La Caja China

The lucky man that I am I received a Caja China (roasting box) for our anniversary from @yellowbandchef. Tonight we christened the box. Started out with 20lbs of beef ribs and 10lbs on pork ribs along with 2 whole chickens. I thought I would be able to put all in the box but sadly no, it was just too much. The prep was easy enough pull the silver off the ribs trim the fat add the rub (homemade of course) let the meat sit for a bit and then in the box they go.

As I stated earlier there was too much meat for the box. I did my best to get it all in but to no avail I only did one of the two chickens and I cooked it on the grill.

I tweeted my progress as things were happening and there are photos attached to the tweets. You can find me @sirjrotten

The breakdown:

The pork ribs (3 racks) were rub down with a red rub (sugar based)
The beef ribs were rubbed with a Roasted Herb and Garlic Crust. Note here the beef ribs were prepared earlier in the day and allowed to sit for 3 hours.
The chicken was a Perdue Roaster and was rubbed with a garlic peppercorn rub.

The ribs were placed on the box for an hour ribs side up then flipped. An additional 45 minutes in the box and the meat was done. The chicken was butterflied and cooked on the large Webber with indirect heat. The chicken was placed ribs down for an hour flipped and finished for 30 minutes.

Ok ok I know there are those that will say that 1hr 45mins is not enough time to cook ribs. I was in agreement with that train of thought until I roasted the ribs in the Caja China. The end product was a fall off the bone ribs. I did fail the mention that after the ribs were flipped I add the sauce (again homemade)

All in all I was amazed at how well the Caja China worked and I feel confident that when I cook the whole pig in two weeks that it too will be fall off the bone good.

Till next time Ciao

Sir J Rotten

Road to Recovery

I finally got to ride my bicycle again. This past Wednesday marked the twelfth week since my surgery. To give you a quick update I am doing excellent I mean I am really doing well. I am able to bend down and tie my shoes (which was something I was not able to do just a few short weeks ago). I am living pain free and no limp both of these things are Huge! I had been living in so much pain and discomfort it was not even funny. Now that has all changed.

I did my first ride since March 4th this past Thursday and I will admit that it was hard. I knew that I was going to lose some form, but my god I did not think that I would have lost as much as I did. The ride started innocently enough. Everyone thought that my first ride was not going to until this coming Tuesday. I purposely parked away from the other riders quietly got ready and came around in my kit ready to ride to everyone's amazement. I was asked if the doctor knew I was riding and more importantly if yellowbandchef knew.

I decided that I would call the ride and was promptly told that the ride was already called. I had to use my Director Sportif right and stated since I am the director the ride was being called by me. The ride I selected was laps in and around Capital City and Silver Lake until I had enough and then the group could what they wanted. My ride lasted for 16 1/2 miles and took 1hr 26 mins to complete. At the end of the ride my legs were jello. It was harder than I thought it would be but it felt great to be back. I am planning to ride tomorrow. The long road to get back has started and I am Ready.

Ciao

Sir Johnny Rotten