RokDok

About 5 hours in now and the ribs have shrunk a bit so all four can go in one tin, not needed to add any further liquid so far : I'm flipping the ribs every hour or so and basting to keep them moist. My first two cookbooks which I bought about 35 years ago were the Roux brothers, and The Manoir aux Quatre Saisons by Raymond Blanc. It was just about possible to cook recipes form the first - the latter was very difficult, but I did like the first few dozen pages on how to peel shape and cook vegetables. In particular potatoes. I like to carve them into little boat shapes : : And, before you ask ... all my injections are up to date - I haven't missed any.

It's our friend Peter's birthday, and his wife asked if a bunch of us would meet in the village pub this evening at 8pm to celebrate. So, as we live next-door to the pub we suggested that the bunch came here for some food first. Now having been under the spell of @tekobo 's KK cooking wizardry - and having eaten her fab veal short ribs we thought this would be a great dish to serve tonight. In view of the fact that it's a pretty significant birthday for Peter, slow cooked ( braised really) rib is moist, succulent and above all soft, it would be easy for him to eat. We could even cut it up small for him if he forgot to bring his teeth. There is a commercial butcher at the end of the road. I know them well and I ordered the short rib from them. An unusual request here in Blighty : " So, let's get this straight Dok - you want Pork Spare Ribs, but not separate - all joined up and not in Pork but in Beef - so - bones with a lump of meat on them". " Yes, indeed , I think that would be a reasonably accurate approximation of my requirement " So, picked them up this morning : The thing is that they are frozen. Mrs RD is always giving me tips and advice and very helpful in pointing out where I've done things wrong, but she suggested browning them in a pan first. 8/10 Roasting them over direct heat with some cherry wood initiated the smokiness, gave a decent Maillard and really helped with the thawing out : Whilst this was happening Mrs RD made a braising stock of : Softened Onion & Garlic, Star Anise, Fresh Ginger, Coriander Powder, Chinese 5-Spice, White wine vinegar, soy sauce and beef stock, which we poured over the browned ribs, followed by a couple;e of bottles of stout from a batch I'd made in 2017.: Both pans now in the KK at about 150 celsius with hunks of cherry wood from our tree which had a haircut a month or so ago.

Thanks Tekobo. I cooked a rotisserie chicken a few weeks ago and Mrs RD said that, altho it was OK, it was nowhere near as good as cooked by her in the oven indoors. When I mentioned this to Tekobo a gauntlet whizzed past my ear. So, chicken the first way was "Pollo al Matone" - Chicken in a brick - T had bought some brined chicken, spatchcocked one, seasoned it and placed it it a shallow terracotta dish with a loose (very loose) lid which compressed the chicken. The second way was simply placing a trussed chicken ( one that she had brought over from Italy ) - into a small metallic baking tray, and placed these into her 23", thus : Note - over direct heat but high up. Two other chicken ( ready brined too) were rotisseried indirectly on the 32" with the foil wrapped single bottomed tray beneath. Meanwhile, the double bottomed drip tray was in the kitchen over a moderate heat on the stove and par-boiled potatoes were tossed in goose fat. The single bottomed tray was removed and the double bottomed tray with the potatoes were put in under the chicken to cook and crisp. , Finally the chicken were given a direct blast over the direct heat to brown up Meanwhile Sharkey was in the kitchen reducing some stock and wine for a delicious gravy and the runner beans that had been picked earlier were boiled. The chicken in the 23" were simply delicious - moist and lots of juices in the terra-cotta. The rotisserie chicken was moist and delicious - potatoes yummy and crisp - of course accompanied by appropriate beverage. We didn't eat four chicken - Tekobo had prepared an extra one for a friend nearby whose husband was unwell and so they too had a delicious meal. Mrs RD was converted, and it was my turn to be grilled as to why I hadn't achieved results like this.A kind of peace was restored when I suggested it was because I didn't have enough KKs.

Sort of @tony b, yours look a hell of a lot longer than mine - I filled two of the plastic containers - total weight was about 3 kg - that's about half the fuggles. Got the East Kent Golding and then the Cascade to do. It takes ages - almost 3 hours to pick those - final trsualt goes down the hatch a bit quicker than that. Note how there KK is keeping an eye on things. What type are yours ?

