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This is my "Fed in the Med" entry over on the Guru Za'atar is a generic name for a combination of spices commonly used in the Middle East. Key ingredients are sesame seeds and ground sumac - from there, different cultures add their own spin. My blend was sesame seeds, ground sumac, oregano, savory, a bit of salt and some fresh thyme from the garden. Here it is dry on the left and combined with olive oil and minced garlic to form a paste on the right. The sumac, which was hard to find, is the star of this show - it has sort of a lemon zest flavor that isn't as sharp and doesn't linger in your mouth as long as lemon zest does. Coat the chicken with the paste first, both over and under the skin, then sprinkle on the dry blend and pat it down. I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Here is is on the KK rotisserie. I have the basket splitter installed and the fire is on the back wall (can't see it in this image). The pan of veggies has carrots, onions and cabbage and is sitting over the non-direct side. The cabbage really picked up the nice flavor of the za'atar blend. The chicken also had great flavor and you could squirt a little lemon on it to pick the flavor up even more. Plated with some couscous made with onion and sun-dried tomatoes. I haven't made couscous in years and forgot how easy and delicious it is. Money Thanks for looking.

Second one of the season. This time I used a pie crust that I had in the freezer. It is raining, it is pour down rain, the old man is sleeping, I don't care, I have a beer. I hope you have noticed that the king of beers matches my KK. gold and black and bubbles that match the pebbles. I'm sitting in my ODK and having a grand time while the tomato galette bakes. The skies are clearing- It is going to be a beautiful day tomorrow.:) Plated.

@Stile88 - wow! What's not to like on this cook? Bacon … check. Sirloin … check. Eggplant … check. Done on the KK … check! What's not to like? Kudos to you.

I've made this post once before but I can't seem to find it so I'll give it another go............... . When talking about md high heat (350*-550*) there are two basic ways to manage your coals. A) hot fire, large bed of coals. B)cooler fire, small bed of coals. Each method has it's pro's and con's. . . . A) hot fire, large bed of coals. Mainly useful for direct grilling and searing. (I like this method for rotisserie) . Pro's - coals covers a larger area of the grill so more protein sits directly above the coals. Faster to come to temperature. . Con's - uses more fuel. Can cause a hot zone especially if doing an indirect cook. . This requires a larger top vent opening. A lot of heat will be wasted going out the top vent which will in turn require a larger bottom vent opening. The end result is burning more lump and having a larger bed of coals. . . . cooler fire, smaller bed of coals. Especially useful for indirect cooking and baking. . Pro's - burns less lump to maintain a given temperature. More even heat distribution especially when doing an indirect cook. . Con's - takes longer to get to temperature. Smaller bed of coals not good if direct grilling a large amount of protein. . Once near target temperature the top vent can be set with a smaller opening. In turn the bottom vent can be set with a smaller opening. With a smaller top vent opening more heat is trapped inside the kamado so a smaller fire is needed to maintain a given temperature. This will take longer to stabilize at a given temperature. . . . Most of my cooks are md high heat. Both methods will obtain a stable temperature. Once I decide what I'm cooking I choose the best method for that particular cook. Unless direct grilling or rotisserie I usually use a smaller top vent opening as it conserves fuel and I go through a fair amount of lump on a weekly basis. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Did a simple cook tonight bacon wrapped sirloin and some eggplant

Today's the day. Delivery window opens in three minutes. No call yet. Standing by...

The view from the sun room. Y'all are gonna have to bear with me until I've covered all angles.

Congrats on your KK Mrs. Reef's Bistro

Hoping to spin a chook...err...chicken (been reading too many Aussie posts) on my spankin' new KK this weekend. This gives me a bit o' inspiration.

Looks good. What seasonings did you use on the egg plant? . For squash or egg plant slices I like marinating for a few minutes in a flavor infused Basalmic Vinegar. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

So I usually do 3 turns up top and half open bottom for 350/375. Ckreef posted today that he has his dome top shut way more than that. So today I am experimenting a bit. I opened it to the normal settings for 375. Once it hit my temp I left the bottom half open and dialled the top down to half open. So I turned the top damper down and my temp is now hovering around 300. After about 30 min. I will need to play with this a bit to see if I can close stuff down and save on fuel

I had a tile fall off dennis told me to use the grout which is the adhesive and grout use a soft wet sponge to wipe excess

That's what I'm thinking.

Congrats on your new kk is stunning

Watching up my driveway for the truck to roll up. Saw him park on the street (the slope of our driveway tends scare large trucks from entering), so heading out to meet him. There it is...behind some other cargo. Bringing the accessory and charcoal palette first. Thanks for the extra coffee char, Dennis! The first palette is in the garage. Delivery driver was hilarious -- said it was his third KK delivery this year, so had a lot of questions. He also knew how heavy it was, so was looking down the driveway and hating that slope at the top. Our house is behind the trees...way down in the holler. With my help, he backed partway down the driveway and got himself into a comfortable spot. What could it be?? Why...it's a major award! Fragile´...must be Italian! Got the crate off. Opened 'er up to remove all the goodies. It's indescribably beautiful! Ready to roll down the ramp...except we have a palette on palette situation, and the ramp only goes so far... Hmmm...well, my daughter's burly friends arrive at 4, so we'll get a little help to move 'er out from here. Stay tuned...

It's the sumac berries - so don't go out and grab the leaves and use them ETA: That's not to suggest that you should go out and source the berries on your own, either.

Excellent cook. Never heard of Sumac for a spice. Great entry. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Looks mighty delecious excellent cook indeed

Yummy that looks great. Those veggies look extra good. Thanks for the post.

Thanks Charles nice to know

cschaaf, that just had to be soooo tasty, good luck in the challenge. Beautiful dinner.

That looks really good. basalmic vinegar and eggplant wihat a nice combination I love Basalmic vinegar so I guess I'll have to get some eggplant and give it a try.

Nice cook.. Love eggplant any kind of way. Mrs. Reef's Bistro

Nice cook I just rediscovered eggplant during this month's challenge on kg yum Outback Kamado Bar and Grill[emoji621]

Midye Dolma - Mussels stuffed with aromatic rice. A popular street and beach food in Turkey. . This turned out to be one of the hardest challenge cooks I've done to date. . . Saute the onions and pine nuts. . Add your aromatics and rice then cook it all together. You want the rice to finish al dente. . Let the rice cool then add chopped dill and parsley. . Onto the hard part, opening live mussels without totally screwing them up. Those little suckers are strong. Took me a few (read that as many) tries before I got the hang of it. Once open stuff with the aromatic rice. . Put them in a dish and cover with another heavy dish. The idea is to keep the mussels closed as best as possible. Add some stock to the bottom and bake in the kamado at 400* indirect for 20 minutes or so. . Tonight me and Mrs skreef were doing our challenge cooks at the same time. (first time doing duo challenge cooks) We were jockeying for KK and camera use. Unfortunately in all the confusion I didn't get an on grill picture . You serve them cold with fresh lemon wedges. . To eat them you pull the top off, give them a generous squirt of lemon juice then use the top like a spoon to scoop out the bottom. . These were really delicious and a big hit for everyone at the Bistro. Too bad they are a total pain in the rear to prep. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

A little late but congratulations on your delivery.

First, let me say pass the butter. Those cooks look fantastic. MacKenzie, I don't think you have ever had a bad day of cooking. Your bad day of cooking is better then my good day of cooking.

Steak and potatoes are done just right...way to go.

Thanks, Stile. I shall never forget the Guinness beer that I had in Ireland, it was over the top. I had it at every meal except breakfast, I was too embarrassed to have it them. The taste was phenomenal.

The cook looks great and I bet it was worth the wait. After doing a burn in your KK is fully heat soaked to a high temperature and will take a long long long time to cool especially if you don't open the dome after the coals are out.

Looks like a great spin to me. Maybe you can try full on direct, no basket splitter next time, that might help things.

Thats a home run in my books.

Stile, remember you have much more mass to heat up but once it's up to temp. I bet you'd use less lump to keep it at that temp.:)

Looking very good to me, I'd love to be sampling those.

I used the same love basalmic on my egg plant

Thank you. I was looking forward to it all week. Now I need to plan next weekend LOL!

well now I am hungry! Nice cook Aussie. I like that basket splitter.

Tony I haven't received it yet next month some time. It was put on the ship Aug. 5th/ I will post pictured when it arrives

Thanks everybody for all the suggestions I think I found the problem. I didn't have the Lower vent closed all away even though It look close all the way to me. After I shut it down after my cook when I checked this morning it was down in temp and the fire was completely out. I'll know for sure after my next cook. This forum is so cool ask a question and you'll get cool answers from everybody I love it .

The innards of this loaf.

… and joining in the next cook! KKs are real show stoppers. I'm still amazed at how folks who have never seen a KK stop, stare, and then touch. Every. Single. Time.