2011
I was at Ambrosia Espresso for a coffee yesterday. I got my typical macchiato. They got it right on the demitasse, but what is with the giant plate?
Tammy surprised me with a Chemex Coffeemaker for Valentine’s Day. I brewed a batch of coffee with it for the first time today and it was great. So smooth, nearly no acidity. This is a great option for occasions where I want a cup of coffee instead of an espresso.
Minnehaha Creek caught my attention this morning, and it did again this evening on the way home.
Minnehaha Creek was picturesque this morning coming through Minnehaha Creek West Park with a light fog from the snow melt. The creek appears thawed when still frozen. An entire stream of ice melt is flowing on top of the frozen creek.
Heart Shaped Pancakes
Valentines Day dinner. This was Mazie’s special request. Of course she was so full of chocolate she hardly ate any.
Happy Valentines Day 2011
Mazie made me this awesome and sweet Valentine. Happy Valentines to everyone!
Double Big Green Egg Table
When I got my Big Green Egg I got the large table to go with it. It seemed okay, not great. I knew I wanted to have a good work surface for my Egg and I didn’t think the simple fold out “wing” tables would work at all. I know a lot of Eggheads make their own tables. There are some wonderful plans online that help out. But I don’t have even the basic woodworking skills, or patience, to do that. So I just went with the table from the store.
It was okay but pretty quickly I was disappointed with it. The build quality wasn’t great. It was stapled together instead of using screws. But it worked so that is what I used for the first year.
I’m glad I did because it allowed me to really figure out what I wanted in a custom table for my Egg. After a lot of searching I found a carpenter to work with and after a design session with some sketches I now have my dream Egg table.
It’s a double Egg table to house both the Large Big Green Egg as well as the small. I also have a second prep table. There were a number of specific things that I wanted in the setup.
Space
If your just grilling some burgers you really don’t need much prep space around your grill. But when you’re doing full day smokes and preparing entire meals on the grill I found that I wanted ample space. I wanted my table deeper than the stock table by about 4 inches.
I thought for a long time about how I wanted to accommodate two Eggs. I considered having them in two separate tables, which would be convenient for times when I wanted to just use one or maybe even take it somewhere with me. After consulting my friend and kitchen expert Mike he suggested that I consider a hot/cold setup, like a professional kitchen. I decided I liked that and put both Eggs in one large table and then have a completely separate prep table. More on the prep table later.
Hot Rack
One of the issues I have found when using my Egg is dealing with hot tools or grill parts, as well as dirty grids and such. I asked the carpenter if he could design something that slid out on the bottom of the table that could deal with this. He hit it out of the park!
This shelf is just great. It’s all metal, so I can put a hot plate setter on it and not worry. Since it slides underneath I can then store those things out-of-the-way and not worry about kids bumping into a 500 degree ceramic piece.
You may notice in the picture above one other minor thing that I did around the bottom vents of the Eggs. I found that you inevitably spill ash when cleaning it out, and that ash if left on the wood caused staining. I mentioned this to the guy that build the table and he just got a couple of squares of metal and mounted them under the vents. Now the ash just falls on the metal and can be cleaned up easily.
Granite Inserts
I copied (stole) the idea of the granite inserts from a friend who bought an Egg and built his own table. I thought it was a brilliant idea and had to do it as well. In the center of both the hot and cold (prep) tables I have a removable slab of granite.
I found that my Egg table got pretty dirty over time. You have various sauces and rubs out there and it makes a mess. The granite gives me a place to not worry about grease, sauces or even hot items that might burn the wood.
I can pop the granite out and pressure wash it easily enough. I have also found these to be great places to put a single portable burner when I want to simmer some sauce or cook something that way outside as well. I have a nice induction burner for this purpose. It works great!
Prep Table
The prep table was an indulgence. It serves a lot of purposes. First, I get a bunch of shelves to put my tools in. I now even have room to house a spice bin outside so there is less running around. I have another bin just with fire starting stuff. The room is nice.
I also like that the table is very mobile. If you need to shuck some corn, or prep food for the grill and have someone helping they can take the table wherever it is convenient for them. I also made the table “double-sided” so two people can work on either side easily. I also slapped some hooks on it so I can keep tools there, as well as hang a trash bag on the side if you have a lot of prep work to do.
Finish
The entire table is covered in outdoor varnish. It should last a very long time with basic upkeep. I’ve grilled with this setup now for about six months and have yet to find anything I would change.
Feel free to riff off of any of these ideas. If you live in Minnesota and would like to reach out to the carpenter that built this amazing table just contact me and I can send his info along. He doesn’t have a website to link to.
Listen to “Calamity Song” off of the new Decemberists, and then listen to “South Central Rain” on R.E.M. Reckoning. First 30 seconds.
EGGfest Chili
This weekend I made EGGfest Chili for the second time. This recipe is from the new Big Green Egg Cookbook. I’m a big fan!
What makes this chili unique is that you smoke it for a while on the Big Green Egg. Here is the Le Creuset going on the grill.
A couple of hours later and you can see that the chili has darkened and steeped itself to deliciousness.
What was a blue pot, now looks completely black. That is the smoke residue. Don’t worry, an SOS pad gets it looking like new in no time.
This is easily the best chili I’ve ever made.
Wow - launching Twitterific 4.0 with the “light” theme is a breath of fresh air. Upgraded my license! Yeah for normal windows!