Thanksgiving in “Raaachester”, New York

I know, its been a week since Thanksgiving has passed, but let’s be honest, who isn’t still wishing they had a tray full of  turkey, slow cooked on a smoker for hours on end in their backyard? Oh, wait, haha, I do still have that!  Thanks to my dad who smoked a turkey for me and brought it to New York in bags so that I could fly back to Virginia with it in order to enjoy it all week.   So let’s start again…

…be honest, who isn’t still wishing they had a plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, greenbean casserole, and sweet potatoes, all washed down with a cool slice of pumpkin pie?  You are, I know it.  This year, I flew to Rochester to spend a few days with the entire family and enjoy an awesome Thanksgiving of over 30 people at my aunt’s house.

I also avoided starvation staying at my grandma’s house.  Old people don’t eat as much…or keep food in the house!  It’s tough for me visiting there, however.  Every time I eat, it’s my grandma saying “Gee, you young boys sure have an appetite…” “…sure eat a lot of food” etc, etc.  I can’t really explain to her, how in battling an eating disorder, that’s the absolute last thing I need to be hearing.  I can’t explain to her that with the amount I workout, I need whatever I am eating, and for the most part, it’s just a larger volume of lower calorie food.  Example: you may eat only 2 slices of Meat Supreme pizza, and I’ll eat a whole pizza with grilled chicken and light cheese, but you still ate more calories…feel me?  Sorry, just a little vent there.

God bless my grandpa Charles, though, and the big ol’ bowl of ice cream that follows both lunch and dinner!

So here’s a recap of some the dishes we had on our glorious Thanksgiving.  Gobble Gobble playa

Ree-Ree's Stuffing

Turkey

Sweet potato casserole with coconut

Oh, yes.  And our favorite restaurant to drive by and shout in Chinese accents… Kam Wah!  “Kam wah me cook yo’ food!”

"Kam Wah" me cook yo' food!

Guest Post: The Barnyard Brawl

My younger brother, a freshman at VCU in Richmond, knows how to live and enjoy good food.  Had I any doubt previously, this picture he sent  me purely confirmed this assessment.  “the Barnyard Brawl” burger that he dominated is the first guest post on the blog, but I encourage others who have these incredible food experiences to let me know and I will post their delicious encounter!  We should all thank Stewart for his gastronomical feat.

“Rightfully dubbed The Barnyard Brawl this monstrosity of a hamburger consists of a 100% angus beef patty, chicken tenders, a fried egg, a healthy helping of bacon and american cheese. No animal goes unrepresented on this burger that you would find on any normal farm (short of horse). The burger with the works includes mayo, lettus, tomato, onion, mustard and pickles and on the table you can choose to slather you sandwich with catchup, vinegar or hot sauce. Cary Town Burgers and Fries, located in Richmond VA is known for its vast selection of burgers and fries, hence the name. Cary Town Burers and Fries is a mix of consession style ordering and a sit down place. the seating is all outside but is covered and they also do deliver. so next time you find yourself near richmond this is a must visit place. I recomend the Chilly Cheese fries!”

Dinner from the swamp

After the longest workout I think I may have ever done, thanks to training with someone who is better than me, I decided to treat myself to something special.  First though, the workout was a 45 mile ride at about 20+ MPH, followed by a 3.7 miles (26 minute) run, and then a 1 hour swim.  Brutal!

On the way home I stopped at the farmers market and went to the butcher shop where I was pleased to find rare and exhorbitantly over-priced alligator!  So I bought some and made it that night for dinner. I made this alongside a recipe I found for balsamic potatoes.  Here’s that recipe:

Ok actually I can’t find it, but it’s something like

• Boiled and quartered New Potatoes
• 1 cup Low-fat, no sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup (or more to taste) balsamic vinegar
• Rosemary and Thyme

Bake covered for 1 hour and 5 minutes at 350 degrees, tossing the potatoes every 20 minutes.

Balsamic Potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The alligator, on the other hand, did not live up to it’s expectations…or maybe it did, considering it is alligator.  Luckily I cooked and extra breast to go along with it.  The meat had a distint flavor, and honeslty, I wouldn’t say it tasted like chicken.  I described it as “if a chicken was fed nothing but a diet of fish and then that chicken laid eggs, if those eggs were hatched and grew to be chickens, that’s what their meat would taste like.”  Feel me?  I cooked it in BBQ sauce at about the same time and temperature one would could boneless, skinless chicken at.

It was overall kind of tough and sinewy.  But hey, overall, I made freakin’ alligator and that makes it awesome.  Gotta love the Bayou!  You can learn to like it, I GAAAAUUAAANNNTTTEEEE it!

Raw Gator

Cooked Gator

BBQ Pork Pizza

  First, let me extend my apologies for the long leave of absence.  Being the holiday season, my blogging was forced to longingly await whilst I traveled the great expanse of delicious food in search of new recipes and ideas for my loyal readers (Hi Dad!)  Over the next few days I will enter a number of posts, each more delicious than the next.

To begin, let me take you back to where it all started and I first told y’all…”I’m Serious.”   Ok, actually thats a T.I. lyric, but really, back to returning to Virginia Beach from my house outside DC, from my birthday trip.  I still had about 3 pounds of lean, smoky, delicious, slow cooked, barbeque pork tenderloin.  Before I left–as seen in the post before this about my large birthday pita pizzas–I had picked up some mini-pitas in the store.  Due to the eclectic success of the birthday pizza, I thought I would try my hand at mini pit-zas.

Recipe: (in order of layers)

• Small pita
• Pizza sauce
• Seasonings (italian, garlic, onion, thyme)
• Half of your Mozzarella cheese (UPDATE: I made these again a couple nights and used Cheddar cheese instead–much more flavor)
• Shredded pork (or other protein)
• Second half of the cheese

Competed masterpiece

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toast pitas lightly before topping then bake at about 375 for 10-15 minutes…or whenever you’re hungry enough.  And then proceed to enjoy! Italian BBQ!

BBQ Pork Pit-za

I forgot to mention the crazy weather we had here from the hurricane!  My house was ok…as few small lakes here and there…but compared to the ocean front and downtown Norfolk, I was lucky.  Those places were seriously flooded and most schools and offices were closed that Thursday.  Luckily, I have experience in the matter and knew how to stay dry.  This comes from my days in high school with brand new Iverson 3’s.  God forbid they get wet or dirty!

Hang Clean

Got 150 today!