chappie

Five years later and this competition is still going strong. I won a few years back with an oyster/leek/vermouth batch, miscalculated badly the following year with saffron and had some more or less decent chowders the rest of the way. And here we are again. Four days away and I'm undecided. There is no hard rule for seafood chowders, but I'm wondering if that is what tasters come expecting? I'm thinking of making a hamhock and white bean (Rancho Gordo of course; yellow-eye) chowder with a rich ham hock stock made with these hocks I get from the local Amish market. But again, I'm not sure. Should I go rich, rich ham hock chowder and then add oysters? Should I make a ham hock and white bean chowder and add ... sauerkraut? Any and all ideas or brainstorms are welcome.

Today while making a speed-dash through TJ's I noticed some new (at least to the one we go to) premade, heat-em-up cheese fondues. Has anyone tried these? Looked like they had quality ingredients (even kirsch in one of them) and could be fun. I never pass a TJs without loading up on their uncured applewood smoked bacon. Just phenomenal.

Isn't this pretty much Lunchables for adults?

It might have been interesting to throw House Recipe -- the ubiquitous Sysco ketchup (that many restaurants use to refill glass Heinz bottles ...) -- into the mix. I always loved it. I found it to be more complex on the spice notes than the Heinz it was frequently masquerading as. I buy Hunt's at the grocery store, though. I think it's more vinegary. In fact, when the bottle starts getting empty, I often add cider vinegar and give the bottle a shake to loosen up all the stuff clinging to the sides, and I like it even better this way.

+ one on this at least for me I think you both are arguing this combo from a standpoint that barbecue is hallowed ground and Thou Shalt Not Adulterate It. I get it; I see the point. But I guarantee you could take a bite of, say, the Texas Cheese Steak made by the local BBQ Joint in my town and ... um ... not gag. Whether you think brisket "should" or "shouldn't" be topped with gooey cheese as judged by the Sacred Keepers of BBQ is one thing; whether the two flavors -- delicious on their own -- combine into a wretched taste (which is the subject of this thread) is another.

Oh stop being so surprised ... It's T.V.

One more thing to anyone with BGE experience: how do you decide between a large and an XL?

When you say "the lump charcoal ..." you're not buying the BGE branded stuff, right? Seems like a total waste of money. But have you ever tried wadding some paper beneath it and soaking said paper in cooking oil a bit?

One thing in favor of the higher-end charcoal/wood smokers (I'm still partial to them vs. electric) is that they seem to reach and maintain temperature for a much longer time than a cheap unit. I tinkered with this rusted old smoker all night long, and by morning felt like I'd smoked two packs of Lucky Strikes (sidenote: do old-school BBQ guys have short lifespans due to smoke inhalation?). Also, I have a toddler to chase around, so perhaps something I don't have to tend quite as constantly makes most sense.

So all this worrying about getting the right setup before our barbecue was unfounded. I borrowed Dad's crusty, rusted Brinkmann Smoke'n'Grill -- an insanely basic system without vents (except for the fire access door) and turned out some wonderful pork butts. Smoked them over hardwood with a mixture of mesquite and hickory (I disagree with the argument that mesquite is too strong for pork) for about six hours, tending frequently (a downside of this rusty device). Then I fell asleep and when I awoke the fire was too low so I moved the now nice and crusty butts to a La Creuset in a 250 oven for four more hours. Best part about this was I had lots of dark, rich juices at the bottom to toss the meat with after shredding. All but about a quarter cup was devoured. Now I can spend the rest of my summer in peace obsessing and overly researching my ideal setup.

Looked at a Weber Performa today, and while it isn't quite a dedicated smoker, it does seem handier for the task than the regular old Weber I used to do pork butts on all the time. Decent setup; the plastic tabletop it's set in is thick and not cheesy at all. But at $300, it makes me wonder if I shouldn't consider something like a $700-plus BGE on sale, especially as I could get my stepfather to help me build a nice table for it. That's a nice setup for a deck, but I need to see one in action before I plunge. Still weighing options, but tonight's smoke is on a rusty old bullet smoker, no top vents, my dad has used for years. It ought to work OK for a 1-year-old's birthday I guess ...

Spending an entire day attempting to parboil, remove the guts from and process a 10-gallon bucket of large, live Atlantic whelks a friend of the family gave me. House stunk for days, I never could get the things tender or grit-free, and I still have a bag of what I decided to just whir in the food processor for potential fritters in my freezer. Yuck.

