Had a fish fry again tonight with some of the older couples over from the church. Guys are 92,90, 88 and 87. Have to enjoy their company while we can. However they pile into those fish like 20 year olds! Plate on the right is walleye filets and the far plate on the left is bluegills. Lady on right is wife Joan.
My wife brought home some chicken a few days ago and asked for some of her dad’s crispy grilled chicken.
Crosby and I decided to do some proper driveway chicken, she also came home with a bunch of avocados wanting some guac.. served with some pita chips, the chicken was topped with some cilantro lime crema and aleppo pepper.
Crosby was sure to lay closer to the street, he is such a player, he never gets up to greet anyone, but he lifts his head & wags his tail, which elicits “he’s such a good boy”… it’s a dopamine hit for him each time.. lol
Last edited by Richard Chrz; August 19, 2026, 06:27 PM.
Had family in town for the week and our new exchange student. Got out the BGE and made Paella. The recipe we use actually originates in Portugal and was taught to us by a fellow in Seattle years ago.
That being said my wife used to to be the cook but #1 son is better at it… And, it seems that no matter how many folks we have over for dinner there is always some left. No it’s not bad, but apparently it’s like potato salad and grows exponentially.,
Thanks! The ingredients are reindeer sausage, chicken thighs and wing portions, real spanish chorizo , oysters, shrimp, mussels, and a whole bunch of other stuff I forget.
My first time making mole. I mostly followed Jonathan Zaragoza's Mole Poblano recipe ( https://youtu.be/K_D54YtCSrw?si=JYEPX9YqV9kfBtRj ) but I also used a couple of ingredients from Rick Bayless' Mole Negro recipe ( https://youtu.be/Zwgsbzcl5j8?si=sb-A09kBm6Lb3w0I ). This recipe is only slightly easier than Cassoulet, I can see why they only make it for special occasions in Mexico. Jonathan pointed out that it is just as easy to make a large batch as it is to make a small batch and it freezes well, so I used his full recipe and I froze 9 quarts.
My receptionist's mom is from Mexico, my receptionist said mine tastes very similar to her mom's mole.
The ingredients, there is a lot! Not shown: plantains, tomatillos, onions. There were several steps that I did all at once, no pics of the preparation of the ingredients but they all had to be toasted or roasted. Chilies had to be stemmed, seeded, and toasted. The key (and hard part) is to not burn them otherwise the mole will be bitter.
Top row from left: hard to see but the baggie has dry bread and tortillas, under the bread are some raisins, center is about a pound of dried chiles, to the right is garlic cloves.
Middle row from left: Cinnamon sticks. In the center is avocado leaves, sesame seeds, and almonds. Right: pumpkin seeds and reserved seeds from the chilies.
Bottom row: dark chocolate. The baggie has cloves, coriander seeds, anise seeds, and black peppercorns.
This recipe made 2 gallons
I cooked some chicken thighs in a quart of the sauce. Tonight I will make enchiladas.
The rest will go into the freezer. I'm pretty pleased with my first attempt at making mole.
Ace my childhood experience with the unsweetened baker's chocolate was the same. Afterwards I would come home from school, take the metal 1 cup measuring cup and melt the chocolate in it on the stove with some sugar. Yum!
I made mole once and I am pretty sure I did Rick Bayless' recipe (his longer version). It turned out fantastically delicious and full of depth. But, wow, I do remember all of the ingredients!!
Retired, living in Western Mass. Enjoy music, cooking and my family.
Current cookers Weber Spirit 3 burner with a full insert griddle added. A 22" Kettle with vortex, SnS and a Smokey Joe. The most recent addition is a Pit Barrel Jr with bird hanger, 4 hooks and cover. ThermoWorks Smoke 2 probe, DOT, 2 ThermoPops and a Thermapen MK4. A Thermoworks RFX Gateway 2 probe meat thermometer.
A different take on a bone in pork chop. Rainy why not? Airfryed. 230° until I T. 135. Then 400° for sear and 145°. I pulled at 140°. Nice results. Smashed mini reds . Par boiled and air fried, SPG.
I'm actually surprised I got this late into summer without grilling one of my typical summer dishes. HEB carries these Wild Garden near-east marinades and they make a sumac one that is amazing. I marinate boneless, skinless chicken thighs in it overnight and then grill them hot and fast with pecan.
Once those are done, we get to the fun part, which is grilling red onion, zucchini, and yellow squash over a hot flame.
But first, check out the size of this zucchini!!! (Instacart shopper chose it lol.) That thing is huge!
I like to season the mixture up with some EVOO and Meat Church's Holy Cow (which is what I use for an all-purpose seasoning as it is primarily a pepper-forward SPG).
I sometimes will intentionally let a bit of onion go overboard when I am stirring it around as the smell of onion on coals is amazing.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
Just pulled this hunk of pastrami goodness! Katz rub down for 2.5 days in fridge, then smoked this morning in the Smokin-it #3D smoker with some sugar maple chunks. Cooked at 275* until 170 internal then wrapped to finish and pulled at 200* internal. Took about 5.5 hours, but the first 45 minutes of that was a ramp up on temp, the way I have my smoker set to cook.
out of the fridge - those 2 days really help with this rub adhering to the meat.
And at 170* to wrap in foil - bark was set perfectly!
And out of the cooker, as it hit 200*. Time for a rest!
So I cracked open another cookbook, The Bean Book by Steve Sando and Julia Newberry. I love hummus, and the book happens to have a recipe for a simple hummus. Let me add that this is a beautiful cookbook. I added black pepper and a little more garlic than the recipe called for. Results: It wasn't as smooth as I wanted, and i didn't reserve enough of the bean broth to thin it while mixing. I tried my immersion blender, but it is cheap and couldn't handle it so i used the vitamix. Used Rancho Gordo garbanzos of course. Pretty tasty overall.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
Back in June, we got a 10 bone pork loin rack from Cheshire Pork when they were half price ($50+$12 shipping). It finally floated to the top of the to-do list so . . .
Cut out a center 4 bone rack and the rest nice thick chops.
Yesterday we dry brined the 4 bone rack, today rubbed it with something like Meathead's Simon and Garfunkle and roasted it on the BGE rotisserie running 375º to 390º. Pulled at 133º after a little less than 1.5 hours.
During rest, IT peaked at 145º
Good stuff, our experience with Cheshire has been +++
Tried 0-400 wings tonight on my Recteq. Turned out fantastic. The left were rubbed with Heath Riles Competition, the right side got Meat Church Texas Sugar. No complaints tonight at Uncle John's Barbecue Wonderland.
Went to late lunch today at a new spot and had enchiladas divorciadas - three types of sauces for these, and mole was one. It was really good! Makes me think of trying this!
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
Plate on the right is walleye filets and the far plate on the left is bluegills. Lady on right is wife Joan. 
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