Hazy Memories From Memorial Day

I am currently sitting on my couch trying to recall everything that happened last night.  Everything that I can remember involves having a lot of fun.  There are few things in life that I enjoy more than being surrounded by friends, both old and new.  The Bride and I planned on serving three grilled items: Miss Betty's Best-Ever Bratwurst on page 166, Classic Bratwurst With The Works on page 166, and Classic Bacon Cheeseburgers on page 90.  I began by prepping the Bacon Cheeseburgers.

I recently learned an interesting way to cook bacon...in the oven. 

This technique offers a few key advantages.  By starting the bacon in a cold oven the bacon does not curl, so it becomes a lot more manageable.  Second, by placing the bacon on the wire rack the fat drips off and the bacon becomes a little less greasy.  Third, the tray underneath captures the bacon fat, which I used to baste slices of onion that were grilled as a topping for the burgers.  Finally, the bacon is cooked uniformally instead of some pieces being overdone and some being underdone; it also cooks each slice uniformally, so that within the same slice some parts aren't ovedone and other parts underdone. Overall, I really like this technique. 

With the burgers prepped, I moved on to the brats.  Miss Betty's recipe was a big hit, so much so that I didn't get any pictures.  I was also, by this point, involved in a few cocktails, so my focus was lacking, and I'm not referring to the ability to take a clear picture. 

Finally, with the party well underway, I switched to making the Classic Brats.

These were an even bigger hit.  Doctoring up sauerkraut is easy and helps out the flavor tremendously.  What I was surpised at was how many of the guests were upset that they ate the first round of brats without knowing that there would be a second type that had sauerkraut.  I did not anticipate that many people that liked the stuff.  I adore sauerkraut, but I know that it's not for everyone. 

Well into the evening I was "well into the evening" and I only remembered to take a final picture of the Classic Brats. 

As for tasting notes, I would say that everyone enjoyed everything.  The burgers were a big hit, and the bacon was an integral part of it all.  The only problem I had was people stealing and eating the bacon from my prep plate, which is highly understood.  Both styles of brats were successful, but I really preferred the Classic Bratwurst With The Works, and I think the guests would agree. 

For my final thoughts, I would like to take the time to thank a couple of people for their help.  Tom, who is one of my favorite people on the planet, can always be counted on for help, no matter the request.  He is someone to always look up to, and not just because he is tall.  EJ, who I hadn't seen in forever, kept berating me until I allowed him to help me, and he was key in lightening my workload by helping me work the grill.  It was quite cool to hang out with him again. 

And finally, I would like to thank Jean for giving me more work to do.  :)  It was her first time over at my house, and as a housewarming gift she brought the following:

I've already started thumbing through it and picking out a few things to try.  I will have to have her and her husband over (in a little more of a controlled setting) and cook something from it for them. 

First Non-Grill Recipe

I won't explain the set of circumstances, but the Bride and I needed margaritas tonight.  We started off with Alton Brown's Margaritas, but then I remembered that The Guide had a recipe.  Being an opportunist, I made the Tie-Breaker Margaritas on page 35.

This recipe was much easier than Alton Brown's, and a lot less time-consuming to make.  In just two minutes or less, you could be enjoying:

What I liked about this is that there is no pre-made mix involved.  They are rediculous as far as sugar is concerned, and lack freshness.  As far as taste, I'll quote The Bride, "Holy ----!"  Upon her second taste, she stated, "Tastes like feet.  Yup!  THAT'S a margarita."  I chuckled at this as I made mine.  I think it tasted fine.  For a quarter cup of tequila per margarita, this was rather smooth and enjoyable.  No feet were detected on my end.  In fact, this was so easy to consume that this could be a rather dangerous drink, because Lord knows that I make such wonderful decisions when drinking tequila.  In all, I liked Alton Brown's recipe more, but I would call it (and The Bride would agree) more of a martini than a margarita, but Weber's recipe is pretty darned good, much easier to multiply out for mass quantities, and great when pressed for time.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

In retrospect, tonight's dinner was a little orange.  Earlier in the week The Bride and I decided to have Oak-Grilled Salmon on page 295, and as part of my diet I am supposed to have sweet potatoes.  As I was thinking about a side tonight, I realized that it had been some time since I had the stuff, so I went ahead and made a big plate of orange food. 

I made the rub, which was rediculously easy to do.  I would actually call it more of a paste, but regardless, it was done in less than two minutes. 

While the rub/paste did its thing, I cleaned the house for an upcoming grill session on Sunday.  When dinner time approached, I made my sweet potatoes and placed them in the oven.  I readied The Forge, and gently wiped the paste off of the salmon.  I had already soaked the oak wood chunks, and so I placed them on the coals.  When I had a good amount of smoke going, I laid on the salmon fillets and removed the sweet potatoes from the oven to cool a bit. 

