First thing I did was rinse of my t-bone under the tap (as Jay Eatz has said before you never know where your steaks been before you've bought it) and marinated it in some Worcestershire sauce.
If you are a true Canadian there is no end to BBQ season. As long as you can shovel a path to the grill and have propane it's on. On a brisk Canadian evening (and by brisk I mean -22 feels like -35) I cleared my path to the BBQ to grill up a t-bone and some zucchini. Indoors I fried up some mushrooms to go with this BBQ delight. First thing I did was rinse of my t-bone under the tap (as Jay Eatz has said before you never know where your steaks been before you've bought it) and marinated it in some Worcestershire sauce. While the steak was doing it's thing in the marinade I ventured out into the cold to clear the snow of the BBQ and get it started so it would be nice and hot by the time the steak was ready to hit it.
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There is nothing like working all day, slipping your key in the front door, walking in and getting smacked in the face with the smell of grandmas Sunday roast beef dinner. Best thing it's Thursday, you didn't have to drive all the way to grandmas and when your done eating you can veg out on the couch and let the beef digest. Second best thing is while you were working the crock pot was doing it's thing for 10 hours and you barely lifted a finger. The hardest thing is tearing apart the tender roast, scooping out the carrots and whipping up a batch of gravy to smother over the beef.
Now Jay Eatz recommends purchasing a cheap cut of beef. There is no sense of buying a prime rib roast, a top sirloin roast or a tenderloin roast and boiling it all day on low in that magical device called the crock pot. These roast are great in the oven and do not require a 10 hour cook to make them tender. A cross rib roast or a blade roast is the ideal choice. Look for some good Canadian AAA beef and hunt for a deal. I picked up a $15 roast on special for half price. So it's Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday or better yet Pancake Tuesday and in keeping with the day Jay Eatz made a couple batches of pancakes. You could go out and pick a box of Aunt Jemima up at the store but pancakes are so simple to make from scratch. Here is my favourite recipe I learned in kindergarten class and has been my go to ever since.
I am a bit of a Luddite when it comes to all this tech stuff. I am still on a t-9 cell phone, desktop PC and have no wi-fi at my residence. But I am slowly embracing some technology. Thank god Weebly makes things easy. Thank god for the g.f. too, she convinced me to re-tool the blog as the old version was a little busy and the text was hard to read with the picture in the background and my choice of font colours. I was most concerned with keeping my Jay Eatz title in the same font and that transition was successful. Happy Jay!
Even better news, you can now subscribe to Jay Eatz's blog. Over on the right column under Author and RSS Feed is a little box that says "Enter your email address:". Do it and click subscribe and the good folks at FeedBurner will keep you up to date on all things Jay Eatz. I am not sure why you would ever want to but if you change your mind on the subscription no worries. Un-subscribing is easy thanks to FeedBurner. Im getting a little less Luddite-ish by the day. I'm sure the g.f. will keep the improvements to the blog layout a-comin as well. Next step improve on the grammar but that could be a tuff one, LOL. We can just call any mistakes Jay Eatz-isms. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!!!! So I have told you where to eat in Antigua and now I thought I would share where one might grab a bite to eat if they found themselves at Shoal Bay in Anguilla. But first things, why Shoal Bay, well it's not only the nicest beach on the island but it is also one of the nicest beaches in the world. US News Travel rates it #5 in the world, the TravelChannel.com rates it #1 beach in the Caribbean as does Frommer's. Jay Eatz thinks it might be a tossup between Shoal Bay and 11 Mile beach (A.K.A. Princess Diana beach) in Barbuda but it's a very difficult call. You can judge for yourself. vs
The weather outside is frightful but BBQ is so delightful and for 4 bucks how could one say no. Feels like -21 outdoors might discourage some people, maybe our neighbors to the south currently experiencing their "nor'easter", but in Canada it's still prime time BBQ season. The key is to keep it quick and simple on the colder days. It's not the best time to do a 3 hour roast on the grill or anything that needs constant babysitting and will make you sit outdoors for the entire BBQ process. I recommend simple items that you are familiar with grilling times to minimize outdoor time. Two flip burgers or steaks make an excellent choice. I opted for sausage which also kept the budget low like the temperature.
