Anyone cooking this weekend?

I love me some deviled eggs(probably no doubt not good for lowering my cholesterol). Friday, can't remember what I ate. Probably had beer for dinner. Beer is food, you know. Yeah. Last night I made Chinese, kind of a Kung Pao thing, w/ hot chili oil. Hot stuff. I bought two slabs of Baby Back ribs, they'll go on the Komado Joe ceramic grill/smoker..soon. I should get cracking. Should have already dry rubbed. Bummer it's raining, but the smoker is under a canopy. I think I might halve a peeled apple and smoke it for a while. Use it as part of the base for a BBQ sauce in the food processor. Pork chops n apple sauce, heh, W. C. Fields. Maybe just on one slab with the apple. Corn on the cob rolled in butter seasoned w/ Old Bay seasoning. Maybe sliced cucumber. Deviled eggs sound good. Added awesomeness, a little hot sauce on top, they go good with beer. Beer, 3 days in a row, is that considered a binge? Oh what the hell, it's a holiday weekend.
 
Correction, Kamado Joe. Auto correct wanted Komodo, I only changed one o to an a.

Yeah, had to run out to the market. I spied country (salt cured) ham chunks. It got me to thinking, Collards! Ribs just went on, maybe a little later than intended, but that's alright. Should be ready about 8-8:30 @ around 250 degrees. I know it when I see it. Will put the collards on to simmer about 6ish. Was out of eggs, picked up an 18 pack. Eggs have gone down in cost, good.

I love the Kamado Joe, ceramic egg shaped deal. It holds a consistent temperature really well. Really well, and consistent. Once you get it right you can walk away for hours, no worries. My only complaint is the size of the cooking area. I have the big one, but not the really big one. I think the really big one is around 2 grand. I was barely able to get those 2 slabs of ribs on there. Man that thing was something to move/transport when we relocated. Weighs a ton. Figured it wasn't safe to transport in the stand, so took the egg out. It was like a couple hundred pound bowling ball I had to strap in extra tight. If that thing has broken loose it would have demolished that U-Haul, maybe even broken through the walls and out into the road, Humpty Dumpty style.

Ribs are going to be awesome. I'ma get hammered. Heh.
 
I haven't started drinking. Yet. I'll head down for a screwdriver here shortly.

I've been due for a new gas grill for a while now - but still considering the Egg or one of it's competitors instead of gas. I'll definitely check out the KJ. I've been rolling with both a large and small Weber for several years now - I've really enjoyed re-discovering charcoal - have we talked about this? Anyhoozle - I've been using an electric smoker for a while - but I'm interested in pellet smoking now. Been researching a little. I've got natural gas valved off where my grill goes on the back patio - so I'm seriously considering getting one of those gas grill/pellet-smoker combo dealios.

Anyway - the FIL picked up our ribs earlier this week (they live just down the street from us). So we went down and grabbed those last nigh, got up this morning to prep and get the rub on, broke the sealed rack package open to find a god-awful stank. :facepalm: These things were f'n rank. So the wife started wrapping those up for proper disposal - and off to the meat counter I went - got lucky and came home quick with some premium baby backs. I'm in my fourth hour now - just added the apple juice to the trays and sealed those suckers. I'll pull 'em off paint 'em with BBQ sauce here in about 90 minutes - then back on for about an hour. Yum. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Playing in the stooge between cooking duties. Gotta get that new RNDI broken in. Playing bass is fun!:-)

Anyway - cheers er'one. Enjoy!
 
I've considered a gas grill, for convenience, but all I have is the 36" Blackstone flat top griddle, which is fun and can feed a crowd, and the KJ. Years ago I had several grills at one time, each serving a purpose. The wife is not a fan of the obsession and utilization of space. I have to say she has convinced me, it's just too much, looks like a damn junk yard or something. The KJ is pretty cool in that it has an inner rack, place the half moon grates on the lower for searing things such as steaks, the upper for slower cooking. For low and slow, cooking upper rack, there are 2 half moon ceramic or clay plates you can place on the lower rack between the coals and the meat. Sort of indirect cooking. I think the outter shell is steel, painted. But it is lined with ceramic on the inside. Once the ceramic heats it holds it really well. The entire thing is really heavy, sitting in a base with wheels. It's nice, they are kind of expensive. The cooking surface is not as big as I would like sometimes. I've also found that the depth, if you're cooking say only 2 steaks the coals are too far away from the grate even in the lower rack for good searing. I like my steak burnt on the outside, still kicking on the inside. I have to add a lot of wood charcoal to achieve that combination. It's kind of a waste, although you can close the vents and use the remainder of the coals next steak time. Speaking of venting, it is pretty air tight, no leaks that could mess with control of the burn. Lid seals well, hit the gas vent on the bottom, hit the brake vent on the top. A little getting to know with time and use, those two vents provide consistent control of temperature. All things considered, I recommend. Given the ceramic nature of it, they say you can do a really nice brick fired oven style pizza in it, with the addition of a pizza stone. Have yet to test for that purpose.
 
I’m making someone else cook. ;)

Local supermarket does fabulous Tri Tip. Outside cooker, they cook stuff 7 days a week! Tri tip, beef and pork ribs, grilled chicken, burgers, dogs. They do it all.
 
I got pretty loose last night. Screwdrivers led to wine.... in then the high end scotch came out.:drunk: But man.... did we have fun. Good times.
 
When I worked for a construction project, most of the workers were hunters. They had a BBQ, and someone smoked an elk steak. Best piece of meat I ever had. I've gone to a few restaurants that have elk stew and other assorted cut up types of elk. I finally found a store that sells elk steaks. $50 a piece. Karen BBQ'd it over charcoal. Perfection. If you've never tried it, it does not taste like beef or even venison. Elk has a distinct after taste that's worth the extra money.

I also bought alligator meat from the same shop. I fried it up with oil, butter and garlic, really good. I still have half. I'm going to make some pasta to put it over.
 
Snowman999 said:
When I worked for a construction project, most of the workers were hunters. They had a BBQ, and someone smoked an elk steak. Best piece of meat I ever had. I've gone to a few restaurants that have elk stew and other assorted cut up types of elk. I finally found a store that sells elk steaks. $50 a piece. Karen BBQ'd it over charcoal. Perfection. If you've never tried it, it does not taste like beef or even venison. Elk has a distinct after taste that's worth the extra money.

I also bought alligator meat from the same shop. I fried it up with oil, butter and garlic, really good. I still have half. I'm going to make some pasta to put it over.
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Uh, I made beef stew in the crock pot. Not quite as exotic, but tasty. :-)

Bonus points*** It’s something my picky ass 13yo will eat. ;)
 
Mick Doobie said:
I love me some deviled eggs(probably no doubt not good for lowering my cholesterol). . .
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About 19 years ago I had a hankerin' for some deviled eggs, so I cooked a dozen and made a batch. I had a couple specialized trays to hold the eggs, which I loaded up, wrapped in plastic and toted off to work with me the next day. I neither brought nor bought any other food for lunch that day, I just sat down in the lunch room with a tray of eggs and started munching.

About 20 minutes in, the General Manager walked through, looked over at me, looked at my eggs and asked if that was all I was eating. I replied yes. He asked, "The whole tray?". I said yes. He looked at my eggs, shook his head slowly and walked away.
 
There's something magical about the aroma of a kitchen bustling with delicious creations. Whether you're whipping up a family favorite or trying out a new recipe, it's all about the joy of bringing people together through food. Personally, I'm diving into a savory pasta dish that never fails to impress. And hey, if you're ever in need of culinary inspiration, check out mklibrary.com – it's a treasure trove of delicious ideas! Now, let's keep the conversation cooking: what's your go-to weekend dish? Share your flavor-packed favorites!
 
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I will be cooking corn for fermenting so I can distill it :) I like to make Gin. My stuff is very organic. Field corn, some amylase and botanical for a little hint of flavor.
 
I've been considering a slab of pork belly. My nephew did it here one day. Meh, it was alright, im thinking maybe a tad overdone. He goes a little overboard sometimes being creative. "Everybody's so creative!" I gave it half-assed attempt once. Meh, it was okay. I like the idea of it, execution the key, I suppose. I reckon I could use a thermometer, but when is it done?! Certainly not when you've rendered all/most of the fat. What are you left with when done? Mostly or at least 50% fat, and not all of it crispy, like bacon.

I've got one in the freezer. I've got all kinds of stuff in the freezer I should cook before it's in there too long, pork belly, brisket, venison,...and about my favorite, flat iron steak. Whether on the grill or just as good in a cast iron pan, seasoned and cut right, hard to beat it.
 
I was cooking for an old friend tonight. We've not seen her for a few years and as she's in the area - I said come to ours and I'll cook. This morning she texted to say brilliant see you at 6 - you remembered I'm vegan, but does dairy and fish? Funny kind of vegan. My usual choices are therefore out of the window! SO stop this talk of BBQ and beef and pork, because that is not on the menu. I wish!
 
rob aylestone said:
I was cooking for an old friend tonight. We've not seen her for a few years and as she's in the area - I said come to ours and I'll cook. This morning she texted to say brilliant see you at 6 - you remembered I'm vegan, but does dairy and fish? Funny kind of vegan. My usual choices are therefore out of the window! SO stop this talk of BBQ and beef and pork, because that is not on the menu. I wish!
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I call that more of a "I don't eat red meat" kind of thing.
 
Funnywo said:
There's something magical about the aroma of a kitchen bustling with delicious creations. Whether you're whipping up a family favorite or trying out a new recipe, it's all about the joy of bringing people together through food. Personally, I'm diving into a savory pasta dish that never fails to impress.
Click to expand...
There's something magical about this post.
 
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