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Monday, June 30, 2003
You learn something new every day...
Posted
5:07 PM by Mike
Watching the Food Network special "BBQ Boot Camp" the other day, I picked up a nifty tip from Steven Raichlen, the author of "How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques," and the leader of the comprehensive, three-day course in grilling which was the subject of the show.
One of the students asked the age-old question about whether to grill an item with the lid on or off (or, in the case of a gas grill, raised or lowered). Raichlen said he uses the hand-thickness rule of thumb: If an item, say a steak or chop, is the thickness of your hand or less, cook with the top off (or raised). If it's thicker than your hand, cook with the lid on (or lowered).
I had never heard that rule of thumb before, and it made me want to go out and pick up his "How to Grill" book to see what other nifty tips he has. The "BBQ Boot Camp" special, while pretty much a commercial for the three-day seminar, had a lot of great tips and recipes, although it made me wonder how much more a student gets by actually attending the $2,500-per-couple weekend.
Friday, June 20, 2003
How did we ever live in the kitchen without ...
Posted
10:19 AM by Mike
This is, I'm sure, going to be an ongoing list (and I have a feeling Rick will have his own contributions):
• Squeeze-anything (squeeze ketchup, squeeze jelly, squeeze mayo, now squeeze peanut butter, etc.)
• Those wavy, plastic taco holders
• Floor mops with built-in squirt guns that shoot the floor cleaner out with a pull of the trigger (although any kid whose mom ever made him mop the kitchen floor invented this device years ago)
• Zip-lock bags that have real zippers - those sliding zipper handles
• Salad spinners
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Joining the wise men
Posted
4:58 PM by Rick
You simply need to make a couple of quick cuts on something you're cooking. Your cutting board is dirty. Your dining room table is soooo close... Take it from a preacher or a married man, whichever seems more significant: DO NOT give in to temptation. Yes, I strayed in the past, but now I've returned to the fold.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Real men don't make summer salad
Posted
7:46 AM by Mike
Well, OK, I guess we do. In fact, the kind of salad I made the other night is one of my favorite meals to make, not so much because of the ease but because of the creativity.
I wanted to make a simple pasta salad, with bits of chicken stirred in. This was a quicky meal, to be made sort of on the run as I came home late from work. Because of this, I didn't have time to marinate the chicken, and I would be serving this straight out of the bowl after mixing, without time for the dressing to set. A salad like this really should sit for a couple of hours, if not overnight, in the fridge. Still, it turned out great and there was plenty left to take to work for lunch the next day.
The fun thing about making this meal was zooming through the aisles at my favorite Wal-Mart Super Center, just grabbing things off the shelves as they hit my fancy. ("Ooooh! Capers!") Here's the funny thing: I stopped at the section where they sold those pasta salads in a box - the anti-FoodDork approach - and scanned the box covers for ideas ("Olives! I didn't think of olives!").
The backbone of this salad is a good rotini, my favorite noodle (it sounds like something the Jawas would say in "Star Wars": "Rotini!"). This Wal-Mart no longer carries my favorite brand, Ronzoni, so I picked up Skinner instead.
In my sprint through the aisles, I grabbed a can of mushroom pieces (I didn't have time to prep fresh ones), a can of chopped black olives (although the store brand can that I bought should have been labeled "Pulverized Olives"), a jar of pimientos and the capers. At home, I already had a jar of artichoke hearts.
I quickly defrosted three chicken breasts in the microwave (this was a big bowl of salad) and started the noodles. Had I the time, I would have grilled the chicken breasts, but instead I did a simple searing in a skillet with no marinade, only salt and pepper.
Once the noodles were cooked, I built the dressing directly on the noodles, not on the side. First I poured on some olive oil, then added some balsamic vinegar. I wasn't quite happy with that taste, so I added some red wine vinegar. (Is it proper to mix vinegars? Uncouth? Is it dangerous? Could I have blown myself up? Oh, well.) Closer to the taste I wanted. I probably could have skipped the balsamic.
Then I broke apart some artichoke hearts, and even poured in some of the pickling juice from the jar. In went the pimientos, some olives, the mushrooms and some capers. I had wanted to add some chopped, fresh green and red bell peppers, but my daughter doesn't like peppers (she doesn't know pimientos are peppers), and I didn't want to watch her digging them out of her salad. Maybe some other time, when I prepare this for a picnic or something.
Also, in my rush, I didn't add as many herbs as I probably should have. All of the flavor came from the dressing and the components, which was great, but the right herbs could have been just the kick it needed.
The next time, I'll also add some sweet corn and perhaps something for some crunch, like chow mein noodles or celery.
Family's verdict (except for my son, who was out of town): Excellent. Keep it on the menu.
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
O great wizard, give me courage.
Posted
1:45 PM by Rick
Yes, I wimped out. I just used the honey, in which the peppers have been soaking since May 28th, in a BBQ recipe. If you noticed that I was using jalapeno and serrano peppers and checked the list for how hot those peppers are, you may have wondered at my bravery. Sad to say, when the honey became diluted in the recipe, I was left with no heat at all in the sauce. My wife, who cannot stand any pepper heat at all, enjoyed the food. Today I intend to buy habanero peppers (check the list) to soak in honey and in a few weeks we'll see who can stand the sauce!! Until then this recipe was good and is listed as the favorite of the National Honey Board.
1 can (10 & 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
Combine ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. I added salt and some spices and would have liked it more if it had been thicker. Maybe adding a little cornstarch??
From Mike: Rick, with what type of meat did you serve this, by the way?
From Rick: I used boneless chicken breasts (good) and boneless pork steaks (better). The recipe is technically a baste, runnier than a sauce and used to keep meat moist when it is being smoked and cooked all day. Hence the idea that thickening it up might turn it into a sauce and give more flavor when grilling.
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Get 'em while they're hot!
Posted
3:16 PM by Rick
Even as I type, I have had three peppers (two jalapeno and one serrano) soaking in a jar of honey for the past eleven days. After another 5 to 10 days I'll pull the peppers and use the honey in a BBQ sauce. I'll let you know how that goes! I got the idea from another great BBQ book, Barbecue America: A Pilgrimage In Search of America's Best Barbecue by Rick Browne and Jack Bettridge. They also list the Scoville Heat Units for a variety of peppers. The unit is determined by adding water to the oil of the pepper until heat can no longer be tasted, so, for example, the Habanero pepper may require 300,000 times as much water as pepper oil to dilute the heat! Here's the list they give:
Habanero or Scotch Bonnet - 200,000 to 300,000
African Bird's-Eye 150,000
Chiltecpin (Round) 70,000
Tabasco 30,000 to 50,000
Chilipiquin (Long) 40,000
Cayenne 35,000
Serrano 10,000 to 25,000
Jalapeno 3,500 to 7,000
Poblano 2,500 to 3,000
Anaheim 1,000 to 1,500
Bell Peppers, Pimientos 0
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Grilling blasphemy?
Posted
7:42 AM by Mike
Bought a new grill last week. The old Weber 20-inch was caught in a storm and had fallen into disrepair; I had to chuck it. The new one, however, was not a Weber. What is it about Weber that makes you feel guilty if you don't buy one? Certainly other companies make fine grills, but there's something about that Weber brand that has gotten a grip on the grilling constituency of the world.
Anyway, the new one is a 22-inch Thermos brand, and I'm very happy. It's of solid construction, and has two utility shelves that raise and lower as you need them. It also has one of those nifty ash-catchers underneath the lower bowl that you can remove and dump with ease. Also, it has one of my favorite features from Weber, a hook on the underside of the lid so you can hang it on the grill without having to set it down somewhere dirty. Except, the hook on the Thermos is double-sided, so it doesn't matter how you're holding the lid; either side can hang.
Sears had this model on sale, so I was able to buy it and a chimney starter for the same price they were asking for a Weber 22-inch alone.
About that chimney starter: I had never used one before, always being a lighter fluid guy. But once I saw them used on TV (on Alton Brown's "Good Eats"), I had to give one a try. It's great; I hope to never go back to lighter fluid again. Of course, when you pick up the grey coals, it's like you're lifting a small steel furnace, so you'd better have more-than-adequate hand protection. Also, you'd better have a suitable, safe place on which to set it once you dump the coals. This thing is EXTREMELY HOT, and if you set it in the wrong place, you run the risk of setting something on fire, conducting heat where you don't want it or burning the dickens out of yourself or one of your guests. I put a handy cinder block out in the yard and set the hot starter on that to cool.
Also, I'm happy to report that the local Wal-Mart has begun selling lump charcoal, said to be much better -- and hotter -- than simple briquettes.
I hope to be grilling much more this year than I have in summers past. Also, now that I've embarked on the FoodDork Project, I hope to be grilling a greater variety of things than I have in the past. Certainly there will be the requisite burgers and dogs, but there also will be more cuts of meat, veggies and other goodies.
In honor of my grill, my sister recently presented me with a nice, new BBQ set she picked up at Linens and Things. Now, it's time to get cooking. In fact, there's a cookout this weekend.
From Rick: As my mind's eye settles on the old cooking comrade, the now rusted yet still faithful-in-heart Weber, bearing the stains and wounds of many a season of sauces embattled and heat endured, at last laid low, not in the glory of red-hot fires but standing alone in the freezing rain, I cringe at it's being "chucked." Ah, if oration fail, to shed a tear and offer a toast! Surely would not be too much to ask!
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