What's for dinner?

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Saturday is my mother-in-law's 60th. Going to be making Shrimp Cakes w/sweet chili sauce, Bruchetta, Duck Confit salad, and Cuban Mojo Pork and grilled oranges on the BBQ served with Duck Fat potatoes, fire roasted sweet peppers and poached asparagus w/thyme and balsamic vinegar.

EJ, if you promise to cook like that afterward, I will play with you anytime. On or off the course.

My wife is in Ireland this week and I can't be arsed to cater for myself, so I ordered duck red curry (thai spicy) from the place across the road. Was sweating before I even opened the bag!

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by Stretch

EJ, if you promise to cook like that afterward, I will play with you anytime. On or off the course.

My wife is in Ireland this week and I can't be arsed to cater for myself, so I ordered duck red curry (thai spicy) from the place across the road. Was sweating before I even opened the bag!

You bring the wine and we got a date babe!

[jamo]

I just want to say that this is one of my favorite threads to nerd out while reading. I don't have much to add because when I make food it's generally pretty simple stuff, though occasionally I'll tackle something more difficult. One of my favorite things to make is carnitas. Basically you take a 5lb pork butt, toss it in a Dutch oven with spices (chilli powder, lots of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head), a few onions, and jalapeños (plus I like to add some poblanos because they're mild but offer good texture), and braise it for 4 or 5 hours. Then you pull the meat, onions, and poblanos out and place them on a sheet pan with some more of the spices and a bit of the liquid and roast it ~30 minutes, or until the meat gets a bit crispy. You can eat in any number of ways; plain, in tacos or burritos, or on blue-corn pancakes (using a thinner batter and far less sugar than normal pancakes). And it's great the next day, and the next day, and the next day, or until you get tired of it.

[Ernest Jones]

Sounds pretty good to me. I take it you shred it before the baking part? Gets nice a crisp I imagine. Pork fat is a food group!

[jamo]

Sounds pretty good to me. I take it you shred it before the baking part? Gets nice a crisp I imagine. Pork fat is a food group!

Yup, shred it before baking. I should also note you cut it into chunks before braising so it cooks evenly. And the big things about the seasoning that I forgot to mention are tons of cumin (I'm a huge cumin fan) and a few gloves of garlic thrown in the pot. I like making the same cut of pork butt into barbecued pulled pork too. Similar rub with cumin and chili powder, but also a bit of mustard powder and a few other things. Then a pretty simple cooking process is two-fold: First you smoke it (on a regular grill over indirect low heat, using soaked wood chips wrapped in tin foil under the grates and switched out every so often) for basically as long as you can stand it without gnawing your own arm off. Then you take it off the grill, smother it in equal parts of your favorite barbecue sauce and salsa (though you should tend towards limiting the sugar in those, or it could get too sweet and not spicy enough), wrap it in foil, and put it back on the grill for a few hours. I'm more of a dry barbecue fan, but as far as wet goes (and I think pulled pork is usually wet), it's pretty tasty for something made on a regular gas grill. And the wrapping in foil part is kind of a save-all if you messed something up along the way. That same rub can be used on dry barbecue (ribs, brisket, chicken), and a great trick is to add crushed up saltine crackers, which gives it a nice crust. (As I read that sentence I'm noticing how Food Networky it sounds.)

[boogielicious]

Sounds great.  Similar to how we make pulled pork, except cutting into chunks.  I will definitely try this way.

[Ernest Jones]

Chicken in a hoisin and lime sauce.

[RPMPIRE]

July 4 is coming up and I'm getting some good ideas. Keep it coming....

[Ernest Jones]

Saturday is my mother-in-law's 60th. Going to be making Shrimp Cakes w/sweet chili sauce, Bruchetta, Duck Confit salad, and Cuban Mojo Pork and grilled oranges on the BBQ served with Duck Fat potatoes, fire roasted sweet peppers and poached asparagus w/thyme and balsamic vinegar. If I can snap some pics while cooking I'll post them. All hail food porn!

Just finished a 3lb batch of shrimp cakes, mojo sauce is made and pork tenderloins are marinating. I'll post pics later tonight for any one interested. I'm also planning on posting pics of the finished pork tomorrow evening. Yes, I'm a kitchen geek. By the way, if anyone wants any recipes of stuff I post in here just let me know.

[Ernest Jones]

Some pictures as I prep for mother-in-law's 60th..

These are the shrimp cakes, I'll reheat them in the oven before serving tomorrow night.

Mojo sauce simmering....tons of citrus and cumin...gonna be good

Marinating the cuban pork in ziplocks overnight...

I'll snap some pics tomorrow evening for the grilling and finishing.

[boogielicious]

Those two Abruzzo recipes would be nice to try.  Can you post them?

[Ernest Jones]

Those two Abruzzo recipes would be nice to try.  Can you post them?

With pleasure. I'm going to be swamped today with this birthday dinner but I'll try to put both recipes up in the next few days. They're both pretty easy but there are multiple steps so they take a while to make. Which one do you want first?

[boogielicious]

Pork Stew with chestnuts and prunes served over warm polenta.

[David in FL]

Saturday night.....so it's STEAK NIGHT!  Always, without fail.

Thick, bone-in ribeyes, barely medium rare.....   Think I'll do a roasted potato salad and gazpacho to keep things cool.

I have a beautiful 2007 Chateau Montelena Cab we've been saving.  Tonight's the night!

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Sounds pretty good to me. I take it you shred it before the baking part? Gets nice a crisp I imagine.

Pork fat is a food group!

You may be one of the few people I know to appreciate it, but I have a large jar of bacon fat in my fridge.  I've been known to cook 2 lbs of bacon just to replenish it.

Blanch some haricots verts.  Quick saute' red onion, a bit of garlic in bacon fat.  Toss in the HV to warm through....maybe a little roasted red pepper dice for some color contrast.   God I LUV bacon fat!

[Ernest Jones]

You may be one of the few people I know to appreciate it, but I have a large jar of bacon fat in my fridge.  I've been known to cook 2 lbs of bacon just to replenish it.  Blanch some haricots verts.  Quick saute' red onion, a bit of garlic in bacon fat.  Toss in the HV to warm through....maybe a little roasted red pepper dice for some color contrast.   God I LUV bacon fat!  :-D

Bacon fat is divine. Pancetta fat is even better. Duck fat is also hard to beat. Your beans sound awesome. I like sautéing asparagus in brown butter, healthy blast of fleur de sel (the ultimate version of sea salt) right before its done then squeeze a tangerine over the whole mess and let it caramelize into a sauce.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Bacon fat is divine. Pancetta fat is even better.

Duck fat is also hard to beat.

Your beans sound awesome. I like sautéing asparagus in brown butter, healthy blast of fleur de sel (the ultimate version of sea salt) right before its done then squeeze a tangerine over the whole mess and let it caramelize into a sauce.

I like tangerine as a citrus.....no one EVER guesses what the base citrus is!

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by David in FL

I like tangerine as a citrus.....no one EVER guesses what the base citrus is!

Shhhhhhhh....

Yeah, I find tangerines have a perfect blend of sweet and tart. Clementines will also do the trick in a pinch but are definitely second choice. The citrus in my Cuban Mojo is half and half freshly sqeezed navel oranges and limes.

Blood oranges are another excellent citrus for cooking, nicely tart and assertive and the colour throws everyone off.