BKEats

looks good, i never tried the marinade on anything besides skirt or flank... How long did you let it marinate for, did you enjoy?

I am sure the quality is awesome, my comment was on the preparation.. It is looks cooked and prepared so well!

really pretty pork chop!

Something like this... Just brown sugar, soy, lime... When I was a kid, my mother would make flank steak like this.. She would most likely add soy, brown sugar and garlic salt.. I dont think I have ever seen a lime in my house so, it was most likely a lemon too.. she would marinade, my father would grill. My mother grew up on a farm and their spice was pepper.. So, i have no idea how this came to be the family steak marinade.. But I would say we had this every other week for my precollege life.. Here is a similar recipe with fish sauce added... for me the real flavors are the soy and the brown sugar.. the brown sugar adds the sweetness and the char.. the fish sauce as a depth, cilantro adds an herba note.. https://food52.com/recipes/34678-vietnamese-sugar-steak

We were young and dumb and well, there was a period of time, if we liked you, we would cater your wedding for you... We were catering weddings on the weekends, like one a month. We did 4 freebies. They were a lot of fun.. I am normally not a big fan of weddings so, it was the best of both worlds.. Do what you love, for someone you love, skip the wedding, get credit for going, plus they will love you forever... The last wedding we did was for our friends, 120 people, outside on a farm table... They were our best friends before they moved to Oakland and back when we had the luxury of having friends. That was where we invented the precursor for what is now known as our Mekelburg's Potato... So, for that alone it was worth it! But yeh, weddings are so much fun to do, as long as the people are cool. I must say, just to let you know I am not a hard hearted man and that I do take into consideration advice, criticism and new things... I have tried to slice skirt steaks against the grain the last few times I have made them... I am willing to concede that in fact, flank steak does work better sliced across the grain but, i still disagree with skirt.

Last night, we had grilled pork chops with asparagus, roasted and smoked peppers with balsamic, honey and roasted orange (i made a new batch) sitting in homemade ricotta with cream, salt, sugar, black pepper and a little lemon added with grilled bread, a smoked and roasted beet salad which is like the best thing ever, The pork chops I had brought up a month ago and froze.. So, not much time, i defrosted, did a quick marinade of lemon and spices, mostly paprika, garlic, cumin, cayenne. Grilled to medium. The asparagus, wrapped with garlic and wine, salt and pepper. It took quarentine to get me grilling again. There is literally no better form of cooking. The beets were wrapped in foil and cooked for close to 2 hours with smoke.. they were so sweet and then added a vinegar to them.. Served with croutons fried in oil, a little feta, some dill... it's so good. purple and green arugula. This was cheating.. like, how can this not be good.. more family coming for an 80th birthday party today.. I bought 3 3 lb bone in ribeyes that I will reverse sear.. I have been fermenting this pizza dough for the last 72 hours so, i made make either pizza or stromboli with them and the ricotta.. .I have 5 2 lbs lobsters coming that I will grill with a tarragon butter. I am thinking about quickly boiled, then cutting a hole in the top and feeding in tarragon butter as I grilled and smoke them whole before splitting.... Then I have brussel sprouts, artichokes all for the grill.. and probably grab some more beets for another salad... Also making tiramisu and maybe a key lime pie.... I have been reading malt shop menus from the 1930's lately... One thing that has been surprising me is the amount of vanilla extract goes into drinks... Like a full on tablespoon per drink... But, yeh, i don't know, i want to do some sort of old fashion sundays with the kids.. Unfortunately, i have to leave soon and get back to work so, hopefully we can do it later, if I haven't bounced to some other thing by then. But, I also just happened to buy a new ice cream machine for the shop so, maybe the two interests will intersect. Also, just malt itself is just fantastic... i want to maybe see if I can do more with malt, like treat it like tahini, or something.. but would like to explore savory applications.. my favorite combination so far is malt completely covering blackberry ice cream. Dinner for 12 tonight.

