Shit I've Cooked Lately

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

7 hours ago, irishtexan said:

I bet that would be good with stouts, porters, or dopplebocks too.

Definitely. 

[ChickenSandwich 9,856]

 

[DalTxHornFan 3,119]

47 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

 

User name does not check out.  (Looks great, though!)

[Jerry Callo 8,745]

12 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

 

Smoked or just cooked medium?  Looks quite tasty either way.

[ChickenSandwich 9,856]

Just Medium-Rarish . Pull at 151

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

On 3/20/2022 at 7:33 PM, CoachTex said:

Salmon on the half shell.

I’ve experimented with and without lemon slices on my salmon. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s just a matter of taste. I prefer to cook without lemon slices so the salmon has a little bit of a “skin” on it, a slightly dry exterior. Then I squirt fresh lemon juice on it afterward. With the lemon slices you get a very moist and tender exterior without that textural boundary. You can see that in the light pink exterior of your finished product. Like I said, it’s just a matter of taste and I would totally gobble that up. I’ve got other food on hand to cook through but I’ve been scouting salmon in the grocery because I want to try baking/roasting some with a bourbon-maple glaze.

And I also want to set up my next post. What do you do with the lemon? I think some people eat it. I’m not there yet. A candied lemon, maybe I could see that. I’m all about lemon wedges as a garnish to be squirted on seafood or green vegetables. But a roasted lemon served with the dish? I think I can get enough lemon flavor with juice and zest and that might be too much. I’m intimidated by the thought.

[South Austin 52,635]

I wish I liked salmon more, because it's one of the healthiest foods out there.  But I've never gotten over that "too fishy" taste.

I will say that getting fresh wild salmon over farm raised makes a huge difference to my palate. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by South Austin
derp

[mchookem 16,415]

haha, same re: salmon... i kept ordering it at restaurants bc i wanted to like it, and then every time i'd be like 'this restaurant has bad salmon, it's too fishy!'

after like five or six times i finally figured out oh, that is how salmon tastes. 😄

funny thing is i do love salmon croquettes, and those HEB salmon burgers are delicious 🤔

also agree on the wild caught, which i think tends to be a brighter red (as opposed to more pink)...def tastes better. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by mchookem

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

I’ve been experimenting with lemon-butter chicken. I haven’t dialed in exactly how I want to make it yet but every trial has been tasty and enjoyable. I’ve basically been taking inspiration from these two recipes:

https://www.wellplated.com/lemon-butter-chicken/

https://www.bhg.com/recipe/poultry/lemon-butter-chicken-breasts/

I’ve got other recipes for chicken piccata bookmarked but I haven’t gone down that road yet. I tend toward the first recipe, starting it on the stove, finishing it in the oven, then making a pan sauce afterward. That recipe calls for coconut milk. I have some but haven’t used it. I’ve tried it with no milk or cream, the last couple of times I’ve used whole milk. Maybe I’ll try half-and-half. I’ve tried it with no starch on the side, I’ve tried it with rice, this last time I tried it with pasta. I think I might be leaning toward rice pilaf as the ideal side. Still mulling all of that over.

I’ve experimented with coatings for the chicken. This last time I used masa flour with salt, Malabar black pepper, lemon grass, sweet paprika, and turmeric. This is a fun step and I’ve tried a variety of spice mixes and none have really stood out over another. I’m overstocked with spices anyway and it’s a good way to work through them if they’re getting a little old. My only concern is that I’m making a lot more of a coating mix than I need and throwing away what’s leftover after it’s been touched by raw chicken. Maybe I should mix it up first and put it in a shaker and apply it like a rub.

Anyway, my process was to coat the chicken, sear it in butter and olive oil, remove it, thrown in the veggies (I use asparagus), get it started with a squirt of the juice of half a lemon, return the chicken to the pan, put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes, take it out, remove the chicken and asparagus, sauté shallots and garlics in the butter/oil/drippings, I added a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan before adding the milk (that was probably unnecessary but what the hell). I also added the juice of the other half of the lemon. I didn’t cook it with lemon slices like in the recipes above. I also added capers which add a nice zing. I use this brand:

Out of habit I finished the pasta in the sauce before plating. I don’t know if that’s the right way to go but that’s what I did. I wound up using half a stick of butter, about 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil, and the juice of one lemon. The milk I just eyeballed. Maybe I should’ve used more because the finished product doesn’t look very saucy  but it was good and it was the first time I thought maybe I could share some pics  it’s still a work in progress.

