Those scallops look amazing - nice

Smoked or roasted would have definitely been better. I just simmered it in some butter and chicken stock and a bit of onion. Blended to a puree. Whisked in more butter. Thinned it down with some milk. Salt, pepper, touch of nutmeg and maple syrup.

Think next time I might top with some lardons or maybe a pancetta chip. Or if I wanted to lighten it, top with a citrus salad or maybe apple fennel salad.

One of my other mistakes is I didn't drain the scallops so some of the butter ran off the edge of the puree making it look like the puree broke.

Its hard to do plating while limiting the number of dishes you use and also conserving the amount of paper towels used.

Heh. Fair enough. Got the camp chef woodwind:
https://www.campchef.com/wood-pellet...-sidekick.html

From the decent amount of reading I've done and people I know that own...seems like pretty solid option. I like the sidekick idea - basically a burner that fits different attachments (ordered the pizza oven attachment but currently backordered) - but not sure if it will.jist end up being an unused gimmick or not.

Anyhow, excited to jump into the smoke game!

This is super late but here is my thanksgiving brisket.

What's going on inside of it?

FYP

You're definitely not going to regret getting the pellet smoker. The only complaint I have with mine is that I accidentally caught one of the wheels with the wheel of my truck pulling out of the garage and the smoker slammed through the sheetrock. I now have a smoker sized hole in my garage wall. Complaint: Wheels stick out too damned far, lol.

This is a very Texas story.

How so? There is absolutely no mention of a dog being run over or a gun safe being damaged in the accident.

For some reason this made me think of this David Allen Coe song, You Never Even Called Me By My Name.

“Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song
And he told me it was the perfect country & western song
I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country & western song
Because he hadn't said anything at all about mama
Or trains, or trucks, or prison, or getting' drunk
Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me
And after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country & western song
And I felt obliged to include it on this album
The last verse goes like this here
Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got run over by a damned old train”

Actually, Steve Goodman and John Prine wrote that song, but Coe did add that verse.

One of my favorite restaurants in Dallas is called Rapscallion and they recently added chicken and dumplings that put mine to shame:



So I followed their genius lead and made ricotta gnocchi instead of dumplings, added mushrooms sautéed in the fat from the chicken thighs I roast for meat and crispy chicken skins and then added pistou and the result is the best Chicken and dumplings I've ever eaten:



Rapscallion fries their chicken skin with batter like their fried chicken but I haven't cracked the code on how to make tasty crispy batter like theirs so I just baked the skins in the oven until golden brown and crunchy. Good, but not as good as the way they fry theirs.

If you're ever in Dallas, I cant recommend them enough, try their Chicken & Dumplings, Gammy's monkey bread (only available for sat/Sun brunch), homemade biscuits are out of this world and the Long Walk to Nashville fried chicken is the best fried chicken I've ever had:

Isn't that what he said?

That looks pretty damned good yim.

Almost.

And I agree.

Ty fellas, its awesome, especially this time of year in the cold weather

PS..I've never heard of pistou but if I had, I would have never dreamed of adding it to chicken and dumplings, here's what it is:

haha, I googled it when I read your first post

I'm going to have to go to the Things That Shouldn't Piss Me Off thread and post "recipes that aren't in grams."

Edit: nvm, I posted the grams thing in there in September. Ugh, I think I'm losing my mind.

it's basically the french making a pesto their own by not using pinoli and adding cheese. haven't seen it made with tomatoes before. looks delicious

Does look great! I'd like to have clear look at the gnocchi.

My grandma used to make lima beans and dumplin's when I was a child and I just loved it. I haven't had anything of the sort in a long time and need to rectify that.

Probably the avatar. Thoughts & prayers.

Using ricotta gnocchi as the dumplings in chicken and dumplings is the kind of genius move that makes me love this thread, yim.

Me too amigo, wish I could say it was my idea, the chef that designed their menu is outstanding. He's had several places around Dallas that always knock it out of the park. He's gifted when it comes to flavor and construction of a dish

Forgot to comment on your great looking Scallops on Kabocha puree (your presentation is always so well done my man, you're gifted ). I recently made a hearty Kabocha stew with red onions, sautéed eggplant, butternut squash, pimenton and a stock made from all the vegetable trimmings on top of a slice of cornbread soufflé with roasted brussel sprouts & pumpkin seeds. I need your artistic eye for plating but her she blows:

Ha yeah it’s kind of like saying that famous Johnny Paycheck song, Take This Job And Shove It, is actually a David Allen Coe song. Yeah Coe wrote it but everyone is familiar with the Paycheck version.

Sorry for the derail but if you haven’t seen it watch, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The Paycheck episode is awesome.

Oh wow this is pretty awesome, will need to try it. Also know who to PM for restaurants recs if I make it up to Dallas.

It’s French and my wife’s French grandmother makes this lovely, hearty pistou soup. I’ll ask her to make it and will post here.