Owtahear

Not really sure if north or south. But saved up ribs from Holiday Standing rib roast, soup bones, beef neck and shanks. Charred some onion and ginger. Star anise, clove, palm sugar, and let it go for hours. Kind of went with what I have had in restaurants and researched across the internet.

Made one of my favorite meals homemade....... Goi Cuon and Pho. Death row meal. I crave it when I am not feeling good. When I am feeling good. When it is cold and damp, when it is hot out. Truly a top 10 death row meal for me.

I have this same issue. Like a nice turkey sandwich with say Colby cheese. To liven it up, I love my homemade canned hot banana peppers. Gives a nice heat, salt and piquancy of the vinegar.

I like to painfully and slowly cook down the onions and let it caramelize, even adding some liquid and further reducing to intensify the onion flavor a couple of times. Then of course homemade stock. But beef stock can be overwhelming, veal stock maybe not practical, but half beef and half really good bodied chicken stock seems to carry the onions and allow everything to meld together. I use dry vermouth or white wine, and a splash or so of sherry. Cheese usually a gruyere/monz or provolone mixture because family (I do too) love the cheese. Do it all in a enamel dutch oven.

Chicken Wings marinated in some sort of hybrid chimichurri/sauzan marinade on my new Genesis gas grill. They really needed no more secondary sauce and seasoning.

This past weekend. Too many ribs on a small weber and learning how to grill on a brand new Weber Genesis 435 put together the day before. Lessons learned. Cooking for 14 people is not fun.

He's such a wonderfully nice guy. Again, such a great respite from all of the serious in the world.

Yes, seen it called several different things in America.

What do you all plant food wise? I got several raised bed gardens in my yard. I grow: Tomatoes: Beefsteak type for sandwiches, and stuff, cherry tomatoes and a myriad of paste/San Marzano types for canning/sauce. I try to vary and pick up heirloom varieties. Peppers: Hot banana. Jalapeño. Cayenne/Tabasco. Serrano. Green bell/Red Bell. Anaheim. I love making my own salsa and especially hot sauce. Onions Peas Snow Peas Sugar Snap peas Swiss chard. Eggplant (one plant) Carrots Radishes Various lettuces Arugula. (my fav) Strawberries Blueberries Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme Cilantro Thai Basil Mint And for the first time I planted asparagus for next year. Nothing better than a fresh tomato. Makes a great burger, BLT or grilled cheese sandwich plus my favorite is making Pan Tomato. Tomato bread.

I can't wait.....FINALLY some Popeye's are popping up around where I live.

Damn forgot to take photo. But had Grands Southern Biscuits today. Made some bacon, some great scrambled eggs, slice of American cheese and made a breakfast sammich. Outstanding and has lasted me all day now until dinner.

Pan sautéed Steelhead trout Morel and King Trump mushrooms sautéed in butter Broccoli because you know, my mom always told me to have something green on my plate Stupidly, I should have subbed asparagus for the broccoli and it would be the ultimate late spring on a plate meal.

I have a coffee grinder dedicated to just spices and use that. In fact I make my own 5 spice and some other Sichuan type spice mixtures for things like Cumin Lamb, La Zi Ri, etc....

I stumbled on to this Netflix series during 2020's year of COVID, George Floyd, Trump, and all of the negativity. It is so light, so upbeat, that Phil (Phil Rosenthal) became like a best friend. It was like a bubblegum version, upbeat, no snarky version of No Reservations. Has anyone watched these? Like I said, it became just a great relief from all of the seriousness, uplifting feel good foodie show. I thought there was supposed to be another season of it. Does anyone know???

You know Portland has some interesting and awesome choices to eat when I have spent 5 days there more than once and never got a steamed lobster dinner. And I love lobster.

Oh one other thing........I stay at the Hilton Garden Inn which is almost adjacent to Fore Street and Standard Baking. The same ownership group owns Fore Street, Scales and Standard Baking (and one other place I forget). I like the idea of stumbling out of my hotel room across the parking lot after a night of over indulging and getting a pastry or two and coffee at Standard Bakery and go back to my room to catch up on work emails before I head out for the day.

