251 replies to this topic

[C. sapidus]

Our carnivorous boys have been lobbying for barbecued ribs. I know that folks have strong opinions about this, so I will show our “barbecuing” process with some trepidation. We do not have a smoker, so we use our gas grill, indirect heat, a water tray, rib rack, and foil packets of wood pellets. I know that this isn’t “real” barbecue, but with some fiddling around the end result can be delicious.

Anyway, we started with three racks of pork baby back ribs:


Removing the silverskin - I use a paring knife to get a corner started, and then grab it with a paper towel and pull.


Throwing away the silverskin - this picture is just an excuse to show the trash pull-out. It keeps the dogs out of the trash, and the location flanking the sink makes doing dishes, well, not exactly a pleasure but less of a burden.


Shaking on the dry rub – we use the Memphis rib rub from Barbecue Bible with a few modifications.


Ribs ready to go in the fridge for a few hours. Oops, forgot to upload the picture – I’ll fix that in a bit.

[C. sapidus]

We have two geriatric former pound pups.

Yellow dog, nearly 16 years old, has dedicated her life to the acquisition of food. Despite sleeping for 22 of every 24 hours, she still manages to haul her arthritic hips onto the dining room table if we leave food unattended. I am quite confident that our kitchen floor is free of food molecules; I wish that I could say it was free of dog hair.

White dog, eleven years old, enthusiastically repels squirrels and rabbits from the back yard. He understands sentences and Pidgin English, and believes that his stuffed animals possess protective powers.

Yellow dog, in her usual spot when not underfoot in the kitchen.


[dog]“Hey, did he just drop some food?”


“Did you say, ‘food’?”[/dog]


We make the dogs sit and stay before we put down their dog bowls.


“Yay, it’s dog food again!” (apologies to Gary Larson).

[dockhl]

Thanks for the dog pix.

Dogs are the best.

Loving your blog, Bruce!

[CaliPoutine]

Love the dogs.
I hope and pray mine live until they're 16.

Edited by CaliPoutine, 15 January 2007 - 12:44 PM.

[Priscilla]

Bruce, cute boys, and cute dogs too.

I always appreciate the Eternal Cucumbers on your dinner posts, so it was extra nice to see them being so carefully prepped here.

Please to the Table is a good one; are you familiar with The Art of Russian Cuisine by Anne Volokh? Out of print, but chockablock with good stuff.

Blog on!

[C. sapidus]

For lunch, the boys made grilled cheese again. Mrs. Crab makes grilled cheese with Pam, but the boys like theirs with butter.



Elder son cut up an apple.


Apple art:


Grilled cheese art (courtesy of younger son).


Mrs. Crab had a portabella burger on whole wheat English muffin, and TrueLemon in her water. She uses the citrus powders on raw vegetables, too. Three WW points for lunch.


[dog]”Hey, you gonna eat that?”[/dog]


I had leftover smashed potatoes with Sriracha, fruit, and Ibuprofen.

[C. sapidus]

After lunch, I made some Vietnamese coffee in special filter. I first drank Vietnamese coffee two decades ago, and immediately fell in love with it. After a number of attempts to make it without the special filter, I finally invested the necessary $3.69 and followed the instructions in Vietnamese coffee, MmmMmMm (clickety).

Ingredients and equipment:


Special filter assembled. The kettle is sort of fun – it sounds like a harmonica when the water boils. I'm still working on the optimal combination of grind size/filter loading/filter pressure, but it seems pretty forgiving.


Oh. My. Goodness – if ca phe sua nong isn’t the ultimate way to drink coffee, I don’t know what is. I prefer a relatively dark roast and about a tablespoon or two of Carnation sweetened condensed milk (other brands of SCM have a nasty aftertaste, in my experience). I’ll probably try Trung Nguyen coffee and Longevity brand sweetened condensed milk eventually. Any recommendations on which Trung Nguyen coffee to use?

Vietnamese coffee terminology according to this site (click).

Ca phe nong = coffee, hot
Ca phe sua nong = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, hot (my favorite)
Ca phe sua da = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, ice

[C. sapidus]

I need some quick advice on cooking Southern-style greens. We have two bunches of collard greens and one bunch of mustard greens. Smoked ham hocks are already bubbling away in four cups of water.

