Went creative one night last week. Homemade sourdough multi-grain mini-loaves. Diamond/square cut. Stuffed with ricotta, mascarpone, homemade herb and spice blend, then thin sliced roasted chicken. Topped with thin sliced mozarella to avoid burning the tops of the bread as it warmed. In process of mowing down: And yes, it was as rich as you'd imagine.
Stumbled across a really lovely sheep’s milk bleu cheese, and this sort of spiraled out from there. The asparagus was grilled with smoked salt and spritzed with lemon throughout the process, then sprinkled with the cheese and lemon zest. Coho salmon, seasoned with teriyaki and that licorice-orange tea from the last few posts. Briefly sautéed some lemon slices in a combination of honey and bourbon (those were REAL good), then threw the whole thing on naan with diced avocado.
The first sage blossoms of the summer finally bloomed out on the deck. Seemed as good an excuse as any to pick up some scallops and mangos. Sauce under the blossoms is mango purée, Kewpie, chili, and smoked salt.
Saturday morning gluttony. Smoked hickory bacon, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and my signature buttermilk pancakes. The spirit is content my arteries, not so much.
That is some proper goddamn fucking breakfast. I don’t know how you lived long enough to post it, but glad you did.
Hahaha, you and me both. Weekend dishes especially breakfast are go big or go home meals, a full diner fare american style breakfast is usually the fastest road to a coronary blockage. However I eat pretty clean and workout regular so my conscious is clear of worry on weekends. Those scallops btw were gorgeous, pairing them with the subtle sweetness of that mango puree was diabolically genius sir. Thanks, the garnishing is there not just for looks but to also remind me to eat my salads afterward for lunch and dinner as penance.
You should totally give them a go - The lid to a cocktail shaker makes the perfect sized mango medallions for diver scallops. A little butter and miso in the pan, 2 minutes per side on the scallops, done deal. Maybe 10-15 minutes of work.
@Renga gave me an idea. Pancakes. Been trying to get a batter to work for my Pear Fries idea, and the solution was buttermilk pancakes. Pretty sure the baking soda was the previously missing ingredient; this time around, the batter puffed up tempura-style and was goddamn perfect. So, seared up some duck, which gave me enough rendered fat for frying. Julienned a pear, lightly floured the spears, dipped in pancake batter, and bada-boom. Had a little fat and batter left over, so served the duck over regular pancakes. Little drizzle of maple syrup on the fries.
That's a pretty inspired approach, equal parts baking soda and powder in tandem make a batter bubbly and light while the buttermilk provides a slight amount of acidic to balance the sweeter notes of the pear. I've always been a sucker for good caramelization on my proteins, that's a dynamite sear! Great application of techniques here and delighted I could provide you with the 'aha' moment to pull this dish together.
When she won't let anyone bake her birthday cake but her... Almond sour cream cake with raspberry jam and fresh raspberries and white chocolate buttercream
I’m thinking of getting a Weber charcoal grill because the propane grill we have is on its last legs. Any tips or tricks for grilling on charcoal?
The biggest tips are probably patience and experimentation and don’t get frustrated. Charcoal’s incredibly awesome to grill on, but it takes longer to get the grill up to temp, the heat is more variable across the cooking surface, and you’ll need to resist the urge to constantly check on what’s in there, lest you let all the heat out and have to extend cooking time. You’ll eventually get the hang of piling the coals and intuiting where on the grate to place stuff just through trial and error. As in all things, don’t be afraid to screw it up a few times while you dial things in.
I'm trying my hand at antipasto salad. Dummy me thought we had Italian dressing at home and didn't buy it at the store. So I tried a mix of olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning. It's got artichokes, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes and salami. It is now chilling in the fridge. It...it looks like antipasto anyway. Hopefully it'll taste like it too.
Are cheesteaks that take an hour to prep worth it? Probably not, but man, they were solid. The sauce - Made a roux with butter, cream, and flour. Melted a block of bleu cheese into it. Added a shitload of Mexican chili powder, a little lemon juice, and a few drops of liquid smoke. The mushrooms - Fried some enokis in bacon grease til golden, then drained on paper towels to get ‘em crispy. The steak - Finely chopped half of a leftover ribeye, threw all that in the hot mushroom-bacon grease to re-cook it, mixed in a healthy dollop of A1. The roll - Lightly coated the cut sides with Kewpie Mayo, then pan-toasted in the last of the bacon-mushroom-steak grease. They did not suck.
