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What's for Dinner?

Red chili flakes sounds like a good addition, thanks Ry!

Last night I made spaghetti-squash & meat sauce (w/ ground dark meat turkey). I just buy a pre-made sauce b/c I'm lazy, and sautee mushrooms, onions & garlic and add it to the simmering sauce. If you haven't tried spaghetti-squash in place of pasta yet, I really like it. Its sweeter than pasta, but adds a very nice flavor. Topped it off with some ground reggiano, of course. :)

No worries, my best friends mom is lebanese, she has lots of little tricks so I pay attention. Hummous ftw.

My ex got me started on spagetti squash, she would slow roast it with a little organic butter and garlic, its gets really sweet and then top it with some bruschetta topping. absolutely amazing.
 
Paella tonight...that's a new dish for me, never tried it before. But dammit - if it's good enough for George Costanza...

Doing a version with shrimp, scallops, chicken, sausage, onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, some chopped italian parsley, and smoked paprika and turmeric for seasoning. Not sure about the turmeric - only used that for bread and butter pickles previously, so that makes me a little nervous.

We'll see how it turns out :)

If I don't like it, next time - I'll try the exact opposite :)
 
For Valentine's dinner made one of my wife's favorites. I fixed crab cakes, jasmine rice, and caesar salad. For a beverage we had a nice Pinor Noir. My wife has been on a caesar salad kick for couple weeks for some strange reason.
 
OK, two questions. First, anyone ever use liquid smoke? How does it work, how does it taste?

Secondly, tax returns should be coming in a couple of weeks, not getting a lot back, but enough to seriously consider a smoker. My wife would shoot me if I got a deluxe, super big model, so I am looking for a starter smoker I guess. Anyone who has used one and can provide guidance about features and benefits to get or avoid would be appreciated.
 
Goaldeje, I have a Chargriller with side fire box. Got it at Lowes for about $170 and paid about $40 for side fire box. Very easy to use and good starter smoker, plus like you wife didn't get too upset with this purchase. I already had two grills so a third was pushing the envelope.

I'd recommend the Chargriller or a Weber Smokey Mountain. Both are inexpensive and easy to use. One of these days I plan (hope) to get a Big Green Egg.

When I bought my Chargiller had several discussions with guys that did a lot of smoking. I also researched smokers on http://www.barbecuebible.com . When I was researching smokers someone asked me if wanted to entertain any and or how many I would be cooking for.

I went with Chargiller due to larger cooking area, plus could use it for a larger charcoal grill. There has been several times in which I did use it as strickly a charcoal grill. I've smoked ribs, boston butts, beer can chickens, and turkey with great success.

Good luck and good eatin'.
 
OK, two questions. First, anyone ever use liquid smoke? How does it work, how does it taste?

Secondly, tax returns should be coming in a couple of weeks, not getting a lot back, but enough to seriously consider a smoker. My wife would shoot me if I got a deluxe, super big model, so I am looking for a starter smoker I guess. Anyone who has used one and can provide guidance about features and benefits to get or avoid would be appreciated.


the big green egg is the way to go, liquid smoke is gross.

if anything make a smoke packet out of foil and soaked wood chips if you dont have a smoker.
 
Made scallops with a bacon & tomato-creme sauce over a bed of orzo pasta for V-Day last night. Man can I cook scallops with the best of them!
 
Quinoa cooked with wilted kale, the leafy parts of bok choy and chopped serrano pepper with chopped garlic, onion, parsley, basil, and curry powder (a dash). This accompanied a sandwich of Genoa salami and apricot jam on French bread.
 
Paella tonight...that's a new dish for me, never tried it before. But dammit - if it's good enough for George Costanza...

Doing a version with shrimp, scallops, chicken, sausage, onion, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, some chopped italian parsley, and smoked paprika and turmeric for seasoning. Not sure about the turmeric - only used that for bread and butter pickles previously, so that makes me a little nervous.

We'll see how it turns out :)

If I don't like it, next time - I'll try the exact opposite :)

Paella should have Saffron in it. You might consider looking into that next time you try it.
 
Paella should have Saffron in it. You might consider looking into that next time you try it.

it does need safforn but real saffron is like gold lol.

How did the Paella turn out Boone? I have wanted to make it since seeing a food network special about it but its hard to get good fresh seafood here without mortgaging the hut.
 
It was good, but if I had it to do over again, wouldn't have used the scallops. I love scallops alone, on the grill for example, but in this case I just didn't feel they were a good match for a dish that had sausage, chicken, and shrimp in the background. I might even consider leaving the shrimp out as it adds another layer of taste to the dish that I'm not sure blends very well.
 
Weber.com recipe....pounded some chicken breasts flat, filled centers with mix of goat cheese, garlic, minced basil and thyme, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper... and pinned chicken breasts closed with toothpicks. Decided they might not hold together on the grill so baking them. We'll see :)


*REVIEW* - As mentioned, cooked these in a glass baking dish at 400 degrees in the oven, about 40 minutes, then 5 minutes on broil to brown the chicken. To my surprise, came out wonderfully. Cheese-based stuffing did not melt all over the place, leak out of the chicken, or burn as I thought might happen. Chicken holds together even after toothpicks removed. A little work pounding out chicken, but otherwise a winner. Very tasty.
 
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All right. Ordered a smoker last week, got it Monday. Made a simple rub for two pork butts. Put one in yesterday evening at 7pm using Apple wood. It came out at 6:30 this morning, then I did what all the websites say and put it in the oven to finish for a few hours, until internal temperature was 190. Then had it for lunch and thought I may have died. Glad mom wasn't around, cause i might have smacked her. Good Lord, i should have bought a smoker years ago.

Doing another pork butt now, was in the smoker all day, now in the oven.

Ging to have that for dinner tonight without sauce, cause it's that damn good.
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Do you wake up to monitor your temperature, or just let it do its thing? I've also never tried the oven-finishing technique.

And yes, nothing better than BBQ from your own smoker. So delicious!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Bradley-Digit...50/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1298577742&sr=8-13

That's the one I ordered. Lanky, I did end up getting up every three hours or so just for peace of mind, but didn't have to, and probably won't in the future. The digital feature kept the heat and smoke nice and even, very little to do but put it in, set the settings and walk away to wait.
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

Digital feature? Man, my smoker is from the dark ages apparently. I gotta get me one of those!!

EDIT: Ooohhhh, I see - its an electronic smoker. Nothing replaces wood & fire, but the apparent convenience of this thing just might make up for it!
 
Bleu cheese burgers on the grill, with corn on the cob (covered wjtb butter flavored with garlic, smoked paprika, and kosher salt), and grilled home fries soaked in olive oil and lemon juice and seasoned with cumin, black pepper, and salt.

God bless America!
 

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