Dad Cooks Dinner

Rotisserie Baby Back Apple Ribs

2013-05-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Pork chops with applesauce are a comfort meal from my youth. When my kids asked for ribs the other day, pork and apples went through my head, quickly followed by the memory of Mike Mills’ recipe for apple baby back ribs.

Mr. Mills layers the apple flavor into his award winning ribs - they’re smoked with apple wood, sprayed with apple juice, and the barbecue sauce contains grated apples. I’m not following the recipe faithfully - rotisserie ribs are sacrilegious in the world of low-and-slow barbecue.

Nor am I apologizing for my heresy. I love the bark I get with the rotisserie, slowly spinning the ribs, basting them in their own juices. I’m borrowing layers of apple flavor, that’s all.

I was surprised how easy it was to get two slabs of ribs onto the Weber kettle rotisserie spit. If you’re feeding a lot of big eaters, people who polish off a slab of ribs as an appetizer, this is not the recipe for you. But then, if you feed ribs to that kind of a crowd, I’m sure you already own a catering sized smoking rig.

Recipe: Rotisserie Baby Back Apple Ribs

Inspired by: Mike Mills Peace, Love and Barbecue

Cooking time: 120 minutes

Equipment:

Grill with Rotisserie attachment (I used a Weber Summit with an infrared rotisserie burner. Here is the current version of my grill.)
9 by 13 Drip Pan (or whatever fits your grill)
Spray bottle

Ingredients

Smoking wood

2 fist sized chunks apple wood (or substitute another smoking wood - cherry, hickory, or whatever you have on hand)

Ribs

2 (3 pound) slabs baby back ribs

Rub

2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Other stuff

Barbecue Sauce (Homemade, or your favorite brand)
2 cups apple juice in a spray bottle

Directions

1. Rub the ribs

Remove the membrane from the rib side of the slabs. Work the membrane loose from one of the end bones with a butter knife, grab the membrane with a paper towel, and peel it off the ribs. Mix the rub ingredients in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the ribs. Refrigerate the ribs for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.

2. Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat

Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat (300°F) with the drip pan in the middle of the grill. For a Weber kettle, light a half-full chimney starter of charcoal, about 50 briquettes. When the coals are covered with gray ash, pour the charcoal in two equal piles on the sides of the grill, and put the drip pan in the middle, between the piles.
Charcoal baskets and the perfectly sized Weber Extra Large Drip Pans are useful if you have a Weber kettle and rotisserie, but they’re not necessary. Just split the coals to both sides, and drop a 9 by 13 pan in the middle.

3. Skewer the ribs

While the grill is preheating, skewer the ribs. Attach the first spit fork to the spit. Take the first slab, and run the spit between the first and second bone, pushing the ribs onto the spit fork. . Bend the slab of ribs and run the skewer between the fifth or sixth bone. Bend the slab in the other direction, into an “S” shape, and run the skewer through after another five bones. Bend the slab the other way again, and run the skewer between the last two bones on the slab. Repeat with the second slab, pushing the ribs on tight. Make sure the ribs are centered on the spit, then secure the end of the second slab with the other spit fork.

4. Cook the ribs

Put the spit on the grill, start the motor spinning, and make sure the drip pan is centered beneath the ribs. Add the wood chunks to the coals. Close the lid, and keep the lid closed as much as possible while cooking. Let the ribs cook for an hour, then spray with the apple juice, and add 16 unlit briquettes to the lit coals if you are cooking with a charcoal grill. Continue to cook the ribs, spraying them with apple juice every 15 minutes. The ribs are cooked when the meat pulls back from the end of the bones pull back by 1/4 inch and the ribs are nicely browned. The total cooking time is about 2 hours. (With baby back ribs, a little extra cooking time never hurts, so err on the side of more cooking.) When the ribs are cooked, brush them with barbecue sauce and cook for another ten minutes. Brush them with a final coat of barbecue sauce, then remove the spit from the grill.

5. Serve the ribs

Remove the ribs from the spit immediately, transfer to a platter, and cover with aluminum foil. Let the ribs rest for fifteen minutes. Cut the racks into serving size pieces - half slabs for big eaters, or between every second bone for smaller servings. Pass the ribs with extra barbecue sauce at the table.

Notes

What should you drink with this? Beer, of course. Or a dry French style Rose. If you really want to go all-in with the apple theme, try some hard apple cider.
Watch out for shiners on your baby back ribs - ribs where they were cut so close that all the meat is gone, and you can see the shiny ribs poking through. My local grocery store started carrying "extra meaty" baby back ribs a year or two back, and I love them.
No rotisserie? No worries. Set your grill up for indirect medium-low heat as directed, then put the grill grate back on the grill, and a rib rack on the grate, above the drip pan. Put the ribs in the rib rack, and cook as directed. It might take longer (2 to 3 hours) without the heat convection from the rotisserie, but the ribs will come out just about as good.

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Rotisserie Rack of Pork, Apple Cider Brined
Rotisserie BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Rotisserie Spareribs with Garlic, Oregano and Paprika rub
Rotisserie Drip Pan Sweet Potatoes

Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling.

Everything you could ask about the rotisserie,
plus 50 (mostly) new recipes to get you cooking.

It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately!

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Espresso Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

2013-05-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Barbecue sauce is easy to make at home. The basic flavor profile is:

4 parts ketchup
1 part vinegar (usually cider vinegar)
1 part sweetener (molasses, brown sugar, honey, or a mix)
spices and seasonings

The spices and seasonings are where you can make the sauce your own. Pull out a bottle of your “secret recipe” barbecue sauce, and your friends will think you’re a barbecue savant. My problem? My secret recipes never stay secret. I can’t help myself. I have to share the ingredients, even if you’re just feigning interest to be polite. Is it any wonder I have a food blog?

So, what is my secret ingredient? A shot of espresso.
I need my espresso in the morning. NEED. And I’m not up to grinding and tamping first thing in the morning. I want my 2 shots of espresso, and I want them now. That’s why I use a Nespresso. No muss, no fuss, and surprisingly good espresso. I know the pods are expensive. I know the pods are not environmentally friendly. Though Nespresso is working on that. This is one of my extravagances, and I try to make up for with the rest of my (admittedly typical suburban dad) life.

Oh, and I add chipotle en adobo to the sauce, for a hint of smoke and heat. Not too much; this is barbecue sauce, not hot sauce.

Recipe: Espresso Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Inspired by: Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue Sauces

Cooking time: 1 minute

Ingredients

15 ounces ketchup (I prefer non-HFCS ketchup)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 shot espresso (or 2 ounces of coffee)
1 tablespoon pureed chipotle en adobo, or 1 canned chipotle, with adobo sauce, finely minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (or substitute cheap yellow mustard)
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Brewing the basic ingredient

Directions

1. Whisk it

Whisk all the ingredients until completely smooth. It’s ready to use right away, but tastes better if it is refrigerated overnight to let the flavors mingle.

The sauce will last for up to two months in the refrigerator.

Notes

Storage: I have a little squirt bottle for BBQ sauce, but it only holds a couple of cups. I pour the rest of the sauce back into the ketchup bottle for long term storage. I write "BBQ Sauce" all over it with a sharpie, to try to avoid confusion, but the kids have learned that they need to check the color of the bottle before they assume it's ketchup.
More sauce: This recipe scales up easily; double or triple the recipe if you have a larger bottle of ketchup.
If you don’t care about high fructose corn syrup, go ahead and get regular ketchup. It will taste the same.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

My Basic Barbecue Sauce, if you want an even simpler recipe.

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PicOfTheWeek: Glazing grilled shrimp

2013-05-19T20:29:00.002-04:00

Photo by my 8 year old daughter - which explains the low angle.

Grilled Asparagus with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

2013-05-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

When you’re in a CSA, spring is the toughest season. The weather has finally turned, green leaves are appearing everywhere…but mother nature is teasing. There’s nothing for the CSA box yet. It’s too soon.

The first CSA box of spring is kind of sad. Sure, there are a couple of big bags of mixed greens. And turnip greens, and beet greens, and maybe some radishes or green onions. I appreciate them after a winter of storage vegetables. But they rattle around in the bottom of a box that will be overflowing come July.

When is spring really here? When the asparagus appears. Suddenly, I don’t care what else is in the box; the star of spring vegetables has arrived.

Here’s my favorite way to cook asparagus - grilling. (Of course.) I toss the asparagus in a whole grain mustard vinaigrette, both before and after it’s cooked. The grains of mustard cling to the asparagus, and add little bursts of flavor and heat.

Special thanks to Amy, Liz, Nate, Nikki, Hyungmo, and Alysha, my farmers at the Crown Point CSA, for the wonderful asparagus.

Recipe: Grilled Asparagus with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

Cooking time: 8 minutes

Equipment:

Grill (I use my Weber kettle )

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus

Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (aka “stone ground mustard”)
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
pinch salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Prep the asparagus

Snap off or trim the tough ends from the asparagus, then put in a baking dish. Whisk the mustard vinaigrette ingredients and pour over the asparagus. Gently toss the spears in the dish until they are coated with vinaigrette.

2. Preheat the grill to medium

Set the grill up for direct medium heat. For my Weber kettle, I set the grill up for medium high heat on half the grill (3/4 chimney full of charcoal, lit, wait until all coals are covered with gray ash, and spread over half the charcoal grate in a tightly packed single layer). Then I brush the grate clean and grill the main course first. By the time the main course is done, the coals will burn down to medium heat, and will be ready to cook the asparagus.
*I recommend the Weber Chimney Starter, because it is larger than most chimney starters. It holds 5 quarts of charcoal, the perfect size for this recipe.

3. Grill the asparagus

Quick summary:
Grill the asparagus spears over direct medium heat for about 8 minutes, rolling every two minutes, until the thickest spears are cooked through. Toss in the vinaigrette left in the dish.

