425 replies to this topic

[snowangel]

I had to laugh at the idea of grilling two (2!) stalks of asparagus.  Me, I do a pound, and usually eat all/most of it myself.  I love asparagus.

Hmmm, is that back fat in the plastic bag?

Abra, when I looked at those two lonely spears on my plate, I whacked my forehead with my hand and wondered what I was thinking. I, too, could have eaten a pound.

Yes, you are right. Back fat. Why I didn't break it up into smaller pieces when I froze it, I'll never know. I'm figuring that if I'm making sausages, the texture will not be compromised if I can thaw it enough to pry off what I want and re-freeze it. Thoughts on this?

[KatieLoeb]

What a great tag team! This blog is getting off to such a great start! I'm enjoying the regional differences in refrigerator contents, weather and pets! And the common thread of smoking meat/fish/dinner is quite interesting as well.

Blog on my friends. We're all enjoying the ride...

[fou de Bassan]

Wow! A true triple treat!
Lancastermike, please show Lebanon balogna. I have wanted some with cream cheese ever since I read Laurie Colwin's description of it. this is maybe 12-13 years ago!
While I can't say categorically that grilled pizzas are better than oven-cooked, I can say they are way more fun.
Thanks for blogging

[rjwong]

aspargus and potatoes cooking, pork on the side finishing

Mike, now that's a meal for a man! If you were really hungry, could you eat the whole thing?

Great teamblog, everyone! Keep smokin', but no puffin' ...

[lancastermike]

aspargus and potatoes cooking, pork on the side finishing

Mike, now that's a meal for a man! If you were really hungry, could you eat the whole thing?

Great teamblog, everyone! Keep smokin', but no puffin' ...

No I don't think so Russell. We ate all the asparagus, most of the potatoes and most of one of the tenderloins. Leftovers abound. I have pork tenderloin in todays lunch bag

Edited by lancastermike, 11 May 2006 - 04:15 AM.

[lancastermike]

And one more comment/compliment for now. . . I love love love your dog pictures. The picture of Gus looks like my granddog-to-be-if-my-son-marries-his-girlfriend. How do your dogs behave when you eat dinner? Do they beg, or sit and stare adoringly into your eyes?

The boys are well behaved while we eat. It's when we have finished and are sitting at the table when they come over looking for a handout. Recently, we have stopped giving them any. Mostly to help stop the begging. Their favorite thing is ice cream. They each get to lick the bowls when we are done, this they love

[Marlene]

(And the multi-level patty-keeper is making me grin--that looks like such a classic Tupperware-type gizmo. Was that a party hostess gift? )

I swear, I have never hosted a Tupperware party nor been to one in my life. I order whatever I need online or there is a Tupperware kiosk in the mall here sometimes. But the patti stacker is one of my favourites.

Those are some good-looking dinners you all had.  I keep meaning to try those peanut butter burgers.  They sound so totally improbable, but I love peanut butter, so I'm destined to try them. 

The peanut butter gives the burgers a nice nutty taste without tasting of peanut butter. The fat from the peanut butter, and the butter combined with the fat of the ground beef make them incredibly juicy. YOu can use different seasonings, but I find the simple salt, pepper and garlic works very well. This is one of those recipes given to me by my father many years ago. Last year, when my brother first got sick, and I was cooking a lot for him, he wanted these burgers every other day it seemed. I had gotten away from making them, as Don tends to like making burgers here, but now I make these often.

Morning everyone. The rain has arrived as promised this morning. At 6 a.m. it was literally pounding down. It seems to have stopped for the moment, so I'll pick up some that chilles after I drop Ry of at school and see what I can do about making sauce.

They are calling for thunderstorms later. I'm as game to grill in the rain as my fellow bloggers, but I can promise you I won't be grilling on a stainless steel grill during a lightening storm, so we'll play today by ear.

But first, coffee.

[lancastermike]

Mike, beautiful tenderloin.  Absolutely stunning.  I should add that to the list of things I should do on the Weber.  Some of those in the morning would save me from coco roo hell.  Did you use a meat thermometer?  If so, temp at removal?  If not, what was the  finger test mark?

I check it with my instant read thermometer. I took it off around 140-145 and gave it a little rest. I know 160 is what pork is supposed to be. These are so lean that even with the brine 160 on the grill would make them dry, dry, dry. In fact, the brine is what lets me keep then on as long as I did.

[lancastermike]

Marlene and Susan,

Wonderful burgers.

Susan, does everyone like them that rare? My Maggie would not eat them that way. I like a rare burger as well, but do think about cooking ground meat that way. having them grind it fresh for you certainly helps. Much less chance of any bad things in the beef.

