Pork Loin

Pork Loin once again!

This time, I preheated two Cast Iron Skillets in the oven and then put them on a preheated Weber Spirit E-310 gas grill.  After the pork was in there for a while, it became obvious it wasn't going to brown properly.  So I ditched the outdoor idea and brought them back inside and placed them on the stove.

In less than 5 minutes, they were done!  145 degrees or higher (I made three) and then rested for at least 3 minutes.

Moist and tender.  Perfect!  Seasoned only with salt and pepper.  Sometimes simple is best.

16 lbs of Pork Butt on the 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain

I'm at it again! This time two butts, each at 8 lbs (total 16 lbs) on the big 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain smoker! One on the top grate, the other in the middle grate. Both cut in half for a faster cook time. Here they are at 3.25 hours into the cook. Yes, I had to shovel the snow away from the smokers!

I used Kick Butt's Chipotle Honey rub with Cherry wood for smoke.  The photos above are when I first put on the meat and then 3.25 hours later.  The pit temp hovered around 265 to 275 degrees and I wrapped in aluminum foil pans and foil after 4 hours when the meat was obviously stalling at around 165 degrees.  The outdoor temp was around 24 degrees when I started and went to 28 degrees.  Very little wind.

You can see me in the reflection on the lid in the background!
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The final product.  This was even better than the last cook I did, and I thought that was the best I ever did!  Very moist, very tender, pulled apart totally in my hands (I use gloves...). The bone usually pulls out very clean!

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The pork from the middle grate:

7 lbs of Pulled Pork on the 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker

I butterflied a 7 lb pork butt for the 18.5" WSM today.  I started the cook at 7:30 AM after letting the smoker reach a pit temperature of 266 degrees.  Outdoor temperature was 13 degrees.  Apple wood was placed for smoke.  Kick Butt Chipotle Honey was used for the rub.

I didn't place a welder's blanket on the smoker because the wind is very minimal today.  I butterflied the pork so that there would be more surface area for more bark and to allow the cook to proceed quicker.
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One hour later... pit time was 271 degrees, meat temp 135 degrees.  Outside temp: 13 degrees

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Here it is after 3 hours of cook time:

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After 6 hours, I had to put on some more briquettes.  After 9 hours, I decided to stop the cook.  The probe only showed 191 degrees and never went any higher, but the meat was so tender!

This was perhaps the best pulled pork I ever made!  It fell apart in my hands without the use of claws or forks to help pull it apart!  Amazing!

Chicken Noodle Soup - Modified America's Test Kitchen Recipe

Today's cook is Chicken Noodle Soup by following America's Test Kitchen's recipe with a bit of modification.

The chicken pieces along with carrots, celery, mushrooms, parsley, 2 TSP soy sauce and 8 cups of water were cooked in a pressure cooker.  20 minutes after the cooker reaches maximum pressure, the chicken is done and removed from the pot.  The chicken fat is removed from the stock and then the egg noodles are placed in the pot and brought to a boil.  When the noodles are soft, the chicken (now shredded) are returned to the pot.

Turned out great!  We modified their recipe by removing a couple of cups of the stock and replacing it with plain water and also we added ginger pieces.  We also did not add onions or garlic.

Golden Corral - Beating The System

My wife and I decided to go to Golden Corral buffet for lunch but to arrive earlier enough to hit the end of the breakfast service so that we could get the breakfast price for lunch.  The nice part though is that on Sundays, they actually give the dinner items during lunch. So to beat the system, get there before the 11 AM dinner prices and get in for the breakfast price!  There was a huge wait line to get a table.  We waited 1/2 hour, but even after we had been seated, even more people were in the wait line!  Those people did not make it in time for the 11 AM cutoff pricing.

If you happen to have their email coupon, you get an additional $2 off per person, up to four people.  On top of that, my wife asked and you can get a senior citizen discount of $0.50 off as well!  I didn't ask for the Senior Discount, but now that I know, I will be asking for the $0.50 additional discount in the future!

I went for three steaks, but the last one (seen in the photo with the shrimp), came out really rare instead of medium.  I couldn't eat most of that piece.

I used my iPhone 6s+ to take these photos.  I am sorry that the pricing photo is blurry.  I wanted to shoot that one quickly to be less conspicuous so I ended up shaking the phone a bit too much to get a clean shot.

