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Tonight was a "hybrid" cook. Indian Butter Chicken. Marinated chicken thighs went onto the KK, direct, main grate, 325F with cherry wood chunks. Marinade of yogurt, garlic, ginger, garam marsala, cumin, cayenne, sweet paprika and honey. Pulled early (145F IT) and put into the sauce (coconut milk, tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, garam marsala, half-n-half and butter) to finish. Plated with basmati with coriander and cumin seeds and a side of steamed green beans (lemon myrtle and bouquet garni in the steaming water).

Burnt ends turned out to be about the best ever.

Rib fillet Steaks tonight that my son wanted to buy and cook. Here’s how they turned out. Pretty good. This with a truffle butter. With the left over heat we wanted some school holiday snacks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Super exciting. If all goes to plan, my ship will come in tomorrow. It has spent the last few days pootling around in the sea, waiting for a berth at port. This is the plot for the last 24 hours: Here is its path into port at Southampton: And if I get up early enough to catch it at the right point in its journey, the point on the map named "Southsea" is about ten minutes's walk from my house and I can watch to see my ship go by. Exciting.

Our politician morons are just as bad. The UK is going to be a disaster getting into Europe with Brexit and I expect 12h will be light compared to what's coming with the Channel Tunnel. It was only today that it was revealed that COVID vaccines are coming in through military routes to circumvent the expected delays at ports. I've often driven over to Europe for a long weekend and we cancelled our pre-Brexit trips due to the pandemic. Equivalent trips to yours. One of my favourites is heading into Paris to Caractère de Cochon. Solo (picture below) always supplies us with incredible smoked ham and it was a Christmas tradition of ours to head over and stock on a few things and have a few days of good food to warm up for more good food over Christmas. You can probably see in the mirror, some of the extent of the ham he does. We shall miss him this year. I've found that a well positioned sticker declaring your love for a country or location goes down a treat. Having kept a car in central London, they suffer damage from bad driving and just mindless drunken vandalism. I had a black car. Not quite murdered out but it did have a slight drug dealer vibe so I put a Jamaican flag over the parcel shelf. Nobody would dare touch a Yardie's car. Funny how these things make a difference. Perhaps a 'I left my heart in Tijuana' sticker will help...

Local supermarket has been stocking Angus Reserve flat iron steaks lately. I'm getting into them. One last night on the sear grate, bourbon barrel chunk, rubbed with SuckleBusters Texas Pecan. Plated up with roasted spuds, sauteed shrooms, chimichurri and a side salad. Topped it off with a nice Merlot. A nice Saturday night meal.

Thanks for all the information and great advice @Troble. My thinking is that if we cross the border to Mexico we might travel around a bit more and then fly back home from Mexico rather than attempt a return border crossing. I worry about places closing down too. The good news for us in the UK is that restaurants and bars have received some support through these bad times. The most cheering thing for me is the woman who has taken over a shop across the road from my house. She worked really hard to set things up during our second lockdown and opened up her new pastry shop just last week. There were queues of customers from the first day of opening and disappointed people walking by on Sunday when they found out she had taken the day off. A ballsy move to open up in these times. I hope she succeeds. @RokDok, we love botanical gardens and seek them out in every city that we visit. Looking forward to travelling again. We had thought of doing a "travel light" version of Vietnam and Cambodia and may yet manage it. Not enough time in each year and we are currently still wedded to building up our friendships in and enjoyment of Padova in Italy.

It does seem as though love of travel and love of food go hand in hand. @Troble - your year of RTW sounds a great experience - what a brave thing to do to sell your house- fate was on your side though. Thanks so much for those itineraries - it is very helpful to get recommendations of where to go and what to see rather than having to rely on guide books. I've been looking up fights towards the end of next year already - that will have to wait until the mist clears. Your food pictures remind me of our honeymoon - a long time ago - I had a Morgan in those days and we basically spent two weeks eating our way around France - using the Michelin to find places to eat and the Logis guide for places to stay. @tekobo - Backpacking - maybe you should give it a try ? It's a great way to see and feel a country. A couple of years ago we spent 5 weeks in S. India. We had to pre-book the train journeys ( 12 I think ), but just had the first couple of night's accommodation booked and away we went took the occasional long distance taxi, but the busses were much more fun. Travel VERY light - we had a very small pack each - not much bigger than a day pack - rinse your things out overnight. The train arrived in Bangalore at dawn one morning - the botanical garden was open though and very beautiful so we walked round there until Muvali's opened for breakfast. As for the amazing food ..... @Braai-Q - Those trips will resume - the wait is going to make them more savoury, just hope that the resumption is sooner rather than later.

You're supposed to clean your grill grates? 🙂

One of my favorite restaurants here in Cedar Rapids, Popoli, has announced that they are shutting the doors for good in a couple of weeks. They are selling off their wine cellar at a discount, so I managed to get a nice mixed case as my "goodbye" present. I will miss them a lot!

In the UK, we've had the furlough scheme which has helped the hospitality industry to a degree and I know kurzarbeit in Germany is alleviating the situation but it's hard not to see a number of casualties. It is creating a degree of innovation with home meal kits and I have seen a number of chefs doing Zoom classes which are sparking interest in their cuisine. A little neighbourhood restaurant which was less 100 yards from our front door in London has been smart. Their space was too small to socially distance tables to achieve a profitable threshold so they create a store and have been offering sourced and produced produce as well as a take away service - https://www.brawn.co/collection/brawn-sourced/

We have been relatively lucky in Queensland. Gyms, pubs and restaurants were restricted for April and May, then pretty much normal business BUT, with closed borders. Pretty sure Aussie has had the same in WA. This is a restaurant I enjoy about a 10 minute walk from home. https://www.detourrestaurant.com.au/menu Especially for the shock value of the first 3 items on the menu. They laboratory breed black ants and use them to spice up the salmon- surprisingly tasty and the kitchen is completely exposed to the seated guests. The emu tartare is also very good. It’s tough for me to replicate these cooks at home. My wife and I back packed for 3 years before settling here. They are very fond memories. To retrace these steps would be a totally different experience now through older eyes. England is next on the list when this covid reset permits. We have some close friends there we’d love to see again. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@RokDok the food is nice looking but it’s not a setting like fancy restaurants. It’s more outdoor, more communal but still high quality. That’s what I like about it abs truth he told if I go to a nice dinner with my wife in San Diego I’m spending $100 with food abs wine. For a little bit more abs a drive south I can have a mini vacation and dine world class @Braai-Q I also believe that travel will be restrictive when things open up. People will have to show vaccination cards etc potentially. My wife is Peruvian and we had a trip schedule for March 26 of this year to go to Peru and we were gonna get married there civilly so I could get a Peruvian passport, but that got cancelled (airline still hasn’t give me my money back either) and I had reservations at the worlds number 5 & 10 restaurants in Lima that also got cancelled Central https://www.centralrestaurante.com.pe Maido https://maido.pe https://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50 https://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/list/1-50

Great minds...

It’s done, in the cooler, wrapped in lots of towels, in foil with some broth. Temp was 199-210 depending on where I probed. Butter soft almost everywhere. 7 hours from start to finish, no wrap, never stalled at all. Bark looks great, hope it survives the foil. I’ll update when I cut into it in...five hours.

Here some more reading material https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/foodies-can-find-mexican-culinary-oasis-just-south-border-n788116 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/travel/travel-mexico-baja-california-wine-country.html and Anthony Bourdain visited in 2012 https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/anthony-bourdain/episodes/baja

Here are the last two itineraries I made for our trip in 2018 and for my 40th in 2019. My wife likes to know where we are going so she can look up the places on her phone to see the pictures of the food so I started making these the last two trips. These couple pages represent many hours of research so please enjoy. You literally cannot go wrong if you utilize these Valle de Guadelupe 2018.docx Troy’s 40th Itinerary_2019.docx

@Basher yesterday’s breakfast was for the parents. Today’s breakfast is for the kids may I present homemade Mickey Mouse pancakes from scratch served with crushed bananas, sliced blueberries and chocolate chips inside....pancake batter also contains hints of vanilla extract

I should clarify that the pints-n-chips reference is not original. Currently stalled on the 'is a Scotch Egg a meal' chip substitution debate. For those wondering what the hell I'm on about, the British press were trying to clarify the rules in what constituted a 'substantial meal'. Pub snacks - pork scratchings, crisps, nuts with a pint are not a substantial meal. But then there are hot bar snacks - chips, scotch eggs and so on. Then a public debate ensued over the ambiguity. I think I tuned out when the size of the egg that was used to make the Scotch egg was being debated.

@tekobo, have only just caught up with this news - I didn't think that your KKs were going to be here so soon !! Super super super exciting. Can't wait for some pics !

Same concept in terms of a state subsidy Basher. Here's a guide to the UK retention scheme: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/employees/furlough

@tekobo that is an excellent idea. You can fly from Tijuana to just about any place in Mexico, Central & South America. In fact many smart travelers in Souther CA fly internationally out of Tijuana because it is so much cheaper than flying out of LAX. They actually have a parking garage/escalator that takes you straight from San Diego to the Tijuana international gate, perhaps a sojourn down to Tulum, over to the Caribbean then back home to the UK? Lots of possibilities there. From TJ to Carribean there a lot of possibilities and it’s relatively cheap (or at least was). When you start planning I’d love to help. The best thing to do in CA is drive the CA 1 from SF to Santa Barbara. I’m sure there’s direct London to SF, drive down the coast to San Diego, head to Valle de Guadalupe, down to Tulum, over to the Caribbean, then back to UK. Geez! You got my travel bug juices flowing again!

