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An observation and a request

2

Comments

  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    I read the initial post - my impression was a call to action for us all to raise the level of our "game".   A request to push the creativity envelope and show what we can do.    I didnt see any intra-forum rivalry or throwing down of the gaunlet.    No drama here - just a good goal for each of us.

    This forum is a great mixture of "what it already is" - if that makes sense.   I have learned alot - hopefully helped someone along the way that is going through some of the same learning curve with the Egg that I am going through.

    My Egg Cook Wishlist is so long at this point - at least once a day - I see something on here I want to cook.  I got the Egg initially for smoking beef, chicken, pork, and sausage.   A BBQ thing.   My eyes have been opened to the possibilities and it looks fun...

     

    Good post Gary.

    Cookin in Texas
  • Gezr
    Gezr Posts: 154
    Thanks, Boatbum for getting us back to the original intent of VI's post.

    There is an apparent interest and willingness to learn new techniques and foods as seen by VI's "wok revolution". I've been following this forum with, among many other things, an eye for what's next, what else can I try.

    There is plenty of space here for all of the valuable newbie advice, discussions aimed at fine tuning tried and true methods/foods, as well as pushing the boundaries through experimentation and then sharing the learning process.

    Could make this an even more interesting place to be.
    If you don't think too good, don't think too much.

    Afton, VA
  • mikey5874
    mikey5874 Posts: 86
    I am going to cook anything I would have otherwise cooked inside. Will be getting my Wok in a few days (Thanks to the good people on this forum) and I think the sky is the limit. 
  • randomegger
    randomegger Posts: 194
    So baloney and such?
    I'm thinking Boar's Head baloney on the grill would be pretty danged good, actually.  Hmmm....
  • I love this challenge -- Don't forget to take pictures!  :D
    I'm Kristi ~ Live in FL ~ BGE since 2003.
    I write about food & travel on Necessary Indulgences.  
    You can also find me on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter.
  • mustgrill
    mustgrill Posts: 141
    I am a newbie here just because I am new with the egg, I am not new to cooking. Been grillling, smoking, and cooking everything I eat at home. I do  100% of it and have forever. I have been on many forums and this one is very good compared to the others. I have a good time  here and on youtube, it's the only 2 places I go now.
    Located in Western North Carolina
  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    I'm new to the egg, but love cooking (because I love eating). I'm excited to save some bucks by not having to turn my oven on much this summer in the heat of FL, but then again I'll be spending more time outside in the heat of FL. Will be posting recipes and ideas soon...
    Dunedin, FL
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200

    Would this be an imaginative cook? Braised short ribs in a red wine sauce? Me, I like to try out new things and push my boundaries. I get bored cooking the same thing. (And to tell you the truth, I don't like chicken breasts so I usually skip the spatchcock and just cook the parts I like ;) )

     

    imageimage;)

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    Sure, Griff.  Anything you think is imaginative is, by my definition, imaginative !


    Thanks folks for all of the positive feedback on this.  

    This is a good group !!!!
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    The Short Ribs look fantastic.   Looks similiar to a recipe that I have been doing for a while in the oven, have to ask.   What does braising on the Egg bring to the table - versus in the oven?

    Are the flavor's more robust?

    Cookin in Texas
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200

    I think it helped it to pick up a bit of smoke flavor while it was braising. I used some cherry wood chips while I seared off the ribs, think there might have been a pecan chunk in there as well. It could just as easily have been done in the oven, but it was a nice day outside and I wanted to try something new to me.

    Story is HERE

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    is this imaginative enough, im calling it the origional bowl of red. yes you see some bay, yes you see a cinnamon stick, yes theres three crabs fish sauce,allspice berries and thai peppers, lots of garlic, and no.....beans

    image
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    @fishlessman.

    Spoken like a true Texan !    "....no beans".

    BTW, cinnamon is used in a lot of Mexican recipes, as is cocoa.  The thai peppers concern me.  Serranos are about as hot as I go.  But, it looks great.  Any meat in it?
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited March 2012
    I have read that there are people who consider us, on this forum, to be newbies and uninformed Eggheads.  All of the "experts" have gone elsewhere to show off their expertise.  Although I agree with the fact that a lot of "experts" frequent other outlets, I beg to differ that our forum is lacking expertise.  I have seen very imaginative cooks from a lot of you and you have inspired me to reach out further in my quest for improvement.

    So, I would like to challenge you to seek creative cooks and post them for us to learn.  Also, plating the dish is a fun and an artistic outlet for us frustrated artists.

    The internet is full of recipes for us to try.  Think of some restaurant that you loved the entree, and find a similar recipe on the internet that you can adapt to the Egg.  

    Just a thought.  Just a request.



    VI - first, I don't care what "others" think, and you shouldn't either. Secondly, I'm not a professional chef, I'm a normal person - and I cook what I like to eat, which, by my standards, is "comfort food" which is, admittedly, "unimaginative."

