Author Archives: Henry Gomez

Grill on wheels

Grill on wheels

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Grill on wheels

Grill on wheels – if you Google these words, you’ll probably end up seeing some hotted up cars with big fat “grills” and massive shiny rims. If that’s what you were looking for, then I congratulate you.

On the other hand, if you were looking for something to roast meat on, that has a certain level of mobility then you probably ended up here.

The grill on wheels was an idea that came to me after I made a grill for the WFO that I used for roasting a pig in the WFO. When I pushed the grill into the oven, it scratched the surface of the bricks and made my teeth grind at the same time. So I came up with this simple idea to easily insert and extract the grill from the wood fired oven.

The wheels are made from solid steel flat bar that I cut into squares, then transformed into circles. They are attached to the grill by bolts that were welded to the grill’s ‘feet’. If you have mild steel square bar (10mm x 10mm), some flat 10mm x 75mm bar and 4 M10 nuts and bolts (and know how to weld), then the grill on wheels concept is quite easy to put together. Here are some photos showing the build process  and then the grill on wheels put into action. I certainly hope you enjoy these, as much as I enjoyed eating the Peruvian charcoal chicken that came out of the oven!

Cut flat bar into squares 75mm x 75mm – transform squares into octagons.
Transform octagons into circles
Drill 10.5mm hole into circles
Prepare grill for MIG welding
Weld the M10 bolts to the grill’s feet”
Opposite view…
4 x M10 bolts welded and wheels fastened
Place grill on wheels at same surface as oven
Front view – make sure the grill is clean
Place the chicken on the grill
Note: Oven already hot – about 120 degrees Celsius.
Push grill on wheels into the oven. Note – stainless tray has hot coals inside.
Note the tray under the grill on wheels is full of red hot coals.
Grill on wheels – the chicken is ready!

Propagating Gracilis Bamboo by Division – 102

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Propagating Gracilis Bamboo by Division – 102

Propagating Gracilis bamboo by division is much, much easier than from cuttings. I’ve had mixed results with bamboo propagation via cuttings, but one thing is for sure, the technique outlined below is fool-proof.

Here are a few guidelines that have worked for me that I’d like to share with you.

1) Larger bamboo culms do not work as well as smaller ones. I use Gracilis culms that have the diameter of a pencil.
2) Make sure the culm has a few nodes (3 or more is good).
3) When you dig up the culms, make sure the rhyzome and roots are still attached.
4) In the photos below, I have two culms and a new shoot growing off the rhyzome.
5) Keep the rhyzome wet and work quickly. Don’t leave it out in the sun to dry out.
6) Cut the culm where it is attached to the parent rhyzome, but make sure it has roots attached!
7)  Water new plant in and keep the soil damp (but not water logged)

Choose pencil size culms.
Make sure you dig up the rhyzome and roots carefully.
Young Gracilis culms and rhyzome still attached.
After the soil is washed off, the rhyzome and root system is exposed for division..
Propagating Gracilis bamboo by division
Make the cut using sharp secateurs.
New culm and root system attached
Parent rhyzome with other culm
Two new Gracilis plants propagated by division
Young Bambusa Textilis Gracilis

Progpagating Gracilis bamboo by division is quite straight forward and easy, Just be careful and gentle with the fragile young culms.

I’ll update this post with more photos as the new culms grow. These were taken on the weekend of the 25th of January 2015.

Giving the pig some TLC

How to roast a pork in a wood fired oven

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How to roast a pork in a wood fired oven

How to roast a pork in a wood fired oven you ask? Well this was my first attempt at roasting a pork in my wood fired pizza oven. I had seen pork cooked in a bakery oven in Cuba previously and I had cooked a few pigs on the spit but never in my pizza oven.

I have to admit, I don’t want to blow my own trumpet but it came out pretty damn good!

I do have a few guidelines that I’d like to share with you, this is based on my personal experience and on articles I read on other websites.

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Kubaneando

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Kubaneando was held at the Spanish Centre on the 27th of September 2014.

All the greats were present for the Kubaneando fiesta- Dj Kubanito, Eric Turro, El Moro, Chukale, Romina Anaquin and yours truly “Mr Mojito” with his timbiriche. This one was a night to be remembered. I am almost certain that even those souped up on Mojitos would remember the spectacular dancing of El Moro and Romina Anaquin (see photos below), the soulstifying grooves of Chukale, and the ever so gargantuan presence of Dj Cubanito.

A cake in the shape of a domino with the Cuban flag decorated over it was up for grabs in the raffle. The theme was obviously Cuba – and even though there was a poor turnout for the Cuban Domino tournament, the Cuban Rum flowed in quantities, Cuban salsa was on the dance menu, Cuban Arroz Congri and bistek Cubano.

I had brought large quantities of organic mint and fresh limes from the garden, and the newly built timbiriche (beach kiosk/bungalow) was a great success!

Some of the guests came in a mini-bus from Northern New South Whales – they were here for the salsa workshop and also for my Mojitos!

The Kubaneando party was a great night. I had a blast, I am sure that next year will be even bigger!

Please note - you may not use or reproduce these photographs without my written permission.
Mr Mojito’s timbiriche – the beach kiosk.
Stefania Serna
Stefania Serna owning it – Chukale spectacular
Danny Guerrero and Amigo on vocals
Gus Cereijo – Chukale
Steele Chabau in the background on Electric Bass
Bongo with Soul – Bongo con alma
Foosball at the Spanish Centre
The field where great things happen.
El Moro with Romina Anaquin
El Moro con Romina Anaquin
El Moro and Romina Anaquin – Casino dancing
Romina Anaquin and her dance partner El Moro.
Domino Cake – Decorated with edible Cuban flag.
Dj Cubanito – friendly giant.
Eric Turro – MC on the night of Kubaneando

How to make homemade grape juice

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Muscat grapes in the sink
Muscat grapes washed thoroughly
Into the pot…
Boiled till soft mash
Let them cool down a little
Strained through the colander
Filtered through strainer
The final product – homemade grape juice.

How to make homemade grape juice

How to make homemade grape juice a quick tutorial by Henry Gomez.

The Indian Myna bird has successfully managed to shoot to the top of the list of animal pests introduced in Australia – way past cane toads, rats and stupid neighbours. This year, I had to pick the grapes off my muscat vine earlier than I would have liked to because those birds were gorging themselves on my fruits.

Once I collected the grapes off the vine, I was ready to make Moût. I recall as a child after the grape harvest in Geneva ,they would sell grape juice at La Migros and La Coop, it was great and that is when I may have developed my love for red wine.

Over the last couple of years, I used to pluck each grape individually off the bunch to make juice, but I have since talked to a friend who suggested I try this technique:

The method:

1) Wash all of the grapes thoroughly in a large container or in your kitchen sink. Remove any leaves, twigs and sticks etc…

2) Dry the grapes (only kidding)

3) Place the grapes in a pot with boiling water. I fill the pot approximately 3/4 of the way up – if you use too much water, it’ll boil over and make a jolly good mess.

3) Boil the grapes until they become soft and fall off the stem on their own – this usually takes around 30 minutes. Your kitchen will light up with deliciously sweet fragrances…

4) Place the grapes in a colander and squash them till you only have seeds, skins and stems left – make sure you place a container under the colander to catch the grape juice!

5) Repeat this step a couple of times with the colander, and then again with a strainer.

6) You can put the juice in a jug or storage container like a used Coke bottle and add sugar to taste.

This juice can be placed in the fridge once it has cooled down. It is a refreshing beverage in the morning, full of vitamins and anti-oxidants. The only downside is there is no alcohol content.

:(

Check out the deep, dark purple colour. It reminds of a bottle of Grenache I shared with Michel Blanc at Chateau-Neuf-du=Pape in 2007, or was it 2006??