Marlene, Penut butter? Never in a million years would I have thought of that. Perhaps I need to study Receipe Gullet a little better.

It was a nice first day, just took the dogs for our big morning walk and it started to rain just as we neared the house. Tonight will be fun! Pizza in the rain on the grill. Off to work see you all at lunch time

[Marlene]

I'd never get away with making burgers that rare here either. I like medium rare, but the closest I can get the boys is med to med well. More cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning. Ry has packed his lunch which includes a hot salami sandwhich, some tropicana twister, a cinnamon roll and 2 Mrs. Fields cookies.

It's raining again. There's something about a grey dismal day that makes me just want to curl up on the couch and read. We're supposed to get about 50 mm of rain. Don't ask me how many inches that is, but it may be enough to warrant building an ark. The forcast is brightening up a little for the next two days, calling only for "isolated showers".

[snowangel]

Only Paul and I like burgers that rare, and since he wasn't home until quite late, it was mine! The kids like them medium rare, too, so my burger went on last.

With things like burgers, I find a timer to be an essential piece of grilling equipment.

And, to all, I've done the peanut butter burgers before. I don't like peanut butter and I loved them.

It's cloudy here, and the chance of rain is getting lower, so I'm going attack the weeds that didn't shrivel up. And, it seems cold (only 42 degrees F), so it's a sweatshirt day.

And, I'm meeting a friend for lunch today on Eat Street, an area of South Minneapolis that has tons of international eateries. I'm going to try and work in a trip to what is supposedly one of the best Asian markets in town (just down the street from the restaurant) and if I've got time, a Penzey's run.

[I_call_the_duck]

Fun, fun, fun!!! Blog on.

[Jake]

Marlene - So glad you're treating us to a slice of your life again, you are now on my ultimate hero list for that tip about Old Dutch chips. They are my absolute favourite and it's been a few years since I've had them.

Snowangel - what a perfect looking burger, I'm drooling. I, too, love mine rare like that.

LancasterMike - The old pork at 160 is a fallacy these days in my humble opinion, it would be dry and tasteless. The tenderloins looked perfect. I find brining to be a necessity with pork tenderloin. Love the puppies, and my condolences once again on the loss of Sophie. I recently rescued another German Shepherd after our last one passed away -- he was a rescue too. You're right, rescued and/or shelter dogs are wonderful.

[Abra]

Susan, I have my back fat thawing right now, also not having had the foresight to divide it into smaller poertions before freezing. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's the water content in food that is affected by freezing, so I think fat should be fine. I freeze duck fat and pork lard all the time with no ill effects.

Mike, 160 for the pork? Shoe leather! I take mine out between 135-138, if I can catch it. It'll be 145 by the time you slice it, and that's plenty done enough.

[Daddy-A]

Great burgers everyone! Like most, there's no way J would allow anything other than well-done. Myself? A little pink is good!

There is a lovely set of Grilled Pizza..if I do say so myself .....over here post 124
http://forums.egulle...ic=66396&st=120

Nice work Tracey. J & I grill pizzas all the time, probably 'cuz I'm too cheap to buy a pizza stone. I like the crispiness the crust gets on the grill, and the fact that it allows me to play with FIRE! Grilling pizza is a snap ... you just have to pay attention.

I have some a rack of pork ribs that were given to me as "homework" for a cooking class I'm taking. I may just have to smoke along with y'all this weekend ... in my own thread of course

A.

[Marlene]

Just to show you that fruits do make it into my house, just not necessarily past my lips. In the ongoing balance to keep Ryan filled up without letting him go overboard on junk, after school snacks are usually healthy things. We can move on to desserts and junk later. The bananas, yogurt and strawberries will go into a smoothie for him and he loves that peach fizzy water for some reason.



He's also a huge fan of sushi. Now, I couldn't tell you good sushi from bad, and this is supermarket sushi I know, but what the heck, it's healthy and he'll eat it.



The rain is still holding off so I decided to go ahead and make BBQ sauce.

Gather red onions, apples, and red peppers


then cut them up and toss in peanut oil.


In the meantime gather the rest of the ingredients and put them into a large pot:




Grill the oiled onions etc for a bit until slightly charred on both sides:


Then toss them into the pot and simmer for half an hour or so. You can simmer it right on the grill, or bring it in and simmer it on the stove. Grilltop simmering is a nice option for a hot day when you don't want to be working in your kitchen.


I tried valiantly to use my immersion blender to puree this, but the apples really don't get soft enough during this process. So I reverted back to my faithful blender. Do remember to keep your hand firmly on the blender lid, or you'll be cleaning BBQ sauce off your cupboards, clothes and face. I wonder If Ryan will notice I'm wearing a different shirt? Day two, second accident.



I use mason jars to store the sauce in. It's very thick and it makes a better condiment than a brushing sauce, athough it's divine, brushed on chicken while grilling. My brother goes nuts for this stuff, so 4 of these jars will go to him. I also ran out of mason jars, so there's some overflow in a tupperware container that you can't see.


The rain held off while I did this. It's now getting darker, and windy so we'll see what this afternoon brings but I've got pizza dough going in the breadmaker at the moment.

[MarketStEl]

Wow! A true triple treat! 
Lancastermike, please show Lebanon balogna.  I have wanted some with cream cheese ever since I read Laurie Colwin's description of it. this is maybe 12-13 years ago!

From the archives, three weeks back:



(Taken at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. It's in the rightmost of the three columns--regular in front, sweet in back.)

I'm looking forward to seeing it in its applied state, in a sandwich.

Edited by MarketStEl, 11 May 2006 - 09:18 AM.

[lancastermike]

Mike, 160 for the pork? Shoe leather! I take mine out between 135-138, if I can catch it. It'll be 145 by the time you slice it, and that's plenty done enough.

100% correct. At 160 I'm not sure the dogs would eat it. Pork tenderloin can be a difficult thing to grill. I keep a close eye on them. No walking away to do something else. As I said above I use a thermometer. At one time I thought I knew what i was doing and eschewed the use of the thermometer. I am no longer afraid to use it. It is the one sure way to know what is going on with the food. i can tell a good bit by touch and by sight. But, the thermometer is very important to me.

[lancastermike]

Lunch time at work. Leftover sliced pork tenderloin on whole wheat bread with some nice grainy mustard and a slice of swiss cheese. A step up from yesterday.
It's pretty good. I broke down and bought a bag of Doritos from the vending machine to go with it. Today's beverage selection is a Diet Sprite Zero, formally known as Diet Sprite.

For many years i never drank ANY diet soda. I hated the taste. Than in january 2005 Maggie and I embarked on a South Beach diet phase. My beloved Coke Classic was verbotten. Now, diet is all I drink. i buy the long 12 packs of cans when they go on sale. I got them 4 for 10 dollars last time. Now one shelf in the garage is full of all sorts of diet products from Coke. Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Lime, Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke, Diet Sprite Zero, Diet Barq's Root Beer[Maggie's Favorite], and some other stuff as well.

The Diet Cherry Vanilla is really good. The Diet Coke with Lime I like as well.

One can comes to work wioth me every day without fail for my lunch.

The South Beach thing has sort of faed but some things we still do. Whole wheat breads, flavoring my own yogart with sugar free syrups and diet soda only remain. However, though there is a big bag of Splenda in my pantry, those caipirinhas we had last night were made with 100% cane sugar.

[lancastermike]

I'm looking forward to seeing it in its applied state, in a sandwich.

I am stopping at the market on the way home tonight. Lebanon Bologna is on the list and a sandwich Sandy will see

[MarketStEl]

Lunch time at work.  Leftover sliced pork tenderloin on whole wheat bread with some nice grainy mustard and a slice of swiss cheese.  A step up from yesterday.
It's pretty good.  I broke down and bought a bag of Doritos from the vending machine to go with it.  Today's beverage selection is a Diet Sprite Zero, formally known as Diet Sprite.

For many years i never drank ANY diet soda.  I hated the taste. Than in january 2005 Maggie and I embarked on a South Beach diet phase. My beloved Coke Classic was verbotten. Now, diet is all I drink.  i buy the long 12 packs of cans when they go on sale. I got them 4 for 10 dollars last time.  Now one shelf in the garage is full of all sorts of diet products from Coke.  Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Lime, Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke, Diet Sprite Zero, Diet Barq's Root Beer[Maggie's Favorite], and some other stuff as well.

The Diet Cherry Vanilla is really good.  The Diet Coke with Lime I like as well.

Personally, I prefer Coca-Cola Zero over Diet Coke.

Coke Zero has a blend of sweeteners rather than just one, and the combination works better than any of them do alone. It's pretty darned close to the taste of regular Coke, and you almost don't notice an aftertaste.

[I_call_the_duck]

Naive question--what is so special about Lebanon bologna?

