Dinner List 6/17 - 6/21

Sam's Got Soccer
Monday, June 17th

Sam's Got Soccer
Tuesday, June 18th

Sam & Sage Have Plans
Wednesday, June 19th

Martina is Cookin' Up a Storm: Chicken Satays & Grilled Veggies
Thursday, June 20th

TBD
Friday, June 21st

Tacos

Tacos & Sage's Corn Salad

I love taco night.  And I love options.  Go big on the options.

• Salsa (your own?)  F that.  Costco.
• Sour cream.
• Chopped lettuce.
• Guac (your own, for real)
• Chips
• Shredded cheese (queso fresco and/or cheddar)

So let's focus on the meats.

First, not for rookies:
The double-crunch taco, leftover BBQ pulled pork, queso fresco, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and a drizzle of BBQ.

Beef:

• 2lb ground beef
• 1/2c salsa
• 1/8c chili powder
• 1/8c oil (olive, veggie, whatevs)
• 2TBSP garlic
• salt

Cook and chop the beef until cooked through.  Add the spices and cook it until not watery from the salsa.  Add more oil or water if it gets too dry.

Chicken:

• Roast 2 chickens (this takes time.  too bad.)
• 4 limes
• 1/4c salsa
• Cilantro

Debone the chickens and rip the meat into shreds.  Saute that with enough oil to not stick, juice the limes, and add the salsa, cilantro, and whatever other spices you're feeling.

Leftovers happen as a salad.

BBQ Pulled Pork w/ Cornbread & Slaw

BBQ Pulled Pork w/ Cornbread & Slaw

You're not going to find a BBQ or cornbread recipe here.  That's way too much typing.  Get a box of Jiffy Mix and some Bubs BBQ.

Feeds about 6 people.

You need a pot that can fit all the pork on the bottom and go into the oven.

Get this going first:

• 4lb of pork - go for butt or shoulder (some people are into the shoulder), you want something with some fat on it, so don't get all yuppie on me and buy tenderloin
• 1/4c of chili powder (the mix, NOT straight cayenne) and 1/4c of ground cumin
• TBSP of salt

Turn your oven on to 300.

Wash and pat dry the pork.  Get a few TBSP of oil heating up in your pot on the stove.  Mix the spices and salt together, then rub the outside of the pork.  Put it into the hot oil in the pot.  You want to brown each side, so let it sear for 3-5 min, then turn it.  Put the lid on the pot, and put it in the oven for 3 hours.

Then, make the cornbread:

BBQ ingredients.  Have at it.

Follow a recipe from the Jiffy box.  Or look that shit up.  It should cook in the oven for about an hour.  Even though the box says to cook at 350, just put it in with the pork.

If you're making BBQ, now is a good time.

And lastly, make your slaw:

• 1 small head of purple cabbage
• 1 small head of green cabbage
• 4 carrots
• 1c mayo
• 2 TBSP vinegar
• 3 TBSP honey
• 1 TBSP parsley or some other nice fresh herb
• Salt and pepper

Shred the cabbage and carrots.  Separately, mix the mayo, vinegar and honey.  Then mix all that business together and put it in the fridge until the pork is done.

Roll-your-own Sushi

Sushi - Spicy Tuna and Tuna maki

Date-night sushi.  Good idea?  Yes.  This is complicated.  Try to pay attention.

Little bit of fish goes a long way.  So do silicone sushi rolling mats.

You'll need (for the sushi):
1lb of really good ahi.  Don't skimp.
Some nori or soy sushi paper sheets (this will make about 4)
1/3c of mayo
TBSP of syracha or some other hot sauce you like
Chopped chives, green onions, avocados, cucumbers, or whatever else you like with your fish

And sushi rice.  Cooked.

Spicy Tuna:
Take half the ahi, chop it up nice and fine.  Add the syracha and mayo.  Mix.  Put 'er in the fridge.

To roll that mess up (this makes rice-on-the-outside rolls):
If you want rice-on-the-inside-rolls, then 
Take a sushi mat and cover it in rice.  You don't want to mash the rice, and you want it less than a half inch thick.  Takes practice.  Try some water on those mitts so it doesn't stick.

Put a sheet of nori or soy on top of the rice.

Don't forget the sexy assistant

Lay all the goodies on top of the paper, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom.  Try to align things horizontally so that when you cut them, it looks pretty.  When you're ready to roll it, try not to squeeze the shit out the side of the sushi roll.  Be gentle.

Want some sauce?
Try 1/4c of mayo plus 2 TBSP of a sweet chili sauce
Or go straight up shoyu and make some wasabi.  That green powder that turns into the paste you get at sushi restaurants is fake.  For realz.

