col klink

Meat photos will be coming shortly -- until then, enjoy these pics of Friday night's dinner at Chef Joe's: intro course of prosciutto with fig confit (and something else) on crostini with balsamic vinegar and truffle oil. spicey seafood soup with mussles, shrimp and some other seafood. Pear sorbet with mint. This was a palette cleanser. Main course of philo wrapped salmon and mushrooms with asparagus and carrots in a sauce I can't remember. Dessert - peaches and German ultra stabilized whipped cream (with which alcohol?) Mrs. Alex, Alex with tiara and Lady T Lady T with Tiara Alex, Mrs. Alex, Maggie and Lady T The table is rapt with Mrs. Guajolote's story.

Nope. Just salt, pepper and smoke. It was all about the beef. I'd post some pics, but they're still uploading.

Guajolote, one of my favorite sandwiches to make with leftover smoked lamb is to carmelize some onions with some fresh hot peppers (red jalepenos are my cherished peppers) and when they're ready, briefly toss in thinly sliced lamb. Deglaze with dry and sweet vermouth, reduce and add butter. Throw the whole lot over a toasted hoagie and you're in heaven.

Not to worry, that's why they invented blackmail. The first rash of pics are coming soon . . . By the way, Heartlanders kick some serious ass. Hmm, ass -- I'm thinking we should think about smoking some (pork) ass up for New Year's.

I just want to give a special shout out to Guajolote, the spatchcock-master. No longer am I spatchcockless, I am now a spatchcocker. Damn, they're easy. By the way, Nero says that roasted cauliflower doesn't taste like pee. Where'd my side car go?

We've just found out that Dean doesn't know what he's doing. The Wine Clip was install UP SIDE DOWN. Thus clearly making the wine taste more like shit than necessary. From the instructions: "For most wines, the best results come from facing the black arrow toward the opening of the bottle. However, depending on your taste and the type of wine you are treating, you may find facing the arrow down has a more desirable effect."

Damn, I'm getting giddy. I am also looking forward to tomorrow's game. This has been one helluva post-season. Well, until tonight.

I can bring some extra knives, cutting boards and bowls as well. We can't have enough! Besides, my cutting boards are piggies.

Can we watch the Cub's World Series game instead (Destiny not withstanding)? Actually, if the Cubs don't make it to the World Series blame me and Dusty. Right after the top of the 7th, the announcers mentioned that the Cubs only have six more outs until the World Series at which point (Cubs were up 3-0) I mentioned to my wife that Dusty Baker was only 6 outs away from a WS victory with the Giants and lost it all. I hope I'm not right! By the way, the Cubs-Marlins game is now over, Cubs loose 8-3.

My Kisag is from Williams Sonoma (wedding gift), and it doesn't have a screw-down charger mechanism. There's a plastic holder for the charger and you just push the charger into the recepticle. I was dubious at first but it works very quickly and quite well. My first whipped cream was quite successful -- now on to espuma! Like I said earlier, I was unable to find a local supplier for the chargers (let alone ISI chargers, of course I didn't check out any of the head shops) but luckily I was able to find a online shop, www.thecoffee.com, selling the Kisag chargers for about 50 cents a charge, 24 to a box, the same as ISI chargers. It looks like JBPrince doesn't offer the Kisag chargers.

It's really not that difficult to keep the heat down in a kettle and also, brisket (as long as you have some fat on it) can take the heat if it's necessary for at least a half hour to 45 minutes. The coffee can is not a bad idea but you'll have to worry about not getting enough air to the coals. If you try it (I'd like to hear about it if you do), make sure to put plenty of air holes around the can -- you're hoping to contain the coals, not sufficate them. I'd probably use two cans as well. But honestly, I've smoked in a kettle without the use of any container, let alone the rail sold by Weber for the purpose, and I've had fine results (I still recommend the rail though, it's extremely convenient). Keep in mind that you're using about half as many coals as you ordinarily would when you are grilling.

Sounds like every one of my parties! On Friday I picked up a keg of local pale ale and sure enough, it's 9 am Saturday morning and I have a beer in my hand. I had to be careful though because my wife and I were having a housewarming and we had to meet most of our neighbors for the first time. Luckily most of them left by 6 and those who were left were able to whoop it up. I love getting a keg. I used to think that having a mini-frige full of beer next to the couch was the coolest thing, but having a keg next to you while you watch the game is far better.

OK, I was being a little sarcastic about not having enough meat. Whenever I'm at a party and we have some of my meat, usually by the end of the evening folks are crying out for carbs or vegetation. Most folks are just not capable of moderation and end up dazed and confused. It just so happens that I smoked up a couple of whole briskets this weekend and a wild goose and it would be seriously unwise of me to finish all of it. I have a vacuum sealer so it can make it to GR very easily. I have a fresh wild goose as well, but I don't think it would be wise to extend it to the weekend. My wife and I had only a small gathering on Saturday and as usual, I prepared far too much meat. And yes, I'd be happy to help smoke. What kind of equipment do you have?

