What do you guys cook when you're not firing up your pit?

[YetiDave]

Just wondered what other culinary interests our members have. For me BBQ was a progression out of the kitchen and into the garden. I'd been interested in the idea of smoking food for a good while before pulling the trigger (and the catalyst was a stovetop smoker I was given by my parents for a birthday)

Personally I don't really stick with one cuisine, I've cooked anything from Mexican to Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Italian, Szechuan to Polish to American... Baking wise I've put out more than a few loaves and I've got a couple of active sourdough starters in the fridge, the first of which I cultivated about 3 years ago now and it's still going strong

Right now I've got a from scratch lasagne on the go. Bechamel, ragu and pasta all home made

So, what else can ya do?

[Matsuya]

I love a good lasagne - I cook up pork and beef mince with a bottle of wine and the usuals for around three hours.

That's a great question Dave - I bet there's loads of cooking skill on this forum!

Italian is probably my speciality - I've recently got into making pasta and ravioli from scratch. But I do a bit of Japanese cooking too (it's in the genes!).

Great that you do bread - not going to earn me any man points but I do enjoy the Great British Bake Off!

[JEC]

I'm happy to make most things in the kitchen, however as a trained chef my wife says I'm best at making a huge mess and waiting for someone else to tidy up

Like cooking the classics and Asian food the most.

[essexsmoker]

I'll have a bash at most things. My best thing is pizza. I don't have the right flour and just use sainsbury dopio 00 mixed with strong white bread flour. My wife says she prefers it to bought ones, even Papa John's, which I love. I still think she is just being nice. I make little garlic breads out of it too and they really are delicious just out of the oven.mmm. I've made curry too. Had a go at meringues with varying success. They taste fine but always crack a little. We do have a rotten oven though so that don't help. Hotter on the right than left even though it is fan assisted.
I just love to try anything really.

[YetiDave]

We have a trained chef here huh? Props to you mate! I worked in a kitchen for a while (though I'm self taught) and quickly realised I didn't enjoy cooking for other people if I was being told what to cook The lasagne turned out pretty well in the end, although I wish I'd had wine for the ragu. It was just a soffritto base with beef mince, tomatoes and seasoned with nothing but salt and Kampot pepper. Normally I'd make a ragu with cured meat (either pancetta or bacon) minced beef and ox or chicken liver and a large glass or two of wine. I really should make a big batch soon as I tend to vacuum seal it in portion sized amounts - boil in the bag ragu!

[fitasc]

Bit of a curry specialist here, lots of cooking for the freezer, growing chillies etc.

Enjoy authentic Indian food, will be trying out some curry style rubs soon.

Bob

[essexsmoker]

We have a trained chef here huh? Props to you mate! I worked in a kitchen for a while (though I'm self taught) and quickly realised I didn't enjoy cooking for other people if I was being told what to cook The lasagne turned out pretty well in the end, although I wish I'd had wine for the ragu. It was just a soffritto base with beef mince, tomatoes and seasoned with nothing but salt and Kampot pepper. Normally I'd make a ragu with cured meat (either pancetta or bacon) minced beef and ox or chicken liver and a large glass or two of wine. I really should make a big batch soon as I tend to vacuum seal it in portion sized amounts - boil in the bag ragu!

How have you found the vac pack? Im toying with getting a food saver one.

[YetiDave]

I love it. I've got an older model Food Saver (V1040) that I picked up off eBay and it gets used all the time for smoked cheese, pulled pork, various fresh cuts of meat.. I also use it for storing spices as I tend to buy very large bags, store some in a smaller container and seal up the rest to keep it fresh. Zero freezer burn and longer shelf life Being able to freeze portion sized amounts of sauces, pulled pork, curry and so on is ace as you can just gently simmer them for however long and pour out of the bag without having to worry about defrosting, having to add more liquid as you're reheating etc.. I've even vac sealed an entire smoked pork butt unpulled and again - just gently simmer until it's heated through, remove from the bag then pull as usual. I think it almost tastes better than when it's hot off the smoker. The only downside with the model that I have is that it does overheat and needs time to cool down if you're sealing a lot of stuff at once. But it's not really a big deal to give it a minute or two to cool off

[JEC]

We have a trained chef here huh? Props to you mate! I worked in a kitchen for a while (though I'm self taught) and quickly realised I didn't enjoy cooking for other people if I was being told what to cook The lasagne turned out pretty well in the end, although I wish I'd had wine for the ragu. It was just a soffritto base with beef mince, tomatoes and seasoned with nothing but salt and Kampot pepper. Normally I'd make a ragu with cured meat (either pancetta or bacon) minced beef and ox or chicken liver and a large glass or two of wine. I really should make a big batch soon as I tend to vacuum seal it in portion sized amounts - boil in the bag ragu!

Everything is better with wine. That's a solid ragu you have there, no chance of it lacking flavour!!

Yes fully trained with 10 years in the kitchen, 5 full time and 5 part time, got fed up with the unsociable hours and now do it as a past time to help unwind.

[essexsmoker]

I love it. I've got an older model Food Saver (V1040) that I picked up off eBay and it gets used all the time for smoked cheese, pulled pork, various fresh cuts of meat.. I also use it for storing spices as I tend to buy very large bags, store some in a smaller container and seal up the rest to keep it fresh. Zero freezer burn and longer shelf life Being able to freeze portion sized amounts of sauces, pulled pork, curry and so on is ace as you can just gently simmer them for however long and pour out of the bag without having to worry about defrosting, having to add more liquid as you're reheating etc.. I've even vac sealed an entire smoked pork butt unpulled and again - just gently simmer until it's heated through, remove from the bag then pull as usual. I think it almost tastes better than when it's hot off the smoker. The only downside with the model that I have is that it does overheat and needs time to cool down if you're sealing a lot of stuff at once. But it's not really a big deal to give it a minute or two to cool off

Thanks for the feedback. That's exactly what I hope to do. Do a few butts n ribs at a time and vac them. The spices is a great idea too as they defo lose freshness. Have no idea what version it is. Might have a look into that.