Ttogull

Have you followed the instructions on the size of the base of the Dutch oven? My recollection is that some Amazon reviewers had a similar issue with, IIRC, too large pots. Frying temperatures aren't very ot at all, right? <400F?

I generally think things are better homemade, but could never out-do store bought hummus. Maybe this is why. It might also explain my, uh, digestive issues when I cook dried chickpeas.

Alright, I just looked this up on the Internet, and found several people had the same reaction I did. You're supposed to peel them?! I had no clue. What's the benefit? The Internet was not clear on that. I once had to peel black-eyed peas. Not sure i would do it again, even though the fermented fritters were out of this world good. I shook a handful at a time in the bottom of a collendar and, IIRC, they remained reasonably intact.

How about tuna? Indirect cooked with hickory smoke at 250 for about 40 minutes to 135F (eek!) and then crumbled to make tuna salad. Mayo, Edmond Fallot Dijon mustard, relish, and pureed chipotle in adobo. Best tuna salad sandwich ever!

Actually, my use of "high falutin" was unfortunate, because where I am from (TX) it means "fancy," not necessarily pretentious as indicated by the online dictionary. I meant it sounds like too fancy of a word for me to describe myself. I do not consider myself a gourmet because I prefer simpler, homestyle food and do not generally get satisfaction from exquisite preparations and platings. I would say foodie describes me, though. My unfortunate word choice aside, I do not see any inverted snobbery on my part. I would generally take chili recommendations from a Texan, but not a New Yorker. I would take local Szechuan recommendations from somebody who has been there, not from someone who hasn't (or hasn't otherwise proven themselves to be knowledgeable). Maybe, like high falutin, the words have different connotations depending on location.

"Gourmet" is not the same to me, as it sounds high-falutin. As in one appreciates only sophisticated food. I agree with Ericpo - until I read this thread, I never imagined foodie meant more than a person who enjoys food. A foodie can give me advice about good BBQ restaurants; I'd avoid any BBQ place recommended by a gourmet.

I grill hanger steaks semifrequently. The place I buy it from says it comes with a strip of cartilage or something down the middle, and they cut that out automatically as a service to their customers. So for them a hanger steak is really two pieces of meat. But neither piece is butterflied, and I do not butterfly it.

I am not 100% sure I understand. For the naan I posted above, I quite literally throw the dough on the grill, trying to make sure I don't create wrinkles or folds. The grill is too hot to do much more. For flipping, I use a slotted fish turner (perhaps not the best choice) because it is thin and easily slides under the bread. I need a glove to do the flip. For pizza in the oven (is this what you meant by stove?) I once used something that was slightly less than 1/2 inch thick. I found that he dough would sort of roll over the edge, not really a problem but would sometimes mess up the ingredients on top. Pulling the pizza out was also no problem as I could set whatever it was even with the edge of the stone and pull the pizza onto it. But I got a free metal pizza peel with a Kettle pizza thing, and have used it since both on the grill and in the oven. It is thin, and doesn't mess up the toppings. It's the first thing I reach for when making pizza. I'm not sure it's critical because I did fine without it, but I'm happy to have it. I feel like I have missed your point. I think a lot depends on how you use the peel, which depends on your setup. But for me the peel does not matter as long as it gets the pizza on and off the heat without messing it up. In this regard, I prefer thinner with no thought to composition.

Best selection of mezcal I've found outside of some TX restaurants. Pricey, but the good stuff is there. I've had good experiences with the company. http://www.drinkupny.com/mezcal_online_s/185.htm

In Under Pressure, Keller has veal cheeks zingara. These are veal cheeks braised in veal stock with a purée of Yukon gold potatoes, truffle sauce, and Serrano ham and truffle salad. Sounds pretty good to me. He browns the cheeks, and then sous vides at 82.2C for 8 hours. Then there is some simmering and a transfer to an oven for a few minutes each. The thing is, I've been turned off by long time sous vide. The texture is just off putting for me in general. I've done mostly recipes from Keller and MC. In the couple of recipes I have by Heston Blumenthal, however, his temps and times are significantly lower. The one recipe I've tried of his was fantastic, but I forgot what it was. I tend to agree with the above. Traditionally braised cheeks are just glorious. I don't see a need for SV. But I admit my bias.

