Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
I love a good pastrami sandwich. The salty, peppery, thinly-sliced meat on a toasted bun with a little mustard kind of pastrami sandwich, like they serve at a place in West Los Angeles (Culver City) called Johnnie’s Pastrami. Amazingly, my dad used to go there when he was a single dude in the 1950s. . . . and he brought us kids there. I still remember the bowl of pickles and the giant box of French fries – and of course, the pastrami sandwich. On the Johnnie’s Pastrami “About” page, it says, “Johnnie’s Pastrami was established in 1952 and has become a Southern California landmark. The juke boxes on the counters and booths are all original. So are some of the waitresses.”
So when I saw the Turkey Pastrami on the first season of Primal Grill (on DVD), I had to give it a try. It was several summers ago, and I looked at several supermarkets for a turkey breast, but couldn’t find any. So I made it with chicken breasts instead. And it tasted great!
Earlier today, I made turkey breast pastrami – and it is equally good, although a little on the too salty side for me. I think this is because I marinated the turkey breasts too long (almost 2 days) instead of 24 hours. I will try it again to see if I can get a better result.
Here’s how we did today. . . . .. .
Dry rub marinade for turkey pastrami
On the Big Green Egg – 250 degrees F, with some hickory chips.
Slicing the turkey pastrami – so juicy it squirts!
A plate of turkey pastrami slices
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The gasket on my Big Green Egg finally wore out. After three years, the gasket hardened and had a few “bald” spots.
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Rather than working upside down, I removed the lid portion of the BGE from the hinge assembly.
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The old gasket was scraped off to bare ceramic. Acetone was used to de-grease and clean the surfaces.
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New gasket in place. Easily done in a few minutes.
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3M super strength adhesive (a spray-on contact cement) was used to fasten the gasket to the bottom and top rim. Butcher paper was used to help limit over-spray going into the interior of the BGE.
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My secret for a juicy and tasty turkey: Brining. I use the Orange Brine recipe from Primal Grill, Season 3. (Orange-Brined Turkey Breast)
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The 20-lb hen swimming in the orange brine. I started late, it is best to soak the turkey for at least 24 hours – I brined for only 12 hours – but it was still moist and tasty!
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The BGE is set up for indirect grilling, and a drip pan is placed underneath. Unfortunately, this set up usually burns the drippings – will try using a traditional roasting pan to catch the juices next time. Not this bird has one of those pop-up doneness indicators – I usually ignore those and test for actual internal temperature.
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Pop-up indicator says this is done, however, it is not. Total roasting time at 325 degrees F was 3.5 hours.
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After the turkey was finished, there was plenty of heat and lump charcoal, so I decided to cook the stuffing in the BGE, too.
Announcing San Diego Mini Maker Faire 2013 – Visit the Maker Booth called “Not Your Grandpa’s Ham Radio”
Maker Faire – where art, science and technology crash together!
>> Click here for more info! <<
Great announcement from Paper Transport in Green Bay, WI, USA. Nice mention of the Agility Fuel Systems and how their natural gas fleet is both cost-effective and clean. Click here to see the story….
Early last week, a co-worker bought a falafel plate for lunch. That made me want some all week long. Since do not like to fry foods in my kitchen (too messy) I wanted to try making some on my Big Green Egg.
I searched for a recipe and found this one on a great site called The Shiksa in the Kitchen. It is a traditional recipe, and shows some great pictures of the process, including frying them. I thought this might just work. . . . >>> Click here to see the Shiksa in the Kitchen recipe for traditional falafel.
But it did not turn out as well as I thought. I ate them anyway, but there just was not enough spice. I wanted the cumin and pepper to stand out a lot more. And it was too mushy on the inside – even after almost an hour of baking. I used my recipe for tzaziki sauce. >>> Click here for an interesting beef recipe and the yogurt-dill-cucumber sauce called tzaziki on the BGE forum.
Here are some pictures of this edible but failed attempt. . .
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Traditional falafel mixture.
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Falafel on the Big Green Egg Oven!
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Falafel balls – about 2 tablespoons placed on a non-stick pizza pan.
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Big Green Egg with Platesetter, “legs down,” and Big Green Egg Pizza Stone.
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About 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. Nice and brown, but still mushy on the inside – too moist.
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Falafel balls in pita bread, with tzaziki sauce.
Just a few seconds ago, I found this oven baked version for falafel on a site called Cookie and Kate: I might try this falafel recipe next time I fire up the BGE.
The disaster Preparedness Expo at the Huntington Beach Central Library on September 21 coincided with the Pacific Islander Festival Orange County. It was the 6th annual event…. I stopped to take some pictures and bought a t-shirt, but didn’t stay to watch the programs. There was plenty of exotic foods and displays.
The Huntington Beach events website said, “This fantastic event is meant to be spent among “friends”. The hospitality of the California’s island people originating from Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Aotearoa, Northern Marianas, Belau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Fiji, is undeniably alluring and enchanting, as you’ll see when you come to the free Polynesian fest. . . . ”
Looks like I should visit this event next year. Aloha.
