A friend of mine turned me onto Nuestra Cocina place. You’ll notice my mention of it among the top restaurants in Portland. I just wanted to share a picture of the pork chops I got there. They’re sliced thin and grilled. They come with potato wedges all on a sea of tomatillo salsa. It’s out of this world.
Thank you to everyone who has been writing in. I’ve only been at this a couple of weeks and am amazed at how many people are already looking in.
Safeway is running another one of their loss-leader meat sales. This time it’s whole fryers for 79¢ a pound. With this week’s hot weather, it’s a perfect time to grill up a chicken.
Prep:
Take out a gallon sized Zip-Loc® style bag. Open the bag and turn the zipper inside out so that the bag will stay open. Set aside.
Cut up the chicken. If you are intimidated, or inexperienced, there are lots of videos on YouTube.com showing how to do it. I looked through 10 or so and thought this one was the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_8hCbyBMqc As you cut the chicken up, put the pieces into the storage bag.
Marinade:
Just like with your Thanksgiving turkey, you need a salty marinade/brine. It will make your chicken juicy and flavorful.
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons whiskey (Jim Beam is my choice)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 chipotle pepper – crushed
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
Mix the ingredients up and pour into the bag with the chicken. Remove all of the air and seal. Then squish the chicken around for a minute. Then let rest in the fridge for 1-24 hours.
Grill
The trick to grilling a chicken is that you want it to take 35-45 minutes. You don’t want the chicken to burn but you want it to fully cook. The key is to grill over medium heat and to never leave it alone for more than a few minutes at a time. Most times, when the chicken burns, it does that during the last 15 minutes so figure that you will not leave it alone at that time.
BBQ Baste
The marinade alone will make a great BBQ chicken. I however like a little of my famous BBQ sauce basted onto the chicken during the final 15 minutes on the grill.
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1 small chipotle pepper – finely crushed
1 teaspoon whiskey
Mix this up and brush it onto the chicken
Oh, and one more thing. If you get out a measuring cup or scale or anything else to measure any of the ingredients in this recipe, then it won’t turn out. BBQ Whiskey Chicken is strictly an “eyeball” recipe!
I’ve lived here for most of my life. I thought I knew every nook and cranny of this place. Today though, I walked into the Edelweiss Sausage and Delicatessen for the first time. I turned and asked my wife, how it was that we had missed this little slice of nirvana. Humorously, not 90 seconds later, a guy walks in and sasks his wife how it was they had missed this magical slice of heaven.
I’ll tell you how we missed it. The building is as boring as can be and it sits on a side street, on the east side of the Ross Island Bridge at 3119 SE 12th (at Powell). This non-descript, Soviet-designed building, houses the best delicatessen, this side of Chicago.
The center of the store contains three or four aisles of European imported food… though one entire aisle is devoted to European cookies and candy. On the south wall of the store, there’s a cold case full of cheese. On the north wall, you’ll find German beers and wines. The magic — and I mean magic — is on the back wall. There you will find dozens and dozens of house-smoked salamis, meats and wursts. Don’t know what you want? Ask for a sample. Piled high are things like house-made wieners, countless varieties of salami, smoked beef, smoked pork chops, ribs, bacon. They’ve got bologna, liverwurst, ham, and pastrami. They also have bowls of potato salad and pasta salad.
You can also get lunch here. Today I ordered up a bier sausage on a bun, and I downed it with a German BitBurger bier. On the table were several condiments. I chose horseradish and a rustic mustard.
The woman at the counter said that they were busiest on Saturdays but that’s also the day they put more meat out. They’re closed on Sundays.
This place rocks. You must check it out.
