Your birthday dinner... (Page 3)

Go to 24th street just south of L and get great Mexican.  They have many different authentic places.  We have tried most of them, but the al pastor is one of my favorites.

We have never tried the Boilerroom as we were told it was very expensive and not worth the money.  We may have to look at it again.

We buy our seasoning from cajuncrawfish.com.   We usually have a boil with 100 + people at our house every year, except last year because of my daughter getting married and that took all of our money plus some. 

We hope to plan another one again this year. 

Perfect--I will.  I love good Mexican, and there is none where I live (eastern Iowa, btw).  I'm in O-town 1/week and am usually looking for a good place for lunch.

The BoilerRoom is expensive.  I like it because they go to great lengths to source their stuff locally and they make almost everything in house--charcuterie, cheeses (two of my favs). I spent a year cooking in a restaurant like that, and I think that makes me really love places that do that.  But really, it is spendy so if that's not your kinda thing, it wouldn't be worth it.

We have been raising heritage breed hogs for a ocuple of years, and I can hardly wait until I have enough time that I can try to make charcuterie.  We have goats and I've tried to make cheese--awesome--but I haven't tried anything really tricky yet.  

Thank you SO much!  When I do it I'll take some pics and post.  I LOVE pardoning a "Clovis" and my kids will LOVE that too. 

Kitchen remodel? You have my attention.  

It can be a total freakin grind to live through though.  Sorry about that:/

I am a meat lovin woman.  Beef. Pork. Lamb. Venison. Elk (if I can get it).  I could be a vegetarian, but I would never be a happy one.

I hear you on the eColi.  Do you have a cat you don't really like?

I am a scientist who works in a biochemistry lab, so I'm probably a little more comfortable with that stuff than most.  I think it would be cool to apprentice with someone who really knew what they were doing.  I like learning cooking that way, you get to see the angles, nuances, pinches--all the good stuff that makes a difference in the end product.

Good salami?  Does it get better than that?

That sounds like a vey excellent way to spend a birthday.  

Tell us more about the ribs...what kind of ribs? a rub? a sauce? (as I typed that my mouth started watering and I just ate lunch two hours ago)

What is it with the short answers without all the good details...you guys don't want to reveal your secrets, huh?

Which reminds me, Tony, why JW Blue?  Your favorite?  What's your every-day-drinkin whiskey?

Yeah, I was thinking it was probably not your every day choice, but, eh, it is a tri forum;)

Mmmmm. Makers Mark.  So...thirsty...

Were you gonna strike if they messed with their proof?

I like baby back ribs. 

Make sure you peel the skin off the back.

Spray them with apple cider vinegar, rub them down with a couple of handfuls of brown sugar and put them in the fridge overnight.

Bring them out of the fridge, rub them down with a rub consisting of...

A couple tablespoons of brown sugar

A tablespoon of onion powder

A tablespoon of kosher salt

A tablespoon of black pepper

a tablespoon of paprika

a teaspoon of cheyenne pepper (ok, sometimes a tablesoon because I LOVE spicy food)

any other spice you enjoy....to taste.

Let them stand until room temperature and then put them on indrect heat on a charcoal grill (like a weber kettle) or put them in a smoker....I like offset grills.  Use applewood chips for about the first hour to keep the smoke rolling, then just let them sit at about 200 degrees for 3 hours, every now and then spray with apple cider vinegar to keep moist if using a grill instead of factory smoker.  Wrap them in foil and leave them on for another 2 hours.  Take them out of the foil and give them an hour at very low heat....maybe 125-150 degrees.

My kids will run you over to get to them.

Every year I host a gathering and cook up my favorite grill selection for my friends.  It's a "Santa Maria style" BBQ (regional to my area of California) with some modifications.  

• Garlic bread cooked on the grill (butters up and seasons the grill)
• Linguicia (spicy Portuguese sausage)
• Pork apple sausage
• Tri-tip steaks with my secret seasoning rub
• "Fajita packs" (onion and bell peppers in foil packs cooked on grill)
• Some random meat in a slow smoker, last year was salmon

HA!  That is too funny.  

It sounds like you have quite a skill set.  Super cool.  I would love to learn how to make good Mexican, but it is definitely not a part of my repetoir.

Breads? Do you have a bread/pizza oven?

LB these sound delicious.  Thank you for sharing your recipe!  I haven't done a lot of smoking, but I'll give this a try if you'll have my back if I have some follow-up questions.  

I'm easier than a sophomore girl on prom night.

Just get me a nice bone in ribeye, a big bottle of Chimay (blue label), and let me cook it myself.  With a loaded up baked potato on the side.

And a big slab of blackout cake for dessert.  And another Chimay.

You are easy:)

I'm a little surprised it took us this many posts to get a "Chimay" vote.  In our neck-of-the-woods, Chimay and cyclists have an intimate relationship.  So much so that I just assumed it was like that everywhere.  Maybe it's just beer and cyclists...

geauxtri - 2013-05-07 3:14 PM

switch - 2013-05-07 8:00 AM

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 11:04 PM

switch - 2013-05-06 5:33 PM

the bear - 2013-05-06 6:19 PM

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 5:20 PM

Comet - 2013-05-06 4:08 PM

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 6:00 PM BOILED CRAWFISH!!!  And a Frozen Daquiri!!

Yeah, my family back home in La has been killing me w/ pic's of crawfish boils

(and they've been really good! I've had my fair share already ) 

CURSE YOU!!!!

Their airfare ain't cheap, but I'll have my live crawbabies in the pot this Saturday!  Mwa-hahahaha!!!

Boiled a sack last Saturday, mamabear made stew with the leftovers on Sunday. Price has come down a bit since Easter.

 

My birthday's not until November. 

Curse all of you!  There's no good way for an Iowa girl to get this without significant travel:/  I have experienced the greatness, and it sounds so freakin' good right now.

www.lacrawfish.com  (Fed-ex same day live)

If this coonass can get her crawfish in Utah, I'm sure you can get them to Iowa.
And you can even order them cooked, if you don't have a jet burner and a large pot. 
Personally, I look forward to boiling them myself (and am excited to eat and pick them from my new Tabasco platters!)

And John, I can't wait to have crawfish omelets on Mother's Day!!!  (my favorite boil left over, w/ potatoes of course)

Well I'm gonna do this--thanks for the link.  My kids have never experienced the greatness, and I think they'd dig it.  I have never cooked them myself so I hope I don't screw it up.  Good recipes my Southern friends?

If you're going to boil them yourself here are a few La Common Sense tips (and a few personal)
Common Sense:
1) If they're not purged, purge them.  If you're not sure if they've been purged, purge them.  Just put them in an ice chest, poor some salt over them, hose 'em down, swish the ice chest around and drain.
2) Don't put your potatoes in right away w/ your crawfish (they will soak up all the seasoning)
3)  Let the crawfish soak after boiling to absorb more of the seasoning

Personal Tip:
1) Don't use liquid boil (it messes w/ some ppls innerds   )
2) Use Zatarain's powder or bags (my mom hates the bags b/c they can burst and make a mess, I don't mind)
3)  I like corn and potatoes w/ mine (boil red potatoes near end of crawfish cooking)
4) Some people add all sorts of things to their boil mix... Ive seen orange juice concentrate, lemons, onions (my mom LOVES onions in hers), artichokes, celery, mushrooms, etc....  IF you eat it, you can boil it.

Oh, and the kids love to add hotdogs and/or sausages.

For the kids.... have crawfish wars and we've become accustomed to "pardoning" a crawfish and naming him Clovis each year.  He usually lives in the fridge and on the countertop for a few weeks.  We take him out and read Clovis the Crawfish storybooks at night

If you don't have a boiling set-up you can use a turkey fryer.  As well, I typically buy small knit laundry bags to boil the veggies in so they don't sit and soak for so long.

Actually, you should boil your potatoes for about ten minutes before you add the crawfish in order for them to cook. They do get seasoned but do not soak up all the seasoning by any means. How long do you boil your crawfish if you don't add the potatoes until the end?

My method: Start with potatoes (and onions and garlic), boil for ten, add crawfish, boil for seven, soak for ten. If you want corn, add in the last three minutes that the crawfish are boiling.

And I do use liquid (with the powder, sometimes with the bags). No innerd messing.