Mrs RD & I had a fabulous weekend staying with @tekobo and @Sharky in their lovely home. Our culinary experience is mainly UK / Europe / Indian / S.E.Asian and @tekobo was once again about to open our eyes to things new. Mexico beckoned - @Troble has already excited us with his accounts of Mexican cuisine just south of the border and when things have settled a bit - that is going to be our next long haul backpack destination. We arrived to find this sitting in the 32" : ( Sorry the pic was taken as we were about to tuck in ) Veal Short Ribs. ( We'd had delightfully seared tuna loin as a starter ) This was to be the tortilla filling. @tekobo and been lured to the burrow entrance by @Syzygies, and had clearly emerged triumphant. The corn kernels had been cooked and treated with lime and prepared to go into the recommended Indian made roller grinder to make the tortilla dough. Here's a picture of it in action , with Mrs RD gazing into it as if it were a crystal ball. It's her birthday next year - maybe my choice of present has been made easier. We were introduced into the ways of the tortilla press and the result was just amazing. Tekobo gave us a packet of Maseca and lent us a tortilla press from her collection and as the haze lifted we saw this rabbit hole....... Three-Way Chicken was a friendly bet which will have to wait for the moment as there is a break in the weather and I need to sort he vegetables out and harvest the hops.... Cheers RD

The veal chops were absolutely delicious - thank you @tekobo. Poor things , whenever they come to visit they get dragged off to a gig then straight down the pub when we get back, whilst the KK warms up. We then make them cook and drink all the wine that they've brought ! And a very nice weekend it was too.

That looks amazing @tekobo. Thanks for posting. Perfect combination of Longhorn beef and freshly dug vegetables, and delicious dessert too. Yummy

Congrats, Great decision

One of my first ever brews - there's a great recipe which gives a really authentic tasting brew - ping me if you'd like it ! Be good to see you if you're in the UK - Mrs RD & I worked a while in Melbourne in fact she spent an hour zooming her old pals in OZ today - it's a monthly thing.

A decision Johnny that you will never regret. Except maybe tiles....

It was an absolute blast having Mrs & Mr @tekobo over. We never stopped laughing - of course helped by the frequent sampling of various vintages of home-brew / cider. And great watching Mrs T cook and sampling some different food / cooking styles - definitely recommended to get together with other KK owners - there is so much in common. We'll be meeting up again soon - we have a gig which would really interest you @tony b - it's at our local brewery (The Cerne Abbas Brewery) - it's in the countryside just outside the village next to the fields where the organic Maris Otter is grown before being floor malted.... Was really hoping to convince Mrs T that an apple scratter and press was an essential extra bit of lateral kit for the KK - we'll see. Did get hooked though by her sending the link for the marbled pork - ending up getting that plus a couple of suckling pigs - your turn now @tekobo.

Tony - you forget how educational being on this forum is ........ I've learn't so much about how to get people to spend their money.

I've got a couple of friends with BGEs. Maybe I need to give them the link to this thread......

Fantastic method for me AASsh. So quick and easy. RD

Cascade - one of my favourite hops - enjoy !

Haaa - looking forward to you coming over ! Do get some stout-drinking practice in !!

Congratulations! We are almost neighbours ! I thought I could smell something nice cooking ! RD

That's an amazing "5th Wheel". We've had caravans for 25 years - great way to holiday with the children, but ours is pretty small - you could almost fit it sideways across yours ! Any chance of a look inside ?? In fact the truck sounds pretty special too.

@Basher, That's going to give you some lovely colour. Beautiful.

Fabulous garden @Basher, so lush. +1 for getting some design input - they come up with ideas that you'd never think of - once it's done it seems so obvious.

Great looking oven- nice looking pizza too

Hi, If I remember correctly , with my 32 I removed the "walls" to the feet front and back and then it just rolls off the ply base. Nice pics and congratulations.

Yep ... that's going to happen , but ... absence makes the heart grow fonder..... Crikey - but probably not as long ago as the mid 80s ?

@Troble - I've never seen meat with that degree of marbling - it is going to be fantastic - is this for a special occasion ??

@GrillnBrew second what's been said above. My first choice was Bronze Metallic but when we ordered it wasn't available so went for the matt black tile. Absolutely no regrets.