Question 1: For the collard greens, how much of the stem gets used? Do I cut the two leaf-sides away from the central stem, or do I just cut off the tough stem end?

Question 2: Should I throw the mustard greens in with the collard greens, throw them in later, or not mix greens in the same pot?

Yeah, I'm "green" when it comes to greens. This is my first time so please be gentle.

[Pan]

Mrs. Crab made an extra egg, so I finished it off with more Sriracha.

I notice that you use a brand of Sriracha sauce other than Huy Fong. Do you find this brand tastier? Is the taste noticeably different, and if so, how?

[C. sapidus]

Mrs. Crab made an extra egg, so I finished it off with more Sriracha.

I notice that you use a brand of Sriracha sauce other than Huy Fong. Do you find this brand tastier? Is the taste noticeably different, and if so, how?

I usually use Huy Fong, but the Asian market was out last time we needed Sriracha. I like the taste of this brand, but the glass bottle is a pain - Huy Fong's squeeze bottle is much easier to use.

[ludja]

I need some quick advice on cooking Southern-style greens. We have two bunches of collard greens and one bunch of mustard greens. Smoked ham hocks are already bubbling away in four cups of water.

Question 1: For the collard greens, how much of the stem gets used? Do I cut the two leaf-sides away from the central stem, or do I just cut off the tough stem end?

Question 2: Should I throw the mustard greens in with the collard greens, throw them in later, or not mix greens in the same pot?

Yeah, I'm "green" when it comes to greens. This is my first time so please be gentle.

For both greens cutting off the stems just below the leaf should be okay if they are younger leaves. It you have older leave with thick stems you may want to remove some of the thicker part of the stem that travels up into the leaf portion of the green.

Collard greens need about twice as much time to cook compared to many other greens including mustard greens. If you add the greens into the boiling stock it should take ~ 15-20 min for the mustard greens and 30-40 min for the collard greens. I've not mixed collard with other greens b/c sometimes the collards take quite a bit longer until they are tender.

I really like to splash some chile-infused cider vinegar on the greens, but that is best made about a week ahead of time.

Edited by ludja, 15 January 2007 - 02:46 PM.

[mrbigjas]

For both greens cutting off the stems just below the leaf should be okay if they are younger leaves.  It you have older leave with thick stems you may want to remove some of the thicker part of the stem that travels up into the leaf portion of the green.

Collard greens need about twice as much time to cook compared to many other greens including mustard greens.  If you add the greens into the boiling stock it should take ~ 15-20 min for the mustard greens and 30-40 min for the collard greens.  I've not mixed collard with other greens b/c sometimes the collards take quite a bit longer until they are tender.

I really like to splash some chile-infused cider vinegar on the greens, but that is best made about a week ahead of time.

what ludja said. and don't forget to dip your cornbread in the pot liquor.

[C. sapidus]

For both greens cutting off the stems just below the leaf should be okay if they are younger leaves.  It you have older leave with thick stems you may want to remove some of the thicker part of the stem that travels up into the leaf portion of the green.

Collard greens need about twice as much time to cook compared to many other greens including mustard greens.  If you add the greens into the boiling stock it should take ~ 15-20 min for the mustard greens and 30-40 min for the collard greens.  I've not mixed collard with other greens b/c sometimes the collards take quite a bit longer until they are tender.

I really like to splash some chile-infused cider vinegar on the greens, but that is best made about a week ahead of time.

what ludja said. and don't forget to dip your cornbread in the pot liquor.

Ludja and mrbigjas: Thank you both! I cut off the bottom part of the leaves, cooked the greens until they were pretty mushy, picked the meat from the hocks, and added salt, pepper, and cider vinegar at the end. Younger son doesn't like spicy so much, so we will have hot sauce on the table.

No cornbread, but we made biscuits.

[Kouign Aman]

Fun blog. Its good to see the planning process in action. & to see kids in the kitchen. Two spatulas for dual sandwiching - love it.

Ca phe nong = coffee, hot
Ca phe sua nong = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, hot (my favorite)
Ca phe sua da = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, ice

Sounds like coffee (cafe' / ca phe) brought a little French into the language. I'd have to have a glass mug, to see the beautiful layers while the coffee drips.

