Shrimp and Grits

Working with Mark

From a recent gig with Mark. My fav was the Romesceu sauce: roasted bell peppers, almonds and garlic.

Same brussel sprouts I served with the steak but here with beef braised in wine and stock. Jasmine rice on the side.

Location:Cassidy Ave,Lexington,United States

Winter Steak

Seared a NY strip and served with a parsley chimichurri sauce Brussel Sprouts were great. Seared then steamed in red wine and beef stock. Mashed garlic potatoes and parsley.

Location:Cassidy Ave,Lexington,United States

Summer Meal

A summer dinner I forgot to post.

Chicky Thighs

Ah, my poor neglected blog. We have here chicken thighs seared on high heat. Then a sauté of onion, garlic and kale. *Tip* chop the kale stems and put in first. Then all in the pot--I'm using my paella dish--with chicken stock. Added some sage. Thickened with corn starch. Necessary? Maybe not. Served with mashed potatoes is an Austrian fashion: boiled in chicken stock then added reduced stock to the mash.

Chickpeas and Okra

Recently made this dish:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-kanner/meatless-monday-okra-and_b_678353.html?ir=Food

Hmmm. . . interesting

Summer Cocktail

Any votes for a name for this: Evan Williams single barrel whiskey shaken with muddled watermelon, Peychaud's bitters and a drop of simple syrup. Served over crushed ice with watermelon wedge.

Location:Mt Vernon Dr,Lexington,United States

Foppiano Lot 96

Another great wine from Corner Wine I paired this with the grilled pizza.

Grilled Pizza

This was a welcome home meal for Michal, John & co. who just got back from Denmark. Tips on the dough--let the yeast sit in warm water with a T of sugar. Let rise twice before punching down. Roll out thin. Placed on the grill on both sides and cooked 1/2 way:


Then off for the toppings:



Then put on the heat shield and baked (with wood chips) at 600 degrees. Michal gives a great suggestion: olive oil and salt on the outer crust.

Shrimp Pesto

Pretty standard pesto--basil, parsley, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil. Sauteed the shrimp in very low heat. Added crush garlic late. Also threw in lightly sauteed CSA cherry tomatoes. *Tip* Use the pasta pot after boiling the fettuccine.



I've been visiting our new wine shop-- Corner Wine. This is an old vine zinfandel. Spicy and maybe a touch too sweet.

Blackberry Buckle

Made this for Henry with blackberries we snuck from Raven's Run: 1/2 c rice flour, 1/2 c brown sugar, blackberries, a little milk (1-2 T), one stick butter. Served with Graeter's blackberry chip ice cream

Location:Ellersue Ave,Lexington,United States

BBQ Shrimp

Rebecca and family got it in to KY today and made this meal for them. Prawn wrapped in bacon smothered in a cherry BBQ sauce. Kale sauteed in the Egg with cherry tomatoes--both from the CSA. And cheese grits. Also beet chips--sliced beets deep fried in peanut oil with spicy Cajun seasoning.

Pizza Project #1

Well, I was very inspired by Peter Headley's pizza. So i'm back on task with working the Green Egg as a pizza oven. This attempt came out so-so. Key themes:

Fleishmann's pizza yeast and let rise twice.
Oven at 400.
Basic sauce: onion garlic tomatoes.

For next time:

Let charcoal tower burn to the top before dumping on Egg. Then let Charcoal in egg burn for maybe 20 min. All this to get a 600 degree temp.

Here's a pre photo:

Location:Montclair Dr,Lexington,United States

Chicken Cacciatori

The family cacciatore recipe. Well, kind of. Rebe made it from memory. Sofrito of onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Then canned tomatoes. Red pepper flakes and cinnamon. Chicken thighs dredged in rice flour and browned. Served with rice. And arrugula.

Location:Quaker Ln,Bon Air,United States

Rebe Eggs

Aunt Rebe's famous breakfast eggs: two poached eggs over jasmine rice topped with acacado and seaweed -- what kind we don't know as she can't quite make out the Kanji but it was baked with soy. And some soy sauce on top.

