James is a professional chef and food purchaser so you can imagine that whenever we meet we have fun making meals together. This is a good thing since these days the restaurants are closed except for carry-outs.
On our first day James takes us to Shamorck Foodservice, a restaurant supply warehouse which is also open to the public. We purchase such staples as a half-gallon of heavy cream, 5 lbs of finely shredded cheese and a three pound bag of frozen peas. Normal-sized packages of other products are also added to our cart. A trip to Walmart and the local butcher helps us round out the household items and groceries we need to get us started for our three week stay.
Our Airbnb has a great four-burner gas grill in the backyard and we use it five or six nights a week. We fire it up for steaks, boneless chicken thighs, sausages, ribs, bone-in chicken, hamburgers and other assorted meats and vegetables. Nothing like throwing slabs of meat on a hot grate to bring family togetherness!
For several months William has wanted to make spaghetti sauce starting from fresh tomatoes. This a perfect opportunity. On our second Monday in town James is working as William and I make our way to Save a Lot, which is fondly known in the area as the Mexican grocery store. We pick out 21 pounds of Roma tomatoes, then make our way to the meat counter. Most of the signs are in Spanish and they have interesting cuts in the case, including tripe and tongue. I feel like I’m back in Central or South America as the clerk hands me my ground beef packaged in a pink plastic bag. Ah, fond memories.
On our first day James takes us to Shamorck Foodservice, a restaurant supply warehouse which is also open to the public. We purchase such staples as a half-gallon of heavy cream, 5 lbs of finely shredded cheese and a three pound bag of frozen peas. Normal-sized packages of other products are also added to our cart. A trip to Walmart and the local butcher helps us round out the household items and groceries we need to get us started for our three week stay.
Our Airbnb has a great four-burner gas grill in the backyard and we use it five or six nights a week. We fire it up for steaks, boneless chicken thighs, sausages, ribs, bone-in chicken, hamburgers and other assorted meats and vegetables. Nothing like throwing slabs of meat on a hot grate to bring family togetherness!
For several months William has wanted to make spaghetti sauce starting from fresh tomatoes. This a perfect opportunity. On our second Monday in town James is working as William and I make our way to Save a Lot, which is fondly known in the area as the Mexican grocery store. We pick out 21 pounds of Roma tomatoes, then make our way to the meat counter. Most of the signs are in Spanish and they have interesting cuts in the case, including tripe and tongue. I feel like I’m back in Central or South America as the clerk hands me my ground beef packaged in a pink plastic bag. Ah, fond memories.
Tuesday after breakfast William and James get started. I volunteer to be the photographer and dishwasher. They blanch the tomatoes, peel them, pull the bulk of the seeds and start them pots cooking on the stove. Once the tomatoes have cooked down sufficiently James uses a stick blender to smooth the them into a thick sauce which reminds me of thick tomato purée. Meanwhile William has prepared meatballs and Italian sausage. He seasons the sauce, adds the meat and tops the pots with water. Over the next three hours the sauce simmers, thickening and cooking the meat. We manage to do a small amount of exercise, getting out of our chairs to stir every 15 minutes. The evening dinner is penne pasta with the sauce and meatballs, Caesar salad, garlic bread, peas and green beans. Mmmm. The extra sauce is put into vacuum-sealed bags and frozen for future meals.
We decide to have a cookout with friends so we are back to Shamrock Foodservice. James says he can always freeze any excess and use it later. He buys a box of chicken dark quarters. Omg... it’s 40 pounds of thighs and legs! We put 10 quarters into large ziploc bags and store them in the refrigerator for the upcoming cookout. James breaks down the remaining 22 quarters into 44 pieces and puts them into 11 vacuum-seal bags. A great value of restaurant-quality meat at less than $0.70 per pound!
We decide to have a cookout with friends so we are back to Shamrock Foodservice. James says he can always freeze any excess and use it later. He buys a box of chicken dark quarters. Omg... it’s 40 pounds of thighs and legs! We put 10 quarters into large ziploc bags and store them in the refrigerator for the upcoming cookout. James breaks down the remaining 22 quarters into 44 pieces and puts them into 11 vacuum-seal bags. A great value of restaurant-quality meat at less than $0.70 per pound!
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