ScooterHTX

Have read several different places that you can get way more bang for your buck with French and Italian wines vs. many Napa / California wines. Problem is most of my limited knowledge is Napa / other Cali wines. Any French / Italian suggestions I can pick up at specs that are in the $20 - $30 range? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Before covid, a group of my wife’s friends started a dinner club with that consists of 5 couples. We have decided to get it going again and my wife and I will be hosting it next weekend. This started as an excuse for the wives to have upscale dinners and use their wedding presents. In the past people have done things like rack of lamb, ribeye roast, etc. I see how cooking 1 big thing is easier than say 10 individual steaks. Looking for ideas to cook for 10 people. My biggest issue is this is next Friday, and I doubt I will be home from work until 530 at the earliest. I have the apps and cocktails figured out. Everyone will bring wine (we will drink a lot). Depending on the main, my appetizers will likely be smoked salmon dip with a cheese tray or boiled shrimp w/ cocktail sauce and sautéed crab claws cooked in Bolner’s BBQ crab seasoning. I would like to do as much prep work as possible the night before. I thought about making homemade pasta and a bolognese the night before. I would just have to let it simmer in a pot and boil the pasta before dinner, and it would free up time to socialize with guests. Logistically, it seems like the best idea, I’m just not too excited about it. Any other ideas? We have a great backyard and will do this outside, with lights, white table cloth, full bar, etc. Realize this is a narrow request, welcome to all other dinner party ideas as we are in a new house and plan on entertaining a lot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally attempted my first brisket on my WSM. Ive been pretty intimidated by the thought of cooking brisket, but have done several pork butts now and have that down. Just bought a 6 lb point already trimmed from HEB. Cooked around 240 For 7.5 hours, pulled at 200 degrees and let it sit in cooler for 2 hours. Will likely step up to a full size next time Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If they could combine Popeyes food with chikfila service I would gain 50 lbs pretty fast. Chikfila is very good, very consistent, and very fast. Strips > nuggets. Pro tip - ask for fries well done. Guaranteed fresh and just a bit more crispy. Popeyes - incredible, horrible service, Can wait 15 mins, and they will likely mess up your order. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thread bump Anyone have any experience / recipes with green chartreuse? Made this recently and am hooked. 2 oz lillet blanc 1 oz green chartreuse 1/2 oz gin 1 oz lime juice (used lemon instead) 1/2 oz simple syrup

Did pizza on the grill tonight. First time to ever do it. Pretty Much got all of my information from this thread. Everything looked great but the bottom of the pizza was black. Let the stone heat for like 40 mins while the grill was at 650-700 degrees. Cooked the pizza for 12 mins and the bottom was black. I put semolina on the stone before putting the pizza on it and it immediately turned black. Assume the stone was too hot? Or I cooked it too long? Was cooking around 550 degrees. This pic was taken maybe 3-4 mins before I pulled it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Big fan of field and tides. Can walk there from my house. Nancy’s Hustle Riel Squabble Nobies Turner’s Still want to check out Bluedorn, Mutiny Wine Room, MAD, BCN Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anyone have any experience adding on to an older pier and beam house in the heights or anywhere else? Just purchased an older place in Norhill Heights. Decent sq. Footage for now, but curious about the potential for the future. It’s an oversized lot, so even with the addition, the home would still have a good yard. I know construction pricing is through the roof right now, but curious on past experiences / costs? Would look to add larger family room down stairs, move laundry room / create a mud room, then add 2 bedrooms and 1-2 bathrooms above the family room and garage. Anyone have experience dealing with historical associations? Have heard they can be a problem on approving plans, but just walking around the neighborhood, multiple homes have expanded beyond what the guidelines say are allowed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tell me more about this marinade? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Went a few years ago and had a blast. Below is an email I have sent to some friends based on my experience and some others advice before the trip. Cascais – It is a sleepy upscale beach town with casinos, restaurants, golf, and beaches. I was in Cascais for 2 days. It is a short trip to Sintra from there as well. The resorts west of the town seem to be more segregated and nicer. There are some nice ones in town as well and towards Estoril. I had an awesome meal at Restaurante Mar do Inferno. It is a higher end seafood restaurant and will likely need a reservation. The food was really good. All wine is from Douro and reasonably priced. They have menu’s in English if you ask. http://mardoinferno.pt/en Golf – I played at Oitavos Dunes. It is a nice resort with a pretty cool golf course. The first few holes were not too exciting, but after hole 6 or 7, there were great views of the ocean the entire time. It was very windy the day I played. It was rated as the 58th course in the world recently. They had aerated the fairways when I played, but I could tell why it is getting the publicity. http://www.oitavosdunes.com/ Sintra – Great town in the hills 10 miles from the ocean. Some cool old castles and forests. Porto – did not go, I hear it is pretty cool, but do not need more than a day there. Douro Valley – Wine region that seems nice. We were with some girls that chartered a boat up the river from Lisbon. Some nice hotels with great views. Lisbon – Everything in this town starts later. Many restaurants will not open doors for dinner till 8-9 pm. Starting with Lisbon - barrrio alto one massive open air party where all the bars merge in one giant outdoor street party. Some of its tacky with stag do's and some of its not. Amor pensar- ex whore house turned up market bar very cool- it's down at remorales (Pink Street) and that whole street is pretty good. Time Out Market – Really good lunch spot. Think of the nicest food court you can imagine. Several Michelin chef’s have places inside. You can try a variety of cuisines, along with tons of portuguse options. It is group seating and you will share tables with people from all over the world. I ate there 3 of the 4 days for lunch. It was that good. I had a I had braised tuna with chives and sweet potatoes that I am still thinking about. Most meals are around EUR 12, and can buy bottles of pretty good wine for the same price. The booths with the chef’s names are all pretty good. In Lisbon, the palace on the top of the hill is supposed to have the best views. Instead, we went to the rooftop bar on top of a parking garage over looking the city. I believe it is called the Car Park. It was a very fun crowd with some amazing looking women. Fun atmosphere. We had an awesome 4 hour lunch at Cantinho do Avillez. You will likely need a reservation. It is a pretty good value for what you get. We had multiple cocktails and shared various plates of food. Highlights were tuna tartare, Some sort of hot cheese baked with prosciutto and honey, Giant Thai Red Shrimp (amazing), an egg appetizer dish was great as well. Everything we tried was good, these dishes stick out. 100 Maneiras – This was a very fun, very good dinner. Lots of seafood, good wine, upbeat type of place. Will definitely need a reservation. Amazing tuna tartare, squid dishes, prawns, scallops, etc. Everything was good. We didn’t sit down till 11 pm and closed the tab at 2:30 AM. Pavilhao Chines – Great spot to grab a drink. Feel like you are in 18th century aristocrats house. The walls are covered with artifacts from various wars over the years. We were there for a few hours before dinner. Not a crazy party spot, but good spot to have a few drinks with friends, worth checking out. Below is from British / Portuguese couple The whole of the Algarve is good the eastern side is built up and touristy the western side very rugged and beautiful with less numbers and small villages. There's a place down from Lisbon below setabul which is supposed to be like Ibiza before it took off. I think it call prai de comporta haven't been their myself but read about it in an article by Conde naste. A friend of mine recommended it to me as well. There are two big wine regions alentejo and douro. So there would probably be some sort of tours in those regions as well. Don't know never been. If you like biking surfing or paddle boarding Sagres is the place to go, chilled out very busy in August September is okay and then very quite until June again. Lots of great beaches and rugged coastline. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I smoked the salmon in Shiner tonight. 60ish degrees. 8 - 10 oz filets. Brined for 12 hours. Let them sit to develop pellicle for 4 hours with a fan blowing on them. Smoked for 4.5 hours around 150 degrees. Pulled them around 140 degree internal temp. Very impressed how the WSM was able to smoke at the low temp without getting too hot. Didn’t expect that. Went with the thin snake method. Only started with around 10 lit coals on one end. 4.5 hours later only about 1/4 of the way around the snake were burned. Wish I had more pics. These were the first 2 filets I pulled. Will eat them on toasted buttery croissants with garlic cream cheese in the morning. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anyone have experience smoking salmon on WSM. Any tips to keep temp in 150-160 range? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This seems to be a reoccurring take I have heard over the years in Houston. People think that their farm raised crawfish from Louisiana somehow tastes different / or is more authentic than farm raised crawfish from around Beaumont. Doesn’t matter where it is from, or if a Cajun / Texan / whoever cooks it, as long as the water is properly seasoned and bugs soak long enough. It’s not rocket science. I plan on eating my weight in crawfish this year to make up for 2020. Season water with 150% of called for powder seasoning. Add your preferred amount of liquid boil (little goes a long way). Place bugs in water at a rolling boil. Usually let them go with lid on for 7 minutes. Kill fire, drop in frozen corn, (also serves to cool off the water for the soak) let soak around 25 minutes. Bugs will absorb more flavor as the water cools. Now for the beat tradition of crawfish season - Everyone chime in give their method and why the above is wrong. Bet there are a thousand ways to make good crawfish. 3 bad ways. - not enough seasoning / liquid boil in water - overcooked / undercooked - not enough soak time Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Full rack here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tried beef ribs for the first time this weekend on WSM. 6.5 lb Dino Rib pack from HEB. Watched the Aaron Franklin beef rib video on YouTube. Pretty simple. Planned on wrapping in butcher paper, but was pretty excited about the bark forming, so kept it going. When it hit 200 degrees I just committed to let it cook another 30 mins and think that was the right call. Let them rest for an hour in a cooler and then served.

Grilled duck breast with chili glaze sauce, along with some slightly over cooked duck fat potatoes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Red beans and rice. Adding a smoked ham hock made a big difference. Before serving, debone and shred the ham and put it back in. Andouille sausage as well Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Massaman curry braised lamb shank. Massaman curry paste Coconut milk Chicken broth Cinnamon sticks Star anise Lamb shanks Small potatoes Cooked at 325 in Dutch oven covered, then another 2 hours at 300 uncovered turning the shanks every 30 minutes. Served over jasmine rice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure either, just didn’t feel as tender as it should Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Smoked a pork butt on my WSM at my in-laws place in Shiner this weekend. Thermometer said 205, and I pulled it even though it did not probe like butter. Even after letting it sit in cooler for an hour it was still a bit tough for a pork butt. Repurposed it tonight when I got back to Houston by crisping it up in canola oil for some incredible smoked carnitas tacos Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone have experience with smoking lamb shanks? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Long time lurker, first time poster. 2nd time to use WSM. 5.5 lb pork butt at 275 for about 7 hours. Wrapped at 160 degrees. Pulled at 204, let it sit in a cooler for 1.5 hours. Thanks, I’ll hang up and listen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk