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My Christmas gift to myself was this Trompo stand that is overpriced but it beats buying foil trays and setting those over the coals and then cutting the meat off the spinning rotisserie like I did in previous attempts so I thought I would give this a try. It’s nice because I could carve the meat and then allow it to cook further and simmer in the juices below while it sat in the tray the technique I used that I think is important is that I would cut off the crispy outside about every 20 minutes, let them fall to the tray below and then I would spray the meat up and down with pineapple juice. This allowed the fresh meat on the outside some juice that it could carmelize and it also provided nice a nice little pineapple rain shower on the meat below on the tray. I used the dual drip pan on the lower grate as an indirect heat shield I made a creamy & spicy salsa verde. Sliced radishes, cilantro, raw red onions and sliced pineapple. It’s a delicious bite. I can detail everything in more detail in that pork thread of others have interest in attempting this meal but this is my favorite meal to cook, it’s incredibly authentic Mexican food and it looks cool ladies and gentlemen I present to you Tacos Adobada (aka Tacos al Pastor) accompanied with a fresh lime/Correlejo margarita

Happy New Year everyone. Good to hear your folks are doing better @Troble - I wish them a continued and speedy recovery. We decided that we'd do some seafood for a change having been made hungry by @Basher on more than one occasion! We started out with Carlingford Oysters. I bought a chain mail glove some years ago much to the consternation and judgement of my wife. I also paired it with an excellent Rosle oyster knife which saw me shuck a dozen in under 5 minutes. A friend is an ER doctor at a hospital located in a wealthy area of London. He always jokes that stabbing yourself in the hand at New Years is a middle class festive ritual of choice. Since I showed him the chain mail glove, he has been telling his patients to buy one. Should have got a commission. He says he gets at least 20 casualties on a good night and even has a rating system, much like the oyster sizing system. I've refused offers of pictures - he says the hall of famers over 10 years in emergency medicine are a strong field. But anyway, back to the food. The oysters were great, no stabbings and we served them with a mignonette. I ordered in some prawns that were on special due to the latest lockdown in the UK. The restaurant delivery driver asked if we were having a party. I apologised and just said that there were only two of us and that we were just pigs. We've got plenty of freezer space so they'll be spread out over the next few months. We did some King Prawns and large Carabineros which are very attractive and have a superb taste. Cooked simply and basted in garlic butter. I used a grill basket in the 19KK which fits perfectly to cook them all. It was -3 with a freezing fog and the cap on the 19KK had actually frozen shut so much so that I had to open the lower door to drive enough heat through the coal bed to loosen it. I leave it covered all the time too. As we were doing prawns, I wore flip flops as well which earned further consternation and judgement from my wife. Heated floor in the kitchen felt twice as good when I was back inside. My wife deserves huge credit for her skills in preparation so this is my shout out to her. She also deserves credit for the strength of the garlic butter. Ever since I bought a Dreamfarm Garject garlic press, we seem to always end up eating more garlic as she loves playing with it. Vampires wouldn't have touched us yesterday. They probably wouldn't today either if I'm being honest. I think the meal was a high point of 2020. Start as you mean to go on.

