Spent the afternoon trimming and cutting down a whole chuck roll, an impulse buy on my last trip to Restaurant Depot (some women buy shoes, I buy 20 lb beef subprimals…DH married well!). I ended up grinding most of it but also managed to identify some particularly succulent sections for stew cubes and flanken-style boneless short rib slices. I watched a couple of videos that gave me good ideas for next time as well. If the ground beef is good there will definitely be a next time, as buying the large cut was much more economical than buying ground chuck in small packages at the supermarket.
Anyway, after packaging up all 18 pounds of meat for the freezer, I wanted beef for dinner! Threw together a quick beef and broccoli stir fry in a spicy peanut sauce rather than the typical brown sauce (and using flank steak rather than any of my freshly butchered chuck roll, hah!). Was tasty but the sauce was a bit too runny - I added too much chicken broth and didnt bother with a thickener. Still hit the spot.
Using my friend’s homemade spicy seasoning paste, I made jerk chicken this time instead of pork, with a tiny bit of liquid smoke since we can’t grill here. Marinated since yesterday afternoon. Chicken turned out really good, juicy, but I think I may like the pork better. More RG pinto beans and rice. And pikliz! Speaking of hot…
I was planning to make a layered ground beef & pork sausage casserole with mashed potatoes & three cheeses… But after my second midday Martini, decided simpler, was better. Hence, we had pizza-inspired Sloppy Joes and Russet Baked Potatoes.
I’m dying over here! Pork chops (dredged in flour seasoned with Lawry’s) with hot cherry peppers and onions deglazed in dry vermouth. The peppers are HOT! Ignore the awful red beans and rice from Aldi. No flavor and too soupy.
I love what just a little bit of vermouth does to a meal. Made for a very light sauce.
Been doing a lot of simpler is better lately. Several nights a week we will sit out in our tiny garden about an hour or so before cooking, and one cocktail turns into two (and sometimes more! ).
By then its time to make due. I plan meals ahead with this foresight. Slow-cooker and oven-based meals that can take care of themselves while we imbibe.
A couple years ago I walked into a hot sauce shop here in Asheville and served myself a sample - a tortilla chip with a huge dollop of salsa. I may have even tried two. Suddenly I had a super-visceral reaction where I felt not only was my mouth on fire but my stomach was churning, burning, and super painful. I went back and looked and realized I had at some kind of crazy scorpion pepper or reaper salsa. It wasn’t well labeled. UGH. Took about a half hour for the discomfort to pass.
I do the hot peppers and onions with pork chops frequently but I’ve been in such a vermouth-for-cooking kick lately that I wanted to try it out. Used about a half cup. I also usually grill the chops but tonight wanted something more (plus the flour to thicken the mixture).
Nothing’s back to normal here, so I worked from home this afternoon and dog sat. Had no ideas for dinner, when my sisters texted that she was having bruschetta for dinner. Done. Toast with corn (corn, tomatillo, mint, parsley, zatar, evoo, and lemon) and tomato (yellow and red tomatoes, basil, evoo, garlic, balsamic and capers). Decided to add some feta into the corn, and mozzarella into the tomato. A little caesar salad side. Wine.
Sometimes? SOMETIMES? grin I have something on almost all the time while I’m working. My home office and lab are in out basement. Think Harry Potter under the stairs if the furnace and A/C were squeezed in there with him.
Fortunately I have three screens on my computer plus a tablet and my phone. At the moment I have “The Fall” from Amazon Prime Video paused on the tablet while Jacques Pepin “Fast Food My Way” is running from YouTube on the far right screen.
).
