Columbus Day Carryover

We were inspired by Steve and Theresa so we stripped the kitchen and started repainting it.

The front door was looking shaggy from doggy claws so I sanded that bugger down and repainted it as well. Plan on putting new sweeps on the bottoms of the front and garage entry door as well. Winter's coming!

Proud Father Moment

Took the training wheels off the boy's bike Thursday evening and shot these pics Saturday. He's a natural. Hasn't crashed yet.

I asked him what he thought of riding without the trainers, he replied "Rockin'!". That's my boy!

Sunday Night Dinner

This turned out far better than I expected. 4.5 pound pork loin, twelve cloves garlic, 1/2 cup fresh rosemary leaves, two tablespoons coarse salt, one tablespoon ground black pepper, four tablespoons olive oil.

Put the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper into the food processor and blended it up well. Added the olive oil in slowly till I had a nice wet paste.

I cut the loin almost in half lengthwise and on each half cut a small pocket. Sread half the paste on the inside of the loin and stuff some into the pockets. I skewered the loin back together and spread the rest of the paste over the outside.

Set up my Weber for indirect grilling and cooked the pork for almost three hours. At the 2:30 mark I pulled it off, covered it with foil and let it rest for a half hour on a platter.

I was supposed to use "tuscan oak" during the cooking but used cherry chips instead. Guess I'll have to find some oak next time and see if I can taste any difference. My wife and I thought the finished product tasted just fine.

Branched Oak Farm

Thanks to Swoof I learned of another local producer of good things to eat. Branched Oak Farm has dairy goods and beef raised right here in the county. I'm looking forward to a mini road trip and let the boy discover a farm while I select some fine cheese and perhaps a nice piece of meat.

They are open Tuesdays and Saturdays 11am to 5pm.

Simple Homemade Marinara

I grow my own San Marzano tomatoes for sauce and marinara. It's a little extra effort in the kitchen but it is so worth it.



14 to 16 tomatoes will yield enough sauce for about three people. Core them and cut a cross in the other end with a small paring knife. Get a good sized pot of water boiling and a good sized ice bath. Toss half the batch in the boiling water for no more than 2 minutes. 1:30 is about perfect. Get them out of the hot pot and into the ice bath which stops the cooking process. I do half a batch at a time as its more manageable. The skin will easily pull off once out of the ice bath.



In a skillet, heat up some olive oil till it shimmers then chuck 6-8 mashed garlic gloves into the oil. Cook them till they just start to turn color. Then carefully put your bowl full of skinned tomatoes and their juice into the skillet. Crank it up to a boil and season it with salt and pepper. After it boils reduce the heat just a little and at a good simmer, cook for 20 minutes. During this time, use a non-metal utensil to break down the chunks into whatever consistency you'd like.




With 5 minutes to go, throw in some fresh chopped basil and stir it in.

I put this batch over some 4 cheese ravioli. Mmmm!




"Tutti a tavola, a mangiare" = Everyone to the table to eat!

Salmon anyone?

My better half loves grilled salmon and I'm more than happy to oblige. Horseradish and basil are featured in this dish. Simple and very tasty.

Marinade is vegetable oil, prepared horseradish, soy sauce, minced garlic, salt, ground black pepper. Whisk it up and put it on the salmon. Filet or steak will work just fine.



Get your grill going about medium to medium high. I left the lid on the Weber this time to keep the heat and the flare-ups down. Fold up a paper towel repeatedly untill it's about two inches across, dunk it in some olive oil and oil the grate with your tongs. Cook fish 4 minutes flesh side down, flip, 4 again on the skin side then 4 more for flesh and skin side will do it. Let the fish rest on a platter for a few minutes while you load up on sides.



Sauce is sour cream, mayo, horseradish, fresh basil, lemon juice, soy sauce.

Let's Bar-B-Que!!!!

Ribfest is in town, and I sure do love barbeque. I love beef and pork as much as the next but here's my entree. It's a spin off of a Kansas City bbq that's sweet and smokey but only takes 40 minutes cook time. And we'll use split chicken breasts which can't fail.

It's a dry rub that really packs a punch yet is fairly simple to make. Here we go:



Light brown sugar, granulated sugar, seasoned salt, smoked salt, smoked paprika, kosher salt, ground black pepper, ground ginger, poultry seasoning, celery salt, superfine ground mustard, ground allspice.

Mix it all up in a bowl and sprinkle it onto the meat. You could use this on beef or pork but it really kicks chicken to a whole new level.




Put the bird in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes to 24 hours. Get your grill set up for indirect grilling over a drip pan. When ready, put the birds down for exactly 40 minutes over medium heat. 45 minutes will burn the sugars & chicken skin, it won't be pretty. Don't forget your big chunks of hickory for even more awesome smokey flavor.