Smithy

@JAZ do you remember which others you tried (so far)? I'm intrigued by the steak and stout pie -- that sounds like a nice take on an English classic. The chicken tikka masala pie sounds like cognitive dissonance to me. I love the flavors, but in a flaky crust like a pot pie? I'm curious. Oh, and how was the crust?

@Darienne, now that I've reread this latest discussion I realize it may not answer your question...but I've been looking at and learning more about Serviceberries / Juneberries and want to share a bit of information about them. This picture comes from Teresa Marrone's Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide -- Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). In my ramblings I've noticed several of the local serviceberry trees have different serrations and sizes on their leaves, and she states that the serrations are different for different varieties of serviceberry (the Saskatoon berry being one variety). The other thing I noticed is that they have a distinctive end where the blossoms used to be. Cherries, plums, elderberries and a number of toxic berries don't have that. You can see what I'm talking about in the photo. It looks like a little explosion at the blossom end. The other good thing -- this is what I especially needed to look up -- is this sentence in the fruit paragraph: "There are no toxic lookalikes." You had said that you don't have serviceberries on your farm, so this may be all unnecessary, but I'm sharing it anyway in case someone else is interested. These berries are delicious!

@rotuts wouldn't that be a hoot to tow down the road behind the Princessmobile? We'd sure make a lot of friends! 😄

Thanks. I agree that it seems the most likely issue; we have a wood-burning fireplace at home and have gotten the same information. I do wonder, if one is trying low temperature cooking, how that's avoided. Maybe the smoker chimney simply has to be cleaned periodically?

Oh, without a doubt they were using food-grade pellets, probably the Traeger-supplied brand. It may have been mismanagement of the unit, but it happened with 2 different brands of smoker. I think the other was an Oklahoma Joe but I don't remember for sure.

My DIL has now advised me that, although she loves the idea of pellet grills, she's tried two different brands (Traeger and Oklahoma Joe, IIRC) with the same result: creosote buildup leading to fire. I think we'd have heard if there'd been property damage, but the pellet grills have been retired. She's back to a charcoal grill and an electric smoker. Has anyone here had problems with creosote buildup on the pellet smokers? Got any tips for preventing or correcting it? She swears she cleaned the devices diligently but still had problems.

Some very good comments and questions here! I'll elaborate. We mostly use a gas-fired grill, for the convenience of having an immediate source of heat for quick cooking. Our usual grilled dishes are simple: burgers, dogs, skewered meats and vegetables, or a vegetable stir-fry in a barbecue basket. I know from experience that an open flame (i.e. campfire, or charcoal) improves the flavor of most of those, but of course that takes more time. (We aren't set up for campfire cooking here in northern Minnesota but we do it sometimes during our winter travels.) I should mention that the gas grill is a requirement also because we need a gas-fired side burner. That gets at least as much use as the grill, for messy projects that are better done outdoors: hash; melting paraffin and making firestarters; canning. For all these reasons, gas is a must. I mentioned above that some or all of the meals benefit from wood or charcoal, if we have the time. and that leads to charcoal vs. pellets. Now we get into things we've tried to do with limited success: long cooks, probably at low temperatures; also smoking. We have made a few hams: that is, brined pork butts and then smoked them by having one end of the current grill maintain high heat (with wood chips, to generate the smoke) and the other end holding the pork over a low flame, using a Thermoworks Smoke system to monitor temperature. The grill has 2 chimneys; the one closest to the high heat was blocked off so the smoke went out through the other one, above the ham. It's worked pretty well. We'd like to try other smoking and Texas-style barbecuing: briskets, chicken, homemade sausages; ribs; pork butt. Some vegetables. (My DIL does wonderful things with smoked corn!) We did all that in our vertical smoker, with limited success, which is why we moved to the gas grill as I've described using it. We no longer have huge dinner parties (woe is me) so we don't need a huge system. We do need something that will do gas, both with a grill and a side burner. We want something that will do gas in one part and charcoal or pellets in the other, for the sake of the better flavor when we have time, or the flavor and control of the low-and-slow cooks. As for the memorable "THIS is how we do it!" meals, I'd say that goes to something like beef brisket or ribs, or pork butt. The things we can get during our winter travels, that are not especially memorable here in the Northland. So...with that in mind, is there any more good advice to be had out there? I've appreciated everyone's comments so far!

