Chicken, Fish, and the Worlds Greatest Mac N Cheese

Had some of my hockey friends over during the weekend in LGK's Homer Simpson and his beautiful wife Marge(ok her real name is Kelly but how can I not use such an obvious set up?) We enjoyed a bottle of the Ghost Pines Merlot, my wife's signature Miso Garlic Tuna, my seasoned Dorado on Cedar Plank, Lemon Pepper Chicken and Homer World Famous Mac n Cheese.



Lemon Pepper Chicken with Roasted Corn. Got the chicken from the Beef Palace in Huntington Beach. You will never find a better, plumper, juicier chicken then at this place. They're old school though-they don't take Credit Cards and don't have a website. I can't stress enough to click on the pics for a better view of the food items. The Chicken in particular looks fantastic.



Here is a picture of one of my favorite summer side dishes, sliced tomatoes topped with onion slices that my wife manages to tame down a bit by soaking in water and rice vinegar, and then tops the whole thing with a drizzle of some japanese style dressing that I have no idea what it or what the brand is as its all in japanese characters. Apparently its not available here in the states, we get it sent in the occasional care package sent from Hayama Japan.



Slices of the Miso-Garlic Tuna. One day I will try this with fresh Ahi tuna and keep the middle rare. The Miso makes a fantastic glaze.



Another shot of the two....


Here is the chicken, once again you just simply cant go wrong with Chicken from the Beef Palace.




Homer helps out with manning the BBQ and savors the wine. Truth be told I thought the Ghost Pines Cab was better then the Merlot. It was still very very good especially for the price but if the Cab was a home run we'll call the Merlot a double. I would still go with the Chateau St Michelle for Merlot.




Alex overlooks the spread. He has had Homer mac N Cheese in the past and was very very happy to get more of it on this night. His night got better as we not only had peach pie after wards-but he got to play his new favorite game...Blackjack. Homers Mac n Cheese is fantastic...I would give the recipe here but Im sworn to secrecy.

I rove my baby back libs...Uncut, Uncensored & (temporarily) Raw

Knew I had to BBQ at least once this weekend and after seeing some delicious looking Chinese Style Salt and Pepper Wings was fully prepared to do grilled hot wings but once at the Market noticed Pork Short Ribs were only 99 cents per pound. Hadn't planned on taking on the low and slow method needed to make the best ribs but it is a holiday weekend and with just me and the family and I didnt need to buy a wheelbarrow full. Looking at the selection though I noticed Baby Backs weren't really all that much more. "Hmmmm, short ribs are so much work trimming and cutting and etc etc, wouldn't some semi low maintenance baby backs be better?"

With that I was in full blown rib mode.

I didn't have a handy rub ready as the 5lb bag I used to use for ribs was given to my brother during one of his Texas Smoker Frenzies he does every so often. In Lieu, I took some Chef Paul's Pork Magic and mixed it with Chef Paul's BBQ Magic with some additional Brown Sugar courtesy of Trader Joes and some Lemon Pepper.

Rubbed and Ready!





Next step is to balance the temperature (275-300 degrees) and get the smoke chips smoking without catching fire. Now on your standard Weber this can be pretty easy but with Propane its kind of balancing act using one burner to get the chips smoking, turning it off in time to prevent flare up, and cranking up another burner to keep the temp consistent. It is a bit daunting, but with red wine in hand on a holiday weekend-how could I complain?

Low and Slow with plenty of smoke.




After Roughly 3 hours its time to pull those puppies off but not before doing the BBQ glaze for 15-30 minutes. I cant stress enough to use the Olive Oil Trick when doing BBQ sauce on the grill. It's easy-basically cut up a bunch of garlic, and whip olive oil into any store bought BBQ sauce using a wire whip. This lessens the sugar concentration in the sauce to prevent burning as well as adding garlic flavor. Wont kid you-I used the Hickory BBQ Sauce from Walmart. Very good in that the garlic give an extra dimension in flavor and the Hickory BBQ Sauce has a tangy nuance that works perfectly with the sweet spicyness of the Dry Rub. Should mention as well that while I am not a big fan of White Corn-this year must be a good year for it as I have had it from a couple of different store and its been incredible every time. I recomend Henry's Market who had it 4 for a Buck. I laughed at the people checking the corn a the store making a mess in the aisle- at 25 cents an ear do we really need to check for quality and spend 30 minutes looking for the perfect ear?

Red Five Standing By-Almost There!



Finally, the ribs are ready to go! I was drinking a bottle of Avalon Cabernet that's constantly pimped by the people at Wine Pavilion in Lake Forest but I have to say its not that good....not even for the price. Maybe I should buy a Wine Aerator and try it again but overall not a good example of the varietal by any stretch. At this point I cant recommend enough the Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Merlot at Costco but now I just may be outright babbling. Ribs are a hell of a lot of work-but when done right are worth the wait.

Showtime

Copper Salmon; the noblest of all pink fleshed fish

Had quite a weekend that featured some high quality steaks at Costco, A nice slab of Copper River Salmon, and a fine wine in the Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells 2005 Merlot. Everything was so amazing its hard for me to pick a place to start. I may as well go straight to the Salmon. We had so much food that we elected to simply outright smoke one slab and the other I got to take home for the Sunday BBQ. Using the biggest, heartiest slab of Salmon I used a simple brine and a Ziploc in the fridge for roughly 4 or 5 hours. I would have liked to done it overnight but alas being short notice the 4-5 hours sufficed. My brine was nothing fancy, Sea Salt, Brown Sugar, Cracked Black Pepper no more no less. After that it was straight onto the smoker where it sat for roughly 3 hours at a low heat using pecan chunks for the smoke. This was the first time we smoked a salmon of this quality as well as being the first time using the brine technique. I couldn't help but think that smoking a high quality Copper River Salmon may have been like using Filet Mignon for Hamburger Helper but at the same time-why not go for broke? I also smoked some Olive Oil Saffron Lamb Chops as well as some Sharp Cheddar and Jack Cheese for appetizers.










The next night we had leftover steaks and a leftover slab of Salmon...I was so dissapointed that I had to spend Sunday Night BBQing. Add Sarcasm Smiley right here.
The Steaks were over the top but delicious enough, and the salmon-lets just say you cant go wrong with Copper River Salmon and Chef Pauls Magic Salmon Seasoning. You simply cant-you cant put on enough of the seasoning and barring one drastically overcooking the salmon its a perfect meal. Notice the garlic clove sauteeing in steak fat in the middle of the grill. Nutritious and Delicious!









And finally since I know I havent done a wine review in a while I picked up a bottle of the Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells 2005 Merlot. Amazing wine. A nice oak flavored nuanced by a gentle, chewy but slight cherryish overtone. Some reviews had it as very good but just short of excellent. I can agree with that whole heartidly but for 15 bucks a bottle I think it an excellent buy. Maybe the best sub 20 bottle Ive had since the Ghost Pines.