I adore a succulent duck breast cooked with a crisp, tasty skin on it. Yet achieving this in the Big Green Egg has proven less effective than the kitchen … until now. I found a way of getting that delicious, crispy skin using the Egg, whilst at the same time cooking a rich and complimentary mushroom side. It’s a simply trick, you just need a cast iron skillet. And a spirit level.
Beef short ribs are a deliciously rich and flavoursome cut of meat, one of our favourites to cook any time of the year. Smoked over cherry wood and then braised for a few hours in a red wine sauce to enhance the deep flavours and you’re on the way to create a winning dish to impress friends and family alike.
Continue reading “Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce”
One of our favourite guilty pleasures is a delicious cote de boeuf served with seasonal vegetables. And chips. It must have chips. The trick can be cooking the meat evenly as the cut tends to be quite thick. This is where a sous vide comes in very handy, ensuring a consistent cook throughout the joint of meat. It also allows for the juices to be reserved for a fantastic jus.
Or as it’s also known, clean the fridge out mac ‘n’ cheese. Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s new mantra for home cooking, we raided our food supplies to discover what we had lying around to make dinner. My wife hit on the idea of mac ‘n’ cheese with mushrooms and spinach. Add in smoked cheeses that had been maturing for a while and we had ourselves a fantastic side dish.
As lockdown resulted in postponing our USA and Canada road trip, my wife and I have been vacationing vicariously through the medium of television. In a recent series, we followed a famous chef as he travelled from San Francisco down through Mexico, enjoying local cuisines on the journey. We felt inspired to do a fusion of Mexican style flavours with traditional USA food, resulting in some delicious Mexican style BBQ ribs.
We had bumper crop of tomatoes this year. Green tomatoes. A cooler summer and late bud break meant that by mid-October the vines were adorned with small, unripe fruit. Rather than discard them as useless, my wife decided to make a delicious green tomato chutney. And she added in some tamarind for good measure.
Building an awesome table for a Big Green Egg seems to be a rite of passage for many Egg owners. Sadly my DIY skills are non-existant. In fact in 2002, and following a shockingly bad attempt to paint a wall, my wife imposed a lifetime ban on me from attempting any type of handiwork. My father-in-law, on the other hand, is a highly skilled DIY enthusiast. So for my recent birthday he gifted us an amazing custom built Minimax table …
My wife and I experienced a fantastic lunch at the Gatlinburg branch of Calhoun’s Tennessee BBQ in 2019, part of our east coast USA tour. The highight was the best chilli that we’ve ever tasted, using brisket as the meat. After cooking and enjoying some brisket back home, we had leftovers. Time to emulate that amazing Calhoun’s Tennessee brisket chilli.
I thought I had roast potatoes nailed a long time ago, having peaked with the duck ‘n’ dexter roasties a few years back. Then one day a few weeks ago I decided to try roasting potatoes in the Big Green Egg. Well hello! After an abortive first attempt, we now have a new winner for how to make amazing roast potatoes! And yes, they are better than oven cooked ones …
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I’ve been on the bread baking journey for nearly six years, and whilst I’ve tried many different types of seeded bread (both purchased and made by my fellow bakers) this was one of the first seeded loaves I baked myself. It took a couple of experiments to get a seed mixture and technique nailed. And turns out that it’s very easy and virtually the same as other bread recipes I’ve used …
We cooked some pulled pork at the weekend, and had leftovers. Yes, I know, leftover pulled pork, how is this possible? Well there’s only two of us (along with three mainecoon cats) and I did cook a lot of pork. I recently saw a recipe for cheesey nachos with leftover smoked brisket, so emulated that … including the crispy bacon bits which, according to my wife, sealed the deal!
A cracking start to the new year, as The Cooks Digest gets back to its roots of cooking a life less ordinary. Throughout 2019 we endeavour to try brand new ideas with each post. To commence the series, a new cut of meat served with a far eastern style flair … Asian-style pork leg steak.
The Cook's Digest 