Kolaches this morning at work (thank you random team that the boss appreciated your work) and a team going-away lunch today at California Pizza Kitchen (yay Thai Chicken Pizza) have left me STUFFED.
Yesterday I found two links that I think will help me greatly on my quest to get a smoker this summer:
National Barbecue News (Forums)
and
Smoking Meat Forums
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Roast Whole Chicken
A couple nights ago I attempted to roast a whole chicken for only the second time in my life (the first being with Kev in college) and once again it turned out well with surprisingly little effort or preparation.The only problem I had was determining when the bird was done. The recipe I followed (for cooking times at least ... I added a cut and juiced lemon to the inside and along with a couple cloves of garlic and a table spoon of rosemary) was from one of my favorite cooks books, The New Best Recipe. The books has tons of recipes along with detailed descriptions of all of the different ways they tried to make the dish before settling on this "best" one. Along with the recipes are lots of side notes about various cooking tools, preparation methods, etc. Its an all around solid cook book, if not a bit heavy.
The book's recipe called for the oven to be preheated to 350 (along with the roasting pan) and then to add the bird, one wing side up on a V-rack in the center of the oven. After 15 minutes, adjust the bird so that the other wing side is up. After another 15 minutes increase the temperature to 450 and turn the bird breast side up. It said to cook until the meat was 160/165 in various areas of the bird (~25 minutes). This was supposed to result in a not-dried-out bird with a good crispy skin.
Well the skin was crispy and a beautiful golden brown .... but the meat was a fair bit cooler and after removing the bird and doing a test cut, was not done all the way through. After 20-30 minutes more at various temperatures, it was done, still not too dry and very tasty.
Other than taking longer than expected, it was great and really simple.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I have decided to take up smoking
of the BBQ variety.
I mentioned to my dad the other day that I was considering getting a smoker this summer, but wasn't sure how often I would use it nor anything really about them. He mentioned that he had thought the same thing for several years but had failed to pull the trigger. So, we decided that this summer, things were gonna change.
Only problem is, we still don't know much about smokers. A very brief google search turned up numerous providers building several different kinds of smokers. We don't need or want something huge (ideally something that could be transported in a car/truck assuming it was semi-clean) but there are many choices along the way (e.g. style, size, fuel, etc). On first glance I am leaning toward an electric or gas model b/c it seems like unless you going to have a large smoker and do logs, the fuel isn't providing any flavor, just heat to the wood chips. And while I don't mind tending a fire, I have other things I would prefer doing.
I mentioned to my dad the other day that I was considering getting a smoker this summer, but wasn't sure how often I would use it nor anything really about them. He mentioned that he had thought the same thing for several years but had failed to pull the trigger. So, we decided that this summer, things were gonna change.
Only problem is, we still don't know much about smokers. A very brief google search turned up numerous providers building several different kinds of smokers. We don't need or want something huge (ideally something that could be transported in a car/truck assuming it was semi-clean) but there are many choices along the way (e.g. style, size, fuel, etc). On first glance I am leaning toward an electric or gas model b/c it seems like unless you going to have a large smoker and do logs, the fuel isn't providing any flavor, just heat to the wood chips. And while I don't mind tending a fire, I have other things I would prefer doing.
Anyone have any experience with smokers,
and would like to share your thoughts?
and would like to share your thoughts?
Quick and Dirty Hummus
The other night I wanted a snack between meals and remembered we had a can of chick peas (garbanzo beans) in the pantry left over from another dish. From this a very rustic, fairly tasty, and moderately quick hummus was born....
After a quick glance at a online hummus recipe to get me in the ballpark I gathered the ingredients I could find and got mixing. First, I had to find a substitute for Tahini paste (which Trader Joe's also doesn't carry). I toasted a few tablespoons of sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat and added them to our small food processor along with a couple teaspoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper and a couple drops of toasted sesame oil. After some grinding, the paste was a rough equivalent.
