New Weapon in the Arsenal

Santa Claus was good to us this year, a 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain bullet arrived just before Christmas. Of course, the weather was damp very windy, so it was the centerpiece of the living room for a couple of days. It sat there, unmoving, like the monolith in the movie "2001". In preparation for the first fire, Christmas Day was spent cranking out 10 lbs. of bratwurst. Nine lbs. was vac'ed for freezing, and the rest refrigerated for the big day.


Started off with a medium sized load of briquets, using a chimney full of lump in the center for the starter. This is one version of the Minion Method - allowing the charcoal to catch over time rather than firing it all at once. Four chunks of mesquite (not shown) were placed throughout the load to start sequentially as the charcoal burned.


Next, two gallons of water were added to the water pan to keep the humidity up and to act as a "thermal flywheel" in helping to regulate the temperature over time. The racks were added, and I topped it off to let it come to temperature.

Once the smoker hit 235 degrees, on went the four reserved brats (with a leftover spud) and a rack of spares in a Kansas City trim. the other small pieces of meat shown below represent about half of the trim from doing the KC trim. Some people, unbelievably throw this stuff away. These pieces cook much faster than the ribs and were reserved for "cook's treat". There has to be a reward for all the hard work, after all!


These ribs were done "Texas style" - i.e., without saucing or foiling. Here's the way I do it. After trimming the rack to it's final form, the meat is dried well with paper towels. At that point it is liberally coated with Worcestershire sauce, and rather than a traditional rub, I use Bolner's 'Fiesta' brand Fajita Seasoning. There are no red pepper or sugar components, it's almost like a steak seasoning with extra garlic. Give it a try!

The WSM maintained 225 to 235 degrees throughout the smoke session. The temperature was about 55 degrees and there was a 5-10 mph wind. I only had to adjust the lower vents once during the course of the smoke.

Notice the Thin Blue Smoke - just like it ought to be...


Below is the result - four perfectly smoked brats and a great rack! The little sausage spud and the "cook's treats" didn't survive the afternoon, however. They were consumed in the course of "quality control".


The WSM cranked out an excellent smoke ring on the ribs, as shown below, which was great to see as these were very meaty spares. All in all the first smoke on the new cooker was a great success!

Mary Travers - R.I.P.

"Mary Travers passed away today. After successful recovery from leukemia through a bone marrow/stem cell transplant, Mary succumbed to the side effects of one of the chemotherapy treatments."

That's how the home page for Peter, Paul and Mary leads off today. She has been fighting leukemia for a number of years, and the last time I saw her a few years ago she was a bit shaky, but cranky and determined as ever.

Peter, Paul and Mary played a large role in my early life in learning about music. Maybe their messages and presence have helped contribute to the tempering of my generally conservative outlook. Whatever effect they have had on my life, it's been instructive and integral.

It's going to be very strained and difficult evening at the Kerrville Folk Festival the next year we celebrating Peter's birthday.

This one's for you, Mary.



VERY LAST DAY (Noel Paul Stookey & Peter Yarrow)

Everybody gonna pray - on the very last day
Oh when they hear that bell a-ring the world away
Everybody gonna pray to the heavens on the judgment day.

Well you can sing about the great king David
And you can preach about the wisdom of Saul
But the judgment falls on all mankind
When the trumpet sounds the call.
All equal and the same
When the Lord he calls your name
Get ready, brother, for that day.

Well one day soon all men will stand
His Word will be heeded in all the land
Men shall know and men shall see,
We all are brothers and we all are free
Mankind was made of clay
Each of us in the very same way
Get ready, brother, for that day

Oh well the law is given and the law is known,
A tale is told and the seed is sown,
From dust we came into dust we’ll go,
You the know the Lord once told us so.
Each brother takes his hand,
Heed the meaning of the Lord’s command
Get ready, brother, for that day.

Everybody gonna pray - on the very last day
Oh when they hear that bell a-ring the world away
Everybody gonna pray to the heavens on the judgment day.

