ianeccleston
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Posts posted by ianeccleston
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I will be sure that the grill is extinguished before we eat the beans and cabbage. I don't want to make the papers: "Backyard BBQ Backfires Because of Beans and Brassicaceae"
Yes, I made the pickles on Wednesday, with the kind help of the eGCI and jackal10. I haven't tried them yet, but I'm excited to see what they are like by the time they 'ripen'.
Paula's preserved lemons are the bomb. I had to start making extra jars so I had some to give away...
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Cooking for an army
(blog/advice seeking)
To be made with these ingredients, from left: Hummus (a non-traditional pre-BBQ snack, I know), 1 gallon of Northwest & Southeast Carolina BBQ Sauce, 8 pounds dried beans for bean salad (EVOO, lemons, maybe rosemary), 6 cabbages for slaw, 30 lbs. of potatoes for potato salad, made with 10 cups of mayonnaise. Above, fennel & garlic pickles for the potato salad & snacking, and Paula Wolfert's preserved lemons 'cause they're pretty.
We plan to cook the beans on Wednesday and store in their cooking liquid until Sunday, at which point we'll drain and sauce. Friday, we'll make the potato salad (recipe a combination of Alton Brown's cold-fashioned potato salad & Jacque & Julia's), Saturday we'll pick up the pig, cut the cabbage with the Cuisinart, make the BBQ sauce. Sunday, we'll start the pig at 5 a.m., make the hummus, drink some beer, dress the slaw & beans and take a nap (not necessarily in that order).
Does that sound like a reasonable schedule? I think all the food will be pretty fresh if I make this stuff ahead of time.
The challenge will be to find big enough pots to cook everything in, and have the storage space for them afterwards (for instance, until last night I was planning on storing the beans in the pot I was going to cook them in, until I realized that I'd need the pots to cook the potatoes). We'll probably have to borrow the neighbor's refrigerator.
Restaurants do this kind of thing all the time, but for a home cook throwing the biggest party of his life, there are a lot of logistical challenges! Does anyone have tips for the logistics of cooking for a crowd?
I went to Sam's Club for the first time, a life saver. Besides plates, napkins, mayo, etc., I got a bunch of foil pans to serve the potato salad, slaw, etc. in. I can store the food in them, right? I'm worried that the vinaigrettes will corrode them, or the AL will give an off-taste.
If it rains, we're screwed.
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You could save yourself a bunch of comet, not to mention grief, if you just line the tub with visqueen or some heavy kind of plastic sheeting. You can just throw it away and voila! No dirty ring! (or dirty comments or looks from those who are a bit leary of pigs in tubs
) Actually, that's part of the agreement too - it's staying in the heavy-duty bag from the butcher. I still have to clean the tub though. :)
Ian
Edited to say: we already planned on the cleaning lady - 70 drunks coming through our place to use the bathroom necessitated that...
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Victory! The pig is going in the tub. As agreed, I am also purchasing "the largest can of Comet ever."
Cheers,
Ian
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One last simple question. When I loaded the brine into the jars, I left a 1/4 inch gap at the top. Now that gap is closer to one inch (right at the 'shoulders'), and the tips of the pickles are sticking out of it. Is this common?
Do I have to worry about botulism muliplying in these little tips? In the meantime, I'm keeping the processed jars in the fridge.
Ian
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The cucumber recipe was a different source...5 mins is moire than adequate
Fennel is different - sort of stronger and more aniseed flavoured than dill.
I'm sure they will be delicouse, just different
Great, thanks for the clarification. Yes, I think the fennel seed will turn out. Next time I may add some orange zest too...
Ian
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HMSO Bulletin 21 Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables gives three methods:
US and more modern government advise may differ
a) Slow water bath
Cold filling. Raise from cold to simmer in 90 min, maintain for 15min
b) Quick water bath
Hot fill (140F), raise from warm (100F) to simmering in 30 min, maintain for 2 min
c) Pressure pan
Hot fill; Raise from hot to 5lb pressure in 5-10 min; maintain 1 min; cool 10 min before opening.
Thanks! Just to clarify, your lesson says to cold fill, bring to simmer, and then simmer for 5 minutes. Was this supposed to be for 15 minutes?
(BTW, I substituted the dill for a tsp. of semi-crushed fennel seeds - I'll report on how the pickles taste in a couple of weeks)
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In your recipe to make cucumber pickles and process them, you say to put the jars of cucumbers in the COLD water, bring it to a boil, and leave them in there to boil for 5 more minutes. I tried your recipe last night, and since my canning pot is huge, this process took a long time; i.e. the cukes were exposed to a higher temperature for a longer time because it took so long for the water to come to a boil.
Do you have any recommendations for how long to process the cukes if you put the jars into boiling water instead of cool water?
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...be forewarned- When a man (or a woman) treads the headcheese highway he or she is stirring up some stuff that can really, really stink up the place. The end results are completely worth the trouble, but this may not be something you want to do with houseguests around (unless they are extremely well humored). It is also alot more time consuming than it would seem so once again, unless your guests are going to help, you might want to put it off to another time.