I used to frown upon gas grilling, but my wife bought a really nice gas grill -- high BTU, durable -- for her parents and I've thoroughly enjoyed cooking on it when we visit. Easy to use, easy to start, the entire process of thinking "hey, I'd like to grill something" and actually cooking is almost instantaneous. Yeah, you can't really smoke on it (although my friend does smoke on his gas grill using some sort of smoke box over the flame) but it does serve its own purpose. The other day I was near a place that sells BGEs. I'd never really inspected one up close, so I popped in. They seem really well made, but high priced. This place wanted $800 for a large, $1,300 for an XL. However, I found a place an hour away that is holding a sale through June 5 for large BGEs at $640 and XLs at $795 (500 less than the place I visited!) Don't know if I'm ready to invest that or if the BGE is worth it. Needs more investigation. Anything but the XL almost seems too small. I do think that, while I don't have the time I once did, with a 1-year-old boy to chase, I would enjoy learning to use it, etc. Plus it seems like you recover some of the initial expense in durability. One turnoff was the BGE brochures, though, with its loafered-and-sundress-sporting models. They know their audience, I guess. Research led me to the Big Steel Keg -- appears better insulated and more durable than the BGE. Kind of ugly with its plastic wings as is, but I wonder if you couldn't build a drop-in table for it like people do with kamados. I've given up on having my ideal setup before the 1-year-old birthday party this weekend, and it might take many months to decide. For better or worse, I'm like that with nearly any purchase. Research to death. For now, looks like I'm taking Dad's old crusty smoker for the pork.

Though the concept seemed like heresy in the beginning, lately I've been spreading a thin smear of mayonnaise on toasted Milton's whole-grain bread (good chewiness and balance) instead of butter. Well-peppered, plus the fried eggs, a handful of arugula and good applewood bacon if I have it -- but (and this is key and contradicts my former preferences) NO CHEESE -- and this is breakfast bliss. Perhaps a dash or two of simple hot sauce. I don't know when it happened but I suddenly began to prefer fried egg sandwiches sans cheese. To me the flavor of the egg comes through better.

Small gas grill and a BGE would do me just great then. ... Anyone giving away a BGE to a good home?

I am looking for a grill/smoker setup for my deck that takes into consideration these priorities: 1. I like to grill with charcoal; 2. I like to slow smoke things like pork butts; 3. My wife would probably like a gas grill option so she could easily light it and cook something easier minus all the prep I do. I don't require fancy burners, cabinets and all those gimmicky add-ons. I like the idea of a smoker box. I don't want to spend a fortune; less than $400 or $500 tops. Any suggestions?

I'm a writer and editor (with a keen eye for style, detail, punctuation, etc.) and would be glad to help if this ever becomes a serious discussion. Also, I'm sure I have a recipe or two to contribute! Green tomato hornworms, anyone? Toaster Pig?

Whoa. I just opened a jar of Trader Joe's Dijon mustard and spread some on a sausage, took a bite -- and only 10 minutes later am I beginning to recover from the all-out assault on my nasal passages, throat and tear ducts. Jesus. Straight wasabi isn't this extreme.

I had forgotten all about this thread until the other night, when I made a batch of roasted-to-brown-and-delicious califlower and pureed it with milk, a tiny knob of butter, S&P and some parmesan to serve with a high-heat, mustard-coated roasted chicken. Delicious as always. Did anyone else ever get to experiment with using roasted cauli in dishes like this?

According to my wife: "Best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted." Baby oatmeal it is, then.

I'm going to try paulraphael's linked recipe next. But I did Alton Brown's "The Chewy" today -- browning the butter, which he didn't call for -- and taking into consideration the oat flour recommendation. Because the only adult oats I had were steel cut, which don't change much in a food processor, I suddenly had another idea. I used 1/4 cup of baby oatmeal. I know, it has other things added like DHA and iron etc. but I figured it's basically dried oat flour flakes, right? They turned out quite well. I think the instructed 14 minutes was too long for what I wanted, though, so I pulled them at 11 so they're still gooey in the center. Haven't had one completely cooled, but I'll report back.

To be honest, what I'm trying to achieve is the chewiness of those Nestle pre-mixed dough cookies (when not overbaked) without the artificial flavor. I would imagine they achieve their carefully tested results rather chemically. I want a simple homemade way to do this with better ingredients, darker chocolate, etc. One thing I'll keep from the Cook's recipe is browning at least some of the butter. Great depth of flavor this way.

I don't have any of that on hand, and not going to any stores til at least Thursday. I'll try the kneading, plus not overbaking. And I'll try the New York Times recipe after this one. Are they chewy? I can go any way except cake-ish. Thin crispy cookies are good, but so are moist, dense, chewy. That's what we're seeking, with what we have on hand.

Snowed in with more on the way, I've decided to bury my winter insanities in copious amounts of baked goods and beer. Yesterday I made Cook's Illustrated's "perfect chocolate chip cookie" recipe; they're delicious (the browning of the butter is a big plus) but perhaps I baked a couple minutes too long because they're not the gooey chewy I was seeking. Now I'm going to try Alton Brown's "The Chewy." Only, it calls for bread flour and all I have is AP with no chance right now to hit any stores. What will happen if I use AP? Is there any tweaking I need to do? Thanks in advance ... only other flours I have handy are rice flour and masa harina.

I'm ready to see "thrown under the bus" thrown under the bus.