Dinner for 8... I am isolated upstate with my kids and inlaws... We had my wife's aunts come over as well. They have been isolated for 3 months... So, why not, we are all walking distance away. I was told, i gave someone their first non spouse hug in three months.. Anyway, food was had... I marinated 6 lbs of skirt steak in the soy,brown sugar, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro thing... while I love to experiment and I really never make the marinade the same way as I don't measure or do the same thing twice, the basic principles are there... Soy and sugar.. Anyway, i hate to be repetitive but, when you are hosting a gathering and have 100 dollars worth of steak on the line, it's good to go to old faithful... Plus, we catered my wife's aunts wedding and I think we made this steak for the hundred or so people that came. I have been just wrapping vegetables in tin foil with some white wine and garlic and using a light smoke on the grill.. It's been fantastic.. The broccoli was not looking so great before I cooked it.. it came out so damn good, it may have been one of the best things on the table. Between the beets, the asparagus, the eggplant and peppers.. I don't understand why there aren't more vegan bbq restaurants. I always find myself using tons of dill in the summer.. Not to mention, it's not something that I seek out or crave.. but, when I purchase dill, i throw it into the most unexpected things and it always it's a delightful surprise. Salad of grilled nectarines, feta, onions, croutons, dill, homemade dressing.. It was so good Not photographed.. i cooked these eggplants on the grill until they were just about done... i split them opened, i had made a tahini dressing.. tahini, garlic, soy, i forget what else, maybe lemon and something spicy.. I split the eggplants and then roasted with the tahini... Yeh, this was awesome.. 4 people at the table "did not like eggplants" and ended up eating off someone's plate and getting their own piece.. a success Followed by smores on the grill. we are now on day three in a row of smores..

im pretty much a doomsday prepper level 10..

I made these alkaline noodles the other day.. it involves using baking soda that was baked. you then dissolve like a tsp of the baked baking soda into a tablespoon of water and make noodles like you normally do... It adds a bounciness to the noodles... Completely transforms them from italian to chinese.. Anyway, i made the noodles and then a quick base for sesame noodles... it's my own adaptation... I add peanut butter, tahini, soy, black vinegar, chile oil, sesame oil, sugar and a little sichuan oil, garlic and ginger.. i like to add scallions but, it was in the downstairs fridge and I am lazy. I banged this meal out in like 20 minutes.

Crab BLT's the other day... I wanted to do an entire meal on the grill.. it's just easier, less mess... So, put the bacon on a sheet try and cooked in the oven.. I also noticed that they had these fava beans.. We were at this fancy grocery store and things were so expensive.. Think frozen shrimp were like 20 bucks a pound.. I picked up two bags for shrimp cocktail before realizing, i was holding 80 dollars worth of shrimp... So, hard pass! My normal experience with favas is a long laborious process, boiling, deshelling.. it takes a long time.. this was just stuff and orange with garlic, mint and chile peppers... cover favas in olive oil and grill... about 20 minutes.. they came out perfect... the stuffed orange was unnecessary but, i liked the visual. fava's were like 3 bucks a pound... if you go to fancy groceries, there are some good finds... Normally stuff fancy people don't want to cook, things that may be a little difficult... For example, i buy marrow bones at this super expensive butcher.. None of the clientele will make stock so, I literally get bones cheaper their than i would from a supplier.