Somehow I have the feeling that we won't have enough meat, therefore I'm bringing some smoked brisket and some brisket that I smoked and corned myself.

Indeed, this is great stuff. Do you like the corned beef better before or after steaming? Personally, I have a hard time justifying steaming the meat if beforehand it's beautifully rich and succulent. But then again, I suppose it's not pastrami until it's steamed.

Word.

ISI is the past! You need to go with a Kisag model (no screwing the charger onto the bottle). Batgrrrl and I received one as a wedding present and of course, the Kisag chargers are nowhere to be found in Duluth, but I did find some online. Of course I've never made whipped cream with either model and I have no idea which one is better (though I have popped plenty of ISI chargers in my day). I'll report here when my chargers arrive next week, hopefully I'll be sober.

Congrats! Would you do it again? Is there anything I left out for the Weber folks?

Nope. It's cute though and it does illustrate that the breasts and the legs need to come up to different temperatures. You haven't mentioned brining yet. I discuss smoking a turkey here. It's much easier and most of the time, less dangerous than frying a bird. Here's a tip, try quartering the bird before you throw her in. That way you can bring the breasts out early, or put the legs in early. Just remember, don't forget your probe thermometer. By the way, I talk about smoking the turkey at around 225. If you're roasting the bird in the oven, I suggest a higher temperature of at least 350 or else the skin will look pale and inedible. Plus, the little roasted bits on the bottom of the pan won't taste as good.

I'm not from the cities (go Twins! teach that rat bastard of a commisioner a lesson), but I occasionally drop on down. I was just at Surdyk's and walked through their cheese shop. I really wasn't impressed, they had a somewhat decent selection of cheeses but usually only for outrageous prices. However, this is the only cheese shop I've been to in Minnesota since I've moved here from Seattle. So I guess it's unfair to compare Surdyk's to my Seattle cheese shops. Also unfair was the fact that it was jam-packed on a Saturday afternoon and I'm notorious for getting cranky when I'm shopping and there's no room to walk around. At least the wine section made it a worthwhile trip. I was able to find a couple of Cote du Rhone's that I liked in Seattle. Now it's time to find a nice small shop that really knows their stuff (of course, like I had in Seattle).

I third the leg of lamb -- lamb is always good. On that Friday, I was planning on visiting a Pakastani butcher that Guajolote mentioned where they have all sorts of live animals like chicken, duck and geese ready for purchase (they clean and dress the animals as well). How about I bring a duck or a goose to smoke? Really, goose isn't that hard as long as you have a thermometer and you pull the breasts off at medium rare, then throw the legs back on. We could have an egg throwing contest to see who gets to take the carcass home.

That's too bad about Patty's, she was pretty cool. They had a decent breakfast but I tired of it pretty quickly so I'm not too dissapointed -- I was more enamored with the waitress than the food. Wasn't this the expansion site? I do believe the original is still up somewhere. I too like the name Sea Monster Lounge. It sounds like they're going to serve alcohol and that's a good thing, Wallingford can't have enough bars.

The only way I know of to smoke indoors is the stove top smoker. Of which this link is only one of many. The chef for my wedding reception used a couple of these to smoke the salmon and they do work. However, you cannot cold smoke with them, they're only for hot smoking and for small amounts of fish (the non-restaurant variety that is). I never worked with one but I have tried some of the results and they're not bad. Cold smoking is smoking below 100 F (better yet, below 80 F). This is how cheese, bacon and a lox-style salmon. You either have to cool the smoke coming off of the fire or your fire can't be large enough to heat the space, like a small corner fire in a large smoke house. =Mark, thanks for the tips on the lump charcoal! I've heard nothing but problems using lump for smoking but this is good news. I can certainly see that by not lighting the bulk of the charcoal, you can more easily regulate the burn rate. How quickly do you go through that amount of coals? And much residue is left over? I imagine far less than briquettes.

First of all Randall, thank you so much for your great responses. Is it possible for California to really produce a great riesling? Washington and especially British Columbia are making some outstanding whites, including some good rieslings, gewurtzaminers, chards and semi-chards. Do you think they can make a truly great riesling? I know you're not seeing a lot of competition from BC in regards to market share in the US (due to the horrible pain it is for them to ship across the border), but what about in competitions? They've really only been making wine for about a decade and in a lot of respects the region is still maturing (especially with reds), but they have won a number of awards -- is your vinyard, and Californian vinyards getting pressure from Candadians?

Mashiko's. (the second page has pics! though some are bad --> read mine) Or if you want to try fugu (yes! fugu!), the new season is about to start: Shiki sushi restaurant. The last post actually talks about fugu. I'd go back to either of these restaurants before Shiro's. Though Shiro's isn't that expensive for the quality, Mashiko's has much better ingenuity (order the expert omakase) and is less expensive, and Shiki has fugu! Shiki is like Shiro's, high quality but very traditional. For lunch you shouldn't miss Salumi.