Jason's Deli - Schaumburg IL

My wife, daughter and I went to Jason's Deli in Schaumburg, IL for dinner.  We had been missing Sweet Tomatoes since it closed down a couple of years ago.  It had been our favorite restaurant to go for salads and with it gone, we didn't know where else to go for a salad buffet.  Recently, my friend Andy told me that we should go to Jason's Deli since they had a option of a half sandwich and one trip salad bar, or unlimited salad bar without a sandwich.

I opted for the salad buffet, my wife did a half sandwich and one trip salad bar and my daughter ordered a custom salad with Ranch Dressing that she really liked.  We had all options covered!

We found that when you do the half sandwich and a salad bar, the bowl that they give you for the salad is smaller than the bowls that they give you when you go for the unlimited salad bar.  That's ok... it really is big enough and the half sandwich will still fill you up.  I ended up getting two huge bowls of salad and it really was more than I should have taken!  The bowls are actually plate/bowls in that they look like a plate but the middle of the plate is scooped out like a bowl.  I like these better than just a bowl or just a plate.

Overall, we all thought the food was great.  However, my wife noted that all of the salad dressings were creamy dressings and they did not have non-creamy dressings!  No Italian dressing or even French dressings.  I took Thousand Island (so typical of me) so I was ok, but she really didn't like any of the dressings since she does not like creamy dressings.  They had balsamic vinegar, but that's not a dressing.  I guess you are supposed to mix your own olive oil and vinegar, but there's nothing you can use to toss the salad and the oil/vinegar mix.

I went back to the restaurant a couple of days later and talked to one of the ladies there that was working the salad area.  She wasn't sure if there were any other dressings so she went to seek out a manager.  The manager came out to talk to me.  He brought out a couple of other dressings in a bottle, but didn't have anything else in terms of Italian dressings.  At least he made the effort to show me some other options.  I joked that perhaps my wife could just bring her own dressings.  He said that would be perfectly fine if she wanted to do that.  Jason's Deli has all the toppings... so I guess this could work.  Of course, that would just make the cost of the salad a bit more since you would be bringing your own dressing, but it's an option.

I think I might try the half sandwich and one trip salad bar one day.  I think that might be the better value and you still end up with a decent size salad from it.

Here are two bottles of other dressings that the manager brought out to show me:

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2-19-19: My friend Steve took me to Jason's Deli again, so here's the salad I ate that day:

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2-26-19 Lunch with my brother and sister in-law:

03-11-19 Lunch with my daughter:

Popeyes Fried Chicken

I decided to go to Popeyes for a late lunch today.  I ordered a 3-piece Spicy, Dark Meat meal with fries, a biscuit and a soft drink.  Price was $6.99 plus tax.

I like Popeyes.  The chicken is always nice and crisp and the spice level not over the top.  The biscuit is flaky and the coated fries are nice and crunchy and not oily... much better than just typical fries.

They have a two-piece option for $5 that does not include a drink and the extra piece.  So, is $1.99 worth the cost of a refillable drink and an extra piece of chicken?  I think so.  The three-piece has two thighs and a leg.  I would bet, the two-piece would be one thigh and one leg.  So if you consider a typical piece of chicken might cost around $1.00, then the refillable drink would be $0.99.  I think it's reasonable.

I had compared this chicken in the past to Jollibee's.  It's similar, but they do taste slightly different. I prefer Popeye's, but I can see why the Filipino population would want Jollibee to remind them of the Philippines!

Pork Loin on the Field Company No. 8 Cast Iron Skillet

Once again, I cooked some pork loin in cast iron skillets.  I made one using the Field Company No. 8 skillet and also two more in the Blacklock #8.  Seasoned very lightly with McCormick's Grill Mates Montreal Steak Rub.  They all turned out great, but this particular piece in the Field skillet seemed best.  It was about an inch thick.  I gave this one to my daughter.

Great crust again and easily cut with a knife.  As in the past, cooking to an internal temperature of 145 degrees and letting the meat rest for three minutes is the key to success.  The skillets were first heated up on medium high flame before adding oil and the meat.  None of the pieces stuck to either skillet.  The Blacklock skillet never seems to have any problems with meat sticking since its seasoning is so well built up.  The Field Company skillet is getting easier to cook on the more I do it.  It just proves that constant use is the key to building up the seasoning so that it becomes easier to release the meat rather than having it stick.  The Field skillet is also getting darker (on the cooking surface) and in time will look more like the Blacklock, but it may always be a bit brownish in color.  The Blacklock is really black in color which matches its name!