Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Morning

You know I've heard a lot of people this year expressing how they enjoyed being with family and watching the kids enjoy Christmas more than anything else. Of course the real reason for the season "the birth of Jesus" should always be put first but next should be the simple act of enjoying your family. Here a video.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

BS Loaded Potato

Brunswick Stew(BS)Loaded Potato. We’ve used leftover chili to make them for years on weeknights and we’ve seen them offered with every kind of meat on the menu at BBQ joints. But you won’t find much with a google search for the simple Loaded Baked Potato like the BBQ joints have or this one we had last night but what you do find and seems amazing to me is all these recipes for Twice Baked and the Loaded Tater soup recipes. Don’t get me wrong those are good too, or am I just saying that because I love taters any way you can fix them. Anyways back to the BS Loaded Potato, it’s got a lot going for it with all those veggies in it along with the 3 meats (bbq chicken, pork, & brisket), and you don't even need BBQ Sauce, just some Tobasco maybe. It's my favorite loaded potato so try if your fortunate enough to have some real Brunswick Stew (Georgia) and haven’t already and I bet you’ll like it.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Home Cooking Video Weekend

We Cook in Batches on weekends at home and put it away so we don't have to do very much cooking through the week. We started out just intending to do a few appetizers for my Sis's birthday and wound up cooking most of the day Saturday and Sunday. There was even a pot of Pinto beans cooked and stored in the pint freezer containers that I didn't make pics of - no doubt we ate really good both days for sure, but the other good part is there more where that came from.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Smothered Pork Chops

My pictures have been so bad lately I decided to make a video for this cook. It’s a wonderful way to do pork chops. You can either simmer until the chops are fork tender and the vegetables become a delicious sauce or simmer just long enough to cook the chops leaving the vegetables with a little substance to them. I used Slab’s Birds and Bones Rub along with ObieQ’s Sweet Rub on the Chops just before a light dredging and sautéed till nice and brown, removed and cooked the vegetables in the same pan, then added the chops back and covered for about 45 – 60 min.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Reverse Sear Sirloin

This was a very interesting experience with the Portable Kitchen grill. I’ve really liked using this little cooker a lot and am sure surprised at the new things I’m still learning while using it. I couldn’t as for a better cook on this thick sirloin and it was done over a water pan away from the fire (INDIRECT). I over cooked it for my taste but like I said, I just couldn’t believe it had such great grill marks cooked that way and it really didn’t need the sear at the end. Next time I’m going to slow the fire down and remove the meat from the cooker while I turn up the heat and give a fast sear at the end ala Finney Reverse Sear method.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Can't Find A Stopping Place

It's no secret that I love to cook but this is getting rediculous. Had to have breakfast and I had a real brainy idea about making crutons out of some of our Thanksgiving Dressing (can you say - SAGE). It's a real winner and if you make dressing like we do (sliceable) I recommend you try it. Soft scrambled eggs is a lot easier than omelets so I usually do them. These were rushed as we were really getting hungry - soft scrambled eggs are better if they take like ages to finish on LOW LOW. The eggs got some green onions, onions, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper sauteed first and then added some turkey and cheese right before tossing in the slow baked Thankgiving Dressing Crutons and then just gave it a toss. Hmmmm. Moving on, I didn't really have anything else to do so a lil more cooking was in order. I've turned into the proverbial ABT junky seems like so I had to have some more of those since they were all gone Thursday except this time they were made out of the turkey breast meat and boy are they good. Just happened to rememeber that the second roll of sausage I lost the other day was at the office I stopped by and got that sucker on the way to pick up the japs. This dried apple fatty might not sound good to you but if you tasted it, you wouldn't want for no better fatty. I had what you see here for a meal while Sue had a ham sandwich on that homemade bread and made me want both but I held my own and this morning I'm kinda hot on the inside if you know what I mean.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving 09

Fresh pork shoulder injected with Butcher’s BEEF injection because I was out of pork injection, and rubbed with bbq rub but I forgot what kind I used. Cooked this piece of meat in the FatBoy to an internal temp of 185 and into the Cambro for 2 hrs.



And I liked it better than our double smoked ham which I didn’t get a picture of because slicing it was the last thing we had to do and everyone was ready to eat. It was done ala Dr Chicken method and was a 18 lb ham.



The ABT’s (Atomic Bull Terds) had some previously smoked and shredded chicken with velvetta cheese melted and mixed in and Sue didn’t think anyone would eat them but danged if I wasn’t right when I said “oh, yes they will” – they ate everyone of them! The Fatty (1 lb roll of sausage stuffed, rolled back up and cooked whole) had some spiced dried apples, parmesan and velvetta cheese, and a little grape jelly.



