C. sapidus

MiFi, you should post more often, your pictures are always beautiful. Shelby, that baked brie and lobster look effing amazing! Da boyz may be catching the cooking bug. Yesterday they made spaghetti and meatballs (their favorite). Elder son, in charge of the sauce, chose to experiment with onions and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Younger son, responsible for pasta, tried a mixture of spaghetti and angel hair pasta. Mrs. C mashed the sweet potatoes that we baked the other day – they were so sweet, they didn’t need much else. That didn’t stop younger son from topping the sweet potatoes with marshmallows, of course. Tonight: further adventures with Smoke & Spice and the Weber bullet. We marinated chicken thighs with pureed onion, orange juice, peanut butter, brown sugar, curry powder, and cinnamon. After three hours in the smoker, the chicken was so juicy that elder son ruined his shirt. Smoked ratatouille (OK, we watched Ratatouille again last night). Smoked baby eggplants, leeks, bell peppers, and onions, simmered with garlic, fire-roasted tomatoes, chicken stock, and capers. I have no idea if this is a traditional recipe, but not much was left. Warm mushroom salad was the hit of the evening. We smoked chunks of Portabella mushrooms, and then roasted them with a tiny bit of smoking-hot olive oil. I had to physically restrain Mrs. C or she would have finished the mushrooms before dinner. We mixed the mushrooms with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, chopped basil and parsley, and S&P, and served them over Boston lettuce. Elder son declared this his favorite of the evening, while pleading, “Just don’t remind me that I am eating mushrooms.”

Thank you, Marlene. How does one “somehow become the owner” of a lovely smoker like that? It looks like you could smoke enough ribs for an army (and a hungry army at that). Looking forward to your rib test run!

So, how did everyone do with their 2007 resolutions? I'll start: In 2007, I will eat fresh fish and shellfish from the roadside stand that we discovered one week before it closed for the winter. Not going to happen – the roadside stand closed down. I will make Julie Sahni’s delicious vindaloo for the first time in years. Where did I put that mustard oil, anyway? No vindaloo, but I did discover some milder Indian dishes that the boys enjoy. I will find a reliable local source for dried Thai long chilies (phrik haeng) – a kitchen essential if ever there was one. Our local Asian market started carrying phrik haeng occasionally, and the local Indian market carries a reasonable substitute. I will learn to make simple baked goods – biscuits, maybe even no-knead bread. Biscuits are coming along nicely. This is the year I will try making mapo tofu. Done and documented on my foodblog. I will taste bitter melon at least once, probably when cooking for myself. I will also taste really good and salty to the dogs after I play volleyball. Done. Whoa, bitter melon is remarkably, well, bitter, but somewhat improved with a little hoisin sauce. Our two old dogs are no more, and the new pack of dogs is less interested in using me as a salt lick. I will use asafetida. Done – in buttered smothered cabbage. I will give more time to my family. I shifted my work hours 30 minutes earlier, but I don’t seem to get out of the office 30 minutes earlier. This has been a mixed bag. I will add at least one new vegetable to the boys’ “eat willingly” list. Done – they like raw chayote and daikon radish. Apparently raw is the key. They also don’t mind stir-fried baby bok choy. We will invite friends and family over for dinner more often, and in smaller manageable groups rather than huge unwieldy invasions. Doing pretty well on this one. My kids will continue to tolerate, and often enjoy, their dad’s weird cooking. Status quo continues. I will teach my kids to expand their cooking skills beyond grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, and omelets. The boys are now responsible for cooking Sunday night dinner, and recently made char siu banh mi (with a little help and a lot of coaching). I will read Jeffrey Steingarten or Anthony Bourdain, perhaps both. Also, I will read the introductions to my old cookbooks, many of which contain fascinating culinary and cultural information. Apparently, long ago I read cookbooks strictly for the recipes. Can you imagine? Jeffrey Steingarten – check. Old cookbooks – check.

Ooh, beautiful (and I love the yin-yang sauce dish). What sauces did you serve? Tonight we simmered pulled pork with a little Mexican chicken stock to make smoked pork tacos. Accompaniments included roasted Poblano chile strips, guacamole, thinly-sliced radishes, lettuce, crumbled queso fresco, El Yucateco habanero salsa, and eternal cucumbers. Just enough pulled pork remained to make a modest breakfast for one. Mrs. C and I had a tortilla production line going – she pressed the tortillas and rolled them into the first skillet, and I took it from there. We also baked sweet potatoes, but forgot to take them out of the oven until dinnertime was over. They should be good for tomorrow. We learned that sliced radishes make a nice, crunchy addition to to tacos.

dockhl expressed interest in A New Way to Cook, and recently acquired a digital camera. Suspicious behavior, perhaps?

C'mon, where is your sense of adventure? Working with chiles bare-handed teaches you to wash your hands thoroughly. And yes, I wore contact lenses for years (and still do for sports). If you wear latex gloves, look out for contact dermatitis and latex allergy.

We cook jasmine rice several times a week. Our method: rinse the rice three times and drain, mix equal parts water and rice, bring to a boil for about 15 seconds, reduce heat as low as possible, and cover for 15 minutes. Rest for at least 10 minutes, and then fluff with a fork. New crop jasmine rice takes even less water. Pet peeve: cookbooks that describe how to cook "rice" without specifying what kind of rice. Jasmine rice will become mushy (as you have found) if you try to cook it like long grain rice. I have not tried steaming rice (as Teepee and djyee100 described), but most people who try that method seem to become converts.

Chris, do you have Into the Vietnamese Kitchen? If so, here are a couple of simple but good weeknight chicken meals. Garlicky oven-roasted chicken. If possible, marinate chicken (dark meat best) for up to 24 hours. Chicken and ginger simmered in caramel sauce. Use boneless chicken (again, dark meat is best) or debone your own. Quick and easy if you have a batch of caramel sauce on hand. ETA: oops, ignore the second suggestion - I missed that you were looking for whole chicken recipes.

Wow, Klary, that is absolutely gorgeous! Thanks for linking that recipe, too. It will be a contender when the next fit of mole madness strikes.

Thanks, Marlene! ETA: Oops, and thanks, Susan! Da boyz are still pretty wrapped up in their new Xmas games, so they missed a golden opportunity to talk about butts at the dinner table.

Shelby, what a New Year’s feast! Did you eat your oysters nekkid (the oysters, not you), or with a shot of something spicy? Note to self: keep an eye out for monkfish. Last night Mrs. C steamed leftover barbecued ribs, and sauteed green beans with sesame seeds. I made frijoles de la Staub, served with =Mark’s South Carolina mustard barbecue sauce. We were smoking a butt, so I tossed in halved acorn squash (served with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter) and a couple of bananas, smoked until soft. Smoked porky goodness . . . . . turned into pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw, frijoles refritos, and two kinds of barbecue sauce. We have seven people staying at our 2-bedroom house, so probably no dinner pictures for a few days.

Thanks again to everyone for the help and encouragement. Butt rubbed with Southern succor and on the bullet: Resting my butt after 14 hours: Mid-shred. Verdict: I like my butt, but I love the spicy bark. No naked butts for me!

Cold gusty winds made temperature control a challenge. The bullet is protected from the wind on three sides, but of course the wind was blowing from the unprotected direction. After nearly killing the fire once or twice, I opened vents all the way to maintain temperature. This burned up a lot of charcoal. As dinnertime approached, the butt remained resolutely stalled around 160F. Instead of ordering pizza, Mrs. C steamed leftover ribs and sauteed green beans with sesame seeds. We barbecued acorn squash (good) and bananas (delicious) on the bullet’s lower grate, and served pinto-bean frijoles and =Mark’s South Carolina mustard BBQ sauce (a bit sweet for me, but delicious with frijoles). The butt finally reached 180F after 14 hours on the bullet. Close enough. We rested the butt in foil, pulled the meat, and crawled off to bed well after midnight. Pictures to follow. I am now 100% sold on remote temperature transmitters. As cold gusts rattled the windowpanes, we curled up in front of a cozy fire and watched Iron Chef while rising digits on the monitor tracked the butt’s slow but steady progress.

Bummer. Scratch that off my list (but thanks for the info, Jim). Follow-up on the West Coast baby backs: when it became obvious that pork butt would not be ready by dinnertime, Mrs. C steamed the leftover ribs. The texture improved with steaming, confirming that I should have cooked the ribs longer. Oh, no, I need more practice. Edited for clarity.

Bella S.F., that sounds like a wonderful meal. I am so glad (and somewhat relieved) that you liked the salmon. Glad you have your appetite back, too. Happy new year!

Yes, we are very lucky. Enjoy sipping your bourbon! I feel like I have been granted membership in a secret society - one that eats very well indeed! Actually, I was surprised at how little I had to do. I checked the temperature every half-hour or so after it stabilized, and only had to fiddle with the vents once. New Year's Day will be all about butt. Thanks for the advice and the link. I read through "behold my butt" a long time ago, mostly for the puns, so I need to re-read it for practical advice.

