Steak Pics: Before and After

That's a thick ass steak!

135 degrees = medium rare. I had to finish it in the oven.

Meat sweats!

Spaghetti Cooked in Red Wine

I found this in Wine Spectator and it was pretty good and definitely makes for an awesome presentation. The broccoli rabe is great, I will be buying more of this.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb broccoli rabe
4 oz spaghetti or linguine
1/2 bottle of dry red wine, preferably Zinfandel. (other half for drinking)
2 t sugar
1 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 C Parmesan or Romano cheese

Process:
1. In a large pot of salted water, cook the broccoli rabe for about 3 minutes. Transfer the broccoli rabe to a baking sheet and spread it out to cool.

2. In the same boiling water, cook the pasta for 3-5 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and set it aside. Return pot to stove.

3. Add the wine and sugar, reduce by half; about 8 minutes. Add pasta to wine and cook over med high heat, until most of liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente.

4. While the pasta cooks, heat a large saute pan over high heat. Add the olive oil, reduce heat and add garlic and red pepper flakes and broccoli rabe. Saute for 3-5 minutes.

5. Stir pasta water into broccoli mixture and then add pasta. Toss gently and cook until most of liquid is gone. Top with cheese and serve.

Funky fries

I made some funky fries. It's a dish that a local food truck makes,
fries topped with pulled pork and cheddar cheese. Oh yeah, and I
smoked a pork shoulder on Sunday, that shit took forever.

Old Fashion Burgers

Gentlemen - check these burgers out. I felt like a good burger the other night, and I remembered watching a video from America's Test Kitchen about old-fashioned burgers, circa 1950. I ground my own meat, made my own special sauce, and finally put my mandoline to good use by slicing some crazy thin onions. Served it with some oven fries to round it all out (shout out to Jeff). The burgers were delicious - highly recommend this recipe. Here's the link: www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=14774.

New Charcoal Grill, sorta

Well all of Simpkins mouthing got to me and I picked up a Weber Kettle Charcoal grill. I got it used off Craigslist for $20 bucks, and it's actually in great shape. It's the bigger one, 22.5" which is a bit nicer IMO. First meal I made was Urban's last meal as a free man, Bone in Ribeye, Loaded Smashed potatoes, and grilled veggies, I also added some BBQ shrimp for an app that were the Bomb, I'll post the BBQ recipe at some point. I used some Kingsford competition charcoal and added some Hickory chunks. Mighty good eating. I'm looking forward to attempting to smoke something in it. Probably start with some ribs or pork shoulder.

Cuban Style Pulled Pork with Mojo Sauce

I smoked some pork the other day on the ol' Weber grill and it turned out great. Made a spice paste out of freshly ground cumin and black pepper, salt, garlic, olive oil, and oregano. I let it marinate over night and then smoked it for about 3 hours, followed by a bake in the over for 2 hours (wrapped in foil). The mojo sauce is composed of one cup freshly squeezed orange juice, one cup freshly squeezed lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, 6 cloves of garlic mashed into a paste, and freshly ground cumin (about 2 tablespoons). Put the mojo ingredients into a sauce pan and reduce for a bit, until you get a good consistency sauce. Shred the pork once it is ready (after it rests for an hour wrapped in a paper grocery bag to steam the meat further). Serve with rice and beans and pass the mojo sauce.

Great recipe. I loved the citrusy sauce with the pork. I get tired of traditional pulled pork condiments/sauces and this is a refreshing change for the summer.

Shrimp and (why is Jeff posting this before Simpkins?) Grits

So after sleeping in until 1130 or so today I needed some breakfast, and the kitchen was bare. Then I remembered a bag of a few frozen shrimp, and some polenta way in the back of the cupboard, so with no other options I had my first go at shrimp and grits. Turned out pretty great, I can only imagine what professional (like those made by chris simpkins) S&G taste like. I didn't have any cream, but the polenta was still much better than my first attempt, also the only cheese I had was parmesean, but it is the King of cheeses, so it did the job.

Polenta was made with water, polenta, salt, pepper, butter, and parm.

For the grits I sauteed some onion, bell pepper, and shitake together. Then I added garlic and the shrimp that I seasoned with salt and cayenne. Sauteed that for a minute then I through in a splash of white wine and finished it off with a pat of butter. Poured the shrimp mix over the polenta and topped with some parm and parsley. Not bad for an impromptu first go. Would have been dank with some white cheddar and bacon fat of some sort. So come on Simpkins, show me how its done...