(.)_(.)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
finally...the butt
This is your basic smoker setup. You've got your propane tank, burner underneath with Amy's cookie tin for holding the chips. You've got an empty water pan lined with foil to catch any fat. On top is the headliner, your basic Rubbed Butt with meat thermometer inserted beneath the bone (but not touching) and to the center of mass. A hose for safety and also for dampening the wood chips in the bucket. Mom's garden trowel to shovel the chips into the tin is optional. We used a mix of maple and hickory woods, just for the record.
Dad and I lit the fire at 4pm or so and tried to adjust the smoker temp near 220° F. The breeze blew out the burner a few times and it was generally a pain in the ass to get the temp steady. A quickly constructed wind screen helped a bit. We soon accepted that any temp between 190 and 230 would have to be acceptable.
I left for dinner at this point and over the next 5 hours Dad became intimately familiar with how much attention the thing needs, even with the fancy propane and remote thermometer for meat and smoker temps. It's a good thing he just got two new knees for all the squatting and bending required to make sure the burner is still lit and to feed chips into the pan occasionally.
After returning from dinner, Dad and I decided to remove the butt from the smoker and place it in the oven to finish cooking overnight. We put the meat on a rack in a roasting pan and into a 205° oven. We awoke to a very porky household and the butt was within 10 degrees of the 190° internal temperature that we were shooting for.
It was finished just after breakfast was cleared up. I believe the total cooking time was in the neighborhood of 17 hours.
Erin and Dan and Duncan were leaving before lunch so I cut a hunk off the end to send home with them. Slicing the meat was like cutting through a well toasted marshmallow, but with no stickiness inside. Crispy outside with slight gelatinous resistance as you went through, truly a unique feeling. We wrapped the rest of the meat in foil and placed it in a cooler with newspaper around it to help insulate.
When lunch time rolled around, we grabbed some forks and started pulling.
Mom had made some great sides of coleslaw, fancy baked beans and broiled tomotoes. Dad and I had also made 2 sauces for the pork on Saturday which we reheated. One was the typical tomato based KC/Memphis style sauce and the other was mustard based. Both were good but the mustard based was the unanimous favorite.
The pork itself was amazingly tasty. Once you're past the bark, a large majority of the meat is not flavored at all, even from the brine it seemed. You just get 100% pure porky goodness. So if you have a smoker, by all means dive right in and make the real thing. But absent a smoker, a modern oven which can hold a low temp reliably (210-230° F say) and a meat thermometer would be all that's needed to come up with a really special meal. If you're not into bbq then use the butt for carnitas, perhaps making some home made mole sauce if you're up for it. 0 comments
This is your basic smoker setup. You've got your propane tank, burner underneath with Amy's cookie tin for holding the chips. You've got an empty water pan lined with foil to catch any fat. On top is the headliner, your basic Rubbed Butt with meat thermometer inserted beneath the bone (but not touching) and to the center of mass. A hose for safety and also for dampening the wood chips in the bucket. Mom's garden trowel to shovel the chips into the tin is optional. We used a mix of maple and hickory woods, just for the record.
Dad and I lit the fire at 4pm or so and tried to adjust the smoker temp near 220° F. The breeze blew out the burner a few times and it was generally a pain in the ass to get the temp steady. A quickly constructed wind screen helped a bit. We soon accepted that any temp between 190 and 230 would have to be acceptable.
I left for dinner at this point and over the next 5 hours Dad became intimately familiar with how much attention the thing needs, even with the fancy propane and remote thermometer for meat and smoker temps. It's a good thing he just got two new knees for all the squatting and bending required to make sure the burner is still lit and to feed chips into the pan occasionally.
After returning from dinner, Dad and I decided to remove the butt from the smoker and place it in the oven to finish cooking overnight. We put the meat on a rack in a roasting pan and into a 205° oven. We awoke to a very porky household and the butt was within 10 degrees of the 190° internal temperature that we were shooting for.
