Topper's Grilling Advice!

[Reefer2]

Top - first are you a cook, how do you know so many different ways to cook different meat? From lamb to fish, wow pretty amazing. PS – absolutely love lamb, brother gave me a great recipe for lamb chops (don’t have it handy but it involves a lot of stuff and some oil), in a bag for 3 hours, then cooked. Wife/kids do not like lamb but used the same recipe on pork chops and everyone loved it, kids ate it plus wanted more.

Now, yesterday I bought a new BBQ with a rotisserie burner and of course the rotisserie and now I would like to do a roast. I have had some suggestions about from doing a simple crushed peppercorn to something more elaborate with a mustard spice/sauce.

So do you have any suggestions and which roast should I use? I bought a QTR cow from my cow guy so I have all types of roasts in my freezer. 3rd year buying my meat from this guy and I will never go back to meat from a store like Save On or anywhere else, huge difference in quality.

PS – I also would like a little more detail about prep and cooking.

Many thanks in advance.

[Aaronp18]

Top - first are you a cook, how do you know so many different ways to cook different meat?

Well it's gotta be more than just watching Top Chef, DDD, Iron Chef or Chopped. I've been doing that but I don't think I'm any better than i was.

[Topper]

Reef, to do a roast on the BBQ just think of it as an oven. I do my roasts high heat method because I like the well browned outside and rare - medium rare interior. for a roast, I'd avoid the rotisserie. That big metal spike will conduct heat to the centre of the roast and you could end up with a well done core to your roast.

Bring the chunk of meat to room temperature, season the outside of your roast with a hefty amount of salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme. Keep it simple to begin with, play later. You can poke holes to varying depths in the roast with your finger and shove peeled garlic cloves in. If the meat is really lean shove pieces of pork fat in (lardons is the correct term) to give the meat some moisture. Tie the roast up with butcher twine so it retains a compact shape for even cooking.

Use indirect heat, have the meat over burners that are low or off and have burners away from the meat as your primary heat source. Get the BBQ up to 400F, add the roast close the lid and leave it alone. If you like, you can toss some balsamic on it about 3/4 of the way through. Check for an internal temp of 125F - 130F (135F is medium rare - slightly pink), maybe an hour to an hour and a half depending on the size of the roast. Don't check too often as you don't want to punch a bunch of hole in the meat and have the juices escape.

Take the roast out and place it on a cooling rack over a tray or plate and let it rest for 5-10 minutes while you get the rest of the meal ready. The interior temp of the meat will rise about 5F while it rest so you remove from the heat just under where you want your final temp. This is a good time to grill some par cooked (big pot blanched) greens. Don't cover the roast, as steam will build up and turn that crisp exterior mushy.

Slice it up and serve.

As for cut of meat. Your cuts of meat can be divided up into moist heat cooking or dry heat cooking. A good cut of meat is always dry heat (roasting, grilling frying), tougher cuts have lots of connective tissue that needs to be broken down in long slow moist heat cooking (braising - pot roasts). The connective tissue becomes gelatin that gives stocks their body and makes our Jello jiggle. For your BBQ, you will want a good cut of meat, inside round will work, loin is better.

For your pork, and this is important with Mother's Day on the horizon - pork should be served pink. Trichinosis dies of at 127F so meat at 135F is pink juicy and wonderful.

All cuts of lamb are suitable for dry heat, through braised lamb shanks are a gift from the gods.

[rats19]

For this recipe complete with cooking instructions and more.....
Send $25.00 to rats19@paypal.ca

Ps...somebody should be profiting from the thousands of dollars and years of time Topper put Into his culinary edumacation..MAWBM

[Topper]

For this recipe complete with cooking instructions and more.....
Send $25.00 to rats19@paypal.ca

Ps...somebody should be profiting from the thousands of dollars and years of time Topper put Into his culinary edumacation..MAWBM

Can we pay you in oatmeal futures?

I've commented on this before, but food is for sharing. I am big proponent of the family table and breaking of bread with friends.

[rats19]

It was determined the oatmeal and egg were for game that we added zero fat to.

On the topic at hand, Topper has always shared his knowledge freely and I don't recall him ever saying "no" or declining complete and thorough instructions. For this I have always admired Topper ..my point was in jest and was simply trying to get Topper generosity across to the masses.

[Strangelove]

FFS, Topper's recipes make me so damned hungry, I usually go straight to the fridge.

I'm overweight and it's TOPPER'S FAULT!!!

Bastard...

[rats19]

FFS, Topper's recipes make me so damned hungry, I usually go straight to the fridge.

I'm overweight and it's TOPPER'S FAULT!!!

Bastard...

Psst...I take visa too..

[Topper]

On the topic at hand, Topper has always shared his knowledge freely and I don't recall him ever saying "no" or declining complete and thorough instructions. For this I have always admired Topper ..my point was in jest and was simply trying to get Topper generosity across to the masses.

I don't recall helping Creeper with his diet and look where that got him.

[rats19]

On the topic at hand, Topper has always shared his knowledge freely and I don't recall him ever saying "no" or declining complete and thorough instructions. For this I have always admired Topper ..my point was in jest and was simply trying to get Topper generosity across to the masses.

I don't recall helping Creeper with his diet and look where that got him.

Did he ask?

[KeyserSoze]

I do my roasts high heat method because I like the well browned outside and rare - medium rare interior.

Did I ever mention the blow torch technique that I read in one of Keller's cook books?

Torch the raw roast to get the outside well on its way. Then cook it on low heat until it reaches temp.

Browned outer crust, edge to edge medium rare inside.

Not conventional per se , but interesting none the less. I have yet to try it myelf.

[Topper]

I love Keller's work and find myself returning to his French Laundry Cookbook for inspiration (I don't think there is a thing in the book someone could cook at home - favourite section is his encounter with the rabbit purveyor), but he does do some odd stuff. just look at his beef stock recipe.

I can understand the idea of the torch is to limit the depth of medium plus doneness in the initial browning stage. What he is doing in browning the outside and then mimicking to sous-vide/immersion cooking with a low oven. Personally, I prefer more depth to the maillard reactions.

I do use a torch in that manor when I make beef or tuna tataki.

[Eddy Punch Clock]

Taking the kids to the Lego exhibit at science world today and will be dining at the The Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards. I know it's a favourite of Toppers and Donny's so if you guys want to join me for a meatball I'll be there around five. Donny doesn't usually lurk here on weekends and I have no idea what part of the world Topper is living in right now but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Wear a tie.

[Potatoe1]

Taking the kids to the Lego exhibit at science world today and will be dining at the The Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards. I know it's a favourite of Toppers and Donny's so if you guys want to join me for a meatball I'll be there around five. Donny doesn't usually lurk here on weekends and I have no idea what part of the world Topper is living in right now but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Wear a tie.

Be sure to have some spumoni ice cream with those little chunks of crap in it.

Oh and if you eat in the train you are far more likely to bump into Lever and Tops.

[Topper]

Oh and if you eat in the train you are far more likely to bump into Lever and Tops.

In matching striped Oshkosh overalls. It was grand.

So I followed ODB's rotisserie chicken recipe, had it with homemade corn tortillas and salsa fresca but had a bunch of chicken left over for last night.

Sauteed onion and garlic, added diced leftover chicken, big pot blanched broccoli, made a sauce of pureed carrots, yogourt and a bit of nutmeg, tossed it all with the last of the batch of rosemary gnocchi I made last week.