Heaven

New look, new thrill, huh? Everything's all flippity-flopped around and stuff. I've thought about using a different background for a little while, and, ta-da! It looks kind of nice with the juicy burnt end above, but everything looks good with a burnt end, I s'pose. I'd like to thank Mona for lending a hand in the valiant effort to make things work with the old template. Your a real fighter, Mona.

Brisket is probably my favorite barbeque 'thing' to eat. This weekend we're cooking two flats, two racks of ribs, some sausage and a couple of chickens. I'm psyched. It's been weeks (or is it month(s)?) since I've had a chance to play with fire, and poppa needs a few hours on the shrink's couch.

Hiroshi and I will probably be on the 8am train with or meats. Don't get dirty on me, y'all. We'll be at the house by noon or so, which means the meat will hit the grates by 2. That gives us time to preheat the pit, pull the membranes off the ribs--which was explained wonderfully at WhiteTrashBBQ--slather and season the ribs, season the chickens and drink a couple of beers.

Oh, I can't wait.

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Indian Summer

I know it's not politically correct to call it Indian Summer, but it's the name of a song by The Beat Happening, and well, that's that. The heat wave here in NYC has continued-- though, it has been spotty. One day it will be 23 degrees/misty at wake up, by noon, snow, and 50 for the trip home. And that's only a slight exaggeration.

Met up with my buddy Robert from WhiteTrashBBQ on Thursday at RUB for a bite with the boys from Big Island Barbeque. We sampled the baby backs, burnt ends, spare ribs, ham, pulled pork, sausages, and pastrami. Robert and I took a nice tour of the kitchens and spent a while talking with Andrew, the owner. He's always generous with his time and his information and has plenty of plans for helping to promote barbeque in New York, which is fantastic.

RUB's ribs
Last night I roasted a chicken with root vegetables-- butternut squash, beet, carrots, onion, garlic, a granny smith apple, and a lemon. I also roasted some brussel sprouts and made a key lime pie using my friend Mimi's recipe which is included below.

Key Lime Pie


This recipe is pretty straightforward and, from my experience, works pretty much as written. As far as equipment, a juicer, a rasp grater and a whisk are about it. I know that it doesn't have Key Limes in it, but this is awesome stuff. Save a little grated lime peel for sprinkling on top when you take the pie out of the oven. Thanks, Mimi!


Graham Cracker Crust

1 pkg graham crackers, finely crushed
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted


Key Lime Filling

4 large egg yolks
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp grated lime zest (I use a little less than this)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 3 or 4 limes) (I use a little less than this too)


Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cram
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350

Make graham cracker crust. Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and stir until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Using finger tips, press crumb mixture evenly over bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake for 8 to 10 mins until edges are light brown. let cool and reduce oven temperature to 325.

Make filling. In large bowl, whisk egg yolks, condensed milk, lime zest, and juice, until blended. Pour the filling into the crust.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the filling is just set. center should be slightly jiggly if shaken. Cool on wire rack then refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours until chilled.

Make whipped cream and serve immediately.

** I usually make 1 1/2 times the filling proportions to have a thicker key lime fill.

Enjoy!!

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Judy Is A Punk

So, I mentioned once before that most of the titles of my posts are song titles or lyrics, so I hope that someone out there gets the jokes or connections. Usually the connections are oblique and related to the particular mood that I'm in when I get a chance to do the blogging. My moods are generally all over the map-- I'm one of those leg bouncer, can't sit still kind of people.

Anyway, today, I'm in a pretty feisty mood, and I also feel bad because I turned the comments section on Mona's blog into an episode of the Jerry Springer show for a minute. Yup, I need a vacation. Even the usual bickering about bbq got on my nerves today. Yeesh. On to the food.


Lentil Soup

Since we've been so busy with who-knows-what, here's just a recap of things eaten around our house. I had a leftover Wubby-cooked, double-smoked ham bone that had plenty of meat left on it, so I decided to mix up a huge pot of lentil soup. I used the big ol' pasta pot, 2 packs of plain-old brown lentils, one big and one small onion, 2 carrots, a couple cloves of garlic, the ham and bone, some lemon peel and seasonings. Covered the whole thing with water, 2 cans of chicken broth, and plenty more water. Once it came to a boil, I threw on the lid, lowered the heat way down to gently simmer, and let it cook for a few hours.

