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4th of July


heidih

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Trader Joe's to the rescue!

 

For the grill:

Butterflied NZ lamb leg - with my own sort of Arabic marinade

Chimichurri-marinaded sirloin

Some other marinaded (garlic and something) pork tenderloin

And a big bunch of bacon

 

Counting on friends to bring non-meat food items....

 

There's a Trader Joe's in Beirut?  Why can't we get one in Toronto?!

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Shelby  make sure your eggs are at room temperature for the best volume.

 

We are caught in waves of rain - caught between a slow moving low front and Hurricane Arthur. 

 

Tomorrow is supposed to be better weather and I am heading up to Poughkeepsie to pick up my husband and attend my brother-in-laws party.  I have no idea what he is having since he is having it catered this year but I have been asked to bring fruit and some turkey burgers for my husband to eat.

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Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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I have a nectarine/amaretto ice cream base chilling in the refrigerator, to be churned later today - or tomorrow if we opt for a long bicycle ride today. Ribs from the smoker, waiting to be gently warmed. No big party planned, but it's nice to finally celebrate summer!

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Big sloppy rack of spare ribs rubbed with ancho powder, sugar, and salt waiting for the smoker. Freebie hotdogs and hamburgers in town after the parade. A case of peaches needing attention. A full day of food and country ahead......

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I hope I'm not talking to myself the whole rest of this thread  :raz:

 

I just peeled some hardboiled eggs that I did yesterday.  OH they were too fresh.  Quite difficult to shell.  They are filled and in the fridge.  I'll put toppings on tomorrow--half with sliced green olives and half with salmon roe (husband doesn't care for roe so they are alllll mine).

 

I'm going to make a rice salad next.....I call it Grammy's Rice Salad, but it's definitely not her recipe because it's all over the internet.  She introduced me to it, though, so, to me it's Grammy's  :smile:   It uses chicken rice-a-roni, green olives, celery, green peppers, artichoke hearts, mayo and a touch of curry.

 

Then, I'm making angel food cake.  First time.  I'm using a recipe I found on Kim Shook's site.....her recipes never steer me wrong.  Wish me luck.  I'm not a good cake baker.  At. All. Not good.  lol.  Here is the recipe I'm going to use

 

http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/CAKESandPIES/Ruhlmans_Angel_Food_Cake_.html

 

I'm just making the cake as I have fresh strawberries and whipped cream to serve with it.

I've never had this recipe fail.  Hope it works for you!  It can't help but taste good, so if it breaks up getting out of the pan, just have 'trifle'  :raz: .  

 

We have no idea what we are eating tonight.  No plans whatsoever.  I guess we'd better decide soon in case we need to go to the store!  We'll watch TV fireworks.  I find that the older I get the more averse I am to crowds and heat!

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Hainanese Chicken Rice, with yellow-skin chicken.

 

Nope, no grilled meats no BBQ no burgers no potato salad no watermelon no corn.  No apple pie either. There are many ways to celebrate or acknowledge any particular holiday or day of observance, there only needs to be a common sentiment.  :-) 

Edited by huiray (log)
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It's Independence Day, not the fourth of July.  It's a beginning, not just a date on the calendar.

 

We are having all the things that huiray listed above, less the Asian influence. 

 

God bless America!

Edited by annabelle (log)
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So.  I took my angel food cake out of the oven about 20 mins. ago.  It looked beautiful.  

 

But now, um.....it's the incredible shrinking cake.....is that normal?  I think I screwed up...  :unsure:

Did you cool it upside down?

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My brother came over and we had brown sugar bacon-wrapped sriracha onion rings (major yum) and black bean pepper jack cheese patties (meh). Watched Captain Phillips. Thought about going to town for the festivities but decided it was too hot.  

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No...ooops.  That was the one part of the recipe I didn't understand.  I'm baking challenged lol.

 Don't give up. Homemade angel food cake is wonderful. If your pan doesn't have feet suspend it by putting the tube over a heavy glass bottle. Don't use a plastic bottle like I did once. It's good for a laugh but results in a bit of a mess.

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 Don't give up. Homemade angel food cake is wonderful. If your pan doesn't have feet suspend it by putting the tube over a heavy glass bottle. Don't use a plastic bottle like I did once. It's good for a laugh but results in a bit of a mess.

Yeah....heh....I wondered what those tab/feet looking things were for.  Sigh.  Well, it feels "springy" and I've eaten some the crust that was stuck to the side and it tastes good.  It's still about 4-5 inches tall, so it isn't tooooo bad.

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Just tell everyone it's an "Angel Puddin' Cake", Shelby. I bet it'll be delicious!

cyalexa, thanks for the comic relief. The plastic bottle and ensuing disaster makes for a great image, but it probably wasn't so funny at the time. :-)

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Oh, those ribs! Much prettier than mine! :-)

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Hainanese Chicken Rice, with yellow-skin chicken.

 

Nope, no grilled meats no BBQ no burgers no potato salad no watermelon no corn.  No apple pie either. There are many ways to celebrate or acknowledge any particular holiday or day of observance, there only needs to be a common sentiment.  :-) 

 

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/146914-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2014%E2%80%93/page-11?p=1976161#entry1976161

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I didn't have plans but as usual I got drafted to help cook dinner (I need to work on saying "no" when housemates are being kitchen incompetent) which ended up being pretty traditional - burgers, hot dogs, fries, baked beans, and a random assortment of other things to round out the meal (some leftover pasta salad, some guacamole that I whipped up because the avocados were looking extra sad, etc.)

Nothing terribly remarkable (definitely not my best work on burgers - I didn't buy the meat and I think it was too low fat content, burgers ended up quite dry even though I was careful not to cook them to hockey pucks) except for deciding that really the only use I can come up with for the cast iron grill pan I got on a whim is toasting buns (which it isn't even that great at) and giving a bit of grill char flavor to vegetables. (I like to steam them to mostly done, then a brief visit with a piping hot grill pan to get grill marks and a bit of extra flavor from the bits of browning.) At the moment we don't have a good place for a grill outside - plans are in early stages to add a patio area in the back and I intend to include some kind of cooking space there. (Alas not enough room for an actual outdoor kitchen, but I am hoping for some kind of arrangement that is nicer for cooking than just a grill plunked on the corner of the patio.)

We did actually also make a very tasty brisket, but due to timing issues with the ridiculous oven that came with the house, that wasn't anything near done by dinner, so it'll be for tomorrow.

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The 4th here was all day rain, and cool.


 


I decided to try CuisiSB ‘Steam’ Burgers.  Got some fresh 85 % ‘Prime’ GrBeef from RocheBros.  This was discussed in the past.  It really is tasty meat and freshly ground, packed to order.  Didn’t need to buy > 3 lb..  Got 1/2 lb.. +.  The + goes to Earthquake, the Cat. ( Left pic, above )


 


But its the 4th, and I have to have Potato Salad.  I make an award winning P.S., with a secret ingredient. My awards are much bigger and better than your awards.  Ill share the secret.  Just don’t blab too much about it. 


 


The secret ingredient is Penzey’s Chicago Steak Seasoning.  Believe it.  Add very little of it so you know something is in there, its delicious, etc, but you can’t quite make it out. It's a bit of Smoke !


 


You will want seconds, if not thirds. I used previously ‘grilled’ red new potatoes, that I grilled cut in 1/2 w a little bit of olive oil,on the Weber, pre-GrillGrates.  I do this all the time, and keep the cooled potatoes in the Refrig.


 


Fresh green onions, ( from the Yogurt containers ) and a little bit of Mayo.  Just a little bit, which is not my usual rule w Mayo.


 


PS 1.jpg


 


Then I added something new : SV egg yolks.  This was covered in another thread.  A rule to always consider w SV Yolks :  two might be better than one.:


 


PS 3.jpg


 


My Potato Salad awards just got a lot bigger. It's still much better than yours.  :raz: 


 


MIS 2.jpg


 


Mise on the burger fixings.  “ Mise” is popular now. Decided to have Open Burgers, less bread and have Two Burgers . Note not too much Mayo, unusual here.


 


Buns 4.jpg


 


The finished Steam Burgers:  1/4 lb. each w a bit of seasoning.   130 F Steam for one hour.  Look pretty awful, don’t they ? :


 


SBBurgers 5.jpg


 


Sur la Plate. Note that Delicious P.S.:


 


SBBurgers plare 6.jpg


 


Cut one so you could see the insides :


 


SBBurger 7.jpg


 


The cut burger was torched a bit, for no particular reason.  This was eaten w a knife and fork. The Burger was not 'bloody', but cooked through. note no drippings from the cut surface.  the 'jus' on the tray w the finished burgers probably came from the salt effect in the seasonings.


 


They were delicious.  Truly so.  You may not like burgers this rare, I do.  They of course were not pasteurized, but I trust this Beef.  You might adjust the temp to suit your tastes, but keep them as rare as you can.  Otherwise, I see no point of cooking them this way.  And that hour seems excessive for a burger, but the CuisiSB minded itself, and caused no trouble at all.


 


This type of burger would marry well w a Fine Sauce.  I just wanted to try the burger w some of the traditional Burger Fix’ins.  Forgot the lettuce.


 


If you ever get the chance to try Penzey’s ( the original chain ) Chicago Steak Seasoning, you will be very happy with it:


 


http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyschicago.html?id=Y7nN4JqJ


 


Use as little as possible.  Excellent on Pan Roasted fresh Salmon, and lots of other things.


 


Bon Appetite, and Happy in the Kitchen.


 


P.S. :  Ill be doing these again for sure, perhaps w a Bearnaise, and some Pommes Anna.


 


talk about a lethal combo.


Edited by rotuts (log)
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I hope everyone had a great day yesterday and it continues on throughout the weekend!  Here's what we had:

 

Cukes and the first (tiny) tomato (that tasted like crap as the first tomato usually does) from the garden

 

photo 2.JPG

 

Deviled eggs ( skipped the salmon roe and used tobikko )

 

photo 3.JPG

 

Cheesy hash browns --not fancy but definitely American comfort food at its best :)

 

photo 2.JPG

 

Grammy's rice salad

 

photo 3.JPG

 

Spicy wings done on the grill

 

photo 1.JPG

 

photo 4.JPG

 

Annnnnd, I was stuffed.

 

 

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Don't make fun of my angel food cake.

 

Ok, you can make fun --we certainly did  :biggrin:   It tasted good, though!

 

photo 1.JPG

 

photo 4.JPG

 

photo 5.JPG

 

Things I did wrong:

 

I didn't cool it upside down.

 

I didn't have cake flour so I used regular.

 

Maybe I over-beat the white a bit???  

 

We were going to have champagne, but after all of this, we were just toooooo full.

 

 

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