What's for Dinner?

[ceeaton]

Last evening my younger brother texted that they had some extra food and to come visit. He had about 20 lbs of mudbugs he was steaming. Love the Louisiana spice, though my fingers took a beating extracting them from the shells. Stayed up till 2:30 am this morning, way way past my bed time. I'm paying the price right now as I'm thinking of a shower and a long nap until 5 am tomorrow morning.

Pot luck tonight, I had a burger with grilled onions and cooper cheese, daughter had a breakfast burrito, rest had omlettes. Thinking of meatball subs tomorrow for dinner.

At least I got the lawn done and ripped out a bunch of the old porch wood (leaving the posts), so it wasn't a totally wasted day. Too bad tomorrow in Monday.

 

[sour_grapes]

I had a pound of shrimp in the freezer that I bought from good ol' @jamesngalveston 's old company. Defrosted that and butterflied it, then marinated with olive oil, preserved lemon, garlic, and oregano. I made side dishes of deep-fried artichoke hearts served with parmesan cheese and truffle oil, and angel-hair spaghetti with a sauce made from the leftovers of the shrimp marinade plus a spice mix from Italy. I skewered the shrimp then hit them on a hot grill. Very happy with the result.

 

[ibglowin]

Pressed the easy button on a Monday night. One of my weekday favorites. TJ's Green Curry Simmer sauce over chicken breast. Note the generous amount of green vegetables sprinkled on top. Almost Vegan!

Paired really well with a glass of the RQ Sauv Blanc-Muscat that I just got bottled a few weeks ago! LOL

 

[Boatboy24]

Note the generous amount of green vegetables sprinkled on top. Almost Vegan!

@GreginND would love it.


Pressed the 'Easy' button here too with English Muffin pizzas.

 

[sour_grapes]

Came in late from another activity, so quickly threw together diced & fried potatoes (seasoned with coriander, garlic, and salt), grilled asparagus (seasoned with fennel powder), and a grilled salmon steak.

 

[GreginND]

Eating from the garden.

 

[ibglowin]

Good looking cruciferous vegetable you got there!

Eating from the garden.

 

[ibglowin]

A little Sous Vide is in my future! Amazon Prime Day deal for $99!

Anova Sous Vide

 

[Boatboy24]

A little Sous Vide is in my future! Amazon Prime Day deal for $99!

Anova Sous Vide

Same day shipping? I wanna see some steaks tonight.

 

[ibglowin]

Nah,

2 day Prime. Be here Friday.

Is it worth it to buy the fancy plastic bucket and lid? They want ~$60 for an 18qt bucket and the lid!

Same day shipping? I wanna see some steaks tonight.

 

[Boatboy24]

Nah,

2 day Prime. Be here Friday.

Is it worth it to buy the fancy plastic bucket and lid? They want ~$60 for an 18qt bucket and the lid!

I use a large pot, no lid. For now, that's sufficient. If I start going for longer periods, I may reconsider.

 

[ibglowin]

I saw on FB some chef was using ping pong balls to help keep the heat in.

I use a large pot, no lid. For now, that's sufficient. If I start going for longer periods, I may reconsider.

 

[Kraffty]

I'd be inclined to buy that same bucket and lid and Smart and Final (or your local restaurant/bulk food supply store) and take a jig or coping saw to the top. Maybe a quarter of the cost?
I pre-ordered the Nano Version but still not shipping before October.... bummer
Mike

 

[Boatboy24]

I saw on FB some chef was using ping pong balls to help keep the heat in.

Yep, used frequently.

 

[Boatboy24]

Pan seared pork chops with peach sauce and a zucchini & corn succotash.

 

[ibglowin]

Pan seared pork chops with peach sauce and a zucchini & corn succotash.

 

[GreginND]

Beans ~n~ greens.

 

[geek]

Burgers came out really good, a couple things I still need to learn when using a charcoal grill but not bad for the first time [emoji4]
Has some jumbo shrimp on the grill, very good..

Used a tray to make sure I dial in this grill. Anyone uses a tray ? See picture.

First lesson to learn is to put enough charcoal at start, I was in a rush because we were going to the movies and I thought I had put enough but then added more towards the end which created lots of smoke so I removed the food quickly.

2nd lesson is to stay away when charcoal is smoking at the beginning, I got that smoke smell all over me, not good!! Lol

3rd lesson is to plan the time accordingly and start earlier than planned, lol

Next time for burgers maybe no tray at all. Burgers throw a lot of liquid and the tray got full, so I had to dump all the liquid to speed up the cooking.

 

[Boatboy24]

Nice job, Varis. Yep, definitely don't need the tray. Regarding the smoke, that is one of the drawbacks of the Kingsford. Others, such as Stubbs don't give off as much. And if you go with lump charcoal, like Royal Oak, hardly any at all.

 

[geek]

Thanks Jim, I thought that all charcoal would have this issue but it is very good news to know about the lump charcoal.

I guess I still need to keep watching some YouTube videos (LOL), but in general how much time you wait for the unit to be ready for grill once you use the gas assist and the coal is lit? It seems like once you start it with the gas you can see smoke just within a minute or two, then I saw the smoke going for some time I cannot recall, maybe over half an hour.
I start the unit with all vents open and then close over half way when the temp is reached.