I have to admit something to my regular readers… I haven’t been cooking a lot lately. The reason is pretty good, though. Over the last few months, I’ve been working on getting healthier, and I’m down about 65 pounds since the end of September! Woohoo! But I do get to splurge now and then, and, once I get to where I’m headed, I’ll be cooking more again.

When I go out, I generally like to go to new bistros, try new foods, stuff like that. However, it’s really hard to beat a good steakhouse. Just like L. L. Bean makes the same great Bean boots year after year, a steakhouse that puts out the same menu is a great thing, as long as they do it well.

In Dayton, there’s something of a landmark restaurant that does just that, the Pine Club. The restaurant opened in 1947, and may not have been remodeled since then. But that’s ok.

The restaurant hasn’t, as long as I can remember, taken reservations. But that’s ok.

The restaurant still doesn’t offer dessert. But that’s ok. (and there’s a Ben & Jerry’s 2 doors down).

What they do, however, is put out a top-quality steak, with house-made salad dressings and great classic cocktails. The place takes me back to going out to dinner with my dad when I was a kid. The restaurant has wood paneled walls, booths covered in dark red naugahyde, and a wait staff that’s generally older women instead of hip, young people, but they know how to do their job very well.

We started with shrimp cocktail, served with house-made cocktail sauce, then a house salad with bleu cheese and the house French dressing. It’s simple but very good. Then came the main event… A bone-in ribeye with onion rings that are thin and delicious. The steak was nicely charred on the outside and rare inside, seasoned simply but well.

The meal was thoroughly enjoyable, and way too much food. The waitress was friendly, and the bartender did a great job on my smoky martini. I’ll go to other places that are more trendy and more continental, but I’ll keep coming back to the Pine Club. Oh, they still have house accounts, too; when was the last time you saw that?

By the way, the photos were all taken with an iPhone and edited using Mobile Monet, just for a bit of fun.

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It’s been quiet around Livefire lately. That’s mostly due to the fact that I haven’t been eating a lot lately, but I did want to wish everyone a really great 2012!

I was asked about my 2012 grilling resolutions, and what I came up with was:

• Get back to more outdoor bread baking, especially sourdough whole grain breads
• Explore more flavors using marinades that involve whisky (Scotch)
• Begin pairing grilled foods with wines, ales and whiskies
• Continue showing that great grilled food can be simply done at home

If you notice, whisky is in a couple of those. As you may recall, I did a whisky tasting with a friend almost a year ago, and, since then, have added to my selection of single malt whiskies. Well, this is resulting in a bit of a new push for me to add to Livefire… whisky reviews!

So in 2012, you’ll start seeing info on different whiskies and what I think of them. Along with that, some friends that are grillers/barbecuers are also involved, and, if they’re willing, I’ll include some of their reviews, too! I’ll put up some information here as entries, but I’ll also be adding a menu selection to Branndair Uisge Beatha Cuallach, which is an attempt in Scottish Gaelic to say “Barbecue Whisky Society”!

We’ll be trying whisky from all over Scotland, and throwing some whiskeys in from other parts of the world. This spring, I’ll probably try a Pappy Van Winkle bourbon or some different types of single malts from outside Scotland. The idea will be to show from entry level whisky to some higher end stuff that most of us won’t buy on our own, but that will be fun to try.

The question has to be asked, though: what does this have to do with barbecue?

The answer is simple. Each review will include some form of relating the whisky to grilling or barbecuing, whether a way to make a marinade or sauce with the whisky or what foods done outside will go with the whisky.

So I hope you all stay tuned to see where this goes… and I hope you all have a great 2012 ahead!

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I’ve been making pig candy for years now. It’s a simple, delicious way to prepare bacon by covering it with brown sugar and a touch of cayenne, then baking/smoking it until the bacon is crunchy and the brown sugar has coated it. It’s just addictive stuff!

I was thinking this year of fixing candied pecans. You know the ones I mean… the pecans with cinnamon and sugar and egg whites that make them crunchier and, also, addictive. This gave me the idea to try a new version of pig candy, using the typical brown sugar and cayenne, but starting with an egg white base to give the bacon a new texture.

I took 4 egg whites and beat them until they got a bit frothy, then added about half a cup of brown sugar, and bit of cayenne. I was afraid I’d put in too much sugar, as the egg whites got a bit heavy, if that makes any sense. I kept at it, though, and the egg whites started getting firmer and firmer, until I got stiff peaks when removing the beaters.

At this point, I put a cooling rack in a cookie sheet and sprayed some PAM on it to try to keep things from sticking. I took bacon slices and dredge them, one at a time, through the egg whites and arranged in a layer on the cooling rack. I then added a good sprinkling of brown sugar to the bacon, adding about 1 cup of brown sugar to 3/4 pound of bacon, right on top of the egg white mixture.

