[evandyk]

Here ya go. Some veggies on the grill, with piri piri chicken.

 

[Towered]

Getting rather HRE aren't we?

AoD

Happy, relaxed and engaged? Yes!

 

[Northern Light]

For last night's dinner a different spin on a Thai Beef Salad (featuring pork)

Pork Tenderloin, dry rubbed w/Persian Black Lime powder, garlic salt, and freshly ground white pepper..........seared off, roasted at 350 for 15 minutes, rested and sliced, along side Basmati rice ( I was out of Jasmine), cooked with mixed fresh fresh garlic, and finely diced cilantro, and then some salad greens w/green onion, herbs, and red pepper on the side.

All of it liberally dressed with a Thai-inspired offering featuring low-sodium soy sauce, roasted sesame oil, freshly grated garlic, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, mint, sugar, finely diced Thai chili, ginger, and a hint of enough canola to give it a dressing quality. (1.5 to 1 ratio of oil to everything else).

It was tangy, tart, spicy, sour, with just enough sweet and richness to balance it.

 

[Northern Light]

I didn't take a picture of a lunch experiment this week..........I don't know what possessed me.......... I feel maybe @Towered is having some sort of influence...........

But had chip flavours in my head.......and it just popped in there...........could I make ..... Spicy Dill Pickle Spaghetti for lunch? .....

I had fresh spaghetti in the fridge...........

Oh.......what the @#$#.............

So I played around in my head w/how to get the flavour.........here's what I did......

I gently warmed olive oil in a saute pan, while also bringing water to the boil in pot on the next burner for the pasta.
I grated in 1 large clove of garlic, I took a forkful of caper and mashed them up and threw them in........., I add just a titch, like 1/4 tsp of the caper brine.

Then I added a spoonful of dijon mustard, and about 1/2 a spoonful of the Kozlik's XXX hot mustard. Whisked it together.
Then I added 1 tsp freshly ground dill seed.
Just a hint of lemon zest, 1 squirt of vinegar (regular white)
1/4 tsp sugar for balance.
Then 1/4 bunch fresh dill.

At this point, I salted my pasta water and put the pasta on (takes 2 min)
I then added 1/4 cup homemade chicken stock..........just to give the sauce body.

And some chili flakes......

Then put the pasta in with about 1 tbsp of the pasta water.
I finished with more fresh dill, just a nob of butter, and a squeeze of lemon.

Served that in a bowl for lunch.

Have to tell you I thought I got the flavour quite close to the chips.......except better.

Visually, it read like pasta w/light pesto........so I would tweak the presentation ....

As a dinner meal, I would want it to be healthier, of course..........so I was thinking of adding thinly shaved fennel, and some red bell pepper; and I think it would go really nicely with a light seafood.
Maybe shrimp, or maybe a lake perch.

 

[evandyk]

I went to Vince Gasparro's today because they'll grind beef fresh and throw in some extra fat, and I wanted that to make burgers. Which turned out perfectly. I'm not a burger purist, so I always make a panade with fresh bread, milk, egg yolk, worchestershire, and garlic.

For tomorrow, I got him to spatchcock a whole chicken, which I'm not sure yet how I'm going to season. Hopefully the weather is good and I can grill it on my Weber kettle, with some wood chips for smoke.
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[Northern Light]

I went to Vince Gasparro's today because they'll grind beef fresh and throw in some extra fat, and I wanted that to make burgers. Which turned out perfectly. I'm not a burger purist, so I always make a panade with fresh bread, milk, egg yolk, worchestershire, and garlic.

For tomorrow, I got him to spatchcock a whole chicken, which I'm not sure yet how I'm going to season. Hopefully the weather is good and I can grill it on my Weber kettle, with some wood chips for smoke.
.
.View attachment 653624

Nice.

You like'em a bit thicker, do you could to medium/medium-well or all the way?

Did you toast the buns?

And what were the condiments of choice?

 

[evandyk]

I cooked them to medium, though I was aiming for medium rare. I left them on for a minute too long while I toasted the bun. They aren't extremely thick - each burger is 150g, which is made up of 113g beef and 37g panade. Any thicker and it's too big for the kid's mouth to get around.

