Fish Loin d'Kevin

So, Mary caught me a little by surprise last Saturday night when she asked me if I might like to grill something. Honestly, I'm pretty much up for that most nights - the only challenge being what to grill, and should I go to the store to pick something out. 

Of course, here in Alexandria there is a freezer full of Kevin Bacon, the hog I butchered over the winter, to choose from as well, and we picked out the tenderloin for Saturday.  Mary had picked up some sweet corn and kale to pair it up with, so we had the makings of a nice spring dinner going.

Pork tenderloin, sauteed in bourbon and gently
rubbed with smoked chipotle.

Now, David calls this cut "the fish" - I don't know why, but left to my own imagination I have come up with three potential etymologies:

• 
  

-It's called the fish because it looks like one when it is first cut away from the carcass;
-It's called the fish because you have to fish around in the carcass to find it; or
-It's called the fish because it is tender enough and easy enough to separate out, simply by fishing it out with your fingers.

Actually, I owe that last one to Nathan Anda, chef at Red Apron Butcher, who Mary and I watched butcher half a hog once in downtown DC - he doesn't call it the fish though, he just demonstrated the technique.

In any case, as far as the approach to cooking Kevin's fish loin last Saturday, I decided I might saute it in some bourbon first.  This seems to lock in the natural juices so the tender meat doesn't dry out as much on the grill.  After that, I lightly rubbed it with smoked chipotle.

With more time to complete the cooking, I would normally use indirect heat to keep this cut tender and juicy, but instead I put the roast over direct charcoal for about seven minutes a side.  While it still had some pink inside, this was just a little past where I would typically like it, so I'll plan ahead next time so I can apply the preferred "low and slow" technique.

Mary's Beer Can Chicken

For our third attempt at beer can chicken, Mary decided she would try her hand at it.  I won't post the recipe here because they are ubiquitous and she used one she found after a Google search - the same as we have the other times we've made this.

There were a few tweaks worth noting this time - she grilled on the gas side of the Big Unit, using the little stand accessory we bought when I got the Weber for Hawksbill Cabin.  She also used a "generic" Wisconsin Lager as the beer, which she had purchased from Trader Joes.

It's come out just fine every time, but I do think that we are getting close to a place where we'll use a consistent recipe going forward. Future variations might include using the competition rub from my barbecue team, and we might also try the simple Greek "Glekas" style marinade of honey, lemon, and oregano.

Those are some truck patch tomatoes in the background, and the squash and egg plant in the foreground also came from the backyard.  The sweet corn was from Public House Produce out in Luray.  Everything was delicious.

About the Ribs

Most of my readers know that I like to cook out - and over the last couple of years that I've been working on it as a skill, especially after buying the Big Unit last year, and since I've been butchering a hog share out in the Valley.

My barbecue team, Two Fat Farmers and a City Slicker, decided we'd compete again in the Backyard Boyz competition of Smokin' on the Tracks out in Luray (link below).  So I took that as a sign it was time to begin practicing the techniques we used last year, with the hopes of improving our results in some of the other categories (we placed third in chicken last year and fourth overall).

Here is a plate of ribs from last week, featuring our competition dry rub and a variation of the competition sauce.  Also paired with sweet corn and baby zukes off of the grill.

There's also a photo of the ribs in progress, showing the hot side/cold side method I usually use.  I also put some hickory in there when I am doing this at home - we don't smoke at the contest.  This batch came out well for flavor - I still need to work on timing a bit to ensure that they are at the state of done-ness that the judges are taught to evaluate.

That'll come.  The contest is in September, so there is still time to practice.

Here is a link to the fest:
http://smokinbbqpal.com/

Weber Upgrade

Saturday night we had a nice invitation to join some friends for a cookout, and so we did.  Our friends were cooking ribs on his vintage Weber grill, using the offset method and then glazing them to perfection just as they were ready to come off the heat.  Tasty!

My little Weber, which I’ve been using to cook for the two of us now for six years, has finally succumbed to the elements.  It rusted through around one of the little leg supports and is no longer safe to use.  So I had been in the market for a new grill to use at Hawksbill Cabin.

