(no subject)
My Tramontina 6.5 qt. Dutch oven arrived for pick-up today, so I made the trip to the Unidentified Circle of Hell (Oakland Walmart) to retrieve it. The UCH was especially torturous on the 4th of July, which I had readied myself to face but still truly was not prepared for. Nonetheless, I picked up my order as well as $100 worth of random other stuff in hopes that I will not have to return to the UCH for quite some time. I made a sort-of impuse purchase of the Neutrogena Total Skin Renewal thingy and refill pads because I've read promising things about it and my skin has been all over the map lately and I have a feeling a good exfoliation would help considerably. Sometimes I have to give in to my inborn female desire for cosmetic products.
The Dutch oven looks great, though as the reviews I had read said it's heavier than more expensive models. Still, it was rated very kindly by America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated and short of having to find a new metal handle (I can probably just use a cabinet knob), I don't see much difference between it and my parents' Le Creuset. The Tramontina was $45+tax, which is far less than most Le Creusets sell for. Plus, mine has the advantage of being seasoned with the sweat and tears of slave labourers!
Ben and I grilled a lovely beer-can chicken for 4th of July dinner on our 18.5" Weber charcoal grill. "What?!??" you may ask yourself, "how have you done beer-can chicken on that particular grill? It does not fit. The lid would not come anywhere near closing well enough to do this successfully. What manner of wizardry have you performed to allow such a feat?"
I obtained three equally sized broken bricks from the backyard. Rocks would also work. Then, Ben started the charcoal chimney, with the usual newspaper soaked in discarded rancid vegetable oil (reuse!) resting beneath to get the coals red. When ready, we distributed the coals around the brick-rocks. We added a scant few more coals on top of the red-hots and let them smolder, than placed a cast iron skillet on the brick-rocks. Beer-can chicken on a beer-can chicken stand was placed in the skillet, and usual grilling was done.
After it was clear the coals were burning away, we added soaked wood chips on top of the coals to produce smoked goodness. Because the chicken was so much nearer to the heat than it would be on a grate, I had to wrap it with aluminum foil after about 30 minutes and also added water for steam to the cast iron skillet such that the bird did not dry out. Next time I will do this step at the beginning and then remove the aluminum and brown the skin at the end of the cooking time to ensure the chicken remains moist.
For a first try, the results were glorious. The chicken had been rubbed in the BBQ rub recipe from Steven Raichlen's terrific book "How to Grill," except I had added a bit of ancho pepper for a hint of smokiness and in lieu of hickory smoked salt I sprinkled some liquid smoke on sea salt and stirred that into the rub. I had additionally placed 8 halved cloves of garlic under the skin of the chicken on the breast meat because garlic roasted inside of a chicken is a thing of beauty.
Also served:
-red cabbage, carrot and jicama slaw in a shallot-jalepeno vinaigrette
-steamed fresh green beans
-grilled corn on the cob
The Dutch oven looks great, though as the reviews I had read said it's heavier than more expensive models. Still, it was rated very kindly by America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated and short of having to find a new metal handle (I can probably just use a cabinet knob), I don't see much difference between it and my parents' Le Creuset. The Tramontina was $45+tax, which is far less than most Le Creusets sell for. Plus, mine has the advantage of being seasoned with the sweat and tears of slave labourers!
Ben and I grilled a lovely beer-can chicken for 4th of July dinner on our 18.5" Weber charcoal grill. "What?!??" you may ask yourself, "how have you done beer-can chicken on that particular grill? It does not fit. The lid would not come anywhere near closing well enough to do this successfully. What manner of wizardry have you performed to allow such a feat?"
I obtained three equally sized broken bricks from the backyard. Rocks would also work. Then, Ben started the charcoal chimney, with the usual newspaper soaked in discarded rancid vegetable oil (reuse!) resting beneath to get the coals red. When ready, we distributed the coals around the brick-rocks. We added a scant few more coals on top of the red-hots and let them smolder, than placed a cast iron skillet on the brick-rocks. Beer-can chicken on a beer-can chicken stand was placed in the skillet, and usual grilling was done.
After it was clear the coals were burning away, we added soaked wood chips on top of the coals to produce smoked goodness. Because the chicken was so much nearer to the heat than it would be on a grate, I had to wrap it with aluminum foil after about 30 minutes and also added water for steam to the cast iron skillet such that the bird did not dry out. Next time I will do this step at the beginning and then remove the aluminum and brown the skin at the end of the cooking time to ensure the chicken remains moist.
For a first try, the results were glorious. The chicken had been rubbed in the BBQ rub recipe from Steven Raichlen's terrific book "How to Grill," except I had added a bit of ancho pepper for a hint of smokiness and in lieu of hickory smoked salt I sprinkled some liquid smoke on sea salt and stirred that into the rub. I had additionally placed 8 halved cloves of garlic under the skin of the chicken on the breast meat because garlic roasted inside of a chicken is a thing of beauty.
Also served:
-red cabbage, carrot and jicama slaw in a shallot-jalepeno vinaigrette
-steamed fresh green beans
-grilled corn on the cob