Here’s the chicken and asparagus before it goes into the oven (i should’ve used the whole bunch of asparagus, I was a little concerned about the pan getting too crowded):

Here’s the pan sauce getting started with the minced shallots and garlic; after that I was in too much of a hurry whisking in milk, draining pasta, adding capers and so forth to take another pic:

And here’s the finished product with some chopped fresh parsley because I had it on hand and with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano because I finally found it in the store again:

The capers and the sauce don’t show up that well. And the capers have a way of falling through the cracks so you get more of them in the leftovers the next day. I really should’ve used that whole bunch of asparagus. And I’m not really sure about how best to store the leftovers in a saucy dish like this. I just left it on the counter and nuked it the next morning. But anyway, there it is. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

43 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I wish I liked salmon more, because it's one of the healthiest foods out there.  But I've never gotten over that "too fishy" taste.

I will say that getting fresh wild salmon over farm raised makes a huge difference to my pallet. 

Ever had walleye? It’s not fishy at all. It’s delicate and kind of nutty. 

[South Austin 52,635]

The best salmon I’ve ever had was in Seattle when the Copper River salmon was in season. My ex ordered it, and it was served without any sauces or seasoning other than salt and pepper. I remembered it being fantastic and I’ve never had salmon like it since.

[South Austin 52,635]

1 minute ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Ever had walleye? It’s not fishy at all. It’s delicate and kind of nutty. 

Not sure, but I’ll give it a shot. Thanks.

[Incredulity 11,683]

You’re probably going to struggle to find walleye outside of the midwest.

[CoachTex 2,629]

2 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’ve experimented with and without lemon slices on my salmon. There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s just a matter of taste. I prefer to cook without lemon slices so the salmon has a little bit of a “skin” on it, a slightly dry exterior. Then I squirt fresh lemon juice on it afterward. With the lemon slices you get a very moist and tender exterior without that textural boundary. You can see that in the light pink exterior of your finished product. Like I said, it’s just a matter of taste and I would totally gobble that up. I’ve got other food on hand to cook through but I’ve been scouting salmon in the grocery because I want to try baking/roasting some with a bourbon-maple glaze.

And I also want to set up my next post. What do you do with the lemon? I think some people eat it. I’m not there yet. A candied lemon, maybe I could see that. I’m all about lemon wedges as a garnish to be squirted on seafood or green vegetables. But a roasted lemon served with the dish? I think I can get enough lemon flavor with juice and zest and that might be too much. I’m intimidated by the thought.

Yes the lemons give a more uniform texture throughout.  I prefer a slightly gelatinous fish as weird as that sounds. It looked done so I temp probed it and was 125 deg. Perfect. The lemons normally go in the garbage disposal. Fish also had a coating of butter and a dusting of lemon pepper. Turned out great.  

[Texzilla58 4,745]

haha, same re: salmon... i kept ordering it at restaurants bc i wanted to like it, and then every time i'd be like 'this restaurant has bad salmon, it's too fishy!'
after like five or six times i finally figured out oh, that is how salmon tastes.
funny thing is i do love salmon croquettes, and those HEB salmon burgers are delicious
also agree on the wild caught, which i think tends to be a brighter red (as opposed to more pink)...def tastes better. 

I was brought up when the only SaLmon we got was nasty ass red chum croquettes at school. They’d stink up the place awful. Fucking cat food.

I lived in Portland and the salmon runs are segmented like wine. Species and River. And even though it’s the best shit out there, I still taste that shit from third grade. The halibut up there was awesome though, as was the crab. Big dungeness in season at the grocery for 99 cents a pound. There is nothing like wild gulf shrimp though. Fancy restaurants sell fucking sewer raised Asian tiger shrimp.

[CoachTex 2,629]

Shrimp tacos 

[dcbc 14,539]

I don't know how to feel about this. Rubbed like ribs. Slightly overcooked. Praised by entire family.

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by dcbc

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

4 hours ago, CoachTex said:

Shrimp tacos 

At sunrise?