I'm a firm believer in layered flavors, so I season and re-season along the way. This had 2 bay leaves, about 2 teaspoons of celery seed, a tablespoon of black pepper, a tablespoon of chicken broth seasoning, and a bunch of whatnot also. I don't really measure and I think once you have the basic soup down, add your favorite spices, that's what cooking's all about-- try some thyme. Anyway, once the lentils are nearly tender, I crack the lid of to the side to let it start to reduce a bit. Continue to stir and check frequently, when you get the consistency you like, it's done.

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In with the In Crowd

Bigmista from The Survival Gourmet tagged me a few days back. Here's an eye-opening peek into the world of the Backyard Chef. Thanks, Mista!

The 4X8 meme:

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
1. Tradeshow Rep for Engineers/Architects
2. Communications Specialist for a Pharmaceutical Company
3. Administrator of a Welfare-to-work Program
4. Personnel Coordinator for Parks Department

Four movies you would watch over and over: (This is hard)
1. Dazed and Confused (Classic!)
2. Office Space (Damn it feels good to be a gangsta)
3. An American President (Why?)
4. Almost Famous

Four places you have lived:
1. Staten Island, NY
2. Binghamton, NY
3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn (NY-- sense a pattern?)
4. Ridgewood, NY

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Iron Chef/Iron Chef America
2. Good Eats
3. Gilmore Girls (You heard me...)
4. Monk

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. East Hampton, NY
2. Barbados
3. Kansas City, MO
4. Denver, CO

Four websites you visit daily:
1. BBQ-Brethren
2. WhiteTrashBBQ
3. TheBBQForum
4. Chowhound

Four of your favorite foods:
1. BBQ
2. Pizza
3. Chinese
4. Hot Dog/Sausage/Hamburger/steak...ya know, grilled stuff

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Outside BBQing
2. Hanging with friends/family on the porch
3. Anywhere with my wife
4. San Diego

Four bloggers you are tagging:
1. Mona
2. Tim
3. Ole Smokey
4. Greg

Word, yo.

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Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire

Ah, winter time. Those 60 degree t-shirt days of January. Yes, folks, we have a mini-heatwave here in New York. Hiroshi and Wubby tried to get me to play hookie today and cook some bbq, but I have this weird drive to keep my job, so I went to work.

My buddy, Robert, over at WhiteTrashBBQ finally got outside and cooked some ribs this weekend. Lucky duck. First he's mentioned in the LA Times, then he's chilling with Chris Lilly and Adam Perry Lang, and then some weekend q'ing. La-di-da.

Here's a little update of what we've been eating. Leftovers-style.

Kung Pao Chicken
Well, I didn't have a chance to take pictures of the food from my dad's birthday party over here on Saturday. For some reason not charging my digital camera made it not want to take pictures. Or turn on. Hmmm...anywho. I had chunked up a couple of chicken breasts to make bacon-wrapped chicken appetizers for my family. They were marinated in a little mixture of hot sauce and ranch dip flavoring.

That combination sounds odd, I know, but it tasted like neither one of the main ingredients of the marinade. The chicken was moist and bright tasting with slight notes of pepper (chipotle), smoke and garlic.

It worked perfectly when combined with celery, carrots, onion, peanuts, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine, and a dash of sesame oil.

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Don't Slander Me

I know, I know. It's not 'que. We were supposed to cook over New Year's weekend, but my wife got sick and wound up eating chicken soup and watching the Monk marathon. Somewhere along the way, we made a pizza. Our pizza stone cracked in half, so I just slide the 2 pieces back together like a puzzle. The pizza doesn't seem to notice.

Today, my family's coming over to celebrate my dad's birthday, which was yesterday. I'll post some pics later. We're having brisket and chicken, cole slaw, brussel sprouts and some other stuff. It's tough because my dad's a diabetic to know how to cook for him-- I bought some diabetic cookbooks, but I gave them to him. I've been dying to make some bacon-wrapped chicken, so I'm making that for the fam. I'm excited. I'm trying to decide how I want to marinate the chicken, but time is getting tight so I'll have to let my gut, err, stomach...instincts lead the way.

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