Details:
Remove the asparagus spears from the vinaigrette, letting any excess drip back into the dish. Put the asparagus on the grill, perpendicular to the grill grate, over direct medium heat. Cook the asparagus, rolling the spears on the grate every couple of minutes and moving them around if there are hot spots.

Cook until the spears are browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. I check the spears two ways. First is the flop test. I pick up a spear with my tongs, and wiggle it up and down. If the spear doesn’t bend, it’s not done yet. If it’s soft and floppy, then I move on to the taste test. I bite into the spear, checking if it is cooked through.

Once the asparagus is done, move it back to the baking dish and toss to coat it with the vinaigrette again. It is good hot or at room temperature, so serve it immediately or let it rest while you finish the rest of dinner.

Notes

The trick to cooking asparagus on the grill is to be gentle, but decisive. Keep the spears perpendicular to the grate, and if you grab some with your tongs, make sure they are flipped all the way over before setting them back down on the grate. But, don’t sweat it too much - I always lose a spear or two through the grate.
Don’t want to cook a main course first? Set the grill up for medium heat by lighting half a chimney of charcoal, and spreading it into a loose single layer over half the charcoal grate.
This is actually easier to cook on a gas grill - charcoal burns hotter, and the asparagus is always on the edge of burning. Gas gives you some margin for error. Make sure to cook with the lid closed if you’re using gas.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Grilled Asparagus
Shaved Asparagus and Parmesan Salad

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Spring Grill Cleaning 2013

2013-05-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

The inside of my grill. Yikes.

A question from a reader:

Do you have any tips on cleaning your Weber Summit 650? I have the 450 version, and it looks pretty gross, but still works like the day I got it 5 years ago. The smoker leaves some pretty nasty brown stains on the front lid.

For day to day cleaning, I clean the grill grate part of my preheating routine. I turn the grill to high, let it heat up for 15 minutes, then scrub off the charred remains of my last dinner with a grill brush. I use the grill often enough that a post-grilling burn off isn’t necessary, unless I made something really, really messy.
Like, say, cheeseburgers that dripped cheese into the bottom of the grill. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Once a year, in the spring, I do a deep cleaning. I buy a new grill brush, a pair of cleaning gloves, and a nylon paint scraper. Then I mix up a bucket of soapy water, get some garbage bags, and spend an afternoon going after the gunk in my grill. It's amazing how much better it seems to work after a thorough cleaning.

...

OK, I have to confess. I'm a grill slob. I forgot to clean my grill last year. My excuse is my rotisserie cookbook - I was still working on it when I usually clean my grill. I put off grill cleaning to work on recipe testing. Then pictures. Then came summer vacation. Pretty soon the leaves were turning, suddenly it was snowing, and a year had slipped by.

I got away with it for a while...but the lack of maintenance was catching up to me. I've had more dripping grease catching fire than usual. I tried to cook last week's butterflied chicken recipe using indirect high heat. It was medium at best. It was time to clean the grill.

Here's what I thought:

Great! At least I'll get a blog post out of it - a pictorial on cleaning a grill. Let's get started, and...oh my goodness. There are drifts of greasy, carbonized stuff on the bottom of the grill. Those look like...onions? Is that a runaway asparagus spear? And, what's that smell - oh, yuck, the grease pan is growing fuzz.

I gave up on the pictorial the moment I saw the bottom of the grill. I had too much work to do.

That's the bottom of my grill,
not the mouth of an active volcano.

So, what do I do when my Weber Summit is a real mess? (With commentary.)

Make a trip to the hardware store. Pick up:

"Reusable" kitchen gloves (Only using once, but I need the thick ones)
Narrow nylon paint scraper
New grill brush
Bottle of cleaner
Paper towels

Start on the outside: spray the outside of the grill with a grease cleaner, and wipe it clean with paper towels. (Repeat three times, then give up on the grease stains that are left, with a plan of coming back with serious cleaning products, like Bar Keeper's Friend. Or maybe napalm.)
Clean the inside of the grill, working from the top to the bottom:

Use a nylon putty knife to scrape lose the flakes of soot that accumulate on the top of the lid, letting them fall into the bottom of the grill.
Brush the grill grate clean with my old grill brush - this is the one time of year I flip the grates over and brush the underside. Remove the grates. (Regret cooking cheeseburgers the night before cleaning the grill. Mental note: do a burn the night before cleaning the grill.)
Brush the flavorizer bars (burner covers) with my old grill brush. Brush them over the grill, so anything that comes loose drops into the pan for later cleaning. Once a flavorizer bar is clean, put it back and move on to the next one, and work over the other burner covers, not the uncovered burner - we don't want the stuff coming off the covers from clogging the burners. Once all the flavorizer bars are clean, remove them to get at the burners. (There is stuff on the underside of the flavorizer bars that needs to be brushed off. How in the world did it get UNDER v-shaped bars?)
Brush the burners, using the brand-new grill brush for the first time. Brush across the burners, so anything worked loose doesn't just move to a different burner opening. (Keep brushing and brushing on a burner hole - why won't that stuff in there work loose?)
Scrape the bottom of the grill with the nylon paint scraper. Scrape top to bottom, left to right, pushing everything into the drip pan in the bottom of the grill. (Holy cow, this stuff is at least a half an inch thick. No wonder I had grease fires. Is that an orange peel? No, can't be. Maybe it's an onion skin. Yuck.)
Slide the drip pan full of debris from below the grill, put the opening for the grease pan over a garbage bag, and scrape the debris through the hole and into the garbage. (There's so much carbonized food in here...No, I'm wrong. It's half grease, half carbon. How is that even possible?)
Remove the aluminum foil pan from the grease pan holder, discard, and replace with a new one. (DETAILS REDACTED - potential biohazard.)
Reassemble the grill. Slide the drip pan back under the grill, put the flavorizer bars in place, and put the grates back. Discard the old grill brush, hang the new one from the hook on my grill, and I'm done. The grill looks like new. (Like new? No, but at least it's clean...ish. The burner tubes are clear, and I can almost see the metal on the inside of the grill.)

The bottom of my grill, after scraping everything down into the drip pan.
I couldn't work any more of the burnt stuff off the body of the grill (top and bottom of the pic).

Pictures and Videos

Since I got distracted by the actual cleaning, here is a pictorial from my friend Mike at Another Pint Please, using the exact grill I own:

The Spring Cleaning Grill Workout, AnotherPintPlease.com

And here are cleaning videos from Kevin Kolman, Weber’s Grill Master.
Yes, that’s Kevin’s job title, “Grill Master”. I talked with him last year; his job is traveling the country, demonstrating how to use Weber grills. Forget what I said in the grilling cookbooks post a few days ago; I have a new dream job. If Kevin wasn’t such a nice guy, I’d be jealous.

Spring Grill Cleaning, [Weber.com/blog]

Don’t have a Weber grill? These instructions are useful for any grill, but check if your manufacturer has specific instructions for your brand. And have I mentioned recently that customer support is one of the reasons I always recommend Weber grills?

The outside of my grill. Again, yikes.

Weber Cleaners

Weber is looking out for me again - they introduced a range of grill cleaning products this year. They have grate cleaner and degreaser, grill exterior cleaner, a stubborn stain remover, and stainless steel cleaner. I used the exterior cleaner on the outside of the grill, then followed up with the grate cleaner as a degreaser for the tough spots. It cut through most of the mess on the outside of my grill, but I think I need a bottle of the stainless steel cleaner to get the soot stains off of the hood, and the stubborn stain remover for the burnt on grease around the edge of the grill.

Here’s a link to the Weber Cleaners website, and videos on how to use them, again by Kevin Kolman. [WeberCleaners.com]

FTC Note - this post was not sponsored by Weber, no matter how much I gush about them. If you buy something through my Amazon links, I get a small commission. Thank you. And, buying something or not, get out there and clean your grill!

What do you think?

How often do you clean out your grill? Questions? Leave them in the comments section, below.

*Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner using the RSS or Email options on the right, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site, or donate through my tip jar. Thank you.

Happy Mother's Day 2013

2013-05-12T09:45:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's day, sweetie!

My hometown newspaper interviewed me! They were asking for tips for a Dad cooking for Mom on Mother's Day. (See tips 6 and 8 in the article).

Ten ways to keep Mom off kitchen duty on her day [Lisa Abraham, Ohio.com]

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter

2013-05-09T08:00:00.001-04:00

How do I grill a chicken if I don’t have a rotisserie?

Friends and family ask me this all the time. They enjoy their grilling, but they’re not fanatics like me. They don’t want to spend time futzing around with a rotisserie.

When I need a quick roast chicken, I butterfly. A few snips with poultry shears and the backbone is out. Then I live out my comic book fantasies, mutter “It’s Clobbering Time” under my breath, and squash the chicken flat.
My little brother was more of a Hulk fan. He used to stomp around the house, growling “Hulk Smash!” He says he only stopped because I sat on him and refused to get up until he stopped. I was an evil older brother.

Why butterfly, if I want to save time? Why not just throw the whole chicken on the grill? Because removing the backbone cuts fifteen minutes from the cooking time. A butterflied chicken is opened up to the heat of the grill, which cooks the breast and (more importantly) the thighs quicker.

I love a straightforward roast chicken; this one is based on a recipe from Julia Child, where she rubs the chicken with butter before roasting it. I added a clove of garlic to the butter because, well, who wouldn’t?

Recipe: Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter

Inspired By: Julia Child, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Equipment:

Grill (I use a Weber Summit. Here is the current version of my grill.)
Poultry shears

Ingredients

4 pound chicken
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground peppercorn mix (or black pepper)
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, crushed

Directions

1. Butterfly, salt, and pepper the chicken early (dry brine)

For more butterflying details, see How to Butterfly A Chicken [Video] Butterfly the chickens: cut out the backbone by cutting up one side of the backbone with poultry shears, then down the other side of the backbone. Flip the chicken skin side up, and flatten the breastbone by pressing down hard with the back of your hand. Fold the wing tips back under the wing to lock them in place. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper, concentrating a little extra on the breasts and thighs. Refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours.

