Adventures with anrkst.

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by anrkst6973, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Ippity dippity , a little cook, step over the dog, and in a large bowl it goes. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

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  2. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Well now, let's load this sucker!

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    That was taking too long. Pour it man!

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    Then the roux. (And a 15 ounce can of beef stock which the photographer missed. ;) )

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    Then cap it up. Pretty huh? Just you wait....
     
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  3. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Not excactly light....

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    It's too heavy to go on the rack, but the DO's legs give it nearly an inch clearance from the element.
    I was going to use 3 fireplace rated bricks to elevate it but decided it was unnecessary.

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    3 hours at 350f. This was fun because now it's hot! Not for the weak or those with back issues. ;)
     
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  4. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    This is cool as heck and it smells awesome!

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    Set this on the table for your Thanksgiving guests.....

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    If I cook it......

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    The best part of the cooking? The eating. Everyone had multiple bowls, even the pups got bites of pumpkin. Yeah, as the stew level drops slice away the upper pumpkin and put in in your bowl. It is mind blowing good.

    What do y'all think? Worth the effort or too much trouble? It has a lot of prep but makes one heck of a cool presentation.
    You could just use a smaller pumpkin, chop it up and cook it in a stew. It would still be delicious and it would cook faster with a lid on.....somebody try it. :).
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2019
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    Bozho Member

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    Stuffed pumpkin is great. A smaller one with dried fruits, nuts, turkish delight and rum is incredible.
     
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  6. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    My sous recently said he wants to do more on the next dish. He says he shows up, breathes smoke for a bit, then we eat. I've done all the work before he got here .
    I told him it's the nature of "Ole Dads" to just step up the line and "Get it done". Otherwise small fry would never grow up to be tank size, like him. None the less, I said we'd run to the store, I had a fairly easy dish he could help on.
    He was good with that....
     
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  7. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    So for this (chicken) dish, we will need some marinade. Even though we are going to do about 16 pieces you don't need a lot. I used about a teaspoon of each of the dry ingredients and 2 tablespoons of each of the liquids.
    Just put the meat in a big bowl or something and stir it about to get it all coated. However long you have to let it sit is going to be good. An hour or 2 is good, mine went about 3.

    Edit: that's chopped cilantro in the little container, I realized it might be hard to make out.
     
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  8. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    So...the "safety lecture ". "The cutters are sharp. Do it like I show you. We don't want to go to the ER today. Yada yadda yadda." Bosses don't like given these speeches. You don't want to hear it..again. But it's still gotta be done. :)

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    We decided to do the veg first, before we got the boards all funked up with chicken juice.
    We have about a pound of Brussel sprouts, couple of carrots, some bell pepper, 3/4's of lb of broccoli, a lb of mushrooms and few radishes and potatoes that were left from something else.
     
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  9. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    He did pretty good. Trying to get him to keep those fingertips back. We wound up with a 4 quart prep bowl of sliced n diced veg ( and no fingertip pieces ;) )
     
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  10. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    What we had was 2 packaged broilers. I didn't look at the weight but they were pretty big. The idea was to do an 8 piece cut. We ended up de- boning the breasts, splitting them and then cutting them into 4 pieces, ( I put the backs aside for stock meat. ;) ) It still made a pile of meat.
     
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  11. anrkst6973

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    So the meat is marinating, the veg got a light coat of evoo, Mrs Dash, some lemon pepper, and a light sprinkle of my own "savory blend" ( which has salt) I went to get the Outdoor Cook Station running, Sous went to watch some YouTube. Toting various grill pieces out, getting the charcoal chimney going, it's kind of boring. I understand, :). Let him enjoy some FailArmy for a bit...

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    This is where I go..what I do. If you can't find me, I've probably wandered off to mess around with a cast iron pot.
     
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  12. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I set the 14 inch shallow to pre heat, about 10 minutes like this. I think there's about 20 on top and 15 plus some oak under...375-400f is what I shooting for.

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    Just a squirt of oil, they start to sizzle as you pan them , "smells goooood" my photographer says. :)

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    2 birds made a pan full of meat. I set a manual dingy dingy timer for 30 minutes...

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    The timer dinged, time to flip these yard bird chunks...
     