It was finished just after breakfast was cleared up. I believe the total cooking time was in the neighborhood of 17 hours.
Erin and Dan and Duncan were leaving before lunch so I cut a hunk off the end to send home with them. Slicing the meat was like cutting through a well toasted marshmallow, but with no stickiness inside. Crispy outside with slight gelatinous resistance as you went through, truly a unique feeling. We wrapped the rest of the meat in foil and placed it in a cooler with newspaper around it to help insulate.
When lunch time rolled around, we grabbed some forks and started pulling.
Mom had made some great sides of coleslaw, fancy baked beans and broiled tomotoes. Dad and I had also made 2 sauces for the pork on Saturday which we reheated. One was the typical tomato based KC/Memphis style sauce and the other was mustard based. Both were good but the mustard based was the unanimous favorite.
The pork itself was amazingly tasty. Once you're past the bark, a large majority of the meat is not flavored at all, even from the brine it seemed. You just get 100% pure porky goodness. So if you have a smoker, by all means dive right in and make the real thing. But absent a smoker, a modern oven which can hold a low temp reliably (210-230° F say) and a meat thermometer would be all that's needed to come up with a really special meal. If you're not into bbq then use the butt for carnitas, perhaps making some home made mole sauce if you're up for it. 0 comments
windows and steak
on Saturday morning we spent some time removing the vertical blinds on the bay window in the living room. Reen had bought some curtains to replace the blinds and I think they are a modest but significant improvement.
And later it was off to Boston for our siblings night out at the steakhouse. For starters, this was my first trip on the T with the new Charlie Card in place of the old tokens. This is a step into the modern age for the city's transit system and I was familiar with a card system from DC. You can buy a card at the automated kiosks in the station, adding value by credit card or inserting cash. But nowhere is it marked what the fare is from this station to any of the others. Do I need $2? Or $14? Who knows. We all bought $5 tickets which got us to Park Street and back, however I have no idea how much money that trip cost and how much is left on the card. And as icing on the cake, Erin bought her card with a $20 bill and proceeded to get a boatload of $1 coins as change. When she later tried to use said coins in the machines, they weren't accepted. Oy vey. Well at least they have cash to tip the pizza delivery guy for a while.
And there was also a meal....The restaurant is located in Old City Hall which is on School Street, right in the historic center of Boston. The building and restaurant space are really nice. As expected, the entire menu is al la carte and silly expensive. The steaks are prime beef and aged...yadayada, so I expect them to be pricey. I'd say the most rediculous item would have to be the lobster. The waiter said they ran 2.5-3.5 pounds and then smoothly sneaks in that they cost $30 per pound. So you could quite easily wind up with a $90 lobster, which is more than the US grown Kobe-style NY Strips they sell. That's a higher markup than you typically see on bottles of wine. All that for lobster, which is readily available at most any fishmonger, grocery or restaurant in a 100 mile radius and takes no special skill or understanding to prepare.
The steak however was another matter. We all ordered one, fillet for all the sibs and ribeye for Reen and me. Mine was just about perfect. The cut wasn't monsterously thick (which I liked) and it was cooked pefectly. It must be a sign of my growing cynicism about restaurants, but just the fact that the steak was cooked well was a pleasant surprise. It was very lightly seasoned and served with some butter on top which had melted. One interesting thing is that they serve the steak on a very, very hot plate. This seems to fly in the face of most meat handling guildelines which have you rest the meat prior to serving. In the end, this steak was truly one of the best that I've had, ever.
Beyond the steak (and the excellent wine list) I will say that the balance of my experience was fairly crummy. The service was substandard, both in attentiveness to the table and showing interest/respect for the food they were serving. I was left with the feeling that they had you in the seat, the prices are set, so they're going to make their money off of you. No need for formalities like getting drink orders correct or apologizing for spilling water on you when refilling the water glasses.
