Ringing Out '08

Well, I am back in West Chester and ready to ring in the new year. Believe it or not, but I actually decided not to grill tonight. I do have a bunch of friends coming over but I've decided to punt on the grill and try something else. I'll post about it if it turns out edible. However, for your food viewing pleasure, above is a picture of the lamb I whipped up last week in Phoenix. It was a 6 pound boneless leg of lamb that I cooked for about an hour and a half which produced a perfect medium rare. Ahead of time I prepared a marinade for the lamb which consisted of yogurt, plenty of fresh lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, cumin, and salt. I let the lamb marinade for about a day and that was it. Serve with a nice yogurt sauce and you've got it made.

Happy New Year!

Phoenix Christmas Tenderloin

On Tuesday I headed out to spend Christmas with the family in Phoenix. Though it is not exactly hot here, it has still made for great grilling weather. The menu for Christmas Eve consisted of grilled pork tenderloin, carmelized potatoes, brussels sprouts with bacon, and homemade rolls.

I started out with a massive "Pork Loin Bonesless Whole". Since it was way more meat than we could handle, I cut it into thirds with the piece I was going to grill about 4 pounds. As with much of the pork I grill I liberally applied a dry rub. I am not much for measuring but my rub basically consists of equal parts cumin and paprika plus substantial parts garlic powder, onion powder, and kosher salt. Mix all of those spices up in olive oil and apply the paste all over the loin. Let sit for 20 minutes as you prepare the grill. Grilling this guy is pretty easy. All I did was grill on using indirect heat for about an hour at about 350 degrees. Once finished, make sure you cover it with aluminum foil and towels for about 15 minutes to let the juices settle.

Place the I have to admit that something special occurred with this meal. Everything just came together really nicely.

Christmas Duck

Ok, if you haven't already bought a duck for Christmas Eve, I suggest you get on that. I did a dry run yesterday and produced a little miracle meal if I must say so myself. The menu consisted of grilled duck, carmelized potatoes, red cabbage and brussel sprouts with bacon...all smothered in homemade gravy.

Lets begin. I bought the duck from Shop Rite a few weeks ago and froze it. Friday night I took it out to thaw. The duck contains a fair amount of sodium so I did not add any more salt to it. In fact, all I did to prepare was sprinkle a bit of pepper over it. Its been pretty cold here recently so I made sure to use plenty of charcoal to keep the heat up. My goal was to cook it at around 350 degrees for about 2 hours. Once again I used my meat thermometer which worked out nicely. As always keep your coals to one side of the grill and your duck to the other. Underneath the duck it is also good idea to put an aluminum pan to collect the juices. You'll want to use these juices for the gravy. Even if you don't plan on making gravy you may want to do this anyways to avoid a big duck fat mess in your grill.

The duck was actually finished a little sooner than 2 hours. I then took the bird off the grill, covered it in aluminum foil and towels, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. This gave me time to prepare my brussel sprouts and bacon side dish. I actually got the idea for this from several different Food Network shows. The different shows basically had different takes on the same recipe. Here is my take. I took a good hunk of bacon and fried it in a skillet with half an onion. Start by slowly heating the bacon to let it release some fat before cranking up the temperature to get it nice and crispy. I then removed the bacopn and onions and sauteed my brussel sprouts which I had halved. After about 10 minutes the sprouts were pretty much done. I then tossed the onions and bacon bake in along with 3 cloves of chopped garlic. Salt and pepper to taste and you will have one killer side dish.

Here was the final plating. If my real Christmas dinner comes out half as good, it going to be one darn good year. Merry Christmas!

Oasis

Unfortunately I have been neglecting my BBQB blogging duties. Frankly, my 'real' job has been keeping me pretty busy these days. I however did find time to check out Oasis last night in Camden on the water front. While the show was incredible I realize my camera-phone picture is not.

One last thing. I just wanted to say thank you again to the guy who picked us up on the Ben Franklin bridge and gave me and my friends a ride to Philly.

Stay tuned...I am planning on grilling another duck tomorrow.

Xmas Parade, Knights of Columbus and Chili Dogs '08

Every year West Chester, PA puts on a big Christmas parade downtown. Its always a big deal and lots of people show up to cheer on the local high school bands, dance groups and of course Santa Clause himself. Though the BBQB really enjoys the parade, the highlight for him is really the dinner at the Knight's Of Columbus before hand. I don't know that much about the Knight's of Columbus but I do know they put on a great dinner every year before the Xmas parade. With $1.50 Chili Dogs and Meatball sandwiches, $2 beers, and live Christmas music, there's no better place to be.

Thanks Knight's of Columbus, see you next year!