Cooking on a Big Green Egg

[curls]

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

Looks like sirloin...they have great sirloin.

Nope, not sirloin but you triggered my memory — they are labeled as flap steaks. Per Google they are also know as flap meat and sirloin tips. They have a very beefy flavor and some of the texture of skirt steak.

[curls]

Here are my June pizza trials. Used a pizza dough recipe from Peter Reinhart that I have used many times before when I have made pizzas on the gas grill. Pizza sauce was from Wegmans. I'm using sklips to create a break between the diffuser plates and the pizza stone. I learned about the sklips when @Heartsurgeon posted about them here.

.

 

[curls]

And the last of the historic Kamado Joe pictures - ribs from a May 2018 cook. St. Louis cut ribs purchased at the local Costco. Sadly, I don't remember any other details about the cook other than the fact that the ribs were tasty.

 

[Kerry Beal]

Dickson's BBQ in Toronto has been hosting an Eggfest for a number of years - they have gradually added a number of other BBQs, smokers and pellet grills.

 

 

This is my little piece of the world for the day. 

 

\

 

Two years ago Anna N and I shared a tent with a lovely couple and their child was just learning to print - she made our sign for us. Today she was there again and Anna's son and I took advantage of her good penmanship to get another sign made. 

 

\\

 

Focaccia with roasted garlic.

 

 

Mac and cheese.

 

 

 

 

The lines for the two tents beside ours when there is no food to be had. 

 

 

We put down a tray of Mac and cheese.

 

 

And they come. 

 

I made a video - they picked that tray clean in a few short minutes. 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Not cinnamon rolls - actually lamb and goat cheese - spiced with Penseys Turkish seasoning 

 

 

 

Kicked up cornbread 

 

 

Frittata - artichoke, potato and oven dried tomato - handful of scallions left over from kicked up cornbread 

 

 

Finished off with Summer Torte with Caramelized apples - cause it’s not summer anymore!

[gfweb]

What kicked up the cornbread?

[Kerry Beal]

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

What kicked up the cornbread?

One green hot pepper (not a jalapeño) in amongst the banana pepper and the shepherd pepper. 

[curls]

Late September cook... first attempt at meatloaf on the Kamado Joe. Turned out pretty well... liked the flavor but I need to work on the texture. Couldn't get a clean slice, loaf fell apart. I'm thinking about adding another egg to the mix the next time I make this -- hoping that will make for a more sliceable meatloaf.

 

Meatloaf served with creamed spinach and box mac & cheese. Yup, may get me kicked off of eGullet.  😉

[Captain]

19 hours ago, curls said:

Couldn't get a clean slice, loaf fell apart.

Did you give the mix a real good beating?  Mix it long enough and you will see the texture change to something more sticky and finer grain.... sorry best I can discribe it.

Looks fantastic btw sitting on the Que.

[Okanagancook]

The Captain is right...kind of like making sausage.  You can use the paddle on a Kitchenaide.  Mix on low for a few minutes and maybe add a little ice water.  Once it’s mixed together crank it up to medium for one minute.

[curls]

Thanks Captain and Okanagancook I did not mix it that way — will try it that way next time!

[rotuts]

If I might say so Myself ............

 

I am an expert on ML's

 

 

an extra egg might help you

 

but a panade might also.

 

Outstanding ML should have good texture , but can be just short of crumbly.

 

why not perfect your ' Egg ' mixture in an oven first

 

like a CSO

 

then Tx it to the Egg ?

 

I have not BBQ'd a ML

 

but I do have that sort of rack for Pizza etc.

 

consider a parchment paper

 

brown stuff is better

 

underneath it if you chose.

 

look into a panade.

 

the paddle versions are nice , but do not have the complex texture

 

ie a bit ' grainy ' in the best sense of the word

 

and are a bit more like a smooth pate

 

all good

 

Id also like to recommend

 

you do not over cook the ML

 

an error of The Very First Order

 

medium to less :  far more taste

 

best  of luck on your ML journey

 

a wise one to take

 

[Okanagancook]

If the meat is not really cold the beating may not work and could produce a grainy texture as noted.  The meat should be on the verge of frozen...a little crispy and the water icy cold.  The meat should not be fine ground either...medium.

[curls]

Thanks to all for your guidance on my ML journey. Many great suggestions! Will have to get a journal and keep notes. Rotus, I’ll see if I can get a red journal.

 

I don’t have a CSO but I’ve been reading about all the wonderful things all of you say about it. Even got the dimensions once and checked my counter to see how much room it would take — that CSO demands a fair bit of real estate. So far I’m resisting. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

22 minutes ago, curls said:

Thanks to all for your guidance on my ML journey. Many great suggestions! Will have to get a journal and keep notes. Rotus, I’ll see if I can get a red journal.

 

I don’t have a CSO but I’ve been reading about all the wonderful things all of you say about it. Even got the dimensions once and checked my counter to see how much room it would take — that CSO demands a fair bit of real estate. So far I’m resisting. 

 

You might as well give in now.

 

[curls]

DizzyFest today in Manassas, Virginia! Any other eGulleters attending?  I'll post some pictures of the event. They sold over 600 tasting tickets this year. Special event this year, a roundtable Q&A with Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe, Tuffy Stone, and Chris Capell.

[curls]

Photos of the menus. Sadly a lot of cook teams did not have posted menus. Tasty food but so far nothing photo worthy — will keep a look out.

[kayb]

Burnt ends and grits sounds like an absolutely marvelous idea.

 

[curls]

17 minutes ago, kayb said:

Burnt ends and grits sounds like an absolutely marvelous idea.

