Andrew Mark Veety

Sandra Lee Lacks Intellectual Curiosity, Obviously Loves Food

Anthony Bourdain once said, "She makes her audience feel good about themselves. You watch her on that show and you think, “I can do that. That’s not intimidating.” All you have to do is waddle into the kitchen, open a can of crap and spread it on some other crap that you bought at the supermarket. And then you’ve done something really special."

Here is the thing Anthony, as much as I agree with your thoughts on Sandra Lee, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that there is a societal benefit to her show, beyond the obvious entertainment value. That benefit is the act of sitting down with your family for a meal -- frankly any meal. Families run better when they take the time to break bread together. So in a sense, we need to thank Sandra Lee for getting more parents to sit down with their kids for dinner.

There. I said it. Now back to the horror that is Sandy in the kitchen.

In this first clip, Sandra has a brain-buster of an idea - to make ice cream "loaded" baked potatoes. Isn't it great, making ice cream fun? Wait. Ice cream is fun. Wait. You know what is not fun? Loaded baked potatoes.

While its apparent that Sandra is half-assing her way though this segment from the get-go, it becomes really apparent when she starts sifting coco around the three minute mark. An awkward edit separates the spraying of coco entrails all over the place and the styled finished product. Oh television, you cheeky bastard.

Next up, we'll make sadness out of some crunched up tortillia chips, a box of strawberry and grape Nerds and a bottle of Karo syrup. Stay tuned!



This second clip finds Sandra back in the kitchen, her outfit coordinated to the chotchkies displayed in the background and ready to make Greek garlic french fries. You may not know this, but Sandra Lee has been nominated for an Emmy, multiple times. The category? Best dramatic reading of a bag of frozen fries.

Around the one minute mark Sandy reccomends placing your oil soaked fries an inch under a broiler for five to eight minutes, sadly she fails to suggest keeping a fire extinguisher handy. Fear not, Sandra does not find herself engulfed in flames in this clip, because even though she's just opening a bag of fries, covering them in oil and placing them in the oven, she's not really cooking. That magic happens off set in the Food Network Kitchens. And really, its probably for the best, as one can only assume she's hammered from the PB&J martinis she also makes in this episode of Semi-homemade.

Project Planning - Trisket 2009 - A Turkey Stuffed Inside A Brisket

Scared? You should be.

Every year my friend (and sometimes contributer) Jeff and his wife Leslie have a meal called "Fakesgiving" for all of their friends here in St. Louis who are far from home for the holiday. Essentially a Thanksgiving themed pot luck dinner, Fakesgiving is largely a vegetarian event, but every year there is a small turkey breast for the carnivores, until last year when Jeff asked me to make something special for the event.

What to make, what to make? I decided to borrow the idea of the "turducken", but put a Thanksgiving spin on it and stuff turkey inside of a beef brisket. I ran my idea past my friend, Chef David Koon, and we worked out a stuffing that would hopefully hold up to the extended cooking time a brisket needs. While he was more than a bit suspect of the concept, I know he was sad that he missed out on this project after seeing the pictures and was really excited to hear about it after it was cooked and served.

You can read more about it and see a movie of the process here.

While I have claimed over the last 11 months that the Trisket was a one time only event, as summer has turned to fall I've really been thinking about giving it a go once again. Over the coming weeks, I'll be revisiting the contents of the original stuffing; ground turkey, heads of roasted garlic, leeks, shallots, red bell peppers, bacon and dried cranberries. I'm also re-tooling the vinegar-based cranberry, peach and habanero barbecue sauce that I served on the side.

For the stuffing, I'm thinking about switching things to a traditional southern corn bread stuffing or perhaps a sausage and oyster stuffing - although I'm worried about oyster meat making it though the 20 + hour cooking schedule. I'm still pondering how to leverage the classic tastes of the season with the fact that I'm basically creating a turkey meatloaf that rides inside of a smoked brisket. I think if I embrace the idea of meatloaf a bit more, I can come up with something special to blow peoples minds - a core of andouille sausage, inside a meatloaf, inside a brisket perhaps?

For the sauce, I''m leaning towards removing the cranberry altogether, or at least the addition of whole cranberries. Perhaps the addition of canned cranberry sauce might work, but the jury is still out here.

In any event, I know I said "never again" for this holiday cooking adventure, but the concept is just to tasty to walk away from. More to come. Thoughts and ideas are welcome.

Gobble gobble.

A Word of Thanks

As I prepare for a weeklong tryptophan induced coma, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving with their friends and families. I'd also like to thank you for your readership as well. It's been great to get feedback from so many people and I am looking forward to sharing a few new ideas I have cooking for the coming months.

