OliverB

ask me "is everything all right?" why? You drop it in the kitchen? Meat 3 days over? Why so insecure? And not showing up if my drink is close to empty and/or taking for ever with a refill or new drink.

airport is a good hour outside of downtown, keep that in mind. We just spent 10 days in Paris, ate where ever our feet brought us, all great. Pick a busy place, you can't really go wrong IMO. Just don't eat right next to some major tourist attraction. I'd probably select a hotel close to the main attractions, we stayed in an apartment very close to Les Halles, a main subway station. Nightlife until 4am or so, lots of great places to eat. Watch out of pick pockets, especially kids from Romania are very active there, from 4 year olds to groups of pretty teenage girls. Don't get talked into signing some petitions, help somebody with their map or talk about "found" gold rings or some such ruse, somebody will pick you from behind while you negotiate. They had to shut down the Louvre in April because of those jerks. Same on the Eiffel Tower. Also the #1 train from the airport to town and back is prime hunting ground for them. Cash and celphones are their main thing, our friend (who lives in paris for over a year) had her iphone stolen while we were there. Pain in the rear. But to them it looks like 400 Euro in cash... A fun thing we did was have a reservation at the "cafe" on the first platform of the tower. includes food and one drink and - most important - lift ticket, so you don't have to stand in line with the other thousand tourists. Food was quite good too, simple and sold as "pick nick", served from a basket. Great view. Everybody we encountered was very friendly and most spoke at least some English (my French is very very poor). I'd stay downtown, go out until late and get an early taxi/shuttle back to the airport. There's nothing where the airport is. Edit to add: or book right at the airport and go out late, then cab it back to catch a nap.

most fish have parasites living in them. Freezing kills them, but does not remove them of course. But you probably also won't notice them ;-) considering that all sushi fish (at least in California) has been frozen, it's not a big problem IMO. Seal it well, freeze it quickly.

Took it off the 'cue at 1pm, 12 hour cook at 210-280 degree, outside temp fluctuated between 66 and 104 or so today, makes a constant temp a bit challenging. And well, while I can't compare it to any award winning brisket, never ordered it anywhere, this one turned out quite nice. Super tender, falling apart and juicy, full of flavor, very tiny left overs. I'll have to find a bbq place here and try a "professional" version, so I have a better idea, but I'd pay for this one happily, and everybody seemed to like it. Dizzy Pig Dizzy rub, 12 hours on the BGE at 210-280 degree. About 4-5 hours wrapped in foil and a blanket in the cooler, came out almost too hot to touch w/o gloves to my surprise. All juices ( a bit of beef broth and some of the drippings) soaked up while resting, moist and tender, a winner in my book. Thanks for the input I got here on rather short notice!

Melissa, I probably should have done that, kind of a mix of lack of planning on my side and unexpected soccer game for the girl. It's 12:30pm now, been in the egg for over 11 hours, close to the 203 degree when I'll take it off and wrap it. Only my 3rd brisket and they are temperamental, some cook faster than others, some seem to never be done, LOL An other 30 min or so, then it'll come off, get an extra wrap of foil, a blanket, and into the cooler it goes. Almost 100 degree outside here, it sure won't cool off too quick today. And around 6pm I'll know if it's any good or if we need to order pizza :-D thanks for the input, I'll post with the outcome later tonight or tomorrow.

about 11am, going along nicely. At about 160 degree I wrapped it in foil (it's relatively thin) and once I hit a bit over 200 it'll get wrapped some more and off into the cooler. Then we'll just wee what happens :-) Only my 3rd time to make a brisket, kind of hard to practice with huge chunks of meat w/o having constant parties, LOL

:-) I waited until 1am to put it in, if it's done too early to feel comfortable storing it in the cooler for x hours I'll cool it down and warm it a bit in the oven once there. And now it's 2am and I'm going to bed, can always stop at a bbq place if it doesn't work out this time. :-)

ah, making me add things to my to buy list again! :-) I don't think smaller would help, it's not super thick. I might actually start the fire before I go to bed, get it to temp, then get up at 4 or 5 to just put the meat in quickly, throw a wood chunk or two in and go back to bed. Got sidelined by my nieces soccer playoff or something like that, a game they didn't know about back when we made plans. I'll live :-)

I have a 6+lb brisket I need to cook in my big green egg for Sat evening 6pm dinner. Problem is, dinner is not at my house, we have to leave by 2:30 for preparty and waterplay for the kids. It'll need 8-10 hours, so my options are: Put it in at midnight, go to bed, take it out 8-10am, wrap in foil and towels, put in cooler. Put it in around 4am, take it out before leaving, same wrapping etc. Put it in around 6-8am (when ever I wake up or set alarm), cook until we have to leave, wrap, take with, finish in oven. What's the best? I prefer option one, but am not sure if it's safe to keep it for up to 10 hrs sitting in it's juices? Option two is brutal, I probably won't be able to go back to sleep Option three, I just don't know if that even would work. Ideas? Experiences? Suggestions? Thanks! Oliver