This dish right here I can personally recommend because I thought it was one of the best things on the rather LARGE menu. I like roasted potatoes done this was so I knew I’d like the brussel spouts and decided to add grape maters and onions but I don’t think the BS needed them to be good.



Do You?



We’ve been fixing this corn casserole for a long time now because it’s very good and easy to put together. Just some onion, garlic, jalapeno, yellow corn meal, eggs – stir it up and bake about 30 min. This ones originated with an EggHead named Jslot, I added some Tasso and it really jacked it up a notch.





The old standby: Creamy Potato Salad



The older I get the harder it is for me to feed this big crowd and part of the reason is I always cook way more than we need. With that in mind I knew ahead of time that I was going to try separating the Turkey parts and cook them separate to try making it easier and give more room in the cooker. This is a technique I will use again and again as it sure worked well for me.




We wound up braising these turkey parts in the Fatboy along with the breast but manged to save some to deep fry later.



The kiddos have to have the mac n cheese, but I’ve noticed that everyone else has their share as well.



The breast really turned out nice and moist and it was brined with Old Dave’s improved Shakes Honey brine for the recommened 12 hrs before hitting the smoker. I used Slab’s Birds n Bones rub along with some Sweet n Heat.



Monday, November 23, 2009

This & That Day Yesterday

My son’s Dennis & David were coming to put up that lone last piece of cabinet in our new kitchen we remodeled 2 years ago, so thought I’d do a lil Bottom Round Pot Roast and decided to use the little Backwoods Chubby as a grill for the first time. I like it! The ability to adjust the distance from the fire to the meat simply by pulling out the rack and moving it to a higher or lower runner would come in handy too although I didn’t need it here. Seasoned those with Cavenders and course salt and pepper, seared, and braised in beef broth. The vegetables wouldn’t go down in the pan cause I had so many and I think they took too much smoke because of that even though the smoking wood had long been used by the time they went into the cooker. The boys did a fine job on mounting that cabinet even if I did have to wait a couple of years. What’s a couple years anyway and besides it’s over the fridge and we can’t reach it without a latter. Also got a lil cleaning and just getting ready in general for that big turkey day coming up.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Beans, Taters, & Greens

The corn bread wasn't too shabby either and by the time you added the onions and peppers you gotta real meal deal. Fancy eatin in my book.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Wing Day

We picked up 18 fresh wings yesterday and decided to do several different ways using the Backwoods Chubby. I made pictures of them cooking in the Chubby and messed around and deleted them right before taking the pics you see here of the wings after they were cooked. I love wings and anytime someone is sharing a cooking technique or recipe for wings I automatically store that in my memory banks for future use and the three that stands out are: the Dizzy Pig crunchy style, and then just dusting them with cornstarch, and finally the smoked then fried method. So with 18 wings that I snipped the tips and the extra little triangle of fatty skin between the two sections our plan was to reserve 2 of the breaded Dizzy Pig wings in the fridge and just deep fry those without smoking which would now give us 4 different styles of wings. But why stop there – we then decided to deep fry 2 each of the Dizzy wings after smoking and 2 each of the cornstarch dusted wings which would now give us six styles of wings. I like wings soaked in butter and Texas Pete but I like em better with the sauce on the table to sprinkle on or dip in as you eat them so they stay crunchy. Slaw is about my first choice for a side with wings so we made some Carolina Oil / Vinegar Slaw and roasted some taters on a 3rd rack in the Chubby up over the wings which I had on two other racks providing plenty of room. They cooked at 275 – 300 and I think about 2 hrs or a little over and they were ready. I made a nice herb bread loaf but I used the wrong method on the yeast and it didn’t rise but we wound up eating the bottom off of it which was kinda like a very tasty cracker.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Top Sirloin & Tasso Maque Choux

Quality really does matter and the top sirloin from Sam's and Tasso from Findley's Butcher Shop in Acworth, Ga were certainly both very good quality. This 9 buck a pound pack of tasso has been hanging around in the fridge for a couple of months now just waiting for me to come up with just the right recipe and I think I found it with this Emeril Maque Choux recipe. Fresh corn, the Tasso, onion, garlic, red bell pepper, green onion, heavy cream. I made a little cilantro pesto to go with it. The top sirloin from Sam's had been hanging around about 2 weeks in the fridge as well as I just don't like to grill nice steaks until they have had some time in the fridge. It was a big pack and I removed them from the original packaging and vac sealed them first. If the steak is fresh when you get it, try a couple of weeks in the fridge cause you can really tell the difference. They looked and smelled so good when I opened them that it made you just want to eat em raw. The PK (Portable Kitchen) grill is the most underated grill in America and should be on every patio. I use to be crazy over ceramics but since cooking with the Backwood Chubby the long cooks (about 800 bucks) and grilling with the PK (about 200 or less). I would never consider anything else, especially considering the price.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Chili w/ABT

Well I wasn't about to let that last ABT go to waste, so here it is in my bowl of chili. Ever since I said I wasn't crazy about the abt wrapped in bacon, all I want to do is eat em. I'll never do that again.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

My Best ABT's

I've been making these for 10 years at least and I've used all kinds of meats and cheese but this Spare Rib n Cream Cheese is my best yet. The ribs were vac sealed and frozen and were not completely thawed when I cut the meat off bone. They were also undercooked which is why they didn't score worth a toot in my last contest. The contest is over and history but these ribs will no doubt have a lasting memory cause they were that good. They were cooked on the PK Grill and indirect all the way as I think you get better results on the bacon that way. I do wish the jalapenos would not get so done and be kinda crisp so I may try and speed em up by letting them spend some time directly over the fire next time.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Lamb And Jalapeno Poppers

I'm never surprised at how much of a foodie I am, as I like just about everything. I've had lamb a number of times and cooked it a few times as well but I've NEVER had lamb this good. I marinated it for about 5 hours in herb buttermilk brine. Just added about 2 tbs of evoo along with dried dill, oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper, salt, blk pepper to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk. Wiped the marinade off and added Cavenders greek seasoning, grilled over hot fire to internal of 160 or med. Perfect! The jalapenos stuffed with pulled bbq chicken (plenty of sauce, with breading of flour, egg wash, bread crumbs and fried in pan big enough to do four at a time with 2 inch of veggie oil. The jalepenos were crunchy and we served them with a cheese sauce. A tex mex place in town serves these and I think it's everyones fav dish there and it has become my favorite way to prepare jalepenos. I just think ABT's for myself anyway are over rated and bacon is best fried.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

BBQ Chicken Stuffed Tater

Well I never met a stuffed tater I didn't like and this was one of the best I've had EVER! I learned one thing about pulled chicken and that is "a lot of good sauce will make it better". Nice mixed greens for salad and roll and life is good. Even if the rest of the day was not. The leaves was so high I could see how wet the yard was and got my mower stuck. Then ran out of gas. Couldn't find a socket to take the plug out of my rv hot water heater to keep it from freezing. The tater was good though and we'll get back at it today and see what we can do.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Double Meat Birthday Dinner For Mom (77)

She’s like me – country cooking is always good and I knew she’d enjoy the double meat suppa. The wife’s chicken out done my meatloaf – man is she a good fry baby. She cut the breast in half and marinated in buttermilk over night and got a good breading on there, wooooo boy was they good. My meatloaf had some pulled pork that I took off the cooker while it was sliceable all chopped fine and then some onion, garlic, grilled then chopped shrooms, au jus, bread crumbs, eggs. For veggies we had slaw, crowder peas, smashed taters, bread n butter pickles, beets.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Easy Tostadas & Gorditas

I have always enjoyed finding different ways to make a work night dinner that is fast, easy to do but also taste great. Many times that consists of not all of the meal being made from scratch but rather pre-made such as last nights Tostadas and Gorditas. Boneless chuck roast were on sale for 1.99 and I hardly ever pass that up, so I stopped by and picked up a couple of 2 ½ lbr’s to grind up for burgers and a 3 lb meat loaf. The extra ¾ to 1 lb of meat got me to thinking about having tostadas for supper. No sooner than I hit the Super Mercado I happened to remember those pre-made gorditas in the dairy section that I have been wanting to try for a year or more and I added that to the cart. The easy supper would be the heavily seasoned course ground beef (chili power, paprika, cumin), enough oil in a very small skillet to cover the gorditas and fry, fresh market made pico de galo and salsa verde, limes, shredded lettuce, a couple deep fried japs (after the gorditas were finished), some canned refried beans, and last but not least and I gotta thank Sis for this one, some Salvadorian style crema. I learned the fried Japs from a very popular taco stand that kept getting complaints about his salsas not being hot enough and started serving these on the plate. Oh BTW, the review on the pre-made gorditas is that they are very good and well worth the try, also I was happy with the pico de galo but I knew I would be as I saw them mixing it up so I knew it was fresh made. The best surprise though was the market made salsa verde which I just knew I would not like because I like my homemade version so much but I thought it was a very good substitute.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Brunswick (Ga) Stew PIZZA

And your saying to yourself "are you sure"! Well I confess that I have this problem when it comes to leftovers and the thought of wasting good food, and this is for sure a result of that little problem. Not too bad of a fault to have though I don't guess, some of the crazy concoctions are actually pretty good as this one was believe it or not. I was going to add more ketchup to the stew so it could serve as both the meat and the sauce but Sue didn't like that idea and we ended up just spooning a little pizza sauce on here and there to fill in. It also has some country sausage and if you look close you can see some kernels of corn and the tiny lima beans that all good Ga Brunswick Stew has in it.