Oh man, I knew I would get some great ideas. There are a gazillion ways to go, but sometimes certain things won’t come to mind until someone else says them.
b-one,
Beef is an excellent idea. For a couple of reasons.
One, my dad is one of the folks who will be here and he does not care for chicken. Yep, weird I know, but he had to slaughter so many of them as a child, he got his life dose by the age of 18. Sad, because I cant imagine life without chicken…or most other meats actually…
Two, I think I have a couple small chuck roasts that need to be dealt with in my freezer…and man do I need to free up some freezer space…hunting season starts soon.
Tri-Tip is one I have never seen here in Virginia but I usually shop the deals. Maybe it just never goes on sale. You have gotten my interest though, and I will be on a mission to find it now.
I have become a big fan of Better Than Bouillon. I’m not pushing the stuff, but I contacted them about trying to find certain versions of their products. Turns out, you are lucky to find a lot of their stuff in any one place. So they were really cool when I finally got someone on the phone and email, and they sent me full size samples of several of their products. One of them is really impressive, its an Au Jus base, and let me tell you, for a concentrated base/bouillon, it tastes just like the stuff you get with a beef dip sandwich at a great restaurant. It has changed my beef world. I can’t find it around here, so I’ll have to order it when I run out.
Digitale,
I would, and did automatically start thinking “bird” to balance the pork, but as I wrote above, I then remembered my dad was coming. It’s bad enough I’ll be making a chicken wing feast for lunch because my mom reminded me I haven’t made her the wings I am always bragging about. Still trying to figure out what I’ll deep fry for dad as a wing substitute variation…maybe a pork loin cutlet…but then its pork on pork all day!
Now, the fatty? That is something I had forgotten that I wanted to make after seeing them for the first time here on SMF. I started to look around for what people are doing…then stopped and thought to ask you and everyone else since this is a suggestion thread: What’s your favorite Fatty recipe? I’m quite creative and have a lot of instinct to figure this stuff out, but hey, had I not asked, I wouldn’t have even thought about the fatty. Oh, also…that freezer? Got some chubs of custom slaughtered Angus ground getting long in the tooth that also need to be dealt with. Sounds like this will be a freezer cleaning feast! Got the bacon stashed in the freezer already too!
Collards and beans? H.E. Double Hockey Sticks yea! A couple of grocery stores around here always have collards at a good price and I have some dry beans that also need to be dealt with! Perfect!
And really, I am not promoting the stuff, but Better Than Bouillon makes a ham base that has changed my “greens” world. I don’t even bother with ham hocks anymore. Their chicken base was also voted best above all better branded chicken broths by Americas Test Kitchen. I’ve stopped buying chicken broth and just use that stuff if I’m out of homemade. I swear I’m just sharing this as a home cook to other “smokers/chefs” on here, I am not representing, but can’t speak highly enough of the stuff. NOT
, just a good product line.
JimmyJ,
Yep, I think the Mac-N-Cheese needs to happen. And again, I have most of the ingredients already!
P4B,
You know, all my peeps who will be here would really appreciate the cornbread. I’m not a big fan of cornbread for some reason. I can eat it but I prefer white yeast breads or flat breads. When I do make corn bread I usually step all over it like you said…even with cheese along with the peppers or rotel. I might even do a cast iron stovetop version on my garage 6 burner range since my portable outdoor oven will be occupied with the mac-n-cheese and probably a baked dessert for my mom’s B-Day. And everyone loves cornbread with greens.
The potatoes are an excellent option. I found a recipe for “Crash Hot” potatoes by Rhee Drummond I have been using for years now…oh, man…you talk about good. Twice baked is real good, but crash hot is a brand new bag. Adding some smoke would be real tasty. I could see kissing them with smoke by putting the pan of “crashed” potatoes in the smoker for even just a few minutes before finishing in an ultra-hot oven.
And just like the fatty, I’ve been wanting to do scotch eggs. My wife makes a great deviled egg and I don’t know why I can’t make them as good…I guess some things just taste better when someone else makes them! I stand there and taste test for her while she makes them…it’s not like I don’t see what goes in them!…I don’t get it. Making a Scotch egg using deviled egg makes my knees buckle thinking about it. Plus, I keep 2 deep fryers staged in my garage I am always looking for excuses to use! What a great way to use leftover deviled eggs…besides stuffing them directly in to my pie hole of course…
Great feedback all! Time to start meat thawing strategy and get a head of this menu.