Don goes to Ireland

In June, 2022, I flew to Ireland, a place I’ve always wanted to go. I spent two weeks exploring the island (and a little bit of Scotland). Initially I’m just going to dump a pile of photos here, and then slowly spend some time building the narrative around the trip. We start with the Delphi Valley, where I spent the first week of my adventure. After Delphi A week in Delphi Valley was wonderful. Now the journey...

Smoked Chicken/Turkey and Pork

I love smoking meat. I usually fire up my smoker once a month to fill my fridge and freezer for the next couple/few weeks. Tonight, I did two turkey legs, three chicken leg quarters, a pork loin and two pork chops. While the lump charcoal heats and the wood chips (apple and a little hickory) soak, I put a rub on the meat. My standard rub is: Garlic powder Onion powder Sea Salt Black Pepper Paprika I don’t use cumin, unless it’s for ribs. I often will mix in some pre-made blend, such as Toni’s Cajun, or Montreal Steak. Depending what I have around. Tonight I used a fair amount of Mrs. Dash. My goal is to usually smoke my meat for 2 hours and then to finish over a low gas grill. If I’m doing a Boston Butt, I start that 4 hours earlier. For this mix, 2 hours and...

Lemon Haddock with Toasted Almonds with Lemon Butter and Parsley.

Tonight’s dinner is a continuation of the exploration of what may be my favorite cookbook of all time, My Wild Atlantic Kitchen, by Irish chef Maura O’Connell Foley, a fellow Kerry Ireland Foley. But this time…I didn’t change (almost) anything. I didn’t have sole, so I used haddock. Flounder would have worked too, I think. I tweaked a few things, but this was mostly from the source. So I give you Lemon Haddock with Toasted Almonds with Lemon Butter and Parsley. But, with Haddock. Ingredients: A couple fillets of a nice white fish. Sole if you have it, but flounder, cod or haddock is good. A cup of flour season with sea salt and fresh crushed black pepper Butter or olive oil, or a mix of both Almond sliversJuice of a lemon A handful of chopped flat leaf parsley...

Chicken with Lime & Lemongrass

Saturday night’s dinner once again is an adaptation of a recipe from My Wild Atlantic Kitchen, a wonderful cookbook I picked up in a small bookstore in Kenmare, Ireland, where the author lives and is a chef. There are several items I didn’t have access to, so I made some substitutions that I’ll note. But the flavor profile, I would like to think, comes pretty close. I also finished the chicken in an air fryer, and not an oven. Ingredients: Chicken Ingredients 3 chicken leg quarters, broken down 2 Tbsp flour Butter Marinade Ingredients 2 Tbsp coriander powder Zest and juice of 2 limes Crushed red pepper flakes 2 Tbsp olive oil 3 Tbsp lemon juice 2 Tbsp ginger Lime syrup ingredients Zest and juice of 3 limes 1 Tbsp agave ½ cup white wine (Substitutions, I used...

Lamb Chops and Cucumber Salad

Sunday Night Dinner. Lamb Chops and Cucumber Salad I live in an interesting place…Colonial Beach. About an hour or so out of the DC area. One good thing is it a small town, but it has limited access to good meat. So on Thursday I went to the Big City (Fredericksburg) to get my driver’s license, and I took my electric cooler with me and filled it up with fish, chicken, beef and…lamb. Thus tonight’s dinner. I love lamb, and I tend to always prepare it the same way. A rack of lamb ribs is heaven, but I’m cooking for myself these days, so while at the Publix, I found a nice package of 4 small lamb chops. Bingo. Lamb Robert is heaven, and a recipe for a crowd…in the future. I bought a cucumber during my trip because…well, Lamb AND Cucumber! My cucumber recipe is...