Spare ribs from Fresh Farms Wheeling on the smoker for 4.5 hours. I used a method that I learned from Gary's book 'Low and Slow' : https://www.amazon.com/Low-Slow-Master- ... 850&sr=8-1 . I made a rub of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, whole thyme, coriander, oregano and ancho chili powder. Put a heavy coat on prior to starting. I made a wash of 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup white vinegar and 1 TBSP rub. Every 30 minutes or so I washed the ribs. This allows each layer to cook and build up. Last 1.5 hours I added some brown sugar to the wash. It comes off the smoker with a wonderful bark and still very juicy.

lougord99 wrote:Spare ribs from Fresh Farms Wheeling on the smoker

I call dibs on the tips. Looks terrific!

Faced with a glut of mushrooms, I opted for Chicken Chasseur last night (not a truly traditional version — if you’re a purist, move on).

Started with boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Gunthorp Farms in Indiana (that’s what was in the freezer). Opened them up, and because the thickness was uneven, smacked ‘em down with a heavy cast iron pan to fairly flat, then coated in flour with a bit of S&P before frying.


After they were golden brown on both sides, they went into a 170° oven while I made the sauce. I started with yellow carrots from Henry’s Farm, tomatoes from Nichols Farm (added later), and an onion, from I don’t remember where.


When the onion and carrots started to soften, I added mushrooms. The 1 lb. “Mushroom Medley” from River Valley included crimini, shitake and oyster mushrooms, all chopped into bite sized pieces. Because mushrooms can be a little bit like sponges, I added some Boka Box Sauvignon Blanc along with butter to help keep them from getting too greasy.


Millie’s Wide Egg Noodles were the base.
(lousy photo, I know)

Before plating with the chicken, I added a bunch of parsley (grown under lights in the basement, so as not to feed the rabbits in the back yard), fines herbs, and the tomatoes to the mushroom sauce. Garnished with a little oregano from the back yard (the rabbits don’t appreciate oregano).


There was enough of the Chasseur sauce left over that it may go over a little pork tenderloin in the coming week.

nr706 wrote:Faced with a glut of mushrooms, I opted for Chicken Chasseur last night (not a truly traditional version — if you’re a purist, move on).

Nice, Tom! It looks purely delicious, so what's not to like?

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Tom, you have again made an unusual dish that looks great.

I've always said that there's very little that you can do with cauliflower that isn't better with broccoli.
The exception is curry.

I'm not seeing Tom's images. Is that just me?

Jazzfood wrote:I'm not seeing Tom's images. Is that just me?

Not just you. I have to adjust the security settings on my browser to see them.

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One of these days, I'll get around to using a different server with different settings. 'Til then ... sorry.

I use Firefox and have never had an issue seeing Tom's pictures.

I use Firefox and have never seen his pictures.

nr706 wrote:One of these days, I'll get around to using a different server with different settings. 'Til then ... sorry.

lougord99 wrote:I use Firefox and have never had an issue seeing Tom's pictures.

Xexo wrote:I use Firefox and have never seen his pictures.

Actually, I think it's an ad-blocker issue. Tom's domain can be read by some browsers under some circumstances as an advertising site, so the images are blocked by default. The real issue, however, is that he is unable to upload the images directly to LTH, and that's not his fault. It's mine. It's a vexing issue that, so far, a few different outside developers have been unable to solve.

Lately, I've been in the mood to try some pork belly dishes, so I picked up an 11-pounder at Costco last week. Used about 25% of it in tonight's dinner . . .


Mise En Place & Shiro Kamo Yoru Blue #2 Gyuto, 180mm
Red onion, veg oil, dried heaven-facing chiles, minced garlic, minced ginger, fig vinegar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, raw sugar, scallion tops, scallion bottoms, skinless slow-roasted pork belly and 2x gelatinous pork stock.

While looking for something else, I stumbled upon a new (to me) method for prepping the belly. Normally, I blanch it in aromatic bath or and/or braise it. This time, inspired by something I saw on youtube (can't remember where, though) I salted the fat side and baked it at 325F for ~3 hours (wire rack, touch of water on the baking sheet to prevent scorching), until it became tender and had rendered quite a bit of fat. From there, I let it cool/congeal, cut it into cubes and used the cubes in the stir-fry.

