daninpd

Welcome to the Guru and have fun searching for that cooker. The strategy I used was narrowing it down to #1, 2 and 3 choices and then watch for sales. I had the Joe in my #1 position when Amazon prime day had them for $400 under the going price. I pulled the trigger and have been happy ever since.

I first encountered beef like this in Puerto Rico, what they call "Ropa Vieja" (old rags). That looks really good and the fried onions are a perfect addition.

The Imperial Dynasty was a restaurant that, as chef Richard Wing said, was "French with a Chinese accent". He was a aide to Gen George C Marshall in WWII and became his personal chef. The Imperial Dynasty was a destination restaurant in the '80s and '90s, partially because the wine cellar was rated in the top 100 in the country by Wine Spectator Magazine. It closed in 2006 when Chef Wing was in failing health, he died 4 years later. I ate there several times and was amazed each time with the dishes and Chef Wing's imagination. When he was closing the restaurant he sold off the wine cellar at bargain basement prices and I took home several cases of very nice wines. I think the restaurant was in the same family for 4 generations when he took over, so the Chinese Dynasty may still be in the same family. Next time you eat there you might want to look up the owner and ask if they are related to Chef Richard Wing. It might start a great conversation.

That's my idea of a happy place. Out of the rain, in your case out of the snow. Perfect.

Welcome to the forum. Looks like when you tipped over to charcoal land you went all in. Good. I've spent a bit of time in your area, took several horses to be inspected at D G Bar Ranch. And had dinner at the Imperial Dynasty when it existed and rode around town in the old La France fire engine.

When he's sitting in his bedroom with the beds in the background telling me he doesn't have the "data points" to back up what he's saying: I believe him. What a great backdrop to lend credibility to a load of BS.

1. Temp was 350. 2. Individual tinfoil islands was because I worried about the rings/bacon sticking to the grill and so could deal with them individually. 3. I basted with BBQ sauce late to prevent the sugar in the sauce from burning. Yours look really good!

Perhaps you need a vacation from the weather where you are. Maybe it's the whole idea of "islands".

I don't think so. This is one of those recipes where the results seems to be more than the sum of the parts. The onion did it's part without being crunchy.

I wanted to make some onion rings on the Joe but haven't gotten brave enough to fry stuff on that thing. So, bacon wrapped onion rings left to simmer/fry at 350 on individual tin foil islands before being turned out on the grill and brushed several times with barbecue sauce. Had a potato baking on the grill with the onions, split that and dressed it with butter, blue cheese and a sprinkle of cotija cheese. Had that for lunch while I watched the LSU-Tennessee game I taped from this morning. Great lunch and LSU won. Perfect.

I doubt if your dogs could ever hunt pheasant, but they like two snub nosed pointers in that picture. Looks great.

Okay, I finally got it. I just read the Texas Monthly article about how Buc-ee's came to be. Gonna have to search one of those out the next time I visit my sister in Houston. Very interesting reading: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/buc-ees-the-path-to-world-domination/

I baked that cake Friday and we just ate the last leftovers today (Monday) and it has improved every day. The texture became more like traditional cheesecake and the raspberries infused the cake with more flavor each day. I highly recommend cooking this at least 3 days before you plan to serve it and keep it wrapped in plastic either on the counter or in the fridge. It keeps getting better.

Welcome to the forum. It's going to be interesting to see what you come up with to cook there. Looking forward to your posts.

That looks like good cheesecake. And now that you have a springform pan dedicated to the grill, it's time to start on some Chicago style deep-dish pizzas. One of the best uses I have found for a springform.