[bluesman]

Man Cap...you never cease to amaze me with your culinary skills.

Looks fabulous as usual.  I'll bet it tastes even better.

I am a big sweet potato lover.  Homade sweet potato pie...mmm...mmm delicious.

[nicneufeld]

All indeed looks great.  Interesting at least!  I've got limited experience with African food, so I wouldn't really know what I'd like.  What was that chili sort of sauce at 6 o clock?

[nicneufeld]

OK, here's my labor day cook.  With the sweet sounds of Alfred Apaka crooning over weeping steel guitar glissandos, we did a pineappley, pseudo hawaiian luau.  The ribs are marinated in pineapple juice, kecap manis, ginger, and a few other things, and then smoked, then sauced with a thick sweet sauce based on hoisin, pineapple jelly, and ginger.  The rice is made with pineapple, green onions, chilies, and ginger.  The wontons are sweet, not savoury, with a filling of cream cheese, brown sugar, and crushed pineapple.  Throw in some pineapple spears, and a drink made of pineapple juice, lime juice, and Goslings black rum.  Oh, and yes, I had to include my lap steel, tuned to C6...my latest obsession.

"Are we going, to the hukilau, the huki huki huki huki huki hukilau..."   

[beerocd]

I took a block of George's Slanine and put it on the smoker for a couple of hours. SUPER salty tasting, but it all got eaten it was so tasty. Good thing I got slivo in the freezer to keep the ol' arteries clear. (you know - it acts like draino for your innards)

[nicneufeld]

See I could go for slanina cooked like that!!!  And yes it was uniquely salty stuff but I agree, very good!  Next trip to the E. Euro store (I take altogether too many) I need to restock on slivo and perhaps some slanina (we'll see!).  I bought a chunk of this stuff:

http://www.eurofoodmart.com/bs-smoked-beef-suho-meso-1-5lb-p30309.html

Brother and Sister brand, it is much smokier than the suva govedina I've tried otherwise. 

Oh, and if the slanina rendered a lot of lard on the smoker you could potentially have a nice grease fire next time you get a hot fire going in the grill.  I have that happen every now and again if it builds up a lot of grease in the bottom.

[beerocd]

I had a ham going on the grill and felt bad about all the wasted grill space so I just went rummaging for stuff to smoke. Found slanina and about 3 kielbasas. Everything is better with smoke! The other stuff only went on for like the last two hours or so to pick up the smoke so the fire was pretty steady in the low 200's by that time. I didn't lose much fat off the slanina.

That cut of meat looks good. Just straight up meze (appetizers). I actually bought a meat slicer this last week. I got a hunk of prosciutto and was kinda ticked off at my knife skills - so I placed an order online. 

[euge]

I had a ham going on the grill and felt bad about all the wasted grill space so I just went rummaging for stuff to smoke. Found slanina and about 3 kielbasas. Everything is better with smoke! The other stuff only went on for like the last two hours or so to pick up the smoke so the fire was pretty steady in the low 200's by that time. I didn't lose much fat off the slanina.

That cut of meat looks good. Just straight up meze (appetizers). I actually bought a meat slicer this last week. I got a hunk of prosciutto and was kinda ticked off at my knife skills - so I placed an order online. 

LOL I did the same thing! As far as sausage goes. Cleaned out some of the vacpacked stuff that I hadn't taken all the way and even a length of Andouille that never made it into a pot of Gumbo. All went in the smoker!

One of my bro's had a Geka meat slicer in his trunk for several years which he gave to me earlier this summer. It was totally disgusting but after dismantling completely and a trip through the dishwasher it looks brand new. Sadly, I haven't used it yet. I'm thinking roast beef for sandwiches.

[capozzoli]

Ghana 2



Rear: FuFu made of potatoes farina and plantain flour, served in a tomato pepper, garlic and lentil stew.

Front left: boiled plantains.

Right: Fried fish with a crust of green peppers, ginger and garlic. 

[bluesman]

Interesting combo.  How do the flavors blend together?

If I tripped over Ghana food I wouldn't know it...looks good!

[beerocd]

Ghana 2

Ghana-re-deux

[capozzoli]

The flavors go together very well. Ghana style cooking is very simple. Easy to do for the most part. They really like these startchy mushed foods that no doubt come from the tribal type peoples. They are made with all different kinds of tubers.They mash them all up with farina and stuff like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxmBKzrPpSY

They are also known for their sea food.

Another thing that is popular in Ghana is bush meat. I think Im gonna avoid that.

Also I meant to answers Nics question about the hot sauce. It is s***o, a mash of hot pepper sauce and dried shrimp.

Wow, I cant believe it wont let me write that word. it is spelled s h i t o.

 

[nicneufeld]

Reminds me of Thai cooking (hot peppers and dried shrimp), must have something to do with being a coastal nation in the tropics.

I just got Steven Raichlens "Planet Barbecue" from the library, I have to say, this is going to likely launch many a future ethnic cooking obsession.  I get bored with his US-centric stuff, because we're pretty much well-acquainted with all that, but he does a great job introducing world cuisines, even if constrained to live fire cooking.

[capozzoli]

I listened to an interview with him on the radio a couple of months back. That is what inspired me to set up an Argentine grill.

How is that book? Im sure it is good. Lots of pictures? 

[bluesman]

I have three of his books.  Great recipes and techniques.  I want to get "Planet BBQ"
Sounds very interesting.  His books are great resources.

[nicneufeld]

BBQ Bible is good, very world oriented.  BBQ USA, I have to say, bored me, because it was equally as much space dedicated to minor variations in one single country's live fire cooking.  I also have his Ribs book and Beer Can Chicken book, and I really like the ribs book, as it launched me on a number of foreign adaptations of the typical rib recipes, but the Beer Can Chicken book is more, well, the recipes are the same, basically, similar sauces and all, and once you dispense with the false magic of the beer can (non boiling liquid in the chicken cavity) a lot of the gimmick is gone.

But Planet Barbeque looks like it takes up where BBQ Bible left off, lots of very varied world cuisines represented.  The guy has a pretty sweet gig, travelling the world and sampling the best of the world's grillmasters produce.