Norm Matthews

Garozzos Italian Restaurant is acclaimed to be possibly the best Italian restaurant in the area. Last week Charlie and I went there and each of us had a version of their famous Spiedini di Pollol . I had the one with crushed tomatoes and Charlie had the one with artichoke hearts and Alfredo sauce. We got there at 3:30, half an hour after they opened and were the only patron there at first. Someone must have been caught off guard in the kitchen because Charlie's, although delicious, the chicken was waaay over cooked. I said I wanted to try to make a version of theirs sometime soon. That turned out to be today. Yesterday Mary from Michigan, an online friend since long before Facebook, posted a recipe for a cake that looked scrumptious. So I made it today too. It has become both our new all time favorite cake. I spent more time in the kitchen today than I have in a long time. By the time I served the Speidini, I was too tired to think about a garnish.

I have made the recipe in that book for Kalbi and I imagine some others too. We have at least half a dozen Korean cookbooks. I also have the" Korean BBQ" book and have made around 5 or 6 recipe from it. Charlie's favorite is" Discovering Korean Cuisine- Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angles"© 2007, and he frequently calls his mom in Las Vegas to ask for her recipes.

I found the smallest whole brisket I've ever seen yesterday and cooked it today. It still took 8 hours though. We had BBQ beans and Viniagrette Coleslaw and cherry BBQ sauce with it. Charlie wants it chopped up, mixed with BBQ sauce and served on a bun with cheese and the coleslaw for a sandwich tomorrow.

Thank you for the link. I copied it.

I looked up a recipe for that. I want to try it. I expect I'll have to order on line some of the ingredients.

I grew up in a working class community in Kansas City called Strawberry Hill. It is on the high bluffs above the Kansas River. Cattycorner across the street from our apartment, there was a tavern that served food and welcomed children and women. ( Unlike most beer joints at that time in the area) Once in a while Dad would take us over there for shrimp. That shrimp tasted a lot like this French recipe which is cooked in a vegetable stock then left to cool in the stock, adding its flavor to the shrimp and turning the broth into consommé of shrimp. I decided to serve it with rice and some broth and corn on the cob.

I smoked pork loin ribs today.

In taking lots pottery classes I had a Japanese instructor. I married a Korean and one of her friends told me that a back at that time a 'joke' was for one Korean potter to tell another "Quick, wash your hands. Japanese soldiers are coming.

a few days ago the thought of lasagna briefly crossed my mind and left quickly since I didn't think cooking and baking all morning this time of year was a good idea. Then yesterday Charlie said "Dad you haven't made lasagna in such a long time. Would you make some soon?" Today was cool all day so I made it this morning. It was done about two thirty.

I only live with my son. He gives me a hug nearly every day but no kiss.

I made an Italian style meal with chicken in a creamy garlic and cheese sauce over pasta.

This was an early taco dinner for me and a late lunch for Charlie.

Yes. One is Nappa cabbage and the other is daikon radish.

There is an Asian grocery (mostly Korean) about a 20 minute drive from here. It has the freshest jarred kimchi of any place I've been and sells three or four different kinds of marinated meats ready to take home and grill. We both think their spicy pork bulgogi and beef bulgogi is the best around. Today I got some spicy pork and kimbap and we had that for dinner tonight.

@Maison Rustique Thanks for the tip.

Out of all the things I make occasionally, empanadas are my least favorite. I have not yet been able to find those ready made wrappers and I'll keep looking because making those suckers from scratch is a real bother.

Some of Charlie's school friends were Puerto Rican and he says one of the moms made some delicious dishes so from time to time he asks me to make some Puerto Rican version from his past. Today it was Arroz con Pollo-Chicken and Rice. He hopes I will make empanadas soon too.

I thought I was out of eggs so I got a carton then when I got home I discovered I got a carton yesterday.. oh well I have been craving Scotch Eggs lately.

This is the first time I have made it in such a long time that I don't remember but the recipe notes say you can make it the day before and that it is still crispy three days later. OH PS You can cut the recipe down if it is too much. The one I made was with a quarter head of cabbage. It was easy to cut the rest of the ingredients by quarters or halves.

Ribs again. Charlie asked me to make some more since the last batch was gone so quickly. He said If I made two slabs and grill some hamburgers, that I wouldn't need to cook for a while. I am getting ready to do the hamburgers in a little bit. I made my favorite kind of coleslaw and didn't realize I had never made it when Charlie was around. He made fun of it until he tasted it. Now he thinks I should make it all the time. When I was little someone at church often brought this kind to potlucks and I always liked it better.

I thought I posted yesterdays dinner but I don't see it. It was ribs in the smoker. They turned out really salty. I was so upset I probably forgot. I dumped out the rib rub I had made a few months ago and started over from scratch. So i did another rack today and they turned really well. I have a few theories about what went wrong but they are just guesses. Whatever went wrong that one time, at least it was only one time.(fingers crossed) The recipes are all on my blog but the potato salad recipe calls for 5 pounds and I made it with one potato so even though I used all the same ingredients I estimated the proportions. The BBQ bean recipe came form Gates BBQ restaurant and used 110 ounces of canned baked beans. I mixed all the the additional ingredients in a separate bowl, poured them into a bottle and refrigerated it so I can add just the right amount no matter what size the can of beans I use and still have more in the refrigerator for next time.

You use it for stroganoff,,, what a great idea. One or our local stores started carrying Bucatini. I hear is hasn't been available since before the pandemic. Its Charlie's favorite pasta.

Dinner last night was Pappardelle with Creamy Chicken Sauce. The recipe called for 7 chicken thighs but I used 4 and made up the remaining volume with mushroom caps. While I had seen this pasta on the shelf before I never paid much attention to it. Until now I didn't know there were Italian egg noodles. The side is shellie beans

Charlie asked if I would make rice cake soup. I had not made it before but it didn't look complicated like some Korean food can be. I already had some ox bone soup in the freezer but this recipe just used water so that is how I did it. Mine was not as pretty as the picture but Charlie said his mom never added the garnishes.

Charlie ordered New York style pizza and I made blueberry buckle.