Outside the dugout: What's cooking?

LOL.

When I moved into my house a long time ago there was a dead pecan tree. I cut it down with an ax. It took me about a week to do so a few hours at a time. Pecan is HARD wood.

A few years ago we had a pecan tree that died and had to be removed. It was a seedling and not a reliable nut bearing tree. Bo Linzmayer told us about the history of that tree, but he was a local legend/drunk that once road a horse into Trader's South (our local tittie bar) so maybe it wasn't true. His dad (George) once owned our house. For old time Gainesvillians he was the George from George's Meat Market.

Bo also said that Johnny Weissmuller also known as Tarzan lived in my house during WWII. Maybe but I don't know.

 

Leftovers. I made a lot of tortilla soup yesterday.

 

I smoke my turkey in a Kamado Joe (pretty much the same thing as a Big Green Egg) and it is always very juicy. Even the white meat. Something about a ceramic grill that keeps moisture in.

The only drawback is getting crispy skin is hard to do. I wonder if finishing the bird in a very hot oven might remedy that.

 

Tonight is jambalaya with andouilie, shrimp and smoked turkey. And a salad.

 

A kamado grill is not cheap, but after I mastered it my wife was like "Why didn't we get one earlier?"

 

I have relatives that live up north of Green Bay. They rent out the old family farm but still live there. They could sit in a lawn chair in the front yard without camo and easily bag one at dusk.

Not much sport in that, though.

I have a friend that has a place in western Colorado that hunts elk. It is really wide open so getting close is really hard. If you are lucky you have cover and the wind in the right direction and can get reasonably close. You have to be a really good shot to get a clean kill and tracking a wounded elk is a PITA so you roll the dice on every shot. Of course if you are a good shot the dice are loaded in your favor. And a miss might be the end of your day with the noise.

 

Damn, I came here to talk about pork chops, boiled potatoes and braised cabbage tonight but got sidetracked thinking about venison.

 

Ordered a fresh turkey in the 16 to 20 pound range. Picked it up today and it is 19 pounds. Tomorrow will require an early start. If I can get it on by 8 AM with any luck we will be serving at 7 PM which is our normal dinner hour.

Going to be humid tomorrow so a water pan won't be required. I usually smoke turkeys without one and they still come out juicy. One good think about Florida humidity.

 

But what do you all think about soaking wood for smoking? I don't soak chuncks but if all I have is small chips I will soak that so that it isn't over quickly.