Corey Steps Outside His Box...WAAAAAAYYYY Outside

Seriously...don't read this post.  When I imposed this project on myself a few months ago, I knew that there was one section of the book that would be a problem.  I had a pretty conservative upbringing - foodwise - as a child.  I was well-fed, and my parents are good cooks, but they never did much other than the usual middle-class American cuisine.  So if you are the same, just don't ready any further and you won't have to read about me cooking up Thumper.

I knew that the Game section of the book would pose some problems.  I have no problem eating duck, bison, quail, and the like.  For whatever reason, though, I have reservations about consuming venison and rabbit.  I decided that instead of saving the worst for the end, I may as well get this over and done with.  I found a place that would sell me one, and I prepared the Rabbit With Romemary-Lime Baste on page 216.

The marinade was the easy part.  I can do marinades.

What I cannot do, I discovered, was butcher a rabbit.  The recipe called for me to cut up the rabbit into six pieces.  What I could not figure out was what exactly the six pieces were supposed to be.   Can you?

I can break down a chicken fairly well: two legs, two thighs, and two breasts.  The rabbit is built a little different.  I could do the two front legs, the two back legs, but how was I supposed to split the torso?  In short, I didn't.  I made five pieces instead of six.  The back two legs were the easiest to figure out.  I made my cut, applied pressure to the joint, and just like a chicken they came apart.  The front two legs required more work, and I removed a rather large thin flap of meat from each figuring it would either burn or dry out.  The torso I trimmed up using the kitchen shears, doing my best to ignore the snapping of the spine as I did so.

Into the marinade they went, and a few hours later they were ready.  I made the basting sauce and readied the grill.

The grilling part was easy.  Weber's directions worked quite well, and if I didn't know is was rabbit, I would say they looked great!

Let's get this straight right now.   Rabbit does NOT taste like chicken.  It was a similar texture, but actually tastes more like turkey.  The hind legs were meatier than the front, and thus less dry.  There really isn't a whole lot to the front legs as far as quality meat.  As much as it pains me to say it, the best meat came from right along the spine on the torso piece.  Succulent, juicy, and something I will probably never eat again.  This recipe is great for people who are less squeamish than myself, but at least I can say I did my best to maintain an open mind and I tried it at least once.  A major obstacle is now out of the way.

Back On The Wagon

Now that a month has gone by since my trip to Memphis, I am finally able to eat ribs again.  I knew that The Bride is still less than keen on the idea, so I had them for an early lunch today while she was at work.  After a quick trip to Findlay Market to acquire ribs, I prepared the Kansas City Style Baby Back Ribs on page 159.

While the ribs were on the grill I made the sauce, which was rather easy.  I actually had all of the ingredients on hand, which was nice.

The recipe called for me to baste the ribs during the last twenty minutes.  The dilema in front of me was which baster to use...over the years I have accumulated a few different types of mops.

The mop on the right was my first mop...it worked okay, but tended to absorb more liquid than it ever distributed.  The thick fibers proved problematic in that regard.  The middle mop has obviously been used the most.  The smaller fibers soaked up less of the fluids, but the sheer matted mess became a problem to clean.  The answer lies in the mop on the left, the metal mop.  When I purchased this at the store, I was concerned that the metal rings wouldn't hold on to the liquids well at all, but it was on closeout for a dollar so I took the risk.  This has paid off in spades.  It holds a surprising amount of liquid, distributes it freely, and retains very little in the long run.  It is wonderfully easy to clean, and as a bonus has the longest reach of the three.  So if you see one, definitely pick one up!  Meanwhile, back at the ranch...here are the ribs before basting.

Here the basting sauce has just been applied.

Here they are twenty minutes later.

Finally, here they are off the grill.

The last thing to do was to split them up and prepare my belly!

The sauce is definitely styled like most Kansas City sauces.  It is slightly sweet, slightly acidic, and rounded well with spices.  Imagine a better version of Open Pit or KC Masterpiece sauce.  I learned in Memphis that I am most certainly a bigger fan of "dry" ribs than sauced, but this was pleasant.  My problem with sauced ribs is the carbon.  Some people like that "char" taste, but I do not.  The sugars in the sauce caramelized like they were supposed to, but I would have preferred they didn't.  Still, the recipe is solid and will emulate this region's style quite well.  Good job, Weber.