There was no question that I would not be getting another Big Unit like the one in Alexandria for Hawksbill Cabin.  That would just be too much equipment for weekends, plus the hassle of storing it in the barn – almost 200 feet away up a gravel path, would probably result in a lot of wear and tear (for the grill and for me). 

I’ve been reading reviews with an eye for the eventual replacement, and was settled on a Weber – I thought I might spring for one of the units that has a little side table.  But the cookout the other night closed the deal – our friend told us he’d been using this one for 20 years, and it had moved from California, to Oregon, to Alaska, and then to here. 

That’s a recommendation that’s hard to argue with!    

Saturday Night Trout Dinner

We went to a party on Saturday afternoon at one of the local branches of Rocklands barbeque (see link below) – one of our favorites.  I had grilled some chicken thighs on Friday night, and knew that I was going to cook some ribs on Sunday (heads up – there’ll be a blog post on this later in the week).  I decided to have the brisket so I could be sure I covered the full range of animal proteins…leaving the dilemma of what to cook for dinner on Saturday night.

Well, fish is the natural choice if you can check off beef, chicken, and pork in a weekend – and if you don’t have any venison laying around in the freezer.  So I went down to Whole Paychecks and found these whole trout – good looking fish. 

After browsing on line and checking out my “For Cod and Country” cookbook (check the Amazon link below) – I decided to brine the fish and then stuff them with some fresh rosemary sprigs from Mary’s herb garden and slices of fresh lemon.  I cooked them on the backyard grill in my little fish basket.

We decided that, it being spring and all, we might pair them up with a bunch of asparagus.  Asparagus in the spring, by the way, always reminds me that The European in Glover Park calls this season “Spargel Fest.”  I was a little worried about the fish – I usually do fillets – but they came out fine, as you can see in the money shot!

Rocklands link:  http://www.rocklands.com/

For Cod and Country Amazon link:  

Minding the Que

While fall is upon us, it doesn't mean I've quit barbecuing for the season.  On the contrary, I really like to cook out during this time of year - I just won't be doing as much of it given the shorter days.

I was looking through some iPhone pictures from the last six weeks or so and saw that I'd done some grilling a couple of times.  Here's a photo of the little unit out at the cabin lit up and smoking - I was making a brisket on that day.  The leaves are still green, and it looks like there was a gentle fall rain even.

Here's the money shot of that brisket once it was finished:

Since the contest last September, I've been working on this grilled oregano chicken recipe.  I have one more small tweak to make on it, where I will be adding some honey to the marinade.

It's quite good already - it includes oil, lemon juice and oregano - since it is a Greek originated recipe that I was inspired to find by the old ladies up at Saint Sophia's and their famous semi-annual fest.  I think the honey will be the last touch to this, adding a sweetness that justifies the name "Glekas" - which was what they called it.

So until my next post on cooking out, there you have it.

Random Grillin'

Here are a final two photos from the Smokin' on the Track contest.  I took these mainly for posterity - one of the guys at work has the same Weber style set up the guy next to us was using, and then the other is one of the other neighbor's beer can chicken. Or maybe they were turkeys - because that group's members certainly were.

It's a long story, but one of them had been drinking all day, and he thought he was quite the funny man.  A bit of a smart ass if you ask me - then later his antics got them disqualified.

They'd driven down from Pittsburgh, and they had an elaborate set-up.  So I bet they had the ride home they all deserved!

What's cookin' - at Smokin' on the Track

So the grill was lit, some preliminary socializing was out of the way, and we'd even had our health inspection.  The long and slow cooking parts were underway.  It was time to begin planning how our items were going to come off the grill and get lined up for submission.

The schedule for submitting the chicken. ribs, pulled pork, and brisket was pretty tight, all set at 30 minute intervals in the afternoon.  I set my watch, which has five alarm settings, to go off with thirty minute notice for each of these, which are shown in the first photo. Then we got to cooking - brisket and pork were the first in, as shown in the previous post.

These next three images are of the pulled pork - first when we checked on it midway through cooking, second when we pulled it out of the smoker and began breaking it down, and last, just before submission, as we presented it..

I have to admit, this was my favorite part of the contest.  We felt like we'd done a good job on this, and with second opinions from a few friends and family, we were getting good feedback.  We were proud to put this one up in front of the judges.