The planning for this site aside, I'm glad to be taking a break from cooking for a while after this past weekends Trisket Adventure. Instead I will be bringing a case of Schlafly Beer to Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws back east, a simple and tasty example of all the great craft products St. Louis has to offer.

So as your gather around your kitchens and dinner tables, I'd like to point out that it was not I who thought of trying to make Thanksgiving stuffing using White Castle Hamburgers. 

However, I'm sure glad that I live in a world where someone actually sat down and tried.

Happy holidays,

Andrew

Seafood Boil In The Heart of St. Louis

This post finds me thankful for my wife, Sara. A few years ago she found herself successful, but unhappy working for a large corporation here in St. Louis. In what was a test of our relationship and eventually our marriage, we decided that the time was right for her to leave her job and pursue a new career. Sara graduated right before we were married, and the events leading up to our wedding probably overshadowed her accomplishment of graduating with a degree in Interior Design more than either of us would admit. 

One year later Sara has continued her string of accomplishments, completing her LEED certification in environmental design. If you don't know what LEED is, you will soon. The ideas driving green building have a foundation in LEED, and in the near future those ideas will become everyday practice. I'm proud that Sara will be at the forefront of a new way of designing and building structures, with an appreciation for the relationship between people, the buildings we live and work in, the Earth and it's limited resources. 

To celebrate Sara's certification, I planned a cookout at our house that in hindsight had an enormous carbon foot print due to the main course - a seafood boil of snow crab from Alaska, new potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. Trying to stick with a tradition that I have only read about, I covered a part of our picnic area with brown paper bags, then poured the crab and vegetables onto the table where we all gathered around to a family style seafood feast.  

It was a rare moment of decadence with our hands covered in Old Bay and garlic infused butter, but it brought together good friends and Sara's favorite food to celebrate the hard work that she has completed. I guess in the end that made it even more of a moment to savor than the crabs themselves. 

Here is to large and small victories, and for hoping that we take the time to celebrate them with our friends and family. 

Tower Grove Park Totras

As August rolled to a close, we got together in Tower Grove Park to have a mass celebration for all of our August born friends. With over 50 people expected around dinner time, the event host, Bob Baker decided to feed the throngs tortas, a Mexican sandwich that is both fresh and filling. I offered to help Bob with the prep work and assembly in exchange for an interview on his experience recreating this classic, and what it was like to share it with folks who have never had the chance to enjoy one of the hidden treasures of tacqueria cuisine. 

I hope the following discussion peeks your interest and you head out to try this unique sandwich for yourself.

Q. As you worked the grill, I heard several people walk past me discussing how you believe the torta is the "king of sandwiches". For you, what makes the torta superior to other sandwiches?

 

A. I like the torta because it's never caught on with mainstream America - - it looks too much like a sandwich, I think.  But really it's the best of both worlds:  the best starch (bread) with the best cuisine (Mexican).   Also, the layering of ingredients on a torta makes each one stand out more than when they are crammed together in a burrito.

 

Q. I can appreciate that viewpoint. The totra reminds me of the Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich, which is a personal favorite of mine. Both sandwiches have an almost perfect balance, where each ingredient complements the other. For your taste, is there one ingredient that you feel makes this sandwich, or do you feel its a team effort with all the ingredients playing off each other?

 

A. I think it's the combination of so many good ingredients that gives the torta its appeal.  It's the Mexican version of a dagwood sandwich.

Q. I like that you took the time to shop for authentic ingredients, like the correct breads and meats. Did you learn anything new as part of your research and prep? Any skills or techniques you would like to use more in your daily cooking?

 

A. The bakery I went to on Cherokee St calls the torta roll a telera.  Crunchy on the outside, and airy on the inside.  And the butcher recommended the arrachera cut of beef for the carne asada (flap meat, i believe).  After I ordered the meat, the butcher took the already thin steaks, and butterflied them ever thinner, to about 1/8" i suppose.  I marinated the meat for 8 hours in an olive oil, lime and spice mix.  Despite the thinness of the beef and the time spent in lime juice, when cooked medium, the meat was tough and the marinade sat on top like too much Italian dressing. I found it was better to cook the meat to well done, well-browned on both sides, to make the meat tastier and easier to chew.  Any moisture lost from over-cooking was easily replaced by the guacamole, pico do gallo, cheese, lettuce, and refried beans.

 

Q. We spoke after you made these sandwiches and mentioned that you took some of the beef and continued to marinade it for several days. Any lessons learned there?

