White Mamba

Re: alternate technique Looks good on the outside. 135-145 will not make that bark. You could use a torch for a bark finish. Just be carefull that you do not over burn the edge and turn the temp ring brownish grey. (over cooked meat) Season the roast and then take a torch to it before you put it on. All you need to do is grey the outside. Cook it low at about 275 in the KK and pull 5-10 degrees below your desired finish temp. This will give you the crust you are looking for. Little trick from Thomas Keller.... Works great on prime rib as well of course.

Unfortunately something has to be done before they are all gone. I feel for the watermen, but if all the oysters are gone, the result is the same for them- in fact even worse as a moratorium would only be until the population comes back. It has worked for the Blue Crab, so hopefully they can get something figured out.

Yea, I grew up in Annapolis eating oysters out of the bay. At family gatherings we would just have a bushel on the deck and it was simply a matter of who was shucking. At this time of year I only eat cold water oysters raw, but the Choptanks were decent size and I figured correctly that they would be perfect for my application. Not many skipjacks left- very cool sight to see one working with the spinnaker out. I haven't seen one in a long time. Are there any left still working commercially?

No problem, enjoy! If grilled peaches are good, this simply can't not be good if one applies the "everything must be better with the addition of some pig" principle. I would imagine you could do this with bacon as well, but I would suggest par cooking it on a cookie sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes first, otherwise the peaches would probably be ready to disintegrate by the time the bacon is done.

Pork Chops w/ Mixed Veggies in a Foil Packet Grilled with a little cherry: Finished product:

Normally I like cold water Oysters on the half shell- if I crack it open it normally doesn't make it to the plate unless I want to add a little Champagne Mignonette first. But now and again, one needs to reach a little further, and this was so good, it will make me think twice before slurping them down raw. Oysters featured are local Choptank Salts from Maryland's Eastern Shore. I made a tarragon butter with a little hot sauce and garlic, opened the oysters and put a pat of butter in each. Put on the lower grill over a hot fire and cooked for about 5 minutes, letting the flames caress them as the butter spilled over here and there, flaring a bit. Then added some fresh grated aged Parmigiano Reggianno to the mix for a minute or so. Freakin' shellfish nirvana ensued.

Picked up some nice looking peaches this past weekend and decided they would help make a tasty appetizer on the KK. Built a fairly hot fire using just lump and no wood, done on the lower grate. Easy recipe- Just slice a peach into 8 slices and wrap each piece with a slice of pancetta. Grill 'til crispy and serve hot with a drizzle of really good aged balsamic. If you don't have any, just reduce some regular balsamic by more than 50% until it has a slightly syrupy consistency. Great finger food/Hors D'ouerve for a party as well. On the grill: Deliciousness....

Kinda of a quick dry age Thinking about it, it makes sense that this replicates the process of dry aging sans the beefy dry aged flavor. I will have to give this a try soon.

Cow is good I am likin' this here cooker. Latest effort this evening:

Tonight Mamba cook cow Details at 11

Time to throw down some Fish and Shrimp Tacos Couldn't find any Mahi or Striper, so I went with some shrimp and a piece of tuna. Charred a red pepper and some white corn tortillas, and made a salsa cruda with red onion, tomato, cilantro, key limes, avocado, mango and jalapeno. Shrimp and tuna marinated for several hours with key lime, EVO, garlic, adobo, pepper and chili pepper. The gut is pleased.

Thanks and welcome to you Screaming Eagle. Lookin' forward to talkin' some Q amongst other things.

Jail Sucks And the breakfast ain't much better. Luckily, I'm pretty sure we never had a dinner there. I was coming to pick it up at Drunk J's in Augusta, but as it turned out, FM's next stop was DC on business, so that worked out kinda well for me.... I knew the KK was cool, but damn, it's even badder than I thought. My charcoal bill is going to skyrocket I have a feeling. Gonna have to go find something to put on that beast tonight.

I happen to have a wine cellar, so if you come to DC, I have a bottle of wine for you- tell me what you like. In fact we will throw down and do an entire wine/BBQ fest. Don't think it would make it in good shape to Indonesia, so let me know when you are in the neighborhood...

Second attempt on the KK, pictures via Blackberry phone this time. Cornish Game Hens rubbed with a little EVO, salt and pepper, and then some sliced redskin potatoes and shallots with the same treatment in the drip pan under the 2 hens. Hit this with a little peach. Tasty...