But we only finished 10th or so on this.  We learned later that the instructions for this meat specified that the sauce would be mixed in with the pork - we had a prized recipe that we had cooked up on the side, but we couldn't figure out how to submit it, and we had overlooked the instruction.  So we'll have to see how we do next year on this.

Next up are the brisket and ribs we submitted.  The brisket came out just right, as far as being done and cooked tender.  But it had begun to dry out a little, since we finish it early and took it off the heat, and then took it back up to temp before allowing it to rest so we could slice it.  We ended up fixing this with just a little brush of sauce - and these placed fifth overall out of 20.

The ribs had their own special considerations - Jared carefully sliced them off from bone to bone - with a bone in the center.  So the lucky judge would actually getting two ribs' worth of meat with these.  They were done with a dry rub - again no sauce, and we placed about the same as we had on the pulled pork.

Finally, here's our chicken.  We had prepared two batches, one with a traditional rub, which is what we submitted, and one with a Greek style lemon and oregano marinade.  That one came out great too - but we decided we should go with the traditional recipe for the contest.  That turned out to be a good decision - we placed third in chicken.

Finally, Dwayne, Jared and I waited to hear how we had done in the overall category.  With a third in chicken, and a fifth in brisket, we'd already done better than we expected in our first competition, but the two lower finishes in pork might set us back a little bit.  They only announced the podium finishers, but they passed around the final results (and later they posted those on the web):  

Two Fat Farmers and a City Slicker placed fourth overall!

We all had a great time and we're looking forward to next year - or the next contest.  We'll keep you posted!

Oh-dark-thirty at Smokin' on the Tracks

Things start early in the Valley and the Smokin' on the Tracks fest was no exception.  In fact, we'd agreed that we would meet at the Shenandoah Speedway that morning at 6:00 am, or as close to that as we could.

I drove over Friday night, arriving at Hawksbill Cabin at about 11 pm.  So you see my dilemma with these events.  But I always remember some advice from my dad when I'm dragging my butt out of bed for a purpose:

"Son, if you are going to hoot with the owls, you better be ready to soar with the eagles."

It was so dark when we arrived, I couldn't find Jared and Wayne, my other team members, shown here with one of the neighbors in the first photo, as Jared gets the grill started.  Fortunately, Jared saw me driving around looking for them, and called my cell, vectoring me back to our spot.

I should make a note about our team - it was a few weeks ago that Jared told me about the fest and his plan to form a team.  I invited myself along because of a shared interest in pork and grilling on big units.  Jared graciously allowed me to be part of it all - and it is with great pride that I report our team name - Two Fat Farmers and a City Slicker.

As the light started to come up, I noticed that two spots over, the contestants had actually decided to sleep near their grill under a tarp on air mattresses.  They were snoozing away over there while we were loading charcoal in our grill - I should note these well-rested fellows won second place overall in the contest.

With the fire started, we moved over to get the first meats ready to go in as soon as the heat was up.  That meant brisket and Boston butt - shown here, as are the ribs, which we didn't put in until around 11 am.  Jared had brought along a secret recipe rub which he is putting on here.

About 45 minutes after the grill was loaded with coal, the early meats had been rubbed and were ready to go in.  That's the last photo for today, with them all set up in their pans to cook away a couple of hours over slow heat.

The Grillin' Units at Smokin' on the Track

So, I am going to write about our team and about the food we cooked during the Smokin' on the Track fest, but this morning as I began to write that post I had a few computer problems, and didn't manage to finish that post.  Instead, let me post today some more of the photos I took while I had a few minutes - of some of the rigs the various cooking teams had out there for the contest.

First is the one we used, this vertically oriented grill with the UVA image on it.  Like many of them were, it's made out of an old metal fuel or water tank; in fact, there was a lot of lore and discussion about work in progress that a lot of the teams had going on, making new grills.

In the background from ours, you can see a red unit in the distance.  That actually is one you see around town in Luray at Luray Fire Department events.  That fellow owns the one we borrowed.  The fire department themed grill is pretty cool - here's a photo.

Next I am going to show the set up that one of the pro teams had going on - they had quite a few of those "eggs" working.  You can clearly see two of them here - they had a couple of the next size down, and even an egg chimnea displayed around their space.  I don't know how they placed, clearly they were sponsored by the manufacturer though.

