Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

This is the best way to do wine tasting. Go to California (Sonoma/Russian River, Anderson Valley, Paso Robles west in the hills were my favorite destinations. Napa not so much. Some excellent wines but they are too full of themselves) in March during the week. Nobody is there and you get personal attention. And they can get you "ins" at places that don't normally have walk in tastings. Also a great time to go to the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

In 1990 I was in France for a scientific conference and then spent some time in Bordeaux. The chateaus don't normally have public tastings but I talked my way into a few by driving to the working area and talking about wines I have had from that chateau (none of the first growth ones but all in the original classification) and got tours from assistant vintners. It was mid-summer so not a lot of activity. I wasn't looking for a tasting but just a visit. At one place I got a barrel tasting. That was unexpected.

 

A client of my wife brought her two bags full of very ripe tomatoes. I don't know what variety but the are the size and shape of beefsteak and with the caprese salad we had last night with one of them I am guessing that they are beefsteak.

I thought about making tomato soup out of them. LOL. And I don't like making Italian tomato sauce out of tomatoes like these. Then I said to myself I could make tomato pie. Now tomato pie is like BBQ and varies by region. I grew up in Chicago and it was more of an Italian thing using plum (roma) tomatoes. These being beefsteak-like tomatoes I will do it Southern style with a sharp cheddar cheese and mayo topping with some chives and basil.

BTW last night was brats with hot German mustard and sauerkraut to go with the caprese salad. Kind of mixing up cuisines but it worked.

Got to think about ways to cook chicken with a series against the Gamecocks. I suppose that I should make something using capon. LOL.

 

Last night we were getting pork bowls from Mi Apa to eat during the game. Since we had lots of ripe tomatoes my wife asked me to make pico de gallo as a salsa with chips to snack on during the game. Because my Publix had perfectly ripe avocados on sale I bought some for making guac.

Anyway a good friend was in town and joined us for dinner. He went to San Antonio for the Final Four and could regale us with stories.

Anyways he tastes my guac and says "This is the best guac I have ever eaten and I was just in San Antonio and had a lot of guac". He also ate at Burrito Brothers when he was a student at UF but I never thought their guac was that great. I told him that I pretty much followed the Rick Bayless (that guy knows Mexican cuisine) recipe but I use extra cilantro. And fresh lime juice is a key ingredient. He calls for it but many people don't use freshly squeezed and how much to use depends on the acidity of the lime. Also I always use serrano peppers instead of jalapeno. Another "art" to good guac is that amount of salt to add. Add just enough to brighten the tasty but don't make it taste at all salty. A delicate balance.

As he left that night he said "If you get me anything for Christmas I want it to be some more of this guac."

I happened to luck out and got it perfect. I had come close before but this was magic.

 

Smoking two chickens today and taking a bit longer than the usual 4 hours but no big deal.

One will be cut into pieces and served with a citrus salad. The other and any leftovers will be shredded for chicken enchiladas and chicken salad. Smoked chicken makes an awesome chicken salad.

 

Smoked chicken enchiladas with victory margaritas.

 

I looked up how most folks smoke chickens on ceramic (kamado) grills and I don't do any of that. I don't brine and yet my chickens come out very juicy. And not salty! I smoke them low and slow (250 F) using apple wood smoke. Everybody else cooks them much hotter. There is no need to cook low and slow to melt connective tissue like with a pork butt (shoulder) but low and slow doesn't dry out the meat and gives the smoke time to penetrate. And the ceramic grill (Big Green Egg and Kamado Joe are the most popular but there are others) retain a lot of moisture. I don't even use a water pan and they come out moist. No need to "beer can" a chicken cooked this way. It will be moist.

One thing that is missing with this method is crispy skin but getting the skin really dry before putting on the grill helps somewhat with that. And one could set up the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the skin if that is an issue.

 

Leftover enchiladas last night.

Tonight I am grilling brats as a quick pregame meal.

 

Yesterday was a bit of a cluster with dinner. First the plan was regular tacos with hard shells. Super simple. Then my wife got in touch with friends and she is into testing tomatoes that do well in Florida. This time of year they are all small but she brought over lots of different varieties to sample and rate.

Now simple tacos are not good enough so I was tasked with making chicken tinga for soft tacos and also making pickled red onion as one of the toppings. So off to Publix for the second time and spent most of the rest of the afternoon cooking.

And of course a round of my signature margaritas.

Worth the effort. Some of the tomato varieties were excellent and way better than what you can get at the supermarket.

I fell asleep not long after our guests left sitting on the couch. Long day.

So tonight are the super simple tacos.

 

Last night my wife and I took her 92 year old mother to Liquid Ginger for a Mother's Day treat. She made quiche for her sister and mother to enjoy for lunch. Not for me. I don't like eggs.

Today we are scattered so I am having some chicken salad made from some chicken that I smoked a while back, my MIL is heating up leftovers from last night's dinner and my wife is having something.

Waiting for my wife to get back home before making victory margaritas.

 

Last night we went to a friend's birthday dinner with an Asian and mostly vegetarian theme because she is vegetarian. I was tasked with making a smashed cucumber Thai-style salad but I had to not add the fish sauce. Still good but not as good as with fish sauce. I did change it up in another way by using red Fresno chilies instead of serranos. I was out of Thai "bird" chilies that can be red and gives the dish some color and heat.

We also brought two bottles of Moet champagne. One for after dinner and one for the birthday "girl" and her husband to enjoy later.

Tonight we are making jambalaya with the last of the smoked chicken and also ground turkey and sausage.

Tomorrow I have a friend from college days visiting with his wife and I am making dinner. He is the son or a rabbi from Charleston, SC and tries hard to be observant of Kosher laws so lots of things that I love to make as special dishes are out but I can make grouper with a macadamia nut crust with yellow rice pilaf and charred asparagus. Went to Northwest Seafood (my favorite fish monger in Gainesville) and they were out of grouper (my first choice) and mahi (almost as good for this dish) but they said that they will have grouper tomorrow so I am showing up when they open to get some.

And I want to see his car. He is towing living quarters on this trip and had an old Packard retrofitted for the job with a modern drivetrain and modern brakes. He is leaving his trailer in Waldo. I assume that he isn't also trailering a second car but what he built would be up to that task.

Do I need to say that he was/is an engineer that worked in automotive?

 

Do you oil fry, air fry or oven fry your home fries? I oven fry but have been thinking about an air fryer for them.

We had cubanos from the Alachua Mia Apa before going to the game. My wife wanted to give me a day off from cooking after yesterday.

I think that I will get fixings for hot dogs tomorrow as I will have little time to make dinner. I play duplicate bridge on Friday afternoons and I agreed to stay after to talk about preparing advanced lessons for our beginner players. Actually I am a beginner but am a quick study and can give great notes on improving the teaching materials. That is my role in this.

 

Last night was pork tenderloin and oven fried redskin potatoes and stir fried broccoli. Tonight my wife is bring home a pizza from an Italian place where she has a gift card.

 

Tonight is escarole soup. Tomorrow is seared duck breasts with a cherry, shallot and port reduction served over sauteed spinach. Garlic mashed potatoes as a side. Posting now because the entree tomorrow is a bit labor intensive and I will try to squeeze in mowing the lawn as well.