Location:Quaker Ln,Bon Air,United States

Last Dinner at Ocracoke: Indian Fusion

This was our last dinner at Ocracoke. Came out mostly well. Had brought a tikki masala paste with me. Added that to sauteed onions and garlic. Added cream (actually half and half). Then baked mackerel. Sadly the mackerel is a very delicate fish and it really fell apart. Then over linguine with chopped cilantro. Several sides: a chopped salad with a great Caesar vinaigrette of balsamic, olive oil, minced garlic, and an egg (thanks, Don and Barbara, for the fresh egg). Boiled potatoes that were sauteed in olive oil and sirachi sauce. Finally, brussell sprouts. The were seared then boiled in chicken broth and served with balsamic. Good eats.

Location:Harbor Cove Ln,Ocracoke,United States

Clam Bake

Well, clam steam. Went out with mom and dad's friends Don and Barbara to Portsmith and raked up 200 clams. Steamed them. The trick: let the steamer bubble up over the clams then remove the lid then let bubble one more time. Boiled potatoes in water w/ Old Bay seasoning then added corn after potatoes were close to done. Strained and added butter and more Old Bay. Dad made a seafood sauce. Oh...also served a blueberry whiskey sour made with shaken egg whites from Barbara's chickens.

Location:Harbor Cove Ln,Ocracoke,United States

Spanish Mackeral

First dinner at Ocracoke in about a year. Spanish mackeral is being caught and Dad bought quite a bit. I used my standard rub and made rice and beans.

Location:Harbor Cove Ln,Ocracoke,United States

Greek Fusion

This was another meal we made at Rebe's in Richmond. They've got a Greek festival ongoing so that inspired us to go Mediterranean.

The app was a feta croquette: boiled potato, egg, feta, fresh oregano from Rebe's garden. Chilled (that's key). Then flour-egg wash-panko and into a deep fryer. Served with a sauce of tzatziki & sirachi that was processed smooth. Came out well but needed a stronger, bolder feta. The cheap stuff from Kroger didn't stand up.

The cocktail was a Rummy Lemon drop: 1 C simple syrup, 1 C lemon juice, 1 C rum, 1T lemoncello. (Not pictured).

Then a gyro of ground lamb mixed with toasted ground cumin and coriander also lemon juice, garlic powder, s&p then in a hot oven. Served with a Greek salad.


Rebe served this excellent Italian wine with the meal:

Location:Murray Hill Dr,Midlothian,United States

Pad Tai-ish 2

Here's the recipe for the dipping sauce:

1/3 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon Sirachi chile sauce.

A photo:



The pad tai was thin rice noodles and marinated chicken covered with this sauce: Dark soy sauce, sirachi chili, rice wine, Rebe's fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro, crushed peanuts.

Location:Murray Hill Dr,Midlothian,United States

Pad Thai-ish

Dinner with Rebe and Patrick. The cocktail: a Mai Tai. 1 C Grande Reserve Plantation rum, 1 C simple syrup, 1C lime juice, 1 T Grand Marnier, and 1 T Amaretto di Amore.


The App: pot stickers. Wok fried napa cabbage, green garlic, onion, sirachi chile sauce, ground pork, grated Ginger, dark soy sauce, Chinese rice wine. Wrapped in wonton wrappers and then steamed or deep fried.

Location:Jimmy Winters Rd,Bon Air,United States

Here are some additional photos.

Henry's polenta:


Woodfired shrimp:


Tanya and Henry (what a great couple):

Location:Jimmy Winters Rd,Bon Air,United States

Woodfired Pizza

Visiting my sister in Richmond and invited to Peter and Melanie's for dinner. They have this amazing outdoor oven:



Peter was making pizzas:







Out of kindness to Henry, Peter whipped up some of the best polenta I've tasted

One of their guests was Tanya Cauthen, owner of Richmond's Belmont Butchery: http://belmontbutchery.com/ I had read about her shop in Food and Wine. She and her fiancée Henry were great company.

Location:Jimmy Winters Rd,Bon Air,United States

A tasty app

Served this as an app for guests. Placed the remainder of the grilled shrimp on basil leaf then toasted bread from our favorite restaurant Belle Notte. Topped with a chimichurri sauce (olive oil, vinegar, basil, parsley, sirachi chile sauce). One guest was allergic to seafood so substituted with a thick slice of fresh mozzarella.

The Beer Trappe

The Beer Trappe is the new neighborhood bar. They have six kegs on tap in constant rotation and all are craft beers from small breweries.

Check 'em out at http://www.thebeertrappe.com/.

Yesterday, I took a growler (64 oz.) bottle to music. We sampled North Coast Brewing Co.'s Brother Thelonius, a Belgian abbey ale. Wonderful malt flavors with just a hint of that yeastiness you find in the Belgian lambics. Tasty

Location:Hart Rd,Lexington,United States

Surf and Turf

Everything was done on the Freen Egg. And what a way to start a Memorial Day weekend. Sirloin grilled to 125 then rested. It came up to 140 after coming off so was medium rare. CSA asparagus on the grill pan. The shrimp -- check out the before and after pix -- was marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, chili sauce, S&P then grilled on skewers. Excellent. Instead of garlic bread, I butttered a baguette and sprinkled with Old Bay and grilled. Came out well

Stir Fry

I'm really getting this stir fry sauce down. Basic recipe: 1/2 C water (or stock) then equal parts dark soy sauce, Chinese rice wine and fish sauce to make a full cup. Mix in 1 T corn starch. Here served with bok choy, chickpeas, grape tomatoes over rice. Yeah, the chickpeas were a bit random.

Paprika Chicken

Made a paste of standard BBQ rub, olive oil, lemon juice and crushed garlic:



I then rubbed this all over (and beneath the skin) of a whole chicken. Roasted at 325. Took out when the thermometer read 160. Then rested. Here served with boiled potatoes with sour cream and garlic powder and sugar snap peas. The peas had a great dipping sauce of black vinegar and soy sauce.

AKA leftovers. Pork tenderloin sliced thin topped with aioli and last night's asparagus pesto. Served with a lemondrop: vodka, lemoncello, dash of syrup and bitters.

Yum. Roasted tenderloin. Pesto was boiled asparagus (fresh from the CSA), cilantro, walnuts, paremesan, olive oil. Also boiled red potatoes with sour cream and dill. Tip on the tenderloin: remove from heat at 160 degrees and let rest.

Location:Tenderloin with asparagus/mint pesto

Paella

Mom and Dad were in town so. . . Paella! Used paella rice I got Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati. Started with a onion, garlic, celery soffrito. Added rice. Then chicken stock and saffron. Right at the end added shrimp, mussels, scallops and grouper.



Side of asparagus and bell pepper:



The cocktail was a strawberry dacquiri: 10 Cane rum, lemoncello, strawberry syrup, lime juice with a blackberry garnish

Prime Rib. Mmmmm. . .

Oh this came out great. Salt and peppered the rib and slow smoked for 2+ hours in the Egg. *Tip* take off at 125 degrees and let rest for 15 min. or so. Sides of Mexicali corn (corn, mayo, standard BBQ rub) and potatoes with sour cream. Baked both the corn and the potatoes in the Egg. Eggsellent

Easter Dinner

Used the green egg to glaze a ham. You've seen these hams in the grocery--they're pre-cooked. They need to be reheated and then have the glaze applied. The egg works great because you can really give it that a smoky flavor. Came out well but not as tasty as a beef tenderloin. Used gunshot powder for the rub and served with a chimichurri sauce. Sides of bleu cheese Cole slaw and sour cream dill potato salad. Thanks, Michal, for a tremendous carrot cake.

Kung Pow Cod

Well, I guess you could call it that. This was easy and fast. Baked fish (in this case, cod) with a thick layer of stir fry sauce over it. Then in the oven at 325. Meanwhile boiled rice noodles. Added chopped green onions and bell peppers (from Friday night). Standard peas with butter and dill.

Pork Loin with Crab

Mom and dad visiting from VA so I had to pull out something fun: Pork tenderloin with a crabmeat stuffing. Sauteed onions and celery. Red pepper flakes. Then added crabmeat, cubed baguette with clam stock. Sides: Twice baked potato with sour cream, Parmesan and topped with cavier. Bell peppers and asparagus.