Another possibility is to move to wild boar. Much, much leaner. Even the belly has big chunks of lean meat. And incredible flavor. I also once had skirt steak from an Iberico pig. IIRC, that was pretty lean, and it was GOOD. I don't know if skirt steak from a normal pig would be as good.

I used this one http://www.amazon.com/Weber-Style-6435-Professional-Grade-Grill/dp/B000WEIIOE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1367515465&sr=8-4&keywords=grill+pans Certainly sturdy. Also this one http://www.amazon.com/Weber-6434-Professional-Grade-Vegetable-Basket/dp/B000WEIJUW/ref=pd_bxgy_lg_img_y I have been very happy with the quality of anything Weber. BB&B seems like an unusual place to shop for BBQ equipment to me, but I haven't been in a while. I've had more luck at home improvement stores, like Ace, Lowes, or (shudder) Home Depot. A word to the wise, though, be careful buying wood chunks there because many I've seen are moldy. ETA: Tater tots on a grill? That's a new one! I'm going to have to try that. Direct or indirect?

I know nothing about fish sauce, but here is an aged version of Red Boat 40: http://blisgourmet.com/home/products/fish-sauce-barrel-aged.html

I am full of gloom and doom tonight. Make sure you get an appropriate extension cord. Recently a family of 4 in our area died because the used an underrated cord for an outdoor smoker. The cord overheated, shorted, and burned down their house while they were sleeping.

If you want a little grill, I've been happy with the Lodge hibachi. Excellent for skewers, and really anything that cooks hot. Downside is that it is prone to rust. A Weber smokey joe might also be good, but I don't know how it would work with skewers. I don't think a pan would be the same. The coals are glowing red when the meat goes on. So I'm dusting off last summer's recipes. A hit is a version of naan (or pita?) similar to a Steve Raichlen recipe. It's about 2.5 cups of bread flour (I like it better than AP flour), about 3 Tbsp yogurt, 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and 2 tsp instant yeast. About 1 cup water - I eyeball it. Mix up in a food processor. Let double in a bowl. Divide into 4 pieces, and let double again. Roll it out, and brush both sides with olive oil. About 3 hours total. Then I get the fire as hot as possible. Forget 1 Mississippi. I need a glove to flip the bread. Toss it on the grate. It will take about 10 seconds for it to be ready to flip. And then flip it about every 10 seconds, putting the least done part over the hot part of the grill and the more done over the cooler. For me, the goal is a nice browned surface. My wife likes char; I do not. It takes about 60-90 seconds to cook. It will blacken if you leave. But it is wonderfully soft bread with a brown grilled crust. A big hit. Goes well with lamb, etc.

Man, I am pro-grilling. I own seven grills, all charcoal. When summer gets in full swing, I'll have sometimes 3 going at once. That said, I'd never, ever use charcoal on an apartment balcony. I won't even use it on my deck. I lived in an OK apartment complex where the building next to mine burned down due to a flare up. No people killed, but pets died. It's typically against fire code, and for good reason. I have no experience with gas, but I'd follow the fire code. If I were going to grill in an apartment simplex (autocorrect: supposed to be complex), I'd do it in the outdoor common area or the parking lot. I might even let neighbors join me if they supplied beer or something. ETA. Spent coal disposal is not terribly difficult if one is careful. I use what looks like a mini trash can. The problem is that coals can stay hot for days. My coals stay in fireproof canisters until they can be put out on the street for trash pickup. Locally, a house burned down when a maid cleaned out the fireplace 3 days after it had been used.

Ooh - there is that art - origami vegetables? - where they make flowers and stuff out of everyday veggies. A good way to improve your knife skills.

I don't know what kind of stores you have in your area, but where I live the Asian supermarkets have tremendous selection (Grand Mart is one in particular that I frequent). They have fruit and veggies that I usually have to look up on my phone to figure out what to do with them. Another fun thing, if you have the equipment, is to infuse fruits with other flavors using a whipping canister or something. Infusing apple slices with apple juice makes them taste much more apple-y, and uninfused slices taste bland by comparison. Strawberries with apple juice, etc. I made peanut butter apple slices by heating peanut butter in water to make peanut butter flavored water and then infusing the apple slices with the peanut butter water. It was cool because the apple slices looked normal, but had peanut butter flavor. ETA Given that many schools have nut prohibitions, one could instead make cheddar apple slices by making cheddar cheese water and infusing the apple slices.

