Gert picked up some chicken thighs the other day and I decided to grill them tonight. Last night I picked out Roadside Chicken as the preparation. Of course, today was such a day that I didn’t marinate these as long as I would have liked. Ideally these would have been in for eight hours. I had just about two hours. Even so, the taste was delicious.
This preparation really takes me back. When I was a boy the family would travel Rt. 40 on our way places. Mostly bridge tournaments I suppose. Anyhow, in the summertime the volunteer firehouses along the way often had barbecues. We would stop and get chicken. This recipe is that chicken. Awesome stuff, folks.
Of course, getting the chicken on the plate was a comedy of errors. I began with a plan. The charcoal was lighted. Once ashed over, I placed it in the kettle and put the lid on. The idea is to let the coals burn off about five minutes before the chicken went on. I went inside to prepare everything else. I came out and realized I had all the vents closed. Sigh . . . the coals were not hot enough . . . or at least I thought. I could put my hand on the grate without burning. Decisions decisions. I quickly lighted another chimney on the POC gasser. Once hot enough, I dumped them atop the other coals.
Well, I had plenty of heat. Probably too much. Hindsight indicates the first batch would have been fine.
The recipe indicated about 45 minutes for the cook. That seemed a bit long, but then again this was supposed to be four half chickens. I only had five thighs. Next time I should prepare but half of the basting sauce for this amount of chicken as I had plenty leftover.
I basted frequently. These smelled delicious. Each baste flared the coals. It wold have happened no matter what, but I think the coals were too hot when I put on the chicken. I probably should have let them cool a bit more. There were flames when the sauce dripped down. One thigh scorched early. By the end there was a good amount of char on the chicken.
I once again prepared corn on the cob on the grill. Unlike the first time, I did not care for the corn tonight. The corn was thinner. Gert ran over at the end of the day and the pickings were slim. Also, I cooked it too much. I think the corn does better with less char on it than what I did.
Just getting the corn on basted in butter was a hassle. I was moving there for a few minutes all the while Beetle jabbering in my ear. I also had green beans going inside. Eventually it all came together, but it was not smooth.
The end result was that we liked the chicken a lot. I know Gert liked it for she asked for more. That means we’ll have this again. I like it when she enjoys what I prepare. I am having more success with the OTG and WSM than I do with the oven in this regard. It was a nice meal that we enjoyed on the deck. I decided to do corn on the grill again, but in the husks like some others do. We’ll see how that turns out.
Anyhow, if you want a wonderful chicken preparation, you can’t go wrong with this. Good stuff.
I love my wife, but I scold myself sometimes. Until she met me she had never had lobster, lamb, or filet mignon. There are a few other high-end foods too. She loves these now. Of course, these are good foods.
Gert went grocery shopping this morning. We don’t eat a lot of steak at home these days. She wanted a steak. She apparently had something in her hand but asked the butcher for filet mignon. Without checking the price of what he gave her, she came home with two beautiful steaks. And she wanted it for lunch. Sigh . . .
But one must turn lemons into lemonade. I grilled those steaks to perfection. Just a little salt and pepper on the resting steaks. I seared them on both sides and then turned down the heat on the open pit. One was larger than the other; it took longer.
Medium-rare to perfection. When the knife cuts a fillet it should cut like butter. These were so tasty!
As I commented to Gert, we had the best lunch on the block today.
Several months ago I began preparing risotto. i am a huge fan. Since then I have prepared all sorts of different risottos. While visiting my blue hairs (I affectionately refer to those on one of culinary boards as blue hairs. I am sure not a one of them even resembles my grandmother) yesterday it was asked What cooking fad are you now in? I responded risotto. And since it had been a little bit since I actually prepared one, became all excited. While I have several to try out, I had been putting off one that flowers22 had recommended. Her family has enjoyed Olive Garden’s Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto several times. I decided that would be last night’s dinner.
Of course, things happen and that wasn’t made last night after all. Not to worry, tonight was another opportunity. I quickly refreshed my memory on how to make this. I’ll hand it to Olive Garden for releasing the following video. What an awesome way of promoting its business. I do not normally advertise for companies, but I’ll gladly share this. Enjoy!
This was awesome! Of course, the butter and Parmesan cheese added plenty of richness to this.
Shrimp is really expensive locally right now. I opted for a bag of frozen shrimp. Unfortunately, I did not look well at the bag I gabbed as these were tiny cocktail shrimp. Blech! The shrimp became a nuisance. I gave most of mine to Gert.
I always use Carnaroli rice for risotto. I am not certain why, but that is what we always have on hand.
The asparagus at the market, despite it being asparagus season, was not the pencil-thin kind I love. Nevertheless, the asparagus was excellent. I shunned fresh tomatoes for canned. More and more I do this, although local tomatoes will be available soon. I find most market tomatoes to be hard and tasteless these days.
I used stock I had made a little while ago that I had frozen. Bagged in two-cup bags, this was a snap getting the correct volume needed. Freezing permits for a weekday risotto. I’ll have to make another stock this weekend.
I do not know how well this risotto will reheat. I suspect it will not be as great as others. I’ll know tomorrow at lunch as I have a nice container prepared.
Treat yourself to this wonderful meal. I have found risotto to be a most satisfying meal.
This recipe caught my eye when the ltest Cooking Light arrived. I am definitely in risotto mode and looked forward to preparing this.
