What did I cook this weekend.....

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I call this a tomato relish because I don't know what else to call it I suppose it's a tomato sauce. Fresh Cherry tomatoes, thyme, basil and parsley from my garden. Olive oil, red onion, a couple garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, capers, anchovy, salt and pepper and balsamic Vinegar. This is good on anything I love it on fish.
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Check out that fine dinnerware. Due to the incompetence of a delivery company I am still without all of my new kitchen cabinets and thus have no kitchen sink to wash dishss in. I would never have survived back in the wilderness days.

 

When that is perfected(or NOW!) a recipe is needed!
That looks right up my alley:rockin:

 

Italian Tirali with San Marzano tomato sauce with oregano etc, and grilled Andouille! Topped with grated Romano. Should be interesting if nothing else!!
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Trying a new recipe for crockpot Carolina vinegar-based pulled pork. It's gonna cook all night - I'll know tomorrow if it's gonna be good!

 

Those look & sound so awesome! I'm going to have to try them, or at least something similar, at some point. Well done!
Regards, GF.

 

It was a little chilly & wet the other morning, I was getting my drink on & thinking it was starting to feel a bit like autumn (I work nights). So I cranked up the stereo, lit some incense and proceeded to drink & cook. There's something about it that's just a little "Zen-like" IMHO.

I had some shrimp & crimini mushrooms I needed to use up & thought soup was just the thing for a chilly, wet day. It's sort of Thai-ish, but I'm not sure just what to call it, so I've christened it "Kitchen Sink Fusion Soup."

Coated the bottom of the pot with olive oil & added chicken stock, coconut milk, fresh lime juice, garlic, tablespoon of red miso, a splash of rice vinegar, hot madras curry powder, fish sauce, soy sauce, a healthy dollop of rooster sauce, about a tablespoon of dried, crushed sweet basil, 6 chopped scallions, the mushrooms, shrimp, a handful of fresh chopped cilantro, shiratake noodles, a handful of dried dulse, a handful of bonito flakes, simmered 30 minutes and served up with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

It wasn't fancy, it was soup; but it was hot, spicy & savoury, and with a mugful of some really awesome REAL cider, from real cider apples, it really hit the spot.
Regards, GF.

 

Cheers guys. I´ll get you something when I get it out of alpha if it´s a good beta.^^

The timings are rather tricky on this, especially with the cheese and egg yolk. Plus I need to change some ingredients. The spinach was a little light in flavor and got lost mostly, so I am gonna try kale. Just like the portabello also was not shining through enough chantarelles are next to try, since they are about to go in season. Also the sage might become the full scarborough fair. Then I need to hit just the right assembly order. Etc.
Thing is that you can´t fit a lot in there so everything needs to come through in low amounts.

Anyhow, thanks for kind words everyone, there is more to come including the recipe at one point.

 

My mother has a recipe for something kind of similar. She makes it more pastelike though and calls it a tomato gravy and it is freaking amazing on cheese grits. I miss that, am going to have to see if she still has enough tomatoes left from her garden and help her make it when I next visit. Looks amazing.

 

you could spread it on the paper plate I was eating off of and the plate would taste good.

 

Yum...looks like a perfect bruschetta topper!

I made some braised lamb shoulder chops today, I'll finish the gravy and put it all together for dinner tonight (and everyone will turn their nose up t it and want cheap ramen).

 

Had some cilantro that was just starting to wilt and an old-ish bag of walnuts...food processor pesto! If the walnuts had been nice and fresh, this would REALLY rock. As it is, it ain't half bad. Trying in on some rice, for a quick taste test.

 

Ooh, that lamb shoulder chop was good...with rice and gravy.

 

Yeah it's kinda untraditional but it tastes great!

 

Been doing house chores all day instead of cooking or rolling cigars or building cigar molds or anything else. But got two leaky toilets fixed. Brats and burgers tonight, but I did go to the store this morning and Peri Peri Chicken with chili lime rice and probably roasted taters again. Damn Costco for selling me that huge bag of delicious little red potatoes! Lol (yes I know rice and taters is two starches, I may do a salad in place of one of them).

 

Correction. Coconut Lime Rice! Chili Lime Rice would be too much chili given the Peri Peri Chicken! Lol

 

Brats in honor of our opponents tonight.

 

2 starches. OMG. I'm calling Martha Stewart.

If you put the rice and potatoes really close together on your plate, you can say it's one sidedish. Slice them pots, fry them in butter, add to the rice, add some chopped scallions, you're in business. THAT you can get away with. This once.

 

Lol!