My husband and I have decided that it's time to replace our rusted-out, still-sortof-functioning gas grill with a new grill. We don't plan to eliminate gas; it's convenient and quick. However, I've been wishing we also had a charcoal grill for the flame, flavor and smoking possibilities. My reading suggests that a pellet grill can do the same as charcoal, perhaps better, but there are pros and cons. (Oh, and our electric vertical smoker is also going. We want something that will grill at high heat, do low-and-slow barbecuing or smoke. An offset smoker would be nice, but I don't think we have the room for that element.) We are finding double-duty grills with 2 chambers: one for gas, and one for pellets OR charcoal. We're down to figuring out which will work better for us. We don't have the real estate for individual grills of each type. From what I see so far, here's a breakdown for pros and cons of each: Charcoal: fuel less expensive, no electicity required, considerably more monitoring and adjustment required for good temperature control, especially for smoking or long cooks. Pellets: fuel more expensive but more compact, requires electricity always, capability to set something up and walk away for hours, with only occasional monitoring. (I have Thermoworks monitoring capability.) More precise, and easier, temperature control. More options for flavor due to choices in pellet (hickory vs. pecan, etc.) Maybe a wider range of temperatures available. Pellet grills have until now put me off due to the number of moving parts, so to speak, and the microelectronics that have so much potential to fail. On the other hand, the precise temperature control sounds nice. The grill we'll be buying will live outside year round, as most grills do, but will be covered and unused approximately 6 months out of the year, in snow country. I'd like some discussion from those of you who've been there: what do you like, or not like, about your pellet grills? What do you like, or not like, about charcoal grills? Which is better at providing a wide range of temperature options? Then there are some specific questions: 1. If we buy a charcoal version, can we add pellets of our choice to adjust flavor? Will mixing pellets with lump charcoal mess up the air flow? 2. Do you have particular brands to select or avoid? In the pellet market I'm considering Traeger or Oklahoma Joe. I know @rotuts and his Woods Hole gang have opted for something considerably heavier and pricier, but that's out of our league. In the charcoal market I'm ogling a Char-Broil brand which, to be fair, has done reasonably well for us in the current gas-only version.

I JUST learned about Serviceberries (aka June Berries here, or even Funeral Berries in the Dakotas) last weekend. I've heard the name without knowing about the berries themselves, much less the provenance of the odder names. Now that I know about them -- and how good they are -- I've discovered that we have a tree of them in our yard, and many trees up and down our road. Oh, boy! More foraging!

That's a mind-boggling name from where I sit! What do you suppose it is? Glad you've found a promising new resource.

What is "techni ice"? Those frozen packages that go under names such as "Blue Ice", or something altogether different? That kitchen looks gorgeous, and very inviting!

So... if I take the special offer from your link, that'll give me access to EYB and this new site for a discount this first year? Do I have that right? (To be fair, the subscription offer is in line with any magazine subscription, so I should stop kicking myself for not signing up for EYB when a Lifetime Membership was something like $100.)

Where in Canada are you? The services available to you will be very different in, say, Toronto or Vancouver than they would be in, say, Dryden or Sioux Lookout. There's been a lot of discussion of meal prep kits, or food delivery services, in this topic: Imperfect, Misfits, etc. (the Food Delivery Services).

Thanks for that. I can see the Nightshade Family resemblance, and I've never seen it before.

That's very good news: first, that the Valley crops are doing so well and second, that those crops make it to farmers' markets. When I was growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, we went to fruit stands run by neighbors, unless our own trees had what we wanted. (We raised citrus, but had pet stone fruit trees.) In later years, after I moved to northern Minnesota, I couldn't get decent stone fruits until one memorable year in the 1980's when, suddenly, the local grocery stores started getting peaches and nectarines that actually smelled right for a week or two! The season and choices have expanded since then. What was very strange was that by then my family in California simply couldn't get decent stone fruits unless neighbors brought them from pet trees. Rock-hard and flavorless in the grocery stores. Same at the fruit stands! We never figured out why I could get decent fruit here when they couldn't get it from nearer the source. I'm glad the farmers' markets are filling the quality gap that the fruit stands used to fill.

This grass-fed tri-tip steak got a 120F bath for 4 or 5 hours (I lost track). I had treated it first with a dry rub. When it was dinner time, I blotted the liquids off and gave it a quick hot sear over the grill. Looks good, no? We both agreed the flavor was good, but only a few bites could have been called chewy; the rest were downright tough...inedibly so, in the opinion of my other half. Not a good thing to say about tri-tip. So, what should I have done differently? I think I have another of these cuts lurking in the freezer. If I can't get this right, I won't buy it again. Is this a function of grass-fed beef? Note that I had cut it across the grain before serving.

At last, the California nectarines are coming into their own! Considering the weather in the San Joaquin Valley this year, I'm surprised and very pleased that any of the crop has survived. What's even better is that the "tree ripe" fruit finally is. I'm wallowing in good, sweet, tart nectarines while I can!

