Hard News: Nurturing Capitalism
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If you *cough* ask some overseas friends they may send you Alton Brown's Good Eats episode called "A Bird In The Pan", which is what inspired me to do this. He shows you how to butterfly the chicken neatly.
That's my standard way of roasting chickens in the oven now.
I have a book at home that outlines how to grill chickens done in this manner, but Anne has a good point in the chickens are just that little bit too thick to reliably cook safely on a grill alone.
My ex's dad does a very successful beercan chicken on a standard gas barbeque by the simple strategem of using a large terra cotta pot to cover the chicken.
Clearly my word of 2007 should have been "spatchcock".
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And am I the only one thinking it can't really be nearly two weeks to Christmas because it feels like it's that time already?
Well I for one am glad, I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet.
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Just in regards to the 'Word of the Year' competition, here are this year's Merriam-Webster results.
http://www.m-w.com/info/07words.htm
w00t!
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Sure my Tuna eating contributes but ya know I've done my bit for the planet by not having children (see second question).
Children are bad for tuna? Only if they're driven out to do deep sea fishing surely.
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Would it be more environmentally sound to spatchcock and/or sear some random children, leaving the tuna to roam the seas at will?*
*with apologies to Jonathan Swift
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Children are what Japanese longliners use for bait.
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Do you buy anything Japanese? Do you have children?
The old I-don't-have-kids card only works if said kids are brought up to lead a life of ignorant (and/or wilful) consumerism, as opposed to making choices that promote sustainability.
And if we follow the "<insert community> are way worse than us" approach then we have an out for just about any initiative e.g. carbon emissions reduction
If you can justify engaging in a practice that pushes a species to the brink of extinction, fine, but it's bit rich to characterise others as being "self-righteous" if they point out the logical conclusion of your actions.
Anyway, 'tis the season to be BBQin'.
As a member of that ever-decreasing minority - old-school woodfired BBQ fanatic - I'll readily admit to a certain leeriness towards poultry, but that recipe for butterflied chicken looks so yummy that I'm minded to give it a go.
My current favourite is butterfly leg of lamb over charcoal, which also works well over gas. You can buy butterflied legs from the butcher's or you can use a sharp knife to bone out a leg.
The main problem with lamb, IMO, is that some like it well done, some (like me) like it rare and others like it in between. If you bone the leg yourself, you can ensure that some parts of the butterfly is thicker than others so you can get a naturally occuring gradient of cookedness.
I prefer dry rubs (chili powder, garlic, rosemary, salt) to oil marinades because lamb fat tends to flame and oil only makes it worse.
Hard to say how long to cook it (45mins?) - too many variables (meat thickness, ambient temperature, BBQ temperature), but if you are doing it over charcoal then I suggest whacking some kind of lid of the top so that the smoke from the coals infuse into the lamb.
Delicious !
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Mikaere, when I do the chicken on a barbeque, I set it up like in this picture, with the coals at the sides and a drip tray underneath, and a lid on top. The chicken like the lamb is typically pretty fatty and you would get nasty creosote tastes from the burning fat if there were coals underneath. The lid converts the bbq into an effective oven.
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http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2007/charcoal/RanchKettle.aspx
tho' my one is quite a bit older than this and doesn't look as fancy...
our favourite is to bone and stuff a roast pork
amazing flavour and stays juicybut lamb, beef and chicken are fantastic too though
only problem is that you can only buy the coals required (you need the right ones) from BBQ factory - you used to be able to get them from the supermarketAsk anyone who has a Weber and they will tell you the same... cant beat them!
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For the ultimate christmas BBQ real-man recipe, you can't go past the smoked beer can turkey. Since you have a couple of those Heinie kegs lying around, how can you resist...
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I prefer dry rubs (chili powder, garlic, rosemary, salt) to oil marinades because lamb fat tends to flame and oil only makes it worse.
or you can try yoghurt based marinade.
natural unsweetened yoghurt (thick greek is better) and add garlic, salt, pepper and other herbs and spices of your choice.
