For the Blessings of the Garden We Give Thanks to.....

.....The cats. And to the dogs, who protect and keep the cats.

Without whom this bounty would have have been stillborn, consumed by every manner of varmint known to mankind. It is truly a wonder that our forebears were able to survive a week. Eating veggies still warm from the afternoon sun is a luxury.

Easy to make:

• In a cast iron frying pan dribble some olive oil
• Slice yellow crook neck squash in half
• Scoop out the seeds and discard
• Slice bite-size pieces thinly
• Same story for the zucchini
• Slice the onion on an angle (red onion works nicely too)
• Dice a couple of cloves of garlic
• Sprinkle with cayenne pepper to taste
• Add sea salt for crunch and taste
• Saute over medium heat until done to perfection (crispy not soggy)

Serve with mesquite grilled Porterhouse steaks (T-Bone if you're from the mid-west) and roasted corn. My dad loved T-Bone. Uncle Carl was a fan of Porterhouse.

Serve with good red wine.....

Sunset.....

Perfect.

As Ever,

TWC

Comments

[smartass sob]

It's very odd, but that sauteed squash is what I had for dinner, minus the steak - I had breaded and fried Talapia instead. (That's a kind of fish, for you strict meat and potatoes types who may be reading this.) I might have had it grilled, too, but for Tropical Storm Edouard; it's very nice fish either way.

I like Porterhouse steaks, but I prefer a T-bone. The T-bone is flavorful overall, whereas the Porterhouse seems more flavorful on one side of the bone than the other - usually the smaller side. I also prefer the Choice or B grade of beef, but it's getting so the supermarkets seldom have it; it's quite expensive when they do. Mostly all one sees anymore is the "Select" or grade C which is leaner. I put Select in quotes, because that grade used to be called Good; the name has been changed as a marketing ploy. However the fact remains that it is third-rate beef. Still good eating though, but that's because it's steak.

I grill mine over dead branches that fall off the red oak trees around here; the dead branches give a different taste than live, healthy wood - perhaps it's the fungi, lichen, or whatever's growing on them. I like mesquite, too, alright - but it sure doesn't like me. It gives me heartburn everytime. I haven't cooked over charcoal briquettes in twenty years or more; once you try wood you never go back. ;-)
sasob

[Lone Chatelaine]

YUmmMY! I'm coming over! Either to your house or Sasob's, but either way, I want some of those veggies and that grilling! I miss grilling. I'm not too good with fire.

"Eating veggies still warm from the afternoon sun is a luxury."

You are blessed indeed, TWC.

[TWC]

I like Porterhouse steaks, but I prefer a T-bone. The T-bone is flavorful overall, whereas the Porterhouse seems more flavorful on one side of the bone than the other - usually the smaller side.

That's cuz the smaller side is the Filet. Porterhouse is cut from the back end of the tenderloin area and the t-bone from the front. They are very similar cuts but the Porterhouse has a larger filet section. I'm thinking that maybe the t-bone is more flavorful because it may be more tender, because of where it is cut from.

I'd bet dimes to donuts those terms (t-bone & Porterhouse) are frequently interchanged at the supermarket without a second thought.

the name has been changed as a marketing ploy

I don't even think USDA even recognizes the term 'select' as a grade for meat.

I was looking for an old LA AM radio MP3 from the 1960's a couple of years ago (Robert W Morgan, 93 KHJ) and when I found the snippet it also had a Safeway ad in it. And I quote.....

Safeway's meat is 100% USDA Choice, every day.

About the only place besides a first rate butcher shop that you can get Choice meat is at Sams or Costco.

I still use charcoal but eventually my mesquite trees will be big enough that I can make the conversion. Right now I use mostly charcoal with big chunks of mesquite from my trees. I've got a good stockpile but if I used it 100% it'd be gone in a month or two. We grill 3-5 times a week.

I've used dead branches from this huge live oak tree (tree is bigger than the house) at a little house I rent out but I didn't care for the taste it imparted. Maybe I'll try it again and see what happens.

