lougord99 wrote:I channeled my inner Ronnie and made some slaw as a topping for my marinated shrimp tacos. Dressed the slaw with oil, green onions, cilantro, garlic, salt, lime juice and sour cream.

Sounds great! Did you grill the shrimp, too or were they strictly "ceviche style?"

I spent a large portion of the day away from home, so was glad to have some Costco smoked/sous vide pork belly in the deep reaches of my fridge. Not the greatest product but good enough and only in need of a brief sear to prepare it. Since I had a nice collection of leftover veg on hand (from the Four Flavors dinner a few days ago), the belly made for nice topping. It rendered quite a bit of fat, as belly is wont to do, so I took the opportunity to sear off some onions in the fat and add them in, the only part of our dinner that was only cooked once . . .


Plated Up
Pan-seared smoked/sous vide pork belly over a bed of leftover vegetables (green beans, eggplant, cauliflower) and some freshly seared onions. Garnished with scallion tops. That's some leftover Sichuan-style cucumber salad riding shotgun.

=R=

Shrimp Etouffe



Shrimp mixed with Cajun seasoning, stock, tomatoes, red bell pepper, celery, extra Cajun seasoning, Worcester sauce, onion, fresh thyme, scallions, parsley, garlic.

Saute things that need sauteing, mix in everything else and add flour and stock and shrimp and meld flavors for 10 minutes.



Serve over rice.

lougord99 wrote:Shrimp Etouffe . . .

Nice, Lou. Reminds of my days in NOLA. You've had quite a shrimpy weekend!

Dinner prep for a meal that's usually more of a fall staple around here but we have a forest of fresh oregano in the garden and figured that rolled leg of lamb would be a good way to use some of it up . . .


Seasoning Paste Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki AS Fujin Gyuto, 240mm
Fresh oregano, minced garlic, dried oregano (also from our garden), salt, black pepper and evoo.


Butterflied Leg Of Lamb & Seasoning Paste
Made a paste and covered the entire inner side of the lamb. The leg was already boneless but I flayed it out a bit further to maximize the surface area for the paste.


Seasoned, Rolled, Trussed, Oiled & Seasoned Again
Once I applied the paste fully to the inner side of the lamb, I rolled it and trussed it. From there, another light coating of evoo and some additional seasoning with salt, black pepper and dried oregano. Then, into a 275F oven.

With the lamb in oven, next up was side dishery; spinach-feta casserole . . .


Casserole Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki AS Fujin Gyuto, 240mm
Sauteed yellow & red onion, lemon, salt, black pepper, evoo, wilted, squeezed & drained spinach, homegrown dried oregano, minced garlic, store-bought dried oregano, yogurt and feta cheese.

Decided to use a combo of dried oreganos here. I wasn't sure I had enough of the dried homegrown and I didn't want to use fresh because it's very tough texturally. No fresh dill, so I just left it out. Mixed all this in the stand mixer.


Spinach-Feta Casserole
Baked for 60 minutes @ 350F, uncovered for the final 30.

Also threw together a mini-tomato salad with some tomatoes from our CSA and some tomatoes and basil from our garden . . .


Mini-Tomato Salad
Evoo, balsamic, salt, black pepper and fresh basil.


Garlic & Oregano Oven-Roasted Leg Of Lamb
Baked it for ~2.5 hours @ 275 F, until it reached 125F internal, then I blasted it for 6 minutes @ 450F convection to finalize the exterior crust.


Plated Up
A nice, thick slab of lamb and some of the sides. Felt good to incorporate some items from our garden.

=R=

lougord99 wrote:Shrimp Etouffe



Shrimp mixed with Cajun seasoning, stock, tomatoes, red bell pepper, celery, extra Cajun seasoning, Worcester sauce, onion, fresh thyme, scallions, parsley, garlic.

Saute things that need sauteing, mix in everything else and add flour and stock and shrimp and meld flavors for 10 minutes.

Interesting... That's like completely backwards from Paul Prudhomme, who starts with roux (equal butter and flour), stops the roux cooking by adding the veg and spices, then the shellfish and stock, which are done in almost no time.
I think part of it is the roux plus veg can be held, meaning you can make a big batch and serve a la minute.

Paul makes a dark roux in the book that I have.

Both Emeril Lagasse and Donald Link make a light roux. They also both make the roux after cooking the vegetables. If you are doing a light roux, I wouldn't think it matters which order you do it in.

lougord99 wrote:Paul makes a dark roux in the book that I have.

Both Emeril Lagasse and Donald Link make a light roux. They also both make the roux after cooking the vegetables. If you are doing a light roux, I wouldn't think it matters which order you do it in.

Probably the same book. What I like about the roux-first approach is that the veg bring the heat down in the pan, making it hard to burn that rapidly-darkening roux. It does spatter like heck, so wear an apron, or prepare to be napalmed.

JoelF wrote: It does spatter like heck, so wear an apron, or prepare to be napalmed.

