The Lazy Gourmet

[Buster's Uncle]

BYW - I was going to give this latest effort a B, but Momma said it was at least a B+.  I can't really taste the smoke flavor for a few hours after I grill - leftover bits always taste markedly better to me later if it was good.

[Buster's Uncle]

And I left out that it did rain - but started just before I moved the grill into the open, so no problem.

[Oerdin]

Tonight was pasta puttanesca with garlic bread and a caprese salad.   It was a lot of cheese but good and there are plenty of left overs.   Served with a rather subpar Sangiovese; it was on sale.

[Unorthodox]

That's more up my alley.  In fact Caprese salad is one of the biggest reasons I like to grow my own tomatoes.  I wouldn't bother right now, since the store tomatoes are awful. 

Not a fan of anchovies for "proper" puttanesca, but otherwise most my pasta sauces come out similar to it. 

[Oerdin]

I like anchovies in pasta sauce as they melt into the sauce,  add a nice flavor,  and bump up the protein content without people even knowing it.  I also make my ceasar salads the traditional way with anchovies.

The ingredient I have been getting into lately is Asian fish sauce which is about the closest thing we still have to ancient Roman garum.   It goes especially well in soups or broths adding flavor while bumping up protein content and mouth feel.

[Unorthodox]

Anchovies you're eating the bones which is just not happening with me.  Won't eat bone in steak, and forget about gnawing meat off a bone either.  It's a stupid mental block from butchering our own food growing up, but one I can't shake. 

Fish sauce, I can get into, but haven't found a good one yet, outside the local pho place. 

[Rusty Edge]

Well, it is what it is. I think the bone-in culinary trend is over-rated.  Yes, the bone imparts more flavor, but it also serves as a heat sink, and most likely results in uneven cooking. Not what I want from my steak. Neither do I want extra work or waste eating it.

I gladly pay for the butcher to debone a ham. Yeah, a bone has merit when making soup from scratch. Or liverwurst/scrapple. Those are  the best uses for them. But in my case, marrow means excess salt, so I avoid it. 

[Oerdin]

They do sell anchovy fillets which are bone free.   Like unorthodoxed I also like pho.

[Unorthodox]

They do sell anchovy fillets which are bone free.   

I've never seen the like here in the desert.  Admittedly, I've never looked all that hard either. 

[Rusty Edge]

They do sell anchovy fillets which are bone free.   Like unorthodoxed I also like pho.

I like both, but there are salt restrictions to consider.

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm doing Chicken Racku for supper tonight, I'm told.

I should take a picture of the rack with the drumsticks hanging from it on the grill and post later - what the heck.

[Oerdin]

They do sell anchovy fillets which are bone free.   

I've never seen the like here in the desert.  Admittedly, I've never looked all that hard either.

They sell them every where.   Even Walmart and Target have them.

On topic: Yesterday was left over pasta whole today I am feeling lazy and will likely just pick up a roast chicken from Costco.   A 4lbs chicken for $5 sounds lile the right price.   Cooked and ready to go.

[Buster's Uncle]

As good a batch of Chicken Racku as I've ever made, roughly equal to my roasted chicken, if not to a good panfull of fried.



I've been getting very consistent results and less over/undercooking with a variety of meats grilling about 3/4 done and finishing off in the microwave.  Not cleaning out the ashes accumulated in the bottom as an aid to grease-dripping-produced smoke is yielding excellent results for sufficient smoke flavor with gas, and much better control w/ less wood and charcoal added for flavor.  -This was all stuff that didn't catch in the front left over from my last grilling.

Time to trim my mustache, though - the BBQ sauce was wanting to build up in it.

[Oerdin]

So far today I have only had a cheese quesadilla which I made using the microwave because I was in a hurry.   The proper way is to cook it in a pan so the tortilla gets toasted and not soggy as happens in the microwave.

[Unorthodox]

Sloppy Joes tonight.  Alec made them.  We'll see how well he did, but it smells spot on (not easy for me to eat red meat at all anyway).

Recipe is from gramma's neighbor and dates back to the 40s at least.