[hzrt8w]

Ca phe nong = coffee, hot
Ca phe sua nong = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, hot (my favorite)
Ca phe sua da = coffee, sweetened condensed milk, ice

Do you need to use French Roast to make VN coffee?

These 2 Vietnamese words sound very close to Cantonese. And they are single syllable too. I wonder if there is any connection.

Nong... In Cantonese, we have "neun" (meaning warm)
da... In Cantonese, we have "dung" (meaning icy, cold)

And Ca phe seems easy enough to guess...

Do you put extra sugar in the coffee? Or the sweetened condensed milk be sweet enough?

[DesertCulinary]

While I was playing volleyball, Mrs. C was busy getting groceries. First, she stopped by the Common Market, an organic foods store.

Coming out of lurkdom....

I had to comment - we actually saw Mrs C taking these pictures! We were doing our weekly stop in the Common Market and noticed a woman taking pictures in the produce department. The produce guys were giving her funny looks - it looked like they were going to say something to her, but I hope they left her alone! It made Jeff feel a little better as we often stop for food pictures too!

It is nice to see someone from our area posting! We currently live out in the Jefferson area.

[little ms foodie]

great blog!! I'm just starting it but had a question about those yummy pancakes! I see that you are using bread flour, why that instead of AP?

Also I love your meal planning, that is almost exactly what I do- i love having all the cookbooks out and open!

I have never heard of dogs eating veggies! very funny!

[Megan Blocker]

. . . while elder son sliced cucumbers. The boys eat as many cucumbers as we can lug home from the store.

You're raising your sons right, Bruce - cucumbers RULE. This blog is fantastic so far...can't wait to see what the next few days hold!

[purplewiz]

Crabcakes ready to eat.

While I always admire your Dinner! thread posts, this one is just grabbing me - they look SO good, just so classic and edible!

I'm looking forward to the rest of your blog!

Marcia.

[C. sapidus]

We have had such a ridiculously warm winter, the lent roses (Helleborus x orientalis) are leafing out and ready to bloom.


Anyway, tonight’s dinner – presented by food group rather than sequentially. As usual, Mrs. Crab and I shared kitchen duties. I’ll try to answer questions and preview the rest of the week after posting. First, the green stuff.

I had never made collard greens before, so thanks again to Ludja and mrbigjas for their advice. We boiled the smoked ham hocks for an hour . . .


. . . added collard greens, boiled them a while, and then added the mustard greens.


Finished – thanks for the tip, the biscuits did a great job of soaking up the pot liquor. This was something new for me, but Southern greens seemed appropriate for Martin Luther King’s birthday. So, any greens experts out there: did I make a mess of my greens?


Eternal cucumbers (thanks for the memorable phrase, Priscilla).


Salad greens. Mrs. Crab made a salad dressing of key lime vinegar, canola oil, and sugar.

[C. sapidus]

I love cornbread, but it isn’t on the very short list of things that I know how to bake. Instead, I made biscuits. Ingredients:


Out of the freezer, on the parchment paper, and ready to bake:


Finished biscuits. Even elder son liked them, and he doesn’t normally like biscuits.

[C. sapidus]

Guiness stout for me, dry Riesling for Mrs. C.


Folks were hungry before the ribs were done, so we started eating. Biscuits, greens, and marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes on the plate . . .


. . . and the dinner table.

[nakji]

I hope to cook my first recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen this week.

Yay! I look forward to it.

As for Vietnamese coffee, I'm not sure if you have access to the same Trung Nguyen blends I do, but the "Passiona" blend is my favourite - it tastes like dark chocolate. The "Legendee" is pretty good as well, and bills itself as weasel coffee, but I doubt that, what with the volume of it that they sell. Their straight-up orange/brown bag simply marked arabica is fine as well. I don't find French Roast tastes anything like Vietnamese roasts - Vietnamese roasts taste sweet and buttery, especially when the roast is fresh.

Currently I'm getting all my coffee from an independent roaster here in town who makes all of her coffee taste like dark chocolate. I keep meaning to take pictures. Some of the really hard-core old fashioned coffee shops roast their own coffee - in a wok on the street.

