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A little over a year ago we moved to a lower-carb, no-trans-fat, no-high-fructose-corn-syrup, gluten-free, don’t-eat-it-if-you-can’t-pronounce-it way of eating. While it makes eating more complicated, it’s been worth it and we’re both feeling a whole lot better.

Cleaning up our diet doesn’t mean we don’t have a few guilty pleasures – bacon grease being one of them. We keep a jar of greasy goodness in our fridge and use it to enhance the flavor of a whole range of foods:

• Fry eggs – just adding a teaspoon or so to the olive oil we usually use  really bumps up the flavor of the eggs and helps get those brown, crispy edges.
• Use it in place of butter in corn bread recipes.
• Saute greens in it – spinach and garlic wilted in a little bacon grease with a touch of sugar and vinegar makes a quick side salad.
• Sawmill gravy – bacon grease (or sausage drippings) + flour = milk = heaven.
• Umami – looking for that chichi foodie “5th taste?”  Bacon grease is the mother of umami – adding a savory depth to a recipe.
• Beans – I doubt that there is a bean dish out there that wouldn’t benefit from a touch of bacon grease.
• Barding – turkey breast too dry? Slip a little bacon grease (or strips of bacon) under the skin before roasting.
• Sandwiches – my father fondly remembers eating brown bread, bacon grease, and molasses sandwiches as a child.

We are outta here! I’ll be taking a break from the blog while we’re off to the little island of Nevis for some much-needed rest and relaxation.

We plan to spend some time lymin’, exploring, and enjoying the local food and drink. I hope to bring back some West Indian recipes to share here (and a good deal of rum that I’ll be keeping for myself).

The storm has left us stranded at home for Christmas.

We really wanted to get home to see my family, but we are well-stocked and happy not to be stuck in a ditch somewhere.

I’m coping by cooking – for Christmas eve it was roasted chestnuts and oyster stew. Tomorrow I’ll shovel a path to the Big Green Egg and make a prime rib roast.

Wishing you all a happy and a merry!

This was not the Thanksgiving we expected. My dear wife has a case of the crud, so instead of spending it with family as we had planned, it’s just the two of us.

We’ve been sitting around in our jammies, reading the paper, sipping coffee, petting the cats, and counting our blessings.

I’m thankful for:

Said wife, who loves me and indulges my geeky hobbies
The fellowship of friends, family, and fellow foodies
Our 4 furry kids
A career that lets me keep food on  the table and a roof over our heads
Becoming gluten-free and making positive changes in our health

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

My Big Green Egg was looking a little sad – we had bought a custom-built table a couple of years ago to give us more room. Unfortunately, the weather had given it quite a beating. So when my felt gaskets finally failed me, I decided it was worth it to pull her out of commission for a couple of weekends and both refinish the table and install new Nomex gaskets.

Thanks to the excellent advice I got on the Big Green Egg Forum and the videos from Fred’s Music & BBQ Supply the removal and installation went surprisingly well.

To get the Egg out of the table I needed to lighten it up. I removed the firebox and spacer ring and cleaned the Egg out. I removed the dome by zip-tying the metal bands together and loosening the top bolt just until I could lift the dome straight off.

I recruited a friend and used a gadget called (appropriately enough) a Potlifter to lift the Egg out of the table. It just clips around the sides and the harder you lift the tighter it grips.

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