Cooking With Heavy Metal

Here's a great meal I just whipped up after work on Friday 3-9-12. This is the song that was playing while we ate, so if you would, you could push play and then read the rest of this blog, or don't. It'd be a lot cooler if you did though. A band I just recently discovered, which is pretty spacy, alternative rock. The album is quite good. Codeseven - Dancing Echos/Dead Sounds.



So I took out some boneless pork chops from Costco this morning, you know the big meaty ones that melt in your mouth, before I left for work. Got home around 4:00 and whipped up my new favorite way to treat these bad boys and that is to Brine them:

As you can see it is a liquid mixture used as a type of marinade and prepared by the following simple recipe:

5 boneless pork chops (I used 3 instead)
3/4 cup Kosher Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsn whole peppercorns
1 tbsn ground mustard (I used whole grain mustard since I was out of the ground variety)
2 cups apple cider vinegar
handful of ice cubes

I also cut the brine in half since I was feeding a family of 2 and a half. So basically you heat the vinegar up until its hot and dump into a bowl filled with the rest of the sweet, saltyness, and let it dissolve for 15 minutes or so, you then dump the ice cubes in and melt them to cool the mixture down and then drown the chops in the "brine", cover and chill in the fridge for up to two hours, preferably exactly 2 hours.

We decided that since it was so nice outside we would head down the street across I-80 to the Truckee River and let our daughter Presley throw rocks in the Truckee River at Mayberry park. It was a beautiful evening not a lot of people out and Presley always has fun doing anything outdoors and is fascinated by the littlest of things.

We got home about 5:30 and it was time to prepare the rest of the feast. I started by firing up the grill and preparing some roasted red potatoes with red bell pepper, garlic and some seasoning (salt pepper, parsley, rosemay olive oil) and throwing them in the oven cause they take like an hour. Meanwhile I took the chops out of the fridge to get to room temperature and the next step is to rinse them off and pat them dry and coat them with your favorite rub/BBQ seasoning. I used my top secret rub I have in the cupboard I use on all my pork products as shown below:

Meanwhile again I prepared the other side dish consisting of asparagus. I coated it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and the leftover garlic from the potato dish I popped in the oven. I love asparagus cause it makes my pee smell so great. jk. But on the grill is hands down the best way to cook asparagus. Especially when you add the smoke chips as shown above in the first photo.

The next and final step was to go ahead and flop the shit on the grill, preferably using a "mangrate" which I purchased at http://mangrate.com/ and heard about from Adam Carolla on his radio show years ago, or maybe it was when he first started up his podcast. Its a solid chunk of cast iron that sits directly on your existing grill and is similar to cooking on a cast iron skillet except its on the grill. I try and time it out to get 4 flip 2 sessions on each side of the meat to get a piece of meat that looks like this (~ 4 minutes per side more or less depending on how thick they are):

Oh ya, between flips I baste the chops with Apple Butter, which is sort of like a jelly but thinner and more like a thick BBQ sauce. I bought a jar at the store and use it religiously when I cook, especially pork products.

The cool thing about this brine recipe is the brining process actually sort of pre-cooks the meat so you don't have to cook the shit out of it to avoid contracting Trichinosis or some crazy pig virus. So basically you cook it to a medium rare like a beef steak and it remains moist and tender. The asparagus is grilled until its soft and smokey and delicous. The potatoes are usually done about this time and you are most definitely ready to dig in. The only thing lacking this evening was a cold one, which I just decided to lay off. I don't drink like I used to and most of the time it only makes me feel sick and not the buzz I used to seek as a younger dude. So here is what the final product looked like before it was wolfed down:

It was quite tasty, and to be honest wasn't the best I've had, it was a little on the salty side, I think I put a little too much salt and not enough ice to dilute the brine with, but it was definitely succulent and the asparagus was to die for, the potatoes perfectly crispy and delicious. Another week down and the weekend coming up. Start to finish took about 3 hours and we had a nice walk on the River in between. Can't beat that. So I started with a song might as well end with one that is playing on my computer as I write this from an album I just picked up by a band I've been a fan of for a long time, but fell out when they parted ways with the original singer and brought on a new line-up. The latest album was surprisingly awesome, not quite the same as the old line-up but definitely good music if you like rock and roll southern tinged blues:




Try out the BRINE sometime and let me know what you think. For the actual recipe that I got my proportions from go to: http://www.food.com/recipe/alton-browns-2-hour-mustard-brine-for-pork-chops-or-roast-191816 I get a lot of ideas off the food network and most then time do my own little twist on them and/or use the basics for proportion related concerns on ingredients. Hope you liked the post.

2012 Music so far...

Sorry for the few readers that have been checking in to this somewhat boring blog. I haven't had a lot of time to dedicate to it lately, or maybe I just haven't had anything compelling come to mind to put out there. And this post doesn't necessarily mean anything compelling will be revealed either. Pretty much reviving it from the dead with some new music releases which I've really enjoyed this year so far.

