BEST MEAT DISH TO COOK FOR A PARTY

JimBoof,

We do an open house at our place every Sunday for our friends, and so I'm always cooking for groups around that size. If you take a look through the BGE section of our blog, at http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/big_green_egg_recipes/ you'll get a bunch of ideas.

One of my favorite things to do for a group event is to do a pizza party. Make up a bunch of dough ahead of time, and prepare some sauce, shredded cheese and toppings. Let each of your guests make a pie, and eat them as they come out. It's a lot of fun. I wrote up one of these at http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2009/09/recipe-pizza-party-guest-post-from-fearless-grill.html

For simple, do some spatchcocked chickens or a turkey. Not a whole lot of work, but impressive to people who don't have an Egg.

For a variation on some normal BBQ, try my pulled chicken with lemon sauce recipe. I've served this at a couple of different parties, and it was a big hit ... http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2010/01/recipe-pulled-bbq-chicken-with-lemon-sunshine-sauce-guest-post-from-fearless-grill.html . I usually make my own rolls to go with this, but you can use store bought to make it easier.

Another fun and relatively easy cook is pit beef, which is essentially a large beef roast that you cut thin for sandwiches. Here's a link to a bourbon pit beef I did a while ago... http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/2008/09/recipe-bourbo-1.html

Hope that helps,

-John

I know I can get Tri-tip around here for about $5 a pound (or cheaper). I'll be honest, I haven't made it myself but I have had some kick-ass tri-tip BBQ and it is awesome. I think I mentioned in a previous post that last time I had some they BBQ guy gave me a big hunk of red oak - great for smoking tri-tip. As soon as I have some time - and enough people, it is at the top of my list!

As far as inviting you to the pizza party..... we've already spoken about that. What happens on the board, stays on the board

Yes, it's kind of ironic. By forcing me to post as a visitor and use proxy servers they've made me even more anonymous and less accountable. Alanis Morissette would love it.

Whatever, posting this way makes me feel more like a martyr and altruistic.

Hi, Jim --

A couple of suggestions, both beef, one fancy, one not:

1. Smoke a whole eye round and then slice it thin for roast beef sandwiches. I rub the roast down a few days before the cook and leave it uncovered on a rack in the fridge. Just before cooking, slather it with a bit of oil and then cook indirect at 225 or so until about 120 internal. I serve this on small cocktail rolls with horseradish sauce, sliced red onion, and havarti.

2. Smoke roast a nicer sub-primal and then cut it into steaks. I really like a whole strip, but many folks might prefer a ribeye or fillet. It sound expensive, but really, on sale you can get a whole sub-primal for (say) $50 or so -- not bad if you can feed 8-10 people on it (what would it cost in a restaurant?). Again, I season it a few days ahead and let it sit uncovered on a rack in the fridge. Warm to room temperature before cooking indirect to about 110-115. Pull out your indirect setup, crank up the heat, and sear it to doneness. It's great on its own, but I sometimes serve it with a smoked tomato-puya chile sauce or a red chile hollandaise.

As a final option, consider my pork loin twist on #1 above: brine a whole pork loin for a day or so and then smoke it to about 145. I slice it very thin and serve on small rolls with lime-pickled red onions, homemade pear mustard, and red chile mayonnaise.

Good luck.

Matt

Glad to be of help. Feel free to reach out.

-John

I'll second (or third) the tri-tip. It's lean, tasty, and an easy cook.

Your "T-rex"ed Bistecca alla Fiorentina sounds WONDERFUL. I'm a newbie, have loved what I've done so far, but I'd love it if you could either offer or point me to some step-by-step directions on that. I cooked some NY Strips last night for about 3 minutes a side around 550 or so, then a few more minutes with everything closed, probably about 9 minutes total, and they were wonderful. But I'd guess these were maybe an inch and a half tops. I've never cooked a Porterhouse or T-Bone as thick as you mentioned, and I've been wanting to try!

I gather "T-rex" means super high heat sear, but that's not a lot to go on. I have a large egg, no extender. Can you tell me more, or direct me to a description online, for what temp, roughly how many minutes a side, whether you turn the heat down at some point, etc.?

Thanks!

Theo

That's exactly what I needed! MANY thanks!!!

Theo

It may be a little while before I try this, but I DEFINITELY will! I appreciate the helpful guidance!

Theo