[TWC]

Well, come on over LC, bring some of that Beringer Knights Valley. We'll make a party.

For years it was next to impossible to have a garden here but now we have enough cats and dogs to keep many of the varmints away.

The rats were so determined. Get this: I made upside down cones out of steel flashing to put around the trunks of the peach trees to keep the rats out. The little bass turds literally chewed the steel until enough of it was gone that they could climb past the inverted cone of steel that was keeping them from decimating the fruit.

You are blessed indeed, TWC.

Thanks, ma'am, you're sweet. Happy to see you around here.

[Jeff]

YUmmMY! I'm coming over!

Me Too. Steaks look righteously good, man.

[TWC]

Thanks Jeff.

Come on by, the more the merrier.

[smartass sob]

I don't even think USDA even recognizes the term 'select' as a grade for meat.

I just saw an ad in the newspaper today for USDA Select T-bones at $4.99 per pound. I don't know for sure if USDA actually recognizes the term, but apparently the stores do. But as I say, it was once grade Good. From my "A" school in the Navy I recall the grades for beef went from grade A or Prime through B or Choice, to C or Good. Enlisted personel almost always got grade C. There were additional lower grades such as Utility and Cutter and Canner.

Safeway's meat is 100% USDA Choice, every day.

Yeah, I remember those days. Once upon a time that was about all any of the stores carried - that or Prime. I still find Choice occasionally, but it's more often marketed as Angus Pride, Heavy Beef or something. Heavy supposedly means that the steers are allowed to grow longer and put on more weight and marbling.

I've used dead branches from this huge live oak tree

In California that's probably going to be California Live Oak. One book I have places that in the White Oak Group as an evergreen. I don't know how that would work out for you. The oaks I use are in the Black Oak Group and include Black, Red, Scarlet, and Pin Oak among others. They make acorns every two years instead of one, but they none of them grow on the west coast. I have tried ordinary White Oak for cooking, but it didn't seem to have much flavor at all. It makes great firewood and charcoal though.

You have your own Mesquite trees you're growing for cooking wood? That's pretty cool. The stuff grows wild about thirty miles from me, but it's still not all that cheap to buy.

sasob

[TWC]

Bingo, Ca Live Oak it is. There are several sub species. I am pretty sure it's a Coastal Live Oak and it is evergreen. It's a good 80 feet with a three foot trunk.

We have some native oaks in the foothills that are called Black Oak and Red Oak, but they may not be the same species as grows in Tx and points east.

Looks like USDA Select has become an actual grade and, as you said, replaced 'Good'.

My kid is sold on Angus burgers. Talk about brand name recognition. :-) Can't convince him that he may run across some variation in quality.

You have your own Mesquite trees you're growing for cooking wood? That's pretty cool.

Well, not exactly for cooking (although that entered into the decision to plant them), that's just a huge benefit. I happen to like Mesquite Trees but they aren't native here.

However, they adapt very well. I have a good size one out front that makes a good garden tree because of the lacy texture of the leaves. Lets in some sun but keeps the intensity manageable. Like you, we get a lot of sun. I've got a couple other good size Mesquites and some babies that I'm nursing along.

As I trim and snip the trees I collect up the wood. Not as easy on young ones because they have thorns. I cut it into chunks with the chain saw or a table saw.

The other thing is that it doesn't take much to smoke your meal. A lot of times I just throw some green cuttings on the coals. Snip a thin branch into 4 inch sections. Green burns slow and smokes a lot.

The leaves are worse than bad for that though. They'll ruin your food. Stinky.

One really strange sniglet of the universe is that Mesquites are native on the dry side of the Hawaiian Islands. Startled the heck out of me the first time I saw them. I was thinking, WTF? Those are mesquite trees. This is Hawaii. Disconnect.

They're the typical scraggly looking things you see in Arizona and Tx. Some large, some not.

[Iguana]

Whoa! On a week night? ;-)

Looks delicious.

[TWC]

Thanks Iggy, it was. Delicious that is.