Restoring A Cast Iron Fish Fry Pan

Steel Wool and elbow grease. Warm water, a little soap on the scouring pad and scrub scrub scrub til you get rid of the surface rust.

Once you get rid of all the surface rust rinse it out completely and dry with paper towels. Light spray with avocado oil or something with a high smoke point and into a 500 degree pre-heated oven to season. Make sure there’s just a light coating of oil.

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After

Fits on a 22 inch Weber kettle with space to access the flip up grates to add coals on either side of the pan when it’s centered.

Super Easy Crock Pot Thai Peanut Chicken Thighs

When we had those single digit days just before the storm I had some chicken thighs but I wasn’t about to try to be outdoors manning the grill so I tried chicken thighs in the crock pot (well the crock pot and other things).

First I cooked a pound of bacon for breakfast for the family and left the bacon fat in the pan on the stove.

Then I pat dry all the chicken thighs with paper towels and lightly seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Next tossed them a couple of minutes on each side in the pan of bacon fat to crisp up the skin.

After that I chopped up a couple of cloves of garlic and put the chicken thighs in the bottom of the crock pot and again seasoned with salt pepper and tossed in teh garlic and then covered with store bought Thai Peanut sauce.

No braising liquid is needed as the chicken thighs throw plenty of fat as it renders down.

I also had a couple of strips of bacon left over from earlier so I placed them on top of two of the thighs.

On high for 3 hours.

Next remove and place on a foiled cookie sheet and under the broiler for three minutes to crisp up the skin.

Absolutely delicious and incredibly juicy!

Angus Prime rib Is On Sale At Stop and Shop For Outrageously Low $5.99Lb (Normally $18.49lb)

I Frenched it, cut the ribs off and re-tied them back on.
Made a rub with fresh chopped rosemary, thyme, sage, garlic, coarse salt crushed pepper
There were a few sprigs of garlic left so i tucked them under the butcher’s twine
Grill setup- Offset coals with peach wood. 275 grill temp vents half way once we hit 200 on the grill thermometer
At 105F internal Temp
at 125 F internal

Watch the video above for the cut. It was absolute perfection.

BBQ Chicken On The Weber Kettle Recipe

One of the easier things to cook.
Buy a Roasting or frying chicken.

Split it in half.

Wash it.

Pat it dry with paper towels.
Apply BBQ rub.

Set up grill for indirect grilling.

Fill chimney up with unlit coals and dump two thirds of the unlit coals banked on one side of the charcoal grate.

Get the remaining third of the coals going in the chimney

Once chimney coals are ready, dump them on top the unlit coals

Place a sheet of tin foil on opposite side of charcoal grate to collect the dripping chicken fat (and make cleanup of the grill a breeze)

Put the cooking grind in place.

Wait for grill to reach 350.

Lay your chicken halves with larger sides closest to the coals.  Make sure the chicken is over the tin foil.

Place a couple of chunks of wood on your charcoal for smoke. I used B&B Pecan.

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Insert temp probe in thickest parts of the breast and replace the lid. grill should be running between 350-385

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When chicken reaches 145 internal rotate the chicken 180 degrees so other side is facing the coals and mop with your favorite BBQ sauce

Chicken is done at 165 degrees internal temp.

Recipe: Garlicky Butter Shrimp On The @WeberGrills Q

Shrimp were on sale at East Gloucester Stop and Shop and I was in the mood for something light after smashing down a decadent steak sandwich for lunch.

Kate whipped up a salad and I was in charge of the shrimp.

One of the things about grilling shrimp is you want them pretty dry like the way you want chicken so you can get that char on the outside without drying out the inside.

So I treat them the same way patting the meat (shrimp) dry with a paper towel while preparing the marinade.

The marinade?  Very simple- a half a stick of buttah melted in the microwave, a couple of turns of EVOO, salt, pepper and three heads of minced garlic.

Mixed the marinade ingredients together and tossed the patted down shrimp in to soak for a bit.

Grill on high to preheat, grates seasoned with cooking spray and then to skewer the shrimp.

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I like to raft the meat so it doesn’t spin on the skewers.  This way when you flip them they flip all at once.

On Kate’s she asked for the Paul Prudhomme Blackened Fish Rub.  I went with the McKormick’s Gruillmates Mesquite.

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The Weber Q1200 is perfect for getting home from work and wanting to do a quick cook.

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A couple of minutes per side and a garlic butter mop on each turn to keep them moist is all it took.

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Kate mixed up a fantastic salad.  I dressed it with Briannas Home Style Dressings Blush Wine Vinaigrette.

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This is the seasoning we used for Kate’s –

Purchase here-Magic Seasoning, Blackened Redfish Magic 24 oz

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And my new go-to McCormick Grill Mates Grill Mates Mesquite Seasoning, 24 oz

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Steak sandwiches on the @WeberGrills Q

 

First sauteed up some onions and set them aside.

Trimmed out a couple of Porterhouse steaks that were on sale at East Gloucester Stop and Shop.

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Liberal SPG (salt/pepper/garlic) seasoning and whipped up some garlic butter for the buns and sriracha mayo for the topping.

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Grill to 120 degrees internal for edge to edge rare steak.

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When steaks are close to being done toast the brioche rolls with garlic butter.

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Slice the steak thin and layer on the toasted bun.

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Add a dollop of sriracha mayo and the sauteed onions.

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Amazeballs!

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Last night was blackened haddock tacos on the @WeberGrills Go-Anywhere and @LodgeCastIron skillet at Niles Beach and it was GLORIOUS!

Glorious.   Living a mile away from your favorite beach is pretty sweet.

What makes it sweeter is hanging with some of your favorite people and cooking incredible food while your toes are still in the sand on that very same beach.

A little EVOO and Paul Prudhomme Blackened Fish Seasoning.  Cook it up on the Lodge Cast Iron skillet , toast the taco shells and add Kate’s awesome homemade slaw, avocado crema or my sriracha mayo or all that!

Heaven.

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Vintage #Castiron #Hibachi Restore Pics and Description Start To Finish

The pick up and inspection:
While it was obvious the hibachi had never been used, there was a fair amount of surface rust on the cooking grid, cookbox and hardware that held everything together. The wood base was dusty and faded.

 

Further inspection and breaking down:

The thing rod that holds the wood handles to the cooking grid had the most surface rust but all the nuts came free after hitting them with the wire brush and steel wool.  Same for the nuts that held the wood base to the cook box.

Cleaning:

The tools used were steel wool, wire brush, abrasive sponge and a rag.

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Started out hitting any and all surface rust with the small wire brush and then finish and get into the tight areas with the steel wool.  The wood base which was dull and dusty had a nice wood grain that was exposed after cleaning with the extra fine steel wool.  I was most anxious at this point to get a couple of coats of Tung Oil on it to see it come back to life.  All the hardware benefited from the steel wool cleaning as well.

The surface rust on the cookbox made it look dull and after asking for advice on the excellent Facebook group “Cast Iron and Hibachi World” member Mike Clemons suggested washing with a scrub pad and Blue dishwashing detergent.

The base and handles get Tung oil:

The handles had what looked to be stain on them and the base looked untreated.

After scuffing off the dust with the steel wool and wiping off with a damp rag I applied a coating of Tung oil liberally with a rag to all the wood.  after about five hours I applied a second coat which really brought out the grain.  I plan to do at least two more coats or keep applying until the wood won’t take any more oil.

Lastly a light coat of vegetable oil

Before and after pics:

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