Mini Tacos

Some days you just don't want to cook... so the toaster oven gets the job of heating up some frozen mini tacos from Costco!

Yes... Another Pork Loin

Yes, once again, I have made a pork loin.  I have so much of this in the freezer that the only way to reduce the supply is to keep cooking it!

This time I tried to keep the thick loin at the recommended cooking temp of 145 degrees internal, but I overshot it by a bit.  Still, at 156 degrees and 3 minutes of rest, the loin came out great!  I did the "constant flip" method this time, turning the meat over every minute or so after the initial browning.

Speaking of browning, there's no way you can brown meat on a teflon-coated pan!  A cast iron or carbon steel pan is needed to do that and the Field Company No. 8 cast iron skillet did not disappoint!  Great crust on the meat and still tender and moist inside.  One of the better pieces so far!  Seasoned only with salt and pepper.

Images taken with the Canon G7xMkII at ISO 640, 1/15 second, f4.5.

Cannoli - A Guilty Pleasure

When I was young my dad's company had an Italian woman who worked there and made homemade cannoli's.  She would always give some to my dad to bring home for us.  They were great!  Whenever I see cannoli's, it brings me back to that time.

I saw this cannoli at my local supermarket so I thought I'd give it a try.  Was it as good?  It was ok, but not great.  It tasted and had a texture more like a cookie with cannoli sweet cream cheese rather than what I was used to.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad.  But it wasn't exactly like what I was expecting.

I've had cannoli's from Italian restaurants before and those remind me of what I remember in my youth.  I guess sometimes you just have to get them from a place that specializes in Italian food!  Still, it was better to have it than not!  Try a cannoli the next time you see one!

(The image was taken with a Canon G7xMkII point and shoot camera.)

Stir-fried Pork Loin on Rice

With so much pork loin in the refrigerator and freezer, I decided to cut some into pieces and stir-fry it in a Field Company No. 8 cast iron skillet.

THIS IS IT!  Totally moist this time!  Pre-seasoned only with soy sauce and ground black pepper, it cooked up perfectly!  Served over long grain rice, I think this is how I will do it going forward.  Quick and easy!

Pork Loin in a Field Company No. 8 Skillet

I took another stab at cooking pork loin but this time I cooked it in a Field Company No. 8 skillet.  I also did not put a cover on it but instead used two splatter screens to allow the steam to escape.  I also did not put it in the oven but kept it on the stove top the entire time.

In addition, I cooked the meat to the current USDA recommended temperature of 145 degrees internal temp with 3 minutes of rest time.

Overall I felt that this time the pork loin was much more moist.  I believe I overcooked the last time and dried out the pork loin.  But by keeping it on the stove top, releasing the steam but not covering the pan and stopping the cook at 145 degrees internal temperature, the results were much better.

Eggs and Peas and Chicken Breast

One of the easiest things to make is eggs and peas... a family favorite of ours!  I added some chicken breast from Costco.  We serve it over white rice.

I usually like adding a hint of Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce as well.  Give it a try!

Ribs Cooked in a Toaster Oven

Yesterday, I purchased 20 lbs of pork loin with bone-in for $0.99 per pound. Well, that meant 5 lbs of bone! Still, after trimming the meat off the bone, it yielded 15 lbs of actual meat.

The remaining bones were cooked today in a toaster oven for 1.5 hours at 375 degrees. I put Kick Butt Rib Rub on it and just let it run. Turned out pretty good!

Here are some ribs from those bones.

Pork Loin on the Blacklock Cast Iron Skillet

I cooked two pork loins in a single Blacklock #8 cast iron skillet... one with salt, pepper and soy sauce, the other with Kick Butt Rib Rub - Chipotle Honey. The Blacklock skillet was made between 1896 and 1910. It's my oldest skillet and has amazing seasoning on it. Nothing sticks to that thing!

I preheated the skillet in the oven at 400 degrees and then placed the two pieces of pork in the skillet to sear it on the stove top. I covered it with a Lodge cover that came on my Lodge 5 Qt Dutch Oven. Fits almost perfectly! After searing, the skillet and cover were put into the oven for 17 minutes.

