Happy summer.

Happy summer to you, too.

Rhubarb pickle:

aschie30 wrote:Happy summer to you, too.

Rhubarb pickle:

aschie-

Can you tell us more about the rhubarb pickle? I love rhubarb and might give this a go. However, if it involves canning, I'll have to just admire the photo some more.

Thanks.

-The GP

The GP wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Happy summer to you, too.

Rhubarb pickle:

aschie-

Can you tell us more about the rhubarb pickle? I love rhubarb and might give this a go. However, if it involves canning, I'll have to just admire the photo some more.

Thanks.

-The GP

No canning. It's a friend's recipe. I small diced about 2 cups rhubarb. In a saucepan, I warmed 3/4 c. red wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, 2 t. kosher salt along with aromatics, such as bay leaf, star anise and juniper berries. I brought it to a boil, stirred the pot to dissove the sugar, then shut off the stove, let the flavors infuse for about 15 minutes, and then strained it onto the rhubarb, mixing gently. I refrigerated it overnight to let the flavors develop. Goes well with roasted meats.

aschie30 wrote:

The GP wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Happy summer to you, too.

Rhubarb pickle:

aschie-

Can you tell us more about the rhubarb pickle? I love rhubarb and might give this a go. However, if it involves canning, I'll have to just admire the photo some more.

Thanks.

-The GP

No canning. It's a friend's recipe. I small diced about 2 cups rhubarb. In a saucepan, I warmed 3/4 c. red wine vinegar, 1/4 c. sugar, 2 t. kosher salt along with aromatics, such as bay leaf, star anise and juniper berries. I brought it to a boil, stirred the pot to dissove the sugar, then shut off the stove, let the flavors infuse for about 15 minutes, and then strained it onto the rhubarb, mixing gently. I refrigerated it overnight to let the flavors develop. Goes well with roasted meats.

Thank you! I might give it go this weekend if the Evanston Farmers' Market still has rhubarb.

Baking pizza:

Ho hum.... lamb for dinner yet again....

for some grilled red snapper

Grilled Veal chop with a sage & demi glace sauce, grilled veggies
and the TJ's brown rice and other grains mix done in the pressure cooker
(super fast!)

That vealchop dinner really looks good, nice work there. Well all of your food looks good, but it stands out.


Dinner last night:



"Brick Grilled" Chicken with lemon, basil, and garlic compound butter with grilled apsaragus and crispy butter fried mushrooms.

I soaked the chicken in a brine for 24 hours, then put on a rub of lemon juice, basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper on it for an hour before it went on the grill. Along with the compound butter it ended up being some of the most flavorful chicken I've ever made. I just can't get enough of brining chicken.

brandon_w wrote:I soaked the chicken in a brine for 24 hours, then put on a rub of lemon juice, basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper on it for an hour before it went on the grill. Along with the compound butter it ended up being some of the most flavorful chicken I've ever made. I just can't get enough of brining chicken.

Thanks...

24 hour brine for a chicken? That seems long to me....
I've not done more than 6 hours.
What kind of ratio are you using for your brine?

I've been happy with 50 grams salt to 1000 grams H20 maybe 15 to 25 grams sugar
(if I remember the sugar)

I use Ruhlman's ratio of 20 to 1, which you seem to use too. For the sugar I just tend to grab what I think looks like a few tablespoons and throw it in, not very exact. I also had 4 smashed cloves of garlic, some torn basil leaves, and lemon juice in the brine.

I've done 24 hours for chicken a couple of times now and have enjoyed the results each time.

Brandon -

Beautiful dish. Are those chanterelles gracing the asparagus? If so, are they a farmer's market purchase or did you forage them yourself?

Those are two different types of Oyster mushrooms that I purchased at the Farmer's Market.

put it on the board.... yes...!

carryout pulled pork sandwich from honky tonk.

one of the best steaks I have had ina while, just a snack last night when I couldnt resist trimming off a small piece off of one of the sirloins for dinner tonight.

my dinner:

gleam wrote:carryout pulled pork sandwich from honky tonk.

Fine looking sandwich!

My first thought was wonder where Ed was, you can't get that sandwich in Chicago.*

I'd rather see a less intrusive bun with that sandwich, but, hey, Chicago is the home of big sturdy buns.

*My thought being more about the accompanying mustard sauce than the quality of the pork

G Wiv wrote:

gleam wrote:carryout pulled pork sandwich from honky tonk.

Fine looking sandwich!

My first thought was wonder where Ed was, you can't get that sandwich in Chicago.*

I'd rather see a less intrusive bun with that sandwich, but, hey, Chicago is the home of big sturdy buns.

*My thought being more about the accompanying mustard sauce than the quality of the pork

Agreed on the bun. I ended up mostly eating it with a fork and my fingers, rather than as a sandwich. I wasn't much of a fan of honky tonk when they opened, and I'm still not enthralled by anything else on the menu, but the pork shoulder is very, very good.

Crayfish, live, fresh from the lake


Crayfish, dead, fresh from the Old Bay boil

nr706,

How much time was involved in collecting your crayfish? How many pounds did you collect? These take the briefest of boils due to their size, right?

You're annual crayfish pics almost inspire me to get some netting and drive to a lake. Are most Wisconsin lakes filled with crayfish. These are not native, correct? They were introduced when fisherman used them as bait.

Thanks!

Regards,

They're an invasive species that was introduced as bait by some dumb angler, probably in the 1930s, from the Ohio River basin. They eat fish eggs, small fish, destroy fish breeding habitats, nibble on your toes when you're in swimming, and generally otherwise cause havoc (we were commenting that, as kids, the lake was full of clams - now there are only a few).

I never weighed what I got, but I was holding them in a 5 gallon bucket; it was about 3/4 full, in total. Two traps, each baited with leftover/rotten meat, pulled in in the morning and evening over six days. Threw 'em into boiling water, and drained them once the water came back to the boil.

They're found mostly in northern and Eastern Wisconsin. (Our area in Western Vilas County is among the worst.) Not sure netting would help catch them, though - the classic crayfish trap looks a little like a smaller lobster trap. Most hardware stores in the affected areas sell them for $10 or $15 each.

Chorizo-stuffed dates with bacon in a fire-roasted red pepper sauce (in Calphalon tapas pans, which I love and recommend).

Recipe: marinate pitted dates in honey thinned with sherry for four hours. Stuff with matchsticks of Palacios hard cured Spanish chorizo. Wrap in half (or a quarter, if you've split the slice vertically for small dates) of a slice of bacon. Put under broiler until bacon crisps (happens very quickly!) turning once.

Place coarsely chopped bell pepper tossed in olive oil in grill pan over wood coals, grill until blackened on edges. Place in blender with kosher salt, chicken stock, and olive oil until desired consistency. Plate dates on sauce.

Eggs in biskets

Those big fat blueberries look really good to me right now.
BTW - nice "folder_name."

God! Those Eggs in biskets look so great and tasty especially with strawberry pieces i just adore! yum-yum

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glitter graphics huge fan!

Sweet potato cakes made with curry served with a cumin sour cream sauce.

Thin sliced flank steak marinated in soy, ginger, garlic, sesame & pepper. tossed in a hot cast iron skillet and then served on a toasted bun with a splash of Sriracha.

Olives, at Fianco.

Mango & Gran Marnier Soufflé