I hit the grocery store up and scored a dozen hot Italian sausages for $7 which is about 60 cents a link. Divided the pack into 3 parts, froze 2 bags of 4 and kept the other third ready for the grill. I also picked up a small red pepper for about a dollar. I looked in the freezer and saw a bag of mixed veg which consisted of green beans, yellow beans and carrots ($2.89 for entire bag, I used 1/5). Having my game plan established I fired up the grill at 7:04. By 7:07 all the snow and ice on the lid had evaporated so the links were ready for the grill. I placed them on and went inside to deal with the pepper. I cut out the stem, de-seeded the pepper and cut it into about 6 pieces. By the time this was done the sausages were ready for a turn. Then I threw a handful of the frozen veg mix in the fry pan with a splash of olive oil and set it to low. Back out to turn the sausage again, approximately 7:21. At this point I added the red pepper to the grill, about 2 mins a side with the lid down. When I turned the pepper I rotated the sausage. In between the flips I transitioned the fry pan from low to medium and gave the veg a toss and a sprinkle of salt. Then back out to pull the peppers and give the sausage one final turn. Time, about 7:26. The peppers joined the veg in the frying pan, tossed a few times to cover with the oil and seasoning. Back out to the grill and sausages were done, shut down the propane, pull sausage and head indoors. It's about 7:31 and the plate the sausage walked threw the door on is now the vessel for the veg on the fry pan. 7:32, sit down with knife and fork, a condiment or 2 for the sausage and enjoy. Alternative, put key in ignition. Drive to fast food place, drop $6 to $10 on a combo and maybe complete food run in 20 mins instead of 28. Not tonight. 8:06 a.m., awake, streaming 97.5 Virgin radio on the laptop, Tucker and Sarah say "now's the cue to call, taking caller number 9". Me and the g.f. on each of our cell phones plus the land line, busy, redial, busy, redial........ this continues for the next 5 minutes. Caller 9, not us but answers the question wrong. Lines are open again, redial, busy continues. Caller 10, correct answer, free trip to Antigua and not us. BOO!!!!!
Anyways, I figured if I cant be there at least I can write about it some more. Some food in Antigua = expensive. During our last visit to Antigua we opted too go with the European meal plan and our accommodations had a kitchenette and a few communal BBQ's out side. First thought steak on the barbie. Hit up the supermarket and find this. It seems like every radio station is giving away a trip to Antigua right now so Jay Eatz decided to give a little insight about where one should eat if they ever find themselves at Jolly Harbour in Antigua. This guy recommends Miracle's South Coast Restaurant and Bar located at Jolly Harbour, Valley Road, Main Road at the top of the hill before the main entrance to Jolly Harbour. If your staying near St. Mary's Parish go, go often, go for drinks, do lunch and dinner. Great spot for a cocktail or a cold beer and the food is amazing. I strongly recommend the lobster.
Hey I'm back, had a small break for the holidays. I was very busy making this and that and Santa was very good to Jay Eatz this year. Scored a sweet chef jacket from Mrs. Clause, a kick ass chef knife from ma dukes and a nice carving knife and diamond steel from grandpa.
So you might have read previously that I scored some cheap pork, cut it up and ended up with a couple of roast and some thick chops. Well the chops and one of the roast ended up in the freezer, but what happened to the other roast? Stuffed boneless sirloin pork roast happened. Super easy to make and super tasty to eat.
