Shuley

Awesome!

Dang that steak looks awesome. 

Did this method help the brisket retain moisture?

I know I am kind of late to this party, but I was making this same choice and I ultimately decided on the 23. My reasoning is this- if I am entertaining for a large crowd I am either doing a large cut of meat or a low and slow. I will not be grilling small pieces of meat for a party. I did that once and I hated it because I never got to relax and just enjoy the company. The 23 will hold a large cut of meat or enough BBQ for a fairly large crowd. While I kind of wanted the space, I knew that I, personally, would not need the space because of how I like to cook.

It will definitely be interesting. 

How did you vacuum seal a whole chicken with broth in it?  Or did you use a ziplock bag of some sort?

Y’all are crazy. I would have loved to see a KK before I got one. I have also had mine for almost 2 years and cook on it approximately 3 times per week- and it still amazes me. 

Despite this last comment regarding the after affects of beer, your pictures are still making me hungry. Awesome looking cook. 

Amongst other things, my husband got me a mini Kurobuta ham from SRF for Christmas. I decided to do a side by side comparison. And of course this wouldn’t have been enough ham for 10 people. 

I separated the two hams with Mac n cheese on my plate hahaha. As you can see the ham on the right is far more deeply pink than the one in the middle. The kurobuta was not only more pleasant in appearance but it had a much stronger flavor. It tasted like meat more than whatever preserves ham. It was clearly the favorite. So good. 

So, as you may or may not be aware, on the guru there is a challenge to cook anything you want so long as it comes in at under $3 per plate. I thought this was going to be super hard, so I started watching the circulars for ideas. When chicken quarters went on sale for $.79 a lb my husband waved me down and said he wanted that. So I got to looking through the other circulars to find what else was on sale that would go with chicken quarters. The makings for mango salsa (amazingly ever item necessary was on sale) and brussel sprouts were on sale at sprouts so I headed on out. Here is my sprouts reciept

i used everything except half of the onion and half of the cilantro. 

Then I headed to get the chicken and some bacon. Truth be told, I always have bacon at home, but I didn’t have a reciept from the last time I purchased it. If I do another cook that involves bacon I will just use this price. I feel a little silly buying a new pack of bacon when I had one in the fridge and another in the freezer (although that one is from SRF so I shouldn’t use it in a cheap challenge cook)

I used all the chicken and four strips of bacon. Total cost 10.50 when making four servings it averages out to 2.62 a plate. Even though my kids didn’t eat full plates I accounted for them as if they were adults. Got on the salsa right away. 

seasoned the chicken with salt, Tasmanian Mountain pepper berries, garlic powder, ground mustard and paprika got them on the grill at about 375

then started the Akorn jr for the bacon and brussel sproutsthe chicken was finishing up

i brushed them with a little peach jelly mixed with lime juice. I wanted to use honey, but I realized we were out!  Oh well the jelly worked well. And dang do they look good

brussel sprouts are finished. 

the risotto was done in my instant pot. I love this thing for risotto. 

All together now

my husband says this was bomb doggity. I have to agree. This was so good and I can’t believe how cheaply I can get food when I really keep an eye out for it. 

I briefly considered the 32. The truth is. While I do grill more often than low and slow, I have a family of 4 and grilling for 4 is pretty easily accommodated on the 23. When it comes to entertaining which I do on a semi regular basis, I pretty much always rely on a low and slow or a roast which is easily accommodated on the 23. I don’t like grilling for a crowd, because I like to interact with my guests and that was my preference before getting any kamado. I tried it once and I realized I missed most of the party!  However if you do like to grill for a crowd the 32 is the way to go for sure. 

Man that looks good

5 hours ago, Tyrus said:

Nice to see the berries used and with such good results. The whole meal looks very appetizing. Thanks for breaking ground.

Thanks. I’m looking forward to finding other applications for the purple crack. 

15 hours ago, Bruce Pearson said:

Great looking cook Shuley!!!! What are ABTs?? Looks like holly peen yooos that are stuffed? Everything looks delicious!

