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Graduation cook

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    Graduation cook

    Yesterday my wife's brother's son graduated from the Swedish equivalent of High School. I was tasked with cooking, 60+ guests were expected. I figured a 'smorgasbord' would be appropriate, so I made several dishes, and then people could go choose whatever they preferred. I used two Weber kettles (22") for the whole cook. The guests were to arrive at 17:00 hours.

    I decided upon the following meats:
    • Smoked pork belly (4), glazed with dark golden syrup
    • Picanha (4)
    • Smoked salmon (5)

    I also served gazpacho, mixed salad, lots of sides, bread and a hearty french potato salad. So there was a ton of food, but that's always nice.

    Here's my game plan
    11:00 fire up the grills
    12:00 (ish) put the pork belly on
    15:00 pork belly done, get the picanha on the grills
    16:00 picanha done, smoke the salmon

    I arrived at their house at 09:30, so I had time to do prep and prepare all the sides/cold dishes. I did a large bowl of chimichurri (for the picanha), Alabama white sauce (for the salmon), plus lots of other stuff.

    All in all the plan held up real good. The pork was done a little sooner, but then the picanha took a little longer. But I took the last grilled lemon off the grill at 16:58. That's a two minute (positive) margin. Pretty darn good if I may say so, doing it single-handedly.

    I used Cuba charcoal (not briquettes), and smoked with cherry wood chunks. We had some rain during the afternoon, so I had to refuel once, but except for that the grills just went about their business, not much for me to do. I ran the trusty FireBoard, and used all 6 probes. Three in each kettle. Really handy.

    Here are some photos of the event/food.

    My work station

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    Getting my smoke on

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    2 out of 4 pork bellies in one of the kettles

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    Pork bellies getting glazed with dark golden syrup

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    Here's 2 of the 4 picanhas, another 30 minutes to go

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    #2
    ...more photos:

    Alabama white sauce

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    A little appetizer: mozarella, tomato, basil

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    The chimichurri

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    Gazpacho, a great summer dish

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    And the French potato salad

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    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Yes. Here are the ingredients
      1 kilo potatoes (2.2 lbs)
      1 red onion (thinly sliced, use a mandolin)
      2 tbsp capers
      parsley
      -- dressing --
      2 tbsp dijon mustard
      1,5 tbsp red wine vinegar
      3,5 tbsp canola oil
      3.5 tbsp olive oil
      salt, pepper

    • gcdmd
      gcdmd commented
      Editing a comment
      Everything looks great, Henrik. Seeing you use commas to indicate the decimal takes me back to the years I spent as a schoolboy in Venezuela. It was initially very confusing for me when we came back to the States. It took me a while to figure out that the commas and decimal points were reversed. It also took me a long time to change how I wrote a seven. It just didn't look complete without the extra line through it.
      Last edited by gcdmd; June 12, 2019, 07:22 AM.

    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      gcdmd thanks! Yes, those pesky commas and decimal points always gets me. Sometimes I use Excel with US locale, sometimes with Swedish locale. And I never seem to get it right the first time :-)

    #3
    ...and more photos:

    The pork belly with thyme, sliced, ready to serve

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    Mixed salad with nectarines

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    Picanha, with lime and flaked sea salt

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    Grilled lemons

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    Smoked salmon

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    All in all the guests were very happy. I ran out of salmon first, then the pork belly. I was only left with one leftover picanha. You never know, but the plan turned out to work well.

    I really enjoyed this cook, and all the routine and practice has really helped. Being a member of the Pitmaster Club has really upped my bbq game in the last few years, and for that I thank you all.


    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks pjlstrat!

    • gcdmd
      gcdmd commented
      Editing a comment
      You also deserve all our thanks for your great work and sharing. It's a pleasure and a privilege to sit at your cyber feet.

    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Thank you gcdmd!

    #4
    Very impressive.

    Comment


    #5
    Wow. Send me your camera, crap just send the expertise.

    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Lol! This was just my cell phone. I have a fancy camera, but didn't have time to spend fiddling with it.

    #6
    Looks delicious. Well done on feeding that crowd with time to spare!

    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      It was good fun! I was a little bit stressed, but as the day unravelled and I could see my schedule holding up I was happy. A little bit of luck, and a lot of planning.

    #7
    Perfect! You are a great Uncle! Congratulations!

    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks, it turned out to be a real nice evening!

    #8
    I have two breakfasts, 3 lunches and a two dinners today. With any luck I’ll be as good as you and your timing.

    Great work man!!! Killed it.

    Comment


    • Henrik
      Henrik commented
      Editing a comment
      Wow, busy man! Thanks, it's a nice reward feeding so many and also getting positive reviews.

    • gcdmd
      gcdmd commented
      Editing a comment
      You guys are both superstars. I am majorly impressed. I do well to get one church breakfast done.

    #9
    Henrik is a beast!!

    Comment


      #10
      Wow! Stellar cook! I need to up my game.

      Comment


        #11
        I'm graduating soon - no, wait - that was 50 + years ago...

        Comment


        #12
        OK, first off, what the hell are all you people doing up at 3 o'clock in the morning? Secondly, that was a fantastic cook, you did that all by yourself? Hank, with those skills a restaurant may be in order. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, what the hell is Cuba charcoal????

        Comment


        • HouseHomey
          HouseHomey commented
          Editing a comment
          I got out of bed at 1:30 and I clocked in at 3:09am today. I don’t know about Henrik?

        • Henrik
          Henrik commented
          Editing a comment
          Yep, timezone. You need to try that charcoal, made from the Marabu tree. Good stuff.

        • Henrik
          Henrik commented
          Editing a comment
          Found a link to one supplier, there's probably more suppliers out there: http://www.cubamarabu.com/

        #13
        Hank, you are definitely DA MAN!

        Comment


          #14
          Originally posted by Troutman View Post
          OK, first off, what the hell are all you people doing up at 3 o'clock in the morning?
          AR: the empire on which the sun never sets.

          Comment


          • gcdmd
            gcdmd commented
            Editing a comment
            Very good, Steve. Maybe we should call ourselves "The AR Continuum."

            We're everywhere; we're everywhere!

          #15
          Just a-mazing! Thanks for sharing.

          Comment

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