I've only had pork neck once, but the one I had was very tasty and lean. It had been deboned. I'm not too sure that shoulder and belly would be considered lean...

In addition to PedroG's comment, call them! I've done so several times, and gotten useful information. They know their stuff, and they are very customer oriented.

I got the Kettle Pizza at the end of last grilling season. I like to think I'm a pretty good griller, but im pretty sure this thing has a bit of a learning curve to it. Some people have obviously mastered it, so it can, and will, be done. The funny thing is that the very first pizza I made on it was, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the best pizza I have EVER eaten. I eat a lot of pizza. It was cooked in under 90 seconds. It was amazing to see something go from raw to cooked that fast. The second pizza, however, was burned to pure char because some cheese got the pie instantly stuck to the stone. At those temps, one does not have time to solve such seemingly minor problems. I tried once more, but the winter winds ended the season without my matching the first pie. I have hope, and the above post has encouraged me to try again. A little OT, but I just wanted to mention that your vegetarian options on a grill migh benefit from a cast iron Dutch oven. I don't know what you normally cook, but things like beans, chickpeas, or other stew-like dishes are great on a grill. Keeps the heat out of the kitchen, and I think the dishes have a character that an oven can't provide. Also, I am a fan of grilled fruits (particularly white grapes!). I assume you have already considered grilled veggies and stuff. Baba Ganoush off a grill is unbelievable - just throw the eggplant directly on the coals. The skin protects the inside, which has an incredible smoky flavor. Smoked salsa... Make me stop.

I don't think it would work too well on a gas grill! I've clinched many times - it was the reverse sear, the 15-minute rest before searing, and the 1 hour brine that was new to me. The coals do indeed sometimes stick to the meat, but that's ok because the tongs will pluck them right off. What little bit of ash might be there can be brushed off, but it tastes good too. I once had a coal stick and didn't know it. When I put the meat on the cutting board, I suddenly wondered where that wonder new wood smell was coming from. Now I've got a nice burn mark in my cutting board. I will not do lamb chops any other way. It's magic. Steve Raichlen does a lot of cooking directly on coals. For instance, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.

I tried some new technique tonight, and I (and my family) think it was an unqualified success. I started with some thawed pork chops I got from a local farm coop. About an hour before dinner, I put about 2/3 tsp per pound of sea salt on them and let them sit at room temperature for a little more than an hour while I got the charcoal started for the Weber kettle. Then I did a reverse sear. I first indirect cooked them until about 135F. Then I pulled them off the grill completely, and went inside to make the side dish. This was bomba rice cooked risotto-style in a pressure cooker with yellow squash and, as the add-in, sundried tomato and basil feta cheese. Since I had everything ready, that took about 15 minutes or so. Back to the pork chops. I pulled the grate off of the kettle, and spread the coals around to get them going again. Then I took a piece of cardboard to fan the ashes off and get the coals bright, bright red. Then I put the chops straight onto the coals (which Adam Perry Lang calls "clinching"). That got them seared up in about a minute per side. The flavors you get from doing this are just tremendous. Plus, the short 1+-hour "dry brine" left quite a bit of salt just at the exterior of the meat, and this just made the Maillard flavors explode with each bite. There are no flare-ups when doing this - there's not enough oxygen between the coals and the meat to start a flame. So you can sear really fatty stuff without worrying about flames. It's cool. The bomba risotto was quite nice too. I like the reverse sear preceded by a rest, if for no other reason than the convenience of being able to do something else without worrying about the meat either getting overcooked or cold. ETA: You don't have to worry about flare-ups AND you can leave the lid open to help to avoid overcooking the interior via the oven-effect.

I am trying the Zuni method for chicken at this moment - the chicken will be dry-brined about 27 hours. How long do you dry brine steaks?

Very nice! I bet your guests are going to remember that meal for long time! Congrats.