I've posted about this one before.  If you're out in Luray you'll see this one parked in front of the old cannery in the Stonyman neck of the woods.  These guys catered a gig at Wisteria recently, and they fabricate grills there.  I really like this one, right down to the chicken and pig cut outs that are welded on it for decoration.










For the last one, I want to show this one painted up in Army camouflage.  As a matter of fact, the guy running this won first place overall - he'd come up from somewhere in North Carolina to participate.  I talked to him about the rig.

He told me he painted it up to honor his son, who is enlisted in the Army and stationed at Fort Benning.  I thought that was a pretty nice story and privately was rooting for him after that - hoping he would finish second behind us.

I've given away part of the story now by telling how he finished.  More to follow.

The Big Do - Smokin' on the Track BBQ Fest

Saturday was a pretty busy day around Page County - there was just a lot going on.  I spent my day at the Smokin' on the Track BBQ Fest put on by Performing Arts Luray (PAL) down at the Shenandoah Speedway.

Mary joined me later in the day - here she is posing with the fest mascot Dale Swinehart.

I was there as part of a BBQ team led by Jared Burner from Skyline Premium Meats, one of the Page County Grown farmers - I've got a link below to a couple of past visits to the farm.  Jared and another friend and I formed a BBQ team to compete in the Backyard Boyz part of the deal.  More on that later though,

There was a lot of activity to go around at this event.  Here are a couple of photos - one of Wisteria, our neighbor who also ended up across the aisle from where our team was set up cooking, and one of the Cornhole Tournament area as it was being set up.

I took this one sometime in the morning before the gates had actually opened.  I flagged down one of the volunteers on a golf cart to see if I could pick up a few bags of ice for the Wisteria booth.  That's the only way I managed to check out those areas, since the cooking kept us so busy down in the infield.

Here's another couple of shots - very early in the morning.  I went over to grab a cup of coffee and walked back through the grandstands at the track.  Hey, the area where the guy waves the start and finish flags for the race track was right there, so I climbed up there and took these photos of the infield.  Still a lot of vendors yet to show at this time, but all the cook-off competitors were up and running.

 I've got a couple of posts I will put up about the event this week.  I took some photos of the grills I saw when I took and early walk, and then of course I want to post on our cooking and the results.  So more to come.

Here is a link about the Smokin' on the Track fest:
http://smokinbbqpal.com/

Here are a couple of posts about Jared's farm:
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2012/08/getting-back-on-topic-of-page-county.html
http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2011/09/page-county-grown-farm-tour-skyline.html

About the Trout

Last year I came across this great cookbook by Barton Seaver - he's a DC chef, and the book is peppered with photos from around town.  In the book he hits so many good points for me - local, seasonal foods, great ingredients.

Thumbing through it, I found some highlights like the recipe for butternut squash with dates, red onion, and chives - that is in the autumn section, by the way.  I was already sold, but then I found so many seafood recipes that I knew we needed to have this one in the house.

Recently I bought some trout fillets at Whole Paychex, and when I needed a tip on how to grill it, this was the book I reached for to get some ideas.
What I found was the secret to great fish - brining it before cooking it, to minimize the moisture loss from heat.  I'm going to share the recipe for the brine here - and you can find it on page 249 for times for different kinds of fish (BTW, there is a handy Amazon link at the end of the post).

To make the brine, combine two cups of cold water, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Stir until everything's dissolved, and then pour it over the fish - there's a photo of some trout in brine here.  After the designated time - trout should be left in the mixture for only 15 minutes, and this is done in the fridge - remove the fillet from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel.

Most fish take longer than trout, but none of Seaver's recipes recommend longer than 40 minutes.  And he warns that leaving fish in the brine too long is likely to ruin your dish.

I've grilled trout twice since I discovered this technique.  I am pretty happy with it - and I am looking forward to grilling other varieties now.

Amazon link to the cookbook:

I Scream for Berry Garcia

So, for our 160th anniversary, we got one of those Cuisinart ice cream makers.  This thing is really handy.

Last night I made my first batch, a take off on that Ben and Jerry variety "Cherry Garcia" - except mine is called "Berry Garcia."