Tasted fine, but a bit drier than I would have preferred. Got to work on how to keep it moist. Pork loin has very little fat so it's hard to cook properly to keep moist. I need more research on cooking it properly!

Kona Grill - Lincolnshire, IL - Birthday Lunch

My two high school buddies and my brother took me to lunch at Kona Grill in Lincolnshire, IL to celebrate my 60th birthday!  I had the "Combo" Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp.  Thanks guys!

The food was very good, but they initially brought out two plates of Kona Sitr Fry for my brother and me.  We both had ordered the Pad Thai, so they got our order wrong.  My two high school friends got their order correct however.  The manager came over to apologize, but it was no big deal.  Within less than 10 minutes, they had the correct dishes out to us.

The restaurant smelled like a gas leak initially when we came in.  We all noticed it and the waiter acknowledged that he smelled it too when he came in to work.  Eventually, we either got used to the smell or it dissipated after a while, not sure which.

I asked the waiter to take our photo.  I think waiters are always being asked to take photos for groups of people when they go out to dine!

Lunch was good and we always have a good time catching up on what's been happening since the last lunch we had together.  Every quarter year, one of us has a birthday.  We had been going to RAM restaurant in Wheeling, IL, but they had recently closed.  We won't miss it too much as we had noticed that the service and menu had been changing over the years and not for the better.

We'll need to find a different place to go for lunches going forward.  Kona Grill while nice, is a bit pricey for our lunches so we'll have to keep an eye open for a restaurant equal distance to all of us.

The photos were taken with the new little Canon G7x Mk II point and shoot camera.

Burger King - Why So Slow?

Two Whopper Juniors, Two Fries... $3.99.  Good deal, right?

Well, the Whopper Juniors are really small.  REALLY SMALL.  They kind of reminded me of oversized sliders!  The fries are placed in rather small fry containers too, so not many can be put in there.  But for $3.99, I guess it is ok.

My real complaint though is how slow the service was!  Look at the restaurant... it's very nicely laid out.  One of the better looking Burger King restaurants really.  But there's nobody in there!  Where are all the customers?  At the drive thru of course!  Why?  Because they service them faster than anyone going inside.

My wife and I waited a long time (seemed like at least 10-15 minutes) to get waited on and get our food.  This Burger King only had three people working there and it was around 5:45 PM... prime dinner time!  Perhaps it's just not a busy Burger King or maybe it's not busy because it's just too slow in getting out the FAST FOOD!

The food was nothing special... typical Burger King food... not better, not worse.  But the service was subpar.  The facility was great though!  Very clean (so was the washroom) but maybe that's because nobody goes in there to mess it up!

OK, I'm being a bit hard on them, but come on!  If people take the time to come inside the building, service their order like you service the people at the drive-thru window.  Add an extra staff member if necessary.

I won't identify this location, but all I will say is Burger King management needs to re-evaluate their service policy.

Birthday Crabs and Cake

I celebrated my 60th birthday on Jan 15 with my daughter who turned 28 as well.  We share the same birthday!  Blue crabs and a small cake that my nephew purchased for her were eaten by my wife, daughter and me.  My wife does not eat crabs, but she ate the cake with us.  Nice!

I purchased 10 crabs... not all of the crabs you see above!  That shot was taken at the asian food market I purchased the crabs!  That's a lot of blue crabs!  Crabs are in season, so the price was only $2.99 per pound.  We had 4.5 lbs of crabs.

Lou Malnati's For An Early Birthday Dinner

My daughter ordered a Lou Malnati's Chicago Classic pizza for our "pre-bithday" dinner!  We share a birthday.  Great pizza!

My daughter just started a Keto Diet so did not want to eat the crust.  I'm sure she's missing it though!  But rather than wasting it, I took it and put it on top of my slice!  Now it was almost like a stuffed pizza!  See below.

Snow Covered Peaks!

