I wanted to try making a tri-tip roast. This is what I picked up at Fry's:

Here are the instructions from the back:

For the dry rub I took about half a teaspoon of black peppercorns and ground them in a mortar. Then I mixed about the same amount of salt in. Added some garlic powder and sprinkled in some ground chipotle. I rubbed it all over the roast. Popped it into the oven at 425° for 10 minutes, then 300° for 35 minutes since I didn't have a digital thermometer to check the temp.

This three pounder needed more like 50 minutes at 300°. The onions really didn't cook enough to become sweet at the low temperature.

The raw flavor of the peppercorns was a bit too much. Next time use a smaller amount of preground pepper.

The meat itself turned out quite decently.

The other day I bought a pork loin at Fry's. The instructions on the back, IIRC, was to bake it at 350° for 90 minutes. I did so on a pyrex baking dish over a bed of onions. It turned out great. Tender, moist, tasty. I was astonished it could be so good. It affirmed the idea that pork is the easiest and most versatile meat.

I'm trying to return to a mostly animal product diet, but really I don't know much about just buying chunks of meat, so today at Food City I purchased some think beef chuck steaks. The package came with three thin-sliced steaks. I prepared one by broiling it for seven minutes in the oven on a broiler pan. I lightly sprinkled it with salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Came out pretty decent. The meat is not particularly tender, but certainly sliced as thin as it was that was no problem. I attach the label below so I can remember what I bought.

Once again I'm returning to a recipe I found at Simply Recipes. Here's today's variation.

Ingredients

• Two 27-oz cans of El Mexicano canned whole tomatillos
• Garlic, 8 cloves
• Pork shoulder, 2 lbs
• Olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• Chicken stock, 2.5 cups
• One cup of diced, canned green chiles
• 1.5 tsp of oregano
• Salt, pepper

Procedure

1. Cut pork into chunks. Salt and pepper generously. Brown in small batches in Dutch oven with olive oil. Put aside.
2. Broil five unpeeled cloves of garlic. Remove from oven. Peel.
3. Put chopped onions and three cloves of raw garlic in frying pan. Fry till soft.
4. Drain the cans of tomatillos. Reserve the brine.
5. Put tomatillos through blender with broiled garlic. Pour into Dutch oven. Add meat, chicken stock, oregano and green chiles. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so that it simmers/slow boils uncovered for three hours or until pork is fork tender.
6. As necessary, heat up remaining brine and add to Dutch to maintain liquid. If you cook only three hours, you probably won't need it. If longer, you might.

This is the first green chile experiment I've been really happy with. The secret, it appears, is in the canned tomatillos, which are in a spiced brine that gives a fruity savoriness to the recipe that using fresh tomatillos simply doesn't. The word "brine" is potentially deceptive. It has very little salt, although it tastes as though there is some vinegar in it.

Ingredients

• Chicken breasts, thawed
• Cheap Italian dressing

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°.
2. Pour some dressing on the bottom of the pan.
3. Put the chicken in the pan. Rub it around in the dressing. Turn it over put it in the oven.
4. After 15 minutes turn the chicken.
5. After 15 more minutes remove the chicken.

This is about the easiest way to make bacon ever.

Put separated bacon strips on a broiler pan; you know, one of those things with a removable slotted top. Put in cold oven. Turn oven to 400°F. Set the timer to 20 minutes and walk away. When the timer goes off, pull them out.

Also see video on primal toad.

The original recipe is here.

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs pork
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large onion, chopped

Procedure

1. Put everything in crockpot. Cook on low for ten hours.
2. Remove meat. Shred. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce. Run the sauce through a strainer to remove the peppercorns. Recombine the sauce with the meat.

Results

This turned out okay. Next time I would put the peppercorns in cheese cloth so that they can be removed more easily. The original recipe adds some pepper and salt. I forgot them, but the recipe was quite salty enough as is. It's not my favorite recipe ever, but it is certainly edible.

I'm attempting to make green chile, and I decided on this recipe. You will notice the quantities of chile. It was only after I was half way through chopping the green chiles that I realized they probably meant canned green chiles, not fresh, so this time I'm really doing it quite differently than the author probably intended. So here's today's version.

Ingredients

2 pounds pork, diced
1 cup onion, chopped
14 oz. chicken broth

1½ teaspoons garlic powder
2 ½ tablespoons chicken stock
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
½ tablespoon jalapeno
10 oz. green enchilada sauce
27 oz. green chili, fresh, chopped
8 oz. green chili, fresh, skins sweated off, pureed
1 teaspoon salt
Habanero hot sauce as needed

Procedure

1. Brown pork and drain Add onion & chicken broth (will not cover meat). Simmer 1 hour, stirring often.
2. Add spice mix and a cup of hot water. Add chopped green chiles. Simmer 1 hour stirring often to avoid sticking.
3. Add green enchilada sauce and stir. Simmer ½ hour.
4. Add 8 oz. Green chili, pureed. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Wow, despite my mess up, this turned out great.

Next time definitely use canned chiles. Although the un-roasted, unpeeled green chiles produced a nice flavor, the remaining bits of outer membrane are not ideal for texture.

Pre-marinated pork roasts from Costco are very tasty and super easy to make. Just an hour in the oven. Essentially no prep.

The instructions say to cook it for 35 minutes. That's ridiculous. A single pork loin takes an hour at that temperature.

2015-10-04: I cooked two 2.5 lb Costco tenderloins at once. It took 70 minutes (including opening the oven once to check the doneness). Next time I would cook them for 65 minutes without opening them.

• 3 of those ½ chicken breasts that are so popular, cut into bite sized pieces
• 3 medium onions, chopped smallish
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 can of coconut milk

Brown the chicken in olive oil and remove from frying pan. Add more oil if necessary and saute the onions till soft and sweet over medium heat, stirring as necessary. Add curry powder. Cook a bit, maybe two or three minutes. Add garlic, cook briefly till fragrant. Add coconut milk and salt. When it bubbles, add chicken. Reduce heat bit by bit so it can simmer covered for 15-40 minutes, depending on how soft you want the chicken. Add salt to taste before serving.

This turned out great.

I like the curry powders from India, especially Flower Brand. I like both the mild and the hot. I buy it in an Indian store, but sometimes big Asian stores or local Muslim stores carry it as well.