Big Ben...Parliament

I had the day off and was eager to hit the small market shops in Findlay Market and Hyde Park Fish Market.  The Bride requested a familiar dish and a risotto for the side.  Risottos are great because you can add just about anything to them to for a change of pace.  I even recall looking at a risotto cookbook a few years ago that contained over 150 diferent recipes.  However, I knew that The Guide had a risotto so it was an easy decision to make.  I shopped for the materials necessary for the Summer Vegetable Risotto on page 341. 

A special thank you is in order to Matt (former guest chef) for sharing a recent allotment of vegetables.  I only had to pick up a few more vegetables from the market to complete the requirements.  My basil plant is starting to look a little picked over now, but I know that in a week or two it will all have grown back.  The directions in the recipe were to begin by soaking the ears of corn, husk and all.  So I filled a bowl and set them in.

 

I noticed a small problem...they floated.  So I improvised and filled a second bowl of water and set that on top.

This kept the ears of corn completely submerged.  While they were soaking, I prepped the remaining vegetables.

While they were grilling, the corn was ready for prep.  I had to pull back the husks while still keeping them attached.  This revealed the silk strands underneath.

They had to go.

The husks needed to be returned and tied up.  The soaked leaves would prevent the kernels from burning during the long grill time required to properly cook the corn.

The other vegetables were ready, so I took them off and replaced them with the corn.

After about twenty-five minutes, the ears of corn came off and smelled sweet and delicious.

I removed the husks and, sure enough, the kernels underneath were perfectly cooked and well preserved.

The best technique I have for removing the kernels is to stand them on end and use your chef's knife to scrape them off.  Be careful to not get too concerned with removing the entire kernel as you might get some of the cob during the cut. 

I cut up the other vegetables, mixed everything together, and my grilled vegetables for my risotto were ready. 

It was now time to clean up the kitchen and prepare my mise en place.

Along with the mise en place is another hint for making risotto: use a second pot to make sure that before you begin that your liquid is hot, just below the boiling point.  Doing so will keep your cooking temperature from dropping as you add the liquid to the risotto.

I added the liquid in one-half cup increments, stirred constantly until the liquid was absorbed, and repeated.  Had my cooking liquid not been preheated, I would have had to have waited for the pot to heat up the liquid first, lenthening my cooking time dramatically.  Instead, this only took about twenty minutes.  I plated and informed The Bride that we were ready for dinner.

Look kids!  It's the Oak Grilled Salmon again!  What can I say, The Bride LOVES that recipe.  This time, to keep things interesting, I ponied up for the Sockeye Salmon.  Sure, it's a few extra bucks per pound, but dear sweet Jesus does it make a difference. 

As for the risotto, it was spot-on.  It reminded me a lot of the ratatouille recipe, which if you recall I was a tremendous fan of.  A risotto is a small commitment of time that rewards the cook with something FAR more interesting than rice.  I love its flexibility and adaptability.  A word of warning with this recipe: add the vegetables a small amount at a time.  Just dumping all of them in at once might tip your vegetable to risotto ratio unfavorably.  Just add a small bit, stir, and then decide whether or not to add more.  Make this to your liking!  Also, if you are cooking for just two, cut this recipe in half.  The Bride and I have leftover risotto for the week.

Summer Sammich

Continuing with the "light and fresh" theme today, I selected the Ultimate Summer Sandwich on page 248.  This sandwich uses grilled chicken breast, pesto, goat cheese, and arugula.  The Bride had actually purchased some turkey tenderloins, so I used these instead of chicken breast.  In either case, it works.  Naturally, the first step was to gather every ingredient together.

What I was eager about most was the pesto.  Like yesterday's grill session, I was able to use fresh basil from my garden.  We are approaching my favorite time of year where fresh produce is abundant and rediculously better than store-bought items.

After making the rub and setting the loins in the fridge for a few hours, I started on the pesto.  I've watched my fair share of The Food Network and now it's partner, The Cooking Channel.  Frequently the chefs/hosts use a blender to make their pesto.  I figured I would give it a shot.  I measured the ingredients into the blender:

I gave it a whirl, and even like the TV people I drizzled the oil into the hole at the top of the blender:

In short, it didn't work.  I resorted to my old stand-by, the immersion blender.  It pureed the pesto beautifully, whereas the blender tossed the mixture to the sides and the blades just spun uselessly.  I then mixed in the cheese and my pesto was ready.