I put the cookie sheet in the oven at 250 degrees F. You may notice two things here: 1. I put the bacon in a cold oven, and 2. I put it in the oven instead of cooking it outside. Both are true. The cold oven I do only because Alton Brown taught me, via Good Eats, to bake bacon by starting with a cold oven. I just do it. And I used the oven because I don’t have a cookie sheet and cooling rack that fits on my Big Green Egg right now. I should have just cooked it outside, but I was being lazy, I can admit it!

I baked the bacon, turning every 15 minutes for evenness, for about an hour at 250, then another 30 minutes at 350 to crisp up the bacon some more.

What was the verdict?

I loved it. My wife wasn’t sure at first, as she loves regular pig candy, but she finally agreed that this was a better form of pig candy, with the egg whites giving a really interesting texture to the pig candy. This will be the preferred method at the McAdams house for pig candy from now on!

Serving suggestions:
Serve all by itself and pass it around, or match with red pear and English cheddar. Great with a big Scottish ale or wee heavy!

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We have a couple good friends that make their own Irish cream every year. They were gracious enough to gift us with a bottle, in a great Blanton’s Bourbon bottle, at our wine party. My wife loves the stuff, and the way our friends make it, it’s a mild, tasty version that won’t knock you on your butt!

We have some good flip-top bottles from various drinks we’ve had (mostly some flavor of French lemonade or something like that). We thought it might be a good thing to make some Irish cream to give away. I hope our friends either 1. aren’t reading this, or 2. aren’t offended that we usurped their idea! If it weren’t so good, we wouldn’t have thought it was such a great idea, though.

The recipe we found couldn’t have been much easier:

• 1 cup cream (we used heavy, though light or even half and half might work for a thinner consistency)
• 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup (we used Ghirardelli, which seemed richer then Hershey’s)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee (I’m going to use cold pressed coffee instead next time, and add more)
• 1 2/3 cup Irish whiskey (I’m also going to try a decent blend of Scotch whisky for Scotch cream)

The directions from there couldn’t be much easier:

Everything goes into a blender. The blender gets turned on high for 30 seconds. And it’s done!

The concoction should last for a couple months in the refrigerator. We poured it into the flip-top bottles, and I’m making labels for them. They’ll go out as gifts, and I hope those that get it really enjoy!

If you make stuff like this for gifts, let me know what you do…

Update…

I tried this with Ballentine Scotch whisky, a cheap but approachable blended whisky, and it worked as well as Irish whiskey.  So now we will be making… McAdams Scotch Cream!

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If you’ve been around Livefire much, you may know that I’m a fan of Scotch whisky, especially those from Islay (pronounced something with a long I, then luh, not lay). I’m a fan of Lagavulin, own a square foot of the island thanks to being a Friend of Laphroaig, and am on the Ardbeg Committee.

Being on the Ardbeg Committee brought to me an invitation to a tasting of the aforementioned “new” whisky, Ardbeg Alligator. I immediately RSVP’ed for my wife and me to attend, even though it was on a school night! The event was in Cincy, at Nicholson’s Gastropub, right downtown.

We got there a bit early, so we walked around Fountain Square a bit. There were a few ice skaters, and the tree was lit. The square is very nice around Christmas, but it was a bit cold, so we didn’t stay too long.

Back to Nicholson’s, we got a booth after signing in. We were given tickets for 3 drinks each. The good thing for me here is that my wife doesn’t care for whisky at all, so they were really all for me! This included, for each of us, a dram of Ardbeg 10 year old, followed by our choice of a Smoquito (mojito), a Smoquarita (margarita) or a Bloody Mary (with Ardbeg instead of vodka). This was followed by a dram each of Ardbeg Alligator. There were also free appetizers… All this for the grand price of FREE!

The pub is a great place, with a nice menu. I’ve never been unhappy with a meal there, and I like the ale and whisky selection. Jacob, our waiter, was great!

Starting with the dram of the 10 year old, Ardbeg starts off great. It’s peaty, salty, seaweedy, sweet and delicious. It was served with a side of spring water in case it was wanted; I added a few drops to open up the whisky.

For the cocktails, I got a Bloody Mary, and my wife got the Smoquito, which was made with mint and brown sugar. The Bloody Mary was good, but their mix is a bit hotter than I really like; I prefer more of a horseradish heat than just hot sauce. It was good, though. The Smoquito was much better than I expected, though the brown sugar was a bit too much, but the Ardbeg went really nicely with it.

Then on to the Alligator. The difference in this is that it’s a single malt that blends the regular 10 year old with whisky from first use oak barrels that are highly charred (hence the Alligator name). It ends up being an odd mix of Scotch and Bourbon, kind of landing in between. It’s really nice, and definitely worth trying if you get a chance.

