Leaderboard

Meatloaf and potatoe scallop for dinner this evening. Both dishes were cooked on the 16 inch KK. We are under a heavy snowfall warning. Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. First I'll have to get Little Barbie the snow blower out. That little thing will out blow machines two or three times the size.

Pizza and naan night tonight in our household. Pizza was good, Mrs BQ has been varying the salt content based on how long we have to prove the dough. I think there is a biochemist trying to get out. The reduction in salt content does reduce the elasticity or rather the bases when stretched out are more prone to tearing. Interesting how micro adjustments (reducing salt by a couple of grams) manifests itself so obviously. Topping was homemade passata (San Marzano home grown) with French goat's cheese, saucisson sec, caramelised onion, mozzarella and prosciutto. The naan was a complete failure. I forgot to make the dough as I got distracted with a DIY job that was more complicated than originally thought so I think that'll be for curry night next Saturday. Been meaning to do it for ages. Had some brioche that was nearly stale and decided to do a bread pudding dessert. Brioche soaked in custard (made from milk, egg, Bourbon (Woodford Reserve in this case), vanilla essence. Add banana and pecan (my wife doesn't like nuts so had to forego), leave to soak for up to an hour prodding it to let the brioche absorb the custard. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and then bake for just under an hour at about 180 which was a good use of the residual heat in the KK. Serve with some vanilla ice cream.

Troble's next door neighbout runs an Air B&B and I've just booked in thinking that I probably can get my breakfast at Troble's.

They would call out the national guard if we ever had a snowfall like that. At least you have a refrigerator full of comfort food. 😀

Beautifully presented too @Troble.

Very nice al pastor! Sorry, dudes, but $50 for a garlic press is a bit over the top. I'll stick to my Oxo. Plus, most chefs don't recommend using one in the first place (One of Alton Brown's infamous "unitaskers.") Most of the time, I just smash the cloves on the cutting board with the side of a chef's knife and a quick mince.

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

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.

Here's Little Barbie in action, and this snow is heavy too.

I got mine on some Amazon offer, 50 bucks is nuts. I use their spoons - brilliant for non stick. Was about £15 if I recall which is going rate for anything of that sort. Depends on what I'm cooking or how much of a hurry I'm in. I use the two bowl method to peel and then throw into a Bamix if I'm doing a lot or I do chef knive and crush method you use for marinades. It's a well made piece of kit, can't fault it.

I have the chain mail for cleaning pans in the kitchen. Works great. Be careful of the medallion and the ring. They are different materials and harder than the chain and will scratch some pans. I scratched a French steel sauté pan with it. Best technique, run a finger through the ring when you're using it to hold it away from the pan surface. I don't use this on my grates. I stick to the Grill Floss and I soak the rotisserie baskets and forks in PBW. No need to scrub at all, just wipe clean with a damp sponge. YMMV

Tony I want a blue one

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

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 Year all. Good looking NY cooks too. Pleased to hear your folks are on the mend @Troble. It is uplifting to hear of treatments working and vaccines being rolled out but there is a long way to go before things are on more of an even keel. Here is to finding ways to prevent these types of crises in the future.