Patio Daddio BBQ - Musings of barbecue, cooking, and life -- served hot, fresh and saucy

Of course cedar planks and salmon are made for each other; that's certainly no secret. However, the addition of the glaze takes things to a much higher level. The subtly smokey fish combined with the cherry and hoisin work wonderfully together.

Ingredients
2 Food-safe cedar planks (about 3/8" thick)
1 large Salmon filet (about 3 pounds)
1 cup Asian Barbecue Glaze
Kosher salt
Pepper
Canola oil

Method
Soak the cedar planks in warm water for about two hours. Make sure they stay submerged.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to start cooking, start your grill and prepare for direct cooking over a medium-hot fire (375-400º)

Cut the salmon filet in half width-wise.

Season both sides of each half lightly with salt and pepper and brush with a light coat of oil.

Place each half of the filet on a cedar plank with the skin-side down.

Note: If the filet has a thin tapered belly edge, fold it under as you see in the picture below (bottom edge of the lower filet).



Put the planks directly over the coals/flame and close the lid.



Cook until you start to see a milky white edge form near the thick end of the filets (about 20 minutes at 375º).



Brush the top of each filet with a liberal coating of the glaze.

Continue cooking for another five minutes.

Brush the top of each filet with another liberal coating of the glaze.

Continue cooking for another five minutes.

Remove the planks to a sheet pan.

Portion the filets and drizzle each with a little of the glaze.

Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients
3 Scallions (green tops only), washed and sliced thin
1/3 cup Cherry preserves
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup Mirin
1/8 cup Seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/8 cup Water
1/8 tsp Ground ginger
1/8 tsp Ground white pepper
10 drops Sesame oil

Method
Add all of the ingredients, except the water, to a small sauce pan.

Put the pan over medium heat and bring just to a simmer.

Let it simmer for five minutes, then remove from the heat.

Put the sauce in a small bowl or jar and add the water.

Blend with a stick blender for just a few seconds to get rid of any cherry chunks.

Let cool and use as you would any glaze, and enjoy!

(makes one cup)

Let's look at this pragmatically. If you're taking the time to fire up the grill to cook up some carnage, why not get a very simple but impressive side dish out of the deal? It's dirt cheap, incredibly simple, but has enough wow factor to impress your family or guests.

This is clearly on the short list of the simplest recipes that I've posted to-date. My version adds a little bit of a Mediterranean flair, but you finish it how you like. I've done this with bleu cheese dressing and it was a hit. It would even work well with the Idaho state dressing -- ranch.

Ingredients
2 heads Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled (I used garlic and herb)
1/2 cup Balsamic vinaigrette (I added some honey to mine)
Oil (I used Pompeian OlivExtra Plus)
Kosher salt
Pepper

Method
Split each head of lettuce lengthwise.

Drizzle the cut side of each half evenly with a tablespoon or two of oil.

Season the cut side of each half with salt and pepper.

Grill each half, cut-side-down, over a hot direct fire for about 90 seconds.



Remove to a sheet pan, sprinkle evenly with the cheese and let cool.

Drizzle each half with an equal amount of dressing.

Cut each half in half width-wise, serve and enjoy!

As you can see by the claim on the bag in the image above (left bag), the new formulation is "ready even faster and burns longer". This is clearly good news, if it holds true.

Just for background, the new Kingsford® comes from an apparent "green" initiative by the company. In short, they sought to produce a product that yields the same amount of heat, but in a smaller package. The bag is lighter, which means more bags in a truck, which translates to less trucking miles, and therefore less emissions.

As I mentioned, this is all well and good, so long as I get the same or more bang for the bag. Let's dive in and see how this new stuff stacks up.

I wanted this review to be as fair and impartial as I could make it at home. I don't have a laboratory, but I am an engineer, so I did the best that I could. I ran side-by-side tests of two brand new off-the-shelf bags of the old and the new. As you will see, I've weighed and photographed each product so that you can see exactly what I saw.

Here goes...



As you can see, the new bag is 1.4 pounds lighter than the previous formulation.

Note: From here on the old briquettes are pictured on the left, and the new are on the right.



The new briquettes are about the same size, but they appear to be more tightly compressed and feature larger and deeper grooves. As you can see, the new grooves are diagonal.



I weighed various quantities of the old and the new briquettes and here is how they compared:

Quantity	Old	New
1 briquette	3/4 oz	7/8 oz
5 briquettes	4 1/4 oz	4 3/8 oz
10 briquettes	8 3/8 oz	8 5/8 oz

For the burn test, I punched two aluminum pie pans with an identical pattern of six holes. I wanted to use a method that would contain the ash for a final weight, as you will see later.



I arranged the old and new briquettes in each pan as similarly as I could. I used 12 briquettes in each, in layers of six, four, and two (all with the grooves facing upward). I put a single Weber wax starter cube in each pile.



I lit each cube and took pictures at five-minute intervals. For those interested, the temperature was 48º and the humidity was 52%.



At five minutes.



At 10 minutes.



At 15 minutes.



At 20 minutes.



At 25 minutes. I started taking temperature measurements at this point. I used an infrared thermometer on the bottom of each pan at the 9 o'clock position.

Old	New
459º	334º

At 30 minutes.

Old	New
478º	313º

At 35 minutes.

Old	New
426º	389º

At 60 minutes.

Old	New
431º	557º

At 90 minutes.

Old	New
244º	325º

I stopped taking pictures at 90 minutes, but I continued reading the temperatures out to 180 minutes.

Minutes	Old	New
120	169º	203º
180	136º	168º

Here is a chart that shows the old and new temperatures over time. The horizontal axis is time and the vertical shows the temperatures.



