Thursday, February 24, 2011

Greg's Default Orzo and a Spider

And along came a spider....


Quit buggin' out!

Wait, don't run away scared you big chicken!  It's not a real spider...but more about that later.

I wanted an easy and fast side dish tonight to go with some ribeye steaks I was going to grill.   I saw a package of orzo in the pantry and my mind immediately turned to SippitySup's "default pasta" process and came up with this.


Orzo and Stuff

2 cups orzo
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheese (we used the last of my home-smoked manchego cheese)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the orzo according to directions.   Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.  Drain the rest.

Pour the hot pasta on the other ingredients and toss in a bowl.   Season with salt and pepper.  Add pasta water, IF NEEDED, for your desired consistency.  See?  Easy peasy! (pun intended)

But back to that spider.   It's actually a 13" cast iron grate from Craycort and a "spider rig" that I bought from the Ceramic Grill Store

This is kind of specific to a Kamado cooker like the Big Green Egg.  The smaller sized grate and spider rig let you get your meat closer to the coals like this....


On my large BGE, the normal distance from the coals is about 5 1/4".  The spider rig lets me get under 3".  Being right next to the coals lets you sear your meat at even higher temps, like they do at premium steak houses.  


If you flip the "spider rig" over it becomes a wok base.  (Can't wait to do that cook this weekend.)

You can count on seeing the spider rig and the small Craycort in many posts to come because elite cooking equipment like the Big Green Egg deserves top level accessories like these!