I have an aversion to buying things. I hate spending money, and take a sort of pride in doing much with little.

None the less, I do not in any way regret spending $20 on a tiny little sauté pan which gets used for very little other than reducing glazes.



Cuisinart brand, from Target. Nice, heavy bottom and a good interior finish.


I haven't been posting much here as I haven't really been doing anything particularly adventuresome. Looking back over the past few years' worth of posts, I realize that for quite some time I was pushing myself quite hard, doing complex and exotic dishes, more or less to prove that I could. And of late, I've been making a lot of simple things, with simple ingredients and not a massive amount of prep. And I realized tonight that many of these are actually quite good.

Like, season a chicken breast and toss it into the oven at 450° for about 18 minutes. Prepare a reduction of apple cider, honey, whole-grain mustard, and butter. Saute some zucchini and corn, season well, and top with crispy onions (yes, the kind in the packet.) And that's pretty much it.



It ain't fancy, but it's fairly inexpensive and easy to do, yet scores highly on the "yum" scale.

 

Take some of that money you've been saving and buy some cleaning products for that stove!

 

Waiting for the heat and A/C tech to arrive so started a crock pot. Just using whatever was available in the fridge this morning.

6 lb. pork loin with peppers of unknown type from the garden, homemade beef bone broth, yuca (lower glycemic index than potatoes), red onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, a little garam masala, and a dash of ground corriander.

I have some leeks and I'm contemplating whether or not to add them.

Leeks added because why not.

 

^The stew came out great.

Breakfast this morning is Costco bratwurst (no nitrates) and sauerkraut, on a bed of sauteed sweet onions, leeks, and spinach.

 

Anyone ever make black pudding? Had it in Scotland for breakfast, and I really miss it. Very expensive to buy here in the states. Considering making some myself.

If someone knows where to get it at a reasonable price, that would be excellent.

 

I have not, but it sounds interesting.

One thing I've found is that there's always some little European butcher in most major cities, often in a scummy part of town, where you can buy delicious things. In Carldbad, it was Top-Top Meats. Granted, Carlsbad doesn't actually have scummy parts, but this shop was in the least-wealthy part of town (the kind where you can get a 1 bedroom condo for less than $500k). Amazing place, run by a mountain of a man called Big John. Big John was a professional boxer and apprentice butcher back in East Germany, who came to the US (via escaping into West Berlin) in the 1960s. Now in his 80s, you get the impression that he could still easily kill any man with his bare hands, but a nicer man you will seldom meet.




In addition to a butcher shop, deli, and German grocery, they also had a little restaurant which served breakfast. We used to go there every Friday morning before work. I miss the hell out of it.



Unrelated (or is it?):






Continuing the "simple things" trend, shrimp with pineapple, bell pepper and scallion, in a simple sweet chili sauce with a bit of tomato:

 

More simplicity:




Prepare corn muffin according to recipe on the box of cornmeal. (50/50 of cornmeal and flour, plus egg and milk.) Add chopped green onion, roasted red pepper, shredded cheddar, romano, honey, and whole sweet corn (frozen is fine, so long as you blanch it first) to the batter before baking. I did 400° for about 20 minutes.

Rub sirloin lightly with coarse salt. Dry. Pan sear, about 4 minutes per side on high-ish.

Slice zucchini. Saute with olive oil and your favorite spice blend, for about the same time as the meat.





C'mon, folks. Keep up.

 

I'm hungry

 

Late night working.

Dinner at Chez Concealer's.


2019-08-21_09-45-27 by concealer404, on Flickr

 

I'm thirsty

 

While Bombay Sapphire is my go-to Martini gin, I don't believe I have ever seen their "East."

How does it compare to the regular?

 

Different. It's more aromatic and a little heavier on the citrus notes. It's an interesting thing to have on hand for $20.

 

Any experience with Beefeater, as a more citrusy gin? Comparisons?

 

random home gourmet pics from the last week or so:

 

I've been playing with tri-tip and sous vide. My sweet spot is 130 degrees for 10hrs and finished on a charcoal chimney.

 

That looks astonishingly good.

 

Probably equally citrusy, but more straight up lemon, while Beefeater gives me some lime notes. Generally i like this better than Beefeater, but i also really only use this as a "I"m feeling a little more fancy than New Amsterdam but don't feel like breaking into my actual good stuff."

I think i made you a G&T with this at MATG, but it's likely it got lost in the blur.

 

Citadel gin. DO IT. seriously, you can thank me now.




and then do this:

3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup (1:1)
2 oz citadel.

this is a daily drink in our house. I've made this gimlet for so many people who always say "i hate gin" and now say "i love gin.....in your drink"


the measuring cup i use to make this is off, dont think the lime and simple are actually equal parts but ive never gone back and taken an actual measurement -- im guessing it's more like .5 lime and .75 simple.

 

I'll pick up a bottle of that. I have a few bottles of nice stuff. Bombay and New Amsterdam are the "i'm gonna have 3-4 of these" bottles.