Dinner List 6/10 - 6/14

Leftovas
Monday, June 10th

Sam's got plans
Tuesday, June 11th

Roll-your-own Sushi
Wednesday, June 12th

BBQ pulled pork w/ cornbread & slaw
Thursday, June 13th

Tacos & such
Friday, June 14th

Hot & BBQ Chicken Wings (drumsticks) w/ Corn on the Cob

Hot & BBQ Chicken Wings (drumsticks) w/ Corn on the Cob

For fat kids like me and my friends, drumsticks are so much better than wings.  More meat.  More sauce.

Figure on 2 pieces per person.  Or more.

Bone-in chicken drumpsticks and things and wings.
Cook them on a cookie sheet (I recommend some tinfoil) at 400 for an hour.  Flip 'em every now and then.  They should be really cooked.
Take out, toss in your sauce.
Put back in the oven under the broiler for 5 min.
Take out, toss in your sauce again.
Put back under the broiler for another 5 min.

Corn.  Shuck it.  Boil some water.  Put the corn in, and cook for 6 minutes once the water returns to a boil.

Serve all this goodness with butter and salt for the corn and blue cheese and some carrots or celery for the chicken.

Sauce #1 - the "buffalo"
8oz Franks Red Hot
1 stick of butter
Melt it all together

Saunce #2
Sam's custom BBQ.  Sorry, you can't have the recipe yet.  Get your own.

Just Shoyu Chicken w/ Veggies

Sage's Shoyu Chicken w/ (maybe) Green Papaya Salad

Just Shoyu Chicken w/ Veggies

Sage was busy.  You don't get a picture.
All I had was chicken breasts.

6 of 'em, cut into big chunks.
1c soy sauce.
1c some combo of sweet stuff (sugar, agave, whatevs)
As much chopped garlic as I could find (2+ TBSP)
Same with ginger (2+ TBSP)
1/4c of rice wine vinegar

Put 'er in a pot and cook for a few hours.  The longer the better.

Steam some rice.

Steam some cabbage, carrots, and onions.

Fish Tacos w/ Corn & Bean Salad

Fish Tacos w/ Corn & Bean Sald

Go to the grocery and ask the fish guy for whatever fish came in today.  For me, that was opah.  Get 2lbs of it.

For the salad:
2 cans of beans (black and whatevers)
1bag of frozen corn
2 chopped avocados
Little bit 'o cilantro
A chopped bell pepper (red if it isn't stupid expensive)
2 chopped tomatoes
A lime (the juice)
Salt, pepper, goodness, and maybe some kick

For the fixins for boring peeps:
Sour cream
Guac (2 avos, TBSP of ketchup, 2 limes, cilantro, and salt)
Some cheese

For fixins for the good stuff:
Shredded green & purple cabbage
Tartar sauce (make this your damn self):
1c mayo
1 lemon (juice)
3 TBSP relish (get into it)
A few chopped capers
3 chopped scallions

And the fish.  Use whatever batter you feel like; a paleo-ish one is 1 part corn starch to 1 part potato starch to 2 parts some kind of gluten free flour.  Mix that with beer (that's not paleo), dip, and fry.

Moroccan Lamb Brochettes w/ Green Beans & Apricot Creme Freche-ish

Some kind of Moroccan Lamb Leg /w Waldorf Salad

Moroccan Lamb Brochettes w/ Green Beans & Apricot Creme Freche-ish

Get the boneless leg of lamb at Costco

Trim it and cut it into chunks about 1" x 1"

Put 'er in a container with about a half cup of olive oil, 2 TBSP of cumin, TBSP of garlic, ginger, and oregano, and one chopped up onion.  And some salt.

Coat that all together and let it sit.

Mix 2 TBSP vanilla yogurt with 2 TBSP apricot preserves and 1/2 cup of sour creme.

The lamb should sit for 4 hours. But I ain't got time for that.  So take it out and grill it.  Or pan cook it.

Steam your breans.  Put the lamb on them, then the cream on that.

Dinner List 6/3 - 6/7

Some kind of Moroccan Lamb Leg /w Waldorf Salad
Monday, June 3rd

Fish Tacos w/ Corn & Bean Salad
Tuesday, June 3rd

sorry, we gots plans
Wednesday, June 4th

Sage's Shoyu Chicken w/ (maybe) Green Papaya Salad
Thursday, June 5th

Hot & BBQ Chicken Wings (drumsticks) w/ Corn on the Cob
Friday, June 6th