Using my wok, I started by sizzling the dried chiles in oil, then removed them. Next, I added the belly chunks and the sugar (about a teaspoon). Once the pork had browned all over, I removed it and all but about a tablespoon of the additional fat that had rendered out. From there, in went the onions, scallion bottoms, garlic and ginger. Once they'd softened and had some color, I drizzled in some of the soy, dark soy and fig vinegar, followed by a blob of the stock. When the liquids had thickened a bit, I added back the belly chunks, along with the scallion greens (and a bit more garlic), gave it all a quick stir and served it. But before that, there was side-dishery . . .


Sauteed Broccolini
Evoo, garlic, lemon, red chile flakes, salt & black pepper. The bitterness here went well with the rest of the meal. Once it was done, it was time to fire and assemble the stir-fry . . .


Sticky-Tender Pork Belly & Onions In Brown Sauce
Not really sure what else to call it.


Plated Up
With leftover/reheated basmati rice and the first corn of the season (instant-potted), which was really good.

Happy Sunday!

Last night I braised rabbit in red wine and a bit of chicken broth with onions, Thyme, and garlic. It was okay. I've decided I don't need to make rabbit again. The meat is just too lean.

Ms. Ingie wrote:Last night I braised rabbit in red wine and a bit of chicken broth with onions, Thyme, and garlic. It was okay. I've decided I don't need to make rabbit again. The meat is just too lean.

I've only made rabbit once: it went into a taco filling, where the sauce offset the leanness. But the stock made from the carcass was amazing: it went into an avgolemono soup with mushrooms that umami'd my socks off. I keep thinking about making rabbit again just to make stock.

JoelF wrote:I've only made rabbit once: it went into a taco filling, where the sauce offset the leanness. But the stock made from the carcass was amazing: it went into an avgolemono soup with mushrooms that umami'd my socks off. I keep thinking about making rabbit again just to make stock.

I was watching a YouTube video from the Philippines which showed a stuffed rabbit being roasted like a pig. The guy said that it was tricky as a rabbit lacks the layer of fat that you have in a pig. The final product did look good and juicy.

I just caught a rerun of an episode of Jacques Pepín's Heart & Soul in which he makes a rabbit stew with a mushroom cream sauce. If I ever cook rabbit again, this is how I will do it (anything in a mushroom cream sauce sounds good to me). Found a version of the recipe here. I've only cooked rabbit once before, in Chile. I was probably going for a mustard cream sauce version, after having it in a Spanish restaurant. I think the only grocery store near me where I could count on finding rabbit (frozen) is Garden Fresh in Mundelein.

No rabbit here, though the idea of braising or stewing some once it gets cold out, does sound appealing. I've never cooked it before and would love to try.

Tonight, it was back to the grill and more snausages. I really do love variety but as far as Fresh Farms Wheeling goes, I think I've pretty much identified my two favorites. One of them are these 'grill' sausages, which seem to basically be a smaller version of cured/smoked kielbasas, and are available only seasonally (grilling months for most people, I guess) . . .


Scored 'Grill' Sausages & Takayuki Grand Chef AEB-L Hankotsu, 150mm
I was so excited about the new edge I just put on this knife, I took the pic with sausage fat still all over the blade!


Grilling
Along with the 'grill' sausages, were some beef & lamb cevaps, which are our other favorites. Cooking up these two types in tandem provides a nice mix . . . cured/smoked/encased and raw/fresh/unsheathed.


Plated Up
With blob of the weekly slaw and -- last but not least -- some of Mrs. Suburban's world famous roasted cauliflower. Served these with some mustards and a bit of my homemade cherry bomb sambal.

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ronnie_suburban wrote:Scored 'Grill' Sausages & Takayuki Grand Chef AEB-L Hankotsu, 150mm
I was so excited about the new edge I just put on this knife, I took the pic with sausage fat still all over the blade!

Nice looking knife and sausages. I especially like the cevap.

