October 2006 Archives

Happy Halloween and to everyone a Merrry Pumpkin !!!

Uh, Haddock? My pumpkin carving didn't quite match up. I'm okay with that though.

xo - Biggles

Chapter 1

Not everyone has some fancy root cellar that keeps our tubers and garlic fresh for the future. Some of us are relegated to use whatever we have handy. This could be, the floor. A bin in a pantry, under some stairs or wherever we have room. Up until semi-recently, I was among you. Today? Times have changed.

Chapter 2

How many times have you gone to bed with garlic hands? Every few hours you're all woked up by the pungeant smell of garlic on yer hands. Need solice?

Venture within to have a little project and hint time with Biggles.

Blah blah and double blah. I never believed that crap and neither did you. We're 22 right? Hit the clubs all weekend, wind up in 3 different beds and get to work Monday morning at 7am with your shades on and you're doing fine. Right? Riiight. You can do that for only so many years before your grandmother's advice starts to kick in. Then a visit to the doctor and he takes one look at you and says, "Do you eat breakfast?"

That was a most outstanding meal and I had to share it with the world. Veggies and I have been at odds for years and I think cauliflower has won my heart over. I smile when I prepare this and can't wait for the roasty smells to start. If you search Meathenge you'll run in to this preparation method with a few different recipes and experiments. This vegetable dish is so good you can eat it as a meal and it's good reheated the next day. Plus it's easy and takes no longer than 35 minutes to cook. Here we go!

I just knew this last Saturday, that Sunday morning I'd fire up the smoker and get that 5 pound picnic portion of a pork roast in there. I wanted a pull-apart roast with my go-to rub. This grass fed fancy roast needed the best and I was just the Biggles for the job.

Yeah well, after 8 hours of smoking, I'd had enough and pulled it. I could tell it wasn't ready, it needed another 4 hous in there. I got a late start in the day and it was time. That was okay, I'd figure it out tomorrow. There's always tomorrow.

And figure it out I did, all in about 10 minutes.

Been feeling itchy lately, wanting to get out of town. This paired with the need for taking a day off spelled nothing less than a Meat Adventure. And to be honest, I've been on a bacon jag for the last month or so and the chance to try a new bacon really give my spine a tingle.

While I don't feel the urge to drive to Sacramento very often, Morants seemed like a good idea for a sunny October morning. Interested to see what bacon Morants gots?

Happy Saturday !!!

Listen up, yesterday Chilebrown and I headed out for Sacramento to visit Morants Old Fashioned Sausage Kitchen. While I only expected a drive up, raid of their smoker and a quick return home, we ended up with a nice morning spent with some sidetracking. What do I mean by this? Well, you'll have to wait until I can find a computer to sit down to and compose my entry.
But Biggles, you're typing this up, right now. Yeah, well see, this is a laptop mounted over the TV and I have to stand at a funny angle to use it. So, any longer than a few minutes and I'm done with it. I moseyed out to the garage to fire up my PC and it don't even turn on anymore.

Surely Biggles with your mad PC repair skills you should be able to get that sucker up and going. Yeah, I can. But it's 84 degrees, sunny with a cool breeze and I have 35 pounds of fresh sausage to tear in to. Not to mention 5 pounds of first class bacon to fry up. Plus I have a nice pork butt roast in the fridge awaiting my attention for an all day smoking session on Sunday. I'm busy! Besides I still have about 280 pounds of Custom Charcoal to use up.

Whatcha all up to today?

xo Biggles

Today's music is brought to you by Carly Simon and Judy Collins.

I'm so excited I'm bouncing up and down in my chair. EEeeEEeeEEeee !!!

It's no secret anymore, Shuna's classes are no less than stellar. I've attended a handful of them ranging from Knife Skills, Baking and Pate a Choux. And this time she's offering up a handful of goodies to learn. And you know what? This is perfect timing. Want to know why? Because the holidays are coming up and this would be the perfect time to master your pie dough technique.

Shuna's classes are a hands on and 1 to 1. If you're a wall flower, too bad. You're going to come away with a wonderful experience, inspired and full of mad baking skills. If you're a pro, she'll be able to clear up any misconceptions or hone your ability to perform. Or if your a Homer Simpson (read here: Biggles) in the baking department, she'll at least give you the opportunity to not screw it up. This is key because you'll get to see feel, smell and touch what it's supposed to come out like. Heck, until last year I didn't know what live versus dead yeast looked like when introduced to warm water.

