BLT my Favorite Sandwich

Jun 20 2014

A BLT is my favorite sandwich if it includes a fresh garden tomato. For the past 5 or 6 years a guy has set up a veggie stand close to me. He brings up fresh tomatoes from Tennessee; local tomatoes are at least 4 weeks away here. He opened up Wednesday his first day so I stopped and bought 4 of his tomatoes.

Thursday the grandson helped me remove 12 inch tile from my kitchen. It had been down over 20 years so came up easy. The grandson did most of the work. I didn’t want to get the floor any dirtier than we had to so we all went out to eat Mexican for supper.

I had the good Tennessee tomatoes and a pound of Kah Meats thick sliced pepper bacon. This morning I went to the grocery and got some Romaine lettuce and a loaf of soft crust Italian bread. All this would make some great BLT’s.

The guy came at 10:30 to lay my new kitchen floor and was done by 2:00. I was glad I had a quick and easy supper planned, wore me out watching him work! I did the bacon at 3:00 on my Traeger and had it ready.

When the daughter in law got here I started getting the sandwiches made. Our side was some Green Giant Backyard Roasted potatoes w/red peppers and onions. I did them in the microwave per directions and wasn’t too bad.

The grandson just ate two slices of bacon, a slice of tomato and some potatoes. The wife and I both had BLT’s, she had mayo on hers and I had smoky horseradish sauce. I fixed a veggie LT for the dil; toasted bread, mayo, lettuce, tomato, mozzarella, and some fresh basil. My first BLT of the season and it sure tasted good!

Pepper bacon

On the smoker

Ready for some sandwiches

Daughter in law's veggie LT

Daughter in law said how you going to eat that?

Like this!

Nick's Sicilian Sausage Sandwich

Jun 17 2014

My wife was sick with a cold on Father’s Day and could hardly talk, the son and I was joking about that being my ultimate wish for Father’s Day. My payback was I woke up Monday morning with the cold! So Mon. we both got our own meals. My supper was some leftover pulled pork and greens with some of my Kimchi. I sautéed some onions, added about a cup of the pulled pork I had chopped smaller, some garlic flakes, Cajun seasoning and added a can of seasoned mixed greens. I added about 2 TBS of vinegar and let simmer about 10 minutes. The Kimchi would have gone well mixed in the greens; before I was done I was mixing it together to eat.

Mondays supper

Tuesday

Today my wife went to an auction at 1:00; the kids went to the pool and then at 3:00 they all went to Dayton for our son to fly back to Las Vegas. As usual me and the dog stayed home. I had two barberry bushes and a smoke bush to trim. It was a hot 90 deg. but the gusty wind made it more tolerable.

Back when I was working the afternoon shift we used to stop after work at the Corner Café for a few cold ones and I used to love Nick’s Sicilian sausage sandwich. He sold me some in bulk a couple of times to fry up my own at home. I have tried to duplicate it over the years and this recipe is close.

I mixed up the sausage and seasoning at noon and in the fridge to get happy. I was done with my work about 2:30 so I cleaned up and made up three 1/3 pound patties from the sausage and in the fridge.

A little after 5:00 I fired up the Traeger to about 325 deg. grill level temp. These probably would have been done better on my gas grill but I was in the slow mode so I used my Traeger and did them on the flip side of grill grates. I prayed the patties with some olive oil and did for 25 minutes and then flipped for another 15 minutes. Three minutes to go I added the bun halves sprayed with olive oil.

I had some Saucy Sow’s Smokey Horseradish sauce and a slice of Vidalia onion on my sandwich. Saucy Sow’s is a nearby catering co. that makes and sells sauces. It and the onion really complimented the sandwich. I also had a mixed Romaine salad topped with mayo, garlic flakes, fresh ground 4 peppercorn blend and some onions. That was a great tasting sandwich!

Printable Sausage Recipe

Ingredients

Patties ready for the smoker

All done

The sauce

My salad

My Sandwich

Two Father's Day Meals

Jun 15 2014

We decided to go out with the kids for a late lunch at 2:00 the Beer Barrel Pizza & Grill. A sports bar with a full range menu. Not as many beer choices as Cajun had at the Yard House but quite a few and great food. We had a great appetizer to start, Baked Boursin cheese with herbs and marinara sauce, with pita bread for dipping. The grandson wanted pretzel sticks too so he had that. The wife and grandson both had fruit and veggie plates with tuna salad, the daughter in law had some kind of salad, and the son had an Italian baked sub. I had six bare, no breading, wings with spicy garlic parmesan sauce. The sauce was great but too much took six napkins! We all enjoyed the meal.