I recently got the rotisserie attachment for the Weber, great buy! Works very well, did a pork shoulder, several chickens, and bone in skin on pork hocks (to get the Bavarian "Haxn"), all turned out great. Cooking temp is usually around 400 degree measured through the vent holes in the lid, coals banked on the sides. Sometimes I throw a piece of wood on them, sometimes I actually build little "camp fires" on each side with oak pieces from a tree we had to cut down. Oh, also stuck a whole peeled pineapple on there, that turned out wonderful. BGE is always in action as well. Small potatoes right on the grill or wrapped in heavy duty aluminum with some sprigs of rosemary and a handful of unpeeled garlic cloves makes for a great side. Farmers market now has some giant sweet onions (the size of a very large heirloom tomato, if not bigger) that are utterly delicious from the grill. Baby garlic is gone from the market, but whole bulbs still find their way onto my grill all the time. Vegetables and fruit, peaches just started showing up at the market, delish from the grill!

I never found a flavor difference either, now I'm just using a wire stand to put the chicken on or I use the rotisserie I got for my Weber. I also like to "leapfrog" a chicken, cooks very nice and looks nicely odd when you serve it :-)

that's what I thought, thanks! Maybe I'll make a stew of some sort, worth a try!

I dry aged a beef loin for 30 days with the special bags in the my fridge. Took it out yesterday, there's quite some dry "crust" of beef I had to cut off, inedible as a steak, but I'm wondering, can I use this for stock or something? Seems a shame to throw all this meat out if there's some use for it. It's almost like jerky I guess. The dry aged meat was good, cooks very fast and I ended up more with medium than med/rare, but the flavor was very good. Not sure I'll do this again though. Too much waste, even if I can use it for stock. The UMAi drybagsteak bags work great, but I think I'll use them for for charcuterie. Have a nice big pork shoulder cured and hopefully turning into pancetta over the next couple of months. As far as I can guess the dry cut off pieces are certainly edible, smell good and all, just wondering if I can use them somehow before I throw a big bag of good beef out....

it came up today, here's a newer article, just thought the one I posed explains better: http://foodbeast.com/content/2013/04/22/sf-restaurant-calls-out-yelp-for/ Of course reviews are to be take with a grain of salt, but a site that takes bad ones down for a hefty fee is useless and not to be trusted IMO

I take online reviews with a grain of salt, but after reading the below article, yelp won't see my anymore. A review site that tries to make you pay so they remove bad reviews is completely useless and not trustworthy. That grain of salt turned into a salt mine IMO. Thoughts? http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/yelp-and-the-business-of-extortion-20/Content?oid=1176635 (I thought this fits best into restaurant life, mods feel free to move it elsewhere if it fits somewhere better, important story I think)

Not a recipe, but it's spring, that means baby onions and even more important, baby garlic is at the market! I could eat bowls of grilled baby garlic and onions! Sometimes they'll be hot off the grill, sometimes I cut them up and dress them like a salad. And sometimes I turn them into a soup. Wonderful stuff!

I'd do them both at the same time, take the ribs out when done, wrap in foil and put into a cooler. Once the pork is done you can put the ribs back on to warm them up again if they got too cool. And start early! I have not done pork but, but I had a brisket sit on the plateau of not getting warmer for a good two hours once in my BGE. We ate pretty late that day. Now I put things on in the am and then in the cooler which keeps it warm for hours. And we can eat when I want :-)