Here's the recipe:

1.5 cups of berries (I used a bag of frozen berries, store brand)
1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup of whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1.5 cups heavy cream
1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1.  You can chop the berries in a food processor if you want, I may next time.  Set them aside.
2.  Mix the milk, sugar and salt until the sugar is dissolved.  Stir in the cream and vanilla.  Stir in the berries and chocolate chips.  Cool the mixture in the fridge at least an hour, better two, or even overnight.
3.  Put the chilled mixture in your Cuisinart ice cream maker and let it do its thing for 20 minutes.

You can store this in an airtight container in the freezer - since its soft when you first make it, you may prefer to make it ahead anyway so it will firm up.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

(Here's a link to the machine on Amazon:)

Meet the Trouts (not Roy)

Last weekend I wanted to grill something different, so I picked up a few trout fillets from Whole Paychex.  After blazing up the big unit, I grilled the fillets with a mix of lemon juice, butters, capers, and salt and pepper.  Here's a photo of them, accompanied by sprigs of fresh basil from Mary's truck patch.

I thought it might be nice to pair these up with a few sides.  From my friend Rick in Tampa, I'd gotten the idea to grill some tomatoes - these are stuffed with basil and garlic.  There were also yukon gold potatoes in the mix, and zucchini squash (the squash and tomatoes are from Pennsylvania, according to the sign in Whole Paychex).

This weekend there won't be much grilling in store for us.  The season's inaugural Page County Grown event will be held in town in Luray Saturday night - so that's our plan.

Good weekend y'all!

The Pork Diaries: Another Go at Pulled Pork

Last month I had a go at roasting one of the pork shoulder cuts on the big unit.  The post, located here:  http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2012/05/pork-diaries-pulled-pork.html, worked through the process and really kept track of my first attempt at this noble activity.  It was a relaxing thing to do, and I have to admit, the product was so good that I couldn't wait to try it again, and I did on Sunday.


The first time I did this, I was winging the rub recipe, basing it on cumin, for the most part.  This time, I looked up a recipe, repeated below - the major changes were to leave out the cumin, substituting in some powdered mustard, and including a few herbs - oregano and sage.  In fact, here is the list of ingredients from the recipe I used (you can find it on "cookthink.com"):


2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper2 tablespoons granulated sugar3 tablespoons garlic powder2 tablespoons onion powder3 tablespoons paprika1 tablespoon ground sage 2 teaspoons dried oregano1 teaspoon dry mustard1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

My grill was hot when I started out - the early temperatures were over 300.  Over the course of the first hour it settled into the mid-200's, where I managed to keep it for the next five or six hours.  I had to restoke the grill once, in the fourth hour - there's got to be a technique to this and I haven't gotten the hang of it.


I kept the hickory smoke going for the first hour.  After the first 90 minutes, I also "mopped" the roast once every half hour while it was cooking, with a mixture of unfiltered apple juice, salt and chili powder.  


Finally though, that roast was done - the picture at the top of the post is how it looked when I finally took it off of the heat.  Then the second post...I let the pork rest in the fridge over night before pulling it.  I called it claw hammer pulled pork.  We've been enjoying it for a couple of nights now.

The Big Unit

Has it been a couple of months since I bought this new grill?  I don't know, I don't really remember.  But I have to wonder why I waited so long.

I have been posting on grilling and barbecue quite a bit lately, and this big unit is the reason.  It's a Brinkman that has charcoal and gas sides, and there is even a side burner.

I had a number of folks ask me to let them know how I liked it after I used it...well, I can answer that one now:

I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT.

If you've been thinking about springing for one of these, I don't think you can go wrong.

Stay tuned for a couple of posts this week about cooking out adventures - one post on cooking trout on this grill, and then a second one about a smoked pork shoulder roast.

Oh and here's a photo of an Air Force C-17 that flew over while I was cooking out yesterday!

The Brisket Adventure

I have enjoyed every brisket that I have cooked on the grill, but there is so much literature on the topic about this cut of meat that it's probably a natural response to develop a dysfunctional relationship with the enterprise of preparing one.