I have a Misono Japanese butcher knife (Hankotsu) in carbon steel. I like it, works terrific but, frankly, I am a little afraid of the knife. It is so far out of the box of what I am used to I am fear of cutting a wide swatch from my off-hand.




Cevap, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:I have a Misono Japanese butcher knife (Hankotsu) in carbon steel. I like it, works terrific but, frankly, I am a little afraid of the knife. It is so far out of the box of what I am used to I am fear of cutting a wide swatch from my off-hand.

Beautiful blade, really nice. My hankotsu is now wicked sharp. The Swedish AEB-L takes a phenomenal edge. Between that and the unusual profile, I'm also going to be extra cautious when I use this piece.

It's been a really busy week with virtually no time to cook -- and this isn't dinner -- but I did have time to throw together a quickie, wfh lunch today . . .


Ultra-Thin Pork Chops & Onions
Seasoned, pan-seared in evoo & butter and deglazed with onions and pork stock. These took about 2 minutes per side for the chops and another 3 or 4 minutes for the onions. Served 'em up with some dijon mustard and a blob of the weekly slaw. Quick, easy and better the allotted amount of time should have rightly provided.

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Trying to get my cooking momentum rolling again, as I've been really busy this week and mostly away from the kitchen. So, nothing very involved today. Dinner was a close analog of lunch; another meat + allium affair, this time with some charcoal-grilled skirt steaks . . .


On The Platter
Have to say these skirts from Fresh Farms (Wheeling) were pretty disappointing. They looked okay, though very light in color, and tasted fine but they were relatively dry and extremely chewy, even though they were still nicely pink in the inside after I cooked them. They were inner, which does explain the chewiness. Maybe I should have punched and poked them a bit with the jaccard before I cooked them. In any case, for $9.99/pound -- an insane bargain for skirt these days -- I got what I paid for.

It's still a bit early in the season but we did receive a few nice yellow tomatoes in our CSA box this week . . .


Yellow Tomato Salad
With evoo, salt, black pepper, a few dashes of balsamic vinegar and some fresh basil leaves from our garden. Not a bad little salad, considering it's still July.


Plated Up
With fried onions and some now-fermenting spicy-sweet cucumber salad.

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Dinner prep (which actually started on Saturday), was a quick and easy marinade, using an item I found during a recent pantry sort-out . . .


Yvolina's Caperino Mole
Can't even remember when I bought this (last time I was there was in December 2019, so this jar was at least that old) but it's a product I do really like, so when I found it in the back of the pantry -- and given how busy I was yesterday -- I figured I might as well give it a shot as a marinade for some boneless skinless chicken thighs that I wanted to grill today. Salty, lightly spicy and a strong note of sesame, it worked out well as a 24-hour marinade.

We also received a gaggle of little red and yellow potatoes in our CSA box. Decided to go with the roast-smash-reroast method . . .


Double-Roasted Potatoes
Tossed them in evoo and sprinkled them with kosher salt. Roasted them for about an hour at 400F. Once they were soft, I smashed them with the bottom of a small skillet, drizzled a bit more evoo on them -- along with a sprinkle of Hungarian sweet paprika -- and roasted them at 450F convection for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, the marinated chicken grilled up nicely . . .


Yvolina's Caperino Mole Grilled Chicken Thighs
These turned out great and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, even though Yvolina's is about 30 miles from home.


Plated Up
With a blob of the weekly slaw.

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It's good to have goals, like getting RID of a bunch of produce on Monday because another CSA box is showing up on Tuesday! So, a wapatoolie stir-fry . . .


Mise En Place & Kato AS Gyuto, 240mm
Cauliflower, shelled peas (never made it in, too bitter), broccoli, Chinese-inspired spice rub, Sichuan peppercorn powder, minced garlic, minced ginger, scallion tops, dark soy, Kishibori shoyu, veg oil, scallion bottoms, chu hou paste, bell peppers and 2x gelatinous pork stock.

This one tested the limits of my 16" wok but I was determined to get it all out of the fridge and cooked. And it was my first real session with the Kato, which was a lot of fun . . .


