Long Time

Sorry guys I haven't posted recently. Been cooking some on the weekends but sadly have my dishes turn out terrible while the others have been spectacular. Made an awesome oven roasted chicken three weeks ago but the following week screwed up smoked squash ravioli from scratch. Ehhh...

Well yesterday I noticed a new Southwestern restaurant in town, a favorite cuisine of me, which got me thinking what would I serve in a restaurant of mine in ten or fifteen years (a goal)

First thing that came to mind was St. Louis style pork ribs, as I've placed very well with them in my most recent competition, a non KCBS event down in Camden.

Now, I'd usually hit them with my original chili-espresso rub (another post, but it's excellent) and then baste with my citrus-hickory sauce midway through, which people really like a lot. But I wanted to try something different, so I slathered them in mustard and cayenne and marinated them for two hours before hitting them with a sugarless version of my original rub.

Because they were pretty thin, I cooked them for 3 1/4 hours (an hour less then usual, which really alarmed me). I usually foil 'em to get them more tender but again I was experimenting. Two chunks of maple smoke gave some light smoky flavor in the finished product. When the ribs were looking like crap I hit them with a brine of sorts, vinegar + plenty o' brown sugar + teaspoon of salt. Gave them a little carmalized texture. Oh well for the dry ribs.

Made up a sauce, with 1/2 cup of white vinegar, 1/2 tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, a couple tablespoons of ketchup, and a teaspoon and a half of dried mustard. Strong but delicious. Doesn't outpace my citrus sauce but it'll be a second option when our club is selling BBQ in January at school.

Cut them up, and served them with some of my strong, finely ground red cabbage slaw (why it looks so odd) and some classic homefries, salted and peppered. Decided this'd be my first menu option but with the citrus sauce. They weren't falling off the bone like usual, which I liked for a change. Tender but with a little chew.

Here's some pics! I think they're better then usual.

Thanks for looking~ Hopefully weekly posts coming again!

Sorry folks, I was away/fevered last week. Vacation was fun on Cape Cod as I got to smoke some bluefish and striper on a ezBQ. This weekend I'll post the story which I must say is pretty funny. But then driving back on Sunday, I got a sore throat, and a three day 101 F with the inability to talk/swallow. Arghh. Man it has not been a fun last seven days. But today was alright, because I got back to the grill with some massive pork chops, sausage and rice stuffed peppers, and a grilled cherry tomato and pickled onion salad. The pork chops were massive and my balsamic honey glaze worked absolutely perfectly. They were great. The peppers would good if not a little bland and I really should have boiled the peppers.

Pics!

A Busy Weekend

I had one busy weekend trying to fit as much smoking/cooking into two days.

I won some Hi Mountain Canadian bacon cure, go here if you want to read, and go to www.playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com to show some support for thirdeye, the guy who gave the stuff to me. It'd take a lot of words to go through the process again so just head over to Brethren.com and read it. Good stuff. I'll post a few pics here anyways.

Then I made a BLT the next day. Sorry for the bad quality pic, can't see the bacon. But just to prove I used some of it.

Then tonight I made sausage + peppers, with a new rub I made up... best I've ever made. Not many people put a rub on sweet italian sausage, but it added some zing (Old Bay) and some pepper. Also paprika, cumin, and dried mustard in there.

I cooked them till they were thoroughly done but moist. No one wants an undercooked sausage.

Peppers and onions.

Finished product, under low light.

Hope you guys enjoyed your weekend! I'll see you guys next weekend for a small shoulder (to freeze) and some spares!

Until next time,

Very Sorry Guys

I'm sitting in bio class and it's been five days since I've touched a grill or smoker. I may be going through smoke withdrawl, but I've got some pork chops and buckboard bacon to cook this weekend. Plus, I may do a shoulder to freeze for the week. I'll take pictures, of course, but I understand I've been inactive. I'll be back this weekend.

Inconclusive Victory for BBQ!

Here's some pics from the ribs I did last night. I believe I won 2-1, after someone waffled back and forth, but we may have confused plates. Mine were moist (surprising since they were smoked, not boiled, with a modern sauce, and smoky, tender but with some chew. They liked that the others tasted like their Mama's (go figure; probably boiled till extremely tender then sauced using some bottled stuff) but I must admit they were very, very tender and sweet with the Hickory sauce. Still didn't beat my crust and my ribs though!

Ribs on the new ECB

The day is here!

I got the ribs on at 7:25, about fourty minutes from this post. Rubbed in salt, pepper, dried mustard, brown sugar.

PIC:

Fifteen minutes later, I saw a LOT of smoke and I went outside and the gauge was through the roof! I pulled the ribs and found the culprit; the cherry wood had caught. The nice friend who gave me the wood said you wouldn't need to soak them, but a huge fire caught when it mixed with flaming hot grease. I've gotten the temp down but I got to keep watching them.

Not too much damage to the ribs, maybe a light char on the bottom, but they appeared to have survived.

It's Here!

Here's my new Brinkmann smoker, purchased for $10 with fifteen pounds of Kingsford blue and a charcoal grate. Well worth it. I love my Weber so I'm going to have to balance the cooking between them. This Brinkmann's only getting briskets, pork shoulders, ribs, and other things like bacon that need to be smoked, not grilled. Otherwise the Weber regins supreme.