While the loins were on the grill ("getting happy" as Emeril would say), I prepped the sammich.  The first step was to bifurcate the baguette.

Next I applied the pesto to one half and the goat cheese to the other.

The next layers were the arugula and the red onion (I forgot to take a picture of the red onion layer, but you get the idea).

The loins came off the grill and looked rather nice.  The rub had worked well, and the grill marks were noticeable.

I sliced them up and put them on the sammich.

I finally put the two halves together and was ready to plate.

I'll say this...the sandwich was good.  I'll also say this...the sandwich was nowhere near "ultimate."  I am perfectly willing to step up and take some of the blame, I used a day-old baguette.  This made for some slighly tough chewing.  Otherwise, the sandwich delivered what was promised...it was "summertimey" and light.  I thoroughly enjoyed using the fresh ingredients and the fact that I ate half of what you saw and didn't feel bloated by the time I was done.  The ingredients married well and all complemented each other.  I felt a slight need for a dressing, but then again, that could have been from the slightly stale bread.  Even still, the sandwich was not what I would call "ultimate."   It was good, but to throw around a word like "ultimate," you had better be bringing your A game.  Pesto, chicken breast, goat cheese, and arugula - at least to me - does not constitute an A game.  Lobster is bringing your A game.  Kobe beef is bringing your A game.  Chicken breast is not.  So thank you, Weber, for a very nice summer sandwich.  But, unfortunately, I cannot call this "ultimate."  

Margherita, Not Margarita

The Bride and I wanted something "fresh and light" for dinner tonight, so an easy solution was to try Pizza Margherita on page 337, which required the Pizza Dough recipe on page 339.  I have enough bread-making experience to know what would help pull the dough together.  Thus, I gathered my ingredients:

The dough worked well, I formed a boule, tossed it in a light coat of oil, covered it with plastic wrap, and figured on about an hour and a half for it to rise. 

With the weather being what it is, I knew that the dough would not rise well downstairs.  The AC is on max which creates a cooler climate and (perhaps even worse) circulating air.  Yeast prefers a warmer climate with still air.  The solution was to move the bowl upstairs to the third floor where the temperature is about twenty to twenty-five degrees warmer than the downstairs and the air is completely still.  In short, this worked well, and the yeast was ready in about an hour and fifteen minutes.

I was ready to gather my ingredients for the pizza margherita.

Pizza margherita is all about VERY simple red, green, and white, representing the colors of the Italian flag.  The pizza is usually sauceless, opting for freshly cut tomotoes (red), freshly torn  - never cut as it leads to black edges - basil (green), and a light coating of mozzarella cheese (white).  I prepped the mixture and then readied the dough. 

I oiled one side and placed this side down on the grill, covered the grill, and waited until I could just begin to smell the dough cooking.  The yeast will go into overdrive at this point, and this causes massive bubbles to form.  I pinched the bubbles to deflate them, and pulled the dough off the grill.  Below is how each side looked, the side that was down and grilled, and the side that was facing up that was bubbled:

The next step was the put the toppings on the grilled side, and to then place the bubbly side down on the grill.  Weber suggested to put the pizzas on direct medium heat for four to six minutes.  I was apprehensive about this in a big way.  The first side had toasted itself in about one minute.  I knew that grilling the other side for four to six minutes would probably burn the bottoms.  However, only one minute would not warm the toppings, let alone melt the cheese.  I scattered the coals to create low direct heat, and gave the first two pizzas a whirl.  Still, after only two and a half minutes, I could smell burning.  The toppings looked okay:

but the bottom clearly was unedible:

I needed a new strategy.  I decided to boot Weber's instructions and moved ALL of the coals as far to one side as possible and placed the second batch of pizzas as far to the other side of the grill as I could and went with indirect medium heat.  This worked.  After about six minutes they smelled delicious.

The bottoms of the pizzas were perfectly golden brown and not charred at all.  I really liked this dish, especially after the modification of instructions.  This recipe provided The Bride and I with exactly what we wanted: something light and fresh.  The dough was well-seasoned, airy, and crisp.  The tomato and basil were in excellent harmony, with neither ingredient dominating the other.  For the mozarella I made a minor substitution.  I've done grilled pizzas in the past on my gas grill where I used a smoked mozzarella with terrific results.  This tradition continued in today's meal and it continues to be a wonderful idea.  I highly encourage everyone else to do the same.