Ribs in the smoker

Charlie wanted some bratwurst from the store so I got some beer brats that needed cooking. I decided to get a slab of ribs and smoke both at the same time.

Chicken Wings smoked then grilled

The smoker did double duty today. First these chicken wings went on the smoker side and smoked with apple wood for 30 minutes then moved over to the hot side to be basted and crisped up for a couple minutes each side.  I seasoned them with Zarda's poultry rub then basted them with Zarda's Apple Harvest BBQ sauce.  Zarda is a local BBQ restaurant. I went to high school with a lady who married one of the Zarda brothers.  The wings were served with potato salad and coleslaw.

Ham Shanks and Beans with carrots and bok choy.

Supper for tonight is made. I took pictures early.  I didn't have any idea what to make for supper but I saw a cake recipe on line that I wanted to try and while I was at the store, I saw they had some meaty looking ham shanks and decided to make that with some navy beans, carrots and baby bok choy. 

The beans were boiled in water for a couple minutes, allowed to sit an hour then cooked for two hours with 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1/8 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. cloves and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. It was cooked in chicken broth with 4 ham shanks.  About 45 minutes before they were done, I added an onion and a couple of carrots, then 15 minutes before done, I added some baby bok choy.

The cake was one of those gimmicky ones that I fall for now and then and end up sorry I bothered.  It was a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of cherry Dr. Pepper and some maraschino cherries chopped up and added.  The icing was just powdered sugar and butter with a little maraschino cherry juice.  The icing was too sweet for my taste and i think the cake would have been better with the regular eggs and oil. 

Brisket on the smoker

Charlie and I went to Costco last week and I remarked that it finally looked like winter was over and done with.  He had checked the forecast and it said nice weather was ahead so he washed his car and I got a brisket to put in the smoker.  The next four days were cold and rainy but today was perfect for doing the brisket.  It took close to 10 hours and it turned out really really good. The only thing I wasn't completely happy with is that I could not tell which way the grain ran and I sliced it with the grain instead of against it. That didn't diminish the taste though.  I used charcoal and apple wood and kept the temperature right at 250 as much as I could. It got down to 225 a few times and up to 285 at times.  The brisket came out at 200 degrees and was perfect. I wrapped it with brown butcher paper after 3 hours.  In the last picture the round thermometer was reading the air temperature at the front of the smoker behind the water pan and the square thermometer read the internal meat temperature.

 All the sides except the corn was store bought. The corn was grilled then cut off the cob and reheated as serving time with a little evaporated milk, butter, honey and salt and pepper.

Cuban Beef Picadillo

I don't remember where I saw this recipe but it was probably posted by someone I know on Facebook.  I was looking for something fast and easy and this fit the bill. Looking forward to trying it in the morning with some eggs.   Charlie is not a fan of capers so I substitutes some chopped baby dill pickles.  I used 1 1/2 russet potatoes instead of 3. It seemed like plenty enough.  I added a little red wine just before reheating it for dinner tonight. 

Cuban Beef Picadillo

WRITTEN BY FERNANDA ALVAREZ

Prep Time: 15 Minutes  Cook Time: 15 Minutes  Yields: 8

Ingredients

• 2 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL

• 1 MEDIUM LARGE RED ONION CHOPPED

• 1 CUP CARROTS DICED

• 3 CLOVES GARLIC FINELY CHOPPED

• 1 RED BELL PEPPER DICED

• 3 POTATOES PEELED AND CUT IN SMALL CUBES

• 1 POUND GROUND BEEF

• 1 TABLESPOON GROUND CUMIN

• SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

• ½ CUP RAISINS

• ½ CUP WHOLE GREEN OLIVES, STUFFED W/ PIMIENTOS

• ¼ CUP CAPERS DRAINED

• 2 CUPS TOMATO SAUCE (8 OZ EACH)

Difficulty: Not Too Tricky

Beef, potatoes, olives, raisins, capers and more come together in this classic Cuban dish.

If you're looking for an simple, flavorful dish you can make in large batches for a family dinner with leftovers to spare, I highly recommend this beef picadillo recipe. Picadillo can be found in Spain, all over Latin America, and even in the Philippines. The recipe (along with its accompaniments) varies slightly by country, but it's a dish that brings together many contrasting flavors. I love the combination of the sweet raisins with the sour notes of the olives and capers, and the aroma of the spices and stewed meat and vegetables. I always make large portions, so I can enjoy it the next day with a fried egg. Delicioso!

Directions

1 Bring a medium skillet to medium heat. Add the olive oil, red onion, carrots, garlic cloves, red bell pepper and potatoes.

2 Cook until soft and golden brown, around 6 minutes. Add beef and cook for 5 more minutes or until fully cooked and a slight brown caramel color. Season with cumin, salt and pepper.

