Friday Night Food Porn

Pulled Chicken Quesadillas

We've practiced chicken more times than I can remember. Every week it seems like I'm firing up the WSM to cook another batch of chicken. The sad part is that Kris and I are not huge fans of BBQ chicken...hmm, maybe that's why we suck at cooking it! Anyway, with all this chicken comes lots of leftovers and what to do with them. This time around we pulled the chicken...


...sauted some peppers and onions. Added some good sharp cheddar. Put everything between two flour tortillas, then grilled it on a cast iron skillet.


Added some sour cream and salsa. Served it with a Smuttynose IPA and enjoyed.

Congratulations

By Kris

This past Sunday we had the pleasure of hosting a graduation party here at Lakeside. My cousin, Jimmy, graduated from Lowell Catholic High School. Jimmy is an honorary Lakeside team member and the only one who is able to stay up past midnight with Mike. We decided to combine partying with pulled pork practice. I’d say both were a success, since we went through a bottle of Jack and two pork butts. We hope everyone had a great time, especially Jimmy. He has gone through many tough obstacles to get where he is today and we wish him nothing but the best for his future. Congrats Jimmy we are all so very proud of you!!

Ouch!

Friday Night Food Porn

Charcoal Grilled Hot Dogs

The unofficial start of summer is here! Memorial Day weekend. We thought the best way to kick off this long weekend was with some grilled hot dogs and toasted buns.

The Wedding

By Kris

After seven years together Mike and I decided to take the plunge and get married. We both agreed on a very small, intimate wedding. My idea of intimate being immediate family, and Mike’s idea of intimate being just him and me. We decided to include our families. We are both blessed to have wonderful, close-knit families. The Eastman’s and the Boisvert’s all know and love each other on a level that not many “in-law” families are lucky enough to experience.

And so the planning began. We wanted to keep everything as simple as possible. Simple to us was…yes, you guessed it…a city hall wedding. Methuen City Hall is actually located in the Searles Castle, a wonderful, old and beautiful building with lovely gardens. Even picking the date was simple. We went out for a liquid lunch, took out my date book, opened it to May, closed our eyes and pointed. Thursday, May 15th!! We decided to have a justice of the peace perform our ceremony. We found a great guy named John Cena, who was more than happy to marry us. His fee, however, surprised us. His only request for his services was a Rueben sandwich!! Talk about keeping it simple.

The days leading up to the wedding contained no stress, no bickering over favors or tuxedo’s or invitations. Nope, no bridezilla here. I think our days contained more discussions about chicken practice than anything wedding related.

The day finally arrived. I must admit, I thought it would be just another day. But it wasn’t. It was a festive and joyous day filled with excitement and happiness. The love by those surrounding us was palpable. The ceremony lasted all of three minutes, but our vows were meaningful and there wasn’t a dry eye in the small crowd. The groom kissed his bride, and then led the procession of guests back to our house for a wonderful feast catered by one of our favorite restaurants, Joseph’s Trattoria. We toasted with champagne, fed each other vanilla cake layered with chocolate mousse, drank good beer, and danced and sang the night away. It was the perfect wedding and everything we had hoped for!

Sneak Peak

Kris will be posting a full report on the wedding later on this week. But for now you can check out a few pics that our photographer posted on her blog.

Captured By Jess

Friday Night Food Porn

Pan Seared Veal Chop With a Demi Wine Reduction Served With Gnocchi and Pomodoro

Married?

Nothing To See Here

It's just a normal day here at Lakeside. I'm nursing a small hangover with a pot of coffee, Kris is knitting, and Maggie is napping by her side. Oh, by the way, we're getting married tonight...

Friday Night Food Porn

Pulled Beef Brisket Sandwich

My favorite BBQ meals always seem to be from leftovers. On the day that I cook BBQ I rarely enjoy it. I'm not sure why that is, but I have heard others say the same thing. Last weekend was no different. I smoked a brisket all night long, Kris and I sliced the flat and did a mock presentation. We did everything just how we would do it for a competition and, as usual, I didn't care for it. Sure, my friends and family loved it, but they were drinking heavily that day so I can't go by them. That night I went to bed thinking about changing my brisket recipe.

Kris called me Monday to see if I wanted leftover brisket for dinner, I unenthusiastically said sure. I got home from work, pulled the brisket, and reheated it in the oven. I piled it high on a bulkie roll, added some pickles, and served it with some Utz Extra Dark Pretzels. It ended up being a damn good sandwich. Looks like were not changing anything.

Try this beer

Magic Hat HI.P.A

Today in New England is a perfect spring day; 65 degrees and sunny. A great day to be outside drinking some good beer, and that's just what I'm doing. Magic Hat HI.P.A is out in stores right now. It's their spring offering and will be gone soon, so I would suggest getting some real quick. It's a big IPA that weighs in at 6.8% alcohol and has a great hop profile from the aroma to the finish.

Best Time of The Day

Watching night turn into day has always been one of my favorite times. It's not as much fun here, at home, as it is on the circuit. Right now at home, Kris is sleeping, Maggie is sleeping, and all is well with the brisket. But on the circuit it's different. It's the time my beer is replaced by coffee. It's the excitement that the turn ins are only a few hours away. It's time to start checking the meats and see how they did overnight. But, by far, the best part is the people watching. Some people have stayed up all night drinking and are still partying. Some people seem to be extremely busy with all type of things to do. Some people are crawling out of their tents, RVs, cars, and trucks. It's the time of the day you'll most likely find me walking around the sites, taking pictures, talking to people, and wishing all the teams good luck.

Damn, I can't wait to get back out there.
40 days until Peters Pond.

Friday Night Food Porn

Spicy Moho Marinated Grilled Chicken With an Orange Glaze

I'm not a big fan of chicken breast, I find it very boring. I'm also not a big fan of heart disease and high cholesterol so I know I can't always eat pork ribs and brisket. So every once and a while some chicken breast and a salad finds it's way on to my table. Here's the recipe:

Spicy Moho Marinade

16 oz. fresh orange juice
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons of dried oregano
Juice from 1 lemon
Mix together the above ingredients then whisk in
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. I used split breast bone in.
Marinate the chicken overnight.

Sear the chicken on both sides over high heat, then move the chicken away from direct heat and finish cooking indirectly. Glaze the chicken with orange glaze every 5-10 minutes throughout the cooking process.

Orange glaze

Mince a small red onion and saute with with 2 tablespoons of butter
Add 2 cups of orange juice and simmer
Reduce by half, this should take about 15-20 minutes
Whisk in 2 tablespoons of honey

Brisket Practice This Weekend

I just got back from my butcher with this 14.7 pound brisket. It's going into the smoker late Saturday night and should be ready for an early dinner on Sunday. I'll be cooking this exactly how we do our competition brisket. It will be some much needed practice for us since we haven't done brisket all winter.