Top releases of the year so far in no particular order:

Lucero - Women & Work (not released yet, but leaked so I have been jamming it non-stop)

Call me a crook, I download music off the internet. I have a compulsive disorder I guess and some may call it the downfall of the music industry, I call it exposure for artists that would otherwise possibly go unheard of and for music enthusiasts like myself, I would be uninterested in attending shows and basically be stuck with listening to mainstream music on the radio. I think the internet only benefits artists even if their music gets downloaded for free. If the music is good it will be spread by word of mouth by people like me who get off on spreading music around by my mouth and in this case, by word of keyboard. Anyhow, here's a snippet of a song off the new Lucero album, which was recorded a while back. Check out the new album next Tuesday and hey, you could even purchase it if you don't have ambition to seek it out on the internet.




Every Time I Die - Ex Lives

Okay well up until this release I have never really been able to get into this band. Lots of hype if you are into music at all you have maybe heard of these guys. The singer I give credit to and despite not really digging the music as a whole Keith Buckley is pretty bad ass. The new album struck a chord with me leaning more on the Southern Sludge undertones than their previous works. I must admit after really digging this release, I went back to gave their older work a chance and did in fact find more to like about it than I initially did. Perhaps I paid more attention to the overall sound and didn't let the chaos as the music initially rubbed on me, overwhelm my ears. This song is probably my favorite so far, but the album as a whole flows really well and incorporates all the different aspects of their work into one solid album that was good enought to bring me aboard the ETID bandwagon, which is more of a monster truck than a wagon.



Orange Goblin - A Eulogy for the Damned

Orange Goblin haven't released anything new in a while, but the recent release is top notch. Top notch in the 'Stoner Rock' realm. Ya, I admit, I like listening to music that got its genre name by catering to individuals who partake in the obvious activity, but that doesn't mean I'm a stoner, rather I enjoy the meaty, fuzzy guitar riffs, with undeniable groove and laid back vibe the music possesses. Check this album out for flat out riffs, grooves, and music that goes great with desert backroads and southern swamp-hoppin (made up that term) and just a flat out beer drinkin, and if you choose, grass smoking good time. The title track is undeniably a mellow paced, anthem that keeps the genre relevant without being too cliche, which for the last few years has become very common for bands in the said genre.



Castles - You, The Organ Grinder

This three piece from Belgium I heard about from a post by a podcast I'm subscribed to on facebook around the first of the year. The album name may be decieving, but the music itself is very unique and to me is a perfect combination of sludgy, alternative, almost proggy metal sound to them. Layered guitars with a gravelly, punk like vocals. It comes across as a blend of Mastodon and Coliseum, more on the Coliseum side of things. Their debut album is available on itunes and here is a video featuring two of their songs in a row recorded in a garage like setting and sounds pretty Fing cool if you ask me. Listen to the whole album for a real feel to these guys sound. It may take a listen or to, but if you like this type of think it will not dissapoint.


Just listen all the way through, the beginning may turn some folks off as it starts a bit slow.

King Giant - Dismal Hollow

This album was referred to me by one of my many internet friends whom I've never personally met, but am thankful to have gotten to know online since they give me someone to discuss and share musical loves with. These guys give off a heavy Danzig vibe with that Pantera esque southern crunch and heavyness that I love. The band members as evidenced in this video are heavy bearded big, bad, motherfuckers, which always makes you feel that way when you listen to the music. Anyone else ever feel that way? Haha, that just came to me as I was typing this. Anyway, check out this video, not only does the song rock, but the video is very entertaining, especially in today's zombie fetish that we have adopted. Anyway, I bought this album off their bandcamp page, which by the way, is the best online forum for bands to promote their music if you ask me. Hey I don't steal all my music online, in fact I'm sure I spend waaay more money on music than the average bear even with nabbing a ton for free.
http://kinggiant.bandcamp.com



Mother's Green - Swimming in the Sun

Another artist I would never have found out without the help of my internet buddies. I know, sounds lame, but I don't give a shit. I gotta feed this addiction somehow, and none of my long time friends are really gonna fill this void very well. I try and pass this stuff I find to them and on down the ladder if you get what I'm saying.

Check out the album, it is just came across as some relaxing, laid back, grooving music, which as of late I have regained a love for. Music taste seems to go in and out with me especially with the amount of music I listen to these days. This was a great find and was a perfect way to kick off my afternoon on the slopes last Friday afternoon. Another awesome thing about technology carrying your music with you wherever you may be, pop the earbuds in and just go with the flow. So awesome on the ski slopes.
http://www.mothersgreen.com/ 



Alright well this concludes my latest contribution to this blog. Oh wait, one more, the new Pelican track is fucking brilliant. Really looking forward to their new album out in April I think.



Hope you enjoyed the latest of my finds. I'd be willing to bet nobody made it through the whole thing and listened to all of the songs, and I don't blame you. In a perfect world everyone would listen to what I say and obey my every suggestion. Haha. Check back in like another 3 months for more. (hopefully I won't leave you hanging that long...)