2. Preheat the grill to indirect high heat

Set up the grill to cook on indirect high heat (450°F or higher internal temperature). For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all burners on high for 15 minutes, and then brush the grates clean. Then I leave burners #1 and #2 on high, and turn off all the other burners.

3. Melt the butter, sizzle the garlic

While the grill is heating, microwave the butter and garlic until the butter is melted, and you hear garlic sizzling, about 1 minute.

4. Grill the chicken over indirect high heat

Summary:
Brush the chicken with the garlic butter. Grill the chicken over indirect high heat, with the lid closed. Start skin side down, and cook for 30 minutes. Flip skin side up and cook until the chicken reaches 160°F in the breast, about 15 more minutes. Finish the chicken over direct heat for a couple of minutes if the skin needs to brown more.

Brushing with butter

Indirect heat - the two lit burners are on the right

Details:
Brush the skin side of the chicken with half the garlic butter. Put the chicken on the grill, skin side down, so it is not over the fire - we’re cooking with indirect heat. (If your grill setup allows it, place the chicken so the drumsticks are close to the fire, and the breasts farther away.) Brush the fleshy side of the chicken with the other half of the garlic butter, then close the lid. Grill, covered, for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken skin side up and cook, covered, until the chicken is done, and registers 160°F in the thickest part of the breast. This should take about 15 more minutes.

At this point, you should have nice, crispy skin. If you don’t, move the chicken directly over the fire and sear, turning often, until the skin is crisped up, about 4 minutes. Watch out - dripping chicken fat causes flare-ups, and you don’t want to burn the chicken at the last minute.

Not as browned as I'd like...

...but we can take care of that with fire!

5. Serve

Let the chicken rest for ten minutes, then carve and serve.

Ready, set...

...carved!

Notes

Have a charcoal grill? Here’s a similar recipe using my Weber Kettle: Grilled Butterflied Chicken, Dry Brined
I suggest pointing the chicken so the legs are towards the heat, so they cook quicker. You want the dark meat to cook more than the breast meat; the legs should register 170°F or higher when the breast reaches 160°F. Butterflying helps cook the dark meat faster by by exposing the thighs to the heat - if you leave the chicken whole, the cavity is shielding the inside of the thighs.
Writing the phrase “exposing thighs to the heat” makes me worry I’m going to get blocked by a mature content filter. I’m cooking over here, OK? Over a live fire? Darn…I’m not helping my cause.
Save that backbone in the freezer, you’ll want to use it with Homemade Chicken Stock

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Dry Brine
Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Thai Marinade

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All Clad Factory Sale Summer 2013

2013-05-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

All-Clad Factory Sale: Summer 2013
*The dates for this summer's All-Clad factory sale have been announced, so I'm posting a heads-up for my readers...

All-Clad's factory is located in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Twice a year, on the first weekend in June and December, All-Clad holds a factory seconds sale at the Washington County Fair and Expo Center.

Here's the announcement from All-Clad's Facebook page:

PLAN TO SAVE BIG!
Put the All-Clad Factory Outlet Sale on your calendar now! Cookware, bakeware, electrics & gourmet accessories will be offered at exclusive prices for 2 days only.

Select All-Clad Metalcrafters, Krups USA & Rowenta products will be included, with up to 70% off factory seconds!

All-Clad Factory in Washington County Fairgrounds, Washington PA.
Friday, May 31st from 9am-7pm
Saturday, June 1st from 9am-4pm

Location:

Washington County Fair and Expo Center:
2151 North Main Street
Washington, PA 15301
Phone: 724-225-7718
Website: WashingtonFair.org

This is about a two hour drive from the Akron area. You get prices from 40% to 70% off on factory seconds. In most cases, the damage is cosmetic; a little scratching on the stainless, or a lid handle that's a bit offset from center.

Most of All Clad's cookware is available but not their entire line. Some favorites (like the 12" stainless fry pan and its lid) are hard to find. Overall, though, it's an amazing value. Make sure to arrive early - there is always a long line to get into the sale, and I've had up to an hour wait.

(I've heard from readers that the lines are much shorter later in the day - they've been able to walk right into the sale in the afternoon.)

Questions:

Q: What forms of payment do they take?
A: I've used Visa and MasterCard, and I know they take cash and checks. Not sure about other credit cards.

Q: Does it matter which day I go? Is stuff only available on Friday?
A: I've been there both Friday and Saturday morning, and have never been disappointed. They re-stock throughout the day; I've seen pallets of their special deals coming in during the sale. They seem to have a large stock of their best deals.

That said, certain items (12 inch lids, their pasta multi-pot) disappeared quickly when I was there, so I think some of the items are first come, first serve. My advice? If there is a specific item you want badly, and you can make it early on Friday, do it. (Be prepared to stand in line.) If you can't make it early in the day, don't let that stop you - the sale is still worth the trip. You'll still get good deals and selection.

*I will not be there this time around. I don't need any new cookware right now. If anything, I need to hold a garage sale and unload some of what I've accumulated...

Related Posts:
Things I Love: All-Clad Stainless Cookware
Review: All-Clad Stainless Cookware with d5 Technology

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PicOfTheWeek: Apple Juice Basting Bottle

2013-05-05T11:00:00.000-04:00

Apple juice in a spray bottle, ready to baste rotisserie baby back ribs. Recipe coming soon...

Grilled Korean Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps (Daeji Bulgogi)

2013-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Gochujang is Korean red pepper paste. It has the color of ketchup, spreads like tomato paste, and has a fiery afterburn. I tasted it, then had to restrain myself from eating it straight out of the tub.
If you like trendy ingredients, get in on Gochujang now. I think it is going to be the next big breakout flavor, like chipotles in adobo, or sriracha.

Gochujang is the main ingredient in Korean barbecue’s spicy marinades, and their accompanying dipping sauces. It can be found at most Asian markets. (Or on the internet, of course.) I hear Sunchang brand mentioned a lot, but my experience is limited to the one tub I’m slowly using up.

Pork Belly is traditional in Korea’s Daeji Bulgogi. Get thin sliced pork belly from your Asian market, or give your local butcher a call. My Asian market had ultra-thin sliced pork belly in the freezer case. It was cut like bacon, about 1/16th of an inch thick…which was a pain. I had to be careful to keep it from tearing as I worked with it on the grill. Next time I’m going to ask my butcher to slice pork belly for me, cutting it thicker - like thick cut bacon - between 1/8th and 1/4th of an inch thick.
Call your butcher ahead of time for thin cut meat. They need to put the pork belly in the freezer to firm it up before they slice it.

If you can’t find pork belly, thin-sliced boneless pork shoulder is an acceptable substitute. But pork belly is worth hunting for - doesn’t sweet, spicy grilled bacon sound like a good idea? Either way, get some lettuce for wrapping, make rice for stuffing, shred some scallions, and fire up the grill. Korean barbecue is a short step away!

Recipe: Grilled Korean Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps (Daeji Bulgogi)

Inspired by: Joshua Bousel Grilling Daeji Bulgogi, SeriousEats.com

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Equipment:

Grill (I use a Weber Summit. Here is the current version of my grill. )

Ingredients

2 pounds thin-sliced pork belly (1/16th of an inch to 1/4 of an inch thick.)

Marinade/Dipping sauce

1/2 cup gochujang (Korean red pepper paste. Sunchang brand is usually recommended.)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (or rice wine vinegar, plus 1 teaspoon sugar)
1/4 cup pear juice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Accompaniments

1 head bibb lettuce, separated into individual leaves
white rice
shredded scallions (cut into 3 inch long strips, cut the strips in half, then slice the halves lengthwise as finely as you can)
Kimchi (Korean spicy pickled cabbage)

Directions

1. Marinate the pork belly

Put the pork belly in a gallon zip-top bag. Whisk the marinade ingredients until completely combined. Reserve one cup of the marinade as a dipping sauce, then pour the rest into the bag with the pork belly. Gently massage the sauce onto the pork through the bag. Seal the bag and refrigerate. Let the pork marinate for at least 1 hour, up to overnight, turning occasionally to redistribute the marinade.

2. Prepare the grill

Set the grill up for grilling on direct medium heat. On my Weber Summit, I preheat with all burners set to high for 15 minutes, brush the grill grate clean, then turn the burners down to medium.

3. Prep the accompaniments

While the grill is preheating: separate the head of bibb lettuce into individual leaves and cook the rice. Next, shred the scallions. Trim off the roots, and cut away the dark green leaves. Cut the remaining white and light green part into 3 inch lengths. Split each piece in half lengthwise, then slice lengthwise as thin as possible.
Or, take the easy way out and use a scallion cutter.

4. Grill the pork belly

Grill the pork over direct medium heat, flipping every two minutes, until the pork is browned and crispy. This will take one or two flips for really thin pork; up to four or five flips for thicker cut pork. Don’t leave your station at the grill - pork belly is full of fat, so there will be flare-ups. (It’s only ten minutes. You can hold out. Bring a tasty beverage to pass the time.)

5. Serve the lettuce wraps

Serve everything at the table separately, so diners can assemble their own lettuce wraps. Pour the reserved marinade into small bowls and serve as a dipping sauce.

Notes

Don’t like spicy? Skip the gochujang and use the rest of the marinade.
Of all the obscure ingredients in this recipe, pear juice was the hardest one for me to find. I’ve heard that apple juice makes an acceptable substitute, but pear is traditional in Korean cooking, and I wanted the real thing. I forgot to get it from the Asian market, so I figured I’d buy some at my local grocery store. Mistake. I searched the refrigerated section and the fruit juice aisle, with no luck. Then I flashed back to when the kids were infants, and checked the baby food aisle. So, if you're looking for pear juice, think baby food.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Kalbi - Korean grilled beef short ribs
Bulgogi - Korean grilled beef lettuce wraps

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Grilling Cookbooks 2013

2013-04-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Spring means daffodils, asparagus, and a new crop of grilling cookbooks. Here are ~~three~~ four books I’m looking forward to this year:

1. Where There’s Smoke by Barton Seaver

I heard good things about Mr. Seaver’s fish cookbook, For Cod and Country, but I never got around to checking it out. I like his focus on simple, sustainable cooking. Now he’s releasing a grilling cookbook. I’ve got to check it out.