Wapatoolie Stir-Fry

And there was also some charcoal-grilled protein . . .


Grilling
Pork shoulder chops. Oiled, seasoned (salt, black pepper, my bbq rub) and cooked hot/direct for about 5-6 minutes, turning/flipping constantly.


Charcoal-Grilled Pork Shoulder Chops
Been digging these thin, bone-in chops lately.


Plated Up
With some very fermented cucumber salad. The slices are now translucent and fizzy. The run-off tasted like an alcoholic beverage . . . which I actually enjoyed!

Happy Monday!

Tonight, I went for some Asian-inspired dishes, one of which actually started yesterday, with a Thai-inspired marinade for flank steak . . .


Marinade Mise En Place & Kato AS Gyuto, 240mm
Bruised/sliced lemongrass, minced garlic/sliced Thai birds eye chiles, lime juice, palm sugar, lime zest, fish sauce, Thai chile powder and veg oil. Mixed all this together and poured it over the flank steak. Let it marinate for about 20 hours.

I also opted for a 2-for-1 set-up on some side dishes, though only one of them was for tonight's dinner. Spicy-Sweet Cucumber Salad & Broiled Eggplant both use the same sauce . . .


Sauce Mise En Place & Kato AS Gyuto, 240mm
Rice vinegar, red pepper sauce, toasted sesame seeds, toasted sesame oil, Tupelo honey, minced garlic, gochugaru, and gochugang.


Japanese Eggplant
Washed, trimmed and sliced down the middle, these get some evoo on the cut side and broiled cut-side-up for about 12 minutes, until they're soft. After that, they're glazed in the sauce and roasted for another few minutes until they bubble up around the edges.

The rest of the sauce will eventually become the dressing for the Spicy-Sweet cucumber salad . . .


Persian Cucumbers & Takeda Classic Sasanoha, 210mm (medium)
I don't have any other knives that handle these guys with the food release of the Takeda. If not for this knife, I would have broken out the V-Slicer. I started with the Kato and as much as I love it, the cucumber slices were sticking pretty consistently to the blade. The Takeda is in a league of its own on jobs like this. From here, these were salted for a few hours to help drain off their excess moisture and give them that nice, densely chewy -- but still crunchy -- texture.

Meanwhile, it was grill time . . .


Grilling Thai-Inspired Flank Steak
Cooked this one hot, fast and directly over the coals, moving and turning the steak frequently.


Plated Up
Thai-inspired charcoal-grilled flank steak, sweet-spicy broiled eggplant and a blob of the weekly slaw. We ended up loving the marinade. I *might* cut back on the lime zest a bit next time but other than that, not many tweaks to make on this one.

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Mostly leftovers for dinner tonight but I wanted to try out a concept I've been seeing a lot around the internet, 'golden' fried rice, in which the first step is coating the leftover rice thoroughly in egg yolk, which is supposed to help keep the grains separated and get them crispy once they hit the hot oil in the wok. Spoiler alert: it worked!

Went with a super minimal prep in order to help isolate and highlight the method . . .


Mise En Place & Makoto AS Ryusei Gyuto, 210mm
Trio of sauces (oyster, soy, dark soy), leftover jasmine rice, minced garlic, veg oil, egg yolks, scallion tops and scallion bottoms.


'Golden' Fried Rice
Garnished with a few extra scallion tops. As I mentioned above, this worked out great. I had a good feeling when the grains of rice started to pop and bounce around in the wok once they started cooking. In any case, we loved it and I think the pic conveys how nicely the individual grains came out. I'll definitely be doing it again this way in the future.

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How many yolks to how much rice did you use?

Well, I suppose I can at least count the yolks

Kid Charlemagne wrote:How many yolks to how much rice did you use?

Well, I suppose I can at least count the yolks

Lol, yeah. 2 yolks and maybe just under 2 cups of leftover rice. I just guessed -- one yolk didn't seem like it'd be enough -- and it seemed to work out pretty well. Really loved this method. I also ended up cooking the whites separately and adding them in when I served it.

