Special Sunday brunch

Now that another year has begun at QUUF, in order for Sam to be in a class instead of the nursery, we have to go to the later service. I turned this negative into a positive by promising to cook a "fancy" breakfast on Sundays. I remember Sunday brunches very fondly from my childhood, whether they were eaten out or at home. One word: bacon.

So this morning I cooked up a pound of bacon, a bunch of scrambled eggs mixed with a little milk, green onion, and co-jack cheese, and some crescent cinnamon rolls. I was going to make cinnamon toast like my Grandma Baker does, but caught sight of a tube of crescent rolls and decided to try something new. I sprinkled some cinnamon-sugar on the dough before rolling them up -- yum. Not too sweet, but just right.

And no, we did not eat a whole pound of bacon. There are two tiny slices in the fridge, which I will use to garnish some vegetable this week.

Grilling hubris

I realized tonight, with a great thud, that I am still truly a novice griller. It was my night to cook for Supper Club, free range chicken thighs were on sale, sounds good, right? Last night I prepped the chicken, with a special rub and some olive oil. This morning I baked pound cakes, scrubbed potatoes and wrapped them in foil. With Steve's help, the 'taters baked while I was at work this afternoon. Came home, peeled and chopped carrots, wrapped the cakes to go, and put the chicken on the grill. That's when things went very very bad.

The Weber Big Book of Grilling says thighs with bone & skin should be cooked skin side up over indirect medium heat. It also says you can sear the skin first for effect over direct medium heat. That's what I tried to do. Next thing I know great clouds of smoke are billowing out of the grill. I open it up to find flames leaping, and one third of the pieces charred. Feeling very silly for trying to do this on Supper Club night, I managed to salvage most of them. Then the "are they cooked all the way through?" paranoia set in.

Meanwhile, the carrots are cooking along, and my friends start to arrive to pick up their dinner. I pull the thighs off the grill with a little prayer that they are all fully cooked. Two of my pals swear they "like them a little crispy." As I prepare to serve my own family the most charred pieces, I remember that Steve doesn't like grilled food if it involves any charring at all. And he's not fond of baked potatoes. And carrots aren't his favorite. (He did eat some chicken and carrots and did not complain)

Sigh.

The pound cake was very, very good.

Why didn't I start grilling sooner?

Tonight I made dinner for a friend who recently had a baby. A few days ago I asked Steve what I should make, and he replied, "Chicken Ceasar Salad would be good." I know that is because he wanted chicken ceasar salad, but no matter. I grilled up some free-range chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and olive oil, chopped some romaine (part from our farm share, part from the store), dumped in a metric butt load of parmesan/romano, threw in a bunch of croutons, and tossed it all with a yummy dressing. I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, and ours was still warm when we ate it. Served with a half a baguette, mmmmm. I hope the Kuznetsov's liked it too. Theirs was delivered with some oatmeal/coconut/peanut butter cookies that I made yesterday.

Tonkatsu

Tonight's dinner, just finished.
Tonkatsu
1lb+ boneless pork chops
flour
1 egg
2TB milk
1/2 box Panko breading
Canola oil, enough to cover bottom of saucepan about 1/2"

Pound pork chops between two sheets of wax paper to desired thinness. Mix egg and milk together in shallow bowl. Pour Panko in another shallow bowl. Heat canola oil to medium-high. Place pork in a plastic bag with about 1/4c flour and shake to coat. Shake off excess flour, dip meat in egg mixture, then coat well with Panko. Salt & pepper, then fry pork in oil until dark golden brown on both sides, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve with cooked white rice, and thinly sliced cabbage. I used an heirloom Jersey cabbage (cone shaped) that came in my farm share -- very sweet and tender. For a sauce, I mixed some Worcestershire, soy sauce, and ketchup. Not bad, but I'm still working on it. The sauce is just for the meat, not meant to drench the rice.

I also served a cucumber salad: seasoned rice vinegar poured over thinly sliced peeled cucumber. Simple and refreshing.

The return of Supper Club

In just two days, Supper Club starts up again. We are being joined by a new family, who will no doubt bring yummy additions into the mix. And with the change of seasons, we are sure to see more soups, stews, and hearty fare. Most importantly, someone else will be making dinner twice a week. Next to a post-partum meal calendar, Supper Club is the best idea ever!

A simple steak dinner

I've fallen in love with tri tip steak. I have never been able to cook steak correctly, and in the last year or so I've been making more of an effort. Around the time I decided to really learn how to use my outdoor grill, I discovered tri tip (thanks, Sam N!). Luckily, it is one of the few cuts that Aldrich's always carries. It isn't cheap, but oh so good.

So tonight I prepared the steaks (one pound feeds all three of us) in the usual way: heavy grinds of salt and pepper, rubbed in and slathered in olive oil. Grill on high, direct heat, for three minutes, then turn 90 degrees (not over - turning sideways for grill marks). Another three minutes or so, then turn over and repeat grill mark action.

I served the meat with a simple green bean/onion preparation. I got yellow onions and green beans in my farm share last week, so I decided to make use of both in one dish. I sliced the onion into thin rings, and sauteed slowly in butter until opaque and a little brown. While that was cooking, I boiled the green beans in a little water until crisp/tender. Drain the beans, toss with the onion/butter, and serve.

We had a wee glass of cabernet to top it off -- delish!