Recent content by jseymour84

My favorite celebrity chefs are Gordon Ramsay, Robert Irvine, Tim Farmer, and Guy Fieri. I also like the cooking competition shows because I get to see a ton of ideas about how to cook different dishes that I wouldn't have thought of.

I guess I am more blessed than I realize to live in the country. Free range chicken is not hard to come by, I think I paid $5.00 plus a few hours of labor, and grass fed beef direct from a farmer can be had for as little as $5.00 / lb cut and wrapped. Totally agree on the fresh foods part. If...

Good afternoon everyone! Does anyone else make watermelon rind pickles? I made my first batch about two weeks ago but haven't tried them yet to see how they turned out. The recipe I followed called for a lot of sugar and cinnamon, in addition to vinegar and pickling spice. It sounded odd to...

Cripes, it's been a long day. I also forgot to mention to learn where you can make substitutions. One example for be olive oil for canola oil, as I think olive oil or EVOO is healthier than canola or vegetable oil (maybe a more knowledgeable person can clarify that). Also, learn some recipes...

There have been a lot of good replies, but the thing that really helped me stretch my creativity in the kitchen was to join a CSA program. In the program I joined, I paid a lump sum to get a bushel of vegetables and 3-5 lbs of meat each week. I also shop once a week at a farmer's market, and I...

Thanks! Soon as my paycheck comes in I will be ordering a copy of this book.

Thanks for the run through on your process medtran. I built myself a rolling prep cart using a 32" base cabinet to which I mounted a 36" x 18 " butcher block. The entire thing is a giant cutting board given me plenty of space to chop and prep. I'll post a pic of it when I get home. I have an...

Good point. The next time I work up a spice blend I will start with a simple blend of salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder, then slowly add ingredients and test it out. For my first BBQ sauce, it was a honey raspberry sauce that I built using a base recipe I found online, then worked...

Let's not be so hasty as to say that I know what I am doing :chef: That being said, I am fairly confident in my meat dishes, what I lack is knowledge about making sauces (other than BBQ sauce), dressings, and the little details that really make someone say "Wow!" when they eat something. Also...

I am definitely trying that before the summer is over. Pizza is one of my favorite foods of all time.

I envy your grilling and smoking implements. I just got rid of three horizontal smokers, but I still have my big green egg knock-off that is sized perfectly for the wife and myself. Also, thanks for the roasting advice. My next dish I want to make is a roasted venison loin with red wine...

Ok, so to sum up the lessons learned here: 1) Get everything in place before starting to cook. I am assuming this means put all your seasonings next to the stove, chop all the vegetables and set next to stove, and sort out all the measuring devices, foil wrap, plastic wrap, etc... 2) Don't...

With just my wife and I we tend to not be able to fill up a dishwasher daily. I like to think that entitles me to buy more pans but in reality it just means having to wash dishes by hand every once in a while. :smile:

Not too bad, about 4-5 months out of the year if you don't mind wearing a jacket and using two bags of charcoal per cook, and if you do mind that, then 2-3 months for grilling season. Our springs and falls can be quite cool but still not too bad to grill in. The last 4-5 years have been weird...

That's fine, 84 is a cool nickname. I suspected that when pork is firm enough to not bend when you lift it by one edge that it is overcooked, but I always worry about under cooking pork. Thanks for the reassurances :) Thanks for the tips, I will definitely try them out next time! I never...