Jerked Obsession
Dear E:
While my mom was visiting last month, N made jerked chicken. The three of us (plus dogs) sat out on the deck eating dinner and it was the very best chicken I have ever had. After Mom went back to the east coast, he made it again and I ate the leftovers for days without getting sick of it. Even after days upon days of leftovers I still wanted more!
big green eggy chicken
This is why we had jerk chicken on Saturday. My obsession.
jerked chicken and biscuit
N cut the chicken into quarters and trimmed off as much fat as possible -- including under the skin. Between the chicken skin and meat he rubbed butter, garlic, sage, and rosemary. On the outside of the skin he used a small amount of butter (the leftovers from the under-skin application) and a lot of jerk seasoning and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours or so.
N set the Big Green Egg up for direct cook and filled it with charcoal. Once it came to 180°F, he put the chicken on, body cavity side down and slowly raised the temperature to 300°F. Because I wanted crispy, edible chicken skin (so bad for me but so tasty with jerk seasoning!), once the chicken was almost finished cooking, he flipped it so the skin side was down and cooked it for a final 15 minutes to crisp the skin up.
For the rest of the meal, it was so hot and I was too miserable to cook. I went the lazy route and just tossed together a quick salad of mixed greens, radicchio, cucumber, tomatoes, and raw onion (your favorite! ha ha). I also made Penzey's Creamy Peppercorn Dressing -- only with yogurt for a little extra tang.
salad and biscuit
We really liked your cheddah-chive biscuits! I tried to resist but ended up having a second. They were so delicious! I'm sad you are all out of the accidentally-purchased buttermilk now. Mmm biscuits!
After dinner we eventually played a couple of games of Bohnanza, our default mindless game these days. I know I'm getting a little sick of it now (and it's my favorite game!) but it seemed like too much effort to play anything else when it was so warm. Maybe next time (as I keep saying). N found a game he thought would be good for us: Wool Rules! Maybe we should pencil in a trip to the game store next weekend.
Rut
Hi J!
I asked G what he wanted to making - country ribs was his answer. I think we are stuck in a rut. Creativity set aside, I concentrated on paring down with just guca + salsa + chips, simple Cesar salad, and G's country ribs.
less spicy, and more spicy country ribs
Mmm mmm .. I was chuckling when N asked about the Mission Strips chip selection. I preemptively avoided the responsibility, and the blame, and the controversy, when I asked G to select the chips for guacamole and salsa. "Strips" "Rounds" "White corn" "Yellow corn" "Crunchy"...
Then G added [store bought] potato salad ...... and your stone fruits and berries cobblers, recipe from joyofbaking was so tasty! Paired with Black Raspberry Swirl ice cream from Vivians /Theno's, yum. I see the future, where I have cobbler for dinner.
I was surprised when everyone agreed to play Mama Mia. I thought N doesn't particularly like this game?
G making pizza
I think I've narrowed down to a short list of games - Modern Art, Ark, Wasabi, Acquire, and Frank's Zoo. Putting them on the $ queue.
Recipe for country ribs:
- brine at least one day ahead (chicken broth, herbs, and salt)
- pat dry, sprinkle with rub ( paprika, cayenne pepper, chili pepper, chipotle, oregano, white pepper, garlic, salt, pepper)
- periodically spray (coke, water, bbq) G was testing whether spray is better than mob for a good crunch. He did not care for this version
- indirect heat for ~ 6 hrs
Everything tastes better with pork
Hi J!
It seems like forever (since May!) that we cooked at our place - before G & N's crazy hours (plus work trip), before your European vacation, before my foot surgery.. I think this is our first burger + salad this summer?
burger topped with mortadella
Quick, simple, and not overdoing it ... me thinks. Oh, excuse the crumbs on the plate, I was half way through my burger before I realized I didn't grab a pic. And oh, never minded that I couldn't resist and made a small chocolate cake recipe from epicurious, with cream cheese + whipped cream frosting.
After dinner, I managed to collect King Louis XVI in Guillotine, first time in recent memory ... then of course, I lost all the sequence games. I think it is time to find some new games. Do you have anything in mind? I am thinking about Wasabi, Acquire, and maybe replace Modern Art... or maybe San Juan... oh can't decide!
Craving Sated
Good afternoon!
I don't request major items often, but I really wanted pulled pork sandwiches on potato buns and N was willing to oblige.
On Tuesday, we moved the pork picnics from the big freezer to the fridge to defrost.
On Thursday, N coated the defrosted pork picnic in yellow mustard, then added his dry rub and wrapped it with plastic wrap. Back into the fridge it went. The mustard was to do a few things -- hold the dry rub on the meat and the vinegar in the mustard serves to start to soften things up (basic instructions).
