HungryChris

Bought some Russian rye and Lorraine Swiss this morning. Sliced the smoked, corned beef tongue thinly and steamed it to resemble pastrami. The sandwich exceeded my expectations. I just know if I could get Deb to taste this sandwich without worrying about the contents, she would be hooked, but oh well. A little mayo under the cheese and Dijon mustard and pickled onions transported me to the Second Avenue Deli or Katz. Beautiful!

Heated up the ribs I smoked today in the oven on "keep warm", which is 170 F. The new lower salt rub is a winner, (see my post on fresh beef tongue buying and preparing). They were killer. I noticed that Deb seemed to agree. I make a Piedmont style, vinegar based sauce for dipping on the side, which we both like. These baby backs came from Aldi which has been my rib source of choice. They were excellent and I am sure that they will lock in a good supply of fresh eggs for the summer when the gift rack is delivered to Deb's BIL. HC .

Brought the lettuce and mustard greens out from under the lamps to enjoy a taste of the real thing on the deck rail.

When I was a little kid, I helped my mother prepare for a small dinner gathering one day. I remember chopping olives and mixing in cream cheese. I also remember being grossed out when she pulled out this beef tongue and simmered it on the stove for a few hours and peeled off the skin. The next morning I saw there were a few platters of goodies left over. One of them was the absolute best tasting and most tender ham I had ever eaten, or so I thought. I really enjoyed it. It changed my life. The first one I ever saw as an adult, I bought and cooked. It is one thing, like scrapple, that I am the only fan of in the house. I think it was a beef tongue corning in the basement fridge that got that fridge the nick name "forensics lab" and is usually uttered with a rolled eye.

Here they are just out of the smoker. Snuck a little piece of each and was pretty happy with the flavor and tenderness. My last batch of smoked ribs were a little too salty for my taste so I cut the salt in half and added more cumin, garlic powder. I am hoping the tongue will be pastrami like and make good sandwiches. HC

There is a local chain (ShopRite) that had fresh, live crawfish last year. I just yesterday, left my name and number with the fish guy there and pre ordered 10 lbs. I recently had some great ones in New Orleans and cannot wait to cook my own. It will be a first for me. HC

Bought a beef tongue before leaving for vacation and mixed up a batch of brine using Morton Tender Quick (6 cups of water and 1 1/2 cup of the TQ). Injected the brine in several places to insure the entire tongue is cured, then added peppercorns, bay leaves, brown mustard seeds and a little cider vinegar. Put this in the downstairs fridge for a little over 2 weeks. Cooked for one hour in the instant pot and peeled. Covered with a dry rub of brown sugar, cumin, salt garlic powder and lots of ground pepper. Made a slightly different rub for some baby backs which I will smoke at the same time as the corned tongue. Currently smoking at 225 F with hickory. At the 4 hour mark, the ribs will come out, 1 for dinner, the other for a gift and exchange for fresh eggs from Deb's BIL. At that time I will evaluate the tongue. HC

Those beans must have been a little long in the tooth. HC

Linguini with clam sauce and toasted homemade garlic bread. One of our favorites. I don't cut daffodils usually, but these were just flopped over because of the sudden cold weather, so I did.

I would also like to add that in the summer months, Aldi has whole watermelons at less that half the price of any nearby store. As a result, I always have watermelon in the fridge all summer long, something that used to be a complete luxury years ago is now a "pantry staple". I cut it up into sticks for easy eating on the boat, at the beach or on the road. HC

Twin chopped kimchi and onion dogs with ballpark style mustard. These were Kayem Old Tyme Natural Casing cooked dirty water style. Any distraction is a good one when you are doing your taxes. HC

A similar sad commentary here as well. We can only hope that when the sun does come out, it will inspire these plants into a renewed vigor.

Shelby, I wish I could send some of this rain your way! Every morning I look at my asparagus bed and pull anything out that has come up that does not look like asparagus and so far, that means everything. In spite of the nasty weather here, my ramps are up!!

I have jokingly come to refer to this as "firehouse", "VFW" or "benefit" chicken dinner, but joke as I might, it is one of Deb's favorite meals. We are frequent cruisers and when this meal shows up on the ship menu, she is all over it. We recently went on a cruise in the western Caribbean and this meal never showed up on the menu so I decided to replicate it last night. Roast chicken, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and giblet gravy. I like to take the big piece of chicken fat usually found just inside the body cavity, pound it out flat and make a little pocket under the breast skin and shove the flattened fat up in there to baste the breast as it roasts. You can just make it out under the breast skin on the upper left of this pic. This particular bird had a nasty rip in the breast skin which I attempted to repair with a little impromptu "field dressing". I make a simple mixture of mayo, smoked paprika, garlic powder, assorted spices and Cholula or similar hot sauce and paint it all over the outside of the bird with a pastry brush. HC

The burgers I cooked when we got home from vacation were nothing to look at, but the path I had to shovel to cook them was, perhaps, noteworthy. HC

As a matter of fact it was a crisp white, but I had to switch because even though it was "happy hour", that crisp white cost more than the oysters. Who knew? HC

Happy Hour (4 to 8 pm) at Sam's Blind Pelican, 1628 St. Charles, New Orleans, where you can get a dozen of the most wonderful char broiled oysters for $8.50. We took our time, but managed to march through 3 orders and probably an entire loaf of warm French bread before taking the street car back to our hotel. HC

1/2 doz oysters and a shared shrimp po'boy(dressed) at Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter of the Big Easy, made even better by the news that we missed out on a snow storm back home. HC

It is almost always the first reservation we make. HC

While I have not dealt with them in a while, I have had pretty good experiences with these folks. HC https://www.popswine.com/

End of the line breakfast. No, I'm not next up on death row, but this is the last of the St Patty's corned beef, last two slices of homemade bread (when the crumb goes crumbly, it's toast or croutons or the trash bin) and the last two eggs in the house. Now that the days are longer, Deb's BIL's chickens are really pounding out the eggs, so that will soon be remedied. HC

If you have never been to the Sunday Jazz Brunch at the Wynn Country Club, you might think about that as an option. The food (order the shrimp and grits side) is pretty great. The atmosphere and music, great as well and the views are spectacular. HC

Not sure where I got that from, James Herriot books or the BBC, but it didn't slow me down at all. The simple concept of putting a deposit on the "trolley" (as well as not giving out plastic bags) is just great. I was first introduced to that in Italy, along with the practice of requiring one to put on plastic gloves before handling produce. Watching person after person, rifle bare handedly, through every head of lettuce in a bin and throwing the rejects aside, as if worthless, now really catches my eye, here in the U.S. and makes me wonder how much waste could be avoided by a change in policy. It also makes me wonder how many people have already handled, and thrown aside, that same head of lettuce I am looking at. I find myself going more and more to the items that have been sealed up to minimize the issue. HC

Small snack foods in an effort to clean out the fridge. Hot wings, potato salad and TJ's shrimp pot stickers. HC

I have come to look forward to this American Pale Ale when I want a cold brew, now. HC