Heavy Pickle

When I ask for heavy pickle at work, I am treated with this kind of
respect.

Is there such a thing as '"leftover bacon?"

After a hard grub of bacon and eggs on a recent rough business Sunday, I was left with some extra bacon in the fridge come supper time.

Soy and Garlic clove marinated steaks a la Foreman Grille was on the menu, and a lightbulb popped over my head, or was it that my Spidey sense went off?

The urge to "Double Up" was strong!

"I''ma wrap this steak in the bacon", my internal and external dialogue screamed, loudly.

The side is some chicken Rice-A-Roni with fresh string beans.

Standard loaf of french bread to soak up the delicious beef and pork juices from the plate.

 

Old man drops sage advise about marketing, vodka, and hot dogs on a plate to Fat Friend.

This series is indeed a major situation. This episode is Hard Grubbin centric for sure.

I will leave it up to the reader to delve more into the world of Dr. Tran.

Actually, here's one more HG related animation:

Surprise Party Meatball Surprise (Abington Edition)

Rob straight hard grubbin' at my Dad's birthday party.

What's he's got going on here is a singular meatball, floating in a sea of
marinara and melted cheese for the nachos.

Chrissy opted for the lighter fare.

Straight Hard Grubbin' on a spicy beef noodle soup...

Straight Hard Grubbin' on Spicy Beef Noodles

With the current economic situation out there, I can't see myself droppin' some cash out at the restaurant, Papa Johns, or IHOP every damn day. Occasionally, after a day at work, I pop over to my Stop & Shop (I have a card on my keychain...official). Tonight I went and found me some strip steak, about 3/4 lb. Went over to the veggies, copped 1 red bell pepper, and a big stalk of broccoli. At this point I am pretty sure I am getting into a stir-fry situation. What troubles me is that I am seriously out of soy sauce at home, and the ancient bottle of mushroom soy sauce at the crib is mad sketchy. I hadn't bothered to grab a basket, so this is going to have to be quick. I dip on over to the Asian food aisle and get the rest of the ingredients. My mind is flowing with possibilities over here. All manners of sauce, stir-fry sauce, sesame oil, ect. are in front of me. "Slow your roll..." I quietly tell myself, drooling.

"We're gonna need this...















some of this..




















and most definitely...some of these!"




















I know this is 'American Chinese Food', and I am OK with that, considering that I'm the chef tonight. I'm also going to cheat a bit to make this into more of a soup. I don't feel guilty about getting all Rachel Ray on this recipe!

At the house I get out two cutting boards, one for the veggies, one for the protein. First, finely chop 2 cloves garlic, and pop into a (med-high heat) hot wok with 2 tbs. of oil (olive, sesame,
or vegetable). Brown the garlic and sprinkle red pepper flakes or powder into the hot oil.

Turn heat to medium. Slice your strip steak, or buy the stir fry beef from the market, and place in the hot oil, about 3 minutes each side, or until both sides are cooked.


While the meat is sizzlin', chop up the red pepper into cubes, and your broccoli to a desired size.
Add to wok, with 2 tbs. of stir fry sauce or 1 tbs soy sauce. Cook veggies and meat for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.

Open up those cans of mushrooms and water chestnuts! Drain both cans. This time, I chopped the water chestnuts to about half size, but I don't think I needed to in hind sight. Add to stir fry.

Oh, wait...what about these chilis from last week?
Slice as desired, and for less heat, ditch the seeds (HG recommends seeds!)

Return heat to medium-high and simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Remove wok from heat.


I bought a hot and sour rice noodle ramen bowl at the market as well.

No shame in saving some time here! There may have been a better alternative, but I wanted a meal closer to soup and more exciting than the standard stir fry. I boiled water and emptied the spice pack and sesame oil packet, and waited 3 minutes for the noodles to soften.

Serve in a bowl, meat and veggies first. Top with broth and noodles from the ramen. Top generously with Chow Mein noodles, insert chopsticks and HUZZAH. Enjoy. Serves two.

Blah-Damn




UPDATE: Leftover Lunchin' It:

Beans, cold, out of the can

I hope this panel makes it to the movie.

This is Hard Grubbin.

Nite Owl (left) and Rorschach Hard Grubbin'.

Makers Mark / Sierra Mist at home.

For the taste of it.
I just made Chrissy take us to get soda...

I followed this up with another and one of these:

Turkey tips at Brighton Beer Garden

The main meal was good, sweet BBQ and marinate on this reasonably
priced bar food. Fresh salad and veggies. Simple American fare, great
place to go with your family of some pals for tips, burgers and cheap
drafts. I got a $4.50 draft Magners in a 20 oz. glass.

Hard Grubbin. Big Fish.

Fried haddock fish and chips from Zuzu (Special)

Niani recommended I go for the mixed vegetables along with the chips. I hear tell that this is just the regualar fried chicken batter at Zuzu. Chips were best out of that kitchen that I've had in a while. The whitefish was light and fresh. I added some salt (a bad habit, I know) and lemon
for the whole traditional meal. This was my work meal, but believe me, I had a Stella Artois and a Knob Creek neat soon after, as a digestif.

I had a long commiseration about how delicious this meal was with a kind Zuzu waitress.

I danced well into the evening at SOLID! with Flave, Jessica, Chrissy, Rob, and Mike until I decided to turn my attention to the ladies (and Red Bull vodkas).

Will "Hard Grubbin'" be the new 'Hanger That?'
Well, this meal and my night gets an overwhelming 'H-G'.