Burgers are done!

With lunds and byerly's fire roasted corn salsa --- GREAT stuff! New
favorite! Beverage: Yalumba Barossa Shiraz-Viognier 2005. Great stuff.

Half pound burgers

Simple stuff, but oh so good. Toasting the buns with butter and
tarragon, ala bar lurcat. Yum.

Salmon is done - a smudgy photo

A wee bit of grease was on the lens of my phone, so it's not a sharp as I wanted. The fish was fantastic, only missing a squirt of lemon juice. Always remember, don't forget the lemon!

Ooh yeh ... Salmon is cooking!

That's a chunk of apple wood in there with it. Kind of hard to see, but it worked well. Lots of good sweet smoke permeated the fish.

Steelhead Salmon

Still on sale at Lunds!

Two 1.25# fillets
Fine sliced sweet onion
Rosemary
Murray River salt (Australia)
Fresh cracked pepper
Olive oil

Hail at Chris'!!!!

Power is out

Stuart playing by flashlight

Chris' dinky pizza

Angela and some rose' (lageder legrain rose' 2007! Yum!!!!)

Ingredients!

Cooking away!

Chris and his toy

Watching Chris play with his oven

We're north of Stillwater having oven pizzas with Chris.

Change that ... Badia a Coltibuono Chianti Classico 2005 topped truffle oil burgers

Truffle oil burgers with garlic!

Ribs Haiku Part One

Ribs are so yummy
Was there meat before the pork?
Thank you fat piggy

Tender smoked ribs
Falling off the grey-white bone
Makes my mouth water

The smoky deep smell
Blue plumes of delicious fog
Grilled pig thank you

- Jason

Finished salmon with simple oil and vinegar baby greens salad.

Eatin' healthy tonight! After a weekend of far too many burgers and a rich steak with mushrooms at Cafe Levain, this Salmon is a breath of fresh air. Simple prep: salt, pepper, olive oil. 20 minutes in a hot grill, offset heat. One of those moments where the quality of the fish speaks for itself.

Oooooooh... Salmon is cooking!

Doesn't that look goooooooooooooooood? I love cooking Salmon on a sheet of tinfoil, since you can just slice off the meat and leave the skin behind. Great stuff.

Salmon prep

Fresh steelhead, on sale at Lunds for $6.00/#!!!!

19 May 2008: Salmon day

That's our cat, Ernest, trying hard to enjoy the Salmon. Good luck, feline!

So who is Dario Cecchini?

The quote on my blog header is from the master of meat, the butcher of Panzano, the king of all things carnal. He's Dario Cecchini, and he has his own blog here.

In August of 2006 we traveled to Tuscany specifically to meet (or 'meat'?) him. It was one of the great experiences of my life. If you have not yet read Bill Buford's book HEAT, then check it out. More on our meal at Dario's new restaurant in the next post.

Pizza at Carbone's in St. Paul

It's not grilled, but I love this pizza. Check out the bitchin cool
coffee mug! Sweet!

A sunny day and some corn on the cob

Spencer and the first corn on the cob (grilled, of course) of the year!

Chicken and corn on the grill, part II

Chicken and corn on the grill

11 May 2008: chicken day

A great looking 4# naturally raised chicken. Just some kosher salt,
fresh cracked pepper, granulated garlic, and butter under the skin.
Note the pineapple. There's nothing better than a pineapple.

Another reason to never use lighter fluid

I never use lighter fluid. My neighbor three houses down does, and everytime they fire up the Weber I'm amazed they are actually EATING FOOD produced in that toxic cloud. Well, in California yesterday somebody learned another lesson about flammable liquid:
"A Petaluma man was severely burned Saturday afternoon when the volatile fluid he used to light charcoal briquettes in a backyard barbecue exploded in his face, a fire official said." Read the article here

And take the time, if you haven't already, to buy and use one of these.

Pork loin roast covered in bacon

I scored the meat so the fatty drippings leached into the super lean roast. Worked out great and was a good method of keeping the loin from drying out. Cooked to an internal temp of 125, then wrapped in foil, placed under towels for insulation, and allowed to rest for ten minutes. This was the best pork loin I've ever had.

Rib eye after cooking

Look at that! Fantastic stuff.

Spencer and a 4.5 pound bone in rib eye

My son loves meat ... learn'd it from his 'ol dad ... that's a 4.5 pound bone in rib eye we bought at Whole Foods (at $14.99 a pound, mind you ... we don't do that too often but that piece of meat was speaking to me!).

Fantastic stuff ... seared for 6 minutes per side on a grill that was measuring 1300 degrees (about 5" of hardwood charcoal -- would take your eyebrows off if you're not careful!). Let it rest for ten more minutes and enjoyed with a bottle of Seghesio Zinfandel 2006. Wow!

T Bone steaks on sale this week

You gotta love $5.99 a pound for T-Bone steaks at Cub Foods! I bought a mess of them and dry aged them for about six days in the garage/meat fridge. A little olive oil, a little sea salt, a little fresh cracked pepper. Just what the doctor ordered.

Keep in mind that to dry age your own meat, you have to keep it elevated on a rack of some kind as well as keep the airflow fresh. I use a simple cookie/pastry cooling rack on an old baking sheet; the air is fresh by me opening the door and looking at the meat twice a day. As you see the steak shrink up a bit and get a touch dry and tacky, it's time to get ready. I have great success with relatively cheap cuts of meat aged for about seven days.

The University of Minnesota has a great article here on aging beef. Plus, good commentary on ask the meatman.

First ribs of the season

Simple ribs, nothing fancy. Good stuff. Salt, pepper, paprika, ground garlic, some olive oil, about 6 hours in the smoker. Very decent, tho the ribs were in the freezer for too long. Invited Charlie the Neighbor over to enjoy with us and he was good enough to compliment me.

I love pork!

A whole mess of kebabs

Tri tip steak is still one of the great bargains out there. Always keep some kebab sticks in the drawer for the next time you find yourself with a random pile of veggies and some good tender meat.

Here we've got eggplant, onion, red pepper, green pepper, and marinated tri-tip roast cubes on the coals. I forgot just how much I love these things, and we cooked enough for Angela to enjoy for lunch all week long.