Well it could be complex, it all depends on the amount of time you have, the ingredients available and generally what level you want to take it to. I chose quick and easy. Here goes.... I grabbed my steak knife and slit the sirloin approximately down the middle of the main muscle. I ventured out to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread to make sandwiches for lunch's at work yesterday and what did I see on the front page of the flyer??? Boneless pork loin rib or sirloin halves for $1.99/lb which is a phenomenal deal (3.116 kg's for $13.62), but who needs a 6+ lb piece of pork for one meal? Maybe a large family or summer bbq for you and twelve of your friends. Jay Eatz sure had no intentions of preparing the whole piece in one go, so what next? I pulled out some tricks from my butcher days, grabbed my knifes, butcher string and a couple freezer bags. Now I recommend any home cook or bbq enthusiasts to have 4 knives in there collection. 1. Pairing Knife 2. Chef Knife 3. Boning Knife 4. Steak Knife and 5. Sharpening Steel (#5 is not really a knife but I am adding it to the list) Knife #1 and #2 are not pictured, but the small blade is knife #3, the machete looking one is #4 and the one with the black handle is #5. The first thing I always do when I buy meat is to give it a good rinse under cold running water. I do this for two reasons, one it washes all the meat juices off and two the 3 second rule is alive and well at many establishments (especially when one drops a $90+ piece of filet mignon on the ground). Step two is to trim off the excess fat on the top of the pork loin. I find a good rule of thumb is to leave 1/4 inch of fat on the meat, this will add flavour during the cooking process and will remain edible and easy to cut through. So it's date night, but what to do? Can you cook, or at least try to? Why not eat in, step it up a notch and make your significant other something good to eat and do it better than the restaurant you were thinking about going to and spending 50+ bucks at. You might as well make something a little more on the indulgent side as well because you know your not eating off the light menu if your dropping that 50+ bucks going out (or using your 2 can dine for 11.99 coupon at the fast food joint).
For last nights meal I decided to bring a few items and raid the girlfriends freezer for the protein. All in the meal was about $30.00. She provided the pork tenderloin which I might add she scored a two pack for less than $6.50 because it was on sale and got an additional 10% off because she bought it on a Tuesday using her student card. So were in for about $5.90 for almost 2 lbs of lean and delicious protein. Also on the shopping list, a pre-made caesar salad (because I wasn't even thinking about salad until I walked by it at the store), 1 lb of white mushrooms, a 237 ml container of whipping cream, a tub of cream cheese (I was going to buy mascarpone cheese but a small tub was $6.79 W.T.F.) and a bottle of the cheapest white wine I could find because it was mainly for cooking (although the rest of the bottle did go nice with the meal). I brought a handful of potatoes from home and some Dijon mustard because she would never finish the mustard on her own and 5 lbs of potatoes would end up growing sprouts by the time she finished them. All said less than 20 bucks at the store plus maybe 2 bucks in potatoes and mustard. So were in for about $27.90 and the girlfriend made the dessert which was less than $5. So what was this delicious meal you ask? Pork Dijoinnaise with mushrooms and cream cheese mashed (but more like whipped potatoes due to the lack of a potato smasher which was substituted by a hand held wand mixer = bad life decision), caesar salad to start and cinnamon rolls for desert. I wont get into the potatoes too much but I added butter to the boiled potatoes after they were drained. Then added a half tub of cream cheese, seasoned and then attempted to mash with the hand wand mixer which turned the potatoes into an over whipped paste like substance which although edible was not my greatest side dish. For the Pork Dijoinnaise, I first heated up a fry pan with some olive oil and gave the two pieces of pork tenderloin a good sear. Meanwhile I preheated the oven to 325 and when the pork had finished its sear I placed it in the oven for 20 minutes to cook to a medium well to well state of done-ness. I used the same olive oiled pan and tossed in some minced garlic that was in the fridge. I gave the garlic a chance to heat up being careful not to let it burn. I then added the 1 lb of mushrooms to the fry pan and waited for them to sweat out and reduce to about half of there original size, on about medium heat. Then I poured a little less then half the bottle of wine into the mix. Now the important part, let the wine reduce to about half of what you pour in to the fry pan, I turned the dial up to medium high to help this process speed up a bit. By now the pork tenderloin was finished so I pulled it out to rest. Then I added the whipping cream, pepper and 2 generous spoonfuls of Dijon mustard to the pan. You want to let this reduce a bit too. Mean while I sliced the pork tenderloin into medallions and added it to the pan. Then toss the mixture ensuring the pork tenderloin gets a good coating of the sauce and mushrooms. Do not overdue this part as by now the sauce has reduced to a good constancy and the pork has already been cooked to perfection by the oven and leaving the pan on the heat to long may result in the pork becoming overdone. Meanwhile the girlfriend set the table, dressed the salad, had the wine breathing and a candle lite. I plated the potatoes on half the dish and the pork, mushroom and Dijonnaise mix on the other side. I also drizzled some of the excess sauce over the potatoes (so good as a sauce on potatoes). And voila dinner is served and all for around $30. You spent some quality time in the kitchen with your significant other, you saved a few bucks by not going out and have a nice glow from the wine that will surely enhance the rest of your evening. ;) |
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