3 Add raisins, olives, capers and tomato sauce, and cover.

4 Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. If the sauce thickens too much, you can add some more wine or a little bit of water.

5 Enjoy with a side of white rice.

Pot Roast

This is a portion of tonights pot roast. I used chuck cooked in the Instant Pot and it usually uses a package of brown gravy, one of Ranch Dressing and one of Italian dressing. I didn't have any packets of Italian dressing and used Italian spice blend instead.  Charlie said it was better than usual.  That may be true but it may also be due to having had hospital food for a while before having home cooking again.

Breaded pork chop and sourdough

Breaded Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS

Nutrition

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 -2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 4 boneless pork loin chops
• 2 tablespoons oil
• cooking spray, such as Pam

DIRECTIONS

• In small bowl, combine flour, salt, paprika and pepper; mix well. In another small bowl, combine egg and worcestershire sauce. Coat pork chops with seasoned flour; dip in egg mixture and coat with crumbs.
• In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add chops; cook until browned on both sides. Reduce heat to medium; cook 5-7 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center.
• For oven-baked pork chops: Prepare as directed above. Place in a shallow baking pan that has been sprayed with a cooking oil such as Pam. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes or until no longer pink in center.
• To make a cheese-topped pork chop: Decrease bread crumbs to 1/4 cup. Mix crumbs with 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese. When chops are thoroughly cooked, top each with a slice of mozzarella cheese and tomato slice. Cover; heat until tomato is hot and cheese begins to melt.

Super Crocchè! The Crocchè of champions!

Ricetta

500 g di patate

500 g di carne macinata

9 fette di emmantal

25 cl di vino rosso

30 g di farina

sale e pepe

2 carote

1 cipolla

1 uovo

In una padella, saltare della carta macinata con le carote, le cipolle il sale.  Aggiungere il vino rosse e mescolare di nuovo.

Schiacciare le patate cotte con l’uovo, poi stendere un cucchiaio del composto in una ciotola ricoperta di pellicola trasparente.

Appiattire il composto per offendere la forma della ciotolina, poi aggiungere un cucchiaio di carne e richiudere bene la pellicola.

Una volta formare lle polpette, passarle nella farina, poi friggerle.

In un piatto, posizionare le polpette una di fianco all’altra ed aggiungere una fetta di emmental su ogni polpetta. 

Infornare 15 minuti a 180ºC e gustare. 

Sorry about the recipe in Italian.  I looked up some of the words I didn't know and saw a video that when with the recipe. I made a series of pictures to show how it's made. Mashed potatoes are mixed with an egg, then pressed into a plastic lined bowl.  After it is mashed into a layer, filling of beef, carrots, onion and red wine are added in.  It is molded into a ball, rolled in flour and fried. Then it is topped with a good quality of Swiss cheese (emmental) and baked at 350 for 15 minutes.  I served it on a bed of leftover filling and just in case it was not fattening enough, I made some béchamel  to pour over the top of it. 

  OOPS looks like it didn't post. Look for it at Chefclub Italia or at my facebook page . I retyped the recipe and posted it here. I hope I didn't misspell anything. 

Thai Grilled Chicken

Thai Grilled Chicken: Southern Curry-Basted Grilled Chicken (ไก่ย่างกอและ)

Prep time 30 mins Cook time 30 mins  Total time  1 hour

Author: SheSimmers.com         Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 7 large dried red long peppers (guajillo)
• 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled
• One teaspoon ground coriander
• One teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2-inch piece fresh turmeric, peeled, or one tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 shallot, weighing one ounce, peeled and sliced
• 2.5 pounds boneless chicken thighs cut into 2-inch or one-inch cubes (see post for explanation)
• 2½ cups coconut milk, divided
• 2 teaspoons salt, divided
• ⅔ cup, packed, grated palm sugar or light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons prepared tamarind paste

• Stem, deseed, and cut the peppers into quarters crosswise. Soak the peppers in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain off the water and squeeze the peppers dry.
• Put the peppers, ginger, garlic, ground coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, and shallot in a granite mortar or mini-chopper; grind until smooth.
• Put the chicken in a mixing bowl along with half of the prepared paste, ½ cup of the coconut milk, and one teaspoon salt; mix well, cover, and chill 30 minutes up to overnight.
• Make the basting liquid. Put the remaining curry paste in a one-quart pot along with the coconut or vegetable oil; set it over medium heat and fry until the paste become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 cups coconut milk, the remaining one teaspoon salt, sugar, and tamarind. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil and let it simmer about 3 minutes; remove from heat. Split the sauce into two equal portions. Use one portion to baste the chicken as it’s grilled; reserve the other portion to drizzle over the chicken once it’s done.
• Thread the chicken onto the skewers (see post for instructions). Grill the chicken over moderate heat, basting it with one portion of the sauce. When the chicken is done, drizzle the reserved sauce over it and serve immediately.