I struggled finding fava beans. I suppose I could have asked Hannibel Lecter. There are no fresh fava beans around. I did find frozen ones, but passed in favor of edaname. I made the stock the other day. It makes a difference . . . a huge difference. My stock is so flavorful compared to the boxed stuff I bought last time. When I was grocery shopping I thought about making it easy and just buying the boxed stuff. But chicken was actually less than that would have been. With the vegetables I had on hand, it would be less expensive to make it and I would reap the benefit of having the chicken to use for salads and stor frys.
I heated the stock as I began prepping the ingredients. I steamed the asparagus. Folks know I prefer pencil-thin asparagus, but all I could find where some of the thicker variety. They were delicious nonetheless. Soon enough the onions and ham hitting the sizzling pan. Ah, that’s the sound of cooking. We had plenty of ham . . . I should have used a bit more. Once the kitchen was filled with that wonderful smell, it was time to get moving. Risotto requires constant attention. In went the rice and then the wine. Once the wine was incorporated, it was time to begin ladeling the stock into the rice to release its cream. Stir, ladel, stir, stir, stir. Repeat again and again. After about 25 minutes the rice was such a creamy consistency. Awesome!
In went the asparagus, peas, and edaname. I’ve never finished a risotto with cream. It feels like cheating. Sure, it tasted good. Frankly, I don’t think it needed it. The rice would have been fine without it.
The first time I had Spaghetti Carbonara was at my sister’s house years ago. Whether it was in Rhode Island or Iowa I do not recall, but I knew I really liked it. Pasta, bacon, and cream: what’s not to like.
At some point I asked for the recipe since it was something I would enjoy eating more frequently than I visit her. The thing is Gert is finicky. She doesn’t like bacon. She doesn’t like cream sauces. She doesn’t like onions. So, I had been hesitant to make the dish.
But I grow tired of working around all the food demands. I like good food so I plow ahead and fix some dishes that I like despite knowing I will hear about it. I did so with this back in November.
A funny thing happen: Gert loved it! As she should, mind you. Ever since I have been hounded to make this again. The thing is, there is nothing good for one with this dish outside the taste. There are 748 calories based on six portions. But we don’t get six portions out of this, so that means we are consuming more calories. There’s also 49g of fat (60% calories from fat). That’s not good either. I don’t shy away from calories and fat, but this cannot be a regular meal.
Nevertheless, as I planned the menu, I acquiesced to the request. It is spring break after all. I am in cooking mode right now. I had a chicken stock simmering all afternoon for a risotto. Once that finished, Gert and Beetle went to the pool, so Fritz and I fixed dinner.
When the girls came home, I was busy assembling everything. Beetle took it upon herself to set the table. She’s so cute when she does so. She put out paper plates (left over from Fritz’s birthday party) and filled paper cups with water for each of us. We even had plastic bowls for the salad. Rather than re-set everything with china, we used the paperware. The joy of having children.
I used almost a pound of bacon (I had used a couple slices for breakfast the other day). It was still not enough, imo. I again should have used a little more creamy Italian. But as before, it was very good. We have leftovers, but we did not get six servings . . . well, I guess we did, we each had two serving at dinner and there are two leftover. Oh, the calories!
This time, Fritz ate some (quite a bit, actually) and so did Beetle. She kept saying she didn’t like this, but once she ate some off of Gert’s plate, she requested more. I imagine this will be popular in a few years with the whole family. (more…)
Gert picked up some chicken thighs the other day and I decided to grill them tonight. Last night I picked out Roadside Chicken as the preparation. Of course, today was such a day that I didn’t marinate these as long as I would have liked. Ideally these would have been in for eight hours. I had just about two hours. Even so, the taste was delicious.
Of course, getting the chicken on the plate was a comedy of errors. I began with a plan. The charcoal was lighted. Once ashed over, I placed it in the kettle and put the lid on. The idea is to let the coals burn off about five minutes before the chicken went on. I went inside to prepare everything else. I came out and realized I had all the vents closed. Sigh . . . the coals were not hot enough . . . or at least I thought. I could put my hand on the grate without burning. Decisions decisions. I quickly lighted another chimney on the POC gasser. Once hot enough, I dumped them atop the other coals.
The recipe indicated about 45 minutes for the cook. That seemed a bit long, but then again this was supposed to be four half chickens. I only had five thighs. Next time I should prepare but half of the basting sauce for this amount of chicken as I had plenty leftover.
I once again prepared corn on the cob on the grill. Unlike the first time, I did not care for the corn tonight. The corn was thinner. Gert ran over at the end of the day and the pickings were slim. Also, I cooked it too much. I think the corn does better with less char on it than what I did.
Tonight’s dinner was delicious!
I heated the stock as I began prepping the ingredients. I steamed the asparagus. Folks know I prefer pencil-thin asparagus, but all I could find where some of the thicker variety. They were delicious nonetheless. Soon enough the onions and ham hitting the sizzling pan. Ah, that’s the sound of cooking. We had plenty of ham . . . I should have used a bit more. Once the kitchen was filled with that wonderful smell, it was time to get moving. Risotto requires constant attention. In went the rice and then the wine. Once the wine was incorporated, it was time to begin ladeling the stock into the rice to release its cream. Stir, ladel, stir, stir, stir. Repeat again and again. After about 25 minutes the rice was such a creamy consistency. Awesome!
Recipe
But I grow tired of working around all the food demands. I like good food so I plow ahead and fix some dishes that I like despite knowing I will hear about it. I did so with this back in November.
When the girls came home, I was busy assembling everything. Beetle took it upon herself to set the table. She’s so cute when she does so. She put out paper plates (left over from Fritz’s birthday party) and filled paper cups with water for each of us. We even had plastic bowls for the salad. Rather than re-set everything with china, we used the paperware. The joy of having children.