Norm Matthews

Oil does start to break down when it starts to smoke but when you cook like that, you are sautéing or pan frying and not going to use the oil again, so it's not going to make a difference, especially if you start cooking immediately at that point. Those instructions expect that you will be using common vegetable oils that smoke right around 400º. Oil used for deep frying should not be heated that hot, especially if you are planning to use it again a few times. Non stick pans usually don't hold up very well over the long term if they are heated that much. Cast iron will take longer to heat up but hold the heat longer. Tri clan steel will heat up quickly and care should be taken that it does not over-heat the oil and itself. highly flavored oils break down and loose distinctive flavor characteristics when used at the smoke point so consider using relatively neutral flavored oils for this technique. extra virgin olive oil is expensive for using with this method. Use regular olive oil if you use olive oil at all.

Here is my recipe which I have added and taken from for 30+ years and it is pretty well set now. I also have a recipe for Mexican roast beef that can be shredded and used instead of hamburger if one really wants to go to that much effort. Norm's Chili 1 lb hamburger 1 lb. chorizo, 1 onion, finely chopped 8 oz tomato sauce 1 Tbs. sugar 1 to 3 Tbs. chili powder according to preference 1 ounce red wine vinegar 1/2 C. picante sauce 1 bay leaf 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt 1 T. paprika optional 1 can red beans, not drained 1/2 tsp. pepper 1/4 tsp. cumin 1/4 tsp. cayenne 1/2 bottle beer 1-2 ounces cocoa powder dash or two Tabasco Saute meat, when almost done, add onions and garlic. When onions are tender, add rest or ingredients. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Remove lid and let cook down if necessary. Refrigerate overnight and remove fat and reheat. Note: if desired.... If cooked without beans, serve them and grated raw onion on the side as a garnish. Chili toppings for chili bar with guests. Pick and choose from the following soda crackers, corn chips thin sliced radishes thinly sliced green onions sour cream diced fresh jalapeno green olives, halved chopped white onions, small dice tomato fresh lime wedges grated cheddar cheese salsas/pico de galo grated monterey jack diced avocados pinto beans shaker bottle of red pepper flakes tosted baguette slices Tabasco sauce cilantro leaves I don't usually put cheese on my chili but did for this picture.

Dinner tonight was pan fried pork chops smothered in a sauce of chicken broth, cherry juice, craisins, celery, onions and mushrooms and potato cakes. We had kraut but no one wanted any.

The store had boneless, skinless chicken thighs so that made this dish a lot easier for me. I didn't have to get a couple of chickens and bone and skin them myself, but when I got home I discovered I didn't have jalapenos- used chili powder and pepper sauce. Doubled sauce recipe and added a dash of sesame oil cut back on ginger. Charlie noticed the missing jalapeno. This dish was concocted when we went to a Chinese buffet and son asked me to try to duplicate it. I was a little lazy and cut the pieces big and that meant they had to cook longer and got browner that usual but they were crispy and moist and not burnt. Vegetables were steamed then tossed in a sauce made with hoisin, soy, chicken broth and corn starch.

I made chicken vegetable soup with chicken bones and parts not used for the chicken parmesan the other day.

In my HUMBLE opinion, ribs that have been done to fall-off-the-bone tenderness are over-cooked. They should have some tooth pull and chewy-ness in order to be perfect as those appear to be.

It looks wonderful. I doubt any lack of tenderness was due to 'operator error'. They look about as perfect as 'humanly' possible.

I made eggplant and chicken parmesan for dinner tonight. I put eggplant on the first layer and chicken on the second layer. Last year we got some corn spaghetti (gluten free) because son's GF wanted to try some and I used it up and we had that with the parmesan dish.. not pictured. also not going to get any more of that stuff. LOL

Well you know if I didn't say it someone else would. LOL

I second the notion that sweet sherry is not the best choice for any savory dishes and I also agree that it is not necessary to spend a lot of money for cooking sherry. PS don't get anything labeled 'cooking sherry' though. Just get an inexpensive sherry intended for drinking, not 'cooking'. I sometimes use a dry port in place of sherry.

I found a good looking cast iron skillet in an antique store but it was so gunked up that I would not want to use it -as is- so I ran it through a full cycle in the dishwasher. It came out as bare iron and rusted. If is dishwasher can do that, I expect a putting a non stick skillet in would be somewhat akin to using a sand blaster on it. My wooded utensils are bamboo. They go in the dishwasher all the time and I could not see any negative effect until after about 5 years. Now they look dry and are bleached out.

dcarch,Thank you for your comments. Just for the record though, the roast sat, covered with foil on that plate for 30+ minutes. You can see the foil in the background. The juice run-off you see on the plate is from the outside of the roast before it was cut. If it was from the inside, it would not be that dark.