I added to that some more olive oil, a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, the can of drained chick peas, a couple cloves of minced garlic and some seasoning. I attempted to blend this into a nice hummusy paste, but being a very small food processor and there being a lot of ingredients ... this didn't work out so well. I ended up doing it in batches which worked ok, but made it hard to get a real good smooth texture.
In the end, the result was really good for my first try. Pita bread or something similar would have been better than the generic crackers we had on hand, but they weren't bad. The hummus had some decent flavor and was pretty close to the stuff you can get in a good restaurant. If I could have gotten the consistency better, I would have said it was easily better than 90% of store bought stuff and probably better for you.
After a quick glance at a online hummus recipe to get me in the ballpark I gathered the ingredients I could find and got mixing. First, I had to find a substitute for Tahini paste (which Trader Joe's also doesn't carry). I toasted a few tablespoons of sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat and added them to our small food processor along with a couple teaspoons of olive oil, some salt and pepper and a couple drops of toasted sesame oil. After some grinding, the paste was a rough equivalent.
I added to that some more olive oil, a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, the can of drained chick peas, a couple cloves of minced garlic and some seasoning. I attempted to blend this into a nice hummusy paste, but being a very small food processor and there being a lot of ingredients ... this didn't work out so well. I ended up doing it in batches which worked ok, but made it hard to get a real good smooth texture.
In the end, the result was really good for my first try. Pita bread or something similar would have been better than the generic crackers we had on hand, but they weren't bad. The hummus had some decent flavor and was pretty close to the stuff you can get in a good restaurant. If I could have gotten the consistency better, I would have said it was easily better than 90% of store bought stuff and probably better for you.
Fish Fry #2 - A MORE Sacred Heart
This past Friday, Em and I got our weekly fish-fix at the Most Sacred Heart Catholic Church Fish Fry in Eureka (yes, they really are the most ... way more sacred heart than our parish).
My one word review? Wow.
They had their act together. Firstly, there was a line of cars trying to get into the parking lot (usually the sign of good or slow fish fry). The only menu choice was between a small and large plate (small being one server, large being all-you-can eat) but at $6/$9 very reasonable. They made up the plates as you walked up (no side choices) which was great for getting the zillions of people through the line quickly, but left everyone getting the same 3 sides (all good: pasta, coleslaw, and green beans). The fish was tasty, the sides were good, and your dinner included drink, desert and bread.
Me being me, I had to get the all-you-can-eat plate ... but they gave you so much food on your first plate, that I really didn't need a second. I pushed on, however, and got in line for some more fish and coleslaw, but got there in time for them to be in-between fish batches which was drastically slowing up both the eat-in and carry-out lines. I figured I would chalk up my extra $3 dollars as a donation and get back to the table where Em's and my deserts were waiting for me (Em gave up sweets for lent). After a slice of homemade cherry pie and lemon cake ... I was done.
All in all, very good. However, get there early!
(The previous week we ended up going out to a local pub/restaurant for dinner and didn't go to a fish fry)
My one word review? Wow.
They had their act together. Firstly, there was a line of cars trying to get into the parking lot (usually the sign of good or slow fish fry). The only menu choice was between a small and large plate (small being one server, large being all-you-can eat) but at $6/$9 very reasonable. They made up the plates as you walked up (no side choices) which was great for getting the zillions of people through the line quickly, but left everyone getting the same 3 sides (all good: pasta, coleslaw, and green beans). The fish was tasty, the sides were good, and your dinner included drink, desert and bread.
Me being me, I had to get the all-you-can-eat plate ... but they gave you so much food on your first plate, that I really didn't need a second. I pushed on, however, and got in line for some more fish and coleslaw, but got there in time for them to be in-between fish batches which was drastically slowing up both the eat-in and carry-out lines. I figured I would chalk up my extra $3 dollars as a donation and get back to the table where Em's and my deserts were waiting for me (Em gave up sweets for lent). After a slice of homemade cherry pie and lemon cake ... I was done.
All in all, very good. However, get there early!
(The previous week we ended up going out to a local pub/restaurant for dinner and didn't go to a fish fry)
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