Any food/cooking goals for 2024?

[JCBBQ]

Happy New Year!

Couple years ago this post came up and I wrote I wanted to get really good at chicken. My whole roast chicken is excellent now. Last year the focus was brisket. I think I made 8 or 9 last year. My brisket game still has a ways to go but I made solid progress. I also wanted to get going w the wok. Progress made there too.

This year I don’t really know. I think it’s going to be trying to go back and cook out of these great cookbooks I’ve accumulated over the years. I seem to have forgotten about them and used the internet for inspiration -almost exclusively- over the last few years. Lately I started to dig in and found recipes that I used to make a lot that I loved but forgot about. There are so many great “non main” recipes - a sauce or a side dish etc/ that I think will really elevate my meals. I definitely will be looking for more great vegetables dishes after I made the leeks out of the Lucques cookbook. Well, just rambling here. What’re you interested in/focused on in 2024?

[Starsky]

My cooking, although good if I do say so myself, has become the same old same old. I have cookbooks I haven't looked at in years. And to my shame, I still haven't finished Meathead's book. I need to branch out more

[JCBBQ]

I have a “Wednesday” dinner every other week where my nephews and their families come over. I’ve found it’s a great way to force me to make different things.

[Draznnl]

I was given Kenji’s The Wok for my birthday in March. I’ve barely cracked the spine. This year, I’d like to break out my wok and work on some of the recipes in there.

[barelfly]

It’s a great book! And as much as I like it, I need to use mor of the recipes in there!

[hoovarmin]

Going through The Wok for the past year has been delightful. Honestly, it's really a 3-4 year project. There is so much in that book. I feel like it may be the best cookbook I've ever owned.

[JoeSousa]

I have made a handful of the recipes in that book. The Kung Pao Chicken is now a staple at our house. My kids loved the General Tso's. There are a bunch more recipes in there I still need to try though.

[Smoker_Boy]

I would like to try cooking a small brisket without turning it into leather.

I am also going to continue to work on using my Weber 22" kettle in "Low and Slow" mode.
I do not want to spend money on fans and electronics.
This is what I did the last 20 years that I worked for Da Man (the controllers, not the fans).

[Smoker_Boy]

JCBBQ , RonB , SheilaAnn , RichieB , Richard Chrz , Welp, I just ordered the Slow 'n Sear. It should be here Monday. Happy days, happy day!

Thanks again everybody!!

[RichieB]

Great Smoker_Boy. You'll have fun with it. Here's a link for you to help on lighting methods. If you follow them, you be smokin in no time.

https://snsgrills.com/pages/slow-n-sear-lighting-instructions

[Smoker_Boy]

RichieB ... Excellent write-up! I bookmarked that so it's easy to find. Funny how a couple of things seem backwards until you read more about the Why behind the How.

[KimO]

This may seem backwards, but I have much more experience smoking than grilling. I would like to become better at grilling: chicken, pork steaks, etc. Also, since I am new to indoor cooking in general, I would like to become better at knife skills (working on that now) and concentrate on Italian cooking.

[JCBBQ]

Yep! Same. I’ve spent so much time mostly grilling (less smoking) over the last 5 years. Started focusing more on indoor stuff now too. Also Italian and French.

[Mosca]

Pork steaks are a worthy adversary. When they’re great they can’t be beat. My experience is that the window for great pork steak is much smaller than it is for beef. I might try this one myself.

[KimO]

Mosca, yeah, I usually smoke then reverse sear, but grilled pork steaks are a whole different experience, aren't they!?!

[Mosca]

I’m in a bit of a rut. I don’t mind being in a rut, but I recognize that I’m in one.

I think I’m going to eat more beans this year. Not as a vegetarian thing, just for the variety they offer. Mrs Mosca has found that her condition isn’t affected by medium quantities of cooked onions, just mostly raw, so beans are going to get back in rotation.

[Mosca]

I already have plans for carnitas burritos tonight. I wanted to also make black eyed peas and kielbasa, but I’m not motivated to now. That’s cool. No sense forcing things to happen, I think. That would be a bad way to start the year. Nothing wrong with carnitas burritos, after all.

[PGH_RAM]

I highly recommend Rancho Gordo beans. Their quality is second to none and they have an amazing variety.

[Mosca]

Yep! I got a pot on right now, there’s a topic coming up.

[Jfrosty27]

I had a really off year in 2023 in terms of the number of outdoor cooks I did. Maybe just half of what I usually did. Won’t bore you with the reasons. But my goal for the coming year is to get back at it and COOK.

[JCBBQ]

Atta boy!!

[Purc]

I want to use my Cajun Bandit rotisserie on the kettle more this year. A prime rib, leg of lamb, turkey, etc.

[JCBBQ]

Oooh. Rotisserie. I’d like to cook Picanha that way, but…I don’t have a rotisserie.

[Purc]

Yes, I must add to my list a Picanha !

[jfmorris]

I need to branch out myself and do something beyond turkey and chicken on my Weber kettle rotisserie. So far not used it for anything beyond poultry...

[Duanessmokedmeats]

PBC, PBX, PBX....

[JCBBQ]

PBX?

[Duanessmokedmeats]

Pit Barrels- I smoke with them a lot.

