LOL, true. Still, not a bad deal! Around here, Costco sells flap trimmed and cut into long, 1-2" wide strips for around the same price as flank, usually a dollar less per pound. Restaurant Depot sells them whole (which I much prefer) but untrimmed, typically for $2 less per pound than flank - but there is significant fat attached and trimming required. I’d guess I toss 10% of the total weight (between unusable fat and silverskin) when I buy them at RD.
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Thank you so, so much.
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What is a good brand for chorizo. I have never tried and want to buy a good tasting one, not one that will make me vow I will never buy chorizo again. That is one reason I have never purchased it, I want my first experience eating it not to be a bad one. TIA.
I throughly enjoyed reading this. It was such fund reading all of the reviews. There were so many reviews, it took a long time. So glad you posted.
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Bacon and egg fried rice made with leftover Nasi goreng from Tuesdays dinner. Threw in some diced tomatoes that had to be used up and some fried mushrooms and onions from last nights dinner. A side of crispy vegetable pot stickers to round things out. Pretty tasty fridge clean out if I do say so myself.
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Hi, are you asking about Spanish or Mexican chorizo… Huge difference!
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For Mexican chorizo this is the one I usually buy. I’ve also bought Johnsonville which is ok. I personally don’t like the ones that come in the skinny tubes (Cacique?)
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In less than 48 hours, it (the office move) will (mostly) be done. Thank ALL the deities, because I’m exhausted after these last 2 days. Having a very restless sleep last night (thanks thunderstorm for waking me up just after I fell asleep!) didn’t help much either.
There was a mid-year Condo Owner’s Meeting today, but (1) getting home at the time the meeting started and (2) having lived on PB&J for lunches and scrambled eggs for dinners for a couple of days had me craving something more.
Picked up a supermarket roasted chicken on the way home. Figured I’ll get lunch and tomorrow’s dinner from it as well.
CSA arugula with CSA strawberries (the last of the local ones), the last of some supermarket Sugar Bomb grape tomatoes, a very large sliced radish, leftover crumbled bacon from my burger a few nights ago, some sliced chicken and dots of goat cheese. Drizzled with another mini batch of the lime vinaigrette I made last salad.
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Cavatappi with merguez and caramelized onions, garlic and fennel. This was a HIT. I used housemade merguez and incorporated it and the vegetables into a pan sauce made of tomato paste, rosé, half and half, butter and pasta water, then finished with minced fresh mint, fennel fronds and basil. Outstanding, if I do say so myself. 
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Wonderful looking dish.
Please, how is the “housemade merguez” made? If not too involved to write out?
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Well, I start by making harissa, generally following this recipe, but subbing in dried baklouti peppers (if I have them - if not, I use a mix of whatever dried peppers I have on hand and adjust the heat level by holding back a few or adding more arbols) and with a lot less oil than called for: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/homemade-harissa
Then I make the sausage, either by grinding leg of lamb with some pork fat or using pre-ground lamb I get from Restaurant Depot (which is WAY too fatty for burgers or other applications but great for sausage). Per pound of meat/fat, I season with about 2T. of harissa, a clove or two of fresh garlic (minced or ground), a teaspoon each of hot paprika, ground black pepper, cumin and coriander, a tablespoon each of ice water and red wine vinegar, and 10g of salt (salt is the only thing I weigh - I like about 2% of the weight of the meat). Throw it all in the stand mixer and beat it with the paddle until it reaches the primary bind stage (gets sticky and holds together) - a couple of minutes is usually enough. Cook a small patty to taste for seasoning and adjust as needed (it won’t hurt it to knead more spices/harissa/whatever in by hand at this point, just keep it cold). That’s it - at this point, you can shape it into patties or a sliceable log, or stuff it into casings. With merguez I usually put it in casings. Freezes beautifully.
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Beautiful! Many thanks for such explicit instructions; I can do this.
Wagyu beef burgers on the grill, with all the usual suspects. Homemade potato chips.
For dessert, freshly baked German kirschkuchen with the last of the 2023 sour cherries from the freezer (2024 cherries coming soon).
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BF made us Papa ala Huancaina, the Peruvian version (Bolivia’s version is made with peanut butter and served hot) - a cheesy, creamy sauce over cold potatoes. Sauce is made with queso fresco, evaporated milk, saltines, and aji amarillo (yellow chili pepper) paste. We were out of kalamatas so he subbed cured olives. One of my favorite Peruvian dishes, of which i have many.
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Seasoned, seared and roasted chicken thigh, aji verde, corn riblets, panzanella salad with fried gnocchi, NYT recipe. The panzanella was very good and the fried gnocchi soaked up the oo&v but they won’t replace croutons. Corn riblets were fun, great seasoning but I had to used my large clever and a mallet to make them. Chicken and aji verde, a match made in heaven. Delicious meal. And there was wine, etc.
Dessert was my annual sum-sum-summertime treat, a root beer float. I always have one or two, or…
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A special plate for the broccolini. I love it. On my list of green things to buy tomorrow. I always fish around for the bunch with uniform stems and some yellow blossoms…my favorite way to cook it is to thinly slice about 2 big cloves of garlic and let them marinate in some good olive oil in a skillet tilted on the gas range so they’re submerged (but unheated). I trim the end of the broccolini stems at a very sharp angle and if they are thick, I slice them down the stem. When they are all uniform, I heat the garlic oil and add them to the skillet, coating them and do a bit of a stir fry - add some chicken broth and cover. Cook until they are crisp tender. I tried roasting them in the oven once but the flowers didn’t hold up well and got too charred for our taste.
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