Friday, N set up the Big Green Egg for smoking for 20+ hours and indirect heat. This blog post has a pretty accurate description of the smoking process. The two pork shoulders were put in the Egg around 5pm on Friday. The smaller one was removed around 3pm Saturday, the larger one around 5:30pm.
salad, slaw, pulled pork on a potato roll
While N was monitoring the smoking process, I worked on the potato buns. Following this recipe, which was missing some pertinent details (how much finished potato substance do you really need? at what temperature is the roll fully cooked?) but I went forth and used a lot of guessing and instinct.
I made the potato slurry on Friday so it could chill in the fridge overnight, then made the dough on Saturday afternoon. In retrospect I could (should) have made the rolls in advance of dinner. I was thinking about warm potato rolls, which ... we didn't really need. Next time I'll make them in advance.
The rolls turned out alright. They took about twice as long to bake as the recipe stated but their texture was right, being squishy but substantial and not faltering under the weight of pulled pork. They were not quite as good as my beloved Martin's rolls, but they were better than the majority of potato buns we can get here in Seattle, I think! I know you're not much of a fan of potato rolls -- or maybe it's just the fake-yellow you don't like -- but I hope you enjoyed these!
To add some vegetable to the protein and carbohydrate, we made two salads. I made a tomato, cucumber, and red onion salad tossed with vinaigrette -- this is a quick salad we like in summer. Then we made a cabbage slaw with two types of cabbage, a touch of thin sliced white onion, and dressing.
You and G brought bbq sauce from Armadillo, yum! It worked well with the pulled pork and thanks for the bottle. Mm!
For dessert, N said he wanted shortcake but I came to discover later that he meant sponge cake. Oops!
very 4 July themed in the red white and blue
I made the shortcake recipe in The Grand Central Baking Book: Breakfast Pastries, Cookies, Pies, and Satisfying Savories from the Pacific Northwest's Celebrated Bakery. I think I overworked the dough a little bit but overall they were tasty. I'm looking forward to trying a few other recipes from this cookbook.
I macerated the strawberries in a tiny bit of Cointreau, juice from a lemon, and a bit of sugar. N wanted the strawberries a little sweeter. I opted not to mash and macerate the blueberries.
After dessert, I was so incredibly stuffed! I was glad we opted to play the low-mental-effort Bean Game (Bohnanza -- I wonder if most people call it the bean game too?). I won the first game, G won the second game, and N + G tied the third game. Maybe next time we can try a new game before gorging ourselves on too much food?
Summer Craving
Word Up, E!
A week before I left on vacation, I started to crave pulled pork sandwiches. Shredded barbecued sauced pork with coleslaw on a potato roll... Mmm!
My favorite part of pulled pork sandwiches is the potato bun. My favorite brand is Martin's with their yellow color and delicious texture. I know you hate yellow buns, so thankfully for you, we can't get Martin's rolls here!
In fact, all of the potato rolls I've tried in Seattle have been mediocre at best. Nowhere near the right texture or flavor of my beloved Martin's.
I said to N, "hey! I bet I can make potato rolls."
Sure enough, I found this recipe (among others) which looks promising.
I cannot wait for pork sandwiches!
Travel Food: Munich
Dear E --
Happy Solstice!
Phew! It's been a while. I am very much looking forward to summer grilling season!
N and I had a lot of tasty food while we were on vacation.
In Munich, we had half-meter weisswurst on tasty crusty baguette rolls with spicy mustard:
half-metre!
In Munich, we also had fried herring with paprika-spiced potatoes at the Fischmarkt. The fish was fried with its skin on, and it was crispy and good. I wasn't eating the skin at first until I saw that other people were eating it:
fishy fishy
We also had a couple of very thin-crusted pizzas topped with very little sauce, just the way I like it:
bacon and onion?
proscuitto and mushroom
We also had a delicious breakfast in Munich -- lots of breads, meats, and cheeses. I wondered aloud why we don't eat breakfast like that here in the US.
Our first day in Munich, we sat down at a beer garden and N ordered a snack for us. It was some dense, dark brown bread (our favorite), butter, and a spiced Camembert cheese that was the color of salmon. It was delicious and a wonderful snack -- some bread, butter, cheese, topped with white onion. I have no idea what the cheese was spiced with, however.
Yum! Wish you & G were there to enjoy the food with us. 
Food envy
Hi J -
Yesterday, I took the last of your lasagna (pic of the giant pan of lasagna) out of the freezer. I chopped up some salad basics, heated up a portion for G, and I made a leftover country ribs sandwich - pull apart meat + armadillo bbq sauce + safeway bakery crusty roll. A low effort leftover dinner. Much later in the evening ...
G: your ribs sandwich looked really good. I want one now.
me: make a little one. like a slider.
