Its worth the wait, that is what I saw over and over again on Four Square when I checked in while waiting in line and what everyone who had been there before kept reminding us.  And once we finally made it inside and sat down at Filippi’s Pizza Groto, in San Diego,  it was worth the wait.

The atmosphere was authentic, it wasn’t wedding receptions nice but it was close but not cramped, dimly lit and fairy noisy.  All characteristics of a restaurant I would typically never want to come back to, however, Filippi’s managed to combine all these things into a tremendously enjoyable atmosphere.  The service was a cut above out waitress was fun and full of attitude, she was a riot.  And then there was the food.  Wanting to keep things simple we went with a pepperoni, extra cheese pizza and we were rewarded for out simplicity.  It was perhaps one of the best pizza’s I have ever had.  The salty oily cheese on top and the subtle but magical sauce on the crispy crust made this pizza something to long for.  It was awesome I would not hesitate to visit again and we just may yet this week.

Filippi’s Pizza Grotto in San Diego, it’s worth the wait.  It also has a neat deli and carry out available.

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I came into this with high hopes.  I have been infatuated with how tasty it looked.  I kept counting down the days until Wednesday to give it a try.  I found this recipe last week for Grilled Mexican Roadside Chicken, and it looks delicious and sounded interesting.  So I whipped it up today per the recipe, but in lieu of a whole chicken used several drumsticks I had in the freezer, same concept.

Grilled Roadside Mexican Chicken

And I have to say it was not bad chicken, but it wasn’t chicken that left me wanting more either.  It let me down.  It was juicy, but I attribute that more to technique than the recipe.   I had high hopes for it and it just fell short, flat on its face at my feet, I was disappointed but when piled onto of a salad with some taco-ranch dressing it was almost just like any other chicken, but perhaps with just a hair more Mexican flavor and eaten that way it was quite alright.  So here is a copy of the recipe should you wish to try it.  I did use half the amount of cinnamon because that was all I had around.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp ground ancho chile pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 garlic cloves pressed
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c fresh orange juice
1 tsp Kosher salt
chicken (parts or a whole)

Instructions
If using a charcoal grill, get some charcoal going in a chimney (I used half a chimney full).  Mix all ingredients except chicken together in a bowl to create a wet rub.  Once the charcoal is ready place all of the coals on one side of the grill to set up a cool zone and a hot zone.  Place the chicken on the cool side of the grill, brush healthily with the wet rub.  Turn chicken and brush the other side with the wet rub.  Cover the grill and cook until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°F; basting with any remaining rub throughout the cooking period.  Remove chicken from grill and allow to rest for a while 5-10 minutes for parts or 10 to 15 minutes for a whole chicken.

The original recipe called for green onions to be grilled once the chicken was done, maybe this is where I went astray.  It also called for a whole chicken and not for parts, maybe that was the problem.  Either way it wasn’t bad, but like I said it let me down, it wasn’t all I had hoped for and the process of making the rub filled my kitchen with a heavenly familiar aroma of Jerk Chicken and made me think, why am I not making Jerk Chicken?  Well I may just have to do that soon.

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Smoking and grilling are expensive habits.  Not only do you get to cook some prime cuts of meats occasionally but there are lots of gizmos and toys that make smoking so much more cool easier and more consistent.  But perhaps the most important aspect of all of these are those gizmos that help me know when my food is done!  And for that I rely on my thermometer(s).

Smoker Cooking Temperature Thermometer

The first and perhaps most important thermometer in my arsenal is the one I have affixed to the top of my smoker.  It is an expensive, non fancy 2″ thermometer I picked up off of Amazon.  It was simple to install just had to drill a hole in the top and of the smoker dome, insert the thermometer and tighten the nut on the back.  When I initially go it I calibrated it with boiling water and it was dead on.  I have been using it for a little over a year with no complaints.  This is a must have in my book.

Maverick ET-84 Thermometer Next on my list is my Maverick ET-84.  For a long time this was my bread and butter thermometer, I have two of them and they both rock.  You can get replacement probes for them with either a silicone encased or braided stainless steel type wire.  It also has a nice back light for outdoor after dark cooking.

The talk of replacement probes may scare some away but I have been using both of mine for well over a year and have had to replace the probes once, as a result of a terrible mishap in the oven.  The silicone probes do not survive extreme temperatures, greater than 500°F.

Ordering new probes was easy and inexpensive via email through the Maverick Industries website.

I use these with meat on the grill, in the smoker and in the oven.  Its nice to be able to see where the meat is at temperature wise without having to lift the lid or open the door.  In addition these thermometers talk, kinda creepy when you aren’t expecting it but they will remind you to baste.  This can also be turned off.

As I said I have used these thermometers for quite a while in hot weather, in cold weather and in nice weather.  Typically in unfavorable I have increased the geek quotient of my smoking operation by adding a wireless webcam to the set up to monitor the smoker from the comfort of my home.  With the proper set up it is possible to monitor both the thermometer on the smoker itself and the ET-84 positioned near it (the probes have a 48″ lead).  With the webcam I am also able to see if the smoker is well smoking, this is a bit more difficult in the bitter cold because you have a bit more steam, but smoking is after all an instinctual thing.

