eG Foodblog: torakris/snowangel - When Pocky meets pad thai....

[Megan Blocker]

Good morning, all!  What a pleasure to wake to the talk of larb!

And, the sun is shining this morning.  Finally.

This is where I usually have at least one cup of coffee every morning.

But, it is only 30 degrees (F) outside, so I need to get on some warmer clothes and find some socks!

←

I am SO jealous! It's still summery here in NYC (though they're promising cooler temps next week), and I am strictly a cold-weather creature. Your frosty grass is making my toes tingle.

Great blog so far, guys!

[snowangel]

Well, today is not going as planned. Paul called a few minutes ago, and said "if you're looking for your car, don't worry. I took it." Apparently, the electrical system in his car is not working, so I am carless today. Thus, no trip to the Asian market. And, since Peter, Diana and a friend who was here this morning polished off the rest of the bread (in the form of toast), I won't be taking tuna salad sandwiches to Peter this noon. I need to contemplate dinner tonight, and may have to put the Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet meal off until Sunday. I don't have any pork or chicken in the freezer, and the pumpkin is still in my vehicle. The best laid plans of mice and men...

So, when the going gets tough, the tough get smoking.

For tomorrow's party, I am going to smoke a brisket. It's been thawing in the fridge.

I cut it in half (so it fits on my trusty Weber Kettle)

And gave it a good rub with Klink's Dry Rub.

I've had my morning battle with plastic wrap, so it is resting in the fridge. I know it should really go 24 hours after rubbing before going on the smoker, but I'm going to smoke it today! I'll start the smoking in a couple of hours.

[daniellewiley]

Well, today is not going as planned.  I need to contemplate dinner tonight, and may have to put the Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet meal off until Sunday.  I don't have any pork or chicken in the freezer, and the pumpkin is still in my vehicle.    The best laid plans of mice and men...

This is one of the best things about the foodblogs, IMHO. I love seeing how life gets in the way of our plans (as it does for ALL of us) and how we all respond/react in our different ways.

Your response, btw, gets an A+ from me! Smoked brisket, yum!

I do have a crazy question for you. Larb sounds so good to me, and per Kristin's link, I did a bit of browsing through the famous 20 page thread. However, horror of horrors, I am allergic to fish sauce! Actually I'm allergic to all fish, except shellfish. I love the flavor combinations of both Thai and Vietnamese food, but there's almost nothing I can eat in its pure form. In fact, I worry that I'll never be able to travel to Thailand or Vietnam for fear of going into anaphylactic shock. Any suggestions on a substitution? Everything I've read says that there is no way to substitute for fish sauce, but since you are an expert, I thought I'd ask!

(If this is too off topic, feel free to respond via PM, but only when you have time!)

[Susan in FL]

So, when the going gets tough, the tough get smoking.

For tomorrow's party, I am going to smoke a brisket.....

←

That's the attitude!

We all know that being a good planner, which you are, is an advantage for eG Foodbloggers, but who woulda thought that your flexibility and adaptability would be such an asset? Kudos to you.

This continues to be great, and maybe the one with the most suspense ever.

[snowangel]

Time for some advice.

I'm obviously not doing dishes from HSSS tonight. Tomorrow night is out for this because of a party. Sunday night was supposed to be BBQ; I was going to marinate and grill skirt steak and serve it with pico and a cooked salsa (like my former Hispanic neighbors did). But, I have all of this great produce from the market, and that pumpkin, which I'm sure is happy in my vehicle in the parking lot of Paul's office.

So: Should I do Thai on Sunday? I can get to the Asian market easily on Sunday. If so, how do I try and best preserve that glorious bunch of chinese broccoli which seems inappropriate for tomorrows meal?

Next question: So, I'm having brisket tomorrow for the party. I'm also going to make baked beans. A friend is bringing cole slaw. I'm going to have salsa and chips. Another friend is bringing another "southwestern cheese" dip. Do I need more sides? If so, any suggestions?

[Chris Amirault]

So:  Should I do Thai on Sunday?  I can get to the Asian market easily on Sunday.  If so, how do I try and best preserve that glorious bunch of chinese broccoli which seems inappropriate for tomorrows meal?

←

Yes! Just wrap the broccoli in a damp paper towel and put it in a bag in the fridge; that seems to do the trick for me.

Next question:  So, I'm having brisket tomorrow for the party.  I'm also going to make baked beans.  A friend is bringing cole slaw.  I'm going to have salsa and chips.  Another friend is bringing another "southwestern cheese" dip.  Do I need more sides?  If so, any suggestions?

←

Kugel!

[Smithy]

Next question:  So, I'm having brisket tomorrow for the party.  I'm also going to make baked beans.  A friend is bringing cole slaw.  I'm going to have salsa and chips.  Another friend is bringing another "southwestern cheese" dip.  Do I need more sides?  If so, any suggestions?

←

Where's the fruit in all this? I suggest a Waldorf salad!

[snowangel]

Where's the fruit in all this?  I suggest a Waldorf salad!

←

That's a great idea! I'd better get some apples. Oh, wait, I have a mess of those chestnut crabs. I'd better get to the market tonight or tomorrow morning. Need celery and raisins.

And, apples will be featured for dessert. That was another problem that appeared today. I was originally going to bake a german chocolate cake for tomorrow, using the recipe in a recent issue of CI.

But, when I went to get things together, I realized that an "experiment gone awry" (Peter) has left me with no 9" cake pans. Well, I can't go out and get any today. I was questioning whether a cake that size would feed 30+ anyway.

So, when my best friend called, and offered to make two pans of apple squares (her mother's recipe; she'll get Haralson's at the farmer's market tomorrow morning), I leapt at the chance.

Maybe I'll just make potato salad. I have all of the stuff here for that.

Any other thoughts?

[mhadam]

Susan - you can always make a coleslaw and a shredded carrot salad with an addition of a few chestnut crabs.

[snowangel]

My brisket is on and has been smoking for almost three hours. It is not yet photo worthy, but I am getting nice wisps of smoke!

Temp has been holding steady between 200-225, with one 5 minute 240 spike.

I'm starting to smell like bacon...

[zilla369]

I forgot to add the link for Wendy's showing the sesame chicken sandwich...

Sesame chicken

←

That sandwich looks pretty good. I'm almost certain they haven't been serving that one in the U.S. Too bad - I would definitely try one.

[snowangel]

My brisket has been on for almost 4 hours, and is starting to look like brisket

In the meantime, I have eaten. I ate a mess of pretzels. Finished the first bag, in fact.

I was still hungry, so I dove into Peter's tuna salad (even though it has relish; it was prepared). I cut one of my brandywine's in half, squeezed out some of the seeds and juice and filled the crevices in with tuna. Carried it out on the deck and ate it with elbows on the deck railing, juice running down onto the sleeves of my sweatshirt. It was darned tasty. It also filled a hole.

Stay tuned for alternate dinner plans. It's going to be really fast and easy.

[lovebenton0]

great blog, Susan and Kris. i just had the chance to catch up and read through what i'd missed the past couple of days.

and to round out the table Saturday... Susan, if you don't have any already planned pickles and sliced onions would be a must here with that smoked brisket...

it is looking lovely. figure you have another four to six hours for that...

and either tortillas or bread on the side for soppers and moppers.

i'm lovin' this ladies, keep it up!

[torakris]

plans ar getting messed up here as well!

It really looked like was going to rain so I asumed Saturday's sports day was going to be canceled until Sunday, but he call came at 6:15 in the morning the sports day is on! So I had to rush to make a decent bento lunch and we are now about to walk out the door. I hope it doesn't pour on us, though it looks like it is going to.

Be back in a little while.

Susan that brisket looks incredible.

[snowangel]

Good morning, Kris! Sounds like you will have a soggy, muddy day!

So, it turned out OK I couldn't do Thai tonight. Diana and a friend wanted to go out to dinner together to celebrate birthdays, so I took them to some local chain, and dropped them off (we will pick them up when they call). Since the chain was next door to Costco, and we needed more milk, and I needed to get buns for tomorrow's party, I stopped at Costco. I got the milk, a bag of 36 "dinner rolls" (which seem to me bigger than dinner rolls but smaller than hamburger buns). I also got this

Half sausage, half combo. 18", $8.95. I ordered it when I got there and it was ready when I got done.

I am normally a thin a crispy crust person, but every so often a thicker pizza is OK. This one's crust has a great chew.

So, sorry nothing exotic, but I bet I'm not the only EG'er who had take-out or delivery pizza tonight!

The minute I got home, I checked on my brisket

It's been on almost 8 hours, and the internal temp of the flat is at about 168 degrees (F). I have a ways to go! Good thing I didn't start drinking beer when I put it on!

[petite tête de chou]

Hi Susan,

I've been ready to toss my old Weber kettle (which looks just like yours, wooden handles and all) but you have definitely changed my mind!

It looks like you have something underneath the wheels. What is it? I would be using it on a wooden deck just like you and am concerned about burning or otherwise damaging the wood. I love brisket but my favorite is pork butt.

[snowangel]

Hi Susan,

I've been ready to toss my old Weber kettle (which looks just like yours, wooden handles and all) but you have definitely changed my mind! 

It looks like you have something underneath the wheels. What is it? I would be using it on a wooden deck just like you and am concerned about burning or otherwise damaging the wood. I love brisket but my favorite is pork butt. 

←

I love my trusty Weber Kettle. I thought about getting a new one, but this one is sill very servicable! We had to drill holes through the top handle and bolt it to the lid, but it was a $.50 fix!

The mat is plastic or rubber or something; we got it at a hardware store. It is meant to lay under grills. Works well.

My choice is butt, too, but Paul requested brisket, and the gathering is for his birthday! And, I couldn't find a small enough bone-in butt to fit on the grill at the same time as the brisket.

The flat should come off in a short while. The point is stalled.

[snowangel]

Brisket is still stalled, so I had an apple, a piece of cold pizza, and another apple. I think I'm going to be up for quite a while tending the meat.

[Betts]

Susan and Kris - sensatrional blog.

An idea for the tomatoes. I got this recipe from a customer who did a barge trip on the Loire. This is what the chef did.. Roast 6-8 peeled tomatoes which have been halved, sprinkled w/ s&p, chopped garlic and basil leaves and olive oil. Roast in a baking dish 400F for about and hour. Meanwhile peel and chop a medium potato and put in a quart of water with a little salt. Cook until very soft. Put the potato, water and roasted tomatoes in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add 1 -2 tsp balsamic vinegar, S&P and olive oil( Canadians float a pat of butter on the tomato soup- no basil nonsense)

[snowangel]

After 12 hours, the flat is done.

I regularly smoke butts, but don't smoke briskets as often, and have never done one when the ourdoor temps hover in the upper 30's/lower 40's. The flat was twelve hours at about 220.

I think I have a while longer on the point, so I'll be up for a while.

Interesting that the stall on the brisket seems to go on for much longer than with butts.

Smoking brisket can make one tipsy.

[snowangel]

The point came off about 1/2 hour ago. Finally. Interesting that this made it through the stall much faster than the flat. Perhaps an experienced smoker can chime in here.

Anyway, about the time I took the point off, I realized that I had some small yellow zucchini in the fridge. So, I figured, smoke them?

Well, I cut them in half lengthwise, for more surface area and stuck them on the grill.

Well, in the meantime, I did the mom thing. Meaning multi-tasking. Heidi cried, I gave her a glass of water. Peter needed to be covered up. The dryer buzzed. Backpacks needed to be hung up. It's the stuff that parents do as they walk through the house. Ate another apple.

I think it was only about half an hour, but could have been a bit longer before I thought to check.

This is what I recovered

The rest of them shriveled up enough that they fell through the grates. And, the white stuff on the next to the one at the top is not shine from the camera, nor is it mould. It looks like burned wood!

I won't be smoking zucchini any time soon.

But, I will brush my teeth and go to bed, now.

Weekend breakfasts tend to be big at the Fahning household. Add to that a party, and the necessary last minute clean up and shopping that always accompanies a get together, tomorrow will be a busy day.

Sweet dreams, all.

[torakris]

smoked zucchini?

Am finally back from the sports day, except for 10 minutes of rain during lunch it was pretty decent weather. The clouds kept it cool but it looked like it was going to pour a any moment.

[snowangel]

Yes, smoked zuchini. I tried. Chalk it up to "another lesson learned." Daddy-A talked about smoked tomatoes, so I figured, why not give it a try.

Kris, upload some photos! I want to see you bento boxes when I wake tomorrow.

I''m handing it over to you as I need to sleep.

[torakris]

I forgot to post dessert last night..

My husband took the kids to the nearest convenience store and let them pick out some ice cream. He does this about once a week.

the goodies

vanilla, banana-chocolate, chocolate-chocolate chip and mont blanc ice cream (chestnut flavored on top with vanilla underneath)

They don't sell large tubs of ice cream here, individual serving like this are more common. Haagen Dazs and Lady Borden both have flavors in pint sizes.

[torakris]

good night Susan, I can't wait to see that brisket tomorrow!!

I only had 1 1/2 hours to get everything ready this morning and take a shower, so my fastest bento ever!

top left:

sausages, onigiri with wakame (seaweed) and sesame seeds, blanched carrots and broccoli with cucumber sticks and a kochujang-miso dip

top right:

more of the same onigiri, apples, lychees (they look white because they were frozen, they were perfectly thawed by the time lunch rolled around)

bottom:

minced chicken loaf with hijiki (a kind of seaweed), scallions and ginger, more of the vegetables and dip