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What's on your plate today?

My HEB does this little gourmet take 'n bake trays now----there's a chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto, Havarti, and asparagus that's particularly good, but my new favorite is the one I'm having tonight: feta & spinach stuffed flank steak pinwheel, parmesan roasted asparagus, and baby potatoes.

~Boar
 
Tried a southern place I'd passed by numerous times. I tried their shrimp and grits and a side of sweet potato salad. Both were good, although I expected the shrimp and grits to be creamier with a thicker consistency and not as soupy as they were. Still tasted okay.
 
I know the Boston butt doesn't come from the pig's butt, although you can't convince my kids of that. They think it's funny, each time I say I need to buy some pork butt, to smoke. The reason I asked, is because it's tied together, so I just assumed it was another cut. I also didn't see the blade bone, as I've always just smoked with the blade bone in.

320px-American_Pork_Cuts.svg.png





I still need that rice recipe!

Correct, the place I buy the butts (blade shoulders) from, sells them boneless and because of this reason I tie everything so it can cook evenly. I have cooked it with and without the bone and I prefer without. The arm shoulder is what some latinos use to make the Dominican/Cuban/Puerto Rican style "pernil."

I will get the rice recipe up soon, I took a few days off from my job to work on my deck, I have been living in this house for about a year and it looked like shit. The bank owned the property and it was empty for about 7 years. Building, power washing, sanding, staining.. Do not wish this on anybody.

It went from this:
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To this, power washed, sanded and raised the floor on the second half of the deck:
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Stained, I still have some minor details to finish, like the stairs but I'm almost there:
full
 
Correct, the place I buy the butts (blade shoulders) from, sells them boneless and because of this reason I tie everything so it can cook evenly. I have cooked it with and without the bone and I prefer without. The arm shoulder is what some latinos use to make the Dominican/Cuban/Puerto Rican style "pernil."

I will get the rice recipe up soon, I took a few days off from my job to work on my deck, I have been living in this house for about a year and it looked like shit. The bank owned the property and it was empty for about 7 years. Building, power washing, sanding, staining.. Do not wish this on anybody.

It went from this:
full


To this, power washed, sanded and raised the floor on the second half of the deck:
full


Stained, I still have some minor details to finish, like the stairs but I'm almost there:
full
Nice work Michael, nothing like adding value to your home!
 
Correct, the place I buy the butts (blade shoulders) from, sells them boneless and because of this reason I tie everything so it can cook evenly. I have cooked it with and without the bone and I prefer without. The arm shoulder is what some latinos use to make the Dominican/Cuban/Puerto Rican style "pernil."

I will get the rice recipe up soon, I took a few days off from my job to work on my deck, I have been living in this house for about a year and it looked like shit. The bank owned the property and it was empty for about 7 years. Building, power washing, sanding, staining.. Do not wish this on anybody.

It went from this:
full


To this, power washed, sanded and raised the floor on the second half of the deck:
full


Stained, I still have some minor details to finish, like the stairs but I'm almost there:
full
That looks fantastic buddy. Well done!
 
I indulged in a taste of my youth and made myself a crispy shell taco supreme platter (using ground turkey breast instead of hamburger) but my tastes have definitely changed over the years---seasoning mix was WAY too salty.

~Boar
 
That looks fantastic buddy. Well done!

Agreed, nice work on the deck. I'm doing work on mine as well. When I built it about 10 years ago, we had a hot tub that was enclosed. Naturally, the wife didn't want the hot tube any longer, so I had to remove it and redo the deck. Now, she's back to wanting a hot tub again, but wants it on top of the deck. So, I've been tearing down part of it and reinforcing, while she sits and watches.
 
Agreed, nice work on the deck. I'm doing work on mine as well. When I built it about 10 years ago, we had a hot tub that was enclosed. Naturally, the wife didn't want the hot tube any longer, so I had to remove it and redo the deck. Now, she's back to wanting a hot tub again, but wants it on top of the deck. So, I've been tearing down part of it and reinforcing, while she sits and watches.

