A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #9

The Cookshack Smoker

Not a lot of hyperbole needed.  It is pure quality. It gives you the temperature control for both cold and hot smoking.  Great customer service.  A robust website (full of information and recipes) and no assembly required. (Plus- just imagine a red ribbon wrapped around this stainless smoker…certifiably grilladelic)

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #8

I am proud to have been at the fore front of the “Egg-Volution” in Michigan. The Outdoor Cook was the first retailer in west Michigan to carry and promote the Egg in the late 1990’s. We sold hundreds. The Egg is perhaps the finest combination smoker/grill/barbecue on the market.

• Great for low and slow. easy to maintain a steady temperature for a long time.
• A terrific mid-range (350-500 degrees) pit for roasting and baking
• Hi temperature capabilities for searing
• Neither cold nor rain can stop the Egg from meeting it’s objectives. A perfect foul weather grill.
• A community, almost cult-like, of Egg Heads to share recipes, techniques and stories.

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #7

Tough economic times calls for creativity in gift giving.  No question, I would love a Grillery or a Weber Ranch Kettle for Christmas, but my babies need new pairs of shoes.

So after you buy the shoes, you have a few sheckles left in your pocket….just enough to give the gift of knowledge.  A subscription to Bon Appetit Magazine,

With the possible exception of Saveur, I think Bon Appetit has the most accessible recipes and great information about techniques.  For example, here is a recipe using a technique I have described as “dry brining”.  In the Bon Appetit world, it is known as “salting”. Forget what you call it…it works.

Salted Roast Turkey

Smoked salt and paprika give this turkey a smoky southwestern flavor that pairs very nicely with the spicy-sweet gravy. Look for Halen Môn oak-smoked sea salt at specialty foods stores and surfasonline.com.

8 to 12 servings

By Rick Rodgers

November 2008

Ingredients

southwestern-spiced salt

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1/3 cup mild oak-smoked sea salt (such as Halen Môn)
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder

turkey

• 1 14- to 16-pound turkey (neck, heart, and gizzard reserved)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons ground chipotle chile powder divided
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups Golden Turkey Stock

gravy

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 pounds onions, chopped
• 4 cups (about) Golden Turkey Stock
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preparation

southwestern-spiced salt

• Toast cumin in skillet over medium heat until darker and beginning to smoke, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Cool; grind finely in spice mill or in mortar with pestle. Transfer to bowl. Mix in remaining ingredients. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.

turkey

• Rinse turkey inside and out (do not pat dry). Pull any fat pads from main cavity and neck cavity of turkey; wrap, chill, and reserve fat for roasting. Place turkey in roasting bag; sprinkle inside and out with southwestern-spiced salt. Close bag. Place on baking sheet; refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.
• Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 325°F. Mix honey and 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile in small bowl; reserve for glaze. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat very dry. Stir chopped onion, garlic, and 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile in medium bowl to blend. Divide mixture between main and neck cavities. Fold neck skin under and secure with skewer. Tuck wing tips under. Tie legs together loosely.
• Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. Spread butter all over turkey. Place reserved fat pads and reserved neck, heart, and gizzard in roasting pan; pour in 2 cups Golden Turkey Stock.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices. Continue to roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 165°F to 170°F, basting every 45 minutes, adding water to pan by cupfuls if dry, and tenting turkey loosely with foil if browning too quickly, 3 to 3 1/2 hours longer. Brush turkey with glaze twice during last 30 minutes. Transfer turkey to platter; tent very loosely with foil and let rest 30 to 45 minutes. Reserve roasting pan with juices for gravy.

gravy

• Melt butter in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until onions are deep brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Set aside.
• Remove turkey neck, heart, and gizzard from roasting pan. Pull meat off neck; chop neck meat, heart, and gizzard and reserve for gravy, if desired. Pour pan juices into 8-cup measuring cup. Spoon off fat from surface, reserving 1/2 cup fat. Add enough turkey stock to degreased pan juices to measure 5 1/2 cups total.
• Place roasting pan over 2 burners on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup reserved fat and 1/2 cup flour to pan. Whisk until roux is light brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in stock mixture. Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits and whisking. Boil until gravy coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add caramelized onions. Add chopped neck, heart, and gizzard, if desired. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve turkey with gravy.

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #6

The Weber Grill Wok

The picture does not do this accessory justice.  This stainless steel wok fits perfectly in the 22 1/2″ Weber kettle, and it heats up real nice.  This is a great alternative to regular grill fare and you can feed an army.  Perhaps most important, it looks cool.   When you complete your meal, you pull it out of the kettle.  It is sizzling.  Smells great.  You set it in the middle of the picnic table and start serving.

An added benefit.  You can easily fit a 2-3 year old in it as a great saucer for sliding down gentle snow covered slopes.  It’s got a couple of side handles for gripping.  You could probably start the charcoal while you go for a little sledding.  Finish up.   Hot chocolate and a hot toddy.  Throw the wok on the grill and saute away! It doesn’t get any more dual purpose than that!

Here is the corporate copy:

Weber Wok™ for Kettle Grills: Wok this way out in the open-air with Weber’s new line of woks for charcoal kettles. They offer plenty of space to cook up stir-fry meals for small or large gatherings alfresco. And best of all you won’t set off the smoke detector or smell dinner for the next two days. Weber Woks™ come in two sizes to fit our popular 18 1/2-inch and 22 1/2-inch kettle grills. Made of rustproof stainless steel to conduct heat evenly and clean up easily. Each wok comes with cooking instructions and our favorite stir-fry recipes

Holiday Music

Although technically not “Christmas” music, this new CD is from a singer-songwriter hailing from Prince Edward Island, Canada.  That is pretty darn close to the North Pole.

