What are you cooking for Labor Day?

[medxam]

Well, after serving at the early mass, I dropped by the local grocery for a few last minute items. I have just put "to bed" 8 pounds of beef short ribs in the giant slow cooker where they are swimming in their red wine beef broth and all of the other goodies. I forgot how long it takes to brown them on all sides for at least 6 minutes. They will slow cook until I go to bed to tender up all of that collagen, then be refrigerated over night, and heated tomorrow and served over some Charleston, SC stone ground grits made with chicken broth and heavy cream.

Since everyone, children, grand-children and greats and stragglers, LOVE black-eye pea soup, I fried up 2 pounds of country ham, softened the onions and bell peppers and put them to bed in another slow cooker.

I envy you guys and gals with your grills and smokers, but here in coastal eastern NC, with the heat, humidity and mosquitoes, it is best to cook indoors for at least another month.

Best Wishes to all and Good Eating. It is great to be retired and not have to "clean out" the morgue from the holiday carnage anymore. To those of you working, God Speed!

medxam

 

[cmort666]

Barbequed venison.

 

[armybass]

Wings and brats! I love eating healthy.

 

[michael thornton]

I have to work but maybe some beef ribs on the grill

 

[diamonback68]

Porterhouse, baked yams and sugar snap peas. Ummm Um.

 

[Gutpile Charlie]

I'm having a group of friends over and I'm smoking 8 slabs or ribs and 4 giant pork lions.

I just can't wait to fire that sucker up tomorrow.

 

[Spotteddog]

I'm the "on call" (what's new!) so no solid menu plans? Most likely a top Sirloin or Rib Eye. We've just found some frozen spiced sweet potatoes that are coarse steak fry cut. So, Vodka Martini's, Caesar salad, steer, spuds, and a nice Bordeaux ought to cover it?

 

[Forester]

Wild salmon.

 

[ladder13]

Burgers, marinated chicken, 3 bean salad, pasta salad, chips and salsa, fruit salad, mozzarella and red peppers, arugala salad with olives and carrots and cucumbers and red cabbage and red onion with balzamic vinagrette, and lots of nice home baked cakes and pies including some canoli's and sfoliadel(not sure on the spelling).

 

[Indiana George]

Medxam & Forester,

I'm really torn, but right now airfare is pretty cheap out of Indianapolis. I'm sure that I could be there by morning!

A safe holiday to all..........................

 

[bmhiii]

.... served over some Charleston, SC stone ground grits made with chicken broth and heavy cream.

Med,

Your menu sounded great but the above caught my eye. Never heard of cooking grits that way, but wouldn't mind trying it someday....

I'll be working tomorrow but will cook up a nice Black Angus KC strip with some grilled corn on the cob when I get home.

Happy Holiday to all!

 

[C.S.63]

Well if not on duty tomorrow due to OT
The meal will be a little crab and lobster bisque, littleneck clams on the half shell and a grilled marinated flank steak with fresh greenbeans sauteed with bacon,lemon and garlic
carl

 

[medxam]

BM Hill and others,

Us South Carolina folks never put water with stone ground grits. They are always better cooked in chicken broth (dates back to the 1700's). Maybe it was because our water was so bad, but it does make a difference!

Charleston, SC grits are also known as "creamy grits" and the secret is to add an appropriate amount of heavy cream (whipping cream or half and half if necessary) just before they finish cooking.

Try it and you will be amazed at the difference!

 

[Super38]

Burgers and dogs yesterday.

Fired up the fish cooker for some Southern Fried Chicken today.

Bologna sandwiches tomorrow.

 

[Class III]

Sitting on the banks of the Little Red River in Arkansas right now. Just finished the rainbow trout we caught today. Cooked them on the grill with a baked potato, grilled corn-on-the-cob and steamed asparagas with almonds and lemon butter. Tossed salad of iceberg, tomatoes, cuces, zuccs and pickled beets. All of the above served with a delightful St.Terese's Pale Ale (Micro brew from the Asheville, NC area).

Tomorrows lunch before hitting the road home will be fish tacos made from the trout we catch in the morning.

Sitting here now reminds me of the fact that I have to go back to the real world in 36 hours. What a bummer.

Class III

 

[Miss Fire]

If the fish had cooperated today I would have been frying up a mess of perch, with hush puppies and cole slaw, IF

 

[jkc]

Tonite, filet mignon on the grill, with hearts of palm salad and cold stuffed grape leaves, fresh strawberries for desert dessert.

 

[lcdrdanr]

Local store had pork spare ribs on sale for 88 cents a pound, there are 4 racks in the smoker now.

Same store had a 12 pound brisket for a dollar eighty a pound, not great but better than usual. It's now on the top rack of the smoker with the pork ribs below it and the spare rib trimmings on skewers below that.

Ah, another 5 or 6 hours on the ribs then another 12 to 14 hours of smoke for the brisket and they will be nearly done. I use beer to smoke with, both on the meat and in the water dish, but you have to sample each can when it's opened to make sure it hasn't gone bad or sumpn, right ???

Dan R

 

[BarbC]

Ribeye steaks on the grill.

One of the best ways I found to make steaks is to season them with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, put them into a cold oven on a cookie sheet, and set the oven to 170 or as low as it will go. In about 10 minutes, turn them over for another 10 minutes. That way when the steaks go on the grill, the interior isn't ice cold so that the outside looks done but when you cut into it, it's raw. By pre-warming them in the oven, the steaks come out beautifully medium rare completely throughout, except for just the grilled exterior.

 

[woodsltc]

thSaturday, was our big meal day,.... had all the daughters and their husbands in (2-older daughters are married). Girls made a nice lunch of crab-dip and snacks and then I grilled ribeyes later for dinner. Had a great day of watching football....VOLS won, Ga-Tech Won and sadly Va-Tech Lost...those were the teams we were all rooting for.

Good family time. It was great to have the all the daughters home for the holiday......wow they grow-up so fast.

Don