And I swear to Bacon, if I hear anyone say, "Ya know, I'd love to. But, I think maybe I'll catch the next class." That's all very well and good, but time flies fast pal. You could very well lose out, again. Aren't you tired of being a loser? Step outside your box and make the effort to actually leave your home and have fun and learn something at the same time. Won't you? If I can do it, you can too.

The details on these upcoming classes haven't gelled yet. So, I'm not able to give you the concrete low down at the moment. Except maybe they'll be held in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Please visit Shuna's Eggbeater for details and contact information.

Go now.

Biggles

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Busy doesn't even remotely come to describe what I've been up to lately. And when I do have time? I'm so exhausted I sit down for my pre-bed nap. So, Monday I took the day off. I owed some friend a load of meat and I wanted to hit the road, do some travlin'.

It was finally time for me to visit Bud's Custom Meats in Penngrove California. But that was Monday Biggles, how come it's Thursday morning and you still haven't tried the bacon? No time, that's why. I thought I just got done telling you that. You did, but then how come this entry? Well, because I had a great idea. What's that Biggles? Since I spend all day at work, why not just fry up the bacon here in my office.

I heard rumors about this grill a while back and ever since it's been rattlin' in the back of mind. It wasn't until the other day when CB sent me the link to Woodflame's web site that I said, "THAT'S IT !!!"

Why am I so excited about a portable grill that I don't own and have never seen or used? It's because it uses wood and not propane. Oh, I know what you're thinking. Weber and the likes have been making portable charcoal fired grills for more than a million years. So why is this different from your humble Smokey Joe?

It's got this little "stove" that jets air UP through a few small chunks of hardwood and cooks your food this way.

You can cook an entire meal with just a few small hunks and get this (listen up propane lovers), you're ready start grilling in just 2 minutes. I'm not sure, but I'll bet a propane grill ain't even ready to cook that fast. The owners manual says the Delecto model has 9 fan settings, so you can go from just a little fire (designed for smoking) up to a flame that'll deliver you over 60k btu's, that's a lot by the way. It's enough to deep fry and boil water and apparently this little rig does just that. So, not only do you get a wood burning grill & smoker, but you also get a very powerful portable stove.

That all sounds so good, what could possibly be the downside to this little rig? Well, you're tied to electricity. The Delecto uses 4 D cell batteries and you can get an AC adapter for it. But after thinking about it for a few days I don't think that's a deal breaker. Modern electric motor technology has come a long way and I'll bet you get some decent life out of those batteries. And besides, what would you rather lug around? 4 extra batteries or one of those steel propane tanks? I'd vote for the batteries and real smoke flavors.

Why don't I buy one cause my grill is nearly ready to fall over and die? Why did I not hit BUY NOW the other day? It isn't large enough for my needs. I need a grill about 3 to 5 times that size for my yearly needs. So, my search continues. But yours doesn't have to. If I didn't need such a large grill, I'd buy this in a second. Woodflame looks to be a small company attempting to make it out in the big scary world. I say Kudos to the geniuses that brought us this little grill. Thank you so much for not making another damned propane grill.

Biggles

ps - Please visit their web site for a far better description, user manuals and dealer locations.

Woodflame

6155 Des Grandes-Prairies Blvd.
Montreal (Québec), Canada
H1P 1A5

Telephone : 514 328-2929
Tol free: 1 888 664-6966
Fax : (514) 328-0029

In the back of every kitchen is not only a pantry and stove of some kind, but there simply must be at least a radio.
I have an old Crosley table radio to keep me company. That's good for those early Saturday morning news updates. But it only goes so far, being an AM radio and all. 5 years ago I ran in a second pair of speakers to the kitchen so I could be in my own world without bothering others. Good idea eh? You bet.

What's on the turntable today? Country Joe & the Fish - Electric Music for the Mind and Body. Next? Donovan, Sunshine Superman. This will bring us in to dinner with Band of Gypsys and will center us nicely for the week to come.

Peace brothers and sisters and may your sausage always be juicy.

Biggles

Happy Sunday to everyone!

Eat well.

xo,

Biggles