The Guide suggests that when the salmon is ready to use a spatula to remove the fillets by slipping the spatula in between the flesh and the skin.  The skin should be left behind on the grilling grate.  I was skeptical, but I officially declare it a great method!  The spatula slid right in and the fillets come cleanly off the grill!

I plated dinner and we were ready to eat.

As you can see, there was a fair amount of orange on the plate.  Oh well.  I'll sum up the salmon by quoting The Bride, "This is one of my favorites!" in reference to all that I have done thus far with The Guide.  Neither The Bride or I have been particularly known to be "salmon people" but this was absolutely fantastic!  The texture, seasoning, moisture, smokiness, etc. all worked in amazing harmony.  I devoured mine.  The sweet potatoes, for the record, were roasted with garlic, shallots, olive oil, and Herbs du Provence, which give a nice balance of sweet and savory.  I still, however, cannot get over just how much I enjoyed the Oak-Grilled Salmon.  This will be repeated over and over, and will probably work its way onto a guest's plate at some point in time.

PVC And Presentation

The Bride and I had decided on Honey-Soy Ahi With Crisp Cucumber Salad on page 304.  I stopped by the Hyde Park Fish Market because I had always been treated so well there.  I told the monger that I needed two ahi tuna steaks, six ounces each and one and a half inches thick.  As he was cutting them, he told me that if I wanted them to be six ounces, he would need to cut them thinner.  Not thinking too much on the matter, I responded that I was more concerned with weight than thickness.  All of my other cooking experience has been more focused on weight than volume, whether it's baking, roasting, braising, stewing, etc.  This would come back to bite me in the butt...more on that later. 

As I started the marinade, I began thinking about my decision at the Fish Market.  Knowing that I would be grilling high and fast for only about a minute and a half per side, leaving the outside of the tuna steaks seared and the middle raw, thickness would be a primary concern, not weight.  This would work better with a thicker steak.  Thus, I should have gone with the one and a half inch thick steaks, regardless of weight.  As I went to put the steaks in the ziploc bag with the marinade, I noticed another problem.  The fish monger cut the steaks into drastically different thicknesses.

I hadn't counted on this, and didn't even bother checking while at the store.  I was probably looking at something shiny instead.  Again, it was my mistake for not checking, and will be a lesson learned.  Looking at the steaks, it is also readily apparent that they are far too thin for what I wanted to do.  At this point I was committed, so I proceeded anyway.  I marinated them, and made the cucumber salad while I waited.  I got The Forge to about 9,000 degrees, and seared them for about a minute and fifteen seconds per side.

Side note...I really wanted to try Alton Brown's method but for the sake of consistancy, I followed directions provided by Weber.  Skip to the five minute mark to see what I am talking about.

Before I show the final plating, allow me to show you a tip I picked up as far as presentation is concerned.  One trick the restaurant industry uses is to go "vertical" with the presentation.  They use metal rings to stack layers of food, and then make it look pretty from there.  I looked into the metal rings at various stores, but they were rediculously priced.  Then I read Kitchen Confidental by Anthony Bourdain where he suggested using PVC pipe.  So for about five bucks I was able to make six rings.  Here I am using two of them.

From this point I stuffed the rings with the cucumber salad. 

Then I placed the tuna steaks on top!

I liked this recipe.  Next time it will be much better because I will make sure that all of the tuna steaks are of the proper thickness.  The outsides were seared wonderfully, but the insides were a little too far from raw like they were supposed to be.  The marinade is nice and imparts a great amount of  flavor in only half an hour.  The pairing of the cucumber salad makes the overall dish slightly spicy, tangy, sweet, and refreshing all at once.  There is a nice variety of textures as well.  I would like to give this recipe another try (with steaks of the correct thickness) before I give the final analysis.

Tapenade 'o The Mornin' To Ya!

The Bride and I have planned our meals for the week, and I needed to make chicken for my salads that I have to pack for lunch and dinner tomorrow.  I wanted something more than a rub, and something that would be interesting in a salad.  The final constraint was that The Bride and I weren't going to go grocery shopping until four in the afternoon, so I couldn't use something that needed to marinade for more than four or five hours.  That landed me on Chicken Breasts With Tapenade on page 245. 

I made the tapenade and from that I made the marinade.  I reserved the remaining tapenade and put the chicken in the fridge.  The best way I have found to marinade is to use gallon-sized Ziploc bags.

