Let It Rest

The standard recommendation in many cookbooks is to let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes after cooking. Yeah right? When you are scurrying to get food on the table, who has that kind of time? Yes, it is true that letting meat rest improves the juiciness and rounds out the temperature/doneness of the meat, but in the heat of the moment that step quite often gets lost.

Would your average dinner party guest pick up the difference between meat that has rested versus meat that has not? Probably not. Your average guest is usually grateful to be served and has less than a discerning palate. I love my buddy Joe Chaudoin. He is always appreciative of any and everything I serve. We once had a roast chicken served family style and someone asked him to pass a piece of dark meat. He got this puzzled look on his face and said chicken is chicken. Joe has a twin brother Ray that is as big, and as big an eater as Joe. They grew up competing for that last piece of chicken. Who cared whether it was white or dark meat. They certainly wouldn’t have noticed if it has rested.

My nephew Jimmy is a very good cook and a firm believer in letting meat rest. He has reminded me several times that I need to let a piece of steak rest. (He probably doesn’t know I have had a book published). Jimmy needs to know that every time I rush something to a table of hungry guests, I think of him. He is right that letting meat rest makes it better.

My favorite Jimmy story goes back to a Thanksgiving when I char roasted a ham. Jimmy kept telling me that my ham on the grill was burning and I kept telling him it was supposed to. Boy was he shocked when he tasted my ham with subtle char notes. I can still see in my mind the picture Jim and his bother Mike fighting over the last pieces of burnt ends after dinner.

Through this pandemic, we need to cut each other some slack. We need to let it rest. The fact that everything and everyone is split along political lines doesn’t make life any easier. The truth is that nothing I say (or write) is going to change anyone’s mind. Everyone has already decided who they are going to vote for. Everyone has their own definition of what is safe and appropriate behavior. We need to let it rest!

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The “New Normal” Or The Real Normal

Does anyone else hate the expression the New Normal? Yes, it is true that our lives have changed with the pandemic. And yes, our lives will be different for a while, and slightly different forever. But, if history has any lessons, things will return to a Real Normal eventually.

My friend Tuvi in Israel wrote me recently asking how things are going. He had probably noticed that my blogs based on socializing over a meal with friends had gone quiet. I gave Tuvi an update that reflected some of the challenges we are all facing. He responded with, in Israel we have an expression:

“We survived the Pharaoh, so this we can overcome!”

I could just hear my friend Tuvi’s voice and see the sly smile on his face. Tuvi has not been wrong about many things. On this one, he is certainly right.

We did get together with friends this week for appetizers and drinks. Yes, we met outside. The O’Connor’s have the perfect backyard. The well-spaced group included new and old friends. The menu called for appetizers and a visit to Costco dictated my offering. If you ever see PEACHES FROM CALIFORNIA at Costco you have to buy them. There is nothing better than the prefect peach and nothing worse than a bad peach. When Costco has peaches from California you are in for a treat.

My recipe for Steak and Peach Bites is always a hit when it combines the perfect peach and a nicely grilled steak. The sweet chili sauce is a wonderful complement.

Check out the recipe.

It was one of those evenings that went on a lot longer than planned. The company was great The food and wine were great. More than anything else, the evening reminded me that we all miss getting together with friends over a meal. We all miss the real normal. If 2020 has taught us anything, we have all learned that it is important to value how good we have it. That realization is the real normal

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

The Rosemary Bush

Grill/Roasting a chicken on a bed of rosemary is one of our favorite dishes. Finding a sufficient supply of rosemary can be a problem. If you have to buy rosemary at the supermarket it can be expensive. If you know where to find an old bush of rosemary you are all set.

Grill Roasted Chicken Video

Here is the recipe

I wandered by my old office the other day and the rosemary that had once been part of a small herb garden is now a huge rosemary bush. The copious amount of rosemary is enough to roast a flock of chickens or skewer a truck load of appetizers.

The empty parking lot brought back a funny memory. One morning I pulled into the lot early and found a crane operator setting up his crane to lift a very large HVAC unit onto to the roof of the facility. Very close to the crane was the BMW Roadster that belonged to Andreas Schauffler our chief financial officer. Andreas was a native of Germany and not known for his sense of humor. Actually, he once admitted to me that his wife had accused him of not having one. Being a former finance guy, I always had sympathy for Andreas. I remember once walking into the office back in my early days at Maxwell House where I was a financial analyst with my boss Vince Summa the controller and him telling me: “You have to remember that we are the fiduciaries of the company and Fiduche to our friends”.

As I walked into KFI that morning with the crane and the BMW there I couldn’t help myself. I went to the crane operator and laughingly asked what it would cost me to have the BMW put on the roof as a joke. To which he replied with a smile: “A lot less than you might think”. As luck would have it, just as I was having this conversation, Nancy Webb, who worked for Herr Schauffler, pulled into the parking lot, and I asked her if she wanted to kick in $50 to have Andreas’s prized Roadster put on the roof. She explained to me, with a frightened look on her face, that it wasn’t a great idea and she wanted no part of it. Of course, I chickened out.

Fast forward to today and the good news is that I cut off a branch of rosemary to roast a chicken with tonight and If you are ever in Memphis and need rosemary, I can tell you where to go.