What about ash? Well, as you can see below, they are very close, but the new stuff produces slightly less by weight (3 oz vs. 2 1/2 oz).





OK, so what does all of this really mean? The bottom line for me is that, based on my testing, the new product lives up to its claims. In fact, I think it's better than they claim.

While you could argue that it starts slower, I think the crossover temperature at roughly 500º is a good indication that they really are comparable out of the gate.

As the chart above shows, it does indeed burn longer (and even hotter) over the long haul. Combine that with less ash weight, and I think it's an all-around better product.

Note: The new formula is far less smokey starting up than the old formula. I'd estimate that the old stuff smokes four to five times as much.

About a year ago I bought this 8" Emerilware anodized non-stick skillet, made by All-Clad. Now, I'm not a huge fan of non-stick cookware, but there are applications where it is simply required.

I bought this pan simply because I have been very disappointed with most of the non-stick garbage that is out there. I have other All-Clad cookware and utensils and they have certainly lived up to their reputation for being some of the absolute best cooking products available. They make simply incredible stuff!

Take a close look at the picture above. Note that the pan looks almost brand new. This is a testament to how well-made this cookware is. After a year of consistent use, the inside of the pan has barely any evidence of use. The non-stick coating is almost flawless.

Not only is this cookware very well-made, it cooks like nobody's business. It heats very quickly, evenly and produces great food every single time. My only regret is that it's only an 8-inch pan. I have a 12" anodized Calphalon pan and it seriously pales in comparison. I plan to remedy that situation very soon.

If you need or want some incredible non-stick cookware that will perform consistently without breaking the bank, you can't go wrong with Emerilware from All-Clad.

Of course, this would undoubtedly be better with grilled sausages, but I stayed indoors this time.

Ingredients
5-6 Sweet Italian sausage links
5-6 Hearty hoagie rolls
3 cups Your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce
10-12 slices Provolone, mozzarella, or pepper jack cheese (two per sausage)
1 Green bell pepper, sliced to 1/4"
1 Red bell pepper, sliced to 1/4"
1 med Yellow onion, sliced to 1/4"
2 cloves Garlic, minced or pressed
Oil
Kosher salt
Pepper

Method
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.

When the pan is hot, add about one tablespoon of oil and let it heat a few seconds.



Add the peppers to the pan and cook about five minutes, tossing occasionally.

Add the onions and continue cooking about five minutes, tossing occasionally.

Season with a dash of salt and pepper during about the last minute of cooking.



Remove the pepper and onion mixture to a heat-safe container and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat and add a little more oil.



Add the sausages to the pan and cook for about three minutes.



Turn the sausages over, and cook for approximately three more minutes.



Turn the sausages over, add about 3/4 cup water to the pan.



Continue cooking until almost about half of the water has been evaporated.



Add the spaghetti sauce and garlic to the pan, and reduce the heat to medium.



Add the pepper and onion mixture to the pan, and stir to combine.



Continue cooking until the sauce is reduced by about half.



Slice the hoagie rolls and line each with two slices of pepper jack cheese.

Slice each sausage lengthwise, put it in the bun, and pour on the veggies and sauce.

Add a little crushed red pepper if that's your thing (it's certainly my thing).

Don a bib and enjoy!

I found this method in the excellent Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, and it's never done me wrong. It's so simple that you'll have it memorized after you try it a couple times.

Ingredients
Eggs
Water
Ice

Method
Put the eggs in a pot large enough so that they will fit in a single layer on the bottom.

Add enough cold tap water to cover the eggs by two inches.

Bring the water to a rapid boil, uncovered.

As soon as the water boils shut off the heat and cover the pan.

Let it sit, on the burner, exactly ten minutes.

While the eggs are sitting, prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl.

At ten minutes, dip out the eggs and move them to the ice water bath.

Let the eggs cool completely.

Peel and use!

The meatballs in this recipe aren't really "meatballs" in the traditional sense. I was shooting for quick and relatively easy, so I just went with straight Italian sausage. Hey, that's all they put on pizza anyhow.

Ingredients
3/4 lb Dry spaghetti
1 lb Sweet Italian sausage links (I used Johnsonville® - 19.76 oz)
2 cups Spaghetti sauce (I used Prego® Traditional)
1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 Green bell pepper, diced
1/2 Red bell pepper, diced
1/2 med Yellow onion, diced
5 leaves Fresh basil, cut into a chiffonade
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Note: You will also need a large metal pizza pan and some parchment paper.

Method
Cook the spaghetti per the package directions until it is just overdone (not al dente), drain in a colander and let cool 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Important: Do not rinse or add oil to the pasta. You need the starch to help it set.

Cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the pizza pan completely.



Place the spaghetti on the parchment-covered pizza pan and arrange it in an even layer as shown.

Refrigerate the pan for an hour or two to let the pasta set.

To make the "meatballs", squeeze the sausage out of each link from each end, 1/4 at a time and roll gently in your hands to form small balls (the casing does most of the work). Each link should make four balls. Set the balls aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat then add a little oil.

Saute the meatballs until they are just browned on all sides, remove to a plate and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat and add a little more oil.

Season the peppers and onions with a little salt and pepper then saute them until they are just tender. Set the pan aside.

Preheat your oven to 350º.

Slide the parchment off of the pizza pan and oil the pan lightly.

Flip the spaghetti over onto the pizza pan and discard the parchment paper.



Spread the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top of the spaghetti as shown.



Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the sauce.



Slice about 10 of the meatballs in half and distribute the halves evenly over the cheese as shown. You will have some meatballs leftover.



Distribute the sauteed vegetables evenly over the cheese as shown.

Sprinkle the basil over the top.



Bake the pizza for 30 minutes.



Let the pizza cool for about 10 minutes.

Slice into wedges, serve and enjoy!