All of the food stuff aside, we had a really nice time. As our lives get more complex, it gets more and more difficult to get together, especially without children to look after. So the dinner was special for that reason alone. Thanks to Mom and Dad for helping us do that.
We did manage a group photo just outside the restaurant.
2 comments
on Saturday morning we spent some time removing the vertical blinds on the bay window in the living room. Reen had bought some curtains to replace the blinds and I think they are a modest but significant improvement.
And later it was off to Boston for our siblings night out at the steakhouse. For starters, this was my first trip on the T with the new Charlie Card in place of the old tokens. This is a step into the modern age for the city's transit system and I was familiar with a card system from DC. You can buy a card at the automated kiosks in the station, adding value by credit card or inserting cash. But nowhere is it marked what the fare is from this station to any of the others. Do I need $2? Or $14? Who knows. We all bought $5 tickets which got us to Park Street and back, however I have no idea how much money that trip cost and how much is left on the card. And as icing on the cake, Erin bought her card with a $20 bill and proceeded to get a boatload of $1 coins as change. When she later tried to use said coins in the machines, they weren't accepted. Oy vey. Well at least they have cash to tip the pizza delivery guy for a while.
And there was also a meal....The restaurant is located in Old City Hall which is on School Street, right in the historic center of Boston. The building and restaurant space are really nice. As expected, the entire menu is al la carte and silly expensive. The steaks are prime beef and aged...yadayada, so I expect them to be pricey. I'd say the most rediculous item would have to be the lobster. The waiter said they ran 2.5-3.5 pounds and then smoothly sneaks in that they cost $30 per pound. So you could quite easily wind up with a $90 lobster, which is more than the US grown Kobe-style NY Strips they sell. That's a higher markup than you typically see on bottles of wine. All that for lobster, which is readily available at most any fishmonger, grocery or restaurant in a 100 mile radius and takes no special skill or understanding to prepare.
The steak however was another matter. We all ordered one, fillet for all the sibs and ribeye for Reen and me. Mine was just about perfect. The cut wasn't monsterously thick (which I liked) and it was cooked pefectly. It must be a sign of my growing cynicism about restaurants, but just the fact that the steak was cooked well was a pleasant surprise. It was very lightly seasoned and served with some butter on top which had melted. One interesting thing is that they serve the steak on a very, very hot plate. This seems to fly in the face of most meat handling guildelines which have you rest the meat prior to serving. In the end, this steak was truly one of the best that I've had, ever.
Beyond the steak (and the excellent wine list) I will say that the balance of my experience was fairly crummy. The service was substandard, both in attentiveness to the table and showing interest/respect for the food they were serving. I was left with the feeling that they had you in the seat, the prices are set, so they're going to make their money off of you. No need for formalities like getting drink orders correct or apologizing for spilling water on you when refilling the water glasses.
All of the food stuff aside, we had a really nice time. As our lives get more complex, it gets more and more difficult to get together, especially without children to look after. So the dinner was special for that reason alone. Thanks to Mom and Dad for helping us do that.
We did manage a group photo just outside the restaurant.
2 comments
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
steak and butt
it will be a fine weekend for meat.
Saturday night has out in Boston to enjoy a dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse with our siblings. This dinner is a gift from my parents to the kids from about 20 months ago which we are now finally enjoying. I ate at another famous steakhouse chain, Morton's, in St. Louis maybe 6 years ago. Trey and I were there on business and ate on the cheap for the week, saving our per diem so that we could have a nice dinner out. I remember being fairly disappointed in the steak however. So I’m interested to see what Ruth’s Chris has to offer.
And on Saturday/Sunday Dad and I will be taking our first shot at some real BBQ. I’m bringing my smoker up to his place and we’ll be cooking some pork butt. Brine it, dry rub and then into the smoker for about 12 hours probably. I’ve seen this done on TV and read about it so many times that I’m really looking forward to finally cooking one ourselves.
