Tuesday, September 5, 2017

My Record Is Intact!

Everyone around here knows about the Farmers Market on Saturday.  It seems this year they extended it to Saturday AND Sunday.  If you happen by mid week however, you will STILL be able to buy the best fruits and vegetables in Oregon.

Open every day, you can taste test everything in the big tent on the boat dock in Florence.  I'm sorry to say I don't have the name of the farm.  You would think being from California, that we would have products just as good.  We do ... the problem is it's all sold to out of State markets.  Unless you know the farmer yourself, you're not getting first quality.  California gets the leftovers and what they import from Mexico.  If you go anywhere and see a sign that says "Fresh from California" ... you're getting the best.

It's a sad state of affairs that we don't have nectarines and white peaches the likes of which you can purchase from this tiny market in Florence.  I've already consumed everything you see here, except for the garlic oil, and I'm heading back for more!!
Too bad I can't use those products to help George.  Remember the panini sandwich that was so good? The next step was to try out the chicken.  I have to admit this is partly my fault, because silly me, I bought a package of "natural" chicken BREASTS (my first mistake).  Naturally fed outside and all that rubbish.
They were so thick, I sliced them longways, then marinated them in teriyaki and pineapple juice, just like the Hawaiian BBQ.  That was my second mistake!!  The meat sucked up the acidy tasting pineapple juice and NOT the teriyaki flavor.  My THIRD mistake was cooking them on the George Foreman Grill.

First off, see that plate thing at the bottom front?  That's to catch the juices that flow from the machine.  I was a little late in getting it placed correctly, so my counter was instantly covered in boiling hot marinade.  It's too bad all those juices don't stay in the meat ... it might have been much better!!

Let me tell you what happens when you put semi cold meat on a screaming hot grill.  It seizes up hard as a rock.  I knew this, but the advertisement said everything comes out juicy and tender.  They lie!!
In four minutes when I smelled something burning, I opened the lid just to check.  The red juices were still flowing, meaning it wasn't done.  I turned them slightly to get those fabulous grill marks.  In another four minutes they were REALLY smelling burnt, so I took them out.  Yup .... burned to a lovely shade of black.  Funny .... the bottom looked fine, it was just the top that burned.

Now for the taste test, which I knew wasn't going to end well.  Honestly, I could barely cut it with my sharpest paring knife.  Just as I suspected, it tasted petty burnt and was tough as my dad's old leather chaps.  I ate white peaches for dinner. 
Not to be wasteful, I let it cool, sharpened my knife and sliced off the burned part, then cut it into thin pieces for a stir fry.  George bombed when it came to chicken.  Maybe it was me, or maybe it was the chicken but you can bet I won't be cooking that again.  Maybe I'll try hamburgers next time.  My bad cooking record seems to be intact!!

While it looked like it was foggy for the last two days ... all day long ... it was smoke from the Oregon fires.  So much smoke it burned my eyes.  With absolutely no wind whatsoever, it hung in the air for all to breathe.  Last night a breeze finally came up, clearing out most of the thick air.  It's supposed to be back in the 60's this week.  That bodes well for air quality and kite flying!!




8 comments:

  1. I've found that before igniting the grill I spray Pam on when doing Chicken. We then have full pieces of Chicken to eat rather then crumbs. Maybe it will work the same with George.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. I'll try that Rick ... and maybe turning the meat over once would help too. I'm just not good at this meat cooking thing.

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  2. I know you are a great cook, wha hoppened????

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    1. Hahaha ... Ann that kind of stuff happens to me all the time!! I USED to be a good cook ... I don't know what happened!!

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  3. Isn't that why grocery stores and restaurants have takeout
    Sounds like you went from the refrigerator to the grill no no no cook at room temperature
    Marinated in teriyaki and then a little pineapple on it
    We're going to have to get World famous author Nick Russell to do a special article on you
    We could title it as
    Nancys Hidden 500 food gravesite of the Pacific Northwest




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    1. That's funny Ed .... and yes, I should have let it warm up a bit more. That IS why I eat out so much!

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  4. Day late reading blog...sorry. I have cooked a bunch of Teriyaki Chicken in my lifetime as it was one of the big sellers in the restaurant I worked at for 14 years. IF you put the lid down, it is like pressing the teriyaki right out of the chicken. Better off leaving the lid up, and cook on one side, turn over, cook the other side, turn over and rotate 90 degrees, and finally turn it over for the last side. "SOME" would say that you should rotate, then turn, then rotate...but my years of experience tell me differently. We made our own Teriyaki sauce...I think I have the recipe up in my head somewhere which I can share if you wish, but not out in the open blog.

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    1. Oh for Heavens sake ... why didn't I think of that! You're right ... I should have just used it like a BBQ instead of squishing the juice right out of it!! Thank you Dave!!

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