 

So the base of Peri Peri Sauce is, you guessed it, it chilis!! In this particular instance 5 huge hatch chilis, 4 habaneros, and most of a bag of really cute little red, orange, and yellow bell peppers. It looks like this
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To that you add paprika, oregano, salt, red chili powder(not Texas chili powder), a ton of garlic, dark vinegar, black pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil. It ends up looking like this
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In my case, this time, I am soaking 6 lbs of chicken thighs in about 2/3rds of the sauce till tomorrow evening when I grill it.

It is A) Awesome! and B) Tastes just like Nando's! (If you have been in England in the last 10 years or so you may recognize this chain).

The other 1/3 of the marinade I will reduce slightly and serve on the side.

 

Chicken on the left. Two pork butts on the right. I'll have to post some finished pics later. You know, that whole lookin' cookin' thing.

 

I don't like you! You have not one but two eggs!
I want one but life gets in the way sometimes, soon I hope.

 

One I got as a wedding gift 12 years ago. The other I traded a tile job for about 5 years ago. I couldn't pull the trigger myself if it was hard cash on the line. That said, I wouldn't want to be without one. It's a rare occasion they're used at the same time.

When you get one, you won't regret it.

 

I'm not about to get married again, so do you need any motorcycle work done

 

I wish I did. I sold my bike years ago and have been wanting another ever since.

Back on topic; finished the chicken and grilled steaks for dinner. I'm terrible at taking pics, I'll post some pork pics in the morning.

That's pulled pork pics.

I mean pork butt.

Barbecue, damnit.

 

Pork as promised.

 

Gotta love a good butt photo!

My little project for the last half hour has been putting together Tater Tot casseroles; one with hamburger, and a vegetarian one with black beans. Some of us have to cook for both ... (@Billy-Klubb)

My kids are finicky and not generally big fans of vegetarian food...I just hope they don't pick out all the veggies in the meat version.

Ready for the oven:

 

Just put three trays of quartered Roma tomatoes, sprinkled with garlic powder and smoked salt, into the dehydrator. Will dry completely, then run through some red wine vinegar and into olive oil to preserve.

 

And now, I find out that extended family is going to Live Garden at 5:30...looks like I'll be doing a salad. (Because this casserole stuff was excellent!)

 

Red beans and rice made with home cured/smoked Canadian bacon and homemade habanero sauce.

 

For something so simple that looks delicious!

 

Simple? Simple???

Damm Canadian bacon takes a week to make, started soaking those beans last night, and spent ~4+ hours simmering today; after an hour of cutting onions, peppers, celery, etc...

Let alone how long the hot sauce took to make.

Simple, my ass!

 

I didn't say easy, simple there is a difference.

 

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Mostly Leftovers...

 

A frittata for breakfast, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onion, a little hot sauce and Locatilla cheese.
Happy View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441631800.718423.jpg

 

Not to shabby for leftovers, I never understood some peoples aversion to them, I almost always make more then I going to eat so I can have it again

 

Doing another round of trials on my savory breakfast tarts. Making good progress and learning a lot! I am hoping to finalize the recipe next week when I do my third batch. I´ll get you the recipe then. Even considering trying to find someone to help me make a quick instructional video on how to do it cause when written down (done that now) it is hard to describe some steps and it just seems harder and more complicated than it actually is.
I mean it is not the most simple of dishes, but it´s not rocket science either. Once you do it it´s alright and so rewarding.

Anyhow, made progress with timing, process, layering, and ingredients! Starting to get that yolk baking time down, found that kale does not work as well as spinach (just need to prepare that differently), chanterelles beat portabello, etc.

I am now confident that you will have the recipe once we hit the changing of the leaves. That time when you know fall has come, but it is still rather warm and bright, just with a different crispness in the air. The time I envisioned with this recipe really.

 

Korean night at my house. Cucumber Kimchi and Bulgogi over rice. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441667759.069474.jpg

 

First attempt at a marbled cake. Used my basic pound cake recipe and added cocoa powder, mixed with a couple tablespoons of water, to about half of the batter. I won't know how the marbling effect turned out until tomorrow evening at my oldest daughter's birthday dinner. (And since her husband and in-laws were going to order pizzas, my girl secretly requested her Daddy to cook dinner...so she could tell them I already had plans for her dinner.)

 

I would have gone for a checkerboard effect... but I bet it will be swirled & marbled beautifully!

 

I actually did an opposing layer and had just enough left of the vanilla to spread over the bottom. I used my long-handled plastic spoon handle to do a series of swirls around the pan clockwise and then did a second series of swirls in the opposite direction. I'm hoping that, since the cake is circular instead of square, that this might work better. You can see the offset before I added the vanilla scoops. You can get a *little* idea from the bottom of the cake when I unmolded it.