I love Portland. The Dungeness crab, the fresh salmon, the roses...oh wait, not THAT Portland. Seriously love Portland, unfortunately with Covid haven't been back since late fall 2019. I usually stay on Commercial Street right in town, I get in mid afternoon, throw my stuff in the room and head to Eventide for a dozen of oysters and their dirty dirty martini. I liked your point, everyone raves about their brown butter lobster roll, I had it, okay....but give me their oysters and crudo. I stay right there, so obviously Fore Street is a must. If you are back, please try to mussels for an app. Just fantastic grilled with some smokiness. I usually am in Portland for some business/pleasure so I am usually solo and grab a seat at their bar for dinner. Wish I was there with a couple of couples, so I can share and try more plates at a setting. But their fish, I had a duck dish that was great, etc....love it. Another must is Scales (for me). Again, sit at the bar get some crudo, oysters for app then the brown butter halibut is awesome. It is a shame, I don't know if Miyake is gone forever, but I see they haven't yet reopened, but the Omakase there with the Sake accompaniment is something not to miss. Love a lunch at Central Provisions. I drink and eat way too much when I go (especially drink as I am centrally located, don't need to drive or even uber so take advantage of this. To my detriment. David's is also good. I have been there maybe 10 times over the past 5 years and what is cool, is though I am not a chef, I was able to make "cheffy" contacts and get some great fish and seafood shipped to me from like Browne Trading, Harbor Fish and others too secret to share (hahaha) I can't go back, plan to go back late summer early fall. What is weird, everyone says "how much lobster did you eat?" And I found on more than one occasion, outside of the lunch lobster roll usually outside of the city at a lobster/clam shack, I am so blown away by the oysters, scallops, clams and fresh fish that I forget to order a lobster!! Stupid me!

LOL. I know. I chickened out from doing this and just had monkfish sautéed in a butter wine sauce. Dammit! Stupid religious rules!!!!

Old school Catholic Easter Weekend in the Northeast Good Friday. Maine Scallops in the water Wednesday, with an Orange/Ginger/Star Anise sauce Sous vide Monkfish wrapped with prosciutto in a chorizo broth Arugula/Pear/Walnut/golden raisin/blue cheese salad with balsamic vinegar Ham Saturday Roast ham Potato salad old school broccoli rice cheese casserole. 1978 we live!!! Easter Elysian Field Boneless Leg of Lamb on Rotisserie with herb/garlic stuffing Mint Chimchurri sauce Leftover Ham for those who don't like Lamb Salt and Vinegar Smashed roasted potatoes Asparagus with a lemon butter sauce Roasted carrots with a ginger glaze Smashed Sichuan style cucumbers Garlic Bread Hopefully someone buys me a drink after funding all of this and doing most of the cooking!!!

I have way too many. But...some "bibles" that I have. Kenji's Food Lab Harold Magee. Joy of Cooking. Fuschia Dunlap. Marcella Hazen Essentials of Italian Cooking The Professional Chef CIA Sauces James Peterson Larousse Gastronimique Mastering the Art of French Cooking Julia Child

NO! Sorry, I mean if I just live in say Chelsea and never leave England then yeah. But that is a rather narrow list.

I remember when Food Network first came out. Man, do I miss shows like his where it is actual food and wine and cooking.

For example, I recently got some Rioja Reserva from 2002. That's 20 years!! Would it be too old? Obviously for some wines and vintages, that is nothing. Just don't know. Any help on this??

Why not make a pesto out of it???

When I was a kid, my dad always made a home made brined corned beef brisket around the holidays. It was such memories, I loved the feel and taste of the brisket. This was the 70's and 80's. Finally this year, I did it. I found his faded recipe card, validated it from online recipes (I mean food safety standards have changed), got a 7lb brisket flat from Crowd Cow, and made a brine solution, salt, sugar, pickling spices and garlic with Prague #1. And I let it soak for 11 days in a fridge. WOW. Perfect. I nailed it. I can't believe the flavor and unctuous fat and wow. It immediately brought me back to being like 13 years old. And my god, did they make killer Ruebens. I ate a Rueben for like 3 days straight. The meat just tasted perfect. Not too salty, but salty, spiced, had a great mouth feel just like the brisket of my youth.