I am having my staycation. So here was what I prepared for lunch .... Read from bottom to top.
Romaine lettuce, cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes, peach, basil from my backyard ... mixed with the vinaigrette shown below.
I made my own dressing for the salad. It's just extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, a touch of balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and some lime juice, mixed them well and chilled.
After letting the meat rest for about 3 minutes or so, it's time to cut them up. I used a serrated bread knife. Oh well, I just used whatever handy.
A couple of pork loins as seen from the top. I slow cooked them by direct fire (not so much), by convection, and by smoking. Anyway, I cooked them with the cover on and vent opened.
Threw them into one of those Weber Smoky Joe. I have the small one, good for camping. Cooked them over some Kingsford charcoal. I added a hickory wood chip for flavoring. I soaked the chip for some time. I decided not to use my big-ass gas grill, as I didn't have a lot to BBQ, plus it's fun to use charcoal. To start the fire, I used one of those chimneys, just pour charcoal into the cylinder thing, then stuff newspaper underneath, like the good for nothing New York Times, and you are good to go. No need to add the burning fluid. The natural draft created by the cylindrical chimney would burn the charcoal to red hot. Once the charcoal briquettes were red hot, I poured them onto the grill. Made sure the bottom vent was open and so were the ones on the cover.
A couple of pork loins. I just threw whatever I have. Sage, ginger, thyme, rosemary, some red wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Marinate them in a plastic bag overnight.
Romaine lettuce, cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes, peach, basil from my backyard ... mixed with the vinaigrette shown below.
I made my own dressing for the salad. It's just extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, a touch of balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and some lime juice, mixed them well and chilled.
After letting the meat rest for about 3 minutes or so, it's time to cut them up. I used a serrated bread knife. Oh well, I just used whatever handy.
A couple of pork loins as seen from the top. I slow cooked them by direct fire (not so much), by convection, and by smoking. Anyway, I cooked them with the cover on and vent opened.
Threw them into one of those Weber Smoky Joe. I have the small one, good for camping. Cooked them over some Kingsford charcoal. I added a hickory wood chip for flavoring. I soaked the chip for some time. I decided not to use my big-ass gas grill, as I didn't have a lot to BBQ, plus it's fun to use charcoal. To start the fire, I used one of those chimneys, just pour charcoal into the cylinder thing, then stuff newspaper underneath, like the good for nothing New York Times, and you are good to go. No need to add the burning fluid. The natural draft created by the cylindrical chimney would burn the charcoal to red hot. Once the charcoal briquettes were red hot, I poured them onto the grill. Made sure the bottom vent was open and so were the ones on the cover.
A couple of pork loins. I just threw whatever I have. Sage, ginger, thyme, rosemary, some red wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Marinate them in a plastic bag overnight.
Lai can cook. But I can't.
ReplyDeleteI ate my bowl noodle and other cheap food in my little guest room everyday, but last evening I spent JPY2000 in a restaurnat nearby, I didn't eat rice for quite a few days and getting tired of the bowl noodle
ReplyDeleteThanks for this tutorial-like post!
ReplyDeleteI also make my own salad dressing all the time as I hate the ready-made versions. My recipe is similar to yours, but I usually have lemon instead of lime (I agree though that lime juice tastes better), and I usually grate lemon zest in on top of the salad. Also, I will only use EITHER balzamic vinegar OR red wine vinegar (actually I've started to use white wine vinegar now as it doesn't make the salad go brown), since I think using both will make the vinaigrette too acidic (especially on top of the juice of a whole lemon as well). I also eschew salt now, but will add a dash or two of Tabasco, especially if I don't have any chopped chilli to hand. The key difference though between your vinaigrette and mine is that I actually chuck everything into the salad itself and toss thoroughly, rather than have it as a separate bowl.
And thanks for your instructions for how to light up a Weber Smokey Joe. Guess what, I've been craving the LIME GREEN version of a Weber BBQ since last summer!! I've never managed to get myself one, but, as the sales are on now over here, I shall look to get myself one finally...
Oh, regarding the vinaigrette, I usually use whatever handy. Lime or lemon, don't bother me much. I happen to have lime around. Lime zest is not as good as lemon zest so I didn't use any zest plus the lime is a bit old so the skin turning white.
ReplyDeleteBut don't you mix the vinaigrette first? At least the olive oil and the vinegar? That's what I do, I mix them first then right before chow time, I toss it together with the salad.
A lime green Weber Smoky Joe is so cute. Let me Google it ...Okay, I found it, one blog calls it Army Green but I think Lime Green is more appropriate. Weber stuff is really overpriced but it's authentic so I paid a bit more. Mine is the good old red one, I bought that 2 summers ago just for camping but I use it in the backyard every now and then. The chimney is really good I am telling you. Especially you don't need those smelly burning fluid. But one thing you have to deal with is the ashes both from the newspaper and the the ashes from the burned charcoal. A "big-ass" (your word) gas grill won't have this kind of problem and temperature control is easier ....
Yes I just squirt olive oil and white wine vinegar directly onto the salad rather than pre-mix them. One less bowl to wash you know.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I've noticed that you've been really emphasizing my "big-ass" word choice for quite some time now! I did mean "big-ass"* (to emphasize size) rather than "badass" (to emphasize attitude) though, in case you were wondering!
*Usage Examples, see:
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Ass-Book-Crafts-Mark-Montano/dp/1416937854
And indeed:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/googles-free-beer-and-bigass-barbies/2008/03/23/1206206979578.html
And I thought I was lazy .... Never did I not mix the vinaigrette first. Maybe I can't tell or taste the difference but that just doesn't seem right.
ReplyDeleteI know you meant "big-ass" as in big and clumsy and imposing. I just don't want to steal your word choice without attribution especially the time I was commenting on R&E's blog. And I like your usage, I thought it was so funny....