2. Live Fire by Michael Chiarello

In my dreams, I’m a wine country griller. My patio looks out over rows of vines, all my ingredients come from local farms, and I drink wine from my neighbors with every dinner.

And, most importantly, the average high temperature in January is 57°F, so year round grilling doesn’t include shoveling snow.

Mr. Chiarello’s, as a chef who lives in Napa Valley, is living my dream.

3. Weber’s New Real Grilling by Jamie Purviance

Jamie is living my other dream - his job is to travel the world, promoting Weber grills, and writing their cookbooks. I just got my copy of this one, and it looks like Weber has yet another winner.

4. Barbecue Crossroads by Robb Walsh

Robb Walsh is my man in Texas. He's on a road trip in his new book, starting in Texas, and traveling the barbecue trail. I love his combination of history, culture, and cooking notes, and can't wait to see what he's found on his trip.

What do you think?

What grilling cookbooks are you looking forward to this year? Leave them in the comments, below.

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PicOfTheWeek: First CSA box of spring

2013-04-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

PicOfTheWeek: Spring is finally here! 2013's first CSA box from Crown Point.
(Not pictured - two big bags of mixed greens.)

Pressure Cooker Beef Shank and Anasazi Beans

2013-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I’m horrified that pressure cookers were used in the attacks at the Boston Marathon. How dare they use my favorite pot for such evil? I almost skipped this recipe. It's hard to reconcile comfort food with such terrible news. I had to remember, this is what the perpetrators want - to change the way we go about our daily lives. This post is dedicated to the brave people of Boston.

I’m using the spoils of my recent trip to the West Side Market - beef shanks and a big bag of dried Anasazi beans. I didn’t plan this recipe, I just put the beans and beef shanks on the counter and pulled items out of the pantry to go with them. The result a big donut of meat, with a wonderful nugget of marrow in the middle, on a bed of brothy beans. Why didn’t I try this sooner?

I’m also cheating - instead of browning all the shanks, I’m browning one batch, on one side. This gives me browned fond on the bottom of the pot to build flavor, without taking twenty minutes to brown all the shanks. You won’t miss the extra browning - there’s enough fond developed in one batch of browning to flavor the pot.

Don’t have a pressure cooker? No worries. See the Notes section for standard cooking instructions.

Anasazi beans? They’re like their close relative, pinto beans. They have a deeper, meatier taste, and they look a lot cooler, with a neat cow spotted effect. (Until you cook them, that is - the cow spots fade as the beans simmer.)

Recipe: Pressure Cooker Beef Shank and Anasazi Beans

Inspired by: Lorna Sass Pressure Perfect

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Equipment

Pressure Cooker, 6 quarts or larger (I used an Instant Pot Electric PC)

Ingredients

Beef

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 large beef shanks (1 1/2 inches thick, about 2 pounds total)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (about 1/2 teaspoon per shank)
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Aromatics and spices

1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles (or 1 green (Anaheim) chile, seeded and diced)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons chili powder blend (or ancho chile powder)
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Beans and liquid

1 pound Anasazi beans, sorted and rinsed
4 cups homemade chicken stock (or store bought broth, or water)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 bay leaves

Second dump of spices (optional)

1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 clove garlic, minced
More salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Brown the beef shanks

Heat the vegetable oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. While the oil is heating, sprinkle the shanks with 2 teaspoons of salt and the black pepper. Add a single layer of shanks to the pan and brown them on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer the browned shanks to a bowl with the rest of the uncooked shanks and set aside.

2. Saute the aromatics and toast the spices

Add the onion, bell pepper, green chile, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the pot. Stir to coat with oil, then saute, scraping the browned meat from the bottom of the pot, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Make a hole in the center of the onions and add 2 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. Let the spices sit until you smell them frying, about 1 minute, then stir them into the onions and peppers.

3. Beans, liquid, and beef into the pot

Stir in the rinsed Anasazi beans, coating with the onions and spices. Add the chicken stock, water, bay leaves, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, baking soda, and bay leaves. Stir to mix, then add the beef shanks and any juices from the bowl. Nestle the beef shanks into the beans and liquid, submerging them as much as possible.

4. Pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes (36 minutes for electric PC)

Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring it up to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes (36 minutes in an electric pressure cooker), then turn off the heat and let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure.

5. Season and serve

Stir in the second dump of spices, then taste for seasoning. If you used homemade chicken broth or water, you will need more salt - I usually add close to a tablespoon of kosher salt for this much liquid. Simmer for 5 minutes, then serve.
How do I serve this? I gently transfer the beef shanks to a platter. Using a slotted spoon, I scoop out a bowlful of beans for each diner. I add enough bean liquid to moisten, but not cover, the beans, then put a beef shank on top. Done.

Notes

No pressure cooker? No worries. Use a heavy bottomed dutch oven with a lid, and increase the amount of water to 4 cups. Follow the instructions until step 4, "Pressure cook on high...". Then, instead of pressure cooking, bring the pot to a boil, and cover with the lid. Move the pot to a preheated 350*F oven and bake for 2 hours, until the beef shanks and beans are tender. Continue with step 5, "Season and serve".
Beef and beans make amazing leftovers. Shred the beef (discard the bones) and stir into the beans. I freeze it in two cup containers for quick-grab lunches.
What’s it like to be a pressure cooker fan over the last two weeks? Sigh. Check out these stories with Lorna Sass and Laura at the HipPressureCooking forum.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Pressure Cooker Osso Bucco
Pressure Cooker Refried Pinto Beans
Click here for my other pressure cooker recipes.

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Road Trip: West Side Market

2013-04-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Cleveland’s West Side Market, on the corner of West 25th and Lorain Avenue, is one of the few public markets that remained open during the dark days when grocery store giants roamed the land, crushing everything in their…ahem, sorry, got carried away there.

The West Side Market opened in 1912, and celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. My own history with the market goes back to high school…when I ignored it every day as I trudged by.

But I’m not here to talk about history. I’m here to talk about food. And, oh, my, this is a food paradise. The market is made up of more than 100 small businesses. There are butchers and bakers, produce vendors, cheese sellers, and seafood markets, all in the same building. If I lived any closer, I’d be visiting every week, but the market is just a little too far away for regular shopping. I make a trip up every few months, to visit and stock up on things I can’t find locally.

The market had a fire a few months back, but they’re open again, and good as new. Reading about the market after the fire showed me how little I knew, so I signed up for a New Shopper Tour, held on the last Saturday of every month. Armed with a fistful of Market Bonds, I made the trip up to Ohio City.

Special thanks to Amanda, our informative and friendly tour guide. And, a word to the wise - don’t take the tour on the Saturday before Easter. I’ve never seen the market this crowded. It was tough to move. Other than that, the tour is highly recommended.

Not from Cleveland? Too far away to visit the West Side Market? Look in your own back yard. I’ll bet you can find Ethnic Markets and local butchers of your own.

Butchers

I’m a devoted carnivore. My first stop at the market is always a butcher. Which one? It depends. Lamb from Turczyky’s, beef from Fosters. Ohio chicken from DW Whitaker, duck from Kaufmann Poultry. Fresh brats from Frank’s Bratwurst, and sausages, everywhere you look, sausages. I can always find the odd cuts I love, like lamb shoulder, beef shanks and duck legs. On the larger side, my brother buys entire hogs for his pig roasts from the market.
Matt, when you read this, let me know which vendor you use? Thanks.

Ethnic specialties

Cleveland represents America’s melting pot. It started with migration from Eastern Europe - Polish, Slovak, Slovene - and has been continuing ever since. All this cultural history is on display at the West Side Market. From Hungarian to halal, sauerkraut to tamales, pierogies to falafels, cannoli to strudel. If there’s an ethnic food you want to try, keep looking. There’s a vendor that specializes in the next aisle.

Produce

The market consists of a main building, with a produce arcade wrapping around the north and east sides of the building. The produce arcade is lined with dozens of stands, one after the other, with an amazing array of fruit and vegetables. Amanda said they may all look alike, with beautiful piles of produce, but pay attention and you'll start to see what the different vendors specialize in.

Other

What else should you check out?

Stuffed olives from Rita’s
Smoked salts from Urban Herbs
Dried fruit at Mena's (pictured above)
Fresh ravioli from Ohio City Pasta
Dichotomy corn from Campbell’s Popcorn Shop
And, really, anything else that catches your eye...

Visit!

I’m just scratching the surface - every time I visit the market, I overspend my food budget, and then notice yet another stand that I must check out the next time.

If you live in Northeastern Ohio, you have to visit the West Side Market. It’s a jewel - our culinary history and the future of food, all rolled into one.

Tours

If you want a guided tour, the New Shopper Tour is held on the last Saturday of every month. Sign up here: New Shopper Tour

If you want a more in-depth tour, and you live in the Akron area, check out my friend Tami’s market tour schedule: Dine In Diva: West Side Market Tours

You don't have to have a tour, though - just show up, wander around, and bask in the incredible variety of foods.

What do you think?

Ever visit the West Side Market? Who are your must-see vendors? Do you have a local market that's must-see? Tell us about it in the comments.

Resources

West Side Market
West Side Market Centennial

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PicOfTheWeek: Cleaning a wooden cutting board

2013-04-21T14:41:00.001-04:00

Cleaning my cutting board...trying to get rid of the onion and garlic smell.

Sichuan Roasted Pepper Salt

2013-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I’m trying to lose weight. I start every day with a high protein breakfast - which means lots of hard boiled eggs. They’re quick, easy, portable…and boring.

Or, at least, they were boring. Then, one morning, I had enough of boring. I went looking through my pantry, and noticed my jar of Sichuan pepper salt. I use it often when I stir fry, but on eggs? It was a revelation. The flavors in the Sichuan pepper make all the difference - now I look forward to hard boiled eggs every day.

When I used up the jar I bought at Penzeys, I decided to make my own, following the extremely simple recipe in Barbara Tropp’s China Moon cookbook.

But first - Sichuan pepper? Or Szechuan? Maybe Szechwan? The confusion comes from converting the Chinese pronunciation into English letters. (Kind of like Peking duck coming from Beijing.) Sichuan is the pinyin spelling of the Chinese province. Pinyin was chosen in 1982 as the international standard for converting Chinese characters to English. Before then, the Szechuan spelling was used, and it’s stuck, especially when referring to the region’s cuisine. I trust Fuschia Dunlop, who knows more about Sichuan cooking than I ever will. If she spells it Sichuan, then so do I.

Another digression - when I first got Barbara Tropp’s cookbook, Sichuan pepper was hard to find. Why? Citrus canker. Sichuan peppercorns harbor this disease, which is harmless to humans, but nasty for citrus trees. The United States banned the import of Sichuan peppercorns between 1968 and 2005. Nowadays, the peppercorns are baked before shipment, which kills the citrus canker bacteria.

Sorry, kind of wandered off subject there...

Barbara suggests grinding the salt, then storing it in an airtight container. I bought a salt grinder so I can grind the pepper when I need it. This keeps the aromatic oils in the peppercorns until the last minute, and preserves the flavor of the pepper.

Sichuan peppercorns can be found at your local Asian market, or on Amazon. But, if you can’t find them, or you don’t want to spend the time to roast your own, get a jar of Penzeys Szechuan pepper-salt. You’ll love it.

Recipe: Sichuan Roasted Pepper Salt

Adapted from: Barbara Tropp, China Moon Cookbook

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Equipment:

Salt grinder (Note: The salt will corrode a metal grind mechanism. Make sure you have one with a ceramic grinder.)

Ingredients

1/4 cup Sichuan peppercorns, picked over to remove twigs and thorns
1/2 cup coarse sea salt

Directions

Roast the pepper and salt

Put the peppercorns and salt in a heavy fry pan, and turn the heat to medium.

(Don’t use nonstick for this - the temperature gets high enough for nonstick to give off toxic fumes.)

When it first goes into the pan, the salt will be pure white

...when done, the salt will be turning tan or gray.
Look at the color in the bottom right of the pan, near the handle. (Not shown - copious amounts of smoke from the
peppercorns.)

Cook, stirring and flipping often, until the peppercorns are smoking and the salt changes color from white to a gray/tan color, about five minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool for a few minutes, then pour into the grinder.

Notes

Why 3/4 cup? Because my salt grinder holds 3/4 cup. If yours is a different size, use 1 part peppercorns to 2 parts salt.
A funnel is very useful for filling the salt grinder. Not that I spilled hot peppercorns and salt all over my countertop (and sink, and floor)…
Why coarse sea salt? Big chunks of salt work better in a salt grinder.
No salt grinder? No worries. If you don’t have a grinder, substitute kosher salt for the coarse sea salt. Once the salt has been roasted and cools down, whiz it in the food processor until finely ground, then pour it into a sealed container (or a salt shaker).
What can you use Sichuan roasted pepper salt on? It’s not just for eggs. Anything that works with salt and pepper. It’s great if you want to add a subtle Asian flavor to meat, seafood, or vegetables.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Sichuan pepper salt goes really well with stir fried Bok Choy

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Five Fun Food Finds April 2013

2013-04-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Spring grilling - need a few more coals on the fire.

(I wrote this last week. Today, my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston.)

Every spring, grilling fever strikes. I'm tired of snow, cold, gray days. I want to be outside...cooking every meal over live fire. I'm scanning the weather for days with less than a 50 percent chance of rain. (Fifty percent...that means I still have a chance!)

While I wait for the showers to pass, here are five fun food finds from across the web.

1. American meat industry moving to uniform, simplified naming standard

...what once was called pork butt - and actually does not come from the pig's nether region - will now be called a Boston roast and be described as a bone-in pork shoulder.
[J.M. Hirsch, AP News: Meat industry to reboot labels to help consumers. h/t Lisa Abraham, Ohio.com]

I'm sad my beloved Boston butt is going away. "Boston roast" doesn't ~~make me giggle like an eight year old~~ have the same ring to it.

But, this also means a t-bone now describes the same cut of meat from a cow, a pig, or a lamb. It makes too much sense.
Of course, expecting this to jump-start meat sales seems like a reach.

2. Maggi seasoning

Suddenly, Maggi seasoning! Sure, I'd see it at my local Asian grocery stores, but it was a once in a while thing. Then Charlie at the Ingredient List mentioned it on his blog. Now, every time I turn around, I see a bottle. I bought one the other day; still haven't used it. I'm waiting for a soup that needs extra umami.
[h/t Charlie, TheIngredientList.com]

3. Weber Gourmet BBQ System - Korean Barbecue insert

Weber made new inserts for their Gourmet BBQ system. The Ebelskiver Pan seems like an insert too far - do I really want to grill Danish pancakes?

The Poultry Roaster looks good, if you want to roast a chicken beer butt style. It's wide, stable, with solid handles - there's a lot less chance of the chicken flopping over and dumping beer everywhere. Even so, I'd rather use a beer can. I can fit two beer butt birds on the grill, maybe three if I squeeze them in there. What can I say? I like to live dangerously.
And? I told you I like saying "butt". I'm really going to miss my butt roasts. *giggle*.

Then there's the Korean Barbecue insert. It's styled after the domed charcoal braziers used at Korean barbecue restaurants, where diners cook thin slices of meat at the table. This one fits in the the middle of the Gourmet BBQ system grill grate. Do I need this for Korean barbecue? No, of course not; I can grill it on the regular grate. But it is intriguing enough to be on my wish list.
[Source: Weber.com]

4. The iSpoon

Speaking of silly...

I use my iPad all the time in the kitchen, to check recipes and play some tunes while I cook. Someone had the bright idea of replacing the handle of a wooden spoon with a tablet stylus. When I first saw this, I laughed. Would I buy one? Of course not.

And yet...and yet...every time I have to clean my hands to swipe the iPad, I think about it. If they made it with a flat edge, I'd be in trouble...
[h/t Charlie Sorrel, CultOfMac.com]

5. It's Hard out there for an Individual Blogger

I still have to accept a fundamental truth: my traffic stats and my ability to reach new readers is increasingly out of my hands.
[Dan Koontz, The Current State of Individual Blogging, CasualKitchen.blogspot.com]

Preach it, brother! Sometimes, writing a one person blog feels like the scene in Van Halen’s Right Now video - “Right now, forces are aligning against you.”

So, what have you found recently? Share your food finds in the comments, below.

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PicOfTheWeek: Browned Beef Shanks

2013-04-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

...with some diced aromatics, ready for the pressure cooker. (Recipe coming soon.)

Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

2013-04-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

My go-to Macaroni and Cheese has been evolving over the last year, but I have a new favorite - and of course, it uses the pressure cooker.
That’s right, macaroni and cheese without the dreaded blue box.

For years I made the mac and cheese from Pam Anderson’s The Perfect Recipe. Then, a few years ago, I read Ideas in Food and their version - it seemed like a variation on Pam’s recipe, stripped down to the basics.

Both recipes use evaporated milk as their secret weapon. Evaporated milk replaces the flour and milk bechamel sacue…and all the whisking that entails. I mashed the two recipes together, and that’s what I’ve been using.

Now, even with the evaporated milk shortcut, this was a stretch to make on a weeknight. Especially if I want a toasted bread crumb topping. And if I’m making macaroni and cheese, it must have a bread crumb topping.

That’s why I jumped when I saw the pressure cooker macaroni and cheese in Pressure Cooker Perfection. They pressure cook the pasta and spices in a small amount of water, treating it like a risotto. This trick really speeds up the recipe - no waiting for a pot of water to boil, no draining, and one (pressure cooker) pot to clean. Weeknight macaroni and cheese is now within my reach.
In fact, the Pressure Cooker Perfection version looks like the Ideas version, which obviously built on Pam’s version, which she developed while she was working for Cooks Illustrated. What comes around, goes around…

Recipe: Pressure Cooker Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from: America’s Test Kitchen Pressure Cooker Perfection

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Equipment:

6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I used a 6 quart Instant Pot electric PC)

Ingredients

1 pound dried elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon Kosher salt (or 2 teaspoons table salt)
4 cups water
1 - 12oz can evaporated milk
16 ounces shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
6 ounces shredded Parmigiano cheese

Bread Crumb Topping (optional)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Pressure cook the pasta and spices

Stir the macaroni, butter, mustard, hot pepper sauce, salt, and 4 cups water in the pressure cooker pot. Lock the lid on the pressure cooker and bring the cooker up to high pressure. Cook on high pressure for 4 minutes (both stovetop and electric), then quick release the pressure and remove the lid.

2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients

Turn the heat under the pot down to low (or turn the electric pressure cooker to simmer), and stir in the evaporated milk. Test a piece of pasta by taking a bite - it should be al dente, but cooked through. If the pasta is still tough in the middle, simmer it for a few minutes, until it is tender. Stir in the cheese one handful at a time, stirring constantly and waiting for the current handful to melt before adding the next handful.

3. Top with breadcrumbs and broil

Optional step, if you like a toasted bread crumb topping: Pour the macaroni into a 3 quart broiler-safe dish, patting it down to level out the surface. Sprinkle the panko over the macaroni and cheese in an even layer. Broil the macaroni and cheese on high until the bread crumbs are toasted, about 5 minutes. Check the bread crumbs often - they go from pale brown to burnt in a flash.