It makes a kind of 'crust' on the outside and the lamb is beautifully moist inside. Yum.
We then usually serve with sauce made from same above yoghurt, garlic and mint.My tummy is now making noises... I have made myself hungry talking about all of this so I will now go and prepare dinner.
Happy BBQing all -
Max: Llew put the wind up me with this one.
I have good success using plain charcoal and the odd lump of wood.
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Sue,
robyn move down to Wellington and i promise that by the simple act of plying mr judd and mr tibby with various forms of alchool beautiful BBQ will be yours.
YUMMY!!!
although i doubt they will ever do coca cola chicken
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F***! I just ran down to my garage to check my BBQ fuel.
It is 'Heat Beads' which is from Australia
Typical composition
Fixed Carbon approx 70%
Ash approx 17%
Water approx 7%
"Other" approx 6%are these the briquettes you mean?
We tried the cheap coal once and and didn't get hot enough.
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I have used those "Heat Beads" in the past and they seemed fine. No odd smells or anything. They are exactly the kind of briquette the Weber is designed to use.
It might pay to steer clear of very cheap and perhaps not-so-cheerful brands though.
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Those heat beads are the primo briquettes, don't bother with substitutes. My many years of slaving over wood-fired BBQs, enduring the ribbing of my gas-powered mates, at least taught me not to scrimp on the fuel.
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aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh - lost my reply!
anyway - long story short
yay heat beads (no longer have to re-work Christmas day menu)try this site for inspiration when lacking
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Mikaere
The old I-don't-have-kids card only works if said kids are brought up to lead a life of ignorant (and/or wilful) consumerism, as opposed to making choices that promote sustainability.
Last post on this from me.
You characterised my eating of Tuna as something environmentally unsound. Yet you know nothing of my life nor my care for the environment.
Yes I have made the decision not to have children in part because I firmly believe that the single largest environmental disaster on this planet is too many human beings. No matter what kind of environmentally sound life your child leads they still have a massive impact on the planet. Do the math. But it's politically incorrect to suggest that having cute lovable babies is bad for the planet so it's never counted, fine by me.
As for pointing out that if you want to save the Tuna then you ought to address the large issues before you deal with the small ones (stop the Japanese killing all the fish and you might have a chance). New Zealanders could stop eating Tuna tomorrow and it would make NO difference at all. You might feel good about the choice but it's irrelevant to the problem. Unless you believe that the stand made will influence the world to protect the Tuna, and who knows you might be right.
As for me, I'm comfortable with the impact I have on the planet and that will continue to include the occasional seared Tuna. On balance I'm happy I've done pretty well with my life choices and my consumer choices.
Damn that shouldn't have made me so grumpy. Sorry folks ended up venting.
Better eat my pizza now - or is that bad for the planet too...
cheers
Bart -
I'd be more worried about the environmental effects of not eating Tuna. You have to get protein from somewhere. The alternatives apparently fart a lot and that's bad for the planet. And if I just eat soy, I fart a lot and that's also bad for the planet.
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Belt,
@bart. OMG - commit suicide already! At least be consistent!! And don't you know... every time you do not reproduce 2.2 children, they have to import those New Zealand culture-changing (shhh) foreigners! You're a gutless traitor!!!
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I figure on balance I'm so far ahead of most folks by that one simple act that I can afford to lose a little Karma by eating some Tuna
Tuna becoming extinct is related only to how much tuna people eat, not anything else.
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May I suggest that you can also try as an alternative ,our abundent farmed salmon. This is extremely rich in protein and as an oily fish, much omega 3. After my man finishes his woodworx for the day (with sustainable wood naturally) , I find the workshop shavings are a perfect infusion fora piece of salmon on foil with a touch of lemon and honey atop to be hot smoked for 5 to 10 mins. The honey is also a natural antibiotic which may have been the answer to all those iritated by aerial spraying
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Oh and Ben... I think the fart issues are also sorted.
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My farts will smell like honey?
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I was thinking more that there is a reduction in farts.... although , if you cook, your partner may call you" honey".
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