Hey there @Paul. Still super keen to see more of your house. I hope you managed to build in some things that you've always wanted and that you are enjoying the ease of being back in a place of your own.

@Braai-Q yes the number is irrelevant and highly subjective, anything on the list is great. But yes it was Central & Maido. And I was planning on taking a Peruvian cooking class, but all those things will happen in time. The real fear is restaurants closing. Here in the US they are not getting any Federal support abs now with another wave of closure many of the great independent restaurants that have lasted this long are closing. I drive around San Diego the other day to parts of the City I used to live in but haven’t been too in awhile and was shocked at how many of my favorite craft beer bars and restaurants had closed down.

I think you're right @Troble It's Ian Mackay's Swiss Cheese Model. It's interesting seeing the backlash that Qantas faced with suggestion that they'd adopt a 'no jab, no fly' policy suggesting that implementation and compliance is going to be a challenge. One of my clients is a large international organisation and I'm working with them at the moment. We're struggling with legal and ethical responsibilities and the liability risk they face. Working across 16 markets with very little commonality in approach to the pandemic is to understate it somewhat, challenging. The savings they're making on travel really throw into focus the extent of losses that the airlines will be suffering. I'm not sure I'll be able to afford air fares based on how many airlines will remain operational! I'm sorry to hear that your trip was cancelled. Assume that was Maido and Central? It'll be even more special when it happens. Funnily enough, we were due to be in Singapore, flying that day. We were due to visit Odette which I think is in the top 20 if we're talking about the same list. Not that position matters, it's subjective and all are exceptional.

Yeah, I know. I have very little confidence in an 'orderly transition' though. From someone who grew up with a passport that didn't afford freedom of movement (without long queues and unreasonably invasive eligibility checks), I place great value on it. That said, I saw a friend post on Twitter that The Times (who supported Brexit) are offering helpful advice. I frequently have to check that I'm not reading satire.

This one had great marbling. Came out very juicy and tender.

@tony b I thought you’d be happy to have something to sink your teeth into, a good distraction from this crazy world we’re in right now the Anthony bourdain episode is worth watching. I looked for it on YouTube and couldn’t find it but it’s on the Apple store for $2.99. Worth investing in that episode prior to planning a cross country or international trip

Hello KK Fans. The 23" I was trying to haul myself has fallen through. Why not go for a 32BB! As Dennis said, its a beauty. So this is San Fran to Indianapolis. Shipper is the only option. A couple of questions. Does anyone have their crate or at least the bottom pallet part? I know from a previous post the box is a must, and I can build and ship that to San Fran, but not being able to secure it myself, a pallet bottom may help it get to me in one piece. If this doesn't work out, Dennis, I'm placing an order for the next boat. i'm tired of trying to figure out this logistics stuff. And you can bet I'll keep my crate for any future moves! Thanks all, this is a great resource.

@tony b flat iron is one of my favorite cuts. They say it’s second most tender after filet. Looks great as always

To quote the movie Sandlot - "Yer Killin' Me, Smalls!"

Yes the wildcard is the border crossing coming back. It takes 90 minutes to get there but it can take hours coming back. It’s not uncommon to wait 4 hours at the border on a Sunday to come back to the US. If you have Global Entry it can be a 15 minute thing (provided you find the right lane) but it’s also dependent on how much Trump has offended Mexico that week. When he says something derogatory about Mexico border wait times go way up. With the pandemic confusion there have been wait times of up to 12 hours on a Sunday to cross back. Hence why we have not gone this year, but weekday or timing it right it’s no issue I actually had an office in Tijuana for 2 years and I would drive down to the border, park on the US side, walk across take an Uber to my office and do all that in 35-40 minutes. There are also services in San Diego that will pick you up at the airport and drive you from the airport to the Valle the proper way to do it though is to stop in Tijuana for $1.50 TJ tacos on the way home so you get the best high end food in Mexico as well as the world famous Tijuana tacos everything you see me cook here is basically stuff I’ve seen in Mexico

Sounds pretty ideal. I showed my wife and I think we'll be visiting post pandemic. 😁 Being a petrolhead, I frequently find excuses to 'nip out for milk' and that's about the length of a good milk run.

@tekobo @RokDok all sounds good to me I love to travel and that what got me into cooking really. At the end of 2006 I sold all my possessions (including my house before the market tanked) and I bought a one way ticket around the world my ticket took me from San Diego to Rio de Janiero, Buenos Aires. Auckland, Sydney, Bangkok, Paris & finally NYC. I spent 11 months traveling around the world by myself when I was 27 years old. I’d generally stay in an country a month abs tahr trains and busses all around surrounding areas and if usually know someone in that country that I’d stay with for a week to give me a lay of the land. To say thank you for hosting me I always cooked a last meal for my hosts, people would want “American Food” but we dk t really have that outside BBQ. So I would cook “Mexican food”, I’d get skirt steak and make a carne asada marinade, and if research a place to buy tortillas and beans abs I’d make refreshing beans, and somehow would find a package of tortillas somewhere in the city I was in, but the hot was always guacamole. Everyone in the world had avocados usually but they had not experienced guacamole which was my speciality, so it was always a hit I’ve since realized how much I show my affection abs appreciation for people through serving them food. when I discovered this region that’s so close to my house abs this place Bruma that is so serene it was the first time I had that feeling of being in a magical far away land, but conveniently it’s only 90 minutes from my house so now we go every year. They say Valle de Guadalupe is like Napa in the 70’s or 80’s, up and coming but the locals are already starting to complain about how crowded it’s getting its being written up in NY Times, Conde Naste etc and the restaurant that’s on site at Bruma called Fauna (which is absolutely amazing but indoors and dark/not great for photo taking) was recently listed on the Latin America 50 best restaurants lists in the world this week. So the region is getting wide acclaim. It’s a very special place that I firmly believe is one of the true special regions of the world, based on my travels. I would love to share it with you. I’ll will dig up my itinerary and post it when the wife wakes up

Early morning for me. 18lb beast of a brisket. Think it may have had the thickest fat-cap ever on a cow. Trimmed it last night, put it on just before 5am. Trimmed a lot of the fat between the flat and point so they are almost separated. Cooking it at about 275-300, hoping for a finish time sometime around 3 so I can rest it, so cooking it a bit higher temp than usual. Photos are just over two hours in, and it’s already darkening nicely.

That sounds great Troble, i will call on you for that. It is lovely to have something to dream about. When I was a kid we lived in Palo Alto. We have stayed in touch over the years and have a few family friends to visit in the Bay area. We might manage to stop in Carmel on the way down and one of my husband's ex-Royal Navy friends is based in San Diego so we will definitely make it to your town. Valle de Guadalupe sounds like a great place to end our journey. Just waiting for The Husband to wake up so that I can persuade him that this is a great idea.

Do it! Just remember this is in Mexico 90 minutes south of San Diego. But there are 10-12 restaurants down there on this level. It is my source of cooking inspiration and my wife and I usually make the pilgrimage at least every fall and occasionally in spring to sample. when you get ready to plan I have a full on OCD itinerary I put together for my 40th birthday last year I’ll share with you

This is the place we stay at it’s called Bruma http://www.bruma.mx @tony b next time you come to CA pop down to San Diego and I’ll take you down there. You’d love it

My other favorite spot is a place called Animalon which is on the property of a famous Tijuana Chef named Javier Plascentia. Javier also has a Michelin star and he is the other god father of this type of cuisine He built Animalon as a pop up for his 50th birthday and decided to keep it open during the summers. It’s inside a massive 200 year old oak tree and everything is cooked on an open fire with oak wood https://www.animalonbaja.com http://fincaltozano.com

Stunning.

And the Omakase bar

Thanks all for your tips. I used bits and pieces of what you all suggested and from Amazingribs.com. I wetbrined the turkey overnight in a stock pot, and I spatchcocked it. I seasoned with butter, a dry rub, and a sprinkling of herbs from the garden. I cooked it in the 300-325 range and removed it at 155 breast / 160 leg temperature. I put a lump of apple-wood in the fire basket, but I forgot to wait for blue smoke before putting my turkey in, so I probably got some black smoke on it. It still tasted great and was very moist. Highly recommend smoked turkey - easy to execute and delicious!

I am preparing for the arrival of my KKs. House has been painted, space cleared on shelves and this weekend we will do a winter tidy of the garden to make space now that the scaffolding for the painting is down. @sovsroc's post reminded me about the challenge with getting KKs off the pallet when an extra pallet is inserted under the one that the KK is packed on in Indonesia. I have written to agent to see if the extra pallet can be removed before delivery. He is looking into it. I have been avoiding tracking my vessel..up to now. I wanted to avoid stress and I thought it would be great to get the email, out of the blue, to tell me that my KKs have finally arrived in the UK. However, I couldn't resist and I looked up the tracking for the vessel day before yesterday. It is the MOL Treasure and even in a couple of days, the ETA to Rotterdam has slipped by half a day. Patience is indeed a virtue.