Notes:

Serve with a bottle of hot sauce at the table. I like Frank’s Red Hot or the smoky flavor of El Yucateco chipotle hot sauce. Oh, and some cheap bubbly and sweet-hot mustard are also nice.
I have burned too many bread crumbs in my day. I always I set a timer for 1 minute intervals while I’m broiling. That way, if I get distracted (by a homework meltdown…just to pick a hypothetical example), I have the timer to remind me - “Oh no! The breadcrumbs!”

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Click here for my other pressure cooker recipes

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Book Review: Pressure Cooking Perfection

2013-04-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I’ve been waiting for this book for ten years. I’m a loyal Cook’s Illustrated subscriber, and I bought my first pressure cooker in 2003, based on their review. Cook’s trickled out a pressure cooker recipes over the years, but not that many. I wanted to see what Cook’s ultra-analytical style would bring to pressure cooking.

But that title - perfection? That's a strong claim. I know it was probably the editor, unable to resist the alliterative P in the title. But still. And then the introduction made me sit up:

In the many months of testing, we did come across an interesting fact. Almost all the times listed for basic pressure cooker recipes (vegetables, grains, etc.) were incorrect. We spent weeks testing the basics, getting the timing right, and we have included reliable charts so that you can use the pressure cooker as a useful cooking tool day in and day out.

Was this it? The book I’ve been waiting for?

Um…no.

Now that I have it in my hands, I’m disappointed. I believe them when they said they took months to test all the recipes. It’s what they do. But…

The Good, The Bad, and The Weird. A three part review of Pressure Cooking Perfection.

The Bad: Confusing the pressure indicator with high pressure.

The Fagor Duo is their best buy pressure cooker. It is on the cover, and in all the pictures in the book. (They have a different “best” cooker, but you never see it other than in their equipment review section.) I owned a Duo for years, and it’s a great cooker; I passed it on to a friend, and she’s still using it.

My trusty Fagor Duo 10 quart pressure cooker

But the Duo doesn’t work the way the book says.

From Pressure Cooking Perfection:

Some pots have a knob that you turn to low or high (called 1 or I and 2 or II on some pots), which allows you to indicate your target pressure level before you start to bring the pot up to pressure. The pressure indicator will rise when that pressure level has been reached. [Emphasis mine]

and

Once the lid is in place, heat the pot over medium-high heat until the pressure indicator signifies that you have reached the desired pressure level. On some pressure cookers, you have a knob that allows you to select high or low pressure and you simply wait for the pressure indicator to signify your chosen pressure level has been reached [Emphasis mine]. On other pots, the pressure indicator will have markings for low and high pressure that you have to watch for.

For comparison, here’s what the Fagor manual says about coming up to pressure:

When the pressure indicator has risen and steam starts to come out of the operating valve for first time [Emphasis mine], lower the heat to maintain a gentle, steady stream of steam. At this moment, the COOKING TIME STARTS and you have to start timing you [sic] recipe.

See the difference? Pressure Cooking Perfection is mistaking the pressure indicator for high pressure. The pressure indicator just means the cooker has some pressure, but it pops up as soon as the water in the pot is boiling. It means pressure is starting to build, not that high pressure is reached. The pot is at high pressure when it reaches 15 psi (roughly 1 bar), and there is enough pressure to push the spring in the pressure valve slightly open. The escaping steam tells you the pot is at high pressure. This is a big deal for any pot with a separate pressure indicator and pressure valve, like the Fagor Duo.

They do get it right with “other pots” - on some cookers, like my Kuhn Rikon, the pressure indicator doesn’t work like an on/off switch. It slowly rises, and the indicator has markings for low and high pressure.

Second red ring on the pressure indicator means high pressure.

Why am I so worried about this? Recipe timing is critical with pressure cooker recipes, because the lid locks once it comes up to pressure. (Which is what the pressure indicator actually shows - that the cooker is locked.) Once the lid locks, you have to trust the recipe's timing.

The Fagor looks like the cooker they used, from all the pictures in the book. And they’re starting their timer before the pot is up to high pressure, according to Fagor’s own manual. Less than a dozen pages in, and I’m suspicious of all the timings in the book.

That quote from the introduction, about "incorrect times”? There’s a reason their times don’t match anyone else’s - and it’s not because everyone else is wrong.

And then? They make the same mistake with electric pressure cookers.

From the book:

There is a lag between the time the electric pots come up to pressure and when the timer starts, which led to overcooked food when preparing recipes with short cooking times.

Again - electric pots do know when they are at high pressure. They have sensors that detect when the pot has reached high pressure and start their timer. The book is making the same mistake, confusing the pressure indicator with reaching high pressure.

I went from thrilled to have the book to highly suspicious of their results…and I hadn’t reached the first recipe yet.

The Weird: Dried bean timings - so short they look like misprints

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to get pressure cooker beans right. Most pressure cooker cookbooks underestimate bean cooking time. The dried bean chart was the first thing I checked - I hoped their thorough testing would lead to better bean cooking times.

Then I got the next curveball - the bean cooking times were short. Really, really short. According to their table, soaked pinto beans should cook for three minutes at high pressure, with a natural pressure release. Garbanzo beans and kidney beans? Five minutes.
And, after their pressure indicator issue, I assumed the timings would be extra long, not short.

Every other pressure cookbook says it should take ten to twelve minutes to cook soaked beans at high pressure. (Including the manuals that came with the cookers). My experience is it’s more like fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty with a batch of older beans.

Why the different times? Pressure Cooking Perfection calls for 4 quarts (16 cups) of water to cook 1 pound of beans. Other pressure cooking cookbooks (and the manuals that came with my pressure cookers) call for 6 to 8 cups of water. That’s a whole lot of extra water. Maybe they figured out how to deal with older beans, and had better results with more water?

I tested this technique with pinto beans (because I had a big bag in the pantry). I followed their soaking instructions: dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in 4 quarts of water, then soak one pound of beans overnight. I cooked the beans at high pressure for 3 minutes, let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then quick released the rest.

That's when I figured out why they only cooked for 3 minutes under pressure. It takes forever to get 16 cups of water to boil. I did an old way/new way test. The book's technique (4 quarts of water/1 pound of beans/3 minutes high pressure) took longer than the the traditional technique (2 quarts of water/1 pound of beans/10 minutes under high pressure). Total cooking time was seven minutes longer for the Pressure Cooking Perfection technique, even with the shorter time under pressure.

And the beans? I have to admit - I went into the test with bias in my heart. I was sure three minutes under pressure wouldn't cook the beans. But, much to my surprise, the beans turned out OK.

I had some tough floaters, like I always do when I buy a bag of beans from my grocery store. The rest of the beans were cooked properly. Maybe a little on the underdone side, but not bad.

But, the beans tasted watery; the bean cooking liquid was diluted by all the extra water. The “old way” beans tasted better.
Both batches of beans were brined and drained; the only difference was the amount of water used to cook them.

The other problem with this technique: too much water for a smaller cooker. 1 pound (2 1/2 cups) of beans plus 4 quarts of water takes a 6 quart pressure cooker over the “max fill” line - you can only use their technique with a 8 quart or larger cooker.

So, beans were inconclusive - much to my surprise, their method worked. But it seemed like change for change’s sake; it didn’t actually improve the beans.

Note: I emailed America's Test Kitchen, asking if the bean timings were misprints. They never responded. The rest of the book's timing charts, for meat and vegetables, look reasonable. A little on the long side, but that’s what I expected with the pressure indicator issue.

[Update 2013-04-09: An editor from Cooks Illustrated contacted me, and forwarded my question on to the book department. Stay tuned for what they have to say.]

The Good: Finally, the recipes

By this point, I was prepared for disappointment. Then the book surprised me again. But this time, it was a good surprise.

The book is full of solid recipes. The timings all look good - maybe a little on the long side, but not completely out of range with my own findings.

The following recipes went on my “must make for dinner" list:

Farmhouse Chicken Noodle Soup (using a whole chicken in the pot)
Sirloin Beef Roast with Mushrooms
Chickpea and Artichoke Tagine
Macaroni and Cheese

The pressure cooker pasta technique is a winner. They suggest cooking pasta like risotto, with just enough water to cook the noodles. This makes Macaroni and Cheese a one pot meal - no separate boiling step, just stir in the milk and cheese once the noodles are cooked.
My version of their recipe for Mac and Cheese is coming Thursday.

Luckily, recipes with dried beans ignore the bean timing chart and the massive amounts of water. Chickpea Tagine cooks for 25 minutes at high pressure, not the 5 minutes suggested in the chart. Cuban black beans also take 25 minutes under pressure, with a natural pressure release, and some extra simmering at the end.

All the recipes I've tried have worked well. I think their testing time was spent working on the recipes, and it shows.

So, what does it all mean?

I wanted to love this cookbook, I really did. But I was disappointed. I have a lot of respect for Cooks Illustrated; they taught me a lot of what I know about cooking. This book doesn’t live up to their standards.

If you’re new to pressure cooking, don’t start with this book - you need a better basic reference. Get either Lorna Sass or Miss Vickie for your first pressure cooking book. This one is good for later, once you know how to use your pressure cooker, and need some new recipe ideas.

Recommended with Reservations.

*FCC Disclosure - I did not receive any compensation for this post, and purchased Pressure Cooking Perfection with my own money. If you buy a copy through my Amazon links, or anything else for that matter, I get a small sales commission. Thank you!

Things I Love: Pressure Cookers

Review: Kuhn Rikon 12 Quart Family Stockpot Pressure Cooker

Review: Cuisinart 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker

My Pressure Cooker Recipes

PicOfTheWeek: Korean Grilled Pork Belly

2013-04-07T11:16:00.000-04:00

Pic Of The Week: Korean Grilled Pork Belly (Daeji Bulgogi).

...and yes, this is essentially Korean grilled bacon. Recipe coming soon.

Grilled Cowboy Chop (Double Cut Ribeye, Reverse Seared)

2013-04-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

When I saw the picture of the cowboy chop, I fell out of my chair. I was on the phone to my butcher immediately. I had to grill one. Had to!

