Showing posts with label barbecue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barbecue. Show all posts

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Holiday

Jeff and I may not get a three day weekend to celebrate Memorial Day, but we still get in the spirit of the holiday. The last two days were spent prepping pots to fire a bisque in the gas kiln. Jeff finished the loading last night while I started the process of grilling pizza. 

I have dubbed this weekend, "Grill-a-Palooza."

Fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, pepperoni, vidalia onion... drizzled with balsamic vinegar glaze

We kicked off the weekend with bbq chicken, corn on the cob, and salad. We ate so late that I never thought about taking a photo. Chicken isn't that exciting to photograph anyway!

Jeff is going to be the cooking star tonight. He is making samgyeopsal, which is a Korean recipe for grilled pork belly. We will have lettuce leaves to wrap it in and the other sides have yet to be determined. I am sure jasmine rice will be involved. Sadly, we are all out of kimchi (GASP). 

Memorial Day has now become the kick-off of summer, but I still remember what this day is really about... honoring the men and women who lost their lives while serving this country. 


Peace to All




Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Jeff was smoking on Sunday...

Barbecue that is!
As I mentioned in a previous post, Jeff can cook. One of his specialties is barbecue (he is a southern boy after all). The fabulous weather and a really good sale on Boston Butt pork roast (.99 lb.), inspired Jeff to fire up the smoker on Sunday. I know I always brag about his barbecue... I think it's the BEST!

This is truly meat heaven.


Pulled pork sandwiches, slaw, salad, and yes... those are hushpuppies, made by this here Yankee. Confession time; I cheated and used a mix. Yummy just the same. I didn't even know that hushpuppies were anything but a brand of shoe until a few years ago!

pottery identification (because I know you ALL want to know):

cup - Jeff Brown

coaster under cup - Jeff Brown

Plate - David Orser

Bowl - Michael Kline

Thursday, September 6, 2012

recipes and a little glazing (pots not food)

Here are a couple of the recipes from the last post...

I don't have a clue where this apple brownie recipe came from, but it's been in my recipe box for years. It's really easy and quick to throw together and I like that it makes a 9 x 9 pan... if it's only the two of us we don't need a big dessert recipe.

5 tblsp. butter or margerine (I use butter)
1 cup of sugar - I cut back on the sugar slightly
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups peeled and chopped apples
1 cup raisins & nuts (optional) I don't care for raisins or most nuts in baked things so I leave them out
1/3 tsp. baking powder (1/3 tsp. is odd, I take a guess on this measurement)
1/3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I always sprinkle more on top before it goes in the oven)

Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Mix in remaining ingredients. Spread in a greased  9 x 9 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 -35 min.
Good warm or cold!


Hummus

I have been making hummus using a combination of two recipes. One is from Charan Sachar who writes the blog Creative With Clay and this recipe for real hummus that I found online.
To one can of drained chick peas I add a little more than 2 tbsp. tahini, 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic (depending on size), the juice of almost a whole lemon, a few grinds of himilayan salt & fresh ground pepper, and coarsely ground cumin seeds. I add reserved liquid from the chick peas until it's the consistency that I want. We tend to like it more on the dry side. I don't measure the olive oil either. Once it's all pureed to the desired consistency, I put it in a bowl and stir in some chopped sundried tomatoes in oil. I add some of the oil from the tomatoes to the mix as well. I have added a little sour cream as Charan suggested (didn't have any plain yogurt) and I am not sure I noticed much difference.

Barbecue

I know very little about how Jeff smokes a pork shoulder! He has a smoker with a firebox and I know he uses a mix of Cowboy chunk charcoal and oak from our wood pile. He says the key to a good smokey flavor is to not let it flare up. It seems like it takes about 12 hours to get the job done.

on the pottery front...

A potter in town has some space in his salt kiln and needs some help firing. Which meant Jeff's big pot needed to get glazed.

Not a great picture, there was too much sun... Jeff poured Albany slip into the pot using a big watering can. That way he could direct the glaze under the rim. Once that was done I cradled the pot in my arms as he turned it and poured the glaze into the large red bucket. Next we quickly dipped the rim into the slip that is in the trash can lid, resting on the gray bucket. Both of us watching to see that entire rim on all sides was covered with slip.
We did a fairly decent job. The edge needed only a little clean up. I can't wait to see this fired, although I will miss it keeping me company on the porch.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Cooking up a storm...

Lately we have been on a cooking spree. I think in part it may be because we were away for most of August and didn't have our own kitchen to spend time in.


 Our own version of chili made with chicken... really yummy and invented with things we had on hand.


Sundried tomato and garlic hummus

 I have been on a hummus making kick. So much better and less expensive than store bought. Jeff said he never cared for hummus until he had mine :-). We have been eating it on a variety of toasted breads. I think it's our new lunch favorite.



Apple Brownies

We have soooo many apples that I have needed to do some baking as well.


VEGAN WARNING! If you don't like to look at large hunks of meat, click away now...



Jeff spent labor day, laboring over the smoker. He smoked two pork shoulders and we enjoyed some fabulous pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw...

What's a holiday in the south without barbecue?


Monday, April 25, 2011

visitors from the 603

we had a fabulous weekend with our friends Paul and Jennifer Haig.  Paul is a potter and you may have read the post i did about him last month.  they visited lots of potteries in two days and i think they were on pottery overload by saturday night!

Paul checking out the kiln at the NC Pottery Center

Jen making her selections at Dean and Martin

Paul exploring the kiln at Johnston & Gentithes

friday evening we had bbq with all the fixin's.  Jeff Dean and Stephanie Martin joined us.  it was pouring rain outside so we had to eat indoors.  we were so busy cooking and chatting up a storm that i never thought to get my camera out until everyone had left and the dishes were washed...

anyone want to guess the makers?

we had such a great time and look forward to more visits from Jen and Paul and the rest of our NH family and friends.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

boxes, barbecue and a recluse kitty

jeff and i are still working hard at getting settled... the stacks of boxes are getting smaller.  yesterday we worked on getting stuff off of the porch.  we are anxious to be able to use it as a porch again... i keep thinking about sitting on the swing sipping cool cosmos in the evening.... mmmmm.

in the meantime we are eating very well (of course!)... last night i made coconut chicken with mango and papaya salsa...

... sorry for the blurry photo... wine and a steady hand don't go together ;-)

today we are doing the southern thang and jeff is smokin' ribs...
yummy... can't WAIT for dinner :-)

and as for sophie...
she will go up and down the spiral staircase now but still prefers to stay upstairs... we have to bribe her with food to come down.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

put some south in your mouth...

jeff and i had an exciting morning and i will blog more on that later.  after our exciting morning we stopped at goody cole's smokehouse in  brentwood and had some yummy bbq for lunch...

i have to start practicing to eat like a southerner... i think i will get the hang of it really quickly :o)!
check back later tonight or tomorrow for an update about our exciting morning...