    I don't particularly care for "weird" meats "glazed" in exotic sauces made from rare spices from 3rd World countries, and don't even order that stuff when I'm at a fancy restaurant, so why would I care to try to emulate that stuff on my grill?

    I mean, last night I sauteed some fresh veggies from the local farmer's market (2 diff kinds of cauliflower, diced onions, spinach, celery, & carrots) in a VERY high quality (and unfortunately, expensive) locally produced EVOO. I then took leftover chicken breasts that I had rubbed w/ some of our favorite rubs & cooked on the Egg a couple nights ago, and shredded the meat into a "casserole" of noodles. I then added the sauteed veggies, some Habenero-cheese, and had what I could only describe as some sort of leftover chicken casserole.

    Was that meal "Exotic?" NOPE. Imaginative? Maybe. It was actually a way to stretch the 3 chicken breasts I had remaining over the next 2-3 days cuz w/out adding all those other ingredients, we would have eaten the chicken up all in one night & had to cook something different the next night (which right now, time is a luxury we don't have due to work schedules).

    The thing *I* believe to be important is, can a person cook what they LIKE and make it taste "out of this world" such that their friends / family, etc start saying it's the best they've ever had? And can they do that consistently? As Bruce Lee said "Fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks one time, but fear the man who has practiced 1 kick, 10,000 times!!"

    I've achieved that consistency w/ my steaks, burgers, pizzas, chickens, and just recently gotten that good w/ my ribs (my GF said that my latest ribs were better than any we tried @ the Reno Rib Cookoff this past summer).

    Now THAT says something, and THAT is WAY more important to me than what any pseudo-chef know-it-all braggart who thinks his $h*t don't stink means to me. There will always be those who think they are "better" and who think that only THEY can do what they do. To me, those are the ones who are scared, who are insecure, and who will stab you in the back.

    At my work, those folks who "guard" their precious skills thinking that if someone else learns how to do what they do that they'll steal their job often times gets their worst fears realized, because they are the FIRST ones to get laid off because they aren't being team players. However, those who are open w/ sharing their skills, techniques, tips, etc are oftentimes rewarded via raises, promotions, etc because they are making the whole TEAM better, which in turn, makes the whole COMPANY better, rather than trying to put the "I" in TEAM.

    So anyway, that's my soap box. (hops off now) ;-)
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • scooter759
    scooter759 Posts: 257

    @ VI.

    "Any meat in it?"  THAT is spoken like a true Texan!

    WRT this post, this forum is all about SYNERGY (pretty cool word for a HS grad, huh!). No single grizzly old vet or expert can match the cumulative knowledge available here, on any level. Just because I only have a handful of posts doesn't mean I don't have years of experience. Everyone who posts or surfs here has something to add. Hey, if your not getting better, your getting worse.

    My only gripe about this forum is the grief I get from my wife when she see's another email that states "Your recent order has shipped."

     

    Extra Large, 2 Large, Medium, Mini Max, Weber Summit gasser, Weber Q. Mankato, MN
  • Smoker_Guru
    Smoker_Guru Posts: 372

    "My only gripe about this forum is the grief I get from my wife when she see's another email that states "Your recent order has shipped."

     

    +1!!
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    @Hillbilly Hightech.  I appreciate your post and respect your views.  As for me, if I never learned anything new on this forum, I'd probably quit the forum in a week.  If burgers are the only thing you want to do, that's fine.  But, did you read the original post about putting fish sauce in hamburgers for umami?  That, to me, took burgers to a whole new level.  That, to me, was imaginative.  I never used the word "exotic".

    Are there "braggers" here?  Maybe.  I'm sure they are on every forum.  But, for me, I will usually post the recipe of a cook I did so others can do it too if they want.  I know you will never cook Shrimp in Margarita Butter,  but others here will and so I hope that doesn't offend you too much that some people may want to branch out and try new things.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    @fishlessman.

    Spoken like a true Texan !    "....no beans".

    BTW, cinnamon is used in a lot of Mexican recipes, as is cocoa.  The thai peppers concern me.  Serranos are about as hot as I go.  But, it looks great.  Any meat in it?
    its a modified portuguese azorian beef stew. beef braised in hot peppers, garlic, cumin, a little tomato paste, some liquid (wine in this case) and different spices.sounds like chili to me. its got a good possibility to be the origional foundation for texas chili. i used thai cause thats what i had, originally it would have been piri piri, when the spaniards moved into texas there was only those chilis
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    Very interesting, fishlessman.  The true "origin" of chili has been argued for many years, and that mystery will never be solved.  I've always thought that it began on the chuck wagons of the Texas cattle trails.  Your caveat would dovetail into that theory nicely.

