What's For Dinner?

Did the cheap pizza place closest to my house. The area has several pizza places. One strip mall has 3.

 

Jalapeño burger
Poutine
Wings
Beer.

Diet's over!
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Fries are only good (IMHO) double fried, or salt water blanched, then fried.

 

All this fries talk reminds me I have a deep fryer in the garage. Just need some oil and I'm in business.

 

Those onion rings look insanely good!

Tonight, it was good to be home after a bunch of travel. Simple, comfort food time. Angel hair pasta, homemade tomato sauce with sardines, fresh grated pecorino, and crushed red pepper. Served it with homemade garlic bread, and a nice cab from Kirkland/Costco. It's good to be back home!
T

 

Picked up a big jug of canola oil for the fryer. Bought a potato slicer and a big bag of them. Found some calamari rings, some premade onion rings, etc. All at Costco. Decided to grab a cooked chicken, some croissants. Made chicken salad. Bought a gift for a family friend who lives in PA. Smoked salmon in a nice box. Smoked Pacific Salmon with Carved Bentwood Box worth the $30 but might only be a west coast deal.

 

That all looks insanely good.

I made smashed burgers again tonight. Turned out well again. Grabbed some Tots when I was at the store and cooked them up while prepping the burgers. Made a dipping sauce from sour cream and my homemade hot sauce.

Speaking of the pepper sauce, it's finally was done "resting". I left some in the thicker/chunky texture and some I added a little more vinegar and blended it up then strained it. The strained is like a slightly thick Tabasco and the thicker sauce is more like Sambal. Both good and both nice and spicy. It was mainly Cayenne peppers but I added more than a few habaneros and one giant ghost chili. Could actually in all honesty be a bit hotter though. It's probably on par with or maybe just barely hotter than Tabasco.
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Who's the man? You da man!!!

Now I know what we are eating today, thanks for the reminder.

 

^Forgot about that smash burger idea. That looks a lot better than the bloated UFOs I got the last time I did burgers! I gotta go re-read that post!

"It was mainly Cayenne peppers but I added more than a few habaneros and one giant ghost chili. Could actually in all honesty be a bit hotter though."

Dude, you must have asbestos taste buds! Seriously though, did you remove almost all of the membrane and seeds? I did that once with habaneros, and they made a fruity/citrusy salsa, rather than being blistering hot. I wonder, how a bhut jolokia (OK, I admit it, I like saying bhut jolokia!) would taste if you went aggressively after the membrane and seeds?!?

T

 

Whipping up some chicken soup for tomorrow's dinner. Dice celery, onion and carrots. Sweat in olive oil. Add as much pepper and paprika and parsley as you like (we salt it up at the table). Sweat a tad more. Add in cubed chicken breast, brown rice and enough water. Simmer for an hour...T

 

Pan fried some burgers (should have cooked them on the grill to be honest) and baked some of those sweet tater tot's (should have fried them). A rather bland lunch/dinner to be honest.

 

Another pastrami burger. Not bad at all...
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Hey Gregg... You should had a pastrami burger!

Kerim...I hope you're getting your cholesterol checked regularly!

T

 

Iron Chef secret ingredient for tonight? Nasu! (Eggplant)

Had an eggplant that I bought on sale at Kroger last week. What to do with it? So, I decided to make veggie fajitas. Julienned up eggplants, red peppers, & Spanish onion. Wok'd them up in a screaming hot CI wok with a smidgen of olive oil. Spices = garlic powder, chili powder, cumin. Heated up a can of black soy beans in the same spices. Left over brown rice. Homemade guac. Top with Tabasco sriracha. Serve with Robert Hunter champagne...T

 

I'm trying to watch my figure and that burger is NOT helping, thank you very much!

 

That looks like it could be split for two!

Amazing what you can do with what you have hanging around. Looks fantastic.


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Thanks. Twas not as good as a traditional fajita with grilled skirt steak, but it was good nonetheless. The eggplants turned out with a nice meaty texture...T

 

knock on wood , it's ok. I go in spurts on my eating habits...I take off from the gym for about a few months , enjoy life and then hit it back hard. .

 

The bloated thing is what I don't like about the old way of making burgers. This way has a few advantages. First they cook pretty quickly. The crusty part is really good. They are tender and juicy. You do have to be careful though or they will overcook. I'm still working on perfecting the size and thickness. The ones I posted pics of were a little over 1/6 lb each. That would generally mean I'd put two on a bun for a nice thick 1/3lb burger but that's actually just about too much so next time I think I'm gonna try about 1/4lb each and see how that goes.

As for the pepper sauce it's strange how peppers can be so different. I got all these from my CSA farmer and he had some other peppers he kept telling me how hot they were. I was eating them like green peppers though, they weren't hot. Turns out unlike most peppers that get hotter the more ripe they are these got sweeter and I was grabbing the ripe ones. He didn't believe me until I just grabbed one and ate it right in front of him at the farm stand one day.

And as for the sauce all I did was cut the stems off and spin 'em up. I was surprised it didn't come out hotter than it did.

 

Lamb
Sweet potatoes (baked)
Some random veggies
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That looks like the loin chop? Those little t-bones are my favorite cut of lamb. Great on the grill...T

 

I have never eaten lamb but may have to try one. The ones above look like mini T-bones.

 

Lamb is good. Haven't had it in awhile. Tonight is pesto linguine with Costco rotisserie chicken added.

Dang dog a few months ago chewed my laptop power chord. He was just a small pup. I forgot to order a new one. Electrical tape held together until today. No biggie have a spare new HP laptop and a desk top if needed.

 

Gregg... It's the cut I'd recommend to someone looking to get into lamb. IMO it's milder, less gamey than other cuts like the leg or shank. I coat those loin chops in olive oil, minced garlic, a few turns of cracked pepper, a squeeze of lemon, a dash of salt. Put it on the grill until medium rare. Enjoy with a little mint jelly. Favorite sides are Israeli couscous and a tabouli that has good acidity to bite through the fatty-ness of the lamb...T

 

Ooh I have some lamb chops in the freezer I keep forgetting about. Might be dinner one night this week. Mine are tiny little chops though.

Yours look great!!