Make chicken enchEEladas.
Don’t buy the store sauce. You have all you need in your kitchen. Onions, garlic, tin toms. If you’re missing cilantro, add a dash of cumin and say, “chinga tu madre.”.
Fleshy Bits
This is where the meat dishes go
Dinner: Porkchop Surprise with Zuch Pancakes
Surprise! Pork again!
A quick brown. Then onions, flour,wine to loosen the brown. Add stock and love it until it tastes so fine.
Pop the pork in the sauce, stick in the oven. Work on your pancakes.
Zuch pans from Fannie Farmer. Fried in lard. Don’t forget some potato and sweet potato mash.
Super yum fit for six.
Friday Night Chili
Friday Night Chili is brought to you this week with an abundance of duck fat.
Keep it simple:
Love thy onions with a star anise and lots of animal fat until they’re smoogie
Add some crushed garlic
Meanwhile, in a different pan, brown that beef then add wine and reduce
Add tomato paste to your onion mush
When it’s brick red, add some tin toms
When your onion-tomato goob has fallen into a rough sauce, add the beef
Then add a few cups of stock and let that baby simmer.
You can add beans, but I don’t because beans, beans they’re a musical fruit.
Dried Sausage
This is a fantastic thing to serve as a pre-grill munchy. Opening a bag of chips or pretzels or nuts is easy, but you can do better. Dried sausage has flavor. It has texture. It has fat to warm your bouche up for some food.
But please, peel the outer wrapper thing for your guests. Don’t make them peel it. In my hood, the ladies, they cut a long piece of sausage, peel the outer thing and then slice it. Your guests thank you for not making them work so hard to enjoy your sausage. You save on napkins from sausage fingers. Your sausage gets eaten. A peel left on sliced sausage is a barrier to entry. You look lazy. And you’re not. Deep breath. You can do this.
Lard
Should you look up on the interwebs something to the tune of “how to make lard,” you will find recipes for making lard with a LONG-ass preamble of how unhealthy lard is and “gee, lard … oh wow … so unhealthy … oh but just like masturbating … I shouldn’t really … but oh I love it … oh here’s how to make it.” I hate this hee-haw, so here’s how to make lard without the guilt. Because rule number one: Lard is good for you. It is rich in vitamin D. D! Like that shit is hard to come by. It’s just a matter of time before Frito-Lay slaps a “rich in vitamin D” sticker on their packages. D is the shit, so take a puff.
Assuming you know your way around a stove or stovetop or “hob” (I can never write the word “hob” without giggling), here’s the order and your day:
– Pig fat
– a big pot
– a day for hanging around the hob [hee hee]
– a splash of water
– jars (clean) to put your lard
– dude, that’s it
Your toughest obstacle here is finding a day and securing pig fat. If you can’t secure a tractor to hang up the pig that you and your friends tied up, lifted up and slit its throat and collected the blood for sausage but just the first bits of blood, perhaps you can ask your local butcher for pig fat. They usually have some in the back without a clue of what to do with it. When the butcher fails you, reach out to your local pig farmer. Oh they are there, you’ve never noticed because it wasn’t in the cool section at your fancy grocery store. You see, food comes from farmers. Crazy talk, but it is the truth. Figure it out. Get some pigfat. And then:
– cube your fat. Avoid meaty bits
– give the meaty bits to your cat or dog or chicken
– if you get meaty bits in your lard, it will be “savory lard” thus limiting your use of such a wonderful fat
– okay, if you insist, you can put meaty bits in your lard, but don’t go making pumpkin pie.
– Stick your cubes in a pan and add a few splashes of water to kick it off
– Then cook that shit on low heat until there’s a lot of liquid fat and little crumply crunchy things
– This could take hours
– But you can do other things
– Like start your rye bread or think or something interesting that doesn’t involve you, you’re such a narcissist.
That’s it. When you get a soupy, fatty, bubbly liquid of gold, you grab your sieve (oh yeah, get a sieve to strain the puffy fatty bits) and ladle that beauty in your clean jars. Then, get on with your busy life. After your jars cool a bit you need to find time to stick them in the fridge. Don’t forget to turn off your hob. You’ll turn it on again some other time, I’m sure.
Easy, now off you go. When you’re done, you will have lard. Lard for making great stuff that doesn’t involve unwrapping anything.