Thanks. To then tell you to forget about it and to put it back to the way it used to be :D.. We should open up a deck thread
 
I indulged in a taste of my youth and made myself a crispy shell taco supreme platter (using ground turkey breast instead of hamburger) but my tastes have definitely changed over the years---seasoning mix was WAY too salty.

~Boar
Instead of taco seasoning mix, use:
Salt and pepper to taste, mild red chile powder, cumin (go easy), paprika, garlic powder, onion powder or flakes, a pinch of sugar. Voila!
 
Instead of taco seasoning mix, use:
Salt and pepper to taste, mild red chile powder, cumin (go easy), paprika, garlic powder, onion powder or flakes, a pinch of sugar. Voila!

Thanks! Chile powder or chili powder? I don't use much salt---a little sea salt when cooking, never at the table---and even most brands of potato chips are too salty for me. I did add some sundried tomato pesto and a little water when I re-heated the leftovers for another round, though and it improved it a lot.

~Boar
 
Chili is chile in English. Sorry. Occasionally my Spanglish kicks in. Tomato paste or sauce or fresh diced adds good flavor.
Thanks! Chile powder or chili powder? I don't use much salt---a little sea salt when cooking, never at the table---and even most brands of potato chips are too salty for me. I did add some sundried tomato pesto and a little water when I re-heated the leftovers for another round, though and it improved it a lot.

~Boar
 
Black beans rice recipe, everyone makes their own version and this is mines. Please substitute items with the brands that are available to you.
- 4 tbsp of Olive oil
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1 Pack of Goya red seasoning. https://www.amazon.com/Sazon-Goya-C...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RRY2WX3DQ4K445BZN7AN (if you do not find it then replace with half cube of chicken cube bouillon.)
- Half green Italian pepper, chopped
- 3 chopped scallions (or half of a chopped white onion)
- 4 pealed fresh garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 Can of Goya black beans
- 2 Cups of long grain white rice (wash the rice, throw all the water away and have it ready to put it in the pan)
- 3 Cups of water
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
Salt to taste

Preheat a fairly deep pan, something like a 4qt sauce pan would work (do not use a frying pan) in medium high heat.
- Add the oil and let it get hot for about a half a minute
- Add the tomato paste to the oil and cook for 1 minute
- Add the Goya red seasoning and cook for about half a minute
- Add the green pepper and scallions, cook until soft
- Add the garlic and cook for half a minute
- Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes always moving it with a wooden spoon or it will stick to the bottom
- Add the 3 cups of water, the black beans with the liquid they came in and the white vinegar.
- Set the stove to high heat and bring to boil, move the rice from time to time so it doesn't stick to the bottom, taste the broth to see if needs more salt, if so, add it now.
- When all of the liquid is almost dried out, set the stove to LOW medium heat, cover the pan with a lid and leave it there for about 30 mins. DO NOT TAKE OFF THE LID DURING THIS TIME. After you take off the lid for the first time, move the rice around with the wooden spoon, do not scrape the bottom of the pan as it will probably have some rice stuck to it (we call this concon and it's delicious, we usually take it out after all of the rice is out of the pan). At this point, taste the rice, if it's al dente then put the lid back on and let it cook for another 5 minutes or so, continue doing this until you like the texture of it.

This was hard for me to write as I usually just eyeball everything and never write anything down. I hope it comes out ok. I will try to make the rice over the weekend following this same instructions and see how it comes out. If anything changes, I will point it out here.
 
Went to buy beef short ribs and saw some beautiful fresh sardines. I couldn't pass on them!

Decided to grill them for about 3 minutes on each side. Kosher salt and rosemary. Delicious.
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Had them with a chickpea salad. Those are Dominican hot peppers from my garden, they are called "Aji titi." Someone brought me a few dried ones from DR so I planted some of those seeds and got 2 nice plants from it. The sauce is chopped parsley, olive oil, scallions, lemon juice, orange juice, salt, pepper and aji titi.
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