The cowboy chop is a monster ribeye steak. 2 1/2 inches of beef, trimmed, with the bone cleaned off so it looks like a large comma. This one steak fed my family of five, with leftovers for a steak sandwich during the week. Because, really, this isn’t a steak. It’s a small rib roast. I mean, look at that thing.

Now, how to cook this gigantic piece of meat? I’ve always been a sear and move guy. Sear the steak first, then slide it over to the cool side of the grill and let the temperature come up slowly.

The problem is, all my food science heroes say I’m doing it backwards. Reverse sear is the way to go - start over low heat, gently bring the meat up to temperature, then finish it with a blast of heat to brown it. Alton Brown, Shirley Corriher, Nathan Myhrvold, Kenji Alt, and Meathead Goldwyn all recommend this approach.
Of course, their “low and slow” method varies, from a low oven in Alton’s case, to freezing the steak in Modernist Cuisine at Home. I’m sticking with a grill-only method, recommended by Kenji Alt, even though bubba sous vide was a tempting alternative.

Why does the reverse sear work better? Two reasons:

The slower cooking means the muscle fibers in the beef don’t squeeze out quite as much liquid. Saving the sear to the end means juicier meat.
The beef spends more time at temperatures between 40°F and 122°F. At those temperatures, enzymes in the meat are tenderizing the protein as it cooks. The higher the temperature, the more the enzymes tenderize…until the temperature reaches 122°F and the enzymes stop working. Keeping the beef below 122°F for as long as possible results in more tender meat.

In spite of knowing all this, the reverse sear scared me. It’s different from the cooking method I’ve always trusted, and I didn’t want to mess up this gorgeous piece of beef.
Special thanks to Sherman Provision, my local butcher. This was a special order, and Michael let me come back and pester him about how to cut it.

The reverse sear instructions are easy - bank the coals to one side and start the steak on the other side away from the heat. Cook the steak with the lid closed, flipping often, until the temperature is ten degrees lower than the final temperature. (115°F for medium rare). Then, move the steak directly over the lit coals to give it a final sear.

I did have to display adaptability as I was cooking. I had a couple of problems during my reverse sear:

The heat drops as the coals burn down. I started out with a half a chimney of charcoal and a grill temperature of 300°F; by the time the steak was ready to sear, about an hour later, the grill was down to about 250°F, and the coals were just about spent. I poured in an extra half chimney of coals that I lit about fifteen minutes into the cooking time to build the fire back up.
Low and slow was lower and slower than I expected. I thought it would take a half an hour to get the steak up to 115°F, so I could start the sear; it took a little over an hour for that huge hunk of meat to warm up. This was a problem, because my wife expected dinner a half an hour earlier. She gets a little peckish when dinner is late. The keys are patience and a instant read thermometer. This is perfect for probe thermometers, with a wire leading to the main unit; leave the probe in the steak, and it will tell you exactly when to continue cooking.

Even with those problems, I’m going to use this technique again. The beef was pink from edge to edge. No gray ring of overcooked beef between the crust and the core, just medium-rare deliciousness. And the low and slow cooking results in extra tender meat; this ribeye chewed like beef tenderloin.

I mean, look at that - that's perfectly pink.

I’m going to play around with this technique some more; it should work great with thick cut steaks, even if they aren’t as cartoonishly thick as the cowboy cut.

If you have carnivores in your life, call your butcher and special order a cowboy chop. They’ll love you for it.
That is - your butcher and your carnivores will love you.

Recipe: Grilled Cowboy Chop (Double Cut Ribeye, Reverse Seared)

Adapted from The Food Lab’s Perfect Grilled Ribeye Steaks | Serious Eats : Recipes

Cooking time: 65 minutes

Equipment:

Grill (I use my trusty Weber kettle)
Charcoal chimney (for the extra batch of coals)
Probe thermometer and/or an instant read thermometer

Ingredients

1 “Cowboy Chop” - a double cut bone-in ribeye steak, 2 1/2 inches thick, about 2 pounds
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 fist sized chunks smoking wood (or 1 oak wine barrel stave)

Butter baste

4 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, minced
leaves from 1 sprig of thyme

Directions

1. Season the steak

Two hours before grilling, remove the steak from the refrigerator. Season it liberally with the salt and pepper. Let it rest at room temperature until it is time to grill.

2. Set up the grill

Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat, 300°F. On a charcoal grill, light half a chimney of charcoal (50 coals), wait for the coals to be mostly covered with gray ash, then pour them on one side of the grill. Add the smoking wood to the pile of coals.

3. Start the steak on indirect medium-low

Put the steak on the grill over indirect heat, away from the lit coals. Close the lid, and position the air holes directly over the steak to pull the smoke towards it. Cook the steak, flipping every five minutes, keeping the lid closed as much as possible. The steak is ready for searing when it reaches 115°F internal in the thickest part, somewhere between 30 minutes and 1 hour. (115°F is medium rare. Cook to 105°F to 110°F for rare, 125°F for medium. Beyond that…buy a thinner steak.)

Start another half a chimney of charcoal (another 50 coals) for the searing step after the steak has been cooking for 15 minutes, or when it reaches an internal temperature of 80°F. (Do this on a heat safe surface. I used my other charcoal grill - doesn't everyone have two kettles?)

4. Melt the butter baste

While the steak is cooking slow and low: Put the butter, shallot, and thyme in a small, grill safe pot. (I use an enameled steel drinking cup.) Put the pot over the coals when you start the steak in step 3. Check the butter every time you flip the steak - once the butter is melted and the shallots are sizzling, slide the pot to the indirect side of the grill to keep warm.

(If you don’t have a grill safe pot, heat the butter baste on the stove over medium heat, or put everything in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave. Heat the baste until the butter melts and the shallots sizzle.)

5. Sear the steak

By now, the second chimney of charcoal should be covered with gray ash. Add it to the coals already in the grill, pouring carefully so the steak doesn’t get covered with ashes. Brush the steak with a thin coat of butter, then slide it directly over the lit coals. Sear the steak with the lid open, flipping and basting with the butter every minute or two, until there is a gorgeous brown crust on the steak. This should take about five minutes, at which point the steak should measure 125°F internal for medium rare, 115°F for rare, or 135°F for medium.

6. Rest and serve

Remove the steak to a platter and baste it one last time with the butter. Let the steak rest for fifteen minutes, then slice and serve.

Notes

This recipe was invented for probe thermometers. I wouldn’t cook without one, though you could get away with an instant read thermometer, and a check every time you flip the steak.
I’m still working out the timing on this recipe - it took a really long time for that thick hunk of beef to come up to temperature. It seemed to be stuck at 53°F for the first twenty minutes of cooking time. Then it started to ramp up, and it moved quickly after that. But it didn’t seem like it - I had to go in the house and say “I told you dinner was at 6:30, but the steak’s only at 80 degrees. Have another glass of wine…”
If you have a gas grill, this is easier to cook, but you don’t get as good of a sear at the end. Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat by setting one burner to high, and leaving the others off. Cook with the lid closed as much as possible, and adjust that one burner to keep the temperature at 300°F. When the steak is ready, crank up all the burners to high, and put the steak over the burner that’s been lit the whole time. Oh, and replace the wood chunks with a cup of wood chips, soaked for 1 hour, then wrapped in a foil envelope and placed on the burner cover over the lit burner.
The “flip every five minutes” seemed excessive, but it sure worked in evening out the temperature. This steak was as evenly cooked as my bubba sous vide steaks. I didn’t think I could do that entirely on a charcoal grill. I mean, look at that pink center one more time:

References

The Food Lab’s Perfect Grilled Ribeye Steaks | Serious Eats : Recipes
How To Grill a Gigantic Rib-Eye Steak | Serious Eats
Cooking Temps: When To Cook Hot & Fast, When To Cook Low & Slow, And When To Do Both (Reverse Sear)

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

My award winning Grilled Ribeye with Mediterranean Herb Butter
Beer Cooler Sous Vide Grilled New York Strip Steaks

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Facebook Feedback

2013-04-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

“Housekeeping Week” continues on DadCooksDinner. I have a list of non-food topics to discuss. Rather than trickling them out, I’m publishing them all this week...kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Thursday will be back to normal, with a recipe post.

TL;DR version: Do you follow DadCooksDinner through Facebook? Do you see all my posts? (Or, any of my posts?). Help me understand what's going on by leaving a comment. (Not a Facebook person? This is not the post you're looking for, please move along...)

...Still here? OK, here we go...

My brother-in-law is a big Facebook user. We were chatting at my niece’s birthday party, and he said “So, you started on the blog again?”

I asked him what he meant. He said this was the first post he’s seen in months on Facebook; he assumed I was on an extended blog vacation, and just started writing again. I frowned and told him I’ve been here all along, posting two to three times a week.

I thought something like this was happening. Late last year, I think Facecbook changed the way Pages (like my blog page) are shown to followers. I have 700+ followers; according to Facebook’s tracking, new posts reach 150 to 200 of them. This is a noticeable drop; early last year, I would reach 250 to 300 people with each post, and that was with fewer followers.

Around this time, Facebook started asking if I’d like to pay for “promoted posts”. I’m sure this is a complete coincidence.

Nice blog you’ve got there…it would be a shame if it disappeared…

But…I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get Facebook. I could be missing the point. I don’t use my personal Facebook account; I go directly to the DadCooksDinner page to see if there are any comments to answer.

That’s where I get even more confused. There are a group of people who regularly like and comment on my Facebook posts. So, I haven’t disappeared from Facebook - I just don’t get seen by as many people, somehow.

So, I’m reaching out to my readers. If you follow me on Facebook, can you explain what’s going on?

1. What do you see? And where do you see it?

Can you explain how you find my posts on your Facebook page? I post every Tuesday and Thursday - Do you see everything I post? Or do you only see some posts? Or a post once in a blue moon?

Do you have to go somewhere special to see my posts, or do they show up in your news section?

