Brick Pig

She is indeed.

I've never tried brining a pork butt. And maybe brining the ribs is more important than I think it is. I just don't ever recall that any of the ribs I've brined were noticeably better or different than ribs I didn't brine. But as I say, my wife wants me to brine them, so I do. I'm an agreeable guy, what can I say?

It’s been ages since I smoked ribs, so I made a point to do some this weekend. Nothing fancy, just plain old dry rub, more or less the 2-2-1 method. I’m not 100% convinced brining makes a difference, but my wife thinks it does, so I did a quick brine for about 40 minutes Slapped on a light coating of PYM and then a solid dusting of my everyday homemade rub. Into the KJBJ at roughly 240° About two hours later, ready to be wrapped. Off the heat at around the 4 hour & 40 minute mark. Covered this pan with heavy duty foil and kept them in a cooler with towels for another hour-ish until dinner time. Hastily and kind of sloppily plated. Zero complaints.

I'm not sure all Costco store sell packers. As it happens, I was at Costco last night stocking up on KJ charcoal while the Roadshow is there. I'm relatively new to my area and this was only the second time I've been to this store. I specifically went to eyeball the meats, and noticed that all the briskets were flats. I asked the guy behind the counter if I could buy a full packer instead (not right that minute, but sometime when I wanted one). He hemmed and hawed for a few seconds and then said, "I think so." It was about the least convincing confirmation I've ever heard.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Looks totally delicious.

Possibly only interesting to me, but I recently discovered that the first and last photos of all four Beatles together were both taken (7 years apart) on August 22, which is also my wedding anniversary.

That's amazing. Unfortunately my wife doesn't care for meatloaf. Maybe I'll try this next time it's my turn to host my beer club....

Wow! I'm just now seeing this post. Can't wait to dive into this. Thanks, John!

I decided to try a new recipe last night because I realized I had almost everything I needed for it on hand. Just had to pick up a bit of fresh dill. (Full recipe below.) First I mixed chicken stock, lemon zest and juice, chopped fresh dill, garlic, melted butter, and a few other spices in a bowl, stirred in two cups of orzo, and then transferred that to a baking dish. Then I coated some chicken with ground coriander, kosher salt, and black pepper. The recipe calls for 4 chicken breasts, but i used two packs of chicken tenders because a) that's what I had, and b) lately I can't find anything other than those huge, overgrown boneless skinless Franken-breasts; they're just so tough and flavorless I've started buying tenders instead. But I digress.... Placed the meat into the orzo mixture and "shingled" some lemon slices in between. Into the Joe for ~35 minutes at 375F. (It actually got away from me a bit and was a shade over 400F when I first put the dish in, but I got it settled down shortly.) Cooling while I prepped a quick green salad and some homemade dressing. Plated. My wife and I agreed that it was just on the verge of being too lemony -- almost, but not quite, too sour. A dash of salt evened it out, but I think next time I'll cut out the zest, or maybe just hold back a bit on the lemon juice. Nevertheless, a real keeper of a recipe. This one definitely goes into the rotation. Thanks for looking. Lemon Chicken and Orzo Casserole For the orzo: 3 cups chicken stock 3 tablespoons melted butter 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon cornstarch 2 sprigs fresh dill, chopped 2 lemons, zested and juiced 1 clove garlic, minced 2 cups orzo For the chicken: 2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 4 small to medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 lemon, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together the stock, butter, salt, cornstarch, dill, lemon zest and juice and garlic in a bowl. Mix in the orzo. In a separate bowl, mix together the coriander, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken all over with the seasoning. Pour the stock/orzo mixture into a glass 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add the chicken breasts, laying them at an angle so all but the tops of the breasts are submerged. Shingle the lemon slices in between the chicken breasts. Bake, uncovered, until the chicken registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, 35 to 40 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Top with the chopped parsley before serving.

Mouthwatering cook.

That's almost as big as my TV.

Looks great.

Our kitchen lighting stinks for photos, but this was a beautiful plate last night.

Great, thanks.