I guess I have two "kitchen firsts" to tell. Even though they aren't recent, they're "Aha" moments that vastly expanded my repertoire. I was a devoted fan of the Lynne Rosetto Kasper's radio show "The Splendid Table" from its inception. I learned about ingredients and cooking techniques, and probably gained 15 pounds during the first couple of years of the broadcast. One day she was explaining to a caller why Alfredo Sauce is not generally made in advance, separately from the pasta it's supposed to coat, much less purchased in a jar or packet. She said something like "You want to know the ... sexy ... Roman way of making it?" and she laughed that delicious laugh of hers, then described melting a stick of butter around the drained noodles, stirring in a cup of cream, then handfuls of grated Parmesan as you tossed and stirred until it coated the pasta and came to the right consistency. Lordy, that sounded good. I tried it. Then I started adding things: gently cooked asparagus or broccoli. Prosciutto or some other cured meat, or maybe chunks of chicken. Herbs at the end, as a garnish, with more Parmesan grated over the top. If you drop by as a surprise guest, you're still likely to get a version of that. The other kitchen "aha" for me was learning how to braise. I took the eGCI course The Truth About Braising and participated in all the experiments and discussions that week. By the end of it I had a pretty good grip on braising, from meat cut to temperature to cooking vessel and dealing with the juices. I wowed my family that holiday season, and for many after, with luxury dinners like braised beef ribs with a rich gravy over potatoes, served along with a good choice of vegetables and desserts and fresh bread. My family was especially impressed because I hadn't even known how to make macaroni and cheese from a box when I went away to college! 😀

I bought a braid of Giant Russian Red a couple of years ago and used it all winter, finally using the last in March or April. Loved the stuff. It kept well.

This is a very monochromatic meal until serving time, but delicious and easy enough that it's worth commemorating: Cauliflower Shawarma. The original recipe came from Melissa Clark in the New York Times (this gift link should work) although the Seattle Times reran it last spring and I posted about it here. The basic recipe calls for tossing chunks of cauliflower and red onion in a marinade of olive oil with cumin, paprika, ground coriander, salt and pepper, then roasting them on a sheet pan until turning soft and brown. The first time I tried it, I added whole chicken thighs that had been similarly marinated. This time, I cut boneless skinless chicken thighs into bite-sized chunks, gave them the same marinade treatment and added them during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, stirring a couple of times to ensure that the chicken was done but not overdone. It can all be served in a pita pocket or wrap, with cucumber, tahina sauce and herbs added. I put it all into bowls instead. Now that I review The Times' version I see that they added bits of tomato to the finished dish. Tomatoes would have been a nice addition, both for visuals and flavor. With or without tomatoes, this is a keeper recipe, and I'm touting it again as I have in the past.

I don't know whether you were including me in the "I can't wait" note, but here are my notes, based on tonight's tastings: 1. I think both versions are delicious! 2. @heidih's version is deeper in flavor, less heavy on the tongue, and perhaps more delightful because the flavors are very different than my normal conception of broccoli salad. The upshot: I don't plan to abandon my mayo-based version, because I still like it. However, I'm adding Heidi's version to my salad repertoire. It's a lovely, fresh take on broccoli salad and an excellent change from the old standard!

I split the batch of broccoli salad, dressed some in my usual way and the rest according to @heidih's plan, barring the fact that the broccoli wasn't roasted. Both batches are resting quietly and settling in. I must say that the batch without mayonnaise looks more attractive to me: the mayo-dressed batch looks washed out, doesn't it? I'll post tasting notes later.

Fun with egg bites in the Instant Pot. As I noted in this post, one of @JAZ's cookbooks gives excellent advice for timing and proportions. I wanted more filling than I had last time around, so used chopped broccoli, crumbled crisp bacon, chopped sun-dried tomatoes that were coated with olive oil, and finely grated cheddar cheese along with half-and-half and eggs. I was more careful to really whip the eggs and cream before adding the rest of the ingredients. Here it all is before stirring: There was a bit more than would fit into a single IP egg bite container, but not nearly enough for two such containers. I put the remainder in a ramekin topped with a silicone lid, and parked that atop the egg bite tray. 8 minutes on high pressure, then 5 minutes, natural release, then quick release. I was happier with the overall flavor and texture; the flavors were better mixed than on my first attempt. I was concerned that it had been a tactical error not to butter the ramekin, but the egg came out all right. I have to admit that I'd prefer the egg bites to be flatter -- more cylindrical and less hemispherical -- but I think that's mostly an aesthetic thing. The bites pop right out of the tray, and it's easy to use.

Funny that you should mention this now. I'm on a salad tear in general, and for the first time in several months decided to make a broccoli salad. Here it is so far, sans dressing: broccoli, toasted walnuts, crumbled bacon, and barberries (NOT raisins, nor cranberries). Like @heidih, I don't like cheese in mine. I just now remembered that I usually add chopped red onion; since I'd forgotten it, I may leave it out. My usual dressing is the mayonnaise type with red wine vinegar, half and half (because we have no milk) and a touch of sugar. I don't like much sugar in mine; for my tastes, it easily can get too sweet. Since mine isn't dressed yet, I may set some aside to try Heidi's version, although my broccoli hasn't been roasted. Hers sounds really good too!

@ElsieD, is it the same model being discussed here? If not, a link to more model information would be helpful.