[lancastermike]

Oh My Lebanon Bologna, what to say. Wonderful smoky spicy taste. Flecks of fat, it goes so well with mustard and cheese on potato bread. One of the true culinary shinig stars of my home area. Nothing at all like that Oscar Myer bologna. They have cute commercials, but we got the real deal

Edited by lancastermike, 11 May 2006 - 10:04 AM.

[Marlene]

Time for a 10 minute coffee break. I've rolled out the dough into rounds for pizza. Taking a tip from Weber's Real Grilling book, I oiled the dough round, placed parchment paper over it, then flipped it and oiled the other side. A piece of parchment paper on top, oil another round, place on parchment paper etc. The dough rounds are now stacked on a baking tray in the fridge.

It's really getting dark here and I'm afraid I'm going to get forced indoors for pizza although I'm still planning on grilling. So my question is, will oiled dough work on a pizza stone? Or is that going to be a problem?

[bavila]

Mike--my fave diet drinks are Canada Dry gingerale (especially the cranberry version) and Fresca (now in three flavors!). I've also made some kickin' fresh lemonade with the Splenda for baking (which does have some actual sugar in it). Also, don't you just love new potatoes on the grill?

Marlene -- lovely sauce. Must try.

[I_call_the_duck]

Oh My Lebanon Bologna, what to say.  Wonderful smoky spicy taste.  Flecks of fat, it goes so well with mustard and cheese on potato bread.  One of the true culinary shinig stars of my home area.  Nothing at all like that Oscar Myer bologna. They have cute commercials, but we got the real deal

Thanks, Mike. Mmm...fat. Never was a big fan of Oscar Meyer--I prefer Hebrew National. But nonetheless I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm at Reading Market. BTW, your puppies are really cute. Is Gus a Bernese Mountain dog?

Marlene, that blender is so purdy. How long does that sauce keep?

[Megan Blocker]

Lunch time at work.  Leftover sliced pork tenderloin on whole wheat bread with some nice grainy mustard and a slice of swiss cheese.  A step up from yesterday.
It's pretty good.  I broke down and bought a bag of Doritos from the vending machine to go with it.  Today's beverage selection is a Diet Sprite Zero, formally known as Diet Sprite.

For many years i never drank ANY diet soda.  I hated the taste. Than in january 2005 Maggie and I embarked on a South Beach diet phase. My beloved Coke Classic was verbotten. Now, diet is all I drink.  i buy the long 12 packs of cans when they go on sale. I got them 4 for 10 dollars last time.  Now one shelf in the garage is full of all sorts of diet products from Coke.  Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Lime, Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke, Diet Sprite Zero, Diet Barq's Root Beer[Maggie's Favorite], and some other stuff as well.

The Diet Cherry Vanilla is really good.  The Diet Coke with Lime I like as well.

Personally, I prefer Coca-Cola Zero over Diet Coke.

Coke Zero has a blend of sweeteners rather than just one, and the combination works better than any of them do alone. It's pretty darned close to the taste of regular Coke, and you almost don't notice an aftertaste.

I HATE the taste of regular Coke, and love Diet Coke. Probably because I was raised on the latter. All of these new potions are lost on me.

Mike, I love that you're a soda fan...what's your favorite soda to drink with a burger?

Edited by Megan Blocker, 11 May 2006 - 02:53 PM.

[Marlene]

Marlene, that blender is so purdy.  How long does that sauce keep?

The blender is a Breville. It's got six blades instead of the usual 4 and its 580 watts so it does a pretty good job on smoothies and sauces. Although I have to admit, I'm lusting after this

The sauce keeps a fairly long time. The longest I've had some around is 6 months and it was still just fine as long as it's kept in the fridge.

[lancastermike]

BTW, your puppies are really cute. Is Gus a Bernese Mountain dog?

Yes he is. Sophie was our first Berner and Gus the next. They are lovely dogs. Like many of the large breeds they don't have a real long life. Sophie was only 8 and ahalf. Gus is a youg guy and a happy, happy dog. not the place to talk about dogs, but he brings such joy to us that i can't describe it

[lancastermike]

Mike, I love that you're a soda fan...what's your favorite soda to drink with a burger?

If I had to pick just one it would be Coke Classic, if possible a sugar one not a HFCS one.

In any case it would not be a flavored one. No lime or cherry or anything. I really like the Diet Coke with Splenda. I think there are two kinds of diet soda drinkers. Ones like me who drank regular and want to find something that tastes like it. And those like Megan who were weaned on diet and never drank regular and have no memory of it. To my taste, Diet Coke with Splenda is the closest they have gotten. This product seems to have bombed as I can't find it anymore. I guess Zero is my next choice. Unless I go back to the real deal.