pinterest

Alex Jones

I lead teams at the intersection of strategy and design. Autodidact. Polymath. Barbecue acolyte. I start fires (the good kind).

Food & Drink

Meat: Good for the Stomach, Good for the Soul

Contrary to expectations, a McGill University researcher has discovered that seeing meat makes people significantly less aggressive. Frank Kachanoff, who studies evolution at the university’s department of psychology, had initially thought the presence of meat would provoke bloodlust, believing the response would have helped our primate ancestors hunt. But in fact, his research showed the reverse is true.

Seeing meat calms you down, study says – The Globe and Mail

Smoking Lemons for Smoked Lemonade

Smoked LemonsI smoked these beautiful lemons at 220° for an hour using a mix of charcoal and pecan and then we squeezed them to make an amazing lemonade that held a richer flavor, without losing any of the bright citrus tang. I’ve included a straightforward lemonade recipe below, but there are many great recipes out there that you can use as a base.

Five lemons will give you about one cup of juice, resulting in six servings of lemonade when all is said and done. The steps below are built on this estimate.

  1. Cut lemons in half and place them in a pan(s) that will fit in your smoker. . Disposable pie pans work well, as it may be easier to position them around the meat in the smoker. I placed some cut-side down and others cut side up to even out the amount of smoke they would absorb.
  2. Smoke them for about an hour at 220°, reduce the time if you’re already cooking at a higher temp.
  3. Pull them from the smoker and let them cool.
  4. While they cool, make a simple syrup by heating 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves completely.
  5. Squeeze the now-cool lemons into a pitcher
  6. Pour the syrup into the pitcher along with 3 cups of cold water (you can add more later if it’s too strong, but you’ll likely add ice too).

For an added adult-only twist, you can add bourbon, either in the pitcher or per-glass, to your taste.

Hat tip to Leesa for the inspiration!

Preservation Bacon

If you follow me at all you know that I love bacon and quite recently acquired a pound of Preservation Bacon, which is made from bellies from local (Austin), naturally raised hogs and curing salt. As my taste buds can attest, this is some impressive stuff, and it looks good to boot, as you can see in the photos at the end of this thread. The bacon is cut nice and thick (he’ll cut it to your desired width) and the individual bacon slices maintain their shape beautifully.

If you’re interested in getting a pound or two for yourself, sign up to receive the Preservation Bacon newsletter (the site is a placeholder at the moment). One note – the bacon is only available in Austin at this time.

I can’t wait to try another dish and order a second batch down the road.

Here are some pictures to get your stomach grumbling:
[flickr album=72157613798623992 num=10 size=Small]