Marlene

I always reheat my braises with the defatted sauce and the meat together. In a low oven, convered.

Hmmm. Maybe I'm not allergic to penicillin after all! I'm supposed to be, but inhale as much blue cheese as I can with no ill effect. No tricks, no lies. I won't sneak if you won't tell me you're allergic to organ meat when you simply don't like it. Hey, I hate peanut butter, but I'm not allergic to it. And, perhaps coincidentally, my best friends eat everything. ← Maggie, don't bet on it. I can't eat bleu cheese by itself. It causes a huge reaction. I can eat a bleu cheese dressing though for example. although it causes me discomfort. but it's not fatal as penicillin is. And because I have fatal food allergies, I don't play around. I'll be happy to tell you that I just don't like something. When I tell you I'm allergic, then that's what I am.

Exactly. I have an allergy to penicillin and to mushrooms. Those are fatal. I do have lesser reactions to bleu cheese and other molds like the mold on bread. Please don't try to sneak mushrooms into my dishes!

It's going to be very dificult for Houston's to get and maintain any business if they don't answer their phone to take reservations. After two days of trying to call them, having them pick up the phone and then hang up without saying anything, we've given up. We're going to Tom Jones instead.

Thanks Andie. I made a strawberry/banana smoothie for my son on the weekend using the basic recipe from recipezaar, and he really liked it. He browsed through the site and has come up with a few more for us to try.

The ones you have ordered are all very good. If you can get your hands on it, get Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I really like this one.

The first reviews of Houston's have not been particulary favourable. However, we are taking clients out for dinner tomorrow who have insisted on going there, so I shall report back!

The Sunday is fine. I'll read up. Promise. Maybe we should have a Susan and Marlene smoke topic? Group smoke?

You sure can! Le Crueset's are great for frying!

That might work. Let's do ribs when I get back from vacation, so say either the weekend of the 18/19 or the one after that?

We'd love to have you smoking along with us Mike! If we don't get to it this weekend, it will be a couple of weeks before I'll get to it since I leave on Sunday for a week's vacation. But I think ribs would be a great next project. In fact, my husband's insisting on ribs. If I can find some decent ribs, maybe this Saturday!

Interestingly enough, this roast wasn't on any longer than it would have been had I cooked it in my oven at my regular 325 convection. So I don't know that this was low and slow particularly. Yes the temp was lower than my regular oven, by about 50 degrees or so, but the calculation and time was the same, 23 minutes per pound for a total of three hours. Either way.

Yes, Marlene, this was a most worthy way to cook a roast, wasn't it? I've never smoked with anything but hickory, but I think that applewood is probably milder. Perhaps cut back on the amount of wood or remove the wood sometime during the cooking process? Boy, that was one mighty tasty roast. I had more crunch around the edges, but my roast had much less of a fat cap, and in the last little bit, I did goose up the heat because I struggled so to get the temp anywhere above 200, and perhaps that last blast of heat (I was at 105 when I gave it the blast, and got the temp up to 300) did the trick? Time to go eat some leftovers! ← We used apple chips actually and I used a lot less of them than I did for the pork shoulder we smoked a few weeks ago. And my temp ran around 238 the entire time so I wouldnt think your last blast made the difference to crunch, but who knows? Roast beef sammys with horseradish for lunch today! In fact, I have enough roast beef to make sandwiches for the neighbourhood. I'm pretty sure we've agreed to do ribs next or maybe a turkey.

A most worthy way to cook prime rib. Starting with the monster roast: Off the smoker at 127. Not quite as crunchy as I'd like on the outside, but worthy nonetheless: Sliced. It's hard to tell but this was beautifully rare. (I'm not letting my husband take food pictures anymore) Served with Roasted potatoes, yorkies, salad (no pic) and creme caramel for dessert I will say I thought the applewood was a bit overpowering in flavour. Next time I'd go hickory or even mesquite for beef. But this was tender, juicy and rare right to the edges. It was awesome. We've sliced some of the leftovers nice and thin for sandwiches. But we still had a ton left over, so I took the half roast that was left and froze it. I don't suppose anyone knows if cooked prime rib freezes well? Anyone want some leftovers?