I regularly make dark gumbo. I know all about rouxpalm.

Super-quick, after work dinner tonight. Stopped at Richwell Market for some coarsely ground pork, and threw together a rapid-fire pad ka-prao . . .


Plated Up
Topped with a frizzle egg and accompanied by a duo of leftover salads -- mushroom and mini-tomato.


Yolk
A closer look. Of the dozen or so times I've made this dish in the past year, this was definitely my most successful attempt. 50/50 ratio of light soy sauce and Golden Mountain was dialed in just right, and the Healthy Boy fish sauce was the perfect call.

Happy Monday!

=R=

Day 10 in a row of cooking dinner. I think that's a personal best. I'll be taking a few days off from cooking starting tomorrow, so I wanted to use up some things while I was able to . . .

Had a sizable chunk of lamb left from Sunday's dinner, so decided to make hash . . .


Lamb Hash Mise En Place & Makoto AS Ryusei Gyuto, 210mm
Yellow onion, Dakota Ruby potatoes (soaking in water to prevent oxidation), salt, black pepper, fried shallot & garlic oil, heavy whipping cream and leftover leg of lamb.

Fried the potatoes in some of the oil, then added the onions and seasoned it up. Once everything had seared and softened, I added a splash of the heavy cream to get everything melded nicely -- a tip shared with me by a friend many years ago. At the very end, I tossed in the lamb just until it was warm, then killed the heat and offloaded the hash to a platter. Back to this in a moment.

Also had a pound of shiitakes that were approaching 'now or never' status . . .


Shiitakes & Makoto AS Ryusei Gyuto, 210mm



Sauteed Shiitakes
Improvised my way into a very tasty treatment that included sake, shoyu, homemade shrimp stock, minced garlic, salt and black pepper. Garnished with chives.

Also wanted to make use of some perfectly ripe Cherokee Purple tomatoes that I picked from our garden when I got home from work today . . .


Cherokee Purple Tomatoes
Evoo, balsamic, salt, black pepper and basil from our garden.

Now, back to that hash . . .


On The Platter
Lamb hash, garnished with scallion tops.


Plated Up
We were definitely slinging some hash at Chez Suburban tonight!

=R=

Sauteed fresh cod, asparagus, rice = dinner.

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Cod, count me a Fan!

Been waiting to see zucchini blossoms and finally did @ Cermak. Bought some asadero cheese to stuff them with and made a quick tempura batter and tomato sauce ala minute.

G Wiv wrote:Sauteed fresh cod, asparagus, rice = dinner.

Damn, that looks great!

Jazzfood wrote:Been waiting to see zucchini blossoms and finally did @ Cermak. Bought some asadero cheese to stuff them with and made a quick tempura batter and tomato sauce ala minute.

Very nice! I never thought of using solid cheese (as opposed to creamy) but that makes perfect sense.

=R=

love the blossoms

Bride went with friends tonight, I took the opportunity to bust out a can of sardines. Nuri sardines, pickled red onion, toasted cocktail rye, Persian cucumber, hot sauce (not shown)

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Sardines, count me a Fan!

I made a pretty simple juk/congee, just rice and water and a small amount of pork seasoned with mushroom powder and soy sauce, but then garnished it all to hell with pork floss, shallots, ginger, cilantro, mushrooms, fried garlic, scallion, nam prik pao, garlic oil, and soy sauce. WOW was it good.

would inhale that

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:WOW was it good.

I call bullshit. Bring the leftovers over so I can see if you are speaking (typing) the truth.

G Wiv wrote:

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:WOW was it good.

I call bullshit. Bring the leftovers over so I can see if you are speaking (typing) the truth.

What leftovers?

Leftovers from Wednesday night: Grilled shrimp with capellini, cream, salt and a little white pepper. This was a lot more moist before the pasta sat around absorbing the liquid.

Mostly posting this to say how good the Icy Ocean Argentine shrimp from Mariano's are. They definitely are.

And that simple food can be very enjoyable. This dish could be thrown together easily from frozen foods - the shrimp come frozen in a 1lb bag, and I used frozen cream from a short-dated sale quart - and noodles from the pantry.

Fennel & mushroom salad w/pickled red onion, shaved parmesan , Wild Planet white anchovies in olive oil.

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Anchovies, count me a Fan!

Guys . . . I've gone 3 days without cooking a meal and you're driving me crazy with all this great looking stuff. I've had some very nice restaurant food during this stretch but I cannot wait to get back in the kitchen tomorrow!

=R=

Poppy seed bagel, dill pickle, cucumber, pickled red onion, tomato, lemon, Matiz Wild Caught Mackerel = Lunch

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Mackerel, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:Mackerel, count me a Fan!

Very nice. How's that Matiz product?

After three whole days of not cooking at all, I felt a bit like Gene Autry today . . .



Dinner 101 . . . grilled chicken thighs, Instant Pot esquites and collard greens . . .