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

I don't know how to feel about this. Rubbed like ribs. Slightly overcooked. Praised by entire family.

 

What’s that? Pork tenderloin? Looks moist. I’d eat that. What was in your rub?

[dcbc 14,539]

7 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

What’s that? Pork tenderloin? Looks moist. I’d eat that. What was in your rub?

 Yeah.  Pork Tenderloin.

 

With mustard/pickle juice binder

Rub:

1/4 cup Paprika

1.5 T Brown Sugar

1.5 T Fresh Ground Pepper

1 T Coarse Salt

1.5 Tsp

Garlic Powder

Celery Salt

Cumin

Cayenne Pepper

Mustard Powder

 

Spritz with ACV/H20 mixture every half hour.

 

[CoachTex 2,629]

25 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

At sunrise?

Negative.  Setting sun.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

11 minutes ago, dcbc said:

 Yeah.  Pork Tenderloin.

 

With mustard/pickle juice binder

Rub:

1/4 cup Paprika

1.5 T Brown Sugar

1.5 T Fresh Ground Pepper

1 T Coarse Salt

1.5 Tsp

Garlic Powder

Celery Salt

Cumin

Cayenne Pepper

Mustard Powder

 

Spritz with ACV/H20 mixture every half hour.

 

Mmmm. I’m a big fan of dry mustard in a rub. It adds a tangy quality. I’d throw some ground dried chipotle in there. That’s very close to the rub I make. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

5 minutes ago, CoachTex said:

Negative.  Setting sun.

Damnit. I was close. 

[dcbc 14,539]

10 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Mmmm. I’m a big fan of dry mustard in a rub. It adds a tangy quality. I’d throw some ground dried chipotle in there. That’s very close to the rub I make. 

That rub on ribs is the bomb as well.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

17 minutes ago, dcbc said:

That rub on ribs is the bomb as well.

For sure. I mainly use my rub on ribs and pork butt. I haven’t really mastered the ratios so I start by coating the meat with dry mustard. I wear latex gloves so it doesn’t cake up on my fingers. Then I add salt and black pepper. Then I add a rub of chipotle, cayenne, habanero, paprika (sometimes smoked, sometimes sweet), onion powder, and turbinado sugar. I used to add garlic powder but I like garlic in my sides so I figured that would be redundant. So no garlic in my rub, not that it wouldn’t hurt to include it.

Coating the meat in mustard powder and then adding salt and letting it sit makes a dry brine. I’ve tried just slathering the meat with wet mustard before applying the rub. I didn’t notice anything special with that approach. But the salt draws out the moisture and the dry mustard gets wet and really gives it some zest. Ever try mixing mustard powder with a little bit of water and tasting it? Boing! That’ll clear your sinuses. And it also adds color. I’m definitely a dry mustard guy when it comes to rubbing meat. (Things that sound dirty but aren’t.)

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

Another tip I can share. I’ve watched a lot of cooking shows with Italian chefs using a mix of extra virgin olive oil and butter as a base. From Mario Batali to Lidia Bastianich to Mary Ann Esposito to even Nick Stellino who I find to be kind of annoying (and he’s sponsored by a sugar company so he always finds ways to add sugar to his recipes). Add the butter first, then add the olive oil. If you add butter to hot oil then the water content in the butter will sizzle and splatter all over the place. If you add the butter first and then, when it’s mostly melted, add the oil, that won’t happen. None of the Italian chefs I’ve seen on tv have ever pointed that out. 

Edited March 28, 2022 by WhatTheBuck

[pearlandhorn 3,274]

11 hours ago, dcbc said:

I don't know how to feel about this. Rubbed like ribs. Slightly overcooked. Praised by entire family.

 

What temp did you cook it to?

[Mo Horn 8,855]

Didn't see a thread where this really fit, and I didn't want to start a new one.  Since we are all foodies, I figured those who read this thread would appreciate it. 

Mrs. Mo and I went to see Alton Brown live last night. It was a great show. If you get a chance to see him, take it. Also, do his online quiz beforehand. He had the names of the top 3 scorers, who he also knew had tickets to the show, and they got called up on stage as contestants in a game show. We splurged and got tickets close to the stage. Totally worth it. 