depends on the restaurant of course, but let's say upscale or fine dining, my favorite waiters are never there unless I need them. That means, they watch the tables and look for cues (me looking for them, glasses half empty etc. Refill my hardly touched water glass it bothers me, leave me with one sip for 10 min, it bothers me. Half is a good cue. Same for wine and if I have a beer, ask if I'd like an other one. This can be done verbally or non verbally. Do not ever ask me if everything is ok unless you're worried I find grit and hair on the steak the cook dropped. Personally I don't care about serving from left or right and sometimes the layout of a place just makes one less intrusive than the other. Be friendly, but I don't need to know your name, I won't remember it anyway (I'm bad with names) and chances are that I'll try to remember it, which is distracting. In smaller upscale restaurants there's usually no need to buzz around the room all the time, my favorite restaurant has waiters that really are invisible until needed. They are there, but not fuzzing around all the time. Feel free to come with a big smile and interrupt with a necessary question, a waiter floating around next to my table waiting for that perfect moments is odd and obviously listening to our conversation. Always bring fresh utensils if I leave mine on the plate. I'm not a fan of having 4 forks and knives crowding the table (old fashioned style but probably out of your control) but just bring new ones. Excellent people reading skills are a must, I'm easy going but there are self entitled snobs and arrogant people, learn to read them quickly and act accordingly. I don't mind a little joke and friendly conversations, others do. Make sure everything we need is there, water, drinks, bread (do not ask if I want more, bring more) If it's not included, ask about desert when all diners are finished and the plates are removed. Make sure drinks arrive very quickly. I've had my dinner arrive before the drink I ordered, food getting cold while I wait. Very annoying. Do not ever be arrogant or have an attitude. Maybe a diner is in a fine restaurant for the first time, the choices of food and drink can be intimidating. Offer friendly help, joking with the joker, sincere with the old town judge. People reading again. Don't "I would not do that", "maybe I suggest x instead for y reason?" is better. If you can afford it occasionally, go to a better restaurant and make (mental) notes of what you see. Not what you like, what you see. It's a tough job, if done well it's very rewarding to the diner and I'd think to the server too. Don't reach across the table or my face, do NOT balance full or empty plates over me, ever. I don't care how many plates one can juggle on one arm, I just wonder about the possible mess. Hopefully you can work in a place where the staff actually gets to taste the food, at least occasionally. IMO important for them to understand the menu and options/combinations better. If my table is booked for a 2nd seating (I miss the European custom of this is my table as long as I please....) do not rush me, either inform us right away (I can seat you but we have a reservation for that table at 9) or offer my party to "have a coffee at the bar" or something like that. I've been to restaurants where we were basically thrown out because they booked diners too closely. Needless to say I never came back. and would yelp about it nowadays. Of course, the scheduling is not your job, if that happens often, mention it to the manager quickly. If I spend a lot of money on dinner, i don't care if others want to sit in my chair. It's not a diner. There are better ways. Be up front if you see things going too late. If we're just hanging around after desert, maybe offer an espresso on the house while informing us that an other party has reservations for x time. If you need to disappear for more than a couple minutes for any reason, let your colleague know, so s/he can keep an occasional eye on us and our glasses. Nothing is more annoying than a waiter out of sight when needed, except the waiter that constantly floats around asking if everything is ok. I know, hard to balance ;-) If I ask for ketchup to put on my foie gras, bring it. (I won't, but you get the idea, unless my wish would set the place on fire or kill me, comply. Something to laugh about later once you're closed) Anyway, just a couple things that came to mind. It's not easy to be a good waiter, it's very hard to be a great waiter. I doubt I could do it without murdering the occasional guest, so I appreciate it very much. and tip accordingly. Even if tip is included. Good luck, you seem to be honestly interested in becoming a great waiter, good luck!

I was wondering if I could do that in a dehydrator, now I know! Started to wonder after I left sliced tomatoes in too long and ended up with delicious tomato chips. Also blended up a pineapple and dried it similar to the chips in the link, got pineapple chips! Zucchini was not that great, but they were nice in a soup, sweet little peppers were great. Banana chips of course and also apple chips. Just keep airtight, or they'll all soften up again. Fun stuff :-)

I've tried that with the egg, but it keeps high temp so (too?) well I think. Do you have one? Getting it to cool is the only thing I'm struggling with, especially if it's been going on full blast. I've taken meat off and let it rest for a while and let the egg cool down during that time, then put the meat back in until it reaches desired temp. Must experiment more, but with cheaper meat :-D

both good ideas, thanks! Maybe I'll make it on the Weber with the two level fire. I like the spice mix in B's post too though, sounds very tasty! Usually I do just s&p, but I might try that mix on one of them.

I bought two frame worthy prime t-bone steaks at Costco, cut a good 1.5 inch thick. Can't decide how to cook them. I won't cook them at the same time, will probably try two ways: SV then sear, but given the nice fat I'm thinking of letting it cool down quite a bit before searing, I want a nice crust and melted fat, but no grey. Sear one side in a very hot cast iron pan, flip and stick into a very low oven, take out at 127F or so internal. I'd also be tempted to heat up my BGE to 600+ degree with the cast iron grill, but never grilled such a thick piece with bone in, I'd probably grill, flip, flip again (turn to get x grill marks) and flip again, but am doubtful that this will heat through. I cook a lot of steak, but this is actually the first time I am cooking t-bone, they were just sooooo pretty :-) What's your favorite way to cook this cut, given the thickness? Thanks for any suggestions!

I'd try some low and slow on the bbq/smoker and I'd grind some for sausage like Chris mentions above. If you don't have a grinder, chop it finely or you can also use a food processor. Just don't create a mush :-) Mix 50/50 with ground beef for nice hamburgers, bolognese sauce, etc.

I've seen these and almost impulse bought them, but then I realized that it takes no time to make this myself and I don't have room in the fridge. Is the balsamic one made only with balsamic vinegar or also with regular? I doubt the use real balsamic (most you buy isn't real) but I like the idea of mixing some into my regular Heinz. I usually buy their organic bottles, no HFCS in there, organic sugar. For a spice kick, I'd not be surprised if they add capsciacin (spelling?) directly, just a bit of peppers for flavor? I have some of that stuff, have to try that sometime. Dangerous toy :-D

never heard of brining, but also never had a reaction to it. Though I do prefer it from the bbq or rotisserie.