Collard Green Mise En Place & Makoto Kurosaki Coreless Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
Collards, smashed garlic, minced garlic, hunk of bone-in ham, sliced onions, worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, veg oil and apple cider vinegar.

Not quite a hock but a boney piece of ham that I figured could serve the same purpose. Collards, onion and garlic (and corn) were all from our weekly CSA box. I cobbled this recipe together after reading a several takes on the internet. At the end -- after couple of hours covered on the very lowest flame -- I added a touch of honey to offset the collards' bitterness.


Collards
Have to say, these were some of the better greens I've ever turned out. And I think it was a good indicator that the even the skin was gelatinous, palatable and completely delicious.


Grilling
You know you're living right when you always seem to have a bonus piece of sausage around to throw on the grill.


Plated Up
Charcoal-grilled chicken thigh, Ukrainian kielbasa, esquites and collard greens.

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Marinated grilled lamb shoulder chops, polenta and mixed salad.

By mixed salad I mean most everything on my kitchen counter diced. Fresh fennel, tomato, pear/peach (both slightly firm) cucumber, onion. Added fresh thyme and parsley. Dressing of lemon, red wine vin, evo, s/p, olive oil and a bit of guajillo. ~Surprisingly tasty~

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Polenta, count me a Fan!

Looks so great. I have been out of the kitchen for 2.5 weeks restricted to heating up meals from Jungle Jim's.

jlawrence01 wrote:Looks so great. I have been out of the kitchen for 2.5 weeks restricted to heating up meals from Jungle Jim's.

Ouch. I feel for you.

=R=

Is a boneless rib roast really a rib roast? I'm honestly not sure. I'll let someone else be the decider on that. In either case, though, that's what I cooked today. Decided to mix it up a bit, keep the kitchen cool and go low & slow on the Weber kettle . . .


Trussed, Oiled & Seasoned
While that was cooking, it was time for side dishery . . .


Turkish Eggplant Mise En Place & Makoto Kurosaki Coreless Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
Turkish eggplant -- mini tomatoes & dried oregano from our garden -- salt, black pepper, evoo and minced garlic.

I'd never seen -- or even heard of -- Turkish eggplant before these showed up in our CSA box last week. At first glance, I thought they were persimmons. A quick internet check was not encouraging. Apparently, they're at their best when green and very immature. As they mature on the vine and turn orange, they become harder and more bitter. And this is how they came to us. But did that stop me? No. Of course not. I cut them into small pieces and seared them in a bit of evoo in a sauce pan. After that, I added everything else and kept it all on a low simmer for a couple of hours until everything kind of mushed together.


Turkish Eggplant Caponata-Type Thing
It was definitely a little bitter but not crazy-bitter, like the nearly-inedible bitter melon I cooked a few weeks ago. I finished it with a dollop of tomato paste, which mitigated the bitterness a bit further. Garnished it with a drizzle of evoo and some chives. All in all, a success.

Okay, back to the roast, after about an hour on the kettle . . .


Not So Low & Slow
Looking good but by this time, it was already 105F internal. So, clearly, I was having some trouble dampening down the heat in Weber, even with the top dampers almost completely closed. I used these highly sophisticated foil panels to baffle the heat and I think they worked, since the roast seemed to be cooking fairly evenly on all sides.

And, what seemed like just a few short moments later, at the 1:45 mark (technically, 2 hours because I put the probe in 15 minutes after I started cooking the roast), it was just about ready to pull . . .


Screenshot Of Signals Probe Data
Cooking like this is never really 'set it and forget it.' That said, the phone app seemed to work pretty well. I started a few years ago with a bluetooth unit and it's fine for indoors. But my grill's just too far from where I spend time in the house for the bluetooth to reach it. The wi-fi device, otoh, seems to reach my phone no matter where I am in the house.


Not So Low & Slow Ribless Roast
It had actually gone up a couple of degrees by the time I got outside. I figured it would have taken longer than two hours but I cross-checked the Signals reading with my Thermapen and both readings were within 1 degree of each other, so I presumed it was done. And it was.


Plated Up
Charcoal-grilled ribless roast, eggplant 'business' and leftover spinach-feta casserole.

Given how edge-to-edge even the doneness was on the roast, I'd say it was a success. I've probably cooked a roast via this method before but I can't remember for sure.

=R=

Broke out the gas grill. Its an infrared by Char-Broil. Far as gas grills go its decent, gets hot as sh*t quick and fairly controllable. I got it, along with a few other gas and gas hybrid grills, from the company. Gave the others away, liked this one enough to keep it only use on the rare occasion.

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Sausage went in a hot dog bun with giardiniera, tasty. Leftover polenta and veg on the side. (no pic)

Giardiniera, count me a Fan!

BLT. Messy construction but delicious.

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BLT, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:BLT. Messy construction but delicious.

Oh, man! I'd say so. Nice. It's tomato season, so I'm going to have to copycat that one sooner than later.

=R=