Did I really like it, though? Well, I got the last bottle left in Dayton, it seems, so, yes, I liked it. I wanted for a couple of reasons. First, friends that say they like bourbon but not Scotch can try this as a “gateway” Scotch. Second, I think it will make a great mint julep instead of using bourbon.

Alligator won’t replace Supernova or my Lagavulin, but it’s well worth having!

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Over the weekend, we took a trip to Michigan and found that Ann Arbor is quite a food town. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but the town is full of great food experiences. It started with a great pub that had one of the best selections of not just beers from microbreweries, but they had artisanal beers and ales on tap, like Jolly Pumpkin’s Bam Noire and sourdough crust pizzas with a variety of non-traditional toppings. It was a nice intro to the town.

Saturday brought us to Cafe Zola for brunch, just off Main Street on Washington. The two is very walkable, though free parking is just about impossible to find right downtown. We did find that their metering can be paid with a credit card or by phone, which is nice if you didn’t have enough time on the meter so you can add more from where you are instead of running back to the car. Cafe Zola wasn’t too busy when we got there, and had a nice cafe feel.

The brunch menu had a great variety, from crepes to sandwiches, with omelets and specialties like in-house smoked salmon that was really well done. The bacon was locally grown and cured. I had crab benedict, which came with an egg on one English muffin and a crab cake on another, and the crab cake was really top-notch. The chai tea was served with the tea in a French press and the milk served separately, allowing the mix to be decided by the customer, and it was excellent.

From Cafe Zola, we walked around town a bit, and ended up at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, which runs year-round on Saturdays, and most of the year on Wednesdays, too. This is one of the largest farmers markets I’ve seen, with lots of vendor space and some really incredible vendors, from roasted chestnuts to beautiful handmade breads to Zingerman’s Creamery cheeses. We got a variety of breads, and even some great apples from a couple of several orchards that still had great apples and fresh cider.

Kerrytown Shops are a great group of different, mostly small shops near Zingerman’s (more on Zingerman’s in another entry). We went into Hollander’s, a really nice, upscale paper shop, and walked around from there out to a small food court and eventually upstairs to Fustini’s Oils & Vinegars, where that’s all they sell… a bunch of infused balsamic vinegars and olive oils, as well as some other oils and vinegars. We got this incredibly good espresso-infused 12 year old balsamic vinegar as well as a bottle of 18-year-old balsamic vinegar.

Then down to the Spice Merchants, with a great mix of spices, dried mushrooms, hot sauces, salts and rubs.

The shops were fun, ending with a very cool market, Sparrow Meats and Produce.

The day was perfect, with temps in the low 60s and bright sun. We drove around a bit after walking around town for quite a while. We enjoyed Zingerman’s Deli, and, later, the Roadhouse for dinner. I’ll report on that next time!

So as much as I enjoy the rivalry between Ohio State and that school up north, I really thought Ann Arbor was fantastic!

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The 9th annual McAdams HalloWine party was this weekend, a weekend we look forward to each year. This year was a week later than usual, which actually turned out well; the time change was that night, and everyone got an extra hour to sleep after the party!

The party is themed each year based on whatever we decided to theme it on. Over the years we’ve had the party, we’ve had a decent variety of themes:

• US wines not from California
• French wines
Italian wines
• Wines from the southern hemisphere but not Australia
• Guests’ favorite wines
• and, this year, Sonoma County wines

I picked Sonoma County mostly because I have a bunch of Imagery Winery wines, and I really enjoy just about anything I’ve tried from them. If you are looking to try some really great wines that aren’t available just anywhere, call them up and put in an order; you won’t be sorry!

I didn’t really have much of a theme for the food; I wanted to try a paella with brown rice, and I saw a photo online of some great pear salads. I cut the pears into 4 sections horizontally, with a ceramic knife so they wouldn’t oxidize (turn brown). The core was cut out, and a mix of watercress, Parmesan Reggiano cheese and balsamic glaze was kind of stuffed between the layers and in the core. These were pretty nice salads I’ll have to try again!

One idea I had for finger food, on top of olives and fruit, was to smoke almonds with a variety of flavors. I melted some unsalted butter and mixed with the almonds, applying seasonings to 4 groups of nuts. The first group got simple Fleur de Sel salt, followed by salt and ancho chile. Then my wife made up a batch of blackened seasoning (this group also got topped with powdered sugar when they were done), and, finally, bourbon salt. To smoke the almonds, the Big Green Egg, with pecan wood, was up to about 250 degrees. After the first 20 minutes, I checked the almonds for doneness by eating one. Once the texture was where I wanted it, they came off (they stay soft, but the dryness of the almonds told me when they were done).

