Saturday, December 26, 2009

Meat probe part 2


I ended up paying higher than suggested list price for the probe because it was Sunday and I went to the only place (Barbecues Galore) I could think of that was open and would have exactly what I wanted. Not to mention the fact I had already dry rubbed the meat that morning and it was sitting on the counter coming up to room temperature while I was out looking for the probe. Fire drill anybody? :-)

I ended up cooking the tri-tip at 200° for over 2-1/2 hours. I had it set for 150° and took it out at 145°. I should have pulled it at 140° because sitting on the counter it rose to 156°. Still a very nicely cooked roast that retained most of it's juice in the meat. It used to be steak juice was used for baked potatoes but as you can see on the plate there was very little.

I am definitely happy with the probe. Now I want to get an electric smoker too. :-)



Thursday, December 24, 2009

Alarms


It does absolutely no good to turn on an alarm if you don't tell it when. Case in point: a week or so ago the power went out. I have a digital clock with a battery back up. Apparently the battery is dead so I had to reset the clock, along with 3 other clocks in the apt.. Never gave the alarm a thought and since I normally awaken before it goes off at 4:30 it wasn't a problem until this morning when I slept right on through "knowing" my alarm was set. It wasn't a catastrophe as I still got up at 4:52.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Tott's Asian Diner



1817 E Guadalupe Rd., Tempe


The highlight was really that my son and his girlfriend were up for the day from Tucson. She mentioned she would like Chinese for dinner and I presumed they would prefer the South valley as they would be driving back after dinner. I got on Yelp looking for Chinese and found this place with multiple reviews averaging 4 out of 5. I did not realize it was not waiter service until too late to change it. It is set up to be the kind of service where you order at the counter then get your soft drinks and service and they bring the meal to your table. Well it might as well be waiter service, the owner is all over the place getting things for folks. We enjoyed our visit and the restaurant not being full he encouraged us to remain as long as we wished.



My son and his girlfriend seem to be doing well. He has trouble getting much over 30 hours a week as even grocery sales are down. He looks really good. This is the first time in his life he has not been pudgy. Since I had last seen him he gained twenty pounds and then lost 60. He walks or rides his bike most every where and she drags him to the gym whenever they have time.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Gluttony


You would think I am old enough to know better. While the over indulgence of Thanksgiving is still a recent memory I joined some friends at Santisi Brothers for a birthday party Saturday evening. While the other 12 in the party all chose to share pizza and wings I ordered pasta which came with bread and salad. That alone was too much food and I took enough home for Mondays lunch. But this was my first time there and I was with folks that had been there several times and they wanted me to try everything. I had pizza (good NY thin crust), wings (Giovanni bbq sauce, good), Zeppelies (fried batter dusted in powdered sugar, good), and split most of the birthday girls huge ice cream/brownie/whipped cream thingy with her husband. Toss in a 25oz Fat Tire and my stomach was on overload. I was dealing with heartburn for several hours. Several of the women in our group got their drink on and I imagine they were in a different kind of pain for a lot longer than I was. A good time was had and we all got to watch the game of our choice on the wall of TVs. I haven't seen that many TVs in one place outside of Vegas.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Meat probe part 1


I cannot have any of my gas grills let alone a smoker in my apartment. I decided I wanted to cook a tri-tip at a low temperature (200°) in the oven. Two ways to go, trial and error like I learned to grill or buy a remote temperature probe so I can monitor the temperature without opening the oven. When I mentioned I am going to buy the probe on Facebook two of my siblings thought that would take all the work and fun out of cooking. I countered that I was still very involved and was just using a cooking gadget to improve the outcome. Would you go back to using a whisk for a cake batter when you had a mixer? I think not. This will have a part two after I get the probe and cook the meat.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Popeyes chicken


A week ago Friday this is where my Friday lunch took me. I had never tried it and the closest 2 to work were each 8 miles away. Many of my relatives assured me it would blow the socks off of KFC and Churches. Sorry, not even close. The chicken was almost the same as Churches as I ordered the regular batter (I don't do Cajun spice well). And it was dry. They were out of battered fries so I did not get to try those. The mac and cheese wasn't even close to KFCs. It was suggested I should have had the red beans and rice but I don't like red beans and rice. I wanted root beer and none of the labels said root beer. Most of the tables were dirty. Several things other patrons asked for were out of stock. Bottom line is I would have been happier getting fried chicken from some place closer. The previous week I went to El Pollo Loco and had a much better meal. A couple of redeeming points; the whole meal was under $6 and there was no up charge for white meat. If this was the closest fried chicken place when I was in the mood I would probably get it but I certainly would not pass by another brand to get there.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Stroganoff


One of my favorite foods. My dad made it from a recipe in the News Press in the early 60s. The whole idea being to be able to use a cheap piece of beef to make something really yummy. I have tried a couple of times over the years to make it from his recipe and failed, returning to the easy way of making it from a season packet and more recently simplifying it further by using the crock pot. I wanted to try it again but the clipping seems to having gotten lost in the divorce. I found a similar recipe on line that also used tomato juice. One thing that helped is I have learned more about using flour and gravies in general. I used two 5.5oz cans of juice instead of 8oz that the recipe called for and the tomato was stronger than I remember. I still had to use a little corn starch towards the end. Overall it was the best stroganoff I have had in years and will never return to using season packets.



Saturday, December 5, 2009

Dirty Dancing


1987, PG-13

I may have been the last human being to watch this hit movie. I actually enjoyed it.