Adobada Tacos/Tacos Al Pastor You probably know this dish as Tacos Al Pastor. I call it Adobada Tacos. Who is right? The answer is both of us are. In Mexico, the terms get used differently depending on the region and you will find further discussions about if it’s Al Pastor or Adobada depending on if it’s on the griddle after it’s been cut. The sensible answer to this is that Adobada is the type of sauce or marinade that is commonly found in many Mexican dishes. You will often see dishes served “in adobada sauce”. They call the pork on the spit Tacos Al Pastor. But in Baja California which is close to where I live in San Diego, we call it Tacos Adobada, and that is also fine. For a detailed discussion on this read this article https://frugalcooking.com/is-al-pastor-the-same-as-adobada/ Now for the dish. What exactly is Al Pastor or Adobada tacos? It’s the ultimate fusion food. It’s basically a Mexican version of Middle Easter Shawarma. But the Mexican people adapted it to their region and used their spices and pork instead of chicken. That’s it in a nutshell. For more info about this check out this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_pastor I live in San Diego, precisely 8 miles North of Tijuana, Mexico where their taquerias are legendary and Adobada/Al Pastor reign. I actually had a business in Tijuana for 2 years and ate at all the best tacos stands in the City and I consider this one of my areas of expertise so it’s always been something I wanted to cook at home, especially now in the Pandemic, when I can’t cross the border to get my taco fix. In previous attempts I have used the rotisserie on my KK to attempt this dish. (seen here https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/2453-everyday-misc-cooking-photos-w-details/page/296/?tab=comments#comment-127969 I stacked the meat on the spit and then used a foil tray to act as a deflector over the coals. This worked, but it was hard to manage. Hard to cut the meat and eventually the aluminum tray would get super-hot and sometimes end up melting by the end of the cook which isn’t good either. So, enter the Trompo King. I saw this thing on the KK forum and thought that could be a great solution for what I am looking for. The Trompo king allows for vertical stacking of the meat, but more importantly it has a nice collector tray below it where the meat can be shaved and then cooked further which is key to executing this dish. The Trompo King can be found here https://smokeware.com/products/trompo-king Here is the recipe I used as a template for this cook. I think this recipe is pretty damn authentic, although I do think it’s a little heavy on the adobo sauce side and I may try increasing the sugar on subsequent cooks, but it is damn good to start to start with this and season as you see fit. There are a couple of key ingredients you will need to purchase to make this cook happen. I will list them below. 1. Dried Guarillo Peppers – available in any Mexican market but also on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Guajillo-Chiles-Peppers-Dried-Whole/dp/B087XBKNB7/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=guajillo+peppers+dried+el+guapo&qid=1609555947&refinements=p_72%3A1248897011&rnid=1248895011&s=grocery&sr=1-16 2. Dried Chipotle Pepper available at any Mexican market but also on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Dried-Chipotle-Morita-Chile-Peppers/dp/B0821P2R3G/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=dried+chipotle+peppers&qid=1609556057&refinements=p_72%3A1248897011&rnid=1248895011&s=grocery&sr=1-5 3. Achioete Paste - https://www.amazon.com/El-Yucateco-Achiote-Red-Paste/dp/B0000GHNVI/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-nc-drs2_0?crid=3HZWBZNRY04XJ&cv_ct_cx=achiote+paste&dchild=1&keywords=achiote+paste&pd_rd_i=B0000GHNVI&pd_rd_r=a9ce6812-13a3-475f-9a3d-5cda389c772e&pd_rd_w=Dd06o&pd_rd_wg=3VpEl&pf_rd_p=a64002b9-9c26-4361-b8a1-b0f5a4835670&pf_rd_r=5AJEBBH4CTYWAQ63MXRR&psc=1&qid=1609556116&s=grocery&sprefix=achio%2Cgrocery%2C231&sr=1-2-38d0a374-3318-4625-ad92-b6761a63ecf6 The rest of the ingredients calls for Mexican oregano, Mexican cumin, Mexican Thyme, and Mexican brown sugar. You can use what you have in your pantry but if you plan to make this dish often there are subtle flavor differences using the Mexican herbs and sugar you can also find those on Amazon. When prepping the adobo sauce, I like to use my KK and cast-iron pan so it has more of that “smokey flavor” I generally cook something else the day before on my KK then make the adobo sauce while my KK is still going and prepare the marinade and meat for the next day. When prepping the pork butt, it helps to freeze it for 4-5 hours so you can make nice cuts prior to marinating. When you are prepping to cut the pork butt, trim off the fat cap, also make cuts that would look like they would fit well on the skewer. You want about ½ thick cuts. Take each cut and lather it in marinade and then refrigerate overnight. I like to use pineapple juice and orange juice in my marinade, but that’s up to you. The other recommendation I have for executing this dish is to make sure that as you slice off the outside layer of meat, spray the spit and meat on the tray with pineapple juice. it helps to caramelize it all. I cooked the meat at 375 and it took me about 3 hours to do a 7 lb. pork butt. In previous attempts on the spit, I’ve done it at 450 and it cooked faster, but in this last attempt I liked the cadence of slicing every 20 minutes as I could let the meat cook on the tray below and prep some condiments. The condiments to this dish make it all come together. It’s essential that you use you the following 1. Raw onion 2. Sliced radishes 3. Fresh cilantro 4. Pineapple chunks I like to make a creamy salsa verde but that’s also up to you. If you are so inclined one could use this recipe https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomatillo_salsa_verde/ (although I do add a 1/2 cup of Mexican Crema to this recipe because I like it creamy) Lastly, the final key is to serve this dish on a lightly toasted flour taco sized tortilla. This isn’t a burrito, find and source some small taco sized tortilla. The tortilla is really a key ingredient here and it’s easy to gloss over it. I don’t make my own because I live in San Diego and can go to a stand and pick up a fresh pack super easily, but if you live in another country or a place where getting fresh tortillas isn’t an option have you no fear. It’s upper easy to make and it’s a great skill to teach your kids to do for you while you cook. Here is a recipe to make fresh tortillas https://thecafesucrefarine.com/best-ever-homemade-flour-tortillas/ if you are so inclined you can get a tortilla press to make it even easier If you’ve never had a fresh tortilla, I encourage you to try to once and see what you think. It makes a world of a difference in the end product. https://www.amazon.com/Estrella-Tortilla-Pataconera-Original-MEXICO/dp/B01LRDID2A/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=tortilla+press&qid=1609557105&refinements=p_72%3A1248915011&rnid=1248913011&s=home-garden&sr=1-7 Here are some photos of the latest cook using the Trompo King. If you have any questions on this cook please reach out, I’d be happy to help but it’s an amazing dish to cook for your friends.

