Everything will be all right.
After a blazing start the Hair of the Hog blog went on hiatus, but I assure you there was good reason.
At the HOH launch I told you that one of my reasons for joining the H20Buffalo family was to find a way to share my BBQ wares and secrets. I am pleased to announce that the fruits of my absence have been realized with Big Man BBQ.
From the scotch-soaked minds of culinary misfits comes Big Man BBQ where you can learn to achieve perfect Q at home and purchase anything you may need to reach this goal.
The Big Man pack has kicked things off with a line of rubs and more to follow in the coming days.
Now the motivation for my timely return to posting, the photo below sums things up:
I received this photo in a text message from a friend of mine at about eight o’clock at night on Valentine’s Day which read:
“Me vs. cooking – I lost the battle but I will not lose the war”
Earlier in the day this same gentleman was bouncing some ideas off of me as he wanted to make dinner for his wife. He had an initial idea for an Asian-style noodle dish with shrimp.
Simplicity in cooking is always a good thing for beginners and after passing along a few tips and ingredient ideas I sent him on his way confident that this dinner for two was well within his grasp. The shrimp, while easy to overcook, is simple to prepare and the majority of the ingredients can be prepped ahead and then assembled and heated through in the wok.
Alas, as the photo illustrates, my associate was unsuccessful in his attempt and called me from his car on his way to pick up Chinese. Expecting to hear that he overcooked the shrimp I was surprised to hear that he undercooked them.
Another culinary culprit in this meal was the bottle of sauce which he purchased from Wegman’s. While I love the Weg Man I was disappointed when I learned that the store’s recipe required he also purchase a bottle of Oyster Sauce. Essentially, my friend could have made a much better sauce with one ingredient he had already purchased and a little ginger, soy, pepper and scallions.
My second story comes from the same day and a conversation with my brother who had visited my wife and me at our home the evening prior to Valentine’s Day. I was making a nice little pizza pie with crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, Italian sausage, marinated portabello, caramelized onion, mozzarella and Parmesan.
When I spoke with him the following afternoon he asked me for the recipe. I kind of stared at him for a moment before I answered, “Well, there really isn’t a recipe.” I spent a portion of that evening walking him through the steps I took over the phone.
It dawned on me that if I had properly recorded at least ballpark recipes for each of these dishes, both of which I have prepared during the existence of HOH, I could have referred the two respective cooks to the proper pages.
And thus we find ourselves here on the dawn of a new Hog with more recipes, tools and insight for those looking to make delicious, easy, healthy meals and take back his or her diet from the “chains” (it’s a pun, get it?) that bind.
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February 21, 2008 at 9:32 am
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