The Glade 4.0

For Easter supper I cooked my first ever rack of lamb served with a brown rice pilaf, smashed sweet taters, and broccoli with cheese sauce and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Last night I had Cochinita Pibil inside a hollowed-out roll.

Similar to this:

Tonight I had what I call Leftover Stir Fry...

1 small lamb chop, previously cooked, fat removed and chopped into smallish pieces
@1/2 to 3/4 cups brown rice pilaf (cooked in vegetable broth with carrots and peas)
4 small baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Saute garlic and mushrooms in a bit of extra virgin olive oil for a minute or two. Add the chopped lamb and saute for another minute or two. Add the rice pilaf, splash a bit of low sodium soy sauce and some sesame oil, stir fry for a minute or two and serve. Yummy!

I've done the same with other leftovers, such as steak or pork chops...just throw in any extra vegies that are in the fridge, stir frying long enough to cook the vegies to tender crisp and adding any variety of sauces you might like...oyster flavored sauce, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, etc.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Last night 93% lean grass feed beef burgers, seasoned with a combo of Season Salt, Garlic and Goya Adobe. Grilled fresh asparagus cooked in a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil,hint of lime juice, salt and pepper. Fresh pineapple and cantaloupe.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Tonight was a tritip, cooked a bit too long, but still tender and tasty. I chopped a couple of thin slices up and put on top of a salad of romaine, tomato, green onion, red bell pepper, and zucchini with a light ranch dressing drizzled over all.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Oh, man, I impress myself sometimes.

Tonight was going to be "buffet night," basically, whatever leftovers we could scrape together. Had some leftover Easter ham, mashed potatoes, and my first thought was to just reheat them, cook up some broccoli, and throw it on the table.

Then, I got creative.

We have a garden (actually, two gardens), where we have a lot of kale, chard, parsley, and so on. The kale is getting to the point where it needs to be harvested, so I started looking around for recipes. Found three interesting ideas:

Kale, ham and potatoes;
Black kale with ham, garlic and onion; and
a stock photo of Tagliatelle with kale, ham, and Parmesan.

With this in mind, I chopped up a bunch of kale, sauteed some garlic with olive oil, and threw in the kale, along with a large chopped green onion from the garden. Simmered/steamed it, covered, and when it had cooked down a bit, threw in the cubed ham and let it cook another few minutes, plus a few minutes at high heat. Re-heated the mashed potatoes, and put the kale/ham mixture on top. Served it with grated Parmesan-like cheese on top.

I have to say, it was pretty tasty. Very nicely balanced. One kid and the wife ate it up (heated up ham and broccoli for the youngest) and loved it. I think this is my favorite method of cooking - let's see what I can do with what's in the fridge. Let's hear it for the Interspirationet.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Technically this is lunch. Steak and broccoli:




So damn good.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

I had nachos with left over chicken from the fajitas I made the night before, some diced tomato, and green onions.

Going out to a pub tonight with my wife and her friend with ALS, she's degenerating fast so she's trying to do as much as she can while she's still able.

Small size corn tortillas fried crispy and drained on paper towels. Spread with a thin layer of vegetarian style refried beans, top with chopped onions, thinly sliced black olives, and shredded cheese. Place on baking sheet under broiler until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from broiler, let cool a minute, top with your favorite salsa, taco sauce, or hot sauce. Great with a margarita while watching my Sharks beat the Avs in overtime last night!

Go Sharks!!

_________________
"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Turkey and brie with a raspberry spread (already nomnomnom'd the other half) accompanied by a simple salad and an Avery IPA.

Round Table pizza!

_________________
"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Homemade baked ziti primavera.

Dash, the broil cook had no idea how to mark a steak, was it cooked to temperature?

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Ha yeah that cook was me on the backyard grill. I usually get the marks a little better than that but not this time.

Tasted good though! Any tips for the future?

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

LOL, then it isn't important. I don't worry about marks on my own grill either.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

So how do you mark a steak?

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Holy shitsnacks!

This is a properly marked steak. The patern should be in diamonds working up and down the length of the cut of meat if the steak is positioned vertically on the plate. If a broil chef is worth his salt, every steak that leaves the line should look exactly like this, regardless of temperature.

Edit: In using this picture for reference, use only the meat, not the flame. The flame is incorrect, and would result in baddly charred meat with an undercooked/raw interior.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Is it just in the way you turn it?

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Holy shitsnacks!

Partially. Other things considered in the final presentation are how good of a cut of meat it was, how well it was butchered, the ingerdients present in your rub or seasoning, and the consistency of the flame.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Yeah my grill marks tend to look dark brown rather than black. Hmm. I put a bit of extra virgin olive oil on it, then some salt and cracked pepper. Nothing fancy.

Room temperature and uh.. the flame is on high. The flames dont touch the steak though. I do use good cuts of beef though so it's hard to really screw up, I think?

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Most steak seasonings at higher end restaurants will have a bit of sugar in them. The sugar is what lends itself towards the blackening as it carmelizes.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Last night we had Deer burgers with grilled onions and mushrooms with swiss cheese. Bell peppers and asparagus on the side, topped off with a nice cold beer.

I broke my no alcohol during weekdays rule, but moderation in all things. Including moderation. Twas delicious.

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"I've got twenty ways to tell you shut the f*ck up / nineteen of them are twenty-four bars long / the other one goes: SHUT THE F*CK UP" - Aesop Rock
"There is no God higher than truth." -- Gandhi
Formerly: Tulamian

Tonight was boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs and a homemade potato salad.

Chicken breasts were marinated for an hour...light sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground pepper on both sides, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, juice of one lemon, fresh rosemary, oregano, and sage coarsely chopped, and finely minced garlic...then grilled.

The thighs were sprinkled lightly with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and garlic powder...then grilled and basted with KC Masterpiece Original BBQ sauce.

Potato salad was my mother's recipe, which I have made since I was a kid...red potaoes boiled until fork tender then peeled and cubed, kosher style dill pickles chopped, sliced black olives, stalk of celery chopped, half of a small onion chopped, two hard boiled eggs chopped, mayo, a teaspoon of dry mustard, light sprinkle of sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a sprinkle of dry dill. Mix it all together, then sprinkle a bit of paprika over the top and chill.

_________________
"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Baked Wheat Ziti Primavera.

Summery and Yummery.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Nothing fancy tonight, just a broiled piece of salmon with a little tony chachere's on it, and a bag of steamed veggies >_>

I never get fancy unless its someone eating it other than me

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BBQ pork sandwiches, grapefruit sections, avocado. Hooray for quick and easy dinners.