That was my mental state as Memorial Day weekend approached.  I knew I would see my friends from Skyline Premium Meats at the Luray Farmers Market, and I'd planned to pick up a few New York strips from them - and there was a desire to smoke a brisket on the brick terrace in the back of my mind too.  I succumbed.

Now I should admit that part of the motivation was that smoked pork I did a few weeks ago, and the status reports that Bobby Flay tweeted all day Saturday as he roasted a whole shoulder in the Hamptons.  I ended up with a 3.5 pound half brisket, which I thawed and then prepped with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic - that's the first photo here.

Then there are a couple of in progress shots.  One is when I first put the meat on the grill, there were white coals and my plan was to use hickory chips for smoking.  Second is about halfway through - the first time I checked on the meat.  I had the grill steady at 250, hoping that wasn't too high and rushing things.  The brisket looked pretty good at that point, I must say!

I recharged the coals at that point and continued cooking.  All totaled, this effort took about 3 hours, and the final product was the one in the last photo.  It was pretty good, and we had some fresh pak choi and corn with it.

Later in the weekend, another of the twitter accounts I was following put up a link to this recipe on another website:  http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/05/28/risk-a-brisket-on-the-grill-this-summer/

I think I'll take some of these tips to heart on my next attempt.  It's a food I want to perfect, so that I make it the same each time.  We're just not there yet.

The Pork Diaries: Pulled Pork

Saturday began with me asking Mary what she might like for me to grill for dinner.  Ever the practical one, her response was, "Well, Jim, we just have so much pork."  Actually, that became the opening for my new grill purchase, which I posted yesterday.  Today's post is about the inaugural cookout - a smoked pork blade roast.

The blade is part of the shoulder - in hogs the size of Pork Chop and her kin, you can expect this to run about 25 to 30 pounds. And there are two of them.  My approach during butchering was to use one of the shoulders for sausage meat, but to cut the other down on the band saw to four roasts.  Chris and I split them, but they ran from about 3.5 pounds to five pounds each, and this blade roast was the smallest of the four.

To prepare this cut of meat, I decided that I would figure out a dry rub recipe, and then slow cook the roast using hickory smoke on the new grill.  I snooped around on-line for some recipes - although as a rule, I don't follow them to the letter...I prefer to use them as general guidance.  That is a risk I take, I suppose, for better or worse.

The rub I put together included the following ingredients:  paprika, cumin, brown sugar, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder.  I used a mortar and pestle to get the chunks smoothed out, then coated the roast with the mixture twice.  After letting the meat roast for about a half hour at room temperature to absorb some of the rub, the coals were finally ready and I put it on the top rack of the new grill, opposite of the coals.

AOL is acting up on me this morning or there would be more photos.  I guess I am lucky I got the money shot opening this post downloaded before AOL crashed - I may try to get more pictures uploaded later...many of these are already up on Facebook.

In fact, I had a couple of pretty good conversations Sunday as I was cooking.  Very helpful advice, in fact.  Thanks faithful readers!

The dial on my grill was reading 300 degrees for most of the time the roast was on.  I figured I would be working on this for about 3 hours - one of the recipes mentioned that for shoulder roasts, you need to get the meat thermometer up to 190 degrees...that's opposed to what a meat thermometer says for port, usually around 170 degrees.  (My main lesson learned here was to trust the thermometer and not the recipe!)

I charged up the coals with some soaked hickory chips, so that the smoke started fairly soon after the meat started to cook.  I would recharge the chips three times during the course of the afternoon.  Here's another lesson learned: each time you raise the grill lid, you're adding between 15 and 30 minutes to cook time.  So figure out a way to recharge the coals and smoke through the chimney if you can (I didn't want to do this because of the change of raising some ash inside the grill, and also because I was using match-light style coals this time).

In any case, I cooked the roast for about 2.5 hours, until the thermometer read 190, per the recipe I was working from memory with.  Next time, I'm only going to 170 - the meat was a little dry but not intolerably so.  Mary went and found a good sauce recipe, which was very similar to the one we get at Rocklands here in Alexandria, and that offset any dryness this time.  We paired the pork up with some boiled taters and grilled Pak Choy, and dined al fresco on a fine Sunday evening.

I still have another of these roasts, and the ribs, yet to go.  Now that I have my equipment all lined up, I'm looking forward to those!