Ah, the stink. My sister-in-law will not be humorless, but neither will she let me hear the end of it. And then, as this family is wont to do, the story will be passed on and elaborated upon. By the time I'm 50, according to the family, the stink will have grown to epic proportions: I will have marinated a pig in the tub, boiled a pig head and made lye soap to boot. There will be another opportunity to make headcheese, perhaps. A nice pork liver pate and a pork shoulder pate will still be in order however.
Ian
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Dean and I will be holding classes on eGCI on how to be a man in the kitchen and around your own home. As experts in the manly arts, we feel that many people can benefit from our many years of experience and we are here to help those in need get their lives back on track. You might want to think about signing up, as you seem to have some trouble with priorities.
Too funny to even attempt a comeback.
(I haven't turned the corner yet, but I'm making progress. My wife pointed out at dinner that we will have four houseguests that weekend, and only one bathroom. Her resistance is crumbling though; I will keep on fighting the good fight)
The headcheese links were interesting. I can only think of a couple of people that are coming that will be as excited about the cheese as I am, unfortunately. I still haven't seen a recipe that includes a whole head yet (man, I'm going to need a big, new stockpot), but I haven't looked into it thoroughly.
How long does headcheese keep for? I will be busy getting the pig, cooker etc., and tending to guests on Saturday, so I'm worried how much time I'll have to prepare it. We'll see if I actually get to it. It sounds like fun, but that porker will be my priority. Ah, screw it. I won't have an excuse like this to make real head cheese - I'm going for it.
Ian
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I'm sorry to say that despite repeated and determined efforts to woo her, my wife will come close to divorcing me if a pig touches our tub.
Wimp.
What kind of man are you?LOL. Hey, I'm roasting a pig here! That has to give me a month's worth of protection against challenges to my manhood, shouldn't it?
I might be a wimp in this case. However, YOU try crossing the nesting instinct of a very pregnant wife with a dead pig.
by the way, expect your yard where you locate the cooker to get very, very messyI'm suprised they don't have a spout or something to catch that tasty lard built into those cookers. I'm thinking of laying AL foil on the ground to mitigate the mess, or maybe improvising a spout with it. We'll see. I may be lucky enough to place the cooker over a drain hole.
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I'm sorry to say that despite repeated and determined efforts to woo her, my wife will come close to divorcing me if a pig touches our tub. I'll probably have to go with a new, clean, stabilized trash can. It doesn't have the drama, but it'll work.
On the other hand, it would almost be worth it to suprise her when she wakes up to pee in the middle of the night (or to see the look on the cats' faces).
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Thanks so much! I feel very reassured - I fell like I've got a nice handle on it now.
]You want the fat and juices to drip onto the coals, and not just to smoke the pig.What else does it do besides adding smoke for the pig?
]Finally, once you've cleaned out the meat from the pig, get the grill good and hot. Put the skin back on the grill, with the outside of the skin faced down. Cook the skin until it's good and crunchy -- voila, pork brittle! It's divine.I thought I had run out of different things to get excited about for the roast, but now I have something new. Sounds great.
On that vein, I may try to get the head early as well as the offal - I'd like to use everything but the squeal, and a little head cheese and pork pate sounds just right. Has anyone here ever made head cheese?
Ian
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I'm having a pig roast on Labor Day weekend with 70 - 80 people and one 100 pound pig.
I have most everything in place, but I have a couple lingering questions. I've tried to research this as best I can, from the egullet archives and the eGCI, but I've gotten some conflicting information.
1) The pig. Is 100 lbs., dressed, enough for 70-80 people? I've heard you should expect anywhere from 3/4 to 1 1/2 lbs. per person.
2) I rented the roaster for that weekend (enclosed, no separate firebox - not a caja china or cajun microwave), and plan to use lump charcoal, like the kind you can buy at Whole Foods these days (mine's generic though). I have about 80 lbs. of the stuff, and plan to buy another 40.
Is 80 lbs. of charcol enough? I've read that you should expect 30 lbs. to get it started, and then 10 lbs. for every hour thereafter. Additionally How long will it take to cook the pig? (this is the big question)
3) Should I add hickory or oak chunks in addition to the lump charcoal?
4) To baste, or not to baste? Some people seem to use a North Carolina type vinegar mop, but other people say that you shouldn't, especially with a closed cooker due to escaping heat.
5) To brine or not to brine? Again, differing opinions. I'm all for brining, normally. But some folks say that the brine doesn't really penetrate the thick skin enough to make it worth it. And I don't want the pig to be "hammy". I am planning on using a spice rub on the interior though.
As for the rest of it, I think I'll make up gigantic sides of a cabbage slaw with vinaigrette, some white beans, some cheap white bread, and a North or South Carolina BBQ sauce. I'll post pictures here the day after. Wish me luck!
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I'm planning on roasting a pig in a closed cooker. Does anyone have a guess as to how much charcoal (lump charcoal, like the kind you can buy at Whole Foods these days) I'll need to cook a 100 lb. pig?
