What's Cooking?

[ness]

Found a nice thick strip, grilled it and cut it into three pieces. One piece left for today's lunch. Some Cherokee Purple maters and corn from the City Market. Paired with OZV old-vine zinfandel, which is really good stuff and not too pricey. 

Oh, and that's some avocado salsa verde in the background, also from the City Market. Darn good stuff that I'm on a mission to reverse engineer

 

[ness]

A few years back, WayneSWMO posted a technique for shucking corn. It was new to me at the time. Microwave 3 minutes, cut off the stem end and squeeze out the cob. Works like a charm.

 

Grill's been getting a workout due to the heat. Thick-cut pork chop with Montreal steak seasoning, zucchini with lemon pepper and silk-free corn on the cob. Easy, tasty, lo-cal, no mess. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

I'll be darned if I've ever cooked a pork chop that wasn't dry and tough.  I love the taste but haven't had any luck.

That one looks delish!

[ness]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I'll be darned if I've ever cooked a pork chop that wasn't dry and tough.  I love the taste but haven't had any luck.

That one looks delish!

You know, I hear you on that -- and I was trying to avoid that. This one was thick, which helps, and I took it off at about 160 and let it rest. It was perfect. I hit it pretty hard with Montreal seasoning, and I really liked that. Haven't used that on pork before.

[Flysmallie]

I make pork chops fairly often and they are never dry or tough. 

Make sure they are fairly thick. Season (Bad Byron's Butt Rub) and place on a hot fire. I like to sear them over a really hot fire and then move them to the side to finish. Then pull them off when they are done and wrap in foil until everything else is ready. 

[Flysmallie]

I had forgot about Wayne's corn technique. Miss that guy. 

[ness]

32 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

I had forgot about Wayne's corn technique. Miss that guy. 

Yeah, he always had a level-headed no-nonsense approach to things. The corn thing really works. Not sure why, but it does.

37 minutes ago, Flysmallie said:

 I like to sear them over a really hot fire and then move them to the side to finish. Then pull them off when they are done and wrap in foil until everything else is ready. 

I had a dog and his name was Bingo!

[MOPanfisher]

I have never really had a problem cooking pork chops or pork steak on the grill, and it being dry.  I usually take it off early and let it coast.  I have more of an issue doing beef steaks than pork.  I do like to keep a cup of home made marinade and brush the pork chops it occasionally with it.  The corn in the microwave thing has never worked that well for me, I am sure I always over heat it and burn my hands.  Shucked so much corn in my life I just do it and forget it, besides quite often my sweet corn is shared with the worms and I have to do a little trimming of the wormy parts, don't know how well that would go in the microwave.  I have cooked a lot of corn in the microwave after shucked, fairly quick and easy, all it really has to be is hot enough to melt the butter.

[ness]

I have brined pork chops before, but these chops were bone-in and had some fat. The thin, lean, boneless loin chops are easy to dry out.

[rps]

Can you stand an anecdote this evening? If not skip this post.

One of my guests is near 80 and grew up in hardscrabble Texas near the gulf and near Louisiana. Many years ago, he left a part time job driving deliveries for a drug store to become a dog washer and later a groomer for a pet salon. In the early 1950's he turned that into a job caring and grooming for show dogs. That transitioned to becoming a professional dog handler and since the 1980's a dog show judge. He has showed and won at Madison Square Garden. He has judged, in black tie, at the Garden as well. He has traveled the world, by invitation, to judge dogs in Europe and South America. He has remained Gene throughout. Just today he described how his father used an ax to clean gar. Not 10 minutes later he showed me the meals he was served in Monaco when he judged there. 

So ... yesterday, after we fished he was looking at my herbs on the deck. He did not know them. When I crushed several for him to smell, he reacted. "Oh! I recognize that." One that did not automatically trigger was basil. "I like that. What do you use it for. It's like perfume."

Tonight I will serve him Eighth Grade chicken wings (I have posted about them before on this thread.) As a side dish, I have roasted a head of garlic and extracted the cloves. Those went into a food processor with olive oil, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and lots of basil leaves. The paste will coat spaghetti.

I will add a small chopped salad for the table. The result will not be nearly as pretty as the pictures Gene showed me. but I bet he will like the food.