice; pickle.

The problem with a leftover burrito is that the tortilla transforms in places, particularly on the bottom, to a mushy goo. Technically edible, not palatable. I like to transpose the filling to seared corn tortillas for enchiladas. Much better.

I've said it before and I will keep on saying it, we, as in most Americans, throw away too much perfectly good food. Not just from the table, it starts in the field. According to the NRDC about 40% of the food grown here is doesn't make it to the table, mostly because it isn't pretty enough. 50 million Americans are food insecure and we are tossing millions of tons of food mostly because of unreasonable expectations vis a vie appearance. 

Does using my leftover burrito filling make a difference. No, but it is the principle. I don't get to bitch about food waste and then throw away half a burrito. 

A little more moral consistency in the world would make it a better place.

I'll Make You French Toast Again

Breakfast, Thursday November 02: french toast (home baked multigrain, egg, milk, vanilla, almond extract, slivered almonds); sausage; plantain.

I think that is a line from a song. Oh yeah, interwebs. It's actually "serve you French toast again." 

What the hell did we do before interwebs? Probably spent a lot less time worrying about inane trivia.

It's Cranberry Time!!!

Breakfast, Wednesday November 01: toast and sausage gravy; cranberry salad; banana, pickled okra.

I really like that cranberry salad. There is a recipe here. I won't belabor the point.

We both enjoy sausage gravy. Here I stumbled on some bulk store sausage that was deeply discounted, It is a little bland to I added dome of my sausage spices and some crushed red pepper for some kick, I usually make it in a pound batch. We will get a couple of meals out of that much. This is an item that reheats very well

Gnome Butts

Supper, Tuesday October 31: Thai frog legs (de-boned frog legs, shiitake, black fungus, onion, carrot, roasted chilis, sesame seed, fish sauce, soy); rice noodles; kimchi, seaweed salad.

We have a couple of Asian groceries that we patronize. One is a small affair that we have been using for years. the other is a new and much bigger store. The new one has a much wider variety of items and a broader selection within categories. On the other hand the small store has most of the stuff we normally use in the brands we recognize. Mostly I stick with our usual store, but if I am in the mood to explore new ideas I might go to the new shiny store and wander the aisles. 

This time I went to the new place. I spotted the frog legs in the freezer. I didn't know I was looking for them until found them. I decided to do a stir fry of some sort with them. 

I love that fresh seaweed salad.

Oh yeah, at some point in the day I texted Alexis with the following picture to tell her we were having gnome butts for dinner.

Lots Of Little Containers

This is just a funny entry. Kinda an example of the stuff I don't write about. This is breakfast and lunch on a work day, hot cereal and tinned fruit, grilled cheese and vegetables. Simple but healthy.

It's What's For Dinner. . .

Supper, Monday October 10: pot roast (ginormous ribeye, English roast spice blend, carrots, potatoes, cardoon, onion, parsnip).

Yes I said Ribeye. Hear me out. I was at the store scanning the meat dept for deals and spotted this ribeye reduced for quick sale. It was huge, nearly a pound and a half. That is way more meat then Alexis would eat at one sitting. Steak is good. Leftover steak is not. Then I got a funny idea, "That thing is the size of a small pot roast." I bought it. I put it in the crock for about an hour with a spice blend we got at some novelty spice store, a little garlic, a little water, and a bit of marsala. I added the vegetables save the potatoes then let that simmer til they were just tender then added the taters. It was scary good AND ALSO THE NEXT DAY.

Remember that "It's what's for dinner" campaign for beef back in the 90s? A couple of different voice actors worked on that, eventually Sam Elliot got involved. he was the voice of beef. Listening to him made you want to run out and rope a steer, start a fire, and cut out a slab right then and there. 

It's All About The Sauce

Supper, Sunday October 09: tofu verde (seared tofu. garden tomatillos, onion, garlic, roasted chilis, chili powder, olive oil); mexi-rice (long grain rice, tomato sauce, chili powder, pinto beans, corn); olives; grilled pineapple; toast.

We had a decent tomatillo harvest this fall. I was pleased to have anything. I had trouble with my seed starts back in the spring. I finally ended up with 4 good plants. Of the 4, 3 were good producers. I canned some and I made verde sauce. We had a vegetarian friend join us for dinner so I seared some tofu well in a pan then smothered in in the verde and let it simmer a bit. It was great. I think verde sauce is to Mex/SW cuisine as vindaloo is to Indian. The protein is of little consequence, It could be braised possum, but no one would know otherwise. So, the tofu was great. 

Using fresh tomatillos is easy. Remove the husks. Rinse well. Quarter, Put in a sauce-pot with just a couple ounces of water. Simmer til they have broken down. 

Yin-Yang

Breakfast, Sunday October 26: black beans (olive oil. onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, feta); mexi-rice (wild rice, arborio, tomato paste, onion, garlic, vegetable base); scramble (eggs, parsley, chive, cilantro); fried plantain.

I have a bit of insomnia now and again. Sometimes I wake up WAY to early and then there is no going back to sleep. I think this time it was about 4 am. Alexis slept in so I had a lot of time to spend on this.