Steve Irby

I'm not sure of the exact wattage but probably in the 1200-1500 range. I posted the time I use as a starting point since it appears that most folks are not using a microwave oven to cook corn. In my experience it produces a superior result without leaching out the "goodness" of the corn in boiling water. Fresh corn in the shuck will be superior when cooked in situ whether on the grill at high heat or in the microwave as opposed to preparing naked. To answer mgaretz question use a hot grill and the corn will cook perfectly. If the corn husk is a little dry pull back the husk from the tassle end and hydrate under the faucet prior to grilling . It helps to ensure a good blast of steam to ensure uniform cooking.

I use the microwave method all the time for corn on the cob. Twelve minutes for three or four ears of corn is going to result in some seriously overcooked corn in my experience. I usually cook three ears at a time for a total of three or four minutes in a high wattage microwave with a carousel. If the corn is fresh it steams up perfectly every time. If it's not fresh you shouldn't be having corn on the cob!

Grilled chicken and vegetables just minutes away from the table. The chicken was seasoned with a spice blend from World Spice (Khmeli Suneli) consisting of basil, savory,fenugreek seed & leaf, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves and coriander mixed with Rouses's cajun seafood boil. A little unconventional but the flavor profile is fantastic. Served with a mixed greens salad.

I have not tried duck prosciutto but I have cured a lot of hog jowl for guanciale and pork belly for bacon and pancetta. I use a refrigerator that is not self-defrosting and I have not had any problem with surface hardening. I'm sure the relative humidity is higher than a self-defrosting refrigerator which is the typical type in the US. The cure times have up to four weeks.

Thanks, it's really simple. Caramelize five large vidalia onions in 2 T of butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 bay leaves, 1/2 t thyme and S&P to taste. The crust is a pate brisee using 2 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup lard, 1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water and maybe 1 t of salt. The crust was enough for an 8" tart, two 4" tarts and a 4" x 12" tart. I had a pretty good size piece of Piave cheese that I substituted for parmesan, maybe 1 cup. I think I used about 4-5 tomatoes of varying sizes. To assemble put a layer of grated cheese in each crust, followed by onions, tomatoes, a little more of the onions, oil cured olives and more cheese. Bake at 425 till the the cheese is browned and the filling bubbling. Hope you enjoy.

I bought a box of tomatoes this morning at the farmers market at $8.00 for 20 lbs. that were sold as canning tomatoes. They did have a few soft spots but will become tomato sauce tomorrow. They made a great salad for lunch with burrata and avocado. Tonight I made four separate tomato tarte tatin's for dinner for us and to share with our neighbors. The crust was a half lard and half butter and would be hard to improve upon.

Home cooking tonight. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with pan gravy, fried okra, field peas, homemade sweet pickles, fresh sliced tomatoes, vidalia onions and buttermilk cornbread.

Last night I made a mixed grilled vegetable platter for a pre-fireworks get together. The dipping sauce was mayo, sour cream, anchovy, garlic, lemon juice, and pecorino romano. And tonight I made boudin ravioli with andouille cream sauce and salmon agnolotti with a white wine and butter sauce.

Field corn is great IF your goods friends with the farmer that harvest it at the right time and you can devote the day to putting it up. When I was a kid all corn was field corn and when it was deemed perfect for canning you would spend the whole day in the backyard shucking and cutting. Your right though if it's not at it's prime it can be pretty lousy.

Fazzoletti with lemon cream, pistachios, spinach, and roasted tomatoes from a recipe by Jody Adams. A really tasty dish for summer.

A friend brought me a really nice bushel of Silver King that had just been picked. I left work a little early so I could put it up southern style. The way my mom cut corn was to cut off just the tip of the kernels then use the back of the knife to extract the milk. I'm a little less patient and I also enjoy a little more texture so I'm kind of a middle of the row cutter. The key is to have fresh corn that is still starchy. Field corn is really nice but harder to find. Getting started Cutting and extracting the milk Insert Emeril or Fieri cliche. Look at that milky goodness. Blanched and ready for the freezer

Great summer meal. Mixed tomato salad with feta and fritto misto consisting of eggplant, three types of squash, cremini mushrooms, shrimp, squid and octopus.

This may fit the bill - http://www.herbco.com/c-8-glassware.aspx

The only problem I see is trying to divide five steaks between 12 people. If you'll let me now the name of the island I can drop by and eat one steak then each person can have 1/3 of the remaining steaks.