And try as I may, I still can't hit the correct tone over the "sua" in cafe sua da.

Those biscuits look like they're so light, they're about to float right off of the plate.

[MarketStEl]

Sorry I'm late to the party -- between work on manuscripts, taking down the Christmas decorations and attending the Martin Luther King Day activities in Chester, I haven't had time to sit down and savor your blog.

Sriracha sauce with collards! <slaps forehead> D'OH! Why haven't I done this before? It'd probably work well with smoked turkey butt and cider vinegar added to the water, too (my preferred seasonings; sometimes I toss in that Maryland staple, Old Bay, too).

Speaking of Old Bay: I note that your crab cakes were free of the stuff. Being that you're a Marylander and all, can you explain this omission?

And how is downtown Silver Spring faring these days? It seems that every time I open a Washington Post, there's something about yet another effort to restore Silver Spring to its former grandeur or something like that.

And pardon me if this comes off as a little impudent, but: since you all have a yard (I don't ), why don't you use a charcoal grill to do your ribs? Just askin', is all.

Blog on! Everything looks delicious so far, although I must confess that ibuprofen makes for a rather unusual side dish.

[C. sapidus]

Ribs out of the fridge:


The first glitch: we were almost out of smoke pellets. Since we don't have a real smoker, pellets seem to give more smoke flavor than wood chips. We usually use hickory or mesquite pellets to wring as much smoke flavor as possible from our less-than-ideal setup. If we had more pellets, I would have started the ribs off with two smoke packets, and then added two more smoke packets when the first stopped smoking. Oh, well.


Smoke pellets in their foil packets, with one small hole for smoke to escape.


If you look very, very closely you can see a little smoke.


Another potential glitch: we were almost out of propane. I left the back burner off for the first hour or so to conserve fuel, and turned on the back burner when the rumbling of growling stomachs became threatening. Fortunately, the propane lasted just long enough.


With only the front burner on, it was easy to keep the temperature down.


About half-way done. I use a rib rack, so the ribs in front get a lot more heat than the ones in back. To equalize, I shuffle the ribs front to back every 20 minutes or so. If you look under the grates, you might see the two foil smoke packets in front and the two water pans in the back.


Mop: cider vinegar, yellow mustard, and salt. I brush this on in the last half-hour or so.


Done!


A little smoke ring. The ribs could have used another half hour or so, but the family was hungry and restless. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.


Rib aftermath. Elder son was the rib consumption champ tonight.

[mrbigjas]

I had never made collard greens before, so thanks again to Ludja and mrbigjas for their advice. We boiled the smoked ham hocks for an hour . . .

Finished – thanks for the tip, the biscuits did a great job of soaking up the pot liquor. This was something new for me, but Southern greens seemed appropriate for Martin Luther King’s birthday. So, any greens experts out there: did I make a mess of my greens?

c.s, they look delicious to me -- i usually slice them thinner so they're easier to eat, but that's just a matter of preference. i'm getting hungry just looking at them. and those people that don't like pot liquor, just because it's grayish green and cloudy and looks like dishwater? those people are wrong.

now, what's up with those square biscuits? and, a freezer? do tell. i've always just made biscuits, cut them out with a (round) cutter and cooked them as is--did you make them before, or do you freeze them for a while before cooking to firm things up, like a pie dough?

[little ms foodie]

OMG those ribs look really good!!!!

[C. sapidus]

c.s, they look delicious to me -- i usually slice them thinner so they're easier to eat, but that's just a matter of preference.  i'm getting hungry just looking at them.  and those people that don't like pot liquor, just because it's grayish green and cloudy and looks like dishwater?  those people are wrong.

Cool - I wondered about slicing up the greens. Do you slice them before or after cooking? Mrs. C and I liked the greens, so there will be a next time.

now, what's up with those square biscuits?  and, a freezer?  do tell.  i've always just made biscuits, cut them out with a (round) cutter and cooked them as is--did you make them before, or do you freeze them for a while before cooking to firm things up, like a pie dough?

I'm not much of a baker, but the recipe was "biscuits for breakfast" from King Arthur Flour. Freezing is supposed to make the biscuits flakier by delaying when the butter and shortening melt. We still have three biscuit squares in the freezer for use later in the week. Besides, the efficiency of square biscuits appeals to me - no waste, and we don't have to buy a biscuit cutter.

