I smoked a chicken and nobody was harmed.

Grate marks add character, right?

I do OK in the kitchen. If I'm not particularly big on presentation, my food makes up for it in complex or interesting flavor profiles. Or at least is generally edible. However, when I end up with something that is flat out inedible or so bad that it might as well be - it's usually chicken. Breasts, thighs, legs - whatever. It's unevenly cooked, dried out, burnt - or just weird tasting. I had to debone a whole chicken in small galley of a boat at the age of 15, and I think I was traumatized by the experience. So, of course now that I've learned my way around my new electric (no propane or charcoal allowed, sadly) Brinkmann smoker - I had the bright idea to prepare a whole bird. And to my surprise, it worked out.

Superbowl Meat!

Hey! So it's a been long time. Where have I been? After traveling the better part of the western hemisphere, and getting crazy busy with work, I lost half a dozen entries worth of pictures. It was sad, and then I got distracted, and so it goes. Never stopped taking pictures or notes though. I made an absurd amount of awesome meat for the Superbowl, and writing it up for other venues - and I'd be doing B&P a disservice by not featuring it here. So, here' some burgers, ribs and wings.

Patatas Bravas

About 15 years ago, I was fortunate to spend a good chunk of time eating in Spain - from Barcelona down the Costa del sol to Granada, and then inland up to Madrid. You can do pretty well in the US, too. Spanish cuisine is pretty great, in my opinion, and tapas (their small plate/appetizery dishes) are among my favorite foods. Given that these are often salty foods seasoned liberally with garlic, paprika, cumin and olive oil, I guess it shouldn't surprise any one. For my final meat-free dish, I'd been planning to recreate a couple of my favorites - gambas al ajillo (shrimp in a garlic sauce) and patatas bravas. I ended up with an amazing garlic sauce complementing badly overcooked shrimp, and a pretty funky oily potato mush with gross sauce. Not our finest hour here at B&P HQ. We remain undeterred by failure here (mostly because we fail a lot), and gave the patatas bravas another go. Also, after some travel, I had potatoes, onions, goya chorizo, and canned tomatoes in my kitchen, and not much else.

Crab Tater Tots!

In the final days of our Meat Hiatus, my office hosted a pot-luck lunch in honor of an associate expecting her first child. This is always pretty awesome, because in our research-based setting, we've people from a diverse selection of cultures - and everybody does a pretty good job. I usually make meat, and when pressed to volunteer a dish, I promised crab cakes. I'd ever actually made crab before, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. So, I decided to refer back to my cookbooks for some ideas, and the only one I had available electronically was Michael Symon's Live to Cook. Lo and behold, there was a recipe for something called "Crab Tater Tots." I was sold.

Smoked Shrimp

After my first experiment with my stovetop smoker was successful, I've been searching for new and exciting things to use it with for the duration of my meat hiatus (1 week left, for those who are counting). As it turns out, people have tried to smoke pretty much everything. As it also turns out, shrimp work pretty well. I wouldn't have expected this - shrimp cook quickly, and smoking is a famously  "slow and low" cooking method. But after doing a little digging, I found an interesting looking preparation apparently used by the Taco Sisters of Lafayette, LA. After giving this a shot, I'll be sure to drop in next time I find myself by Lafayette.

Smoked Steelhead with Roasted Garlic Sriracha Schmear

I really miss my grill. It was nothing special - a decent Char-Broil propane grill -  but it was mine. It was also apparently a fire hazard on my 8th floor balcony. So, it got replaced by an electric unit that tries hard, but isn't quite the same. No fire, no char, and the grill marks kind of just taste burnt. As you might imagine, I was excited to recently discover some indoor options for smoking food. The good people at Nordic Ware have developed the lovely stovetop smoker to your right, and the better people at Amazon sold it to me at 40% off with free shipping. Imagine a sort of Aluminum dutch oven with a high domed lid, smoking rack, and built in thermometer. Visions of brisket and pork butt have been dancing through my head since I purchased it. And of course, it arrived right in the middle of our Meat Hiatus.

Curried Tilapia Fish Tacos

In which our fearless heroes make delicious fish tacos, nearly from scratch. Also, some guacamole. Sometimes, things just come together. Hannibal would have loved it. So, a month and change of traveling, road food, barbecue and other excess has caught up to us here at B&P HQ, and we're going pescatarian for awhile. To celebrate the first opportunity to prepare something more exciting than Costco's Ultimate Fish Sticks, I decided to try something pretty different, and go for a latin/carribean/subcontinental sort of meal. So, with a refrigerator full of fish, and armed with a couple pounds of masa, I got to work.

Bacon Jam

Ok. This post will feature a couple of the more unappealing images I've taken so far. All I can promise you is that however it gross it might look, it tastes amazing. Unless you think Bacon is gross - and if so, this probably not the place for you. So, Bacon Jam: It's pretty much what it sounds like. A Jam-like spread made out of bacon. One of my esteemed colleagues (who needs to start up his own food blog) discovered Bacon Jam on a food network program which is escaping me at the moment. He made his own, and it was awesome, and I felt compelled to give it a go. As an aside, if you're on the west coast, and can access Skillet Street Food - I expect you to try it and report back. They make serve what looks like creative, delicious food out of Airstream vans. That is awesome.

Meat and Potatoes

Bottom line up front:

Fried Green Tomato Breakfast Sandwiches

I am a culinary genius.

OK. Probably not, but this was freakin' delicious. So, I was in the gym, and as often happens, Paula Deen was on (as it turns out, her show is great motivation to work hard in the gym). She and her son Bobby were making Fried Green Tomato Burgers. I love fried green tomatoes. They're tremendous. These burgers looked great. But I thought to myself, "You know Fried Green Tomatoes don't have enough of? Bacon."

Well, myself - Challenge Accepted.

Pan Roasted Tilapia with Rosemary and Lemon

After fighting off a nasty cold for the better part of the week, I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my newly returned senses of smell and taste with some nice, lighter aromatic fare. I'd intended to try Michael Symon's Fennel, Garlic and Rosemary poached halibut, but couldn't find any fennel. It also turned out that I'd apparently opted for the bag full of frozen tilapia, rather than the more expensive halibut at my last trip to Costco.

(Sidenote: Costco carries a varying selection of flash frozen, individual vacuum sealed frozen fish that retain fairly high quality for an extended period of time - can't recommend it enough if you're like me and don't always get around to preparing that fresh cut of meat or fish in a timely manner. The tuna's hit and miss, but I've gotten great results from mahi mahi, halibut, tilapia, grouper, sea bass, steelhead, and salmon).

Heating up the pan

So, I pulled out the fish to thaw, and lo and behold, I'd purchased Tilapia loins, rather than fillets. I kind of know my way around a cow or pig, but I'd never heard of fish loin before. Long story short, it was pretty long, not wide at all, and rather thick. Loin shaped, indeed. While I'd generally sauté tilapia fillet (a few minutes each side over medium in olive oil works pretty good for most preparations), I was concerned about cooking the loin all the through. This seemed like a good opportunity to test out some pan roasting techniques I'd been reading about of late.

Andouille and Cornbread Stuffing

As promised, here's one of my all time thanksgiving favorites: Andouille and Cornbread Stuffing (provided by the good people at epicurious). Mom found this recipe about 15 years back, and I haven't let a thanksgiving go by without it. Even two days before Balls' wedding, when his mother-in-law was hosting most of the wedding party for a traditional thanksgiving dinner. It''s stuffing, and it has two kinds of pig in it, what's not to like?

Courtesy Wikicommons.

So, it's pretty straightforward. First of all, make sure you have good Andouille. Good Andouille is really important to me in general. It should be well spiced, heavily smoked (and you should be able to tell by looking at it), and coarsely ground. You should be able to see be able to see chunks of pork in the sausage. Look at the pretty picture to the right, and you'll see what I mean. I try to go to my local market for fresh Andouille made by local butchers, but in a pinch, Aidell's sausages are easy to find at supermarkets and makes decent tasting dishes.