I am going to become a big green egg bore!

After many years, we finally succumbed and bought a big green egg (a kind of kamado grill). The idea is that these large ceramic lined cookers will allow you to smoke/cook at pretty low temperature and get it rocking hot for pizza etc.
The thing arrived assembled (wrongly as it turns out), but being in the software business, I test and test, then test again! So no harm done.
I burnt it in by leaving it with charcoal all day at 350F. Didn't cook anything the first day. Then I made bread on it. Wow was that spectacular. Nothing like a charcoal/wood fire for bread cookery. And then more bread.
Eventually I plucked up the courage to do some meat. So I found the pickiest eaters I know (my next door neighbors). And invited them to be guinea pigs. Actually this happens quite often, so they now introduce themselves as Guinea and Pig!
The dinner was simple - steaks. So I hied me off to my local Costco - where they actually sell some USDA prime beef. There were some prime rib eyes (Costco does not seem to sell bone in beef though :-( ). They were 1 1/2" thick.
Did the obvious things. let 'em rest out of the fridge for a couple of hours - salted. Wiped dry then more salt/pepper.
Grill really hot - around 700f. I also had the gas grill next door with one burner lit so I could finish the cooking to a controlled temp. (125 for some 130 for others).
Unbelievably good. I am sold!
I promise not to become too boring about the egg. There are so many accessories, so much of a cult around it. I will not get sucked in......

Mashed potatoes - with a difference

For dinner tonight we had some simple grilled steak, steamed carrots and mashed potatoes. One of the best flavors for carrots is ginger, so I thought maybe we should have ginger mashed potatoes.
A couple of weeks ago we paid a visit to Penderry's spice shop in Fort Worth and bought a large bag of crystallized ginger. The fresh ginger on the fridge had grown a bit of a beard and needed to be tossed out anyway!
So the potatoes were simmered, the carrots steaming above them, with a few slices of crystallized ginger. When the potatoes were cooked, I fished out the now soft crystallized ginger and chopped it finely. Rice the potatoes, add some butter, milk, salt, pepper, and the chopped ginger. Stir, adjust seasoning and serve on warmed plates with the carrots and steak. Delicious!

The Dr. on standby

I was given Heston Blumenthal's wonderful book, "In Search of Perfection" for Christmas last year. Even though Heston Blumenthal can be quite intimidating, his method of cooking steak intrigued me. It also provide me with an opportunity to acquire a hithertoo banned piece of kitchen equipment - namely a blowtorch.

The method involves cooking (?) the meat (a 2 bone rib) very slowly indeed. The oven temperature during the process must not rise above 120 degrees (or about 50 degrees Celsius). The meat has to be held at this temperature for around 16 hours. Madame's first thought was this is ideal bacteria colony temperature! Hence the blow torch.

The recipe calls for the outside of the rib roast to be seared with the blow torch - unseasoned. That should kill any surface bugs. Then the meat is transferred to the oven, and cooked for 16 hours after the internal temperature has reached 115-120. In my oven it takes about 8 hours for the meat to get to 116. I warm the oven before the meat goes in (at the lowest setting) and then turn the light on. That holds it at the right temperature for the requisite period.

Once the meat is "cooked", it is sliced off the bones, and then recooked to the desired doneness on a grill or cast iron griddle. We typically eat medium rare, so I cook the meat on the grill to an internal temp of 130.

Madame was, of course, not impressed by all of this. She was convinced that she would be poisoned, so we invited our family doctor to dinner as well. He came armed with great wines (the ulterior motive for inviting him) and the emergency room telephone number. Other friends were advised of the dangers, but they were up for the experience too. Their appetizers and desserts provided the perfect start and finish to the dinner

The meat was the star! Blumenthal was right. Tender, juicy, flavorfull, Perfect. Served with mushroom ketchup (also from Blumenthal's book), Pommes Anna (from the Cooks Illustrated recipe - http://cooksillustrated.com/) and an iceberg salad. Wow! Who needs to go to a steakhouse?

It takes a long time, but little effort. And it gives an excuse to buy a blowtorch. What more could a guy want?