Empty bladder

Here's what the inside of the boxed wine looks like.

No pictures of what *I* looked like after finishing it though.

Memorial Day Weekend, 2008

I'll try to go into more details soon, but it's taken me this long just to get some pictures up. The weekend was spectacular - clear, not too hot, low humidity, cool at night, and with a cooler stocked with beer & wine. Best summer start ever...

The Moskowitz's.....

Jesse, waiting for an accident.

Asian babybacks, from a Jean-Georges Vongrichten recipe. Boiled for 2 hours, then grilled. Not great, not bad.

Finally got the Performer Rotisserie out of the box, for a cilantro-lime marinated bird.

One hour later. I *love* the rotisserie, didn't need the counterweight at all, and am impressed with its solid feel. The bird was quite good, but we were waiting for friends to come over and had to let it sit a bit too long. The meat was still tender, but the skin was no longer crisp. Also, it was a 6-hour marinade. I'd like to try some basics that I've seen on the BBQ board - olive oil, salt and pepper. If I can make it as good as Sam's Club, I'll be thrilled.

Mexican-style spare ribs, no sauce. Fairly good, but a choice made because I had the seasonings already on hand, and didn't want to have to go shopping.

 

This weekend, some flank steaks and beer can chicken. Another brisket has to be made soon by request, and I'm going to try a whole tenderloin roast this season, dangit.

Brisket, part 3

This is the third time I've done the brisket recipe from America's Test Kitchen, and for the third time, it was &$^%@! perfect.

A 2-hour brine before seasoning with simply salt, pepper and sugar.

A simple rub, right before hitting the grate.

Coals are ready at 350, though they did inch up to about 400- had me a bit worried, but it still turned out tender.

 

On the grill - the thicker side towards the coals for more even smoking, as per the recipe. Six 2" applewood chunks gave a nice smoky flavor. The process was 50 unlit coals banked under 65 lit ones, with 10 more added about 3 hours in. Easy and reliable - my favorite.

Seven hours later, cracklin' good heaven.

 

It's unfortunate that fat can taste this good.

Sliced, and served with some homemade, though recipe-taught, BBQ sauce.

Grilled corn was a hit, and wife made some excellent baked beans, with little more than Bush's in a can brought to a new level with bacon, mustard, and some other condiments thrown in - way better and easier that starting from scratch. The new coleslaw recipe that mimics KFC's was a hit as well.

And yet, child insists on a hot dog. Good use of my $1,400 grill!

 

Best of all, it stayed sunny, clear, and about 70 degrees today - hello spring!

All hail...

 

My dad bought some 140th-Anniversary bottles of Tabasco, made from the peppers the McIlhenny family use for their own consumption. The bottles are actually numbered, but the box isn't, so of the 2,500 that were released, I don't know what number this one is. And since my dad opened a bottle for us to try anyway, this one will remain sealed for a long time. Like an unopened original Star Wars action figure. Only tastier.

Grilling season begins...

Sure, I grill year round, but not to the level of what I do in the spring and summer, simply because of nicer weather and more time worth spending outside.

I had to work early Sunday morning, so there was no way to go out for a Mother's Day brunch as we usually do, so instead my awesome wife suggested I grill her some Kansas City ribs that we saw on America's Test Kitchen on PBS. I've usually preferred the cleaner taste of a dry rub and have the option to add BBQ sauce if I so desire, but this recipe for sweet, smoky, spicy and sticky sauce looked too good to pass up. I made the sauce on Saturday while grilling up about 8 flanks for a neighbor throwing a communion party, figuring if it sat for a day the flavors would meld even better. Didn't get any pics of the process, or of the baked beans I made as part of the recipe that sat in a pan under the ribs for two hours. Some grilled corn finished out the meal, and it was good. Sticky and good.

The recipe called for the ribs to be wrapped in foil for the last hour of smoking. Some time I'd like to try one rack wrapped and the other not, to see how much of a difference it really makes. I always trust America's Test Kitchen's recipes, because they try every different permutation, and if they say wrapping the ribs in foil makes them more moist, then I'd have to agree. These just fell apart, held together more by the crisp exterior of the meat than anything else.

Memorial Day weekend is coming up, and I really want to try out my new rotisserie for the Weber Performer. Mike does ribs using his S650 rotisserie, so mine would be over coals - not sure if that would matter, but I'm looking to inaugurate it with a good old chicken. If I can make it as good as the ones at Sam's Club, I'll be thrilled.

But first, next weekend is our long-delayed Eastover party, and I'm doing my brisket... again, recipe compliments of ATK. 04:00 wakeup call on Saturday!