Random gastronomy stuff (Mikey’s adventures in Foodieland)

[Mikey]

This forum has become pretty moribund as of late so, in an attempt to generate some traffic, I'm starting this thread as a place to post random food stuff that doesn't warrant its own thread (per the thread title).

To start out...

The wife and I head down to the flatlands every Saturday morning, with three regular stops
1) a farm stand on Vista Way that has some of the greatest locally grown stuff available around here. I'll buy whatever is in season there if we can use it. It's always high quality and a lot cheaper than the farmers market, which caters mostly to a crowd that doesn't mind dropping some extra $$ for food that's local and often organic. In other words, food with a conscience. They charge a pretty hefty premium on their prices at the county certified farmers market, partly due to the fees for getting a stand.

2) the county certified farmers market. More expensive, usually, than the supermarket or my favorite stand on Vista Way, but still really good quality locally grown (mostly) produce.

3) Costco, for meats, wine and bulk stuff

Here's what I picked up this morning from 1) and 2)



Cantaloupes, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn are from the stand. Those heirloom tomatoes are $1.00 apiece at the stand. You can't see how big they really are but probably close to a lb each (I don't usually pick out the largest) and they get $3.99 per lb at the grocery store. Cantaloupes likewise, $1.00 apiece and probably as sweet as any melons anywhere. The corn was $0.50 and picked this morning. Cukes were four for $1.00.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Mmmmm...

...fresh produce that looks so good, it makes me want to...



...cry.

[Mikey]

Sunday dinner at Mikey’s table -

Grilled Alaskan halibut tostada with Hatch Valley New Mexico green chiles, Fallbrook Reed avocado and grilled onion.

[Dinsdale]

"Fresh" Alaskan halibut in SoCal -- funny stuff.

[Goober McTuber]

"Fresh" Alaskan halibut in SoCal -- funny stuff.

Took you 4 days. You're slipping.

[Mikey]

"Fresh fish" to those who aren't anal retentive self-important blowhards usually means not frozen or otherwise processed, except for cleaning an portioning.
Are you really going to bring this up every time somebody mentions fresh fish?
Talk about not fresh...

The degree of "freshness" may be open to discussion but, unfortunately, we can't all eat our fish on the boat while it's still alive.

That being said, Costco moves a huge volume of product and it probably never stays in their case for more than a day. I would also imagine that it's likely at the local store within a day of when it comes off the boat.

[Mikey]

Cooking for 20 tomorrow, including smoked back ribs, potato salad, carne asada, guacamole, grilled veggies. Should be a massive pig out.

[Mikey]

Taking pics as I go and will try to post some if I have time. Otherwise later.

Got the potato salad done and the ribs are on. Marinade for the carne asada is next up.

[Mikey]

Using Imgur from my phone for the first time so this may take a while.

Starting the smoker this morning at about 8:00

[Mikey]

Can’t figure out how to resize on the Imgur iPhone app so I’ll have to continue this tomorrow.

[Mikey]

I bought two packages of baby back ribs from Costco, thinking that there were two full racks in each. Then when I got home I got home I started thinking I might not have enough, but when I opened them up there were three in each. It was more than enough, but I was worried about fitting them all in the smoker at one time. I've never done this many at the same time.


Here they are, seasoned with Bad Byron's Butt Rub seasoning, also from Costco. They sat like this for a couple of hours before cooking.





I was able to arrange the wire racks go fit five across, and then cut the sixth into smaller pieces to fit them all on. I think this is about 1/2 hour into cooking.






This is probably 3 1/2 or 4 hour into smoking (I used hardwood charcoal and hickory chunks).





After 4 1/2 hours I determined that they were pretty much done (this but direct sampling). Cut each into three pieces. I decided to sauce some and leave some unsauced. I transferred 11 of the pieces to the gas grill on indirect heat at about 250 deg and put sauce on them. The other pieces were put in the warmer oven in the house.

[Mikey]

While the ribs were cooking I put together the potato salad. The night before I had boiled about 8 lb of red potatoes, let them cool, cut them up, and set them up to marinate in some Italian dressing over night. I also boiled about a dozen eggs.

Here are the main ingredients set out to construct the salad:
Marinated potatoes
hard boiled eggs
black olives diced into fairly large pieces
chopped celery
pimientos

Not shown:
Mayo
Grey Poupon
celery seeds




I had to use two bowls because I don't have one large enough to accommodate the full amount I was dealing with.



Everything but the mayo and the eggs, which I slice up and add last so they don't get too broken up when I mix it all together.




Here's the final product, in two bowls. I eventually put as much as I could fit into one bowl before serving.




The longer it has in the fridge to chill down and let the flavors meld, the better.