A. After 8 hours of marinating, the meat was more tender, but still a bit too chewy.  A day later, the meat was easy to cut and chew through.  And two days later, it was even better.  I would have continued this experiment for the next week, but my wife (a vegetarian) got digested looking at this experiment progress in the fridge, and removed it from sight.  Bottom line - - I guess the arrachera cut of meat needs a lot of time (or maybe more acid) to truly soften up.

Q. I had a discussion with someone who insisted on comparing the torta to a muffaletta? Do you think this is a fair comparison?

 

A. Not for me.  I adore the contrasting fresh ingredients of tortas, and can do without the fatty, densely stacked meat, cheese, and olive mix of a muffaletta.  I suppose the muffaletta roll is pretty similar to a telera.  After that, they go their own ways.

Q. You seemed to focus on using a flat top to complete the cheese component of this sandwich, where did you pick up this technique?

 

A. At my favorite St Louis tacqueria (La Vallesana) they throw shredded cheese on the griddle, lay a toasted telera on top, and sweep everything up a few seconds later.  I tried this using a cast iron griddle.  At first I noticed the cheese stuck to the grill as much as the roll - - but found that a quick slide underneath with a metal spatula could get under the browned cheese - - and leave the cheesy topped roll looking like it had just come from the broiler.

 

As a side note, I am not a fan of the mayo/mustard approach some take on these sandwiches.  Fresh salsa and guacamole make more sense to me with spicy grilled Mexican meat, even when served on a bread roll.

 

Q. The crowd also was really into your guacamole, do you have any recommendations that you would like to share?

 

A. I've always felt avocado can stand on its own.   A little salt, pepper and garlic salt isn't too obtrusive.  And if it's going to sit for a while, some lime juice can keep it green.  I prefer it without the lime, but that's the price you pay when serving at a leisurely party.

           

Q. Here in St. Louis, where would you send someone to have their first torta, and what would you tell them to order?

 

A. For anyone's first torta in Saint Louis, the standard bearer is La Vallesana on Cherokee Street.  It's not quite as good as ones I've had Southwest from here, but it's certainly enough to find out whether tortas speak to you.

Welcome Fall

Nobody knows better than my wife that I love Alton Brown and his show Good Eats. Earlier this year he did an episode named “Apple of My Pie”, and knowing that apple pie is a fall time favorite of mine, my wife went out and got me a pie bird and tart pan in an effort to move me past store bought dough to making my own as Alton suggested.

 

Making pie dough was a challenge for me, however in the end everything came together. I can’t claim this recipe for my own, but I did make a slight change - I could not find apple jack and used apple vodka in its place. I would also increase Alton’s cooking times a bit for my oven, from 50 minutes to 60 or 70.

In the spirit of fall, I present my first from scratch pie, completed with a black bird, baked inside.

Porter's Fried Chicken

Fired chicken can be counted amongst the upper echelon of truly American foods, originating in its current form from the deep south with a history that reaches back to colonial times, when slaves from Africa contributed this culinary masterpiece to our culture. Chicken fried in a fat can also be traced father back in history to Europe and Asia, however it is southern fried chicken that most think of when thoughts turn to what for many is a perfect “Sunday dinner”.

 

Created with simple and inexpensive ingredients and enjoyable piping hot out of the fryer, cold out from the fridge or at ambient temperature out of a picnic basket, it is easy to understand how this meal moved out of the southern states and across the country. 

 

There are as many opinions as to how to make fried chicken as there are people who will tell you that they make it better than everyone else. All told, it seems there are only a few things that separate the good from the bad - the crust, the spice and the balance of deep fried goodness and the juiciness of a chicken that has been steamed perfectly inside the aforementioned crusted coating. 

 

Here in St. Louis there are more than a few places that serve up plates and to go boxes of chicken and the standard fixings, however there are only a few that approach what is arguably the best fried chicken in the country, Price’s Chicken Coop in Charlotte, North Carolina. Make no mistake, the chicken at Price’s is outstanding, however, you don’t have to take my word on it, you can check out what the folks at Roadfood, Serious Eats and even Gourmet Magazine have to say. Better yet, you might just plan a road trip in the future to try some for yourself - you will be glad you did.

 

Coming close to Price’s is a new favorite of mine, Porter’s Fried Chicken, a small and unassuming restaurant nestled into a small strip mall in Shrewsbury, a suburb of St. Louis. The folks behind the counter are quick with a smile and help with the menu, in my case it was trying to figure out the difference between a “Regular” and a “Special” meal, which is all white meat as opposed to a mix of white and dark meat. Meals come with a choice of sides, and being my first visit to Porter’s, I opted for my personal favorite sides for friend chicken - cole slaw and mashed potatoes with white country gravy - which are both tasty without outshining the chicken.