Ian
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Ran into this link by Mario Batali about travelling in Sicily. Happily, he also mentions Al Duomo and Nautilus...
Ian
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I agree, dining is hit or miss in Taormina.
We had a great meal at Al Duomo, including a piccolo frito misto of tiny fried fish (you eat them whole). The details of the rest of the meal are fuzzy - we were fantastically drunk by the end of the meal due to a generous Irish couple we hooked up with - but I remember it as one of the better meals I had there. We had the waiter bring us whatever he wanted to bring, so we ended up with dozens of little plates - eggplant in tomato sauce, squid, etc. Sit on the terrace and people watch on the square.
We had a great upscale dinner at Casa Grugno. I remember nice red snapper ravioli with tomato conserva and red pepper puree. Service was relaxed and attentive, and the deck upstairs was a gorgeous setting. (FYI after discussing this thread with my wife, she says this restaurant is called the Nautilus)
Take one night to go up to the next town up the hill (Castelmola?) and eating at the pizzeria at the very top of the mountain if you're staying for more than a couple nights. I believe it's called Restaurant Panoramico or some such thing. Decent pizza and pasta, with a local crowd. Worth going just to walk around the town and enjoy the great views.
Oh, and I had a nice sea urchin spaghetti at Gamberi Rosso for lunch (a pizzeria?). Nice and casual, not a lot of fancy stuff there. But a good vibe and a nice place to have a noon-time glass of wine.
La Giarra is the most high profile restaurant in Taormina, but I've heard that it's a bit overrated. I've also heard that it has held up over time, but..
Do NOT go to Il Cyclops. It's a tourist trap with lousy food. I can't believe what a lousy tutti di mare I had there. How can you not have fresh seafood so close to the ocean?
Frommer's seems to have a nice list of restaurants - I used it to refresh my two-year-old memories of my honeymoon..
Have fun,
Ian
Edited for my lousy italian
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However, his idea for using ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder to preserve bright green color of basil really works. I used it in pesto and basil butter with good success.
Parsley might also preserve the color..
Ian
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I'm a little late to contribute, but we went to Kalbi on Lawrence avenue last week with a Japanese couple. Man, it was excellent. I've never had Korean BBQ before, so I don't know how this stacks up, but I really enjoyed it. We had the tongue, kalbi and kobe beef prime rib eye, and the whatever-its-called pancake with scallions and squid for an appetizer. I can recommend all of it.
What's more, a lot of Japanese movers and shakers eat there, so it must have a good reputation. Ichiro, the Seatle's baseball player from Japan was spotted eating there last year.... if your loaded, order off the menu for their special cuts of meat - they are much better (nd more expensive) than what's on the regular menu.
Ian
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That brisket looks great!
I've always bought untrimmed brisket, right in the cryovac. With that huge fat cap, the brisket gets basted with the rendering fat for the whole smoke. Yummy.
However, when I slice it, I usually have to cut that cap off (a good half inch of fat) for my guests. I'll eat a piece of fat or two but that's my limit. That top of the brisket is lovely - black and smoky and flavorful. When I cut off the fat, I have to cut off that crackly top part. (And even after trimming some of the fat off, I usually see additional pieces of fat on their otherwise empty plates - most people won't eat it).
So, I'm thinking of trimming a bit of the fat cap off: I'll aim to have as much fat left after the smoking as you might on a nice steak, and leave plenty of fat to render into the brisket during cooking.
Does that seem like a good idea? The brisket people always seem to say that you should leave it untrimmed...
Ian
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I got up to the Evanston market today, and got some baby leeks from Kinikinick, to be used in Szechuan Twice-Cooked Pork, red potatoes from Henry's, and a pint of blueberries. Amazing how bountiful the farmers markets are now compared to a month ago...
Broccoli - My favorite item from last year's market. Deep green and a whole 'nother' world from anything you see in stores. It's much softer in texture, almost leafy--if that makes sense--and way sweeter in flavor than conventional stuff.I almost got the broccoli too, but we may have some in our box from the co-op this week, so I had to restrain myself. It better be in there, because you've really got me wanting it now.
Ian
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I've heard of a creamy, spicy mango soup from India - I've been meaning to make it. It sounds like it would taste great and make for a nice photo.
Ian
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fiftydollars - what were the bones like after you finished making the stock with them? Were they meaty, brown bones? When I made glace, the result was bland. My bones were rather white by that time, perhaps that was the problem. The glace was brown by the time I got it reduced, but hardly chocolate.
Ian
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Green garlic from Nichols: Hey, I never know what to do with this stuff either. I think I'll make some garlic/oil pasta with some of it. Probably put it in some pizza sauce too.
I ended up doing a simple sautee of green garlic (bottom white bulb and up to pale green) and broccoli on Tuesday with just EVOO and salt. Turned out very nice. I might take off the exterior layer next time as it was a bit tough. Let me know how yours turns out.
Ian
Labor Day Weekend Pig Roast
in Cooking
Posted
LOL; you're welcome to crash my party. But if egulleters start showing up, I'm going to have to double the size of the pig.