Four hours later I started the coals, and followed the directions for direct and then indirect grilling.  Half an hour later, after helping The Bride put up her newly painted shutters, I pulled the chicken from The Forge.

I wanted to make sure that the chicken was cooked all the way through, and I was also really impatient.  Turns out, it was all good!

Finally, I carved two of the breasts for my salads, plated some for The Bride and I, and bagged the remaining meat for more leftovers.

Overall I liked the dish.  It will work well in my salads, in which I have included flaked Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, currants, and a red wine vinaigrette.  I'm not sure if I would use the recipe again, but it was still pretty good.  I mentioned earlier that I'm hesitant around olives, but the tapenade was delicious.  The marinade by itself isn't enough, the chicken really needs the tapenade that was reserved.  I thank Weber for teaching more more about grilling chicken and helping me cook outside my box, but this one won't be a repeated recipe. 

Simple Swordfish - Simple Post

The last planned meal of the week for The Bride and I was Swordfish Steaks With Puttanesca Sauce on page 287.  I cannot recall ever having puttanesca sauce, although I see it often in restaurants.  I've just never ordered it.  The Bride picked up the steaks early this morning while I was at work, and I made a quick run to the store in the late afternoon for the rest.  Most of the ingredients, however, I had on hand.  I was even able to use my fresh thyme from my garden!  No more paying three or four bucks every time I want fresh herbs.

The sauce was made first, and after I completed my mise en place it took no more than ten minutes.  While the sauce was simmering, I prepared The Forge and the steaks.  Once the coals were ready, the steaks went on, and nine to ten minutes later I announced to The Bride that we were ready.

It turns out that I like puttanesca sauce...at least Weber's.  I will be more open to ordering it at restaurants from now on.  I've never been a fan of olives, and certainly not anchovies.  This is probably why I've refrained from this dish in dining establishments.  However, this recipe has broadened my horizons, and I thank Weber for that.  I probably would have enjoyed this meal more if I hadn't eaten it in under two minutes.  I missed lunch today, and was REALLY hungry.  With some tinkering, I might even say that this recipe is company-worthy.  Tomorrow The Bride and I will plan next week's meals, and I am highly excited about this summer when I can tackle some of the more time-consuming recipes. 

Gettin' All Atkins On Ya

Last Sunday The Bride and I planned to have our red meat on Friday night.  I got home from school, sat on the couch, and bade the world good-bye for a bit.  When The Bride got home around 7:30, I figured I would throw the recipe for Bacon-Mushroom Beef Rolls on page 96 together.  I was wrong.  I really should have read the recipe more thoroughly when I got home.  This was going to be a two to three hour experience.  Such is life.  :)

As you can see from the picture, this had a massive amount of ingredients.  I decided that if I was going to do this, I would do this right.  A few weeks ago I was in IKEA and picked up several prep bowls for a buck a bowl.  This has been another great move on my behalf. 

I have become a fan of a term the French use called mise en place.  The basic meaning is "everything in its place."  I did all of my prep work before moving forward, which made the cooking process all the easier.  This way I was not measuring or cutting while cooking.  In short, it made it fun.  Some people read books, watch TV, or exercise to decompress from a stressful day or week.  I prep food.

The burger making process was simple from this point forward.  The directions were to form the rolls and then refrigerate them for at least an hour.

From here I had to make the sauce, but first the prep and mise en place!

With the sauce complete, I fired up The Forge and set on the rolls once the coals were ready.  After eight minutes, The Bride and I had dinner!

The "burgers" were delicious!  I would use this mixture for regular burgers any day you want and twice on Sunday.  Weber did it again with this concoction.  The sauce was just okay by itself.  It basically tasted like red wine-based ketchup.  Although I cooked it longer than recommended, the tomato sauce and tomato paste still had that raw taste that made it a little unpleasant.  I was apprehensive about using it, but the sauce really complemented the beef roll.  When The Bride asked for seconds, she requested more sauce than what I had previously given her.  Finally, I liked the lettuce wrap aspect of the recipe.  It's a fun way to cut carbs, and the lettuce provided a nice texture change from the beef roll.  All in all, I like this recipe a lot, and when I use it again I will allocate more time.  Eating at 10:00 at night doesn't bother me, but I realize that this would make some people upset. 

Ground Rule Double

I'll keep this short and sweet...I needed to precook some pork chops as I have to pack both lunch and dinner for tomorrow. I took care of the Classic Bone-In Pork Chops in the rookie section on page 34, and I also incorporated the Mustard Seed Dry Rub on page 54. 

Here I've made the rub using my spice grinder and shaker that I displayed in an earlier post.  At this point I'm just waiting on the coals.

So after twelve minutes on the grill, we're done!