We were able to find these beautiful soft shell crabs.. i have never seen crabs so alive before.. We get them by the cases normally and I haven't seen these guys that lively... there are 5 of us that eat crabs so, we got 10... for 2 separate meals.. the first meal was tempura fried crab served over creamed leeks and fennel... Again, i need a photographer.. It's hard to cook and photograph and well, i would rather the food taste good and be hot than the photo be beautiful... Maybe I have a tripod somewhere.. A classic creamed leeks but, i added some nutmeg and fennel to the dish to make it a little different.. thinly sliced fennel cooked with butter, then the sliced leeks are added to the fennel, cook for another 10 minutes with some butter and water, then add cream, more salt, sugar, nutmeg. a shot of lemon.. Spaghetti with clam sauce... I add garlic and oil, then a tomato, then wine, then a little paprika, cayenne and red pepper flake, then the clams... When they open, i remove the clams and take the meat from the shell.. Then I added the last of the leftover chorizo... Add some paprika to the broth, then some parsley and some dill... Cook for a bit, add a pad or two of butter, tighten the sauce.. Then add the clam meat and finally the pasta, then more fresh herbs... My father in law does not like fish and claimed this to be his favorite meal.. The kids made cookies from scratch... I had to add panko to mine as I like mine crunchy... i was hoping it would work.. it was ok... Lots of salt..

there is no doubt pressure cookers have a purpose for people.. . i dont think they are good for everything.. I know people who will swear by the pressure cooker cheesecake. the type of cooking i prefer, i would just leave the stock on the stove over night and come back to it when it was done.. the same way i soak beans over night. but, yes, you can make a nice stock fairly quickly in a pressure cooker.. I am very much, live and let live.. and I don't knock anyone for anything.. You even want to microwave your pizza to reheat, if I am not eating it, why would I possibly care. I mean, if you asked for my advice, i would not suggest it. Not the same for pressure cooker.. I think its very good for beans and to start a stock off , the rice that was made for me was very good... I mean, I am assuming, if they didn't use the instapot it wouldn't have been as good so, that's great they used. it. But yes, i don't think a pressure cooker is bad for some things. Artichokes, not on the good list.

So the next meal was, fried chicken.. it's a three day process to make and a two day process to eat... I think it's even better cold the next day but, it's personal preference... hot and crunchy and extra juicy is not a bad thing either... first day is a brine, second day is a butter milk soak, the third day I cover in flour and let the whole thing can tacky before frying... My father in law has a lot of spices in his cabinet.. Stuff i have never used.. So, i just sort of threw it all in the spice mix.. ancho powder and garlic salt and onion powder and all types of paprika, curries and whatever... i just dumped it all in.. I have recipe that I use for the shop and well, they are delicious but, who the hell wants work food.. I had no idea how this was going to turn out and it turned out really well.. And well, that's how you learn too.. This was the second coating of flour: whatever, i did a horrible job of documenting this chicken.. it was really freaking good. after sitting with flour on it for 24 hours Fried: I have two slo motion videos, by mistake and a couple of blurry shots: Then next day served cold chicken with a salad with croutons and a mustard vinegrette.. The dressing was mustard, cream, sour cream, olive oil, lemon and a lot of black pepper.. Covered the whole thing in dill.. The croutons were the last of bread diced and fried in olive oil. Also, i served a Sauce Soubise with the cold chicken.. you have to love the french... i first read about this sauce maybe 15 years ago... i have yet to make it but, it has been in the back of my head.. So, the other day when I was smoking vegetables, i added an onion or two into the mix for the purpose of making this sauce.. it's super easy. take a caramalized onion and blend it with cream... i added salt, sugar, a shot of lemon but, that and the perfectly caramalized and slightly smoking onion made such a great combo this was lunch the next day: a simple potato salad. olive oil, parsley and lemon... as requested. these were the last pieces fried from the night before so a little dark and neglected but,still really good.. the brine makes them so juicy and that soubise sauce:

Whoops, didn't mean to post... Also in that meal were stuffed artichokes... My mother in law, that;s where I am right now, is the queen of gadgets.. she is the one that bought me an instapot for the holidays and I promptly gave it back... I love cooking, i need a fire and some cast iron and that's really enough for me.. But, she said, make the artichokes in the insta-pot... Her house, her rules, why she wants to mess around, whatever, i gave it a shot.. .So, I put these beautiful artichokes that I made the bread crumbs for, that I mixed with cheese and spices and seasoning and cut the artichokes and soaked in lemon and prepared.. I was going to put them in a pot and steam but, no, the instapot is quicker.. WHich, it really is not... An artichoke steamed is like 30 minutes.. you put shallow water into a pot and turn on the fire, cover and come back in 30 minutes... The instapot takes 12 minutes.. Well, not really, it has to pressurize, then it has to cook for the 12 minutes, then it has to depressurize.. So, it actuality, we are talking 22 minutes, 25 minutes... not to mention the clean up... Whatever, needless to say, the f'ING thing murderized my artichokes.. it was mush, it was gross, "look what they've done to my boy" I can barely look. More like, Insta not or insta pass. I get it, it's a thing... People like things, people need things... I don't need this... It very much serves a function if you can't cook, or if you want to not think about it, or if you are looking for I don't know, you for some reason need to make beans in under an hour... I don't know.. But, that doesn't mean innocent artichokes need to suffer..

You know, it's very hard to keep up with this daily posting schedule! While I am cooking all the time, i am sometimes forgetting to take photos, or i take video, or whatever.. but, yeh, i am cooking... Salad of arugula and maybe purple arugula. There was some cured meat, sliced onion, some of those roasted and smoked peppers... Did I post about those? They were so good, it's the type of thing that you might as well make a ton because once you make one, it's just pretty much the same work to make 10.. We have been eating them in almost every salad as well as other things.. . For example: Here are pork meatballs, or chorizo balls, with scallops... Since my wife likes the taste of sausage or sausages, as it's just seasoned ground meat, but, she does not like the shape, casing, of sausage, i usually take them out of their casings and either leave ground or make balls.. Here I made balls.. And like a wine, paprika, tomato, roasted pepper, garlic sort of sauce.. there was also dill and spinach, parsley and whatever else was laying around.. it was delicious

Oh of course! I was just giving you my take and wanted to inform you.. I read what you said and wanted to let you know, Confirming your suspicion

While the food certainly looks good, this place would not be considered New Orleans, Cajun, or Creole style food.. It looks just very pan, pan.. It's would be closer to like an American Family Style Chain Restaurant.. Just like borrowed things from Mexico, the South, Argentina, Italian American, just like hodge podge global buzzy things..

So, yeh, i woke up at 7, went for a 5 mile run... Then went to a farmers market where the guy i was trying to meet, had his truck break down.. So I arrived at 9 but, he wasn't going to be there till noon... So, abort mission... Made it back home after driving around at 11... had breakfast, then just had these ribs and a salad at 4... So, looks like another 10 pm dinner.. The ribs I had frozen a whole rack of the chinese bbq style the last time I was at my inlaws and I threw on a baby back for good luck.. ;The baby backs I made a memphis style rub accept I also added ancho chile powder.. smoked for 3 hours, started frozen, then wrapped for a couple of hours with some apple cider vinegar for the memphis, marinade for the chinese.. then grilled for 30 minutes or so... Last half our I took the dry rub for the memphis and mixed in some apple cider vinegar... for the chinese style, i mixed honey, garlic, soy, 5 spice and hoisin sauce.. mopped that on... Came out great, fall off the bone.. you can see this rack just fall apart when I tried to remove from the grill

Well dear reader, since we last spoke, i was summoned to cook again... I was laying in bed with my child watching tv, when the committed decided they were hungry... I fortunately brought two lbs of scallops up here.. so, it was just the quick business of pan cooking 16 scallops... 3 each and well, one to test.. I put down on a plate the peppers that were smoked, mixed with grilled oranges and garlic... I clipped a few pieces of the grilled and smoked onions and some of the almonds.. I am pretty excited about this dish... i was in the grocery store today and just noticed these huge old peppers and then i knew i had to buy them... Then I sort of came up with the idea of a desconstructed romesco of sorts... really good.. the peppers, which I have a lot of, could be used for a number of things.. firstly, i have beautiful bread and some meredith farm feta.. But, it would be great with sausages, or a pork loin, or roasted chicken, or just so many things.. We will have it for a few days and I will play more with it. But yeh, definitely a fun fish for me.