This is just before serving, along with some pasta salad that my step-daughter made.




More pics in a little while.

[Mikey]

Next up:
Carne asada

Started out with about 8 lb of "flap steak." Apparently called sirloin tips in some places, it's the best cut (IMO) for carne asada. You can also use skirt steak, flank steak, or most any other cut sliced thin. The nice thing about this is it's already fairly thin, has a nice fat content, and picks up the marinade really well.

First pic is in the package. Second is laid out on a large cutting board. I cut it into about 6 or 8 inch pieces before marinating.






Here are the ingredients for the marinade.
lime juice (I squeezed about three dozen limes the night before for the marinade and margaritas)
EVOO
cilantro
fresh garlic
cumin (I also added some chili powder - not shown)




Tip for peeling a bunch of garlic cloves quickly -
Put them in a metal bowl
Cover with another metal bowl
Shake hard





This is after a few seconds of shaking. You have some left that aren't peeled yet, but just take out the peeled ones and the loose skins and shake again.



Chop it up fine and put in a glass bowl



Add everything except the EVOO and cilantro and stir.



Add about enough EVOO to double the volume, stir that up, chop up the cilantro, add that and stir again. Sorry no photos of the final marinade, but then you add it to the meat in some zip lock bags and stick it in the fridge for a few hours.



I saved about 1/3 of that marinade for the green onions and Hatch Valley New Mexico green chiles to be grilled later.

[Mikey]

I sort of stopped taking so many pictures around this point, but here are some random ones

Avos ready for guacamole. A few had bad spots that I removed before I used them.




Veggies on the gas grill - peppers, onions, mushrooms and peppers. There were also zucchini and asparagus which I did on a second round.





Carne asada on the grill




Final product:

Chile peppers; bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms; onions, asparagus




Unsauced ribs, sauced ribs, carne asada




Green salad, bean salad (provided by others)

[BSmack]

"Fresh" Alaskan halibut in SoCal -- funny stuff.

My wife recommended a place that served "Vegan Beet Salad."

We all got a good laugh out of that.

[Dinsdale]

I would also imagine that it's likely at the local store within a day of when it comes off the boat.

Now you're being REALLY funny.

[Dinsdale]

And RACK the buffet. I would have eaten myself into a coma.

Luckily, the guests were spared the stale fish.

[Dr_Phibes]

I would also imagine that it's likely at the local store within a day of when it comes off the boat.

Now you're being REALLY funny.

Younger sister distributes cheese and fish in western Ontario, I get pressed into service when I go to visit. The stuff distributors get in a flash would boggle your mind - at not much of a cost. It ain't 1963 anymore Dins, fresh can mean instant. It gets from a boat in the Maritimes to Toronto to Guelph in under twelve hours. I can only imagine the supply train in the States.

[Dinsdale]

I live a couple of hours from the largest fishing port in the Western US (2017, a title that changes frequently). And I still don't buy commercially caught fish, since it's nasty (and if you saw howit's handled, you wouldn't either). That, and the majority of it becomes fishsticks, crappy fast food patties, and imitation crab.

If I caught it that day(possibly the day before), it gets eaten "fresh." If older,it goes into brine, and into the smoker.I don't really fish for halibut and tuna (too much work, especially tuna), but occasionally have it given to me (or it can be purchased right off the boat).

It's now fall salmon season. Gotta get out and get me some (probably Friday).

[Mikey]

In deference to your obvious expertise, note that I've stopped referring to halibut as "fresh."

http://www.theoneboard.com/board/viewto ... 17&t=49388

Still tasted pretty good, though.

[Dinsdale]

Actually, halibut is one of the better keeping fish. It's not completely awful even after freezing.

[Mikey]

Today from the farmers market.

[Dinsdale]

Is that kale?

YHKYOA

[Mikey]

You have a problem with kale?

I used to wonder how anybody could eat it except for maybe a few pieces in minestrone or something.

But we make a salad out of it about once a week that goes great with baked chicken or a lot of other things.

Wash it. Tear it into bite size pieces (without the stalks). Massage it (just sort of squeeze the shit out of it for a minute or so to tenderize it).

Put it in a bowl, toss with some Cardini’s “Caesar” dressing. Divide into salad bowls and top with pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds), a few golden raisins, croutons and some grated parm. Try it. It’s really very tasty and satisfying.