    As an aside, I have also heard for years that chili on the trails didn't have much meat.  Maybe, a rabbit or rattlesnake from time to time, so they padded it out with beans.  Somewhere along the way, us Texans got uppity and swapped out the beans for beef.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited March 2012
    VI - it's not about "offending" me, that's quite difficult to do. And I'm not saying one shouldn't try to "branch out" & try new things, if that's what they like. I guess my long-winded original point was that I don't CARE, nor should you, if some self-appointed "experts" think that we don't know what we're doing. They can keep "thinking" that while we'll keep "doing." I don't need someone to belittle me & say that my advice isn't as "good" as theirs because I don't have 10,000 posts to my name, because as I said, if I can get the "wow, that's the best I've ever had" reaction from the ONLY people in my world that matter to me (ie, friends & family), then THAT is what is important.

    BTW, my GF is Filippina, and her son is half-Vietnamese, so "fish sauce" is not something new in my house-hold. She actually buys it by the liter (along w/ buying soy sauce in containers larger than I've ever seen before as a 'Merican). Though, I did get a chuckle out of some folks when they were misinterpreting the true definition of "umami" when they thought it was a type of spice or sauce. Luckily, someone corrected them. Just like "curry" isn't just one spice, or one taste, even though a lot of "Westerners" think that they can go out to the grocery store & buy "curry powder" and believe that that is really what it is, that it's like buying salt or pepper.

    But, I digress. To try to reiterate my original point, in addition to not caring what those who don't matter to me think about my skills (or lack thereof, according to them), I'd also stated that instead of experimenting w/ a bunch of "one-off" cooks (which may, or may not turn out good) that PERFECTING a few favorite cooks is, in my opinion, a better use of my time.

    Anyway, that's all... to each their own.
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • stevesails
    stevesails Posts: 990

    VI great idea, but i also love all the newbie questions, This forum does not bore me at all and i look at it way too much,on the PC, iPad, and droid phone. and it wont until we see photos of grand kids, dogs and birds.

     

    XL   Walled Lake, MI

  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited March 2012
    VI - also, that "Shrimp in Margarita Butter" meal sounds very good, and I might try it, along w/ several other things I've seen on here (but usually when I do, I adapt it to suit my own tastes).

    Anyway, it's not good to "presume" that I won't ever cook it, as that is well "presumptuous" ;)

    And finally, I guess my original statement dovetailed from some comments I'd read from you earlier where you were saying you weren't gonna go to the Salado Eggfest for what I can only guess (based on your posts) was because someone you didn't like, or that didn't like you, would be going.

    Dude, that's high school stuff, we're WAY too old for that now. So if you care if a person is going to be at an event that you wanted to go to, but then decided not to because they would be there, or if you care what others think about your cooking abilities to the point that you want to "show them" that we can cook just as well - man, you are giving them WAY too much credit & power over you!!

    The BEST way to deal w/ it is to go to the Eggfest, hold your head up HIGH, and have fun!! To do anything other than that is to allow the "terrorists" (ie, bullies) to win!!

    So I see this thread as sort of being related to the other posts you'd made in a previous thread, where you care about what others think of you, and then change your actions to try to suit them. Here's some free advice - "F" them!! :-)

    Anyway, not meant to offend, but actually more to motivate & provide you w/ some traction to stop fearing the bullies, the "cool kids" etc... BTW, most of the "cool kids" from when I was in HS are now fat, bald, and twice-divorced, living in the same town they grew up in.

    So just be YOU & you'll do fine!!
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • paulheels
    paulheels Posts: 457
    So baloney and such?
    I'm thinking Boar's Head baloney on the grill would be pretty danged good, actually.  Hmmm....
    Try some Boars Head Taylor Pork Roll. One of the most magnificent pieces of formed meats EVER! Cut 1"- 1 1/2" thick and put on some type of toasted bread with cheese and fried egg, or nothin.

    Paul
    thebearditspeaks.com. Go there. I write it.
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    HH,

    I don't know why I've gotten your underwear in a knot, but if you don't know the facts, don't give life's advice to people.  Perhaps I didn't want to go to Salado because I am a mass murderer, and someone there could finger me, and I don't want to waste them in front of children.  This is the only fact you need to know.  Mickey is a friend of mine, and he said he really needed me to come and cook.  So, I am. Period.

    You stated that you were content to do steaks, burgers, pizzas, chickens, and ribs and wanted no part of "exotic glazes", etc.  and you want to do them 1,000,000 times rather than branching out.  So, it would seem to follow that you wouldn't want to do any *exotic* margarita butter sauce.  But, it apparently pisses you off that I would even suggest that you might not want to try a new sauce.

    So, before I piss you off anymore, I'm through with this thread, and will not comment further.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Austin  Egghead
    Austin Egghead Posts: 3,966
    VI  here is a take off on your pizza wontons:...sorry no pictures camera is already pack for Salado.