G: can't. my eyes are bigger than my stomach. plus it is [too] late
Then when we were going to bed ... He mention it again. "I really wants a country ribs sandwich". In fact, he would trade the very last portion of your lasagna for one. Lucky me, I will get some lasagna!
Triangle, Round, and Rectangle
Hi J -
Why yes, that is all three shapes of Mission Restaurant Style chips.
G and I have have our preferences in crunchy snacks. He is (was?) a Lay's Potato Chips guy. I am a tortilla chips that comes in a brown bag + chipotle salsa person. When G wanted tortilla chips, he would get Tostitos Scoops. I remember a conversation four of us had last summer, when we were on the gucamole (!!!!!!!!!!) kick, how each of us have our favorite brand and shape.
A few weeks ago, when you served surf and turf fajitas, you had Rounds, I was (only slightly) surprised N and G both prefer the Rounds - something about the shape and the ability to scoop salsa and the fit of the shape in your mouth. (I think G has come around to the brown bag tortilla chips.)
So, I bought some triangles (I already had Rounds and Rectangles) and did a unscientific blind taste test with G. Here is the result:
- He correctly identified the rectangle, but switched the triangle and round
- Rectangles have the "best crunch", breaks easily
- "Rounds tastes better"
*the Rounds were a different colour than the others, not sure, may they differ batch from batch
In conclusion, he said he would sacrifice taste for better texture.
Pizza Trial
Hi J -
Phew! The cake-rush is over - three cakes in four weeks. G was very indecisive about his cake. So we ended up with a graham cracker crusted strawberry pie. Let me just say it is better frozen.
Back to the main dish for the evening - stuffed deep dish pizza. I ordered a deep dish pan a few weeks ago, after our friend Randy in Chicago mentioned getting pizza for dinner. G talks about the pizza at Giordanos often, even thought it was over five years ago we ate there. I'd thought I would give deep dish at home a try for his Birthday.
I made my usual pizza dough on Thursday. I used honey instead of white sugar, and increased wheat flour to 1 cup. The dough was active and I ended up kneading it again with floured hands on Friday. The recipe was enough for the 14" deep dish plus a calzone portion and a fun size bread stick.
The layers consisted of mozzarella cheese, pre-cooked bits of Fletchers Italian sausage, and sliced spicy pepperoni from Golden Steer. I added extra cheese on half. Another layer of dough, sauce, and Romano cheese to top it off. It baked, covered, in 450°F convection mode on top of a pizza stone for 45 minutes, then 350°F for another 15. First time was not a charm, I can think of many improvements. G thinks there weren't enough cheese or toppings.
I also threw together a romaine salad, stuffed mushrooms, tomatoes/moz/basil salad, and prosciutto wrapped asparagus to go with the pizza. (read: Backup Food)
You brought lot o beer to go with meal. Yummy. Some of the leftover Guinness will be made into a Chocolate Stout Cake for the next cake-occasion.
I suggested we play Mama Mia after tummy full of pizza. I like the pizza game even thought I am terrible at counting cards or remembering which ingredient to save. Some of the pizza combination in the game is not particularly appetizing - four bell peppers and mushrooms. Heh. We also managed a couple games of Guillotine. I think it is time to switch the order of play / seat or something. This way, we can change up who we be mean to.
Too much of a good thing…
... = scrambled egg. Oh, Hi J!
Happy Cake Day to N!
Last few times I made pastry cream (custard, creme anglaise, etc), the recipes call for and I used whole milk. This time, "I wonder if there is a really good recipe for an exceptional custard". So, I tried the Bostini recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum. The recipe calls for heavy cream. Twice, the mixture [at the last step] turned from liquid to scramble egg in a nano second. I went back to a whole milk recipe for the custard for this Boston Cream Pie.
I did make the orange chiffon cake from the Bostini recipe, and a whipped ganache to crumb coat the cake (from a tip in the Nick Malgieri Chocolate book). Then I used another Nick Malgieri chocolate glaze recipe of heavy cream and chocolate. One day, I will have a perfect smooth cake, with shinny glaze (without the corn syrup)...
Whoops, back from the cake-dream. I almost forgot the Chevy's Fresh Mex Sweet Corn Tomalito. Mmm Ymm ... Chevy's Tex Mex. When N said fajitas was on the menu, I couldn't help myself and had to make the corn pudding. Sadly, I did not produce any stale cactus to decorate the pudding. I am a slacker!
I also tried my hand at marinated mushrooms, recipe from chow.com. We added more salt and more balsamic vinegar and it was passable. I guess we like salt and balsamic, a lot.
N's mom is always a lot of fun. I love how she told you that since I like avocados, I must be from California! Thanks for inviting us!