For condiments, I am a purist, so I made a "burger sauce" of mayo, ketchup, relish and Kozlik green peppercorn mustard. On mine, the only other things were diced onion, dill pickle slices and a squeeze of BBQ sauce. My son is weird and puts ketchup, tomato and fresh cucumber slices. My wife put some avocado on hers.

 

[Northern Light]

I cooked them to medium, though I was aiming for medium rare. I left them on for a minute too long while I toasted the bun.

A burger is so much better when its properly juicy on the inside and charred on the outside, but one obviously has to be very confident w/ground beef on the handling before going below medium well.

They aren't extremely thick - each burger is 150g, which is made up of 113g beef and 37g panade. Any thicker and it's too big for the kid's mouth to get around.

So 1/3 of a pound per patty.....not huge, moderately heavy vs the more typical 1/4 pound. They did look a bit more vertical vs horizontal (compared to typical). Which was common when I grew up.

Then smashburgers became a thing, going for these super-skinny patties that are oversized relative to the bun.

For condiments, I am a purist, so I made a "burger sauce" of mayo, ketchup, relish and Kozlik green peppercorn mustard. On mine, the only other things were diced onion, dill pickle slices and a squeeze of BBQ sauce. My son is weird and puts ketchup, tomato and fresh cucumber slices. My wife put some avocado on hers.

My go-to, is mustard, a single slice of vine-ripened red all-through tomato, and thinly shaved red onion.

But I do vary it now again. I sometimes enjoy going ultra-smokey with a chipotle-cumin aioli, then maybe some freshly sliced or quick-picked hot peppers on that.

Caramelized onion and deeply sauteed mushroom is also nice, paired with some XXX Kozlik's and roasted red pepper spread.

 

[evandyk]

A burger is so much better when its properly juicy on the inside and charred on the outside, but one obviously has to be very confident w/ground beef on the handling before going below medium well.

Luckily, when Vince Gasparro's son grinds it in front of you, you have that luxury

So 1/3 of a pound per patty.....not huge, moderately heavy vs the more typical 1/4 pound. They did look a bit more vertical vs horizontal (compared to typical). Which was common when I grew up.

Then smashburgers became a thing, going for these super-skinny patties that are oversized relative to the bun.

I usually target 1/4 as the minimum, but the actual end weight depends on how much beef I have. I don't love smashburgers, much prefer a thicker less crusty one (though as you can see, I still love a good char from the grill).

My go-to, is mustard, a single slice of vine-ripened red all-through tomato, and thinly shaved red onion.

But I do vary it now again. I sometimes enjoy going ultra-smokey with a chipotle-cumin aioli, then maybe some freshly sliced or quick-picked hot peppers on that.

Caramelized onion and deeply sauteed mushroom is also nice, paired with some XXX Kozlik's and roasted red pepper spread.

I would put tomato on if they were in season, but the one we had was pretty pale and had been in the fridge for a few days, so no go.

 

[evandyk]

I grilled the chicken this evening. Brined it for about 8 hours in a salt and sugar brine. Then about an hour before cooking time, I made a chimichurri (parsley, cilantro, oregano, lemon juice, red wine and sherry vinegar, and salt) and smeared it all over the chicken. My son helped with that.

When I put it on the grill (gas - the weather looked too unpredictable to light the Weber) I added more chimichurri, but a batch i’d spiked with honey for browning.

Roasted it over indirect heat for 45 minutes then finished it directly over the flame. The legs fell off when I flipped it, but they were fine well before the breasts anyways.

 

[Northern Light]

The Spicy Dill Pasta returned this week, this time, I took a pic (though for some reason the auto-focus was off a bit)

This version saw chicken, broccoli and roasted red pepper added to make it a complete meal.

 

[PinkLucy]

Since it's rhubarb season, and I was baking.

 

[evandyk]

That looks good. We got a lot of rhubarb in our farm box the last two weeks, but are too busy(/lazy) to bake a pie, so we made syrup to use with our soda stream. Great with a little ginger syrup.

 

[evandyk]

Sone ribs over charcoal tonight.

Edit to add:

Should have included one with the zucchini. Some asparagus to come as well.

 

[evandyk]

Got some leg of lamb at Vince Gasparro’s today, and grilled it over charcoal. Served it with my son’s favourite pasta salad - ditalini with broccolini, tomato and pesto dressing. And prosciutto with cantaloupe as an appetizer. Our farm box came with a cantaloupe this week.