[Texzilla58 4,745]

Didn't see a thread where this really fit, and I didn't want to start a new one.  Since we are all foodies, I figured those who read this thread would appreciate it. 
Mrs. Mo and I went to see Alton Brown live last night. It was a great show. If you get a chance to see him, take it. Also, do his online quiz beforehand. He had the names of the top 3 scorers, who he also knew had tickets to the show, and they got called up on stage as contestants in a game show. We splurged and got tickets close to the stage. Totally worth it. 

We went to the Alton Brown show as well, here in Grand Prairie last fall. We had seen him on his first tour and I thought it was a way stronger show. By the middle of the first half his disposition took a dark turn. I thought the s’mores bit was way too long and the cooking experiment to close it a fail. We left disappointed as it seemed it was a simple money grab. We’ve been big fans of his since day one of good eats so it was a let down for us. Glad you enjoyed it. Or hopefully he was in a better mood.

[Mo Horn 8,855]

9 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

We went to the Alton Brown show as well, here in Grand Prairie last fall. We had seen him on his first tour and I thought it was a way stronger show. By the middle of the first half his disposition took a dark turn. I thought the s’mores bit was way too long and the cooking experiment to close it a fail. We left disappointed as it seemed it was a simple money grab. We’ve been big fans of his since day one of good eats so it was a let down for us. Glad you enjoyed it. Or hopefully he was in a better mood.

Both fair points. He wasn't dark, but I thought the chocolate story was a bit long. I enjoyed the cooking part, but I did say to Mrs Mo, I wished he had done more of that. It was our first time, so maybe if we'd seen other shows, we wouldn't have enjoyed this one so much. 

[dcbc 14,539]

1 hour ago, pearlandhorn said:

What temp did you cook it to?

I intended to pull it at 135F and let it rise a bit during the rest.  But I got distracted and pulled at about 150F.  Still pretty good.

[pearlandhorn 3,274]

15 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I intended to pull it at 135F and let it rise a bit during the rest.  But I got distracted and pulled at about 150F.  Still pretty good.

Nice.  I pull tenderloins at 140F.  Still looks great.

[dcbc 14,539]

1 minute ago, pearlandhorn said:

Nice.  I pull tenderloins at 140F.  Still looks great.

It was delicious.  I like the rub, but having had some time to reflect, I think it's better suited to ribs.  It may be a bit overpowering on pork tenderloin.  I'm going to reheat some for lunch.  Hopefully, it's even better the next day.

[Etexhorn13 3,053]

My wife and I bought a cookbook when we were in Greece that I like to bust out occasionally. One of my favorite recipes in it is for pork souvlaki: diced pork shoulder in a yogurt/tomato paste based marinade. 

    
 

https://www.amazon.com/My-Greek-Taverna-Taking-Cuisine/dp/B07K32YL4L

Edited March 28, 2022 by Etexhorn13

[NoName 16,410]

On 1/21/2022 at 12:45 PM, Jerry Callo said:

Barbacado

this is awesome.

Leroy & Lewis just released their (formerly) Patreon video on how to make it in case folks are curious:

 

[Texzilla58 4,745]

Both fair points. He wasn't dark, but I thought the chocolate story was a bit long. I enjoyed the cooking part, but I did say to Mrs Mo, I wished he had done more of that. It was our first time, so maybe if we'd seen other shows, we wouldn't have enjoyed this one so much. 

It started off fine but he hit a point and got very abrupt and condescending with folks in the audience. I mean those folks sitting in the front sections were real super fans that paid big money to sit there and he wasn’t friendly with them. I have read other reviews of other tour stops and it seems he has great nights and others like ours.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

I tried to get all artistic when I plated my red beans & rice on Monday.

I’d give it a B for composition. It looks pretty good but I lose points for not wiping the rim of the bowl perfectly clean. And I dribbled some gravy on the rice. I scraped up the leftover chopped parsley from the cutting board and sprinkled that on with the green onions. I tried to get a sprinkling of Slap Ya Mama seasoning to stick to the rim of the bowl but couldn’t get it to stick whether the edge of the bowl was dry or wet so I just gave up. I’ve seen restaurants do that but I apparently lack the skill.

In the background you can see Louisiana and habanero Tabasco hot sauces. I added Crystal during maybe the last 10 minutes of cooking.

You southerners probably have a better choice of andouille than I do. I use this:

I wouldn’t say it’s exactly authentic but it tastes pretty good, doesn’t cost much, and I can get it close by. I’m not going to start mail ordering andouille from LaPlace. I can find this which is a Louisiana import but it’s $10+ for a package, requires a bit of a drive on roads with just 35 mph and 45 mph max speed limits, and it’s soft and fatty and, while it’s okay, I’m not crazy about it and I’m not sure if it’s worth the price.

Aidells goes $6 for 12 oz. and when I can find it on sale for $4 I stock up and throw a bunch in the freezer. Chopped up it looks like this:

It’s got a nice coarse grain with good fat content. I use it in made-from-scratch Cajun dishes, in boxed mixes from Zatarain’s and Tony Chachere’s, and with jalapeños and pasta.

Emeril’s recipe says to start off browning the Tasso ham. I find it works better to brown the andouille in some bacon grease and let it release its fat.

Then I remove the sausage and toss in the trinity. I’ve seen recipes that call for a 2:1:1 ratio of onions:celery:bell peppers, and others that call for a 1:1:1 ratio.  I’ve stopped getting hung up about it. I dice up a pepper, dice up either a whole onion or 3/4 of onion depending on its size, and about 3 stalks of celery. I like to save some onion and pepper, along with some Tasso, to make a western omelette later on.

Here’s the trinity going into the pot:

I added some kosher salt to that. Some Slap Ya Mama too. Here it’s cooked down with garlic added (always use more garlic than the recipe calls for):

I also added the bay leaves  Emeril’s recipe calls for a pinch of cayenne. I use a lot more than that. And I added some Creole seasoning that I made from a recipe I found online that’s a mix of paprika, cayenne, onion and garlic powder, and white pepper. I’m pretty sure there’s also dried oregano and thyme in that mix. I also ground some black pepper in there. When it comes to seasonings I’m pretty much just winging it. It turns out great.

I don’t know if I’m getting authentic Tasso ham or not. What do you think? Authentic or not, it’s close enough and tastes great. From what I’ve had at restaurants and seen online, it seems legitimate enough.

I cut that into decent sized cubes, again using more than the recipe calls for. 1/4 cup? More like 3/4 cup. At least 1/2 cup.

I used to be able to get great raw ham hocks that I could smoke myself. The market where I got those stopped carrying them. I’ve had them special order some for me but there wasn’t a lot of usable meat on them. Ham hocks are crucial to any good pot of beans and biting into a succulent morsel of hock meat is always a nice little surprise. What I use now is a locally produced product from Streb’s:

After about 90 minutes of simmering, I remove them, let them cool for about 20 minutes while I start the rice, and then put on latex gloves and harvest whatever usable meat I can from them and toss that back in the pot. Is this piece too fatty? Well, I’ll just snack on it. Problem solved. The skin gets packed in paper towels to dry so it can be fried up in bacon grease later on. Here they are at harvest time:

I’m reporting out of sequence here. I could’ve just stopped at the first pic of the beans and rice. But I took some pics and has a story to tell. And I have some more pics, and a little bit more of a story to tell. 

Adding the Tasso, ham hocks, bunches of thyme sprigs, and parsley:

This is my chicken stock of choice. I don’t care that it’s labeled as free range or organic. But it tastes better than Swanson or College Inn or Kitchen Basics or any of the others I e tried. It’s good just heated up and consumed on its own:

I’m at the point where I really don’t pay that much attention to the recipe. Two 32 oz  cartons of that broth filled the pot to the right point where it won’t spill all over when it comes to a boil. More can always be added later on and I did throw in about a cup of leftover College Inn chicken stock after it reduced for awhile just to clear out some inventory.

Then after some simmering:

Then after more simmering:

 

I regret that I didn’t take another pic after the hocks were removed, the rice was started, the meat from the hocks was harvested, the beans removed from the pot, mashed (this time I just crushed them in a separate bowl with the same slotted spoon I used to remove them instead of using an immersion blender), and returned, along with the hock meat. That would’ve really tied it all together and showed the change in color from a yellowish stew made with chicken stock to the brownish dish that comes out as a result. But that’s why I posted the last part first.

I think a grade of B is fair.

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

*have

[Texzilla58 4,745]

I tried to get all artistic when I plated my red beans & rice on Monday.

I’d give it a B for composition. It looks pretty good but I lose points for not wiping the rim of the bowl perfectly clean. And I dribbled some gravy on the rice. I scraped up the leftover chopped parsley from the cutting board and sprinkled that on with the green onions. I tried to get a sprinkling of Slap Ya Mama seasoning to stick to the rim of the bowl but couldn’t get it to stick whether the edge of the bowl was dry or wet so I just gave up. I’ve seen restaurants do that but I apparently lack the skill.
In the background you can see Louisiana and habanero Tabasco hot sauces. I added Crystal during maybe the last 10 minutes of cooking.
You southerners probably have a better choice of andouille than I do. I use this:

I wouldn’t say it’s exactly authentic but it tastes pretty good, doesn’t cost much, and I can get it close by. I’m not going to start mail ordering andouille from LaPlace. I can find this which is a Louisiana import but it’s $10+ for a package, requires a bit of a drive on roads with just 35 mph and 45 mph max speed limits, and it’s soft and fatty and, while it’s okay, I’m not crazy about it and I’m not sure if it’s worth the price.

Aidells goes $6 for 12 oz. and when I can find it on sale for $4 I stock up and throw a bunch in the freezer. Chopped up it looks like this:

It’s got a nice coarse grain with good fat content. I use it in made-from-scratch Cajun dishes, in boxed mixes from Zatarain’s and Tony Chachere’s, and with jalapeños and pasta.
Emeril’s recipe says to start off browning the Tasso ham. I find it works better to brown the andouille in some bacon grease and let it release its fat.

Then I remove the sausage and toss in the trinity. I’ve seen recipes that call for a 2:1:1 ratio of onions:celery:bell peppers, and others that call for a 1:1:1 ratio.  I’ve stopped getting hung up about it. I dice up a pepper, dice up either a whole onion or 3/4 of onion depending on its size, and about 3 stalks of celery. I like to save some onion and pepper, along with some Tasso, to make a western omelette later on.
Here’s the trinity going into the pot:

I added some kosher salt to that. Some Slap Ya Mama too. Here it’s cooked down with garlic added (always use more garlic than the recipe calls for):

I also added the bay leaves  Emeril’s recipe calls for a pinch of cayenne. I use a lot more than that. And I added some Creole seasoning that I made from a recipe I found online that’s a mix of paprika, cayenne, onion and garlic powder, and white pepper. I’m pretty sure there’s also dried oregano and thyme in that mix. I also ground some black pepper in there. When it comes to seasonings I’m pretty much just winging it. It turns out great.
I don’t know if I’m getting authentic Tasso ham or not. What do you think? Authentic or not, it’s close enough and tastes great. From what I’ve had at restaurants and seen online, it seems legitimate enough.


I cut that into decent sized cubes, again using more than the recipe calls for. 1/4 cup? More like 3/4 cup. At least 1/2 cup.
I used to be able to get great raw ham hocks that I could smoke myself. The market where I got those stopped carrying them. I’ve had them special order some for me but there wasn’t a lot of usable meat on them. Ham hocks are crucial to any good pot of beans and biting into a succulent morsel of hock meat is always a nice little surprise. What I use now is a locally produced product from Streb’s:

After about 90 minutes of simmering, I remove them, let them cool for about 20 minutes while I start the rice, and then put on latex gloves and harvest whatever usable meat I can from them and toss that back in the pot. Is this piece too fatty? Well, I’ll just snack on it. Problem solved. The skin gets packed in paper towels to dry so it can be fried up in bacon grease later on. Here they are at harvest time:

I’m reporting out of sequence here. I could’ve just stopped at the first pic of the beans and rice. But I took some pics and has a story to tell. And I have some more pics, and a little bit more of a story to tell. 
Adding the Tasso, ham hocks, bunches of thyme sprigs, and parsley:

This is my chicken stock of choice. I don’t care that it’s labeled as free range or organic. But it tastes better than Swanson or College Inn or Kitchen Basics or any of the others I e tried. It’s good just heated up and consumed on its own:

I’m at the point where I really don’t pay that much attention to the recipe. Two 32 oz  cartons of that broth filled the pot to the right point where it won’t spill all over when it comes to a boil. More can always be added later on and I did throw in about a cup of leftover College Inn chicken stock after it reduced for awhile just to clear out some inventory.

Then after some simmering:

Then after more simmering:

 
I regret that I didn’t take another pic after the hocks were removed, the rice was started, the meat from the hocks was harvested, the beans removed from the pot, mashed (this time I just crushed them in a separate bowl with the same slotted spoon I used to remove them instead of using an immersion blender), and returned, along with the hock meat. That would’ve really tied it all together and showed the change in color from a yellowish stew made with chicken stock to the brownish dish that comes out as a result. But that’s why I posted the last part first.
I think a grade of B is fair.
 
 

That’s an A in my book amigo. I like the Aidells andouille. It’s seasoned fine. I like this; I do t like his chicken sausages. Forget about restaurant creole plating. Red beans and rice is Cajun poor folks food, made to be eaten heartily with family.

Where do you get your Tasso ham? That looks great.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

3 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

That’s an A in my book amigo. I like the Aidells andouille. It’s seasoned fine. I like this; I do t like his chicken sausages. Forget about restaurant creole plating. Red beans and rice is Cajun poor folks food, made to be eaten heartily with family.

Where do you get your Tasso ham? That looks great.

Thanks. It is kind of silly to serve it with the rice that way because eventually you wind up just stirring it all together. But my method was to take a cup measure, wet it down so the rice would come out easily, and press about 3/4 cup of rice into it. It is visually appealing, though, don’t you think? I’d do that again if i were serving company.

I get my Tasso at Weiland’s Market in Clintonville. It’s not far from and just northeast of the OSU campus. That’s also where I get my ham hocks, both the old ones and the ones from Streb’s. On my last stop they had guanciale! It was pricey but I bought some and I’m going to make carbonera.

Weiland’s is one of a number of specialty markets I frequent. I’ve purchased elk there. They sell bison. I’ve got frozen ground antelope in the freezer right now that came from my last visit. Also pretty pricey but hey, that’s an animal I haven’t eaten yet. The meat is very dark. They sell rabbit but it’s ridiculously expensive. I don’t understand that. I mean, they breed like rabbits. It should be cheap. I’ve had it before and, while it’s good, I don’t think it’s worth paying in the neighborhood of $20/lb for it. That’s insane. I’ve also purchased duck and duck fat there.

https://www.weilandsmarket.com/

[RMac5 1,551]

Baked salmon with a couple of poached eggs and a quart of hollandaise.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

8 minutes ago, RMac5 said:

Baked salmon with a couple of poached eggs and a quart of hollandaise.

I’ll bet that would go well on top of an English muffin or two. 

[Tailgate 3,024]

Cast iron chicken with crispy potatoes.

[Brisketexan 105,457]

Braised lamb shanks with a shallot garlic demiglace, finished with whole carrots.

[BearCountry11 1,234]

1 hour ago, Tailgate said:

Cast iron chicken with crispy potatoes.

Gah damn - I’d murder that.  

[RMac5 1,551]

That roasted yardbird looks damn good amigo!

[Texzilla58 4,745]

I’ll bet that would go well on top of an English muffin or two. 

May be an unpopular opinion but I generally don’t like English muffins on my Benedict. I like crispy shredded hash browns as a base instead.

[WhatTheBuck 28,811]

19 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

May be an unpopular opinion but I generally don’t like English muffins on my Benedict. I like crispy shredded hash browns as a base instead.

Oh, man. I love potatoes every which way. But I also love English muffins. I love them just toasted by themselves with butter.

To be fair, I haven’t yet met a starch I don’t like.

[Tailgate 3,024]

8 hours ago, BearCountry11 said:

Gah damn - I’d murder that.  

Thanks. It’s good stuff. Super easy. It’s made the rotation over here. I actually brine my chicken six hours prior…keeps it to a one day deal. Left overs are tasty too.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/cast-iron-roast-chicken-with-crispy-potatoes

Only addition is I tossed in some onion with the potatoes I sliced.

[South Austin 52,635]

13 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Braised lamb shanks with a shallot garlic demiglace, finished with whole carrots.

I love lamb shanks. I use them for osso buco when I don’t feel like paying three times as much for veal shanks.