2. Do you only follow through Facebook?

If you’re following me through Facebook, is that the only way you follow me? Or do you use one of my other subscription methods as well (RSS, Email, Twitter?)

Finally…

If you’re following me on Facebook, and you’re wondering where I went (like my brother-in-law), maybe you should subscribe via Email or through a RSS reader. You’ll get to read all of my posts that way.

Of course, according to my conspiracy theory, Facebook followers will only see this post if I pay Facebook to promote it. Oh, the irony…

Let me know what you think. Leave a comment in the comments below. Oh, or on my Facebook page, of course.

Working for Tips

2013-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

...Still here? OK, here we go...

Email from a reader:

Just bought a rotisserie grill and stumbled upon your site for recipes. I plan to use a few over the next few weeks. It’s a shame that I (and others) cannot compensate you (in a an easy way) for your valuable information. I don’t own a Kindle so I won’t be buying your book and I’m too lazy to deal with the Apple bookstore.

BUT, if you set up a link to Paypal, and continue to do what you do, I can send you $5 as my way of saying, thanks bro. (No, this is not a scam and I don’t work for Paypal.)

Suggestion from a reader in Austin, TX, edited to protect the innocent.

Can I work for tips? Should I?

I had a Paypal tip jar set up years ago, before anyone actually read my blog. In six months, no one ever used it. So I took it down.
I had the analytics to prove no one was reading. Except family members. (Hi mom! Thanks for reading!)

It’s time to try again. As an experiment, I’m adding tip jar and subscription buttons to DadCooksDinner. If you want to support the work that goes into this blog, make a one-time donation or small monthly subscription through this link:

Since I’m shamelessly asking for money, The least I can do is share the finances of a a mid-level food blog.
And I mean that. It’s impossible for me to do less.

Blog Economics

Income

Here’s my blog income breakdown.

Book sales: 45% of my income

The moment I published it, my cookbook became my highest source of income. Thank you, everyone, for buying my cookbook!

Amazon Affiliate payments: 35% of my income

If you click through one of my many Amazon links, and buy something before you close your browser, I get a sales commission.

Personally, I like this approach to supporting blogs, If I’m buying something from Amazon, I go to a site I like and click through one of their Amazon links. Amazon will send a small commission to the blogger, and I don’t pay any extra, because Amazon charges the same prices either way.
The only downside is...Amazon addiction. I’m trying to cut back, but it’s hard. So, so hard.

Advertising: 20%

I have BlogHer and Google ads. This used to be a major source of income for me, but it is falling fast. I think Internet advertising is in a race to the bottom, cost wise, and my payments are dropping because of it. My blog traffic roughly doubles every year, but my advertising income has stayed about the same.

I stick with BlogHer because I like their community and the support they offer. I stick with Google because of their analytics, because they host my blog on Blogger.com, and because they provide the ads for the occasional YouTube video.

Expenses

I don’t track expenses as carefully as I should. The blog itself isn’t very expensive - I pay a few dollars a year for the domain name, and a few more for my RSS/Email feed. I’m hosted on Google’s blogger.com, so I get free hosting until I use up the 10GB of space they gave me. At my current rate of growth, I’ve got a few years to go before I have to pay for extra storage.

The real expenses are food costs. And, to a lesser extent, kitchen gadgets. When I have an expensive purchase, if I remember to get a separate receipt, I can expense it on my taxes, and offset some of my earnings. But, usually, my costs are rolled up in my weekly grocery bill.
I have to eat those costs. Get it? Eat? Bwahaha!

Effort

I average fifteen hours a week on the blog. That includes writing, cooking, recipe testing, photography, formatting posts, email, and comments.
I spend at least an hour on weekdays, and more on weekends.

Then comes indirect time - reading books, magazines, and other blogs; visiting specialty food stores; trying out new recipes and techniques. Food is my hobby, so this “ research” is what I do for fun. I’d do it even without the blog.

This time fills what's left after shuttling three kids to events and convincing my wife I didn’t forget about her.
Where do I find the time? I don’t watch TV. At all. Only the occasional live sporting event, mainly Browns games in the fall. And, after the last few years, I should skip the Browns. I’d have less heartburn on Sundays.

Totals

How much money am I making? I’m too shy to give an exact dollar amount. But…after four plus years of blogging, my income is almost enough to pay for groceries for my family of five. Still not enough to make a house payment, though.
To narrow it down even further, our grocery bill falls between the “low cost” and “moderate cost” weekly averages according to the USDA.

That’s gross income, not net - like I said, this is my hobby. I ignore taxes and expenses; when I get a check from the blog, I spend it. Usually on a cookbook, or another kitchen gadget.
Then, when April 15th rolls around, I regret that I ignored taxes and expenses.

Take my income, subtract the expenses, and divide by fifteen hours a week and I make…yikes. I'm not quitting my day job any time soon. I can always dream about "retiring", and blogging full time - but then I look at college costs. With three kids, I’ll be lucky if I can EVER retire, even if I live to be 99.

Thank you for reading. If you want to support the work that goes into DadCooksDinner, here’s the link to the tip jar again:

Inspired By

Farnam Street Blog, Content Economics

Why My RSS Feed is Moving

2013-04-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to “Housekeeping Week” on DadCooksDinner. I have a list of non-food topics to discuss. Rather than trickling them out, I’m publishing them all this week...kind of like ripping off a band-aid. Thursday will be back to normal, with a recipe post.

TL;DR version: If you follow DadCooksDinner through a RSS reader, my feed is moving to feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner.

Don't know what an RSS reader is? We're done here, you can move along.

...Still reading? OK, here we go...

Google Reader? No. No! Anything but that...

A moment of silence for the demise of Google Reader, my front page to the web. I have hundreds of feeds in it: food and technology, sports and politics, news and humor. Everything I follow on the web I follow through my RSS reader - and for years, that has been Google Reader. No more.
Why? Why?!? WHY?!?!? deep breath. OK, I think I can continue.

Beyond my addiction to Google Reader, I have concerns directly related to DadCooksDinner.

FeedBurner is Doomed. Dooooomed!

I depend on Google. A lot. DadCooksDinner.com is hosted on Blogger, google’s blog publishing site; Blogger is also my blog editing software. My email is through Gmail. I think both of those are safe.

But, my RSS feed and email subscriptions run through FeedBurner, and I can see the writing on the wall. Feedburner will be the next to go. Google shut down advertising on FeedBurner, the analytics have been crashing intermittently. Feedburner is not being supported. It’s just a matter of time before it gets the axe.

I moved my blog feed. If you follow me through email, you’ve probably noticed a change in formatting - that’s my new feed service. If you read through RSS, you have to subscribe to my new feed:

feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner

Tomorrow, I’m going to flip the switch to start forcing people from my old feed to the new one. Please update the feed in your RSS reader if you want to continue reading.
For my readers who have no idea what an RSS feed is, don’t worry. If you don’t know what it is, you don’t have to worry about it.

What about me, and other small bloggers?

Half of my subscribers follow my blog through Google Reader. What is this going to mean for my blog traffic?

Google Reader is how I track smaller blogs, ones that post a few times a week or month, instead of a few times an hour. I can’t be the only one who does this - what’s going to happen when it’s more difficult to follow smaller blogs?

Enough whining. What am I doing about this?

I’m a Mac guy, so I’ve been using Reeder on my iPad. It synced with Google Reader, and I love their iPad interface. The Mac version of the software is nice, and they’ve promised to come up with a replacement for Google Reader before it shuts down. My problem is, while I’m a Mac guy at home, I’m a PC guy at work. I need a reader with a web front end, that syncs across multiple platforms and computers.

I switched to Feedly. They made migration easy, and I love their web reader's list mode.

But the iPad version of Feedly doesn’t have list mode. It only works in this awful magazine layout mode, with different sizes for different posts. I can’t flip through each post, scanning the headline one at a time, like I could with Reeder. Feedly has multiple posts scattered across the page, and it slows me down to have to scan each of them.

I’m still looking for an ideal solution. So a question for my readers:

If you’re a RSS addict (like me), what are you switching to? Talk about it in the comments section, below.

And don't forget the new feed:
http://feeds.feedblitz.com/DadCooksDinner

Dad Cooks Dinner

Rotisserie Baby Back Apple Ribs

Recipe: Rotisserie Baby Back Apple Ribs

Equipment:

Ingredients

Directions

1. Rub the ribs

2. Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat

3. Skewer the ribs

4. Cook the ribs

5. Serve the ribs

Notes

What do you think?

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Espresso Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Recipe: Espresso Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

1. Whisk it

Notes

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PicOfTheWeek: Glazing grilled shrimp

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Grilled Asparagus with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

Recipe: Grilled Asparagus with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette

Equipment:

Ingredients

Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

Directions

1. Prep the asparagus

2. Preheat the grill to medium

3. Grill the asparagus

Notes

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Spring Grill Cleaning 2013

Pictures and Videos

Weber Cleaners

What do you think?

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Happy Mother's Day 2013

Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter

Recipe: Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter

Equipment:

Ingredients

Directions

1. Butterfly, salt, and pepper the chicken early (dry brine)

2. Preheat the grill to indirect high heat

3. Melt the butter, sizzle the garlic

4. Grill the chicken over indirect high heat

5. Serve

Notes

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All Clad Factory Sale Summer 2013

Location:

Questions:

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PicOfTheWeek: Apple Juice Basting Bottle

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Grilled Korean Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps (Daeji Bulgogi)

Recipe: Grilled Korean Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps (Daeji Bulgogi)

Equipment:

Ingredients

Directions

1. Marinate the pork belly

2. Prepare the grill

3. Prep the accompaniments

4. Grill the pork belly

5. Serve the lettuce wraps

Notes

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Grilling Cookbooks 2013

1. Where There’s Smoke by Barton Seaver

2. Live Fire by Michael Chiarello

3. Weber’s New Real Grilling by Jamie Purviance

4. Barbecue Crossroads by Robb Walsh