 

I wanted to try that one... especially the grits... but didn't manage to walk by when it was available.

[curls]

The rest of the photos from DizzyFest 2019...

 

Roundtable Q&A with Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe, Chris Capell, and Tuffy Stone.

 

 

Some of the food - please ask if you would like to know more about any of the dishes.

 

Breakfast casserole from one of my favorites teams, the Serial Grillers,

 

 

The scene

 

 

The demo eggs

 

 

The door prizes

 

 

The price of various charcoals at DizzyPig

 

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by curls
added breakfast casserole (log)

[Smithy]

5 minutes ago, curls said:

The rest of the photos from DizzyFest 2019...

 

Roundtable Q&A with Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe, Chris Capell, and Tuffy Stone.

 

 

Some of the food - please ask if you would like to know more about any of the dishes.

 

It looks like a blast. I've edited your quoted post to focus on just a few pictures.

 

What's in the lettuce wrap near the top? I'm guessing the Gyro / Mary "USED-TA" have a little lamb? (I love that name.) How did it taste?

The middle photo is of a dessert - apple something? What did you think of it?

The bottom photo is clearly the salmon...I just want to know how it tasted. I've never met salmon I didn't like... 

 

Going to the top: what sort of information was passed along during the Q&A session? 

 

Finally: did you pick up any ideas, either for technique or flavor combination, that you'll be applying to your own cookery?

 

Thanks for posting about this festival.

[curls]

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

What's in the lettuce wrap near the top? I'm guessing the Gyro / Mary "USED-TA" have a little lamb? (I love that name.) How did it taste?

The middle photo is of a dessert - apple something? What did you think of it?

The bottom photo is clearly the salmon...I just want to know how it tasted. I've never met salmon I didn't like... 

The lettuce wrap is indeed the Gyro / Mary USE-TA and it was delicious. Just a great combination of flavors and textures. After so many plain meat dishes, the crunch from a romaine leaf along with a nice combo of flavors was quite refreshing.

 

The middle photo was the dessert hit for me. The cook team called it a King Shot: a donut hole topped with vanilla ice cream, caramalized bannanas, peanut butter sauce, honey, and a bacon garnish. They cooked the bananas on the BGE in a cast iron pan until they were soft and nice caramilized -- don't know for sure, but guessing they cooked the bananas  with butter, sugar, and possibly some rum.

 

I had also tried a pineapple head spiced chocolate chip cookies,  an apple dumpling,  and the rhubarab cake. Did not come back in time to see the bouron glazed apples and sweet potatoes with pecans -- was curious about that one. Not too many desserts this year.

 

Ah, the salmon, that is a great recipe and the ladies who make it are wonderful cooks (Indigo Farms Seafood owners, Susan Handy and Teresa Nester). They were at Dizzy Fest last year too (and probably many years before that) and the salmon was one of the dishes they made last year. I have made it on my Kamado Joe and it works very well -- when I make it I omit the maple syrup Their basic recipe is posted on the Dizzy Pig website -- https://dizzypigbbq.com/recipe/raging-river-maplebutter-crusted-salmon/. The owners of Indigo Farms Seafood teach a Seafood Class at Dizzy Pig and it is on my list to attend some year.

 

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

Going to the top: what sort of information was passed along during the Q&A session? 

The Q&A lasted a bit less than an hour but could have gone on for much longer. Most of the questions were about cooking brisket (the stall, the wrap, the crust, etc.) and how the speakers techniques were similar and different from each other. They also mentioned the differences in cooking for competiion & cooking for yourself.

 

15 hours ago, Smithy said:

Finally: did you pick up any ideas, either for technique or flavor combination, that you'll be applying to your own cookery?

This year, I did not pick up any new ideas but I had a wonderful time being outside with friends, enjoying the beautiful weather, and sampling many of the food offerings. There teams were more traditional cooks and generally stuck to the classic BGE recipes & techniques. The stand-out team for me was the Serial Grillers but that was based on their flavors and the consistency of their cooks. At last year's event there was a lot more variety in dishes and cooking techniques. Based on the photos I see from the Toronto EggFest that Kerry Beal participates in each year, I think that the Toronto group has a lot more variety in their cooks and techniques. Would like to check out some of the other EggFests... the one in Georgia and the one in Toronto seem to be two of the most interesting.

[ElsieD]

What were the quail eggs in cups?

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, curls said:

 

 

This year, I did not pick up any new ideas but I had a wonderful time being outside with friends, enjoying the beautiful weather, and sampling many of the food offerings. There teams were more traditional cooks and generally stuck to the classic BGE recipes & techniques. The stand-out team for me was the Serial Grillers but that was based on their flavors and the consistency of their cooks. At last year's event there was a lot more variety in dishes and cooking techniques. Based on the photos I see from the Toronto EggFest that Kerry Beal participates in each year, I think that the Toronto group has a lot more variety in their cooks and techniques. Would like to check out some of the other EggFests... the one in Georgia and the one in Toronto seem to be two of the most interesting.

It looks like this years Toronto Eggfest might turn out to be a bust. Just got a notice this morning saying that it is only five weeks away and it does not appear that they are actually using cooks. They’re going to cater it? Not quite sure how that’s gonna play out. Unfortunately having  left it so late to organize I’m not available anyway.

[curls]

40 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

What were the quail eggs in cups?

Eggselent question... didn't see prep or finished product. Many more attendees this year, even though we got there 15 minutes after the fest opened, we weren't able to set up our chairs / picnic spot  in one the grassy area behind the cooks, we were off to the side of the cooks and I had a lot more difficulty checking on the status of all the cooks.