I just didn't have this experience last time. All three bottom vents are fully closed and the temp has not moved off 238 for the last hour and half.

We got started late as well, but ours has been on for about half an hour. Struggling with the temp a bit though. All three vents are closed and I can't get it any lower than 238. I'm trying to keep it at 225.

I'm having trouble with the concept of bacon and prime rib, much as I love both of them. I think you'll be fine since you're smoking at a low temp and I suppose you could mop if you need to.

ok, I need to make a strawberry smoothie. Ingredients please? Do I need to use frozen strawberries? What else?

It's going to be a lovely day for smoking here I think. Clear and sunny, barely any wind and the temp is at least supposed to be above zero. So I'm figuring probably about 3 hours for my 8 lb roast, maintaining a temp of about 225. I've got the new remote smoker thermometer that Jackal10 recommended to try out too. I think we'll try the apple wood and see how that works. I'll try to catch drippings in a foil tray and I've got rendered beef fat I can use to make Yorkies with and roast the potatoes in. Oh and brussel sprouts don't get anywhere near this house. So the planned menu is: Roast beef Roasted baby potatoes salad yorkshire pudding creme caramel

I picked up baby new potatoes to roast and some salad fixins. I think I'll try to keep the temp about the same as you Susan. But because I really feel beef needs a gravy or so mething, I think I'll at least make a port wine reduction!

If it's a newer stove, use oven cleaner. If it's and old stove and they're made of iron, nothing you can do except sand it off. ← I use VIM actually on the grates of my gas range. Recommended by the serviceman.

Generally, I'm with Rochelle, and will offer a cheese plate before dessert. However, I've been known to put cheese and really good crackers out as an hors d'oeuvres as well. I also tend to prefer a cheese plate to dessert though, so it's nice to have a choice.

That's what he went with. Today is his presentation to his class. They are then having a networking luncheon where they are supposed to stay in character and exchange business cards. He went dressed in black pants, white shirt, white apron and took a cocktail serving tray with him. To help him get in character, he acted as a server at dinner last night. I taught him how to stack plates up his arm and carry them. ( I can do three or 4 but I only let him do two!), how to serve ladies first, refill water glasses, check discreetly for empty plates and re fold napkins when one leaves the table. It was hilarious, but it was also eye opening for him. I think he'll have a new respect for waiters as we continue his forays into the world of dining. As part of his presentation he is supposed to identify the transferable skills he has as a result of this position. He chose, a positive attitude, good memory, team player and the ability to handle stress. Good choices I think!

Fred's Not Here, The Red Tomato and Acme Bar and Grill are not overly upscale, but the food is pretty good and reasonable. I think they are all on or near King Street. I happen to like the Lone Star Cafe as well, which is right across the street from what used to be the Crown Plaza Hotel. Again, not fancy, but they make their own tortilla wraps and chips onsite and both are good. I love their fahjitas. It's a better place for lunch than dinner probably. And again, the best steak in town is probably Barberians.

I'm about to go into a second kitchen renovation. When we bought this house, the kitchen looked great. Top appliances, large, etc. Today, a year later, we've had to replace three of the appliances so far and some of the cupboards don't close properly anymore. This is a kitchen that was definately built for show not use. The former owners spent half the year in Florida so they never did much in the kitchen here. Fortunately, I have a great cabinet maker and now that we've been here for a year I know exactly what works and what doesn't. This time around we'll be able to leave the ceilings and floors intact because they are fine, so it will be layout, counters and cabinets. Oh and a new dishwasher and second oven. (make that 5 appliance replacements). It isn't a matter of whether I'm worthy of my kitchen. It's the other way around. My kitchen is currently not worthy of me.