I had to rest up before my second meal. I had my butcher, Kah Meats, slice some thin rib eyes I wanted to grill for sandwiches. I had one thawed out that would do for the wife and me. With the late lunch I figured on eating about 7:00.  For sides I had some Kroger’s egg & mustard potato salad and I wanted to try a grilled avocado I have seen others do here. I tasted the potato salad, pretty good but I needed some diced green onion for mine. I wasn’t sure how long to grill the avocados so looked at some recipes. Most said one minute and liked the one that was topped with some fresh salsa and sour cream.

I got my Weber Spirit grill heated to just over 400 deg. with grill grates. I prepped the rib eyes with some Weber’s Chicago Steak seasoning; sliced the avocado in half and drizzled some lemon juice and olive oil over. I sprayed the bun halves with olive oil. I sprayed the rib eyes with a little olive oil and all went on a tray to go out and grill.

This was a fast cook, the steaks went on; oil side down for 3 minutes, flipped for another 3 minutes then on the warmer tray. I put the avocados on, cut side down and then the bun halves. In just over a minute I flipped the avocados, removed the buns and then the steaks to the tray and then removed the avocados and took inside to serve.

My wife had yellow mustard and Claussen dill pickle slices on her sandwich. I had some Dusseldorf mustard on mine. The rib eyes made a great sandwich. Loved the avocados but next time would grill at least 2 minutes per side. I had a craft beer my son got me with my supper, Brooklyn Lager. It is a malt beer with dry hopping and I really liked it. That was a great Father’s Day for me; a good meal with the son and family and both daughters called me today!

Pulled Pork Sandwich W/Mac n Cheese and Kimchi

Jun 14 2014

It was a busy day and a late supper tonight. I didn’t do much in the morning. My wife went to her monthly lunch with some classmates at 1:00. They usually stay and chat but I wanted to make a food run over to my Moms so she came home at 2:00. She was staying home since she had a cold & don’t want to give it to my Mom.

Me and the dog left and stopped at Krogers on the way to pick her up some goodies. I stayed about a half hour and told her I had to mow my grass. It was after 4:30 when I started mowing.

It was after 6:00 when I finished mowing, well I gotta have a couple beer breaks too. The son and family stopped in on their way to supper. He is home from Vegas over the week-end. I plugged the hose in the garden to give my tomatoes a half hour soak and went in to visit awhile. We decided to go out for a late lunch tomorrow and the son said he had to go somewhere that would have the soccer game on!

We decided to go to Beer Barrel Pizza & Grill; its sports bar style and have a full range menu with pretty good food.

The kids left to go eat; I unplugged the garden and watered some of my flowers. It was about 7:30 and I was starved! I was glad I had the pulled pork. My wife made her own sandwich w/BBQ sauce and some mac n cheese. I toasted me a COWB, cheap ole white bun, added some Stubbs rub to the pork and had a sandwich with mustard, sides of mac n cheese and my Kimchi. Tasted great!

Note I used pieces that had good bark!

Pulled Pork for Father's Day Weekend

Jun 13 2014

It was a great day today, some am clouds but sunny all afternoon. It was pretty breezy with a steady wind. My wife cleaned house today and the grandson was playing with neighbor friends. Our son is coming home from Vegas Sat. morning; flying into Cincinnati I have no idea what we are doing on Father’s Day and will be the last to know! I would just as soon stay home and cook. I think we are waiting till Mon. to go out and eat. Our son has to fly from Dayton Tues. back to Vegas for 2 or 3 weeks.

About 10:30 I decided to go get about a 4 pound pork butt and smoke it. No matter what everyone else eats I am going to have some pulled pork on hand for a good sandwich. Went to Kah Meats, they didn’t have a small one so I said just cut one for me and I will take both halves. The smaller one was just over 4 pounds and froze the other one I figure is 6 pounds.

I smeared on a light coat of molasses and seasoned with Stubbs pork rub. I fired up the Traeger and got the butt on just before 11:30. I had the smoker at 180 deg. and grill level was running 175 to 190. I let it there for an hour and then went to 225 deg. and was getting 250 to 285 deg. grill level. My P# was 4 and think I was getting more temp swings than normal due to the wind but I was getting some good smoke.

Most of the afternoon me and the dog sat out; watching the smoker and enjoying the day sipping on some beer. I did get up enough energy once to go in and move the stove out to take up the tile under it. Now I can get the rest up the day before they come to lay the new floor.

At 5:00 the butt was at 180 deg. IT so I went to 250 deg. and got grill level temps averaging 300 deg. My wife went with the daughter in law and grandson to eat out and then some shopping. At 6:00 the butt hit 190 deg. IT I tested with a probe and decided to pull it. I placed it in a roaster pan; covered with foil and in a 200 deg. pre-heated oven to rest for an hour before pulling.

I had a ham sandwich from yesterday’s pork and kraut and some of the kraut and spaetzel over mashed potatoes for my supper.