A better path to Mexican ground beef?

Do you like simple Mexican food, but sometimes the grease is overwhelming? Dislike the sometimes harsh taste of pan-fried ground meat? Well, here's a little-experienced method usually found in tiny hole-in-the-wall cocinas and neighborhood Mexican restaurants.

Have you ever considered making tacos, etc., with boiled ground meat? Done in this method, you retain all the great taste and you lose almost all the nasty grease - and on top of all that it has a different almost velvety mouth feel. It even freezes well. La comida mas fina!

Here's one way:

2 lb. ground chuck
2T chili powder
1t cumin
1t garlic powder
1t paprika
1t salt
1/2 bell pepper
1/2 onion

Put the meat in a pan and add seasonings (plus more to taste). Add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about an hour. Every 15 minutes or so break up the meat so it isn't lumpy. Just make sure you don't run out of water - keep just enough to cover meat. Once done, add finely-diced onion & bell pepper and simmer like another 20 minutes or so. It will be pretty finely textured, like this:
Remove from stove pour into strainer. Let the meat sitting the strainer for 10 or 15 minutes to make sure all grease drains out, pressing it if need be. You want to keep the liquid, but get rid of the grease. Put the liquid in the freezer for a few minutes. When grease separates and starts to harden on top, take a spoon and remove all of it. Save about a cup of the cleaned liquid - the rest can be saved towards a soup, or poured over the dog's food for a treat, a little at a time.

Place the reserved liquid in a small pan bring to a boil. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of corn starch in about 1/4 cup of cold water add to liquid, simmer 4 or 5 more minutes. Dump the reserved meat into the pan and mix liquid well into meat. Now we have tasty moist taco meat, but grease free. It can be used for so many things, but here I demonstrate the simple taco:
I mixed up some fresh Pico de Gallo, and put it in the fridge to chill:
Then it was time to assemble the tacos. Atop the meat is a light shred of cheddar cheese, and the entire plate dusted with chile powder before topping with the Pico de Gallo. I didn't have any, or it might have been treated to a few avocado slices as well.

Every bit as good as it looks!

Better Garlic Bread

Nothing sours a good Italian meal faster than soggy, drippy garlic bread. A great garlic bread topping would have a good consistency and texture, adding to the bread and not just soaking it.

My father came up with a concoction that works pretty well. I changed the mix a little, and here's what I am using nowadays. I realize that this recipe make a lot, but it freezes well and keeps in the fridge for a long time too. This way, you don't have to make it too often, but it is always available.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb unsalted butter
1 cup real mayonnaise
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (or Parmesan & Romano mix)
5 T garlic powder

METHOD
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Do this over low heat so it doesn't burn, it may take a while.
Once melted, mix in the mayonnaise and garlic powder. The mayonnaise adds a nice consistency without affecting the taste. Continue mixing occasionally until combined. I used a stick blender (what Emeril calls a 'boat motor'), which will make it really smooth.
Pour the mixture into a glass or metal bowl, and place the bowl in the freezer until the mixture starts to thicken up. You will see that it has separated.
Next, grab a spatula and mix it into an even consistency. You'll have to do this again, so don't wash it just yet. After it sets up spme, mix a final time until uniform, then back in the freezer it goes. This time it will remain mixed, but still be spreadable. Now stir in the grated cheese.
At this point I fill half-pint Mason jars for the fridge. Now, on to the tasting! You will want to pull this from the fridge a while before you use it, because it will set up hard, just like butter.

Spread the mixture on your bread. I didn't have any great breads on hand for the photos, so I used a light rye for these shots.
Pop the bread in under the broiler until it just starts to turn a golden light brown. Notice that the spread has formed a nice coating, instead of disappearing into the bread. Just enough soaks in to make the bread tender from the oven. You can also spread this on fresh hot bread or freshly made toast.

Sprinkle with a dash of parsley, and eat!
This spread can be used for other things as well, and you'll see some of that next time.