chileheadmike

My Mom makes a German Potato Salad that she says is absolutely authentic and brought over by relatives from Germany. I've had GPS at different restaurants but it's always sweet. Mom's has no sugar. Her's is: 5 lbs russet potatoes 1 onion 1 dozen eggs 1 lbs bacon 1/2 or so of cider vinegar Salt and pepper Basically, boil the potatoes and eggs. Peel each and chop in large chunks. Dice the bacon and cook till crisp, then add the onion and cook until soft. Add vinegar, S&P, stir and serve warm. Every other recipe I've seen has called for sugar or brown sugar. I much prefer Mom's. The other stuff just ain't right.

So you can adjust the temperature for brewing coffee? I always use 205F, anything less too much less would produce a bad cup of coffee. How low can you set it?

I'm making hot sauce this weekend. I have some ripe jalapenos, Kung Pao, Cayenne, and Thai Hot chiles. I also like to add some home grown and smoked chipotles from last year. I remove the stems, and run through the sausage grinder and simmer in salt water until all is very soft. Strain, return to the sauce pan and add vinegar and salt. It improves in flavor after about a week in the fridge. I have some lemon drop chiles that I will incorporate into some hard candy as well. Basic hard candy with lemon extract and a drop or two of yellow food coloring. Not too hot and kinda tasty.

I love El Pato. When I was a kid it wasn't available in KC. My uncle in Los Angeles would send it to us by the case. My first venture into chilehead-dom. Now it's available everywhere and there's at least one can in the pantry at all times.

Burnt Ends.

Grilled Ratatouille-Like Stuff 1 eggplant 2 zucchini 1 large onion 2 portabella mushrooms 2 cloves garlic 2 roma tomatoes Olive oil Basil Thyme Rosemary Parsley S&P Cut eggplant, zucchini, and onion in half. Cut the top off of the onion but leave the root end intact to help it hold together. Scoop the gills out of the mushroom caps. Drizzle all with olive oil. Grill directly over charcoal. In the meantime, heat garlic in olive oil over low heat. Once veggies are charred, remove from grill and cut into bite sized pieces. Add veggies to garlic and olive oil along with the chopped tomatoes. Raise heat to medium, add salt and pepper and cook until everything is hot. Add chopped herbs and serve.

Totinos Pizza Rolls. I'm so ashamed.

Could be fat content. Not sure. I'm thinking I need to fire up the WSM this weekend.

At the Heartland Gathering a few years back, poster Zeemanb did a side by side tasting of .99/lb pork butt and a Birkshire pork butt. There was a difference. A big difference. Not only in flavor but in appearance. The grocery store butt was indeed "the other white meat" while the Birkshire was much darker and richer looking. The richness carried over to the flavor as well. Interestingly, he said the the Birkshire pork cooked in about half of the time for approximately the same weight.

I'm not really a fan of Alton Brown or ATK, but this has been my experience as well. I know people who put sand in the water pan to act as a heat sink. I've tasted no difference in flavor or moisture.

Bone in skin on chicken thighs in: Soy Chopped garlic Grated ginger Chili paste Sesame oil Ketchup Let sit for a couple of hours in the fridge. Grill over lump charcoal with a chunk or 2 of pecan. Beef Fajitas Skirt steak Marinate in Beer Chopped jalapeno Chopped onion Chopped garlic Chopped cilantro Chili powder Cumin Grill over screaming hot coals to sear, then move over cool side of the Weber and finish to med-rare with the lid on. Rest, slice against the grain and serve with fajita fixin's.

My question is curly or flat leaf parsley? I've always used curly, just curious about everyone else.

Gate's Extra Hot is not too sweet. Pretty good heat for a barbecue sauce. ETA: Arthur Bryant's has some sugar in it but is definitely not sweet.

Your ranking is in line with mine as far as heat levels. El Yucateco is my go to sauce. Neither too vinegary or too salty, but plenty of heat. ETA: I really don't care for flavor of sriracha. I must be the only one.

Has Nigella ever said a mean word to anyone? This show need to be on Fox, she needs to go and be replaced by Gordon Ramsey.

Cod, lime juice, rocoto chiles, red onion, cilantro.

Ribs, ABTs wings, ceviche, deviled eggs, guacamole. Just before one of the guests showed up with two dozen raw oysters. Those were excellent with a little leche de tigre.

Only a few guys over for the SB this year. Firing up the WSM for ribs, wings, ABT's. May make some Ceviche as well. Our local Mexican market has rocoto chiles on a regular basis.

I used to grow fatalii's every year in Kansas City. They were very prolific, and super hot. I dried them and then powered them. That sure cleared the room. I ordered them from chileplants.com.

Cool! Is that the 12.6 inch? Yes, it's now seasoned. I haven't used it too much. Seared some chicken for fajitas over the holidays. The thing is a lot of fun to cook with and as an added bonus it's building up my arms.

The 36cm DeBuyer frypan. All 7+ lbs of it. Haven't had a chance to even season it yet, but I'm looking forward to some great steaks out of that thing.

Fritos. I rarely buy them but Mrs CHM bought a bag yesterday. There's some left, but not much.

Sweets. I rarely eat them. I had a small piece of pecan pie on Thanksgiving. Other than that, cake on my kids' birthdays. Liver, except foie gras. Natto. Blech.

It's not that hard. I am assuming that it's somewhat pre cooked so all the have to do is heat some stock with the rice. And remember to add salt. How hard is it to sear a scallop? They can't seem to get that right either.

Late night Gino's Pizza Rolls. I'm so ashamed. Well, not really.