Party-Que

BBQ'ing for a Party

I was asked to serve as chef at a friend's 60th birthday party on Saturday, so being the wanna-be-chef that I am, I said heck yes! It was a party for about 50-70 people, the hostess I think planned for more because she prep'd a lot of stuff - I cooked enough food for an army (we could have easily served 100).

I cooked up a dozen kielbasa and a variety of other sausages on one grill that I had going (see photo above), and on the main grill I cooked over 100 skewers that had; chicken, pineapple, zucchini and mushrooms that I basted with Mr. Yoshida's teriyaki marinade (which is very good). Ideally the chicken should have been marinated the night before and some seasoning's added but I didn't know what I was cooking until I got there, otherwise I would have brought some good seasonings to add.

That was the first time I've cooked for that many people and I found it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to cook in quantity, the most important part was just making sure everything was done properly (especially the chicken), but not over done (can't stand burnt, hard, over cooked meats or soggy vegetables).

We also put together a bunch of side dishes, desert and more, there was food of all kinds and lots of it.

I must have done something right because everyone kept thanking me for the good food and at the end of the night the hostess informed me that 75 out of 100 skewers had been consumed, that was pretty good considering all the other kinds of food that was also available.

That was the best kind of payment I could have ever wanted.

Happy 60th Birthday Chris!

Smoking Salmon

BBQ, God's gift to Foodies since the cave man

I've been a bbq chef since I learned to play with matches and roasted my first hot dog over an open flame on my moms bbq in our backyard. I still remember that day, I burned the hot dog to a crisp, but for some strange reason I liked that crunchiness, it seemed to taste good, but heck, what did I know.. I was only a kid.. I've learned a lot since then...

I love to bbq, I think it's some kind of Neanderthal trait in my dna that makes me desire to cook meats over an open flame.... it's that lust for fire that seems to always mesmorize us so much when we're sitting around a campfire at night staring at the dancing flames.

As we all know there'a a lot more to bbq'ing then just slapping some meat on top of some burning coals. There's direct and indirect cooking, there's charcoal and propane and then there's smoking...

Smoking meats is a different and very unique way to cook meats and create incredible flavors.

There's a saying that must always be followed when smoking meats - do it LOW and SLOW. That means cook on a very low heat (150-250 degrees at the most).

I have an electric smoker box (pictured to the left)

Today I made some smoked salmon using the following recipe for brining (which is a necessary process for good smoked fish)

Ingredients
1 cup kosher salt
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp crushed black peppercorns
2 large salmon fillets (pin bones removed)

Directions
In a bowl, mix together salt, sugar, brown sugar and peppercorns. Spread extra-wide aluminum foil a little longer than the length of the fish and top with an equally long layer of plastic wrap. Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the plastic. Lay 1 side of the fish skin down onto the rub. Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the flesh of the salmon. Place second side of salmon, flesh down onto the first side. Use the remaining rub to cover the skin on the top piece. Fold plastic over to cover then close edges of foil together and crimp tightly around the fish.

Place wrapped fish onto a plank or sheet pan and top with another plank or pan. Weigh with a heavy phone book or a brick or two and refrigerate for 12 hours. Flip the fish over and refrigerate another 12 hours. Some juice will leak out during the process so make sure there's a place for the runoff to gather.

Unwrap fish and rinse off the cure with cold water. Pat salmon with paper towels then place in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator) until the surface of the fish is dry and matte-like, 1 to 3 hours depending on humidity. A fan may be used to speed the process.

Smoke fish over smoldering hardwood chips or sawdust, keeping the temperature inside the smoker between 150 degrees F and 160 degrees F until the thickest part of the fish registers 150 degrees. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature, wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

ENJOY!