Snow covered peaks!

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Updated on Jan 27, 2019!

Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich

I went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and ordered a Spicy Chicken Deluxe Sandwich with Pepper Jack Cheese.  Cost was $4.39 plus tax.  After paying for your food, they give you a plastic "cup" which holds your straw, condiments and receipt and also serves as a way for them to recognize where to bring your food after you decide where to sit.  Mine was a purple cup.

The sandwich was great as has been for all Chick-fil-A sandwiches I have had in the past.  While expensive for a chicken breast, it is still hard to beat in taste and texture.  I added the Chick-fil-A sauce to it which is essentially just honey mustard.  Great sandwich overall!

Costco and Panda Express

Costco's Cheese Pizza is most likely the reason I haven't dropped more weight since losing 50 lbs last year.  It is definitely my guilty pleasure.  For only $1.99 for a slice and $0.59 for a refillable Diet Pepsi, it's fast easy and tastes pretty good.  Sure, it's not like pizzeria quality pizza, but for a fast quick lunch, it's hard to beat.

Costco is always nearby for me.  I had one less than a mile from where I lived, but when I moved, it's perhaps 6 miles away now.  When at work, it is only 1 mile away.  It's always close by and because of this, I end up there a lot.

I went there today, got my Cheese Pizza Slice and a Diet Pepsi but on the way home, I drove by a Panda Express.  Since I had my new Canon G7X Mk II camera with me (it will always be with me going forward since it's so small), I wanted to try shooting something more than just pizza.  So I drove up to the Panda Express... something I NEVER DO!

Really, a Chinese guy at a Panda Express?  NEVER!!!  But I had to try it.

I ordered an Orange Chicken with Chow Mein Bowl for $6.30 plus tax.  Wow, this thing was pretty small.  If I went to a Chinese carry out like Chopsticks in Rolling Meadows, I would have had perhaps 3 times the amount of chicken and twice as much fried rice (yes, I got chow mein, but if it were fried rice, it would have been at least twice as much at the carry out).  On top of that, I would have had a free Diet Coke can too for the same price as at Panda Express!

The taste of the orange chicken was decent, but nothing special.  The chow mein had a bit of "wok hei" flavoring to it, so that was a bit of a surprise.  Still, I just didn't think it was worth the money and the taste of it all was just very plain.  And where are the Chinese people?  Not a single one could be seen in the restaurant, although to be fair, I was there quite a bit later than most people doing lunch.  Two Mexican women worked the counter but I didn't get to see who was working the wok.  Will I go back, I doubt it, but for those not used to true Chinese food, it's probably not bad.

9.25 lbs Pork Butt on the 14.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker

The pork is on! Using the little 14.5" WSM today to make some pulled pork. It's been a while since I used the small smoker.

The middle and upper grates have pork on it. I cut the 9.25 pork butt in half as I normally do, but kept it thick this time. Will likely take longer than I usually take since I cut it to keep it thicker.

Outside temp is currently 23 degrees. Very little wind. Pit temp is starting out around 230 but I hope to raise it to around 250 to 275 degree range. I am monitoring the pit and both pork pieces as well as the outside temp with two ThermoWorks Smoke units.

Water in the pan, but no wood... just charcoal cooking this time. The rub is Kick Butt Rib Rub's Chipotle Honey mixed with some cayenne pepper for more kick!

3 hours into the cook, I decided to loosely put a welder's blanket around the smoker.
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6.5 hours into the cook (see photo above) and the internal temperature of the meat is only at 154 degrees.  I decided to put the meat into aluminum foil pans and loosely wrap the tops with foil.  I added more water to the water pan and also replenished the charcoal as it was almost all burned out.  I'm pushing the pit temp to around 280 degrees now.
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I had to replenish the charcoal twice during this cook.  Total time to reach 200 degrees was 10 hours. If you leave the meat thick, it's going to take a while.  Cut it thinner and you can cut the cook time down to around 6-7 hours on average.

The final products are below.  Great Bark!