 

A sign hangs on the wall stating that phone orders are welcome, and that is because all the meals are made as they are received, there are no heat lamps at Porter’s. A wait of 10 - 15 minutes proves worthwhile when you are presented with chicken, a roll and sides in a plain take out box.

 

What strikes you first is that fresh out of the fryer, this chicken is not very greasy at all compared to most fried chicken restaurants. Napkins are required though because just inside the crisp and spicy crust is juicy and flavorful chicken that really is “finger licking good”. This is a result of the near perfect crust Porter’s achieves by way of the deep fryer but owing just as much to the steaming action of the chicken inside its crust. This is also the key to perfect fried chicken, where to me, “frying” is a misnomer. Yes, heated fat or oil provides even heat for cooking, but it is the application of the crust before its frying that forms an envelope around the meat. This envelope allows the natural water within the chicken to steam and cook, keeping the moisture inside. The trick is to pull your chicken before the delicate equilibrium between oil and water changes, and the oil moves into the meat creating a greasy mess.

 

One only has to observe the line leading from the counter to the door to see that the folks at Porter’s are on to something special. I am looking forward to my next visit.

 

Opinion: Recommended

3628 South Big Bend Blvd

St. Louis, MO 63143

781-2097

On the web:

• St. Louis Eats and Drinks with Joe and Ann Pollack

Float Trip Picnic Chicken

A simple pleasure of Midwest living is the "float trip". Coolers are packed with beverages and food, and then friends take off down the river in rafts, tubes and pretty much anything else that will, well, float. Ideally, when asked by friends and coworkers on the east coast why I live in Missouri with the heat, floods and tornadoes, I should point to the float trip as one of many reasons.

I was asked to make something to eat for a recent float trip, so I racked my brain and cookbook collection for a meal that would travel well in the Midwest heat while still feeding a large group. I decided that I wanted to make cold chicken, but there were several obstacles that I wanted to tackle before serving my waterlogged friends. At issue was how to prepare the meat so it would remain moist up to a day after cooking and what to do with the rubbery skin that can ruin an otherwise perfect piece of chicken.

Over the last few years, I've taken to selecting thighs as my cut of choice when preparing chicken. It's a shame they are so often overlooked as they are affordable and have a great meat to bone ratio. Also, the dark meat thigh stands up to abuse that would dry out its white meat counterpart, the breast. I almost always rub or brine chicken thighs before cooking, with some of my favorite combinations being an overnight soak in lemon juice, olive oil, scallions, garlic and tarragon or simply using my house spice rub.

For this float trip, I decided on barbecuing chicken using my go to dry rub to impart flavor, saving my friends from the glorious mess resulting from barbeque sauce covered hands.

My house rub is super easy and follows the pit master approved ratio of 8 - 3 - 1 - 1:

8 parts brown sugar
3 parts kosher salt
1 part chili powder
1 part other (can be any combination of spices and herbs, as long as it equals 1 whole part)

The beauty of this formula is that as long as you stick to the ratio, you can use any measurement you would like, be it tablespoons, cups or gallons. I usually make a large batch and keep it in a sealed shaker for chicken and ribs. I've also been known to jar it and give away at the holidays.

What follows is a two day process for making my cold picnic chicken.

Day 1

The afternoon before I planned on making these thighs, I washed, scored and carefully peeled back the skin (don’t totally detach) on each so I could season the meat with my rub. After seasoning, I folded the skin back and placed the thighs on a wire rack resting inside a baking sheet. Then I applied a second coating of the rub on top of the skin, covered loosely with foil and then placed in the coldest part of my fridge, the bottom shelf, for an overnight rest.

This method helps to solve one of the problems I was worried about, keeping the chicken moist as it cooked. The salt in my rub acts very much like a brine, drawing the natural water and salt out of the chicken to its surface, then back into the chicken hours later as the chicken reabsorbs the water and most of the rub. The net result is a "brine" that flavors the meat with the rub while keeping the chicken moist.

I alluded to how I approached eliminating soggy and rubbery chicken when I referenced scoring the skin before applying the rub. For each thigh, I used a chef's knife to cut inch long channels in the skin without cutting the meat. In general, chicken skin is full of fat which will not completely render during cooking - it has no way to escape and remains trapped under the skin. Scoring the skin provides an escape route for fat, allowing it to baste the chicken while cooking and letting the skin form a thin crispy layer.

Day 2

The day before our trip and my planning and prep work completed, I started a one zone fire in my grill, allowing me to cook the chicken thighs skin side up over low and slow indirect heat. Using a mixture of natural lump charcoal and apple wood chunks, I smoked these thighs for four hours at 225 degrees, replenishing the fuel supply as needed to maintain a consistent temperature. Several times during the process, I rotated the thighs skin side down over the hot zone, rendering out additional fat and to crisp the skin. I was quick to remove the chicken during flare-ups, and each thigh was not exposed to direct heat more than a minute or two in total.

After four hours on the grill, I brought the chicken inside, placed on a clean wire rack and baking sheet, covered with foil and left in the bottom shelf of the fridge. My wife and I shared a piece for lunch and it was everything I was looking for, moist, smoky with great barbecue flavor and thin crispy skin.

Bringing it all together:

The next day I packed the thighs into a cooler along with some other snacks, ice, beer, and what I am told is a float trip requirement, Jell-O shots. We enjoyed a great day on the river with friends and shared a fine lunch of cold picnic chicken on a sandbar before continuing on our way. Sure I got sunburned so bad that if you placed me on a bun I'd look like a lobster roll, but it was a great day nonetheless.

Roasted Garlic Strip Steaks with Texas Potatoes

I helped throw a bachelor party recently, and for me, bachelor parties mean steaks and steakhouses. In this case, we decided to bring the steakhouse into the home, with a dinner before we ventured out for the evening. In thinking about the menu, I took some time to reflect on one of the two bachelor parties I had last year, and the meal we took in at the Strip House in Manhattan. I used the ultra thick strip steaks simply accompanied by a whole head of roasted garlic from that dinner as the inspiration for these roasted garlic strip steaks cooked over a fire of natural lump charcoal and large chunks of mesquite.

While I have never been able duplicate the amazing steaks that I’ve had at my favorite steakhouses, I’ve been able to come close at home. Keys to success include knowing your butcher and planning for heat management.

The first step may be the hardest, knowing your butcher. I have several that I visit here in St. Louis depending on what I am cooking, and I keep coming back because each take the time to talk with you about the product you are buying and how you would like to prepare it. They will also cut and trim to your specifications. For this meal, I made my way over to the meat counter at Whole Foods, who carry beef that is free range and grass fed while remaining free of hormones and antibiotics. They also do custom cuts, so in quick order I was out the door with four two inch thick New York Strip Steaks, weighing a total of 89 ounces.

I prepared these steaks very simply. First I roasted off two heads of garlic in the oven with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. After about an hour in the oven at 350 degrees, I let the garlic rest and cool before running it through a garlic press and into the olive oil I used for roasting. I added some more olive oil, covered and reserved for later that night. A few minutes before grilling, I spread the roasted garlic and oil mixture over the steaks along with kosher salt and fresh pepper.

The next key to grilling great steaks is heat management. In this case, I built a 2 zone fire using natural lump charcoal and a bed of mesquite wood. The first zone should be hot and large enough to put a good sear on the steaks, while the second should allow the steaks to finish with even, low heat.

As the grill was heating, I put my cast iron skillet over the hot zone and used that heat to start the universal steak house side, potatoes. As the bachelor was from Texas, I imagined what I would make if I was a cowboy, cooking out over fire on the range. The result was what I called Texas Potatoes.

In the skillet I combined six good sized Yukon gold potatoes with the skins on and sliced into disks, four thick slices of bacon, cut into half inch sections, red onion, kosher salt, pepper, and a stick of unsalted butter cut into eight pads. For the thirty minutes it took for my coals to come to temperature I kept the skillet over the hot zone, folding the potatoes over occasionally and letting them fry in the bacon fat and butter.

Is it healthy? Probably not. Is it tasty? You bet your ass.

After thirty minutes, I moved the skillet to the cooler zone of the grill and individually grilled slices of potatoes over the hot zone to get some marks on them. I did these about 10 at a time, and then added them back to the skillet.

When the coals were ready in the hot zone, I grilled each steak for three minutes on each side, turning 90 degrees once for crosshatched grill marks. After six minutes I moved each steak into the cooler zone to finish, about ten to twelve minutes for medium rare. When they were done, I removed them from the grill, covered with foil and rested for about ten minutes, reserving the juices to top the steaks when I plated.

I served these steaks and Texas potatoes with sautéed spinach, a fresh horseradish and chive cream dipping sauce, and a bottle of 2002 Chateau la Grande Roche Cabernet Sauvignon that I have been cellaring for just such a meal. We finished things off with glasses of 15 year old Balvenie single barrel single malt whisky – the perfect ending to a steakhouse meal at home.

Best of luck to the bachelor and to you in your summer grilling adventures.