Catherine Maclellan is another musical treasure I have found courtesy of WYCE. When Pete asked me to review this CD, he just said; “new artist, don’t really know much about her”.

Reviewing new music can be hit or miss.  Church Bell Blues is a hit.  What a voice.

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #5

Perhaps the most versatile Christmas gift of all:  Lazzari Charcoal.

For the individual who has been good the past year, Lazzari will reward him or her with the best charcoal experience ever.

For the individual who has been bad the past year….well a lump of coal in their stocking says it all.

I can speak first hand about this charcoal.  The Outdoor Cook was the first store in Michigan to carry Lazzari and we were the first area distributor.  Now, you can buy Lazzari at Herman’s Boy in Rockford and Kingma’s in NE Grand Rapids.

Here is an excerpt from Lazzari’s website that outlines a little about their history:

Company History
Lazzari Fuel Company was founded in San Francisco in 1908. Originally located in the city’s Cow Hollow district, Lazzari’s earliest business was the sale of heating coal and firewood to San Francisco businesses and residents. Daily deliveries throughout the city were made by drivers using horse drawn wagons.

In the 1940s, Lazzari Fuel began importing mesquite charcoal from Mexico as a specialty product for cooking food. Roy Lazzari, son of company founder Hugo Lazzari, discovered the appeal of mesquite during a chance conversation with a railroad worker just recently returned from the Sonora Desert in Mexico – one of the main geographic regions where the gnarled mesquite trees grow. Mesquite’s exceptionally high and long-lasting heat made it a favorite among Bay Area chefs, who viewed it as the perfect fuel for searing meats and fish. As the gourmet grilling trend exploded in the late 80s and 90s, the general public got in on the act – backyard barbecuers eschewed the conventional, chemically-treated charcoal briquettes of the 50s and 60s, and instead sought out the hot-burning, premium performance of Lazzari 100% natural mesquite lump charcoal.

This upsurge in demand, both from foodservice and retail customers, has shifted Lazzari Fuel’s focus primarily to providing mesquite lump charcoal and high quality firewood for cooking. Now located just south of San Francisco in Brisbane, the company is the nation’s leading supplier of premium natural charcoal. Several hundred restaurants nationwide use Lazzari charcoal, including such high-profile venues as the Tadich Grill, Chez Panise, Zuni and The Slanted Door in the San Francisco area, as well as gourmet grills, Brazilian churrascarias, and Indian tandooris from coast to coast.

Hangtown Fry

Here is an interesting post (at least interesting to me!) from The Grillery Facebook Group. I have heard of burgoo, low country boils, and many other regional hashes, but never a hangtown fry!.

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gifts #4

Two different sauces, two different styles.  Either one will get your dinner crowd thinking you are quite the BBQ bon vivant.  Great gifts for Christmas.

Here’s a taste of west Michigan (via the backwoods of Alabama)

Big Moe’s BBQ Sauce- This is an interesting sauce.  Very thin…perfect for soaking or dipping your finished BBQ prior to serving.  Big Moe is authentic as it comes too.  He’s been barbecuing for as long as I have known him– going on 40 years.

For something a little different, here is a gift package of a mustard based sauce…from the Carolinas.

Maurices BBQ

There are thousands of commercial sauces on the market. But from first hand experience, these are two products that get overlooked and are a bit out of the mainstream.

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gift #3

OK…you can’t barbecue your way out of a paper bag, but you aspire to greatness. Neighborhood supremacy.

If you were a golfer, aspiring to greatness,  you might dream of a private lesson with Tiger Woods.  In the world of traditional barbecue, you would not need to look any further than the good doctor.  Ray Lampe, Dr. BBQ.

Perfect Gift #3

Dr. BBQ’s Cooking Class

“Dr. BBQ does BBQ and grilling classes all over the country at cooking schools, kitchen stores, private homes, and sometimes in a parking lot. Check the calendar page to see if there’s a class near you or email Dr. BBQ if you’re interested in hosting a class.”

A Grilladelic Christmas- Perfect Gifts #2

These recommendations are for both the erudite pit boss and the neophyte.  Cookbooks.

Becoming a legendary barbecuer does require  on-the-job training, but good recipes and techniques can really take time off the learning curve.  The key is to get books that have recipes that have not only accessible recipes, but information on technique and some “back-story”.  In my humble but expert opinion, grilling and barbecue  have so much tradition, that understanding the history of the art, really helps improve performance at the grill.

Here are a few cookbooks, different genres, that are great gifts and the beginning of a great library.

1. Smoke and Spice- My “go-to” book.  Superb recipes, especially for charcoal and wood fired pits.  I always recommended this as the book for Big Green Egg owners.

2. Paul Kirk’s Championship Sauces and Rubs. This is for the “do-it-yourselfers”.  Not only recipes, but how to make your own.  Terrific recipes for mustards too.

3. Bruce Aidell’s Complete Sausage Book.  Without a doubt, sausage making is not only a lost art but perhaps the most underrated meat for the grill.  Great sausages are able to lift the human spirit unlike any other meat.  This has great recipes and the essential background on a variety of sausages (The classic sausage is by ‘The Sausage Maker- Rytek Kutas, but this is only for the sausage engineer…)

4. Sunset’s Barbecue Book. Old school and out of print.  I bought mine on eBay, where they still are available.  This the ultimate drool-inspiring book.  It features thirty-plus blue prints of the brick, backyard BBQ pits.  Outdoor cooking islands are a hot trend, but before pre-fab, stucco islands, there was the 1930-1950 brick barbecues.  I occasionally see some in the backyards of older homes, unfortunately mostly being used as plant or flower pots.