[maggiethecat]

I'm enjoying the cooking, the kids, the dogs... but a shout out for the Slice of Life dinnerware. I hog the surgery plate, myself.

[C. sapidus]

Thanks to everyone for all of the kind words and encouragement. Let me try to answer some questions - apologies if I missed any.

Please to the Table is a good one; are you familiar with The Art of Russian Cuisine by Anne Volokh?  Out of print, but chockablock with good stuff.

I have not seen The Art of Russian Cuisine, but I’ll keep an eye out. When we want really good Russian food, we whine until our friends from Russia invite us to dinner. They make amazing quantities of delicious Russian food, enjoyed around a crowded table while simultaneous conversations bounce back and forth in multiple languages.

Do you put extra sugar in the coffee?  Or the sweetened condensed milk be sweet enough?

No extra sugar – in fact, I probably use less sweetened condensed milk than most folks. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Coming out of lurkdom.... 

I had to comment - we actually saw Mrs C taking these pictures!  We were doing our weekly stop in the Common Market and noticed a woman taking pictures in the produce department.  The produce guys were giving her funny looks - it looked like they were going to say something to her, but I hope they left her alone!  It made Jeff feel a little better as we often stop for food pictures too!

It is nice to see someone from our area posting!  We currently live out in the Jefferson area.

Howdy, neighbor! I often wondered if there were any eGullet folks in town.

Mrs. Crab asked the good folks at Common Market for permission to take pictures for the blog. Apparently, they were interested and supportive.

great blog!! I'm just starting it but had a question about those yummy pancakes! I see that you are using bread flour, why that instead of AP?

Mrs. Crab responded, “There is another kind of flour?” What a joker. But seriously, bread flour is what happened to be on hand. Mrs. Crab does most of our baking, usually in the bread machine - hence the bread flour.

As for Vietnamese coffee, I'm not sure if you have access to the same Trung Nguyen blends I do, but the "Passiona" blend is my favourite - it tastes like dark chocolate. The "Legendee" is pretty good as well, and bills itself as weasel coffee, but I doubt that, what with the volume of it that they sell. Their straight-up orange/brown bag simply marked arabica is fine as well. I don't find French Roast tastes anything like Vietnamese roasts - Vietnamese roasts taste sweet and buttery, especially when the roast is fresh.

Thanks for the advice on Trung Nguyen blends – I might try mail-order if they aren’t available locally. Your blog picture of Vietnamese coffee and SCM dripping from a spoon was inspirational.

Sriracha sauce with collards! <slaps forehead> D'OH! Why haven't I done this before?  It'd probably work well with smoked turkey butt and cider vinegar added to the water, too (my preferred seasonings; sometimes I toss in that Maryland staple, Old Bay, too).

I used Cholula hot sauce on the greens, but Sriracha is a great idea <also slaps forehead>.

Speaking of Old Bay:  I note that your crab cakes were free of the stuff.  Being that you're a Marylander and all, can you explain this omission?

I made “Faidley’s World Famous Crab Cakes” from John Shields’ Chesapeake Bay Cooking. The book has seven crabcake recipes – some use Old Bay, some don’t. Clearly, more research is needed.

And how is downtown Silver Spring faring these days?  It seems that every time I open a Washington Post, there's something about yet another effort to restore Silver Spring to its former grandeur or something like that.

Ah, yes, the saga of downtown Silver Spring. It seemed to be thriving when I got off the Metro (subway) last week. I don’t follow the redevelopment issue that closely any more – some of the recent developments have been fought over for at least twenty years. I do try to check in every once in a while, though.

And pardon me if this comes off as a little impudent, but: since you all have a yard (I don't  ), why don't you use a charcoal grill to do your ribs?  Just askin', is all.

Blog on!  Everything looks delicious so far, although I must confess that ibuprofen makes for a rather unusual side dish. 

No offense taken. I like the convenience of a gas grill, but a Weber Smoky Mountain is on my list - it just hasn’t come to the top of the list yet, y’know?

Old knees + volleyball = ibuprofen for lunch