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Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

I made Korean egg rice last week. I don't know the proportions, though I had a small quantity of rice: one egg stirred into leftover rice until it was absorbed. Literally stir fry in a pan to make sure the rice does not clump. Success is the rice is not clumped, the egg is cooked (though hardly perceptible it is there), then add some soy sauce. Optionally, slivered green onions, sesame seeds, and such.

If you are not in the throw in the kitchen sink mood of making Chinese fried rice, this Korean egg rice is quite acceptable. I will certainly do it again.

In the same minimalist reheat the rice, I prefer the Filippino garlic rice more. I notice I put far more garlic than I encounter when it is made by Filippinos. It goes so well with a fried egg in the morning.

Regards,
Cathy2

I was also delighted with my encounter with Korean egg rice. It is definitely a keeper.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:I was also delighted with my encounter with Korean egg rice. It is definitely a keeper.

Absolutely. It's definitely worth the tiny bit of extra prep, imo. That was some of the best fried rice I've ever made, which isn't saying much but it's still saying something.

Tonight, another SausageFest. But first, some sides . . .


Yellow Onions & Hatsukokoro Komorebi Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
I never have much success charcoal-grilling onions, so I just gave these hot, fast saute on the stove top in a combo of evoo and unsalted butter. Seasoned them up with salt, pepper and some Hungarian sweet paprika.

Can't have sausage & onions without peppers . . .


Bell Peppers Grilling - Before
They're coming in fast and furious this time of year.


Bell Peppers Grilling - Later
Kept them moving, directly over the coals for about 10 minutes, then slid them into a zip-top bag to help steam off their charred skins.

Next up, the snausages . . .


Charcoal-Grilled Sausages
Seasonal 'Grill' sausages from Fresh Farms and some house-made hot Italian sausages from Poeta's in Highwood, where they're not quite back to their pre-pandemic level but they're slowly getting back there.


Plated Up
With some of Mrs. Suburban's famous, instant-potted corn on the cob (2 minutes, manual release) and a pile of fresh, completely unfermented spicy-sweet cucumber salad.

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Heading out for dinner tonight, which provided a perfect opportunity to allocate my daily cooking time to another batch of breakfast bombs which, because I cannot help myself -- and because I do enjoy using my knives -- I've allowed to become a bit more labor-intensive than they initially were (or rightfully should be). . .


Mise En Place & Hatsukokoro Komorebi Blue #2 Gyuto, 210mm
Cipollini onions (from our CSA box), leftover 'grill' sausage, half a carrot I found in the produce drawer, serrano/jalapenos, Extra Melt American cheese (still working through the brick I bought to make queso dip back in January), scallion bottoms, scallion tops and cave-aged cheddar. This was the cutting, chopping and grating portion of the prep.

When my friend first showed me this concept, the idea was to keep it simple and just clean out the fridge. At its core, that's still the case but to optimize it, there's still a bunch of additional prep that needs to be done. For example, I don't leave any diced veg or diced/grated cheese in my fridge.

Once everything was cut and grated, I sauted the alliums, peppers, carrot and sausage in some evoo, let that all cool and then added it -- along with everything else shown here -- to the batter. That batter is comprised of almond flour, oat fiber, flaxseed meal, ground parmesan/romano, cheddar cheese powder, 6 eggs, rice vinegar + baking soda, salt, black pepper, dried sage/thyme/rosemary and a few splashes of buttermilk to bring it to the desired consistency. The completed batter goes into a greased and parchment-papered 9x13" baking pan and baked for about 35 minutes at 325F convection, or until a wooden toothpick is inserted and comes out cleanly.

After they're baked, let them cool for like an hour or so and then cut them into the desired number of bars (12 seems to be our magic number), wrap them up and store them in the fridge. Yeah, it's a bit of up-front work but on those weekday mornings when I'm dragging ass and every minute counts, I love being able to grab one of these on the go, pop it into the toaster oven for a few minutes and have a satisfying, savory, low-carb breakfast (at my desk).


Breakfast Bombs
I'm a little concerned about that carrot but whatever . . .

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ronnie_suburban wrote: my daily cooking time to another batch of breakfast bombs

So healthy!