At 7:00 I got the pork out and pulled it. It pulled pretty easy and had good bark. Lately molasses has been my favorite glue; I like the nice bark it gives. I have also been not wrapping the butts; they come out with a crispier bark and are plenty moist. This should make some good sandwiches!

Hope all you Dads have a great week-end with some good BBQ!

Smoked Pistachios and Breakfast for Supper

Jun 11 2014

I didn’t get my yard all mowed yesterday so after lunch I managed to get the backyard mowed between a little shower. This morning I went to the grocery and bought two 10 oz. bags of pistachios to smoke. I was glad to find some roasted with no salt. My seasoning, Penzey’s Sandwich sprinkle has enough salt in it. It is a mix of salt, garlic, parsley and the Italian seasonings.

I drizzled some olive oil over the pistachios and seasoned well with the Penzey’s Sandwich sprinkle. I smoked them on my Traeger, 170 to 180 deg. for an hour and 15 minutes.

I had two pork cutlets left from yesterday’s supper; they were awful dry but didn’t want to waste them. I thought if I shredded them in the food processor it would be good in country gravy over biscuits.

While at the grocery I had bought some Grands buttermilk biscuits to use. I know I could make my own but even the Pioneer Woman uses Pillsbury biscuits! Another step saver I use is Pioneer brand gravy mix. Both of these shortcuts make as good biscuits and gravy as I can whip up. After I had smoked the pistachios I upped the temp to 340 deg. grill level and baked the biscuits for 20 minutes. That is what is nice about a pellet smoker; they make a great convection oven. I use mine to bake a lot; especially during the summer to keep the heat out of the kitchen.

At 4:00 I shredded the pork cutlets and in a crockpot with a good teaspoon of bacon grease and a little water to get some moisture in it. I had the crockpot on high; while it was heating up I made up the country gravy and added that to the pot. My wife and grandson were home from seeing Godzilla at the movies. I asked the grandson if he wanted some biscuits and gravy with an egg; he said yes but no egg.

A little after 5:00; I served the grandson the sausage gravy over a biscuit. I had the gravy over 3 biscuit halves topped with two eggs. That hit the spot; I can eat that for any meal!

Pork Cutlets and Quinoa Salad w/fresh corn and herbs

Jun 10 2014

The salad I thought was the star of my supper tonight. It’s a salad made with fresh corn and herbs served at room temperature. To me it would go good with any BBQ and do if you find you have a vegetarian mouth to feed too. We have a vegetarian daughter in law who ate with us tonight, she liked the salad, roasted potatoes and garlic knots. The wife and I had the pork cutlets with ours.

The salad recipe I found at food52.com; where I have been finding some great new recipes to try and was buy Antonia James. She used fresh corn cut from the cobs and made her broth, to cook the quinoa in, from the cobs and some of the inner corn husks. Since I was using some of my vacuum sealed and frozen corn from last year I used some organic veggie broth.

After lunch I had some little red potatoes I peeled and cut up then boiled for 8 minutes, drained and added 3 pats of butter and some WOW, Savor Spices Way Out West seasoning. They went in the fridge until supper time. At 2:30 I drained what water I could from the thawed corn and heated in a sauce pan on med high heat just until cooked through. It went into the fridge for later and to keep crisp.

After I got the corn done I decided it had dried enough for me to mow grass; it had drizzled rain most of the morning and more coming the next two days. I got all done except for the backyard inside the fence.

I didn’t have time to get it done and have supper ready at 6:00.

At 4:00 I cooked the quinoa in the veggie broth; added in the sliced green onions, ¼ cup of red wine vinegar and the lemon juice. It set out until time to mix up the salad.

Just before 5:00 I fired up the Traeger and went to 300 deg. grill level. At 5:10 I placed the potatoes in a wire basket on the smoker. I went inside; sliced up the tomatoes, basil, and parsley and mixed up the salad except for a final drizzle of vinegar and olive oil. I turned on the oven for the garlic knots; seasoned the pork cutlets with Stubbs pork seasoning and they went on the smoker at 5:25. I had sprayed the flip side of my grill grates with some olive oil. I did the cutlets for 20 minutes then flipped for another 10 to 15 minutes. Somewhere in there I did the garlic knots for 9 minutes at 375 deg. They are take home and bake from Walmart.

It was a little hectic getting it all together and served but tasted good. We all liked the salad; I had some crumbled gorgonzola cheese at the table to add. The pork cutlets tasted good but too dry; definitely not my best.

The grandson did not eat, when my wife took him home at 4:00 to let their dog out and check on his new pet dwarf hamster Oreo he was hungry. My wife took him through McDonalds and got his favorite, plain cheeseburger and French fries. That was good, since I was a little skimpy on the potatoes it left more for us! Everyone got full and happy!

Link to Salad Recipe

Some salad ingredients

Corn

Quinoa cooking

The salad

Potatoes ready to roast

On the smoker

Ready to serve

My supper