A list of my favorite Steakhouses, in no specific order:

Andria’s – O Fallon, Illinois
Angelo & Maxies – Manhattan, New York
Capital Grill – Multiple Locations
Citizen Kane’s – Kirkwood, Missouri
Gallagher's – Manhattan, New York
Gene & Georgetti – Chicago, Illinios
Peter Lugar – Brooklyn, New York
Rod’s Steak & Seafood Grille – Morristown, New Jersey
Smith & Wollensky – Multiple Locations
Sparks – Manhattan, New York
The Strip House – Manhattan, New York

A New Religion in Mecca

The title of this post is a tip of the hat to the book “A New Religion in Mecca: Memoir of a Renegade Brewer in St. Louis” by Tom Schlafly. The book details the challenges, struggles and at times blind trial and error of starting a craft brewery in the shadow of the Anheuser-Busch brewery here in St. Louis. The title seems to fit me as June turns to July, and I absorb some changes to how I’ve done things for some time.

The first change involved a much needed personal inventory of my skill set at work. For some time, I’ve moved between the roles of project manager / business analyst and architect as required. My personal development has been shortsighted at times and non-existent others, mostly because of the demands of project work - who has time to attend training, no matter how important it is?

After some soul searching around the dinner table, I decided to try to focus my efforts on developing a base of technology skills that would complement the ones I have developed through 10 years of IT experience. A balancing of the pros and cons lead me to the conclusion that learning some SQL and perhaps attempting to teach myself Java using Eclipse as an IDE would be beneficial.

The SQL will come in handy for increasing my skills in the business intelligence and reporting space, which will complement my project management and business analyst skills. Over the coming days I will install mySQL and begin running through Alan Beaulieu’s O’Reilly book “Learning SQL”. I’ve always learned the most when I can apply what I am absorbing directly to a personal interests, so once I’m done with this current set of lessons I’m thinking about attempting to use mySQL to develop a custom set of reports for my investment club. I’ve been thinking about using the tool to generate price vs. P/E tables and graphs for the stocks we collectively own and/or argue about.

The Java will come in handy as unlike many in my field, I did not progress up the ranks from programmer to architect. Instead I ended up an Enterprise Architect because I needed to be promoted someplace. While I have learned a tremendous amount about technology, I think having a working knowledge of a development language will help me in project work.

However, these new goals are not in of themselves the epiphany mapping to the title of this post as I set goals all the time. Instead the first change to come was moving from Microsoft Windows to Apple Macintosh (24 Inch iMac, 4GB RAM, 1.5TB of storage) as a stepping stone to getting started in expanding my development skills beyond HTML. Though more expensive up front, the Apple is quickly becoming the tool of choice for application development and has more than enough power to function as a home computer and learning and development platform.

The transition is now largely complete and like the advertising says, everything worked right out of the box. Because we live in a PC world, I also loaded Microsoft Vista Ultimate Edition using Fusion from VMWare. Interestingly enough, the install of Fusion and Vista went easier than any Windows upgrade or install I’ve ever done. In total, the entire process took about 3 hours, including beer breaks as it was a holiday weekend. I bought a laptop running Windows XP about 18 months ago, and the entire setup took close to 12 hours, including a 3 hour trip back to the store to replace the first laptop with a new one. Its easy to see why Apple has a cult-like following that is taking share.

I’ve been very happy with the switchover experience. Most of my existing files moved seamlessly across platforms, and what PC specific applications I did have are running fine in Vista. I’m most interested in the functionality of Fusion, which lets you take a snapshot of an instance of an operating system as you run, in this case Vista, on a virtual machine. Should Vista become corrupted from a virus or from mis-administering the machine, into the Mac trash it goes and I can recover to the snapshot install in minutes. I also plan on installing a copy of Linux as well in the near future.

While the first change was thought out and planned to some extent, the second was quite different. For the 4th of July, we were planning on having a barbeque with about 15 people attending. I got up early and was in the back yard around 9:30 AM to clean up my gas grill and get it ready for smoking ribs and then cooking food for the party throughout the afternoon and evening. I started up the grill to clean off some leftover grime from the cookout the night before and went about getting ready to start smoking three racks of baby backs around 11:00 AM. I came back in about 30 minutes to find the grill cold with hardly any flame coming from the 3 grill bars.

Faced with the prospect of attempting to repair a 6 year old gas grill before our party, my wife and I decided to head to Home Depot to price out a new one. I have been contemplating a move from gas to charcoal for some time, but there really has not been a reason beyond the desire to do it. On the quick drive over, I had to contemplate a move without research or thought beyond day dreaming about the change.

6 years ago, I bought 3 burner stainless steel grill at Lowe’s for about 400.00. This has been a great tool for cooking burgers and steaks. I even managed to “smoke” (as much as you can using gas) whole chickens and pork ribs with success. However, as I toiled away in my backyard, the world moved on to a price point approaching 800.00 - 1000.00 dollars for a gas grill, complete with 4 burners, side burners, rotisseries with counterweight systems and warming trays. We now need grills to match the SUV’s in our driveways. I was forced to face the fact that as a culture, we decided to move our kitchens outdoors. Who cleans these monsters? Can the average backyard chef even use many of the bells and whistles they have bolted onto the side of the modern grill?

Suddenly it was very easy to move away from gas to lump charcoal.

In short order I was on the way home with a charcoal grill that should capture the attention to anyone who desires a grill for their back yard. With a few hours to go and the help of my wife we had the new grill set up and smoldering at 210 degrees within 90 minutes.

The risks were great; a new tool, a new heat source and 15 hungry people at my house.

Much like with the Apple, moving from gas to charcoal and wood just works out of the box if you’ve planned your moves ahead of time. The grill is large enough to lay out 3 or 4 racks of ribs to smoke over indirect heat. Maintaining a consistent temperature is easy as well, the grill has a door on the front for easy access to a tray holding your heat source. This tray can be raised and lowered at will to control the heat and for the production of a sear. A few extra lumps of charcoal and mesquite every 45 minutes is all that is needed to maintain 200 - 220 degrees - the perfect temperature for smoking and barbecuing meats.

After about 4 hours the ribs were done and the grill took 2 full chimney starters of charcoal and mesquite to cook 12 hamburgers, 6 large portobello mushrooms and 6 peppers at one time, easily besting the cooking surface of my previous grill.

For a day that could have gone so very wrong, I was really happy that everything came out so very right. The grill works well, but is not without it’s flaws. Assembly left something to be desired. The handles for the vents are plastic and attached to metal that is to thin for the job asked of them. Both get way to hot compared to the rest of the grill which seems to have a better construction. The fit and finish is a little suspect, the doors don’t sit right and the hood pops a little when the grill heats up before it sits on the grill surface. On the plus side the unit has heavy cast iron grates for searing and the process of cleaning ash has been well thought out. All things being equal, not a bad tool for around 200.00.

What follows in a photoessay for some impromptu baby back ribs, planned for a gas grill but smoked over lump charcoal and apple and mesquite wood chunks. This is a 2 day process that begins at your local butcher and can be applied to baby back / spare or St. Louis style ribs.

Day 1

1. Have your butcher remove the skin from the underside of the ribs or remove with a flexible knife at home. (This is a must. Any good butcher will perform this task upon request - if you can find a good butcher)

2. In a deep Pyrex dish or large Zip-lock bag, lay out the ribs and cover with pineapple juice. I soaked these ribs for about 8 hours, turning occasionally.

3. After a good soaking, pat the ribs dry, lay over plastic wrap on a large cookie sheet and brush with a mustard of your choosing, then coat liberally with spice rub. I make my own but store bought is fine, just watch the amount of salt in the rub. My rub for these ribs included brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, chili pepper, Old Bay, cumin, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Don’t be afraid to use your hands and rub the mixture into the ribs.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge overnight.

Day 2

1. Remove ribs from the fridge at least an hour before you plan on starting, allowing the temperature of the meat to rise. This is a good habit to get into whenever you are cooking meat on a grill.

2. If you are using wood chips, place them in a water bath. I used dry wood for this go around as I didn’t have the time to soak the larger chunks of wood this grill can accommodate. I'm also not sure if its needed with this grill. Only time will tell.

3. Set up your grill for indirect heat and using a thermometer than you know to be calibrated (not necessarily the thermometer on the hood of your grill) let the grill come to rest at about 200 - 220 degrees.

4. Place a shallow tin of water (or liquid of your choosing) over the heat source. I find that this provides enough moisture to help the meat stay moist while it cooks.

5. Place the ribs on the opposite grill from your heat source and close the grill. At this point, the hood should stay down. I restrict opening the hood to once an hour when I rotate the ribs and refill the liquid. On my grill, I have a second door below the heat where I can add a small bit of wood or fuel and I’ve found that this set up allows me to keep the heat in the right part of the grill. Opening the hood lets most of the heat you’ve made escape, and your grill has to work to heat back up once you close it up.

6. For these baby back ribs, I went about 4 hours at 210 degrees. I started brushing the ribs with a wet mop barbeque sauce about 3.5 hours into the cooking process. Any earlier and you risk creating a burned layer of crust on your ribs.

7. After 4 hours I pulled the ribs and cut into 2 bone pieces. In a large mixing bowl I put a fair amount of barbeque sauce and added the ribs, tossing to coat. Make sure you serve with lots of napkins. Enjoy!

Afterthoughts:

These ribs were a cooking adventure and I really did fly by the seat of my pants for the most part. However, they came out with a nice smoke ring and were moist and juicy on the inside. Because of the late start time, I pulled the ribs early so I could get ready for cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. I’m sure they could have gone longer and gotten to the point where the rib bone can be twisted and pulled a bit out of the meat - the falling off the bone stage. Luckily I’m at the beginning of learning how to use this new tool, and my next batch should be even better than these were.

Habanero and Strawberry Bison Filet Mignon

Ingredients List: Grass Fed Free Range Bison Filets (Bowood Farms, Clarksville, MO), (Marinade) Organic Habanero Chili, Organic Strawberry Jam, Organic Shallot, Organic Cranberry Juice, White Vinegar, Organic Canola Oil, Kosher Salt, Pepper (Salad) Organic Yellow Brandywine Tomato, Organic Cucumber, Organic Bi-Color Corn, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Kosher Salt, Pepper (Topping) Organic Purple Beauty Bell Pepper, Organic White Onion

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Here in Missouri, we are lucky to have access to grass fed bison at our local grocery and farmers markets. While using bison as a replacement for beef is becoming a bit more common, I still relish plating up thick cuts like New York Strip and Filet Mignon for friends and watching them enjoy this healthy and low fat dish for the first time.

Cooking bison is not as easy or forgiving as beef, and the home cook should plan ahead to ensure success. The biggest issue is bison’s low fat content. Unlike feed lot raised beef and its superior fat marbling, bison is quite lean and prone to drying out if over cooked.

For my habanero and strawberry filet mignon recipe I begin about 8 hours before starting my grill with a marinade of habanero chili, strawberry jam, shallot, white vinegar, canola oil, kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and cranberry juice. The goal is to infuse a balance of the scorching habanero with the natural sugary sweetness of strawberries and cranberry while adding a bit of moisture to the meat before cooking.

Grilling and heat management play a big part in how your bison will finish. Personally, I prefer my steaks rare to medium rare, so how you approach your bison steaks is of the utmost importance. I use a two zone cooking method, leaving one side of my grill rocket hot to sear each steak, then move to a second zone of very gentle heat to finish the cooking. For bison I’m not looking for the great diamond pattern that I would get on a beef steak, instead, I want to get the best sear I can the first time around then get it off the flame.

I have read that some cooks will leave a bison steak slightly frozen in the center before grilling. While I am sure this will buy you some extra insurance against overcooking your steak, I have not attempted this cooking method. For me, a little planning is all the insurance I feel I need to turn out a perfectly grilled steak.

Total cooking time should be about half to two-thirds that of a beef steak of equal size. On my grill, that’s about a sear on each side for a minute, then about 6 to 7 minutes on indirect heat. You’ll have to give it a try with your equipment as not two flames cook quite the same.

Pre-work:

Before getting to the marinade, a word of caution on the use of habanero, one of the hottest chili peppers available to the home chef. At 200,000 to 300,000 Scoville units, this is a food that should be handled with extreme care and respect. A run in with a jalapeno that I grew several years ago and my contact lenses has made me a firm believer in the use of latex gloves when handling most members of the Capsicum genus. Save for the stem, the entire chili is edible, but the real heat lives in the seeds and rib walls inside the fruit and I usually trim and discard these parts before use - especially if I intend to serve habanero to guests. 

The habanero in this marinade is used to impart heat, but it is nicely complemented by the use of strawberry and cranberry to create a spicy, sweet liquid for the filets to sit in. You can also substitute fruits like peaches or nectarine if they are local and in season. The goal is balance and your options are many.

1. I begin by placing one seeded and de-ribbed habanero, two shallots and three tablespoons of strawberry jam in a food processor or blender. 

2. Add two or three tablespoons of white vinegar, one fourth cup of cranberry juice and two to three tablespoons of canola oil.

3. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Blend for ten seconds, then check to make ensure all the ingredients have been incorporated into a viscous liquid. Makes enough marinade for two filets.

5. Place filets into a plastic bag, cover with marinade and seal. To ensure the best liquid to meat contact possible, try to remove as much air from the bag before closing. Place the bag in a plastic or glass container and place in your refrigerator. I recommend eight hours, but an overnight rest would be totally acceptable.

Bringing It All Together:

1. Preheat two zone grill as written above.

2. Oil down grill grate to prevent sticking, grill filets to rare/medium rare, per your grilling equipment

3. Remove from heat and rest under tented foil for several minutes before serving.

After Thoughts:

I like to caramelize some onion and bell pepper as a side to complement this steak, perhaps mixed with some roasted habanero for the culinary adventurous. Serve with a side of heirloom tomato and cucumber salad, dressed simply with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy.