Karie Engel's Cookbook Library and Guy Fieri

Who loves cookbooks, raise your hand. I do. I'd better. A few years ago someone asked me how many cookbooks I owned. I'd never even thought about it and off the cuff said, "I don't know, twenty?" She coughed and sputtered and I realized that was a really low number, especially from a restaurant owner and cookbook author. I also realized upon inspection of the many places I keep cookbooks (they don't all fit in the kitchen) that I have perhaps twenty cookbooks on sushi. And I've made sushi exactly three times. The barbecue, heritage and comfort food cookbooks have their own 4-shelf bookcase.

As you may know, we recently moved. We'd put half our possessions in storage two years ago, thinking that we'd move much earlier, and are bringing home little loads at a time, most of which are boxes and boxes of books. I've been pouring through the staggering number of cookbooks like they were old yearbooks. But there are always room for more though, right? I've recently discovered an awesome blog with a cookbook library so you can browse before you buy.

Admittedly, I discovered this blog because the blog author just featured She-Smoke early this month (thank you!). But it really is a gem of information. Check out Karie Engel's cookbook library on her blog "Celebrate Home with Karie Engels." There are plenty of other food-related posts, including recipes and local events and even some celebrity chit chat. I love to learn about other cookbooks out there, especially books that are not from famous people, like mine, and are about the content, not the hair.

Speaking of hair, we all know, poor Guy Fieri is getting it on all sides, from a scathing New York Times review of his new restaurant, to someone putting up a menu parody because someone at corporate forgot to purchase the full domain name. Having not dined at his restaurant, I will not jump on that bandwagon, especially since I know people love tearing down restaurants with little to no regard to the people who put their heart and soul into their business.

Incidentally, Guy Fieri, or rather his people, passed our joint over for his show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives years ago. It was cool to be considered, but I think we were bypassed over a technicality. Our smokers take either pellets or a fine wood chip in a long auger smoke box. The pellets are better because the smoke time per smokebox is longer, but they clog up the works faster (read: more major smoker cleanings, and if you've never done this it's like chimney sweeping with pork grease). At the time we used the finer chips, which we call sawdust. It isn't actually sawdust, it's like wood flakes rather than chips, but the person interviewing me thought that was weird and they decided not to feature us. Maybe that wasn't the only reason, but I've kicked myself more than a few times over my interview skills. This happened before I wrote She-Smoke, and have since learned about keeping it simple for media interviews. I'm still a novice, but not quite the cherubic newbie I was back then.

Right. Back to earth from the Guy Fieri tangent. As someone who is enjoying the simple pleasure of unpacking her cookbooks, I encourage you to take a moment to celebrate your home. While you are there, why not browse cookbooks on Karie Engle's blog? Or watch an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I'm a fan of both.

Eric's Guinness Beef Stew

My husband makes his mouthwatering beef stew just about any time of year, but for St. Patrick’s Day nothing beats his Guinness Beef Stew.  Not one to impart his recipes, for he claims he has none, and that cookbook authors are all a bunch of hooey..even his wife, I dragged this out of him years ago to put in the family cookbook. I guess that means that this is a reprint. I hope you all enjoy and have a Happy St. Patty’s Day!

ERIC'S GUINNESS BEEF STEW:  Serves a whole mess of folks, or a few, for many days.

Ingredients:

5 lbs beef - stew meat or other cuts but not ground.

1 cup flour

1 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. black pepper

1 tbsp. thyme

½ cup vegetable oil

3 onions, diced

2 cups Guinness Stout 

1 quart beef stock

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 potatoes

4 carrots

½ bunch celery

Other herbs and spices as desired such as bay leaf, sage, paprika etc.

Recipe Directions:

Cube beef.  Mix flour with salt, pepper and thyme.  Dredge beef in seasoned flour until all the meat is coated.  Heat a heavy-duty stew pot or large pan (medium-high) and add ½ cup oil once pot is heated.  Brown beef and add three diced onions.  Once onions are browned with beef, pour in the two cups of Guinness Stout.  Stir together thoroughly, getting out any flour lumps.

Add one quart of beef stock (either fresh, reconstituted or canned), and add two tablespoons tomato paste.  Bring to a simmer for at least 30 minutes.  In the meantime, dice the potatoes, carrots and celery.  Add them to the stew and simmer for at least one hour or until the potatoes are done and the beef is tender.  Season with herbs and spices as desired before serving.  For a “Scottish” version, add cooked barley before serving.

Easy Pork Tenderloin Skewers

I've been itching for a party. We moved between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and though there is no good time to move, I would gander that as one of the worst times to pack every Leggo, unmatched sock and chipped china plate from Grandma. I mean the holidays, really Julie, and I'm a caterer, which means that amidst my own mandatory celebratory functions, I have to work all of y'alls.

So that was insane but now that we are getting settled in and down to unpacking things like my Italian books from college, I want to have people over to show off the new digs. Friends have come over, but I want a full scale Fete, darnit!

That will mean lots of cooking and cleaning and organizing, so I'll need to pull out some easy recipes to balance out the work load. Here's one I posted on Char-broil last month called Easy Pork Tenderloin Skewers. They really are easy. Click the link to go to the full recipe.

My New Badge

I have a new sporty badge on my blog - the Char-Broil All-Star Blogger badge. I like it soooo much better than that vacuuming badge in third grade. I've been blogging for Char-Broil for a couple of years but this year it's much more official. For one, I'm getting paid for my work, which is really cool because I get to write about outdoor cooking, which is what I do anyway. I also will be getting some grills and products to review over this next year and share with y'all.

I just made that sound like I hadn't yet received these items, but I have. There are three large boxes, unopened, in my living room. Quite large and the children have started to notice. The other day I put a tablecloth on the large box to dress it up a bit.

So maybe I have a little fear of assembling products and owner's manuals. I do know that I'll be testing something soon for you and reporting it here at She-Smoke Central Command. I also have my own little page on their Char-Broil Live website and from time to time I get to offer you, dear readers, a discount on grills and accessories. Pretty cool, eh?

Well that's enough horn tootin' for one day. Here's a little video of baby girl tooting a horn in her first concert:

Chinese New Year: Whole Grilled Golden Trout

Abundance to you for the New Year! Cooking a whole fish for Chinese New Year symbolizes abundance. We can all use a little of that this year, right? Serving the fish with its head and tail also signifies "good beginnings and endings". I shopped at Central Market the other day and found this gorgeous golden trout. How perfect! The meat in this variety of trout is a red meat, much like salmon, and the skin color is truly golden. Kinda shimmery. Trout is one of my favorite fishes to throw on the grill, though I tend to smoke it, as seen here and here.

The entire dish took about 25 minutes from prep to platter. Not bad, eh? Here is the recipe, though it's so easy I can hardly call it that.

Ingredients
1-2 whole fish. Trout, golden or rainbow, works nicely, but any fish that is a little under a pound will do.
Kosher salt
One bunch fresh herbs. I used thyme.
Sliced citrus
High heat vegetable oil

Step 1: Preheat your gas grill. I turned on my little Char-broil Infrared Quantum grill. It's a little two burner grill that lives on my deck outside the kitchen. I really love it for grilled fish because the infrared system, while it can get super hot, is somehow gentler on the skin. The whole science of it has all be explained to me in manuals at official Char-broil meetings, but I just like how it handles a fish. With a gentle touch.

For those on the staunch "up with charcoal, down with gas" team, make a medium hot fire with an indirect space.

Step 2: Prep your fish. Leave it whole. I left the bones in and removed them once cooked. Dust the inside lightly with kosher salt. Stuff with fresh herbs and sliced citrus. I used whole stems of thyme and sliced tangerine. Sage and lemon are lovely too. Give the outside a light coating of high temperature safflower or other vegetable oil.

Step 3: Once grill is fully preheated, turn it down to medium high and place the whole fish on the grill. Close the lid. After about 4-5 minutes (I had a pretty good sized trout, so less time for smaller fish, depending on it's size, carefully lift and turn it two clicks on the clock for some nice crosshatch marks. When it's ready fish should lift fairly easily off the grill. If the skin is really stuck, it may be too soon. If the skin is falling off, it's too late. I gently lift up a part of the fish to check if it is ready.

Step 4: Carefully flip the fish over. Turn heat down to low. Grill for another 2-3 minutes until the red meat just about turns to pink, or the clear meat just about turns to white. Take off and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Serve whole, cutting portions for your family at the table for good luck and abundance in the new year.

You will need to remove the bones. My kids really enjoyed this part of the meal. I took the entire spine out in one swoop. We had a short science lesson on fish anatomy, then dug in. They loved it. Even Eric said "Good job, honey," and I don't get a lot of cooking compliments from him. It's not because he's mean. He just doesn't gush gratuitously. And he wants to make sure all this She-Smoke business doesn't go to my head. God forbid!

Happy Year of the Snake! May it be a great year for all of you.

Step

Chinese New Year Tea Smoked Chicken

Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the Snake is upon us and I've put together two recipes for you to try. The first is a Tea Smoked Chicken recipe I did for Char-broil. The next is literally on my infrared grill as I write this. Hopefully I won't get too sidetracked with this post and burn the darn thing!

Whole chicken and whole grilled fish are both traditional dishes for Chinese New Year. Keeping them whole, to be cut at the table, represents good fortune, abundance and health. Read the Tea Smoked Chicken recipe and let me know what you think. It's really simple, which starts with "S", like snake. Check back tomorrow for the fish.

Right! The fish. I'd better get out there and take it off the grill. I'm sure it's ready.

Game Day Nosh: Pulled Pork-n-Mac Egg Rolls

I'm going through an egg roll phase. Once you realize how easy they are to make, you will too. You can put anything into these perfect little wrappers. Forget about traditional Chinese fillings for the moment. We'll get to Chinese New Year dishes next. Put anything that you would put into a tortilla, bun, or pastry. Leftovers work great, but don't stop at savory. Ricotta, chopped nuts and Nutella are cannoli with extra hail Mary's (on account of the sin).

For the Super bowl, I think sticking to stick to your ribs fare is best. Pulled pork and macaroni and cheese, which a squirt of barbecue sauce make a perfect appetizer for watching football.

Here is what you'll need:

Egg roll wrappers
About 2 lbs of mac-n-cheese
About 1 lb of pulled pork (If you barbecue regularily, you have baggies of the stuff in your freezer. If not, I suggest paying a visit to your local barbecue restaurant).
Barbecue sauce
Vegetable oil
Stock pot
Paper towels
Makes about 24 full egg rolls/48 pc


The key is to not overstuff each wrapper. Put a scoop of warm mac-n-cheese and spread out in the center of the wrap, leaving an inch at each end clear, and a little more than an inch on either side.

Put a layer of pulled pork on top of the mac. Spread a spoonful of barbecue sauce on top.

Wrap in a circle: Fold bottom flap first, then one side, then fold the top. Wet the last open side with water and tightly roll it closed. Wet outside as well to seal it. Place each roll on a plate.

Heat oil to medium high. It's important that the oil is hot enough, but not so hot as to burn the rolls too quickly before the insides are warm. Once oil is fully preheated, put one roll in the oil for a tester. If you are happy with the oil temperature, add another 4-5 to do at a time, depending on the size of your pot.
Remove and let cool on a paper towel. When cool enough to touch, cut in half on a diagonal, arrange on a platter and serve with barbecue sauce.

Hope your team wins!

Grilled Low Carb Salmon Wraps

How are you all doing with your New Year's Resolutions. What's that? Slipping? I too, am teetering on losing my resolve, rather than my middle aged middle, so here is a healthy wrap to get us all back on track.

Collard leaves are wonderful for making wraps because they are large, flat, and a tough enough to hold something tasty inside. We'll soften them up with a quick blanch, but I love the crunch they make when you bite into them. So much more satisfying than a doughy tortilla wrap, and gawd, I am sick of wraps. They were so novel in the 90's, but it's time for a revamp.

I didn't invent these. Lots of caterers and restaurants have answered the gluten-free and Paleo call to arms. For me, I like them because I'm watching my carbs and calories on Weight Watchers and a tortilla simply isn't worth the "points". I made these with a fried won ton triangle, for aesthetics and a little carby crunch so I don't feel deprived. You may choose to leave it out. If you are gluten free, leave it out and use tamari sauce.

Grilled Low Carb Salmon Wraps
Serves 4

Ingredients
4-6 whole collard leaves
1 pound wild salmon fillet
Salmon rub: Mix 1 T kosher salt, a few turns of the pepper mill, 1 T ground ginger, and 2 T brown sugar (or any rub of your choice)
1 tsp wasabi paste
4  T reduced-fat mayo
Radish sprouts
1 cup (or less) cooked rice
Soy sauce

Optional
4 Won ton wrappers, cut in half on diagonal
Oil to fry
Note: Won ton wrappers last pretty long uncooked in the fridge. They fry quickly and are great crumbled in salads.

Step-by-step
1) Preheat your grill for at least 15 minutes on high. Brush salmon lightly with olive oil and pat with rub. Turn down heat to medium high and grill salmon flesh side down for 5-7 minutes, depending on thickness.

2) When flesh pulls up slightly from grill grates, flip and grill the skin side for a few minutes. Remember that it will continue to cook quite a bit after you pull it from the grill. Let it rest.

3) For the optional fried won ton, fry now (or ahead) heating about 2 inches of canola oil on medium/medium high. Each wrapper only needs about a 30 seconds on each side. Let cool on a paper towel-lined plate.

3) Boil a pot of water, large enough to fit a collard leaf. Once it boils, dip each leaf in the hot water for about 5 seconds then remove and lay out to cool. A cookie sheet works well.

4) Once cool, cut a 1-2 inch triangle out of toughest bottom part of the stem end out, leaving most of the leaf intact.

5) Mix wasabi and mayonnaise, wash the radish sprouts and get ready to assemble.

6) For each leaf, lay the fried won ton first, then make a bed of radish sprouts, next scoop 1/8-1/4 cup cooked rice in the middle, drizzled with a little bit of soy sauce. Cut cooled salmon into four strips. Place one piece in each wrap. Give a hearty dollop of the wasabi mayo on each. You are ready to wrap!

8) Fold the bottom flap up first, then one side. Roll the other side shut to complete the wrap. Serve or wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for lunch the next day.

Home for the Holidays

Those that know me personally know that I'm a talker. I always did well in school, but the consistent comment on my report card was, "Julie talks too much in class." Every one of them. I recall getting in trouble for talking in Economics when I hadn't said a word. I'd been reading with a pencil wedged in my mouth. But I couldn't shake the rep. I was the talking fall guy for the class.

It's when I'm silent that you need to watch out. My staff knows this. If I'm hollering about how the floor didn't get mopped properly, they can handle that. But if I come to the front, grab a cup of coffee without a word, they know they'd better hide...while wiping something down.

But it's not only when I'm mad that I'm silent. It's also when I'm going through a big change, embarking on a new endeavor, or simply struggling with a scene I'm writing.

My silence as of late is because of something joyful. We've moved! After 12 years of living in a part of a triplex, and being landlords over the rest, we've finally moved to a single family home. It's been a lot of work selling and buying a house but I couldn't be happier.

We have more than one bathroom.

That needed a line of it's own. Besides the plurality of places to ponder life's big issues, I'm also overjoyed with the closet space. That said, I'm truly amazed though that though we've doubled our living space, our stuff has filled up the new house. Sure I bought a few pieces of furniture, but the sheer volume of broken toys and ripped, stained t-shirts in our family is staggering.

I guess we should have weeded more out before moving, but this whole process was at first extremely slow - we thought we'd never move, and then incredibly fast, where we made an offer and just like that we had a house, and at the end knuckle-bitingly slow where our close date kept getting delayed for nitpicky reasons, except at the very end which was a mad, mad dash to get moved in two days. All of this happened between Thanksgiving and the Christmas catering season.

I look forward to a much slower pace in January. I plan to lolly gag and canoodle. I may be silent as I seep into this new house and it seeps into me.

Then I'll talk. Probably way too much. You may say so in the comments, but I've heard it all before.

Happy Holidays.

Pickles!

We have officially canned our Sweet & Spicy Pickles and have them for sale in the restaurant. Many of you know I have a thing for pickles. Dill, sweet, sliced, whole....I like them all. This batch is a gooooood one. Plenty of heat, but enough sweet to take the edge off.

Making pickles is a lot like making soap. You have to give your total attention while making either of them. Multi-tasking muddles it up and makes you miss those important temperature windows. Come to think of it, making barbecue has this in common with soapmaking and canning. The best barbecue is made with an almost zen-like focus. Eric pretty much lives in this zen-like state. Not me. I think I gravitate to toward these three activities because each one forces me to stop, forces me to be totally present with the task at hand, which is the opposite of my usual. Multi-tasking would be a far better middle name for me than the one my parents made up. Don't ask. I've gotten over the middle name.

Take the other day for instance. A friend took my daughter for an hour and a half. During that precious gift of time, I hired someone, printed 30 pages of labels for a mailer, ran to the restaurant and checked in (and because I'd left the label stock there), made arrangements to close on our house (by the way, we're moving, like, next week, you know, because Thanksgiving week is an awesome time for us to move), ate half a bag of popcorn, fired off two e-mails to catering clients, and did a load of laundry.

The fact that I ran back to her house, on the phone, and left the car running for 30 minutes with my purse in the front seat, wide open, before my friend noticed, is a sign that I need. To. Stop.

So here are pickles. They are delicious, they are spicy-sweet...and they are my therapy.

Ain't she a beauty!

We always send out some early orders for smoked turkeys. Here's one that went out on Saturday that was so *purty*, I just had to take a photo. Weighing in at 14 lbs, this beauty came from a local Northwest farm, free of hormones and other icky stuff. She was brined for 24 hours prior to smoking slow and low in our Freidrich smokers with a mix of hickory, cherry, and a little oak for good measure.

Though we are sold out of the small turkeys (10-12 lbs), we still have a good amount of the the larger 14-16 lb turkeys to sell. Besides smoked turkey and complete dinners, we also have some lovely Hempler hams to sell. Our bone-in, smoked-on-site hams are only $4.98/lb. Spiral hams are $9.50/lb, and Prime Rib is $22/lb.

Call Smokin' Pete's BBQ today at (206) 783-0454 to place your order!

Eat your greens: Italian Kale Slaw

Summer puts everything on hold for me, including diet and exercise, so I've been focusing on eating healthy and getting workouts established again. I'm someone who has a good handle on nutrition, but who can eat half the pantry if I'm not paying attention. Add that I have a barbecue buffet and giant dessert case available to me at all times when I work, and I can pack on the calories before I've even noticed that food has entered my body. (You think it's tough to resist the brownies brought in by Betty from the next cubicle? C'mon over to my office!) The only thing that keeps me on track is a food journal. I like Weight Watchers on-line tools so that's what I'm doing.

One of the things I like about the WW site is I get to record recipes! I posted my first recipe tonight and thought I'd share it here too. I surprised Eric with this dish. He's naturally suspicious of anything labeled "healthy" or "low calorie", but he liked it as much as I did. It's full of greens and flavor, but low on calories and "points" (3 per serving if you are a WW adept).

You can make this in less than 5 minutes. Ready?

Italian Kale Slaw

Serves 2

1 cup finely chopped kale

1/2 cup thin sliced and chopped red cabbage

3 slices salami, finely chopped

3 T grated Parmesan

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2-3 T reduced fat Italian dressing

Chop and toss ingredients. And no snitching extra slices of salami while you prepare the slaw, got it? I know, it's tough.

Let summer vacation begin!

This a picture of Seiku, one of the Seattle Aquarium's sealions, lounging in the sun by the side of the pool. That's what I feel like doing right now because today marks the end of one heck of a summer. Sure we have a catering tomorrow, and the next day, but nothing will be like the last few months...until next summer.

I'm (naturally, continuously) behind on paperwork, so I don't even know if this year's numbers were better than last year, but it feels like it. I feel like it. Maybe it's just that I worked more hours because the kids are a little older, and I can. Maybe it's because we had so little drama in the crew this year. Love that. We had a great group this season. No one dropped out. D&A issues were almost null. No one got together and then broke up. That reminds me to take a group photo this week.

I can't believe that I already need to put out the Labor Day signs and e-mail. I mean I'm late putting them up! The summer flew by in a blur.

(Speaking of which, Smokin' Pete's will be open as usual on Labor Day, then closed the day after for a day of rest. OK, back to She-Smoke).

Speaking of which, I am now officially starting my first real day off since June 3rd. When you think of me, think of ol' Seiku up there, with that look of total relaxation and face turned toward the sun. And yes, she and I bear other resemblances, but let's not go there.

So tell me, what did you do for summer vacation? I'm not asking because I feel sorry for myself for working so hard. We pack plenty of summer fun around barbecue season, albiet locally. I simply ask because today I have arrived at summer vacation, and want to sit on the virtual sun deck with you to enjoy it.

Almost Half-Way

This is the time of year when we've been in the thick of it, catering-wise for a good solid 6 weeks. We start to get edgy. Morale breaks down. Pizza is ordered. A lot of pizza is ordered. I have a back log of posts and recipes that would be lovely to share, that would take me 30 minutes to an hour tops, but I just don't have it! Yet. I see a window coming next week.

So I'm simply going to share a few photos of gigs we've catered. I notoriously don't take pictures. I even bought a new fancy phone that takes wonderful pictures, but catering shots really look best before the guests go through the line, and that is a caterer's crunch time. I don't have time to lollygag around, snapping food shots.

Here are just a few moments I had to quickly capture the moment:



Our booth at the South Sound BBQ Festival.



Pig cookies with bacon-maple frosting.

Pulled Pork, Smoked & Grilled Chicken and Elaine!

Slaw. Gotta have slaw.

Amidst it all we catered my parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. Shockingly we didn't serve barbecue. Here are some lovely crostini with herbed goat cheese and roasted peppers.

NPR Seattle Interview 9:30am this morning!

Please tune in to KUOW 94.09 from 9:30am to 10am today! Host Steve Scher will be talking to me and others about grillin' like a pro for the 4th of July. We'll be answering questions from callers and talking all things barbecue, of course. KUOW is the local NPR station and I'm excited to be a part of the show.

Right after the interview I have to run back to the shop, bang out a big ol' payroll, and gear up for a little 800 person catering tomorrow that leaves at 6am. This of course is followed by the 4th of July, which means lots of big pick up orders. Thankfully we have family in town who are being our village and watching the kids for most of the next three days.

I can't help thinking of this interview as a break, because I will be forced to stop, give total focus for about an hour, and do lots of deep breathing to keep calm. Is that weird?

Hope you can listen, and if I don't get back to the blog, Happy Fourth of July!

Salmon on the Grill

The salmon are running! Now is the perfect time to throw luscious wild salmon on the grill. What are the two most important things about grilling fish? Oil the fish, and grill it flesh side first! Now get out there and buy one of the early runners - Sockeye or Chinook (red or silver) and grill up some of the best food on the planet.

Her first batch of pig candy

This is my daughter's first batch of pig candy (yes, even a 3 yr old can make it). Since I really have nothing to offer in the way of innovation to this recipe (brown sugar, spice, bacon, maple sugar halfway through if you are so inclined), I offer cute.

Totally cute.

Five Questions

I just sent out five questions to five ladies I get the honor of spending Thursday with talking about grilling and barbecue. Many of them are on the PTA at my son's school and bid on my "Ladies Barbecue Lesson & Dinner" auction item to raise funds for all those "extra" educational opportunities like art, music, and science lab.    They volunteer far more time than I do, but this was a way I could contribute. It's also a way I could give back and drink wine at the same time. So win/win.

I love teaching people about grilling and barbecue, especially beginners. Because I'm not sure of the skill level of these five ladies, I sent out these questions to get a sense of what to cover in the lesson.

So here they are. Admittedly #5 isn't a true question. What would your answers be?

1) Tell me a little about your grilling experience. Don't worry if your answer is "never". Are you comfortable on the grill, tentative but willing, think that it will blow up at any moment, or a seasoned (almost) pro?

2) What do you have in your backyard: gas, charcoal, both, or neither?

3) What do you most want to learn? 

4) Are you more interested in grilling or smoking slow and low, or a little of both?

5) And finally, red or white?

"4 R" Easy Baby Back Ribs (CAW! CAW!)

Baby back ribs are a favorite of mine because they get the highest compliment rating for the least amount of work. For you acronym junkies, that's a high CAW rating (Compliment to Amount of Work). Yes, I just made that up, but maybe someday recipes the world over will include a little graph noting its CAW rating.

Here's the formula:
Rip 'em
Rub 'em
Rack 'em
Regulate 'em

Simple. You only have to remember four R's. Seriously every time I make baby back ribs at a party, people go nuts and all I can think of is how easy it was compared to anything else on the barbecue scale. Sure, smoked chicken thighs are something a 4-year old, were she allowed to play with fire, could do, but nobody cares about chicken thighs. And subsequently, they don't get a high CAW rating.

I'll explain the R's....

1) Rip 'em: Rip off the membrane. This is important for ribs, but especially baby back ribs. The membrane is chewy, and some say can inhibit the smoke penetration. It's mostly men that talk about smoke penetration, though, you know? But I digress...To remove the membrane is really easy. It's on the bone side of the ribs. Take a spoon or knife and get a little piece of it separated. With a paper towel, pull it off.

2) Rub 'em: Use the rub of your choice. As you can see, I've used my cocoa bliss rub on these ribs. A shameless plug for my book. Yes the recipe is in there.

3) Rack 'em: For multiple racks, stack them sideways in a rib rack. I like to place them in every other slot so there is maximum...um, smoke penetration.

4) Regulate 'em: Admittedly a bit of a mouthful, but the most important of the four steps. Keep a constant 250 degrees for about 2-2.5 hours. How do you do this? Make a slow and low fire, indirect, and keep the damn lid closed! If you are cooking on gas, and no judgement there, maintaining a constant temperature will be pretty simple. 250 is a little higher than I recommend for most barbecue, but baby backs don't need as low temperatures as a brisket or spares. They don't have as much tough connective tissue. I find that 250 is the sweet spot temperature for them. And as you know, if you've been paying attention, my baby backs always get a high CAW rating.

Now a few things that didn't fit into my neat little formula were wood chips or chunks and a finishing sauce at the end. To explain. Wood chips: Yes, do that. Create some smoke. If you are cooking on charcoal you won't need as much as with gas. Finishing sauce: Brush on your favorite sauce in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

How do you know when they are done? I like the bend test the best. Racks should bend easily without falling apart.

That's it! Now it is sharing time. What dishes do you make that give you a high CAW rating?

You Can Pickle That...Oh Portlandia, how I love thee.

I'm about to start chopping a case of pickles, because we are down to our last little bit of the huge batch I made last month. To procrastinate for a moment, I leave you with this bit from Portlandia. I love this show. I live inside this show. Seattle may not be Portland, but we are definitely kin.