Two friends and I bought this about 8 years ago. Basically, same principle as the Bradley--it burns wood pellets off an electric heating element. The best feature is exactly what you said: You can start it up in the morning, put your meat on it, and leave, and return to an awesome meal. Steady induction of heat and smoke pretty much makes using these types of smokers idiot-proof. And the unit you're looking at is pretty reasonable price-wise. Can't speak for Bradley's quality (though our Traeger has been a workhorse and hasn't had a single issue), but I do love these types of smokers.
I had someone ask me for my hummus recipe. I figured I'd post it here, too. -1 can garbanzo beans (or chickpeas, same thing), drained -1/3 cup tahini (you want to get the blandest yet also creamiest one you can find, the Joyvan tahini is pretty good) -1/4 cup lemon juice ~2 tablespoons of minced garlic (I use the kind in the jar already minced up. This is to taste, too...I tend to use a lot but you may want to cut back a little bit) ~1/4-1/3 cup virgin olive oil (this is mostly a texture thing, depends on how "loose" you like your hummus) -a couple tablespoons of paprika, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, basil (the basil is for flavor, the others make the hummus a redder color and spicy, so that part is up to you). -salt and pepper to taste (usually ~a teaspoon of each) ~1-2 tablespoons of splenda (if you forget this, the end result will be VERY bland) --Blend all ingredients in food processor together until smooth I like to put either roasted red peppers on top in slivers, or if you like spicy stuff, sambal oelek is a good topper. I've tried to find a good way to incorporate roasted red pepper INTO the spread itself and it doesn't really turn out that great because A) you can't really taste that they are there, and B) it makes the spread kind of watery. Since a lot of this is to taste, I tend to throw dollops of ingredients into the blender. Hopefully this is accurate. I'll try it this weekend to be sure that it is, and come back and edit if the proportions need to be fixed.
edit to above recipe: 1 tablespoon of garlic instead of 2, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, salt to taste, 1 tablespoon baking splenda, and only 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you want it to have a real kick.
You know I thought the whole cast iron thing was just crazy until I finally got one. Man, these things ROCK. The food comes out different than it did before. I've already made all kinds of stuff in my $15 lodge skillet. Today I made scrambled eggs with potatoes and sage sausage, but I've fried up some sand bass and potatoes the other night which turned out fantastic. If you don't have one of these, get one IMMEDIATELY. I think next on my list is going to be an unglazed baking stone for my pizzas and breads.
Baking stones kick ass. Tip: If your oven has hot spots just leave the baking stone in there all the time. Because it holds heat so well it will even out the temp so cookies or whatever always turn out right.
FYI, if you have a grill at your house, drop $10 and get one of these: I've been in vegetable-grilling mode for a while now, and they are absolutely amazing and really easy to do. We are doing some tonight for a few of The Wife's friends, along with some grilled tuna with mango salsa, BBQ shrimp, and whatever else they are bringing. I just got done making my salsa, which is also really easy and delicious, and it goes over really well on a hot day like today. Here it is in case anyone wants to do it: 2 Mangoes, diced About a palm-full of really finely diced red onion, red bellpepper, yellow bellpepper, and jalapeno. Diced cilantro About 1/2 a lime worth of juice A few dashes of this hot sauce (this stuff is made around where I live, and it has an awesome fruity tang to it) Salt to taste Just mix it all together. Easy.
These kick major ass. Restaurant-Style Smashed Potatoes Next time I make them I'm probably going throw in some sharp cheddar cheese as well.
I had an extra little piece of tuna, so I'm throwing together a little ghetto style tuna ceviche for us to snack on as an appetizer, just with the shit I already have: Tuna cut into little cubes Lime juice Some more of that hot sauce from the mango salsa recipe A little soy sauce Chopped cilantro Salt I'm sure this isn't right, but I'm being hardheaded and not looking up how to make it for real. This is ceviche if I say its ceviche, God damn it!
What you have there is basically tuna poke, you just need to add some sesame oil and some chopped green onions. That stuff looks good, nice work.
This recipe went over really well at my roommates' engagement party I helped cater for. I know some people used the canned chicken, but that's shit. Since the recipe is so easy, the chicken is crucial to making it tasty and worthwhile. So get in there and start picking apart the chicken. Buffalo Chicken Dip As Made by The Bitten Word Adapted from Frank's RedHot INGREDIENTS 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup ranch salad dressing 1/4 cup blue cheese salad dressing 1/2 cup buffalo sauce or buffalo style barbecue sauce 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted) 2 cups shredded meat from a fully cooked rotisserie chicken DIRECTIONS Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a deep baking dish, mix cream cheese, salad dress, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in chicken. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is heated through. Serve with crackers, pita chips, sliced bread or vegetables. NOTE: Depending on your tastes and the ingredients on hand, you can use 1/2 cup ranch or blue cheese salad rather than 1/4 cup of each. Similarly, you can mix blue cheese and mozzarella, or use portions of each.
Found out there's an awesome Asian supermarket a town over, I immediately knew the place was legit when I was the only white person there. Anyone have a good authentic Indian or Thai cookbook they would recommend? Preferably non-vegetarian.