Thanks for the quick response Chris. We decided to smoke half of the butt, still a substantial seven pounds, hoping that the smaller quantity of pork will cook more quickly. I am assuming that smoking butt is like making rendang – it is done when it is done. I tied up my butt to make it more shapely, and then rubbed my butt with black pepper, smoked paprika, sugar in the raw, dry mustard, salt, and cayenne. Smoked paprika was not my first choice, but we were out of regular paprika and ancho powder. Must do something about that today. I am not (yet?) a purist like Susan - I do love pork with a spicy bark. The half-butt went in the bullet at 9:30 AM, and we hope to pull the pork before sending the boys to bed. Later today I will smoke an acorn squash and perhaps a few bananas on the lower rack. If I get really inspired, we might have some frijoles to accompany. Thanks again!

Quick newbie question: if I cut my 14-pound boneless butt in half and smoke my two half-butts, does that double the cooking time? I will be cooking my butt(s) on a Weber bullet, so half of my butt would be in the top chamber and half of my butt in the bottom (heh) chamber. Figuring on 1 ½ hours per pound, nine hours in the bullet would get pulled pork on the dinner table, but 21 hours would not. Thanks, and apologies if this has been answered upthread.

Katie, glad you are enjoying the book. We keep one container of fish sauce on hand, and use it for Thai and Vietnamese food. I listed our favorites on the Fish Sauce, Which Brand (merged topic). Three Crabs isn't my first choice, but I have used it and it tastes just fine. In general, Vietnamese brands of fish sauce seem to be a bit mellower than the Thai brands.

Golden Boy and Tra Chang are our favorites. We have used Three Crabs, and it tastes just fine – perhaps more mellow than the others. I will try Tiparos next, because it has far less salt than Golden Boy. Less salt means more funky fermented fish flavor without oversalting.

Jeffry Alford and Naomi Duguid

I would be completely remiss if I did not do everything in my power to ensure that the ribs were properly cooked before serving my family. So, yes - for quality control purposes only, you understand. Apple orchards - great idea, and lucky you. Pork butt is next on the agenda, so I need to read up about smoking butts. We also have some acorn squash and sweet potatoes that I want to try, and perhaps some smoked bananas. *thump thump thump* (sound of me kicking myself). Another great idea – I wonder what smoked chorizo tastes like? duck833, thanks for the tips. Interesting point about marinating overnight and salt – there is a similar discussion somewhere on a brining or pre-salting thread. Presumably, some salt improves flavor, but too much causes a hammy taste. It would be nice to know at what point the transition occurs. I have always wondered – does anyone but the judges get to eat the BBQ at a competition?

Thank you, heidih. I am looking forward to smoking spare ribs (and pork butt, and brisket, and chicken, and fish, and fruit, and . . .). I started with baby backs because I wanted a direct comparison between the smoker and our old smoking-on-the-gas-grill setup. Even with baby backs, the smoker wins hands down.

First meal from the new Weber bullet: baby back ribs rubbed with soy sauce, brown sugar, and five-spice powder. We also made stir-fried green beans with black beans and garlic, garlic English muffins, and a barbecue sauce made from hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, ground anise seed, and minced ginger and garlic. No one ate much barbecue sauce - apparently we are a family of dry-rib eaters. More on Ribs – Baby Back and Spare

Mrs. C gave me a Weber Smoky Mountain (a.k.a. Weber bullet) for Xmas. Yup, she’s pretty wonderful. Anyway, we broke it in with West Coast Baby Backs from Smoke & Spice by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. We removed the membrane from the ribs, sprinkled both sides with soy sauce, rubbed in equal parts five-spice powder and brown sugar, and marinated the ribs overnight. With lots of help from the VirtualWeberBullet, we lit 40 charcoal briquettes with an upside-down chimney starter and fired up the bullet using the Minion method. We added four fist-sized chunks of hickory, rolled the ribs and secured them with bamboo skewers, and then smoked the ribs for almost four hours at 225 - 235F. Despite a light cold rain, the smoker held a remarkably steady temperature. The bullet will never be this clean again. It is sitting on an 18” square concrete paver set on builder’s sand. Mrs. C laid a path of carpet scraps between the smoker and back door. Note dog sniffing at the gate – that is why we set up the smoker outside the fence. Finished - the ribs had an amazing smoky pork flavor. The ends were done just how we like them, but the middles remained a bit chewy. Next time we will smoke the ribs for another hour or so. All considered, very satisfying for a first effort.