    Recipe 
    1 tomato skin charred and removed and finely diced
    1 serrano warmed over a flame until color changes from vibrant green to OD green (that's for you and Travis) seeded and deveined and minced finely
    1 glove garlic minced
    1 palm full of sun dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
    1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of dried Mexican oregano and Italian dried season, Ms Dash no salt, onion powder
     (normally use small shallot) 
    Salt and pepper to taste


    Mix above together well add tablespoon of olive oil to frying pan and add tomato mixture and cook unit veggies are soft (about 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and cool.  

    Capers (we like capers)
    Wonton wrappers
    Mozzarella shredded

    Heat pizza stone to 450.  Peel off three Wontons and brush EVOO on both side.  Place wonton on pizza stone for about 30 sec to crisp flip and crisp for another 30 seconds.  Spread tomato mixture over wonton, sprinkle on capers and add cheese.  Return to pizza stone and cook until the cheese is bubbly.  

    This was our refrig-dive lunch after we had packed up for Salado.  
    Variation to above could be Chorizo sausage, ground beef, prosciutto, pulled pork, chicken...whatever available

    My favorite cooks that i put together after doing pantry dives and refractor dive.

    As far as your original post, cooking challenge accepted.  




    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    Joan,

    I was ready to nix the recipe until I read the "chorizo, ground beef....".  Then, it all came together for me.  
    ;;)

    And, the OD got me all excited.  But, I'm not sure the youngsters like Travis know what that is.  Now, it's all camo.


    Thanks.  You'll see a lot of wonton wrappers in Salado (and also dumpling wrappers).
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • joe@bge
    joe@bge Posts: 394
    edited March 2012

    I agree with several of the points made in this thread and I hang out here to learn new things and to be more creative with my grilling, but for me, a lot of the time grilling is just about chilling out after a stressful day at work, drinking a beer and unwinding.  Most of my cooks that I have posted to date would be considered by most to be on the less creative side.  I like what this forum has to offer and I think it has a good cross section of 'newbie' to 'expert' grillers.  VI - challenge accepted. 

  • VI - you haven't gotten my underwear in a knot. I was merely commenting on things I noticed that were stated, by you, in a public forum. To be able to post back & forth w/out getting anyone's "underwear in a knot" is quite simple if you take it for what it is - just words on a screen that is a casual debate or exchange of ideas. I don't know you, so at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is my family. So, actually, seems the only underwear in a knot, is yours, because I was actually offering some advice on what several ppl considered to be a concern of yours (what others think of you).

    And I wasn't the first one to bring it up, but perhaps I was the most direct. At any rate, I'm just casually posting, and was just echoing what others said about your decision regarding going to salado, along w/ your not-so-subtle reason behind starting this thread which stated that you "have read that there are people who consider us, on this forum, to be newbies and uninformed Eggheads. All of the "experts" have gone elsewhere to show off their expertise."

    Then, when pressed on it to define who those ppl were, you declined (but you OBVIOUSLY had some folks in mind, or else you would have never started this thread, especially in the context you did). If you wanted to encourage "kicking our collective skills up a notch," you could have just said so, rather than insinuating that others on another forum were calling us bad names.

    So it's difficult to have it both ways - either you're concerned that others don't think we are capable of more difficult cooks, or you're not - but passive/aggressive bantering where in 1 post you say something, then in another you deny or downplay it, isn't helping matters. And when you post about not going to Salado because of "events" that transpired, then either give the folks who read the thread the common courtesy of explaining those cryptic statements, or just don't state it at all, cuz it seems like a plea for sympathy, "oh please go, we want you to go, it won't be the same w/out you!!"

    And you're right, I don't know the "facts" but I DO know that you posted, in a PUBLIC forum, about some "events" that came up that made you decide NOT to go to Salado and that, in the context of the posts, it seemed that it was because you found out someone else was going.

    So if you don't want folks to comment in public, or hypothesize, on a public forum that you started, in public, then don't do it in public (sort of like when a female wears a low-cut blouse then complains that guys stare @ her - well, don't put your private matters on display in public & there won't be any publicity).

    Thank you and happy Egging!!! (oh, and if / when I do try the shrimp, I'll post about it) :)
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    This thread sucks. HH, it's your fault. Way to go.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • hehee... Trav, you're right!!

    OK this is for Travis, and everyone else - I do hereby apologize to all those that liked the thread w/out the unnecessary bantering. I should NEVER have pulled it away from the path of those who were encouraged to try more Egg-citing and more difficult cooks.

    In fact, I'm not making any promises cuz I have a LOT of things going on this weekend, but if I get the chance, I'll try to make something a bit more, shall we say, challenging!!! And I thank Village Idiot for bringing it up such that it's even a thought in my head to "kick it up a notch!!"

    Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming :-)
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee