Testing a recipe – lollipop drumsticks in the pressure cooker. Coming soon! The DadCooksDinner limited edition t-shirt is available through Thursday, September 29th at 11PM. If you want one, don’t forget to order! Click here to check them out. [Teespring.com]
I couldn’t help it. There was a sale on kale at the grocery store. The DadCooksDinner limited edition t-shirt is available through Thursday, September 29th at 11PM. If you want one, don’t forget to order! Click here to check them out. [Teespring.com]
As you probably noticed, my new theme went live! Thanks to Jasmine and Chris at RXVP, I have a new design, logo, and color scheme. We’re still cleaning up the details and a few messes. (I apologize about the weird right-shift on Tuesday’s email – that should be fixed. And, if you were looking for last week’s Thermoworks Smoke Gateway writeup, it is back online.) In honor of my new look, I’m trying something new – blog swag – a limited edition run of t-shirts and coffee mugs. Want to proudly display your love of DadCooksDinner, and my new Pressure Cooker icon? You can order from my Teespring storefront: https://teespring.com/stores/dadcooksdinner [Teespring.com] Men’s t-shirts are available in black and white, Women’s t-shirts are in black and purple, and the coffee mugs are in black and white. If you want one, don’t delay – they are only on sale for two weeks. The sale ends September 29 at 11PM EST. And, yes, I am mainly doing this to get my own t-shirt and mug. If you order one, …
A little sausage gravy with biscuits for breakfast today. Recipe here: Sausage Gravy.
Disclaimer: I am a Thermoworks affiliate. Buying a thermometer through my Thermoworks links earns me a few dollars. I love Thermoworks thermometers – I was a fan of theirs long before I became an affiliate. If you buy a thermometer from them, you’re buying the best, and supporting DadCooksDinner at the same time. Thank you! Last year, I talked about the Thermoworks Smoke – a two probe thermometer with a remote receiver. Before the Smoke, my experience with remote thermometers was not good. They worked as long as I was standing near a window where I could see the grill – but if I went farther into the house…like sitting on the front room sofa – the remote was too far away, and it wouldn’t connect. (The worst ones wouldn’t know they were disconnected – they’d keep reporting the same temperature, even though they’re out of range, and I’d get chicken surprise when I went out on the deck…the bird would be 50°F higher than I thought it was.) I bought a Thermoworks Smoke and …
The other day, my friend Judy said that Fall is the real start of the new year. “That’s it!”. She’s absolutely right – I think it’s the rhythm of the school year – but I always treat Fall as when I start new projects. (New Years Resolutions are for when those projects aren’t going so well…but that’s another story.) So, it’s appropriate that my blog anniversary is in late August. Specifically, August 20th, 2008. DadCooksDinner started when I posted a recipe (and I use the term “recipe” loosely) for Chipotle en Adobo Puree. It’s 2017 now – holy cow – and I’ve been writing here for 9 years. I’ve know I’ve been doing this for a while, but 9 years? That’s a lot of recipes. 2016–2017 recap As you probably noticed, I leaned into pressure cooking even more over the last year. This has been good for the blog, from a traffic standpoint; the Instant Pot is a cultural phenomenon, and pressure cooker baby back ribs, chicken legs, quick chili, and New York cheesecake are …
Saturday Night dinner – grilled shrimp skewers.
If everything goes according to plan, as you read this we’ll be moving my blog to its new theme and color scheme. If not, I’ll be shaking my fist at the computer gods, and we’ll be trying again in a week or so. Wish me luck! [Update 2017-08-27: And…not this week. Darn. We’ve rescheduled for the week after Labor day. So, stop back in two weeks to see what’s up…)
I spent most of the afternoon yesterday trimming and sectioning a packer brisket from my friends over at Certified Angus Beef. I’ve got so much beef, and a reminder of how skilled butchers are with their knives. I have good knife skills…for a home chef. A couple of pressure cooker beef brisket recipes will be coming your way soon…
Question from a reader: Have you tried a pressure cooker carrying bag? Years ago, I bought a slow cooker that came with a travel bag. I used it a lot, especially for potlucks and my annual chili cookoff at work. Now that I have an Instant Pot, my pressure cooker is gathering dust in the cabinet…but I miss having that travel bag. So, when I got this question, I went over to Amazon to see what was available. I found two pressure cooker tote bags: the $30 Pressure Chef, and the $40 Quick & Carry; I ordered them both to see what I thought of them. (The things I do for my readers…like order more stuff from Amazon. Quick & Carry Travel Tote Bag The Quick & Carry is the fancier of the two bags. It has a main central pouch for the pressure cooker, with a zipper around the lid of the bag to lift the cooker in and out. It also has two zippered accessory pockets – one on the top of the …
This picture is showing off my brother Pat’s culinary talents. He smoked a whole 12-pound brisket for about 20 hours. (This pic is after about 12 hours of cooking). It was amazing – and the brisket enchiladas he made with the leftovers may have been even better…
The cook at our house cooked rice in the instant pot, but since the stainless container was soaking in the sink from the previous use, the cook didn’t remember there was a container to put it in first! So it went directly into the bottom of the InstantPot. I’ve managed to get most of the burned and uncooked rice out of the InstantPot, but there are a few rice kernels inside. I removed the bottom of the InstantPot and was able to get more of them out this way also. Oil was used along with the water in the cooking process. – Commenter Treva Oh, Treva, I know exactly how this feels. Years ago, I was teaching Tim how to pressure cook his favorite side dish – black beans. This was a while ago – I think we were still using my Instant Pot Lux, or maybe my Cuisinart Electric Pressure cooker. Anyway, I showed Tim how to sort beans, and had him set up on the counter next to the kitchen sink. The pressure …
My brother Matt was busy at the cottage last week…stay tuned for more…
A question from reader Brian: “Why does every recipe I see for grilling rubs contain so much brown sugar, which burns nearly immediately on the grill? It doesn’t seem to add any real sweetness that I can sense, in the same way that I can tell where the salt, cayenne or paprika influences the taste. Seems odd to think that burnt sugar would be something I’d want to add to my ribs or chicken, and that the sugar is better left to sauce that you add after cooking.” I got this question from reader Brian (by way of my old friend Geoff) in a Facebook message. My reply to him turned into a rant, and then this post. I’ve warned against sugar and grilling in a couple of recipes, but never put my thoughts in one place on the blog. So, here’s my response: Brian, you’re right – grilling rubs with sugar in them are not a good idea. Sugar will burn, and I try to avoid it in rubs that are going over direct …
Country ribs vs Western ribs – what’s the difference between pork country-style loin ribs and pork western shoulder ribs?
The kids still have a few weeks left until school starts, but my summer vacation is over today. Sigh. Back to the daily grind.
New York City was hot, noisy, dirty…and full of energy, people, and fun things to do. We went to the top of the Empire State Building at night, and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on a gray and overcast day. We toured the Whitney museum and MOMA, piloted remote control sailboats in Central Park, and visited the somber memorial for 9/11. We enjoyed street cart kabobs and chili dogs, modern Sichuan at Café China, flat whites at Birch Coffee, the fried yard bird at Red Rooster Harlem, prosecco and rosé at Eataly, pop up food trucks on Broadway, table side guacamole at Rosa Mexicano, and a last day in the city breakfast at Balthazar. Now, after weeks on the road, we are relaxing on the shores of Lake Erie. I love traveling – but sometimes I need a vacation from my vacation.
The Dad Cooks Dinner tour of the East Coast is over…but vacation is not! We’re back in Ohio, spending time at our cottage on Lake Erie and recovering from our travel by relaxing at the beach.
Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions for Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, and Acadia national park. We had a fantastic time, even if the hike up the north ridge of Cadillac Mountain almost finished me. Favorites from the trip Lobsters, lobsters everywhere! Lobster rolls were on the menu no matter where we went. My favorite meal was the whole steamed lobster and mussels at Thurston’s Lobster Pound…but it was hard to go wrong with any of the seafood choices on Mount Desert Island The Island Cruise with Bass Harbor Cruises was the highlight of the trip. I learned a ton about lobster fishing, the islands of Downeast Maine, and got some fantastic photos of the seals lounging on the rocks. Highly recommended. Popovers at Jordan Pond restaurant in the park. Unfortunately, it was raining when we visited, so the view from the terrace was gray with low cloud cover. The popovers made up for the dreary view – they were massive and airy. Thanks again to everyone for the food suggestions. Once again, …
Looking to buy an Instant Pot? Heads up! Amazon has had great deals on the Instant Pot Duo the last two years on Prime Day, their annual “Christmas in July” sale. [Update 8:46AM EST: It’s the Instant Pot 8 Quart Duo on sale – if you want one, hurry on over to Amazon!] Why am I telling you this? Because, today is Amazon Prime Day for 2017. I’m in Downeast Maine with only a hint of cell phone coverage, so I don’t know any details, but… I have a feeling there will be deals on the Instant Pot today. (And, if we’re lucky, on the new Instant Pot Plus). Check out the current prices below – I’ve got the list prices, so you can check if a good deal is available: Instant Pot 6 quart Duo (Regularly $99) Instant Pot 6 quart Duo Plus (Regularly $119) Instant Pot 8 quart Duo (Regularly $129 – NOW $89!!) Also, I am an Amazon affiliate – any purchases made through my Amazon links support DadCooksDinner at no extra cost …
Having a great time in Downeast Maine – and eating lots of lobster. Lots and lots of lobster. (Steamed lobster, lobster rolls, lobster stew…I love it all.)
Thank you to everyone for the road trip suggestions! Montreal Smoked Meat was every bit as good as advertised, Poutine got mixed reviews (I loved it, the kids…not so much), and my French is every bit as bad as ever. Favorites from the trip (So Far): Everyone recommended a visit to Schwartz’s Deli for the smoked meat, and I’m sure it is fantastic, because there was a line out the door, down the street, and around the corner. We needed lunch, not a 2 hour wait, so we had to switch plans. We went to Snowdon Deli instead, and were able to walk right in and start eating our Montreal Smoked meat sandwiches. (Picture at the top of the page) It was worth the trip – very similar to corned beef or pastrami, but the smoke gives it a little something extra. I’m a sucker for farmers markets, and Marche Jean-Talon is a good one. The central vegetable market is surrounded by a sea of specialist food places. I loved wandering around, seeing what was …