Old Chamblee Bistro

Bistro Jammin'

Me and my new buddy Chris Carero have been playing on Friday in Chamblee, Georgia at the Old Chamblee Bistro, which makes a damn fine sandwich.











Actually it is Chris' gig, I'm just sitting in...















Chris Carero















Regulars...











Jammin', L.I.G.

Smoked B B Q Chicken

Having had a wisdom tooth extracted last Friday, I decided nice and tender chicken would be about the best think to try and smoke this past weekend.


We made a simple rub (don't remember with what).

I used some hickory chunks for the smoke.





Golden brown before applying the sauce.

2009 Grilling Season Commences!

Grilling season kicked off this weekend with the Memorial Day holiday.

We smoked a nice piece of salmon over hickory chunks for about 2 hours.


Fat rising to the surface after a couple of hours.

Poblano peppers roasting over an open flame.


After a few minutes roasting....



Tubby went into a food coma after having the smoked salmon!



Another satisfied customer!

A Pandora's Box of Pie

A damn near perfect pie!

After going over the pizza making process this weekend with my buddy, I decided it was time to dedicate a blog to homemade pizza, which I love.


This is how I make the dough: warm water, 1 packet of yeast, honey, white wine and flour. About 2 cups of warm tap water, a squeeze of honey, and about a 1/4 cup of white wine. I used Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand tonight. Mix all of this together and let it sit for about 15 minutes so the yeast will activate. Tonight I noticed that on the back of Fleishman's yeast was a recipe for pizza dough, it is essentially the same as this one.

Put about 3-4 cups of flour out on the counter and make a well out of it. I do this first so that it can warm up some, because I keep it in the freezer. If yours is already warm don't worry about it.

Once the yeast is active (when you see it bubbling up on the top of the liquid, you can also smell it) pour a little into the center of the flour well and start bringing it together with a fork. Bring it together gradually until you have a nice baseball sized ball. Put it into a oiled bowl and let it rise for about 45 minutes.


After the dough rises, put it in the center of a pizza stone and use a rolling pin to roll it out to the edges of the stone, so that it is perfectly round and ready to go into the oven. I just pinch the edges up a little to create the crust.


I did not use any tomato sauce on this one, just shredded mozzarella, fresh smoked ham, feta and basil. I meant to use tomato slices but I forgot those. I use a little oregano and red pepper flakes too.

Nearing completion.

Fresh basil from the deck.

When complete, put the pizza stone in a 450 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes.

The reference to Pandora is the new internet web site that will auto d.j. for you with merely a song or artist to start with. Very cool. Check it out.

Hey Ya!

Last weekend I ran into Andre 3000 from Outkast in the wine section of WholeFoods in Buckhead. I asked him if he was Andre and he said yeah and walked around and shook my hand. He had on a pair of Wayfarers and a Braves cap. A super nice guy.

Arroz con pollo

Black beans...



Yellow rice...




Holy cow, I haven't blogged in a year!

Okay, that is about to change.

This arroz con pollo turned out to be incredible. I took this recipe from Taste Of Cuba.com.


2, tblspn Annatto oil, (see below) Red onion, red bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tomato, 1 cup dry white wine, 1.5 cups beer, 1 tspn tomato paste




Chicken thighs...


Marinate the thighs in :

1 tspn oregano
1 tspn cumin
1/2 white pepper (I used black)
1 tspn red wine vinegar





On the Annatto oil, I used achiote chile powder which I think is actually the same pepper. Dry it looks red, but it acutally turns the dish yellow, which is what the recipe said would happen. I whisked about a tblspn into about 1/2 a cup of olive oil.

This dish is practically idiot proof.

bon apetit!