Spraying in a stream instead of a mist has happened to me too but if I clean it and have enough pressure, it sprays OK. It only takes forever to pump up and not spray its best if the cap isn't tight enough and the seal isn't oily. I generally only fill it up a quarter, then when I have used it up, I put some soapy water in it and spray it , the do the same a couple times with clean water then dry and re fill with oil. It takes some putzing around to keep it working but I don't mind the work compared to the cost of Pam and the sticky residue it leaves. It also irritates me that they advertise it as being fat free then when you read the amount needed for it to be fat free, the spray time is in milliseconds... practically. Oil is oil, it will have the same calories if it comes out of a commercial product or you pump your own.

I have not used Pam in three or four years. I use those canisters like Misto. I don't know if Pam works better but it works well enough for me. I can use any kind of oil in them. There is also bakers grease that you can mix up ahead of time. You may not like the idea of using a vegetable shortening and lard is an alternative but I don't feel very much is used In a single application and I don't use it very often, but it is another altrenative. Baker's Grease: equal parts of Crisco shortening, oil, and flour. (For a large amount, use 1 cup each) Beat together until light and airy. Apply with a pastry brush. No need to add flour. Keep refrigerated, covered

Larger roasts will go up more then a smaller one.

We like the end pieces best too. Sometimes I will take a roast and before cooking it, I will cut it between the bones and grill them as individual rib steaks. Faster prep method and all the pieces have a nice crust.

I did a 2 1/2 bone rib roast ( roast was cut so some of the 3rd bone was there but it was a 2 bone for all intents and purposes ) last month. I let it sit at room temp. , salted and peppered for 30 minutes, preheated the oven to 500º, put it in bone side down on shallow baking rack with thermometer probe inserted and after 15 min. turned it down to 325º and cooked to target temp. which for me was 135º then removed, covered with foil for 30 minutes and sliced. It rose 5º out of the oven. This is it. I consider it just a hair over medium rare and is the way we like it.

I am confused. Are you planning to smoke a brisket or smoke a pastrami made from brisket? You need to cure a brisket for about 3 weeks before smoking. After curing, pastrami should be smoked for about 4 hours at around 250ºF. Keeping it at 140º F for that long may allow it to become unsafe to eat. I can't advise on chunk or chips with your set up because I am unfamiliar with it. If they sell Brinkman electric smokers where you are, or a similar smoker, I suggest you look into getting one of those and read the booklet that comes with it. They aren't very expensive.

You say that somebody ate the star. But I see a star. And you say that's the relish tray "with dip." But I see no dip. Where is the dip? Yes the star is there. It had slipped when someone moved it and I did not see it over on the side and thought it was gone. After I posted, I noticed it was still there. The dip had not been moved with the dish and did not show up in that picture. I had the dishes arranged to take a picture, then the kids came in and started setting the table and moved everything while I was busy in the kitchen with some last minute detail or other, so in my last minute attempt to take at least some pictures, I didn't notice everything was not where it had been. I was somewhat hurried at that moment. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks everyone. FYI the asparagus was slightly cook crisp tender so it would not have a raw taste. Everything else were crudités.

If the smoke is white, it is because it was wet. Grey smoke starts when the wood first starts burning. If it continues more than a few minutes, you may need better venting.

Soaking or not soaking is controversial. Some say yes, I say no. Soaked chips make white smoke. That is steam, not real smoke. When you throw them in the water and steam lower the temperature. The black chips are actually smoldering and making smoke to flavor the meat. If the smoke is a faint blue or even if you can smell smoke but not see it, it is doing what it is supposed to do. Gray smoke is burning wood and that isn't good either. Also the temp. problem may be additionally caused by your arrangement not being vented and insulated to maximum.

36 hours ago I was not planning to do anything for Christmas but Cassie and Charles wanted at least a little something and made suggestions. Cassie wanted roast chicken, Charles wanted honey teriyaki game hens so I made both, then more "suggestions" followed, then they decided to invited some of their friend and it ended up as you see below. I had everything grouped for a picture, then the kids came and started setting the table and spaced everything out. The roast chicken the vegetable tray with dip- somebody ate the star I cut from celery before I could take the picture

Most baking stones are made out of stoneware ceramic and will take direct heat IF it is completely dry, started to heat very slowly and evenly. A potters kiln shelf will work too but isn't cheap either. Several fire bricks will put quite s strain on the Weber grate because of the weight and will take a very long time to heat enough to be hot enough. It will hold heat for quite a while though. Someone on the cooking forum took a sheet pan and filled it with water, put some stilt brackets on it and put a baking stone on top of that. I would expect that to work on a gas grill but I imagine the lid of a Weber is to low to work with that arrangement.

What I meant to say is that the person reading the recipe should be aware that there is Southern AP flour, Northern AP flour and National AP flour as well as bread flours and using the proper flour for the recipe makes a difference. Southern AP flour makes amazing biscuits but so-so bread. It is not because the 'formula' is flawed. The hydration level for it is much lower than for a bread flour. Using a Southern AP flour without realizing it can make following a bread recipe written by someone using King Arthur or Gold Medal problematic. The hydration rate will be significantly off. Too many times, I think, an inexperienced baker thinks they can just grab any flour off the shelf and it will work as well and any other. That should be part of the education process included in a well written recipe. You can't take it for granted that someone will just know it.