We got several cheeses, including brie, a great English cheddar, taleggio, a Provence Roquefort, and a great Italian style cheese that was soaked in balsamic vinegar. I baked a couple loaves of French bread (on the BGE) to go with the cheeses.

Dessert was inspired by one of our favorite trips so far, our 5th anniversary trip to Kennebunkport, Maine… Whoopie pies! They were really easy to make, and really delicious to eat! The recipe was from Gourmet.

The wines were fun to try, and the consensus was that the best of the whites as a really nice Sean Minor Four Bears Sauvignon Blanc, and the best of the reds was a Tempranillo from Imagery. But the highlight of the wines was a 1997 Beringer Alluvium that our friends brought just to drink before the actual wine tastings.

The real highlight of the night, though, was that our friends, Tim and Lisa, brought along their neighbors, Bill and Deb. We really enjoyed meeting them, and I think everyone had a great time. Next year will be out 10th wine party… and we have a few things that will be a different for next year!

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It’s pretty common to see some form of alcohol associated with grilling and smoking food. There are lots of opinions on which libation goes best with either smoked food or just with the act of standing over a grill with a pair of tongs in one hand and a drink in the other.

Instead of thinking of what drink I might have while grilling, I decided to think of what drink I can make ON the grill…

No, I didn’t pour whiskey on the grate to see what would happen. I thought of drinks I enjoy and how the grill or smoker might add to them. I came up with a few drinks that are worth a try, I think.

First, one of my favorite summer cocktails mixes caçhaca, a Brazilian liquor similar to rum but made with sugar cane, lime, cane sugar and ice. Obviously, the only ingredient there that works on the grill is the lime, so I cut a couple limes in half and put them on a hot grill, cut side down, just to caramelize the limes a bit. Then I quartered one of the halves and put about a teaspoon of cane sugar on it in an old fashioned glass and muddled the lime. I filled the glass with ice to the top, then topped with about 2 shots of caçacha. The grilled lime added a slight grilled flavor without overdoing it, and made a really nice grilled cocktail.

That’s a great starter for the grill, but I wanted to use the smoker for this exercise, too. I took some heirloom tomatoes and sliced them, then put the slides on foil and into the Big Green Egg at about 250 F, with some pecan wood. I just left the tomatoes on for about 15 minutes, mostly to soak up some smoke, not to really cook. I added a couple of slices to a basic Bloody Mary recipe:

• 1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) vodka
• 6-8 ounces tomato juice
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (another use of the grilled limes!)
• Worcestershire sauce to taste
• Tabasco to taste
• 1 teaspoon horseradish (or more to taste)
• dash of barbecue rub

Stirring everything up gets that smokiness from the tomato slices throughout the drink, and adds a great flavor. For a bit of a different take, the garnish I used included grilled poblano chile and a grilled peppadew pepper, and the glass got a bit of barbecue rub around the rim. Another variation that could be done would be to take this Smoked Bloody Mary and make it a Smoked Bloody Larry by swapping the vodka with white whiskey instead (actually, my preferred way of doing it).

The drink that got me started on this is a variation of one I had at a barbecue restaurant in Cincy called SmoQ. It’s a great twist on typical bbq restaurants, offering traditional fare as well as fried chicken that’s smoked chicken that’s then fried, as well as other barbecue tweaks. They smoke canned peaches and add them to their iced tea. it’s a good drink, though I asked to have some good bourbon added to mine, and the drink got MUCH better! The one downside was that the smoked peaches offered a bit too much smoke here and there.

Instead of smoking, I used ripe South Carolina peaches, cut in half and put on a hot grill until they were a bit charred. I added a couple of slices to some iced tea, along with some Maker’s Mark bourbon, and garnished with another peach slice. This is a drink that every hot summer day needs to take the punch out of the heat! This is simply a tall glass of give-me-more delicious!

The last cocktail I put together isn’t grilled or smoked at all by me. Instead, I let masters at adding smokiness to drinks take control. Making a vodka martini usually takes a bit of vermouth, but, instead of vermouth, I used Laphroaig 10 year old whisky (Scotch). This is from Islay, and island know for the peatiest whiskies produced. I just rinse the glass a bit with the Laphroaig, then filled the glass with icy cold Teton Glacier vodka and, for garnish, I used bleu cheese stuffed olives, making a Smoky Bleu Martini. Yes, I know it’s not a “real” martini, but it is “real” good!

Have you combined any drinks and grilling? Let me know your ides on how to do more like this… I may just try it out!

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Ok, mostly Silent Sunday (I have friends that do Wordless Wednesday instead).  Anyway, this is Robert, my brother, with Hank, his dog.

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