ABT- Atomic Buffalo Turds. Yes, appetizing name I know.  Hey are jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese and cheddar cheese and wrapped in bacon than smoked. They are darned delicious. Every time I make them for a gathering they just disappear. They don’t look the most appetizing but once you try one, you don’t care. 

17 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

I have 3 of the Better Than Bouillon, chicken, beef and mushroom.  It is a great enhancer.

16 hours ago, 5698k said:

I’m a big fan of btb. It’s dam near better than the real thing.


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I am a fan of BTB. I like it better than most brands.... of course homemade is better but I do not always have that on hand. 

17 hours ago, Pequod said:

Great cook and enjoyed the write up too! Still laughing at this part:

Yeah it was pretty intense. The night I did that I couldn’t taste the dinner I made afterwards lol. 

17 hours ago, tony b said:

Excellent use of the purple crack, Shuley! 

I just did some roasted carrots last night (in the oven, as I did fire up the grill - insanely windy and cold yesterday!) and I'll remember next time to try them with the PC. 

btw - spotted the "Better than Bouillon" - their stuff rocks!! I have like 6 different varieties of it in the pantry. 

 

18 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

Shuley, it all looks delicious, great news about the purple crack.  

Thanks and I think I am going to love the purple crack on veggies. 

Over on the guru it is a “sides” challenge. So I got to thinking about some of my most favorite sides to grill. And they are grilled carrots and ABTs. I saw somewhere that people put fruit in their ABTs and that just sounded fabulous to me. I knew that the next time I made them I wanted to add pineapple. And grilled carrots are a super simple yet awesome side. Here are the nice carrots I picked up and the ingredients I used

this was actually my first time using the Tasmanian mountain pepper berries (purple crack) on food. I mistakenly ate a whole pepper berry to just see what it tasted like. I do not recommend eating them plain. Peeled the carrots and they looked so nice and pretty

then added all the ingredients. I cover with foil and cook that way until they are tender. 

I also had some ABTs to prepare. While I went into this knowing that they are not the most appetizing looking side, anyone who has had them knows that they are stupid delicious and always disappear whenever I make them- no matter how many I make. This was just for my family so I only made 12.  Here are the ingredients 

prepped

put the carrots on

now that the carrots are tender I grilled them for a little char 

then added back to the liquid with the cover removed to let a little evaporate

And my unattractive but oh so good ABTs

on my plate with a simple burger. 

So of course the ABTs were amazing and enhanced by the addition of pineapple  glad I tried that.  The carrots were amazing  normally I put cayenne on them instead of the pepper berries, but this was soooo much better  my husband was snatching the left overs odd of my kids’ plates!

Nice!!!  My BIL loves his Santa Maria style grill. 

17 hours ago, tony b said:

I'd eat that steak in a heartbeat! And who doesn't love pie? Nicely done, Shuley!

Yeah it was still insanely good, just not perfect like the last one. 

Everyone loves pie. I think I might like pie better than cake!

18 hours ago, MacKenzie said:

Shuley, dinner is looking very gooood. I'll say you are getting good at making pies, what kind is this one.:)

It was apple pie. I made one for thanksgiving that my husband loved so much he wanted me to bake another.

20 hours ago, Bruce Pearson said:

I like pie can I have a slice? Steak looks yummy too!

Thanks!  Unfortunately we ate it all. Or maybe fourtuantely. 

I posted before how pleased I was with SRF and their customer service. They sent me a second one, since my first rib cap arrived thawed, and I got to cooking it. While I did not execute it quite as perfectly as my first cook, it was really dang good. Way up there. I just seared it on the first side just a tad too much.  I resolved this by flipping it and finishing it on the main grate. Saved it but it wasn’t as perfect as it could have been. 

oh and I made pie. I am getting good at making pie.  

I have been sooooo close to this happening to me so so so many times. 

12 hours ago, DennisLinkletter said:

Duck fat to make popcorn is awesome too.. As is Foie Gras oil 

That sounds awesome. I love the combo of “low” food popcorn. With “high” food, the duck fat. I’ll have to try that next time. I recently read about caviar and chips. That sounds really interesting as well