Smokin'

 It's smokin' time.

We haven't used the smoker for over a month.

Someone looking for a handout...

We haven't used the smoker in so long that it was covered in dirt and cobwebs

 But I got the smoke rollin'!

 This weekend we had ribs for our Sunday evening family dinner. Pretty delicious meal for Mother's Day.

 My brother rubbed the ribs with a spice mixture. Then smoked them for about 3-1/2 hours.

 Then he coated both sides with Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce and left them in the smoker a little longer.

Deliciousness

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Lamb

Sunday for dinner, we had lamb two ways: on the grill and baked.

To give dinner a Greek theme, I made baklava and tzatziki.

The recipe I use for baklava can be found here. I use almonds.

For the tzatziki, this was my recipe this time:

2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cucumber, halved, seeded and finely diced
1 to 1-1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt - my favorite from when I lived in Greece is Fage
dill to taste, probably about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp


Mix the above together, tasting after adding dill.

There was a lot of lamb leftover. Grandma pressure cooked it on Monday to remove the bones and fat.

Then I made a curry.

1 sweet potato, cut into 1/2" chunks
2 large carrots, cut into 1/4" slices
1 cup of rice cooked with 2-1/2 cups water (I used Bob's Red Mill wild & brown rice mix)
about 12 oz lamb, shredded
1-2 Tbsp sweet curry powder (I use one from Penzey's Spices), to taste

In a large saucepan, cook the potato, rice and carrots until most of the liquid is absorbed. Then stir in the lamb and curry powder. You may need to add in more water if the rice isn't quite done. Cook until the lamb is warmed through.

Oh yeah...

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Fajitas over an Open Fire

 This Sunday we decided to make fajitas for dinner. But there's not a working stove at the Shed on the farm where we have our weekly Sunday dinners. (Have I said how much I love weekly Sunday dinners?)
Daniel, my brother, has a huge cast iron skillet, and he used that to cook the fajitas.

A mixture of chicken, beef, peppers and onions with my special spice mix: garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

We had all the fixins with the fajitas: tortillas, sour cream, guac (homemade by me), cheese, salsa, and pinto beans. With no-mix Peach Supreme and white cake for dessert.

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Sunday night dinner: Pasta

Showing off the stirring skills.

 Every Sunday, we have a potluck style dinner at the farm. My brother Daniel and I usually make the main course (usually something smoked or grilled) and then others bring sides and dessert.

This week, Daniel decided he wanted pasta instead.

Can you tell this isn't a commercial kitchen? No hair net required!

 We made two different sauces and two different pastas. Homemade alfredo sauce with chicken, and homemade tomato sauce with hamburger. I was in charge of the tomato sauce, so I can only give you an ingredient list for the alfredo, but not many measurements.

Alfredo sauce:
1 package of boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
Heavy whipping cream (I think a pint)
cheese (Yesterday was a mixture of a block of mozzarella and a shaker of parmesan)
salt, pepper, oregano, basil
Garlic, about 5 cloves, diced small

Saute the garlic in olive oil. Stir in the heavy whipping cream. (Don't walk off and let it boil over...) Add the cheese and melt it. Add seasonings.

In the meantime, cook the chicken in olive oil with seasonings. When cooked through, add to alfredo sauce.

Tomato sauce:
3 pints of home-canned tomatoes
pepper, oregano, basil
Garlic, about 5 cloves
half an onion, diced small
about 1 pound of hamburger

In a sauce pan, brown the hamburger with the onion. Drain the grease. Then add the garlic and seasonings. Add the tomatoes and cook down to the desired consistency. You may not need to add salt. Taste-test it.

We used bowtie noodles for the alfredo, and cavatappi for the tomato sauce.

I know you're probably reading this post after the cholesterol post and thinking "no wonder you have high cholesterol". I don't eat this every night. This is one night a week. Eating high fat-content meals for one day shouldn't mess up my cholesterol level for the entire week. Moderation is key. But I'm still going to work on making my "cheat meals" healthier.

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