[smokenoob]

No croissants, donuts or raisin bread toast until the holidays……….
























Martin Luther King Jr day is January 15 so I guess I can make it two weeks 😁

[JCBBQ]

Bro! I’m thrilled to start dry January and stop eating so much. Hard to believe, but I’m tired of eating. Lol

[SheilaAnn]

smokenoob I can do ya one better. My birthday is Thursday. It’s a holiday!

[smokenoob]

SheilaAnn Thanks! I needed that!

[Openfire]

I would really like to master open fire cooking. It's really intriguing to me to cook like my early ancestors. Not just cooked food but a really good cooked food. The manipulation of moving the heat around to get the perfect cook is the art form I want to achieve.

[JCBBQ]

2 words: Francis Mallmann.

[JCBBQ]

If I wasn’t in a city I’d join you. Looks really satisfying

[SheilaAnn]

+1 on Francis Mallman

[Richard Chrz]

So many things to learn, it always has me in a continuous spiral of learning.

there was a chocolate cake on the Food and Wine cover this past year, I don’t make many desserts, as I really can not eat them, but it has drawn me in as the “cake” to learn. Even if the process just teaches me a small tips for other baking,. https://www.foodandwine.com/the-bear...e-cake-7105511

I hope to expand upon various sauces, and dive deeper into the whole concept of components and how to control them in various ways, similar to the concept and book (salt, fat, acid, heat). I find the fat and acid combo to be really interesting,

im also hoping to open up kitchen classes this year, like piano or guitar lessons, but rather flour, sauces, meat, etc… and get my website actually launched, it is live ( but only a skeleton, no data beyond the front page).

my last goal for the year will be to finish up what I’m billing as a 150 dollar night, I’m hoping to put together a pairing of cigars, bourbon, cocktails, and food from my grill) 150 a plate, 6 people, after my costs, the rest goes to a charity of my choice, I have some people lined up to pay, but I need to hone in the experience more.

I also plan on standing and walking a bit in my kitchen in 2024, I’ve been working hard on my legs, and I think it will happen in 2024.

‘I look forward to following and learning from everyone’s path!

[fzxdoc]

This is going to be a fun year to follow your posts on SUWYC if all of your plans come to fruition, Richard. I hope they do--especially the one about standing and walking around the kitchen. I'm rooting for you!!!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Kathryn

[JCBBQ]

“I’m rooting for you!!!” +1

[Draznnl]

Richard, if your cooking is an example, when you set your mind to accomplish something it happens. I am confident the same will be true about getting up and walking around the kitchen. Best of luck my friend.

[Michael_in_TX]

While it is a bit cliched, I want to do more vegetables in the smoking and grilling realm. The two acorn squash recipes I did turned out fantastic. I need to explore this more and I certainly could use more vegetables in my diet. More stir-frying, too, which lends itself to more vegetables.

[Mosca]

Acorn squash is a favorite of ours!

[JCBBQ]

I hear ya! More veggies!!

[Michael_in_TX]

Actually, here is my main food goal for 2024. I want to slow down and savor my food. I am a habitually extremely fast eater.

I got into this habit in high school when, even though I had a wonderful childhood, dinner table conversations often veered into subjects that I found uncomfortable, so I learned to eat fast and retreat to my room. This habit continued in college in which I would have to eat fast in order to get to my morning classes on time. Eight years of that and that habit has stuck for the past 25 years.

It doesn't make sense to go through all of this effort of prep and cooking and the hours of smoking, just to eat something in ninety seconds. I need to slow down and be more present. I'll enjoy the food I worked so hard on so much more, I think.

[jfmorris]

I can sympathize with this. While I don't usually eat in 90 seconds, I am *ALWAYS* the first person done at whatever table I am eating at. Goes back to my childhood growing up in the 60's and 70's I think, when it was a race to wolf down the food, be excused from the table, and get back outside to continue playing until dark!

[fzxdoc]

This is one of the best goals here on this topic. I think many of us are guilty of doing this, and it's such a shame not to savor the food that we work so hard to source, prep, and cook. That's one of the reasons why we never eat in front of the TV mostly because we often can't remember what we ate or drank! We look down, and our plates are empty!

Kathryn

[Michael_in_TX]

fzxdoc Agreed....another thing I am trying to do is not be on the computer or phone while eating. I'll be done eating before I realize I'm done eating. Yes, I want to get those photos posted here, but they can wait a few minutes.

[ssennott]

I would like to try sous vide it has intrigued me.

[J-Melt]

Thank you for that heads up fzxdoc! My wife tried to use it to dehydrate a while back and it did not work well. Not sure what was wrong, but it may be that it’s just not reliable.

[fzxdoc]

J-Melt , I think some of the newer features on the Instant Pot are too ambitious. They should stick to what the IP does best: Pressure Cook and Slow Cook. I like my IP for a slow cooker better than either of my Crock Pots because the IP's slow cook setting's heating is more even and consistent. But sous vide is a different animal, less forgiving, where a degree or two off (especially at the low end) can make a difference between safe food or pathogen production.

K.

[J-Melt]

Makes sense to me. We have the one with the air fryer. We love the air fryer and use it for that 99% of the time. We occasionally use it for slow cooking and it has done well with that too.