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  13. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Again I had set my Lodge Square Griddle ( Carbon Steel) to pre-heat. I had evoo and some real butter to add to if its started to get too dry. I used a cookie sheet as a cover to get some steam action, stir it about a few times, I had to do my 4 qts in 2 batches so it had room to move...

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    I get inventive about my cooking sometimes. Here I used some steel tent pegs to give me about 3/8"s clearance between the griddle and the grill without using the actual cooking grill. Get that carbon steel down almost on the fire, get it blistering hot and let er smoke.
     
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  14. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I reset my timer for another 30 minutes, the veg was done in 25. In the going back and forth I think my chicken went a little over 30 but it never got to the burning point. Time to bang the triangle and see if this is eatable.

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    The sous doesn't tell you it's good, but the growling and humming as he puts it away is good by me. ( Sid the dog would like to share in the feast as well. :) )

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    So, that's what I did today. I smell like smoke, people are napping the "full" off on the couch. I'd say it's time for a beer.....a Shiner "Frost" might be in my future. ;).
     
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  15. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    This one is for Kent Rollins, "The Cowboy Cook". I like the fun way his videos are put forth. If you haven't checked out his you-tube channel (and you like cooking) you should. Let's do Shepards Pie....outside. ;)
     
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  16. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    A mixed selection of meats. This is the last jar of venison from that year along with some...."extras".

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    Had to bring out the hand grinder....

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    And it made aboutttt 3 lbs or so.
     
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  17. anrkst6973

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    Now the recipe calls for onions, which my beloved photographer can't eat, so I'm substituting cabbage that I had.

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    This cabbage looks like a drunk machete weilder hacked at it and they put it in a bag. Sheesh. Need to work on it a bit...

    There was also 6 big russet potatoes that got chunked up....but somehow we didn't get a photo of that. Hmmmm...
     
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  18. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I was out of charcoal. Let's use oak instead! :D. I cut a tin can down to about Trangia height, punched some holes around the top with a nail, and put Vasoline on a cotton ball, rolled it in my shavings box, and topped it with about a good tablespoon of 91% rubbing alcohol. Presto, "ignigtion ". It's cheap, reusable, and will light off even this seasoned wood.

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    I am down with some "Hillbilly Tech". Here's our potatoes along with 3 bricks and some wood heat. ( and using my own pots so I don't get filleted alive by LadyAsh for blacking up her kitchen ware. ;) )

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    Time to get the 14" going. Cold meat/cold pan. Keeps it from sticking. A slab o cow is a different, this you gotta bring the temp up together. This needs to be fairly dry mix when done, not too oily. I think mine will be a bit more coarse next time. Something more like Italian sausage grind vs hamburger.

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    Let's see, Cabbage, carrots, celery, corn, green peas, and a few green beans. Just till they are browned. Again I will use more veg next time, get a thicker more moist pie.
     
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  19. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    I employed the sous to mash the potatoes. Once mashed real good, add some flour then a beaten egg. ( for my 6 potatoes I used a 1/4 cup and 1 egg.) Then fold/mix in some Parmesan cheese. How much is up to you. I put a good handful and then about that much sharp cheddar too. You can add a small amount of milk or cream if you want a super fluffy texture.

    You want the potatoes to be cool here, at least cool enough so the egg doesn't cook and the cheese doesn't melt. Mine were drained and sitting in a colander outside with me while I did the meat and veg....

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    The meat and veg has been sitting off the fire for a little bit, still warm but not "cooking" hot. Mix em up real good, I added even more cheese to the top of that. ;). ( this was not in the Cowboy Kent version.)

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    Then spoon in your mashed potatoes and spread then into a "crust". Mine is about 1 1/2" thick but you could get away with 3" as long as you can get enough heat to it. I added small bits of butter for browning and more bold seasoning. ( because I licked the spatula and decided it needed it.)

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    And then I added even mor cheese!

    (I took my time because LadyAsh was off on an emergency mission to the dollar store).....
     
  20. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    The mission was for some good ole dollar store charcoal. This was a recipe I had not done before and I wanted to get consistent heat. This needs to bake so mostly top heat. I loaded the top heavy with just 8-9 under along with the wood coals. Mines not super close to the lid so 350f ish for 30 minutes.....

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    Sid says " Human! stop whatever you are doing and throw this stick!!"

    At 30 minutes I checked it and opted for another 15, get just a bit more browning.
     

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