If it's anything like the Asian supermarket that I go to, pretty much anything and everything you find there will be substantially cheaper than the same shit at a traditional supermarket. Big bottles of Sriracha for under $3? Check. Thai food has become my favorite type of food over the years, thanks in part to the plethora of Thai restaurants in the MPLS/St. Paul area that have popped up over the last 15 years. Whenever I need a Thai recipe, generally I look at other sites to see what I want to make that night (Pad Thai? Thai noodles with basil? Tom Yum?), and then I hit this dude's site for the actual recipe. The site itself is old school 1997-style minimalist HTML, but the recipes generally kick ass and there are over 500 of them alone in the Thai section: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin/table_of_contents.cgi?thai" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin ... s.cgi?thai</a> He also has a bunch of other recipes categorized by ethnic style and ingredients, although so far I have only sampled from his Thai section. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/index.htm</a> Just stumbled across this site last night. Lost track of time reading through the myriad of advice, ideas, recipes, methods, and history. Ended up crawling into bed well after 2am. Also found this: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/rouxbe.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/rouxbe.htm</a> Seems legit, and worthwhile, based on the sample videos I've watched so far. I'm going to check out the free trial and see if it's worth the $30/month. I imagine it's going to be mostly review for me, but it's always good to have a refresher. If it's worth the cost I might start offering it to promising cooks where I work. Could end up being a good substitute for those who can't afford the time and/or cost of school. For those of you who love to cook and want to expand your horizons a bit from the comfort and safety of home, give these a browse.
Check to see if they have the schezaun peppercorn in the chinese section. If they do try this recipe for Kung Pao chicken. Be prepared to have your socks blown the fuck off. If they don't have the schezaun peppercorn "numbing pepper" then don't bother, it is the main ingredient. Also look for shaoxing rice wine and dried "facing heaven pepper."* Which I hear can be substituted with dried cayenne peppers but having cooked this dish a million times now and would say the taste would be worlds apart. They like to put heavy doses of these in too so be prepared for a spicy fucking meal. The peppercorn look like this: * facing heaven pepper wiki
Alright, I need some help for a grilling idiot - me. On Friday, I am having a 41", 29,000 BTU, True Sear, wood-chip tray, grill installed on a built-in gas line on my back patio. I'm having a party next month on the 14th with my folks in town and about 40 other people. That doesn't worry me as I am hiring a cook, bartender, etc, so no one has to work. However, I have never used my kitchen, let alone my new BBQ. The kitchen I can always explain away, the BBQ is now a huge issue as I have no clue how to BBQ - real turn on to the ladies. I looked online and searched this thread, but nothing comes up that's useful (besides the veggie idea from BD). What I need is a source for some basic knowledge. I'll have help, but I want to be able to suggest a great meat, a fish that's best on the grill, a chicken cut, and how best to do veggies. And, what spices to get. Again, I know that there will be plenty of suggestions from the guys I hired, but I want to go above and beyond BEFORE they get here and buy some killer stuff that's already in the fridge or seasoning. I appreciate any help possible. And I swear, to make it up, I will lean how to man this friggin grill.
Red meat: a whole tenderloin for the people that think it's the best a steak can get (false), and marinated steak tips (always easier when you have a ton of guests, just make sure the grill guy doesn't overcook them). Both dishes can be seared on the grill and finished in an oven/indirect heat to free up grill space for other stuff. Stay away from buying individual steaks, it's expensive as fuck and time consuming to cook all of them. If someone likes theirs cooked different than the way it is, they can have fucking chicken. If you want burgers, go for it but don't make them the focus. Martin's Potato Rolls are the only option for buns. Seafood: can't go wrong with cedar plank salmon (go for the entire side of salmon, easier to serve it all platter style), blackened shrimp skewers, scallops, etc. Chicken: Do 3-4 whole chickens with this recipe. It's the tits. Veggies: fresh summer corn grilled in husks w/ compound butters (bbq, herbed, etc), halved tomatoes w/ balsamic, do a shit ton of charred onions/peppers, instead of doing regular baked potatoes do grilled fingerling potatoes. If you have any vegetarians coming, you can always grill marinated portabellos and serve it like a burger. Go to the Dekalb Farmer's Market to get all your shit. Everytime I'm back home in Atlanta and we're doing a big grill out/party we go there, they usually have no problem doing custom cuts for stuff that's not on the floor and it's basically one stop shopping for everything you need. Booze, wine, meat, seafood, veggies, booze, bread, meat, booze, meat.
Homemade potato salad is always an option for a BBQ. Beats the shit out of the junk at the store. I started grilling my potatoes for potato salad a couple summer's ago, now it's the only way I'll do them. Red potatoes work the best- cut them in half and par-boil them for a few minutes. Brush with olive oil and grill them on both sides until you have some nice color. Cut them up and use them in your favorite potato salad recipe. It gives a nice textural difference and some good smoky flavor. You can do this way ahead of time, so you're not tying up the grill with a ton of potatoes while people are actually there.
Another thing to do, and I know that this is very regional, but the left over potatoes from crawfish and crab boils are friggin' amazing in homemade potato salads. Try it out if you can get your hands on some.
Good Eats is always a good place to check out when you want to learn the basics and theory. I did a quick youtube search and found these, maybe they'll help you out: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=good+eats+grill&aq=f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... grill&aq=f</a>