Another beef rib night. Seared and finished in the pressure cooker with quanciale, Herbs de la Garrique, preserved lemon, tomato, garlic, etc., over mashed potatoes. Served with sauteed zucchini with crimini mushrooms and a salad of lemon cucumbers, onion, yogurt and mint. I also included a few slices of homemade brats & boudin that I grilled in preparation for lunch this week. Dessert was panna cotta with fresh peaches.

The regional supermarket chain sells variations of beef ribs/short ribs/mystery cuts that are basically the frame leftover after deboning various cuts of meat. Sometimes they are meaty, sometimes the rib is pretty much it and sometimes the mystery cut shows up. Today it was straightforward. Beef ribs that weren't trimmed to close for $2.99#. Grilled then covered with foil till fork tender served with red sauce. The red sauce includes salt cured capers and oil cured olives for a lot of punch. Served with garden salad including mint, sage, basil, oregano and thyme. Topped with avocado balls and a golden balsamic vinaigrette.

Last night's dinner was short on prep and high on taste. Tomato and burrata salad finished with nice olive oil and basil served with fresh swordfish steaks seasoned with S&P, garlic and rosemary.

After a long and hot day at work dinner became dessert. Leftover from Mother's day it is black bottom pie from Joy Of Cooking that I've made for about 45 years. It was a real treat as a kid when my mom put it on the table so it has become somewhat of a family tradition. I made the crust with lard that I rendered and it really held up nice. I can't say I've tweaked the recipe at all except to use 2X - 3X more chocolate.

I cooked the chicken thighs with indirect heat in my weber kettle. I used a pretty hot fire with lots of pecan to get a heavy smoke. No basting or flipping either.

Ann-T Beautiful complete meals as usual. Huiray and MM84321 continue to turn out an amazingly high volume of great looking dishes. Last night my wife wanted meatballs and I wanted chicken. So I pulled some meatballs from the freezer that I had prepared with mushrooms and spinach to serve over pasta plus grilled chicken over pasta with curly kale and garlic. Both served with a generous amount of Piave cheese. And from earlier in the week a tomato basil soup topped with a little feta. The soup base included some of the jelly from the easter ham which really adds a lot of extra flavor.

First crawfish boil of the season. In order of cooking, potatoes, Conecuh sausage, corn, crawfish and shrimp.

Kind of got in the weeds at plating time so only one photo of a great fresh ham (13.5#) for dinner last night. The ham was seasoned with alaea salt, harissa blend and a little cinnamon. The ham was finished with a light glaze of pomegranate juice, pomegranate molasses and pineapple preserves.

You can smoke after sous vide quite successfully. The key is to have the exterior of the meat dry so the smoke can penetrate. My procedure is to cook the meat to desired temp, rapid chill in an ice bath, blot the meat of all moisture and then air dry for a half hour or so using a fan. If the ambient temp is pretty warm I leave the meat uncovered in the refrigerator to dry out. In order to prevent overcooking the food should go onto the grill cool to cold. Using a heavy smoke and instant read thermometer smoke the meat until you are just below the target temp. I finish my food on a weber grill but I'm sure an indoor rig would be easy enough to make. I was watching DDD the other night and the cook had a one gallon food can with wood chips in it with a small kettle grill balanced on top. The kettle can be purchased for around $30 and would make a great stove top smoker. Regarding temp and humidity you goal is to produce the maximum amount of smoke with the least amount of heat. You are going to definitely need to provide good cross ventilation unless you like the cave smell a lot. I've attached a few photo's of last weekends batch. The smoke flavor was stronger after a few days of being resealed a the flavor equilibrated through the meats. The first two photos are air dried after the bath and the second two are coming off the grill.

Tonight we had the first fresh corn of the season and it was delicious. Served with wilted spinach, carrots and turchetta. The turcehtta was prepared over the weekend with a variety of other meats cooked sous vide and finished with a light pecan smoke. The sous vide session included turchetta, turkey tenderloins,turkey thighs stuffed with homemade chorizo, legs and wings seasoned with cajun seafood boil with lemon and butter, and pork two ways with five spice and New Mexico chili rub.

One hot water bath with six variations. Turchetta prepared as presented from Serious Eats, pork sirloin with five spice, pork sirloin with kind of a New Mexico Chili rub, turkey thighs stuffed with homemade chorizo, turkey legs and wings with Old Bay seasoning variant and turkey tenderloins. The pork, tenderloins and turchetta were cooked 4.5 hours at 140 F and the thighs and wing were finished at 165 for and additional 3 hours. All packets were chilled in an ice bath when they came out of the of the circulator then air dried prior to being finished on the grill and smoked with pecan.