@alimac23 I will post a detailed instructions in the pork thread tomorrow when I can it from my computer. It’s not hard. Anyone can do it. The key ingredients are available from Amazon. I measured the skewer just now and it was 11 3/4 inches. I had to push it to the back of the KK for it to fit under the done but that was no problem. I’ll do the instructions tomorrow

I’m also going to include this cook here as I feel like it’s almost an obligatory follow up cook to this dish. You should have extra tortillas because one never wants to run out of tortillas when making tacos so the following day you make breakfast tacos, using preferably applewood smoked bacon take the tortillas lightly toast it and upon the flip sprinkle a little cheese on there, before it’s fully melted take it off to rest and continue melting. Take some of your leftover Mexican oregano and make scrambled eggs. Serve with sliced avocado and my preference is siracha sauce on top. My favorite breakfast plate

Wow. That looks great @Troble. We are currently mining the "Taco Chronicles" on Netflix and The Husband and I have made a pact to have tacos every other week (alternating with pizza), what's not to like? Going to have to adapt some of the ingredients but I am very much looking forward to trying this out. You say adobado, they say al pastor, I say yummilicious!

Well, It seems I have some shopping to do. Better get started before the rush.

Troble, thanks so much for putting all that together and posting it.

I think a grill basket is pretty easy to clean - contact area is much smaller due to the grain of the mesh and I find that they clean up well. If that helps persuade you. Also can be stored easily in the KK or hung off a hook as they're so light. Happy New Year to you too.

Looking forward to your post tomorrow, Troble.

Wow Troble, that looks absolutely amazing!! What size is the skewer on your trompo stand? And do you have a recipe for the meat for the tacos? I’m really keen to give this a try. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalkk

Not to forget when your grate has finished soaking a special tool to scrub the still stuck on mess away is needed. This I use for cleaning my cast iron when relatively good efficiency. Using a new scrubby green pad is also good but it fades and wears the longer it's used so I found this with the scrubby doing an excellent job. On Amazon under Cast iron cleaning as a chain mail

I can confirm they were. Same to you Steve.

Non-KK kontent New Year's Day brunch: Tamale casserole, Hoppin' John and Mimosa. Covering all the food bases to ensure a new and better 2021 (how terrific to be able to use 2021!)

NYE Dinner. A combo of lamb shoulder & chicken drumsticks cooked over CoffeeChar. Forgot to take photos after it had been carved sorry... Too many IPAs by then

Happy New Years Everyone. Still no KK but sharing a nice meal cooked with the tried and true Midwest winter cast iron over stove. Smoked reverse seared filet with blue cheese sauce. Smoked on the old faithful master built. Sockeye salmon, blackened with seared skin (really crispy this time). Fresh fruit...usual suspect. Broccoli salad and some cheesy potatoes because we do live in the Midwest. Cheers to everyone. May 2021 bring us all the best! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice! Looks like you've hit the ground running!

Nailed it

Good looking ribs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was a close call, jonj. [emoji4] Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

It's more about the results.. burn less fuel, create less airflow, less evaporation, and BINGO more retained moisture.. the holy grail of low and slow!