Norm Matthews

I thought I'd try this recipe for General Tso's Chicken and Charlie was amused that I'd make something that we could pick up the phone and have delivered in a fraction of the time. When he tried it he said it didn't taste like the kind we got from the restaurant but he liked it better.

This is the first whole dinner I've made in a few days. It's Chile Rellenos with salsa and a Mexican style rice.

I tried a new slow cooker recipe for Carnitas. It might have taken longer but it was a lot easier and Charlie liked it better than the recipe I'd used several times before. We had it with soft flour tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocado and cilantro.

A Porterhouse is a large T-bone. It is cut from the same part of the beef but higher up on the larger side. If you cut the two sides off the bone, it is still a strip and tenderloin whether it is from a T-bone or Porterhouse end.

YUM. Looks like a KC strip and tenderloin on either side of a large T bone.

Several years ago I was with some friends in Seattle. One of them ordered a NY strip steak. It was much bigger than any KC strip I'd ever seen. For all I know, this one might have been a Dodge City strip but it was definitely eaten in Kansas City.

Our dinner was KC strip steak on the grill, stuffed mushrooms, baked potato and asparagus. The little tomato was the first one from the garden. We split it.

Thanks Shelby. I am lucky to have him with me too. He is cheap tech support, carpenter and grounds keeper.

More pictures of the Pork Bulgogi dinner tonight.

I got a small pork shoulder roast the other day and asked Charlie if he'd like a regular slow cooker pork roast, carnitas, BBQ pulled pork in the smoker or spicy pork bulgogi. He said he was surprised I needed to ask. We are having pork bulgogi. The table is set and waiting for him to get home. I expect him any minute.

Dinner tonight was an oven baked Shrimp Scampi with a salad and rice.

I have a recipe from American Country Living for Apricot-Pineapple Jam, the introduction to it says to heat it with soy sauce and white wine and baste a pork tenderloin in the oven or on the grill. 7 lbs. apricots 2 cans (8 1/2 oz ea.) crushed pineapple in heavy syrup. Do not drain 1/3 C. bottled lemon juice 6 Cups sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg Dice washed and pitted apricots, put in sauce pan with rest of ingredients and heat over low heat until sugar melts. Boil softly, stirring frequently until mixture is clear or registers 220ºF, skimming off foam as it cooks. Let rest off heat for 5 minutes, then ladle into hot sterile jars, clean tops; seal and process in water bath for 5 minutes

Thanks for the mention. I added about a tablespoon of brown sugar to two large peaches. It took the bitter taste out of them without adding much flavor on its own. I did some ripe peaches on the grill last year as a dessert. I might add that the ice cream mentioned in the recipe below is melted ice cream. You could use whipped cream or a scoop of still frozen ice cream but I liked using the melted ice cream as a sauce. 4 large peaches, halved Large ziploc bag 1C. honey 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 4 tbsp. strawberry preserves, heated Vanilla ice cream reserving the ice cream, mix the other ingredients with the peaches, cover and refrigerate for about an hour. Reserve the syrup. Grill peach, spoon 1T. preserves in center of each peach, top with ice cream and drizzle honey mixture over top.

Dinner tonight was pork chops with a Neapolitan sauce, scalloped potatoes with mushrooms and some unripe peaches improved with a little time in a skillet with some brown sugar and butter. Actually the peaches felt like they were almost too ripe but the sure didn't taste like it until they got cooked a little.

We had regular tacos and grilled shrimp tacos.

When I was making Cassolet recently, in one of the recipes I saw, it said that cassolet wasn't a recipe, but rather a dish for neighboring towns in France to argue over. Korean fried chicken is sort of the same way. I tried yet another version today. After I finished them and some dipping sauces, Charlie tossed them in one of the sauces and fried them again for a minute or two. With them we had rice , kimchi, a tossed salad from a bag, and some strawberry shortcake.

We had salmon cooked in paper with carrots, broccoli and teriyaki sauce.

A few months ago I made some garlic sausage. I took the last of it out of the freezer and decided use it in a cassolet. I started with a Thomas Keller recipe but made some changes. One difference is I used ham hocks instead of pork shoulder.

These are the ingredients. Mix the bread and milk and set aside. Cook the onions and a table spoon of butter until softened. Mix all ingredients together for a couple minutes in a stand mixer. Form meatballs with a 1 tablespoon disher. Brown them in a skillet with a two tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. After they were browned on two sides, I put them in a dish and covered them with foil and put them in a Breville warming oven for a couple of hours at 120º. When I was ready to serve, I made a sauce with the pan drippings and the flour and cooked until the flour was browned somewhat. I added the broth and heated until thickened enough, then added the cream and poured over the meatballs. If you don't want to wait so long for the meatballs, you can brown them until cooked through, then keep warm in an oven while you make the gravy. 2 slices fresh white bread cut or torn into pieces 1/4 cup milk 3 tablespoons clarified butter, divided 1/2 cup finely chopped onion A pinch plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 pound ground chuck 3/4 pound ground pork 2 large egg yolks 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 cups beef broth 1/4 cup heavy cream

We had Swedish Meatballs and green beans for dinner tonight.

I got a frozen package of cooked lobster meat. I thought it would be chunks but it was mostly shredded. Nothing like spending a lot of money for 12 ounces of lobster leavings. Oh well, I made a Cobb style salad with the lobster instead of ham or chicken. It was a pretty good lunch.

Charlie is working late, then has errands and plans to eat out so I ate alone... well if you don't count Java. She has good table manners most of the time. Biggs doesn't care. He never does. I had Spaghetti Carbonara with added roasted asparagus and mushrooms and some sourdough French bread.

Kayb, if you click on the link at the bottom of this post, it will take you to the recipe.

My list of recipes that I want to try someday was getting long so I did three in one meal tonight. One was an oven "fried" chicken, one was for cheese stuffed potato fritters and a salad with fruit and a strawberry/lemon dressing.

Thanks Smithy. I have a Horizon smoker and this is what the convection plate looks like. The next to the last one shows the plate connected to a rod so it can be adjusted while the smoker in being used. The last one is the plate in my smoker.