On the whole this will serve me well for the next couple of meals.  To this point, I have been thoroughly pleased with the rubs I have come across in this book.  I would even use the analogy that they have all been Home Runs.  This one, however, I will give a grade of Ground Rule Double.  It's good, and I think it would be even better on fish, but it pales in comparison to the other rubs I have used thus far.  That's all for tonight!

Got My Bride Back

Okay, I know...The Bride came back a few days ago.  This meal was MADE a few days ago.  However, that night the batteries in my camera died and I was unable to retrieve the pictures. Today on my way home from school I actually remembered to stop by the store for more, and so here we go!

There were two determining factors that night.  First, I wanted steak.  I had been following my diet, and it was time for some cow.  Second, The Bride had just come back from France where she had been served steak with a rocquefort sauce.  She was eager to try this herself, so we divided the work so that I would cook the steak and side, and she would work on the sauce and the fondu (she was in the mood for this as well).  I wanted to keep things simple, so I went with Simple Steaks on page 32, and Roasted Artichokes on page 332.  First, a trip to the store and the prep:

The artichokes were going to take over half an hour, so while they were doing their thing on the grill, The Bride made the fondu as an appetizer.

T'was good!  The wine we used was a little old, which was a lesson for next time.  Still, there is something just fundamentally right with eating melted cheese.   While we noshed on this treat, the steaks were thrown on the grill, The Bride made the rocquefort sauce, and we were ready to eat!

We opened a bottle that The Bride brought back from France, and delved in.  The sauce was enlightening.  The Bride, I think, has missed her calling as a saucier.  She is truly gifted in that department.  The steaks were cooked perfectly, and the artichokes were as well.  With the next series of pictures, I will demonstrate how to each an artichoke!

First, pluck off a leaf.

Second, use your teeth to scrape off the fleshy bit at the base of the leaf.

Finally, return the rest of the leaf to your discard pile!

Between weather and lack of free time, I may not grill until this weekend.  That sucks.  Again, I had a lot of fun having an accompanying chef.  I will send out an open invitation again to anyone who wants to partake in this adventure with me.  You pick the recipe, we cook it up! 

 

All Alone Ribs

Looking at the weather forecast for the upcoming week, today might be the last time for a while before I can grill again.  I wanted something a little different, and as I browsed through The Guide this morning, the section on ribs caught my attention.  I settled on one of the easier-looking (read: less involved) recipes...Everybody's Favorite "Dry" Ribs on page 163. 

On a side note, The Bride and I are planning a trip to Memphis this summer with the intention of settling a long-debated topic in the BBQ world: wet or dry ribs.  I personally enjoy both, and am really looking forward to settling this arguement for myself.

The first thing to do was to prep the ribs.  I actually had all of the ingredients except for the ribs themselves.  This was another selling feature when picking out today's recipe.

The key step in any proper rib preparation is the rub.  As a tip that I am actually comfortable giving people when it comes to cooking, one of the best $10 investments you can make for your kitchen is a dedicated spice grinder.  The following picture shows how the rub looks before and after going for a whirl.

After that, probably one of the best $1 investments is the shaker.  I've used this for many applications, whether grilling/smoking, roasting, or baking.

Before applying the rub, I drew on my prior experience with ribs.  Over the last four years I've cooked my fair share of ribs in my smoker (bestest gift ever from The Bride), and learned early the incredible value of removing the membrane under the ribs.  Many restaurants forgo this step, and it shows when you eat it.  Leaving the membrane on only allows the rub to penetrate one side of the ribs, so you only get half of the flavor.  Removing the membrane takes only seconds, and is very easy to do.

All that was left was to shake on the rub!

The hard part was creating medium indirect heat in such a small area of the grill as the two slabs took up over two-thirds of the grilling surface.  I didn't want the undersides to burn, but I had a difficult time keeping the amount of coals I needed in a small pile off to the side.  On top of that, the recipe called for soaked hickory chunks which only added to the mass under the grilling grate.  Two hours later, I had ribs!

In the latter hour of grilling I also made my own double-fried french fries, because they are glorious. 

All told, this was an awesome way to cook ribs.  The preparation is minimal, the maintenance is minimal, and yet the flavor is maximized.  No sauce is necessary!  The rub is really interesting.  I never would have imagined that putting fennel seeds in a BBQ rub would work, yet it does.  It adds a neat fragrance that melds into the overall flavor during the grill time.  The meat was moist and pulled off the bone nicely, and the texture was excellent.  There was enough smoke flavor to make it interesting, but was nowhere near my smoked ribs.  Overall, this is a great recipe to have on hand when you need ribs in less than three hours!