If you miss playing risk, check out Dice Wars. Unless of course you have the board game in your closet, in which case you can just play at home. Like we do. 3 comments
it will be a fine weekend for meat.
Saturday night has out in Boston to enjoy a dinner at Ruth’s Chris steakhouse with our siblings. This dinner is a gift from my parents to the kids from about 20 months ago which we are now finally enjoying. I ate at another famous steakhouse chain, Morton's, in St. Louis maybe 6 years ago. Trey and I were there on business and ate on the cheap for the week, saving our per diem so that we could have a nice dinner out. I remember being fairly disappointed in the steak however. So I’m interested to see what Ruth’s Chris has to offer.
And on Saturday/Sunday Dad and I will be taking our first shot at some real BBQ. I’m bringing my smoker up to his place and we’ll be cooking some pork butt. Brine it, dry rub and then into the smoker for about 12 hours probably. I’ve seen this done on TV and read about it so many times that I’m really looking forward to finally cooking one ourselves.
If you miss playing risk, check out Dice Wars. Unless of course you have the board game in your closet, in which case you can just play at home. Like we do. 3 comments
Friday, August 11, 2006
zomg!
Fiona has her own blog now. Sweet work girlfriend! Once you get your alphabet, spelling and typing down you'll be the Queen of the blogosphere :-) 0 comments
Fiona has her own blog now. Sweet work girlfriend! Once you get your alphabet, spelling and typing down you'll be the Queen of the blogosphere :-) 0 comments
family gifts
heeeeeeeeere's Reenie! At about 33 weeks and looking great. Apologies for the blurry picture.
We were down in PA recently for Reen's baby shower. Which for me involved saying hi to most of the guests and then spending the afternoon with Jason and the boy wonder Kellen, then finally returning to the house to see all the phat loot that we received. Thanks everybody! Two gifts must be singled out however, as they are handmade family heirloom type stuff.
The quilt from Reen's mom
and a knit blanket from my dear sister.
The pictures aren't great but if you click for the full sized version you can see the details a bit better. Our child will surely be kept warm, wrapped in the love of his/her extended family. Awww.
Speaking of said baby. The working nickname for a while now has been Wolfie and this name is still sanctioned by the parents. However...we recently watched the new King Kong movie and as the onscreen Ape was bellowing and pounding its chest, the baby was going to crazy in Reen's belly. So I started using Baby Kong as a nickname that day. Then we had our 32 week ultrasound and the hand which we could see clearly was balled in a fist, lending more credence to the notion of a Baby Kong.
I recently stumbled across this creepy, creepy online version of a cartoon I remember from childhood, For Better or For Worse. She Blinks! Ahhhhh! 4 comments
heeeeeeeeere's Reenie! At about 33 weeks and looking great. Apologies for the blurry picture.
We were down in PA recently for Reen's baby shower. Which for me involved saying hi to most of the guests and then spending the afternoon with Jason and the boy wonder Kellen, then finally returning to the house to see all the phat loot that we received. Thanks everybody! Two gifts must be singled out however, as they are handmade family heirloom type stuff.
The quilt from Reen's mom
and a knit blanket from my dear sister.
The pictures aren't great but if you click for the full sized version you can see the details a bit better. Our child will surely be kept warm, wrapped in the love of his/her extended family. Awww.
Speaking of said baby. The working nickname for a while now has been Wolfie and this name is still sanctioned by the parents. However...we recently watched the new King Kong movie and as the onscreen Ape was bellowing and pounding its chest, the baby was going to crazy in Reen's belly. So I started using Baby Kong as a nickname that day. Then we had our 32 week ultrasound and the hand which we could see clearly was balled in a fist, lending more credence to the notion of a Baby Kong.
I recently stumbled across this creepy, creepy online version of a cartoon I remember from childhood, For Better or For Worse. She Blinks! Ahhhhh! 4 comments