my mother in law buys frozen pizza dough and gets so excited when I come and make them pizza... So, i make pizza.. and it's pretty good.. I made 6 pizzas in total.. for the 8 of us.. they were small ones.. Here is creme fraiche, thin garlic, slice dried sausage of smoke kind, onion.. this one had hot honey and that dried sausage there was smoked mozzarella ones, there were a few different kinds.. jax had sliced garlic, tomato and smoked mozz and regular mozz

Roasted these huge peppers.. Smoked a bit.. Also smoked and roasted onions, almonds garlic and oranges... Garlic roasted, garlic raw, roasted peppers, balsamic, roasted oranges and honey... Lots of salt..

4 lb black sea bass with a dry rub.. brown sugar, cayenne, paprika, garlic.. almost blacked... cooked with smoke on like a 500 degree oven for 30 minutes. or so. : It's a beast artichokes grilled Raisins, fennel, sugar, oranges, a little vodka, caramelized in a pan for a bit...

Oddly enough I was driving today for a few hours and stopped at a rest stop that had only a Wendy’s opened. I wanted the impossible burger, they were out. So, I went with the spicy chicken sandwich. What I have noticed is, all fast food buns have been darkened and painted in order for Instagram. the chicken was spicy for fast food. But the bun, tasted like movie popcorn butter. It was really strange, once I noticed the flavor, it was pretty dominant. all in all they Might as well offer a vegan version of their chicken sandwich. It felt pretty pulpy.

I do. It was May 2010

Yesterday, I did some deliveries and found myself in Sunset Park Area.. I just drove passed a seafood spot.. I did a hard stop and checked it out Prices and quality was good.. I either like whole fish or shellfish.. They were low on whole fish so, I went clams, shrimp and squid.. Also, you have to read a place.. They had three sizes of octopus, baby octopus, cuttlefish, three size squid and 5 types of clams and maybe 12 types of shrimp.. They are telling you what to buy... I was really hoping for geoduck, i was feeling like I would have pulled the trigger for sure.. But, all is good. Pretty much all shrimp: SO, i wanted to make fregola.. I was going to add clams and squid and shrimp all in one pot.. But, I forgot and got distracted.. Also, I missed eating that harissa from lunch... So, I attempted to recreate it.. I got really close.. I messed up, or not messed up but, purposely deviated by adding a chile mulato... But, I toasted guajillo, mulato and arbol.. Added paprika and I truly forget what else.. Salt, sugar, lemon, thyme, stuff like that.. Maybe oil garlic, I am not sure, oh defintiely tomato paste.. As the kids would say, it slapped. Grilled the shrimp on my indoor grilled and toast with butter and maybe fish stock and the "harissa" Then, fregola, squid, clams, guanciale, fish stock, whatever else, i did, i don't remember: But damn, that broth.. that broth was so good. The wife brought it up today for no reason... Just like, oh by the way, that sauce last night... Bueno. Wow, now seeing more mint... Two completely different sauces... So, didn't feel repetitive. I should also state, I primarily took videos of last nights food so, can't really post those.. The clams were delicious and I haven't had clams in a bit.. Oh, also, before that, I was thinking of just stuffing the squid with fregola and grilling.. But, I did grill the squid prior to marrying everything.. The squid were on the larger size.. they would have been fun to stuff.. But, dinner came together quickly... the fish stock was made from the leftover bones from the black sea bass.. It was frozen the day I made it.. I run how water over the container until the blocks slides out... I put it covered in a pot and let if defrost until I have enough.. I let two cups defrost before scooping up the block and tossing back in the freezer.. I am sure there are better methods but, this works... And I also don't have a microwave so. Ah, too bad.. It was a pretty dish.. Ok, that's it, I am caught up...