I calibrated or rather made sure they were properly calibrated using the same method as for the grill top thermometer above, dunked it in boiling water and it checked out.  It is important that when calibrating this way you are sure not to touch the probe to the bottom of the pan.  The pan will be much hotter than the water inside of this, you could zap a probe.  Its not nearly as scary as it sounds

Maverick ET-901 Receiver Unit

Finally the latest and perhaps coolest addition to my thermometer arsenal, the Maverick ET-901.  Like the ET-84 above the ET-901 is an electronic thermometer that allows you to monitor the temperature of meat you are cooking without opening the door or raising the lid.  But it has the added benefit of being wireless it consists of two pieces, the transmitter seen below that will sit with the smoker, grill or oven you are cooking with and a receiver you take with you.

Maverick ET-901 Transmitter with smoker

This is the newest addition to my arsenal and it was met with some skepticism.  The internet is full of bad talk about wireless thermometers and their range, so I was quite skeptical when I got it but wanted to give it a try for monitoring temperatures when I am away from a computer or don’t feel like hooking up the webcam and want to know how my food is cooking.  I could not be happier with the results,  this thing is money and well worth the money I spent on it.  I am currently using it as I cook up some pork to pull and it has limited my trips to the smoker drastically.

Maverick Industries ET-901 Transmitter RangeJust to get an idea of the range at which I am using the remote thermometer, the image above is an action shot of my set up today.  The transmitter is sitting next to the smoker outside the garage and I am in the house with the receiver.  I am well within the 150′ range touted by the manufacturer, I am passing through a brick wall and have had no problems thus far.  It also works well from behind my condo, which suggests it would work great next to my bed for overnight cooks, more sleep less worrying.

In addition being wireless the ET-901, like the ET-84, has a back light for after dark cookouts and like the ET-84 it has user programmable doneness levels.  So for instance when cooking pulled pork to 205°F, I can set it for 205°F and it will alert me when my food has finished cooking, instead of at a preset doneness level, of which it also contains several.

Like the ET-84 replacement probes are available for this model from Maverick Industries.

So after all that which one do I use the most?  Well that is a tricky question, inevitably the thermometers mounted directly to the smokers and grill get used the most.  But of the electric ones it is a trick question, they wireless ET-901 is the newest and will get used the most on single piece of meat cook I imagine.  But like today where I have two pieces of meat on the smoker the ET-901 is in the smaller of the two pieces of meat to give me a heads up when they are getting close to being done; while the ET-84 is in the larger piece of meat just so I can periodically check on its progress.

With that I will leave you with a picture of my setup today and a question.  Do you have a thermometer you you can’t live without and why?

The smoker thermometer setup today

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Ok, so it has been a while, more than a month.  I was a little alarmed when I logged in that it has been that long.  I have been way to busy to cook, its been very sad.  So with that, a day late and a dollar short; I made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving from a Food Network (Paula Deen) recipe for pumpkin pie.  Normally I would have been more adventurous but like I said I was busy and it was easy and right there.

So sadly I only snapped a picture when it was sitting on top of my oven, because this was some pretty wicked pumpkin pie.  It had good flavor a nice consistency and did I mention it was tasty.  You can find the recipe over at the Food Network, the only alteration I made was to sprinkle some nutmeg on the top about 5 minutes before it came out of the oven.

So even though this pie might send you to the hospital with clogged arteries sooner than would say most any other pumpkin pie, it is from Paula Deen, its what we would expect.  An express trip to heart attack lane, but it was pretty tasty and will surely be made again.

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Growing up I liked to eat waffles, we had them every Sunday morning it was tradition in our home.  Dad would get up and make waffles every Sunday we would pile them high with way too much brown sugar or drench them in more than enough Maple Syrup, but they were always good.  Well when my wife and I got married we got a waffle maker and I am ashamed to say that until this past weekend I had not touched it, one year had elapsed and we had not so much as made a single waffle.  Well that changed and we will be making waffles more than once in the following years.

Being that I knew absolutely nothing about making any kind of waffle that did not originate in box (I am ashamed to say), I was pleasantly surprised when one day a tweet from @thefoodgeek about waffles from scratch broke my concentration.  Now making waffles is not my specialty, so the recipe looked really simple and we gave it a whirl.

Waffle on a plate

It was almost like making waffles from a box except you have to plan ahead a little the night before and start the batter, then in the morning, add the eggs and cook them like you would cook a box waffle.  It was simple and they were really quite tasty.

Ingredients
2 c flour
2 c milk
8 tbsp butter, melted and cooled (we used margarine, blasted allergies)
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla ( the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon ( to original recipe called for 1 tsp, but it seemed like to much for my palette)
2 eggs

Instructions
The night before mix dry ingredients.  Stir in milk, butter and vanilla until it is mixed well.  Cover and let it sit out overnight.  The next morning separate the egg whites from yolks, mix the yolks into the batter.  Whip the whites and fold them into the batter.  Pour the batter on a waffle iron and enjoy when cooked.

Adapted from A Year from Scratch – Simply Amazing Waffles

I didn’t change much in the original recipe but I did increase the vanilla and decrease the cinnamon to match my tastes.  It is probably pretty incredible the way it is written up on A Year From Scratch, but I really like my vanilla.  There are some other great recipes and cooking information over at A Year From Scratch that are worth reading through, make sure you check them out.

One last note, these waffles freeze incredibly well, just let them cool throw them in a zip lock and freeze.  Then pull them out and toast like a toaster waffle, they make a pretty wicked toaster waffle.

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