Yearly Archives: 2006

First time bread baking

This weekend is the first weekend I’ve ever made bread. The good news is that I came up with some pretty decent bread. The bad news is that it took more than one try!

I used a few different sources for tips and hints, but ended up using the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, Breads From The Hearth: Baguettes and Ciabatta. The online ‘class’ makes it pretty easy to make the breads, and, if I’d followed the instructions the first time, would have had better results with the first batch. Continue reading →

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Making something new

I’m going for it this weekend… I got a new mixer a couple of weeks ago, and now I have to use it, so I’m going to make my first attempt at bread!

The mixer is a Kitchenaid Professional 600 Series stand mixer in the color ‘Licorice’ (a decent black color). We got it as a refurb, which means the one year warrantee is 6 months, but it’s a LOT cheaper than the standard retail! I’ll have to figure out how to store it, as it will take up a chunk of counterspace.

Tonight, I’m going to make the poolish, which is the starter for the baquettes I want to make tomorrow. Continue reading →

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Pulled off pulled pork

Today’s blog entry is from a frequent reader and commenter, Todd Jurjevic. This is a true guest blog entry, going over his first attempt at pulled pork!
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Several weeks ago I got the brilliant idea to do a big cook for the big game. For all of you non-Buckeyes the big game I am referring to is OSU Vs Texas. Now I am fairly new at barbecuing. I have done Ribs, Turkey, Chicken and even Brisket, all achieving good success. This was the big game and I wanted to attempt something big. After some discussion, mainly with Curt, I decided on pulled pork. After a couple frantic e-mails to Curt, to which he always responded, I felt a little more confidence that I could pull off pulled pork. However, it did turn out to be a learning experience. Continue reading →

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Carnival of the Grill Edition 2

It’s finally here, the 2nd edition of Carnival of the Grill! Adam of Men In Aprons was kind enough to let me host the Carnival this time, and he’s got a great entry for this edition.

A lot of people think that September is the END of grilling season, with Labor Day signifying things like pools closing and grill accessories being packed up. I live in Ohio, but my grill gear never goes into hibernation! If you’re thinking of packing it up, keep it out a bit longer and see how autumnal grilling can be the best of the year. The weather is cooler, so the fire is more inviting than during the summer. And it’s just that much nicer to sit out with friends, manning (or womanning) the grill. Don’t be afraid! Continue reading →

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Barbecue class coming up!

If you’re in the SW Ohio area, keep in mind that we’re holding a Tailgating class on September 18 in Spingboro at Cooks’ Wares. It’s a great store with really nice classroom facilities. The food will be good, and I think everyone will learn something!

Contact information is:

Call Cooks’ Wares at 937-748-4540

It’s that simple! Continue reading →

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The week of August 28, 2006

n 3 weeks exactly, my barbecue competition teammate, Mark, and I will be holding our first cooking class! (Details can be found here.) With that in mind, later this week, we’ll be reviewing the class and deciding what we’re going to be doing. The theme is tailgating, and, weather permitting, we’ll set up a pseudo-competition site to show the people in the class how a comp might be run. We’ll also be cooking all the food we’ll be going over with the class. My thoughts are to include more than recipes, though; I want to talk about the different types of outdoor cooking and how/when to use different types of outdoor cooking (direct, indirect, smoking). I hope to have a really good packet of info for everyone, with the 2 part goal of getting more people interested in barbecue/outdoor cooking and to be asked to do a class again. Continue reading →

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“Feasting On Asphalt” Review

I’m now going to do what half the food bloggers in the US are also doing this weekend: reviewing Alton Brown’s latest short-series endeavor, “Feasting on Asphalt”. The reason everyone’s doing this is simple – The final episode aired over the weekend. I just had the chance to watch it on Tivo the other day, and I wanted to get my judging thoughts out before I had no more thoughts of any sort. Continue reading →

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Competition judging reflections – VERY long!

My wife and I have now used our judging certifications for the first time! We judged the Madison Ribberfest KCBS sanctioned barbecue competition in Indiana. The good news was that all the judges were certified judges, which, from what I hear, isn’t very common. The bad news (not really that bad) was that some judges didn’t show (or call even), so we had to do an extra entry per category.

Last week, I posted some of my preconceptions, so I thought I’d just reflect on those to see how right or wrong I was, and I’ll add some more observations afterwards. Continue reading →

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The week of august 21, 2006

This week, I’ll be reviewing my preconceptions on judging from last week, now that I have one competition behind me as a CBJ (Certified Barbecue Judge).

I’ll also be talking about something new I tried with ABT’s that I really liked, as well as reviewing Alton Brown’s latest short series, Feasting on Asphalt.

By week’s end, I’ll do another update on my improvement, or lack of improvement after judging a barbecue competition! Continue reading →

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Carnival of Food Photography

I have to admit I’m having fun with this blog community stuff. There’s a huge range of approaches to food, and people are writing about it all over the world.

I’ve recently been included in 2 ‘carnivals’, which are groupings of blog entries that pertain to a topic. One is the Carnival of the Recipes: BBQ Edition, and the other is Carnival of the Grill. In fact, I’ll be hosting the next Carnival of the Grill. Submissions have to be in by September 4, 2006 (Labor Day in the US). Please send stuff in to give me lots to choose from!

I also decided to start up a Carnival of my own: The Carnival of Food Photography! Instead of concentrating on a type of cooking like grilling or barbecuing, I want to focus on great pictures of food, with varying topics. (get the pun… focus… photos…).

The first Carnival of Food Photography will have a submission deadline of September 10th… and the topic is:

(drumroll)

Grill Marks!

So, while there’s no stipulation as to the type of cooking or what’s being cooked, I want to see some GREAT grill mark photos. These can be from indoor cooking as well as outdoor, but, when we have grilled items, those grill marks really get a lot of oohs and aahs! So let’s see your best!

Click here to submit an entry!

If you have any topics for the carnival you’d like to see, let me know. I already have some in mind, but I’m open to suggestions! Continue reading →

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