[Mikey]

Tonight:
Grill roasted beef tenderloin (on sale for $6.79 at the local market ) with red wine balsamic reduction
Grilled trumpet mushrooms and baby eggplants
Fake Caesar salad (using the Cardini’s dressing)
Corn on the cob (I’m clearing out the fridge because tomorrow is farmers market day)
Multi- grain sourdough bread
2016 Tablas Creek “Esprit de Tablas” Rhône Style GSM (just got my fall shipment). This wine rates something like 93 or 94 with most reviewers.

https://tablascreek.com/wines/2016_esprit_de_tablas_

[Dinsdale]

I'd invite myself for dinner if I lived close. Everything sounds awesome. I have a case of unrated cab, but the '15 got a 91. Free was a very good price (I helped bottle it, but usually don't get a full case out of the deal). And for $6.79 for tenderloin, you bought all of it, right?

baked chicken

My recipe,which is unbelievably awesome:

Take the whole bird, rinse it, and do the usual prep.

Season it however the fuck you like to season chicken.

Put it in a baking pan, and stick it into a 180 degree oven for about 4.5 hours (I usually do fairly small birds). Look for about 130 or so on the meat thermometer.

Flip it over, and crank the oven up to about 425. Give it about 10 minutes or so to brown the bottom skin a bit. Flip it back over, and give it another 15 minutes or so. NOTE: when cooked that slowly, the inner parts have been exposed to the "kill zone" much longer than a faster cook, so internal temperature doesn't need to go as high. 150-155 is plenty.

Yes, it takes hours. Yes, it's the best baked chicken you'll ever have. Tried it once, and I'm hooked for life. So good.

[Mikey]

That chicken sounds pretty damn good. Nothing like a tender bird nicely crisped. I’ve been doing something similar for cooking a whole bird, with one added twist. This comes from Marcella Hazan’s classic Italian cookbook. Basically you take two small lemons (preferably Meyer IMHO), roll them around under your palm on the cutting board to break up some of the insides, poke a bunch of holes through the skin, and stuff them in the bird before cooking. This adds an amazing hint of lemon to the flavor and helps keep everything moist. The method isn’t as slow cooked as yours, which I’m going to have to try next time around.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/recipesorr ... lemon/amp/

The lemon thing is so good I’ve started using on Thanksgiving turkeys.

My go-to method for chicken pieces (works with any combo but we usually use thighs):

Use a glass baking dish. Pre heat the oven to 400. Arrange skin side up in the dish. Season with your favorite seasoned salt. Sprinkle with a generous amount of dried minced garlic (important ingredient). Sprinkle with Kraft grated “parmesan cheese.” Add a dusting of paprika for color. Bake for one hour. This is a fail-safe delicious chicken recipe that we eat almost every week.

Regarding the fake cheese - this adds a nice crispy layer to the skin. If you use real Parmesan cheese it just melts. Cheaper green can brands will probably make you sick or even cause death.

[Mikey]

BTW...free is definitely a good price. Always better than the alternative.

I was caught by surprise by the beef sale. I bought two tenderloin roasts and will probably go back for more today. They have a bunch of other cuts as well, like tri-tip for about $3.00. Time to stock the freezer.

[Screw_Michigan]

BTW...free is definitely a good price. Always better than the alternative.

I was caught by surprise by the beef sale. I bought two tenderloin roasts and will probably go back for more today. They have a bunch of other cuts as well, like tri-tip for about $3.00. Time to stock the freezer.

Do you buy the non-marinated tenderloin? I usually buy the marinated kind but you're a little more skilled at this than I am.

Sometimes the local g-store will have those for $6 and yes that is a pretty good price.

[Dinsdale]

Take the finest cut of beef there is, and marinate it? That's the dumbest shit ever.

[Mikey]

I very rarely actually buy the tenderloin, partly because of the price, but also if I’m going to grill a steak I prefer a prime NY strip. To me, with more marbling, they have a better flavor than the tenderloin.

The roast last night came out pretty awesome, BTW. Set out at room temperature for a couple of hours before cooking. Seasoned with salt, pepper and dried minced garlic, coated with a spray of EVOO before putting on the grill. Cooked using charcoal in indirect heat at a pretty high temperature for about 40 minutes to an internal temperature of 120. I also added some applewood chunks. The outside was well seared and carmelized and the center was borderline raw - just right. It sat under some foil for 10 minutes while I put the salad together. All in all a pretty tasty concoction.

The red wine and balsamic reduction (cooked down with some honey) was a first attempt. It was OK but a little too sweet. The meat tasted better on its own, IMO.

[Dinsdale]

The red wine and balsamic reduction (cooked down with some honey) was a first attempt. It was OK but a little too sweet. The meat tasted better on its own, IMO.

For me, tenderloin is best bare, with a few crumbles of bleu cheese, or a bleu cheese sauce. Less is more. Gorgonzola works, too... maybe even a bit better.

[Bucmonkey]

*Burp