Blood Sausage On The Grill, muah ha ha
This sausage is strangely suspicious. And behold, the blood sausage. Also known as Black Pudding or Blood Pudding by the Brits. It’s referred to as Blutwurst by the Germans. And in France, a lovely Boudin Noir which sounds less like a sausage and more like a hot night in the red-light district of Paris. Just about every country has their take on blood sausage. Except, of course, America where we Americans find sausage made with blood a thing of the past. Something Grandma used to eat. But let me tell you right here right now, this sausage is GOOD! When done on the grill, I’d say it’s even better. Seriously, it’s only a matter of time before these babies pop up in the wanky yup-restaurants around town (with hip names of children they never had) and make their way down to a quick morning Blood McMuffin grab. For now, finding one of these sausages will be tricky if you’re in America. I know Seattle has a wonderful German shop in Pike Street Market and that’s all I got.
This particular sausage was homemade with pig blood and bits (by a man Scott with pretty hands). It’s often served with apples of some description, but we had it with warmed avocado and a salad which worked well.
You Need:
- A blood sausage, good luck finding one for the Americans in the house!
To Grill:
- Stick it on the grill and take it off when you’re ready. I’d say after a couple of glasses of champagne ought to do it. Often times blood sausage is served cold with other cold meat friends so really you need to warm it to your liking as it’s already cooked.
You Make Me Want To Trout!
Fish is such a tricky little bugger to grill. Sure you can pouch it or wrap it in banana leaves or parchment or bacon, but how is that different from cooking on the stove? So we here at Girl On Grill Action decided to stick the whole damn trout on the grill and see what happened. Grillmaster Adie, a recovering vegetarian, stepped right up to handle the slithery, slimy beast. Sure she was apprehensive. Sure she was wondering if this was such a good idea. After she shoved lemon, fresh herbs and a wee bit of salt and pepper (pah push it) in its belly, her concerns were off having a drink at the pub. As she walked the little monster to the hot grill, she was reminded of the crush she had on the drummer of Lake Trout. So many drummers, so little time. The trout (fish) was popped on the grill and grilled for awhile and then simply flipped for symmetry. The fish came out perfect with all the juicy oils still intact. This trout business will not dry out on the grill. She flaked some big chunks on the plate over a little puddle of pesto. A few cucumber spears and some overcooked broccoli and you’ve got yourself some gourmay-I-have-some-more-please shit. Also noted was the wow factor bringing trout on the road. Bring an entire fish, eyeballs and all to a labor day barbeque and looky whose going to be Ms. Popular. We loved the trout, much better than Cats, we’d do it again and again.
Adie Used:
Trout, whole with eyes
Lemon
Rosemary
Basil
Salt and Pepper
Why Not Say It With Wieners!
Hillary from Arkansas popped over to take over the grill. She mustered up some hot dogs quick as – how do they say – fly on dung … needless to say ( another popular southern phrase ) the wieners were tasty! Hillary used wieners from Bavarian Meats available at the Pike Street Market in downtown Seattle. These wieners are the best. And if your German is up to snuff, you can practice with the ladies of the Bavarian Meat Shop while you pick up some wieners and other lovely meat products. They even have Kinder Eggs! This was the perfect meal with the right sort of effort for a hungry geologist who’s been out in the field all day playing, ahem, analyzing mud and rock. Geology, it rocks. The only thing missing is some home brewed Sweet Ice Tea and a little watermelon to round things off.
Sweet, Yummy Duck Breast
A united blend of spice, sweet and moist with fun texture that leaves boredom to no tongue.
You Need:
Duck Breast
Sweety, goopy stuff (Emily used a jammy marmelaide)
A little salt and pepper
Rub some of that sweet goodness on the duck breasts. Place them skin side to the grill and cover. When they shrink up and brown and are firm to touch, pull them off.
Lamb Burgerettes
Lil’ Bo Peep lost her sheep and finally got around to find them. Still holding a grudge, got pissed one night and made lamb burgers.
Ground Lamb
Parsley
Onion
Egg
Salt
Pepper
Here’s a simple one, easy to shop for and you get all medieval with the egg.
Forplay:
– Chop the parsley leaves, uh. Choppin’
– Chop the onion into itty bitty bits
– Standby egg
It’s on:
1. Throw down the ground lamb and get dirty.
2. Make a cute little volcano to dazzle your friends.
3. Put the egg in the hole. Ta da!
(good time to ask friend for a sip of champagne)
4. Squidge the volcano, continue to massage until everything is well mingled.
5. Sprinkle parsley on top. Work it.
6. Set in the onion play some more.
7. Make small patties and place on a plate ready for the grill.
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Once cooked, the vehicle for eating these babies are limitless. We popped the bugerettes in a mini, whole wheat pita with a dab of chevre and some red leaf lettuce. Though a high risk for being sassed, a few drops of ketchup is also yummy.
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Girl On Grill Action 