tony b

I think that I'll pass on this "fun." For 2 and 1/2 Franklins, it should grow the rice in addition to cooking it!

Great food porn, as usual!

French's Fried Onions Cheddar Flavored??? Never seen them. Will have to look from them during my run to the market today.

Just wanted to cross-reference my review of the Cookina BBQ Mat in this Forum area. http://komodokamado.com/forum/topic/5252-grill-mat/?p=49512

Chaos theory - just because you lay the asparagus perpendicular to the grates doesn't mean that one or two don't find their way into the fire when flipping or taking them off - at least in my experience. I did the asparagus on the mat mainly as a test to see if I could get the supposed "grill marks" with a dry cook. Nada! (Oh, and because it had been sitting in my veggie bin in the fridge since going to the market last Wednesday and needed to be cooked!)

Been wondering what to do with my last piece of lamb - Shepard's Pie! Thanks for the suggestion Wilburpan!

Received my Cookina mat yesterday in time to use it to make dinner. First, I went out to measure the mat on the grill. It is bigger than the main grill on the 23†OTB. I decided to cut it to fit the upper grill. I cut it vertically to fit between the handles. The bigger piece works well on the main grill in the horizontal direction. Fits between the handles and doesn’t cover up the opening lid in the front. The smaller piece will work well on either grill for smaller pieces of food. The mat cut easily with scissors. One note of caution after reading the directions: like many “non-stick†cooking appliances, it says to avoid using metal utensils, like spatulas, as you might scratch the coating. The test cook was chicken breast and thighs, marinated in Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce (one of the few commercials that I use, because it reminds me of Cornell chicken). Wanted to have a “sauced†cook to see how the mat performed. Pre-heated the KK to 350F, direct, cherry wood, upper grill. When the KK got to about 250F, I put the big piece of the mat on the upper grill to preheat for about 20 minutes. Then on went the chicken. Here’s a shot about 30 minutes into the cook. You can see the juices starting to pool up. About 45 minutes in, flipped over the chicken. As you can see, no grill marks, and more juices puddling. I put the smaller piece of mat onto the main grill to begin preheating. At a little over an hour in, put the asparagus on the mat on the main grill. The asparagus is dry (I’ll dress it with some lemon juice, EVOO and herbs de Provence after it comes off). Also, raised the temperature to 400F and flipped the chicken again to crisp up the skin. After about another 15 minutes, pulled the chicken and asparagus off. Note – some browning of the asparagus, but no “grill marks.†Off the grill. Asparagus has some char and the chicken is nicely browned, despite sitting in the juices. However, the skin wasn’t very crispy. This might have been due to only exposing it to the 400F temperature for only about 15 minutes. As advertised, it did clean up really easily with just some warm soapy water and the scruffy that came with it. However, I did make a bit of a mess on my deck taking the mat off the grill, as the juices were still runny - the KK wasn’t “cold†(still around 200F) when I wanted to take the mats off and put the cover back on the KK. Conclusion: It’s an OK product to have in your BBQ “tool box.†It has definite applications, especially marinated or sauced foods or small foods that could fall between the grates, like the asparagus. Will likely try it with a piece of fish, which can often stick to the grates. But, the claim of “grill marks†IMHO, is just some hype, based upon the asparagus cook. Don’t see myself cooking any dry rubbed steaks or chops on it for that reason either!

Failures are inevitable and keep us on our toes and not complacent!

You could always order a second charcoal basket to swap back and forth between "oven mode" and "bbq mode." A lot of us do that with our basket splitters. Make things so much easier to do the old switcherooni.

There's always Oriental Trading for those umbrellas if you can't find them locally. I like these with the straws built in - clever. http://www.orientaltrading.com/hibiscus-parasol-straws-a2-34_1268.fltr?prodCatId=551218+1297 They used to have real coconut shell cups, too. But now all they have are plastic ones.

TY to all for the compliments.

Did a Cuban dinner tonight – Mojo porkchops done Sous Vide, finished on the KK, with grilled pineapple, blood orange reduction, drunken black beans & Caribbean rice, and a nice sourdough baggette. Chardonnay was the beverage of choice tonight. Boneless pork loin chop, in the SV bag, with a slice of blood orange on each side, which was dusted with Badia Saison Complete and a splash of Badia Mojo marinade. Sous Vide for 4 hours @ 132F (55.6C). Out of the SV bath and onto the KK, lower grate, basket splitter, no wood, 350Fdome. Grill 3-4 minutes each side, just to crust the outside of the porkchop. Fresh pineapple slice was dusted with Dizzy Pig Pineapple Head. Sides – Drunken Black Beans and Caribbean rice. 1 can of Goya Black Beans, drained and rinsed. Start with coconut oil in the pot, saute ½ of a white onion, diced, with a couple of cloves of chopped garlic. Add the beans, a shot of dark rum, ¼ cup of chicken stock, ½ tsp Adobo seasoning, and 3-4 dashes of a good habanero hot sauce. Saute ¼ white onion (diced) in coconut oil, add ½ cup rice and saute pilaf style. Add a ½ tsp of Badia Tropicale rice seasoning. Add a cup of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook rice for 20 minutes. Sauce was a reduction of fresh blood orange juice (1 orange), juices from the pork chop SV pouch, and 1 tbl of the Badia Mojo marinade. Bring to a boil and reduce by ¾, add a splash of dark rum. Finish with a Tbl of butter. Money shot.

AWESOME looking burger!! Funky idea to slather the mushrooms in mayo!

Great adaptation! I guess you could conceivably substitute it for butter in sauteing just about anything???

Gotta go with real coconut shell cocktail glasses!

Stunning pics, as usual, Mackenzie!

Excellent. Love me some Greek lamb!! Best way to cook it IMHO! I did a small boneless leg last Sunday, too!

I'd eat that! The dessert is restaurant worthy! Well Done!

Swiss and Havarti, with bacon, mayo and tomato. Tried a new trick from an Internet story about Nat'l Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day - instead of butter on the outside, use mayo! Works pretty good and was just as tasty.

I hope to Hell that they don't - would be an abomination before all that is Holy in the foodie world!!

Double Thumbs Up on the Brandy! I use Bourbon in my baked beans, dark rum in my black beans (Cuban), and tequila in my chili beans!

Love me some hushpuppies. Will have to try yours. But, be careful posting about dropping puppies into hot oil or you'll have the ASPCA on your back!! Believe it or not, these commercial ones are pretty damned good. Unfortunately, my local market stopped carrying them! http://www.savannahclassics.com/products/retail-hushpuppies-original.html

Me, too!

Just one of the side benefits, Eggary! Tinyfish, you will find that three small (3/32") holes will work just fine. The key is sealing the lid on with the flour/water paste. As Dennis noted, the pressure will build up and the smoke is forced out the holes into the fire to burn off the volatile components. With the small holes, it chokes the airflow into the DO, so the burn is very slow, which causes the wood to burn in an oxygen-deficient environment; hence, charcoal as a by-product. ckreef, here's a 1 quart cast iron DO. Only 5.5" dia (internal) and 3.5" tall. http://www.amazon.com/Cajun-Cookware-Dutch-Ovens-Seasoned/dp/B0000E2RWW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428810837&sr=8-1&keywords=1+quart+cast+iron Lodge makes a 1 pint DO (5" dia, 2.5" tall), but it doesn't come with the lid. You can buy the lid for it for another $9 - Total cost about $35. http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-HCK-Enhanced-Seasoned-Country/dp/B00LJSEU08/ref=dp_ob_title_kitchen

Gives a nice perspective on the size. The bird takes up most of the main grill space. On a 23", it wouldn't take up that much space on the upper grate.