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Boneless Short Ribs - A Tale of Woe and Redemption

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    Boneless Short Ribs - A Tale of Woe and Redemption

    A couple weeks ago, I hot tubbed three boneless shortribs. 72 hours at 131. I was intending to sear them off that week or something. But I've been in a bit of a funk with the cooking, and I guess I have to tell what that's all about.

    As you may recall, I live in a condo on the Northside of Chicago. I grill out on my patio deck. Every since we've lived there, we've had a minor leak at the top of the door that goes out to my deck. We had a man out who couldn't give me a good estimate, saying it might be $3K to fix it, it might get up to $25K or so. We caulked it inside and out, and it still leaked. We had a professional caulk it inside and out, and it still leaked. But it wasn't much of a leak, and it wasn't every time it rained. Really, maybe three times a year, we'd get a long and steady enough rain to leak in. Oh, I forgot, I talked to the condo board president about getting it fixed, and she said theirs was fixed with caulk, so we could take care of it ourself. This is an outside wall, so it is actually the condo board's fix.

    Any rate, this spring, we had some fairly torrential rain, and our leak got a lot worse. We've also turned over the condo board, and I am now the president. So, we're getting it fixed, it's just taking a lot of time due to condo rules. I have mild regrets about staying in the city, and not moving to some suburb where I could have 5 cookers and just get two estimates and get things fixed. Any rate, in the meantime, we had used some Flex Tape to attach plastic sheeting to the back door, to protect the floor. We have sanitary napkins taped to the top of the door at all the leak sites. The Flex Tape is flexible, in that you can put a seal around corners and what not. It is inflexible, in the removing it is not something that is discussed on the company's website.

    At any rate, I've been the dog with the violin, watching the other folks in my neighborhood grill.

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    Sunday, we decided... enough. It had been four weekends with no outdoor cooking, I was going stir crazy. We couldn't grill. We couldn't fill the birdfeeder and entertain the cats. We couldn't lounge out on the deck, sip some adult bevs and watch the world go by. We couldn't grill. We worked together to get the Flex Tape off the door. We were afraid of breaking the glass it was taking so much pressure. I pulled the tape while the wife used a utility knife to cut the strands of adhesive. That left us with a 12 foot long strip of adhesive on the glass, which required a toxic chemical and a metric ton of elbow grease to remove. But it is now gone. The other roll of Flex Tape has been returned. We now have the new sheet attached with T-Rex brand duct tape. It is easily removed without leaving residue that cannot be windexed off.

    In celebration of the deck's liberation, I gave a short 30 minute smoke to the SV shortribs. I coated with BBBR, gave them some brandy barrel smoke from the smoking pouch, then seared them off on the flipped GrillGrates. Did wife's chicken breasts at the same time I seared, with some MMD on them, which wife has developed a great affection for as a chicken rub. While I was doing the smoke, a cooked down some sliced baby bella mushrooms in some butter on the side burner. When they were nice and golden, and starting to leave a fond, I added some minced garlic, then the filtered purge from the ribs, then some cab sauv, and reduced that way down, then mounted with some butter. Really incredible umami mushrooms.

    A glorious night of eating, a wonderful return to the grill.

    Sorry, no pix, as I've just been out of the mood for shooting everything I cook. But damn... I'm back.
    Attached Files

    #2
    Glad to have you out on the porch!

    Comment


      #3
      Relief at last. Glad you got out and cooked.

      Comment


        #4
        I had every Far Side book growing up. And I too have water problems.

        The ​​​​​​house we are in we are renting with an option to buy. Not likely we will buy since this thing needs MAJOR overhauling. We've already dropped a few thousand into it we won't get back, but we really can't complain with the space and low utilities for over 3300 square feet.

        Got 3 years and 3 months left.

        Comment


        • Potkettleblack
          Potkettleblack commented
          Editing a comment
          I have ~20 to life left on the Condo, with possible pardon if I sell out. On the other hand, I have enough equity in the house that folks are calling me to offer home equity loans. Bonus!

        #5
        Good to have you back. That umami bomb sauce sounds delicious. I'm gonna have to try that one.

        Comment


        • Potkettleblack
          Potkettleblack commented
          Editing a comment
          It's more of a mushroom side that happens to be saucy and good on the steak. I think I could have hit it with the immersion blender and made it a saucy sauce.

        #6
        And It's about damn time you came back to us.
        You can run but you can't hide.
        sounds like a great meal and an eventfully fun time.
        Thanks for the post.

        Comment


          #7
          What a cluster @##$!$! Glad you could cook to get some relief. BTW Good move becoming president of Condo Asso. To get your leak fixed. Check and mate Mate!

          Comment


          • Potkettleblack
            Potkettleblack commented
            Editing a comment
            The condo presidency will hopefully leave me once I've shepherded this project through. I'd really prefer treasurer or secretary.

          • Steve B
            Steve B commented
            Editing a comment
            What you really need is your own home with no restrictions. You can than have your 5 or so cookers oh what a joy that would be. I'm pulling for you brother.

          #8
          Good to hear you had a chance to get your game on, Potkettleblack . Sounds like a tasty supper. Did you eat it al fresco? Hope so!

          Kathryn

          Comment


          • Potkettleblack
            Potkettleblack commented
            Editing a comment
            Our deck overlooks our parking lot, our dumpster and out alley. So, not really.

          #9
          Sweet! Urban nature. Any pics?

          Comment


            #10
            Here's my sous-chef in the outdoor kitchen.
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            You don't really see the ground in this shot or get the full effect. For that, you have to pump some loud salsa or tejano band, but put it in a trash can, so it's still loud but muffled.

            There are feral cats down on the ground (which keeps the rats out of our neighborhood, so I'm in favor) and there's a family of raccoons that live somewhere around. They are big raccoons that look back at you from the dumpster as if to say, "S'up, bro." They don't give an eff. Squirrels and birds as well. We may be very urban, but there's still a natural ecology here that underlies it and has adapted to it.

            I'd be lying if I said I love it, but I am very proud to be a homeowner, love my Genesis intensely, and enjoy life here. Not sure that's coming through at all.
            Last edited by Potkettleblack; May 31, 2017, 11:25 AM.

            Comment


            • Mudkat
              Mudkat commented
              Editing a comment
              You've got your own slice of BBQ and nature Zen right there! Couldn't agree more with the pride of ownership!

            #11
            Congrats on the cook.

            It looks like another deck or roof above you? Your water problem could be the flashing or lack there of that works its way down. Good luck with the water issue.

            Comment


            • Potkettleblack
              Potkettleblack commented
              Editing a comment
              Yeah, another deck above and one below. We're pretty sure the problem is the lack of flashing or the improper flashing. Have a guy who specializes booked, but scheduling is a month or two out.

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