Category: Recipes

By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness 6 Comments

So many people have raved about apple cider brined pork chops and smoked pork chops that I had to see what all the fuss was about.  Well now I know, they didn’t knock my socks off but they were certainly good enough to make again and when paired with my made from scratch bbq sauce, it was a match made in heaven.  They were delectable.

Apple Cider Brined Smoked Pork Chops

Looks expensive doesn’t it, well it doesn’t have to be.  In addition to being inexpensive, it was crazy easy to make.  All that is involved is an over night soak in the brine detailed below, a quick dusting with any seasoning you want.  I used a little bit of BBQ 3000 just to give it a little more and then a quick (2 hourish) jaunt on the smoker at 225°F with some apple wood.  I cooked them up until the internal temperature was 165°F, pulled them and let them rest for a short while, before cutting into these juicy and mighty tasty pork chops.

Ingredients
4 c apple cider (not juice)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c kosher salt
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp chile powder
1 c boiling water

Instructions
Mix sugar and salt into boiling water until dissolved.  Cool mixture.  Mix together apple cider, chile powder, vinegar and water mixture.  Place pork chops in a 1 gallon zip lock bag, pour in brine and fill remaining space with cold water.  Refrigerate over night in brine, remove, season and smoke.

Like I said this recipe will be sticking around next time it might not be chops, it might be another cut of meat.  It would also make a great base for some other marinade, just adjust the seasonings.  Please tell me it at least made you hungry to look at.

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By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes, Smoked Goodness 2 Comments

Good BBQ sauce will not rescue a poorly cooked (bad) piece of meat, sure it might add a little moisture but it will still be a bad piece of meat.  With that said, good BBQ sauce will complement a well cooked piece of meat nicely and even make a bad piece of meat desirable, if that sauce is just that good.  Face it no one likes to be seen eating BBQ sauce off a spoon, but this sauce is just that good, you could eat it off a spoon with no meat and other than the looking foolish you would be content.

Apple Smoked BBQ SauceUnlike simply squirting BBQ Sauce out of a bottle this sauce took some work.  It started its journey on the stove in the house, but only long enough to thoroughly mix all the ingredients.  From there it was onto the grill with a huge chunk of hickory to further cook down and get that great smokey flavor that really sets this sauce apart.

BBQ Sauce cooking on the grillOne note about the picture above, even though the chunk of hickory is engulfed in flames in the picture, it did not remain that way once the lid was in place, the rush of oxygen upon removing the lid allowed it to burst into flames.  A chunk of wood in flames like that above will not produce nearly enough adequate smoke to flavor the BBQ sauce properly.

Ingredients
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
2 c apple cider
4 cloves of garlic pressed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar would work as well)
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chile powder
1 tbsp thickener (cornstarch, flour, etc)

Instructions
Start by combining liquid ingredients in a sauce pan (one safe for the grill) on the stove over medium heat and bringing to a boil.  Stir frequently.  Once the liquid is boiling add in everything else except the thickener, stir and boil until the sauce begins to reduce slightly.  It should smell amazing at this point.  Slowly stir in thickener.  At this point prep the grill (fire up the chimney and get the smoking wood ready) and move the pan to the grill when it is ready and place it on the opposite side of the grill from the heat, add smoking wood and leave to cook uncovered.  Stir the sauce every 15-20 minutes, it should be simmering nicely.  Remove the sauce from the grill when it is thickened to the desired consistency.

It is a tangy sweet BBQ sauce and it is so tasty it has boldness and depth that I have no found in a bottled BBQ sauce and it is pretty simple to make, this is going on the list of favorites.  Before cooking the sauce I did wipe the inside of the pan down with a thin film of canola oil to make cleanup simpler, and it helped, the baked on sauce just came off under the faucet and the scrubbing was minimal.  Just be sure to use a pan you can live with being a slightly different color when you are done on the outside.

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness No Comments

So today I made pulled pork, again.  But it was not nearly as dreadful as I make it sound, as an avid connoisseur of all things smoked, pulled pork is a staple.  Its fairly easy to make, requires a slight flexing of the smoking muscle and is almost impossible to screw up.   Today was no different, I had a ham roast in the freezer that was just begging for some smoker time and as it ends up I also had a rosemary shortage which prohibited me from making my preferred Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub, so it was back to the drawing board.

BBQ Pulled Pork

In the end I ended up with an excellent stand in using some ready made rubs and and brown sugar.  And a spritz with some molasses, cranberry juice, bbq sauce and seasoning, again we didn’t have any apple juice.  The day was full of improvising. You will find the recipes for the rub and spritz below.

I threw the meat on the smoker about 7:30 AM and it smoked at 225ºF with apple and hickory wood until it reached 165ºF, at which point I wrapped it in foil and threw it back into the heat until it reached an internal temperate of 205ºF.  Then it was, while still wrapped in foil, wrapped in old towels and thrown into the cooler for 2 hours to rest.  I then pulled it, put it on a sandwich and enjoyed.  It was most tasty not quite as tasty as the Brown Sugar and Rosemary Rub but it is certainly still edible, and will likely be the source of lunch room envy tomorrow.

Mix and Match Pork Rub
Ingredients
brown sugar
bbq3000
bad byron’s butt rub
mustard

Instructions
Mix together 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part each bbq3000 and butt rub.  When thoroughly mixed, spread mustard on meat in evenly.  Then rub meat liberally with bbq rub created above.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate over night or cook immediately.

Spritz Recipe
Ingredients
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1 c cranberry juice
1/4 c white sugar
1 tbsp bbq3000

Instructions
Combine all ingredients until mixed well.  Mop onto meat every hour until meat reaches 165°F.

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By Posted on Posted in Misc Food, Recipes, What's for dinner No Comments

It is summer and I should be BBQ’n or smoking something in the smoker but, lately I have been fascinated with pizza and getting it right.  I have a new found love of no knead pizza dough, the crust is tasty and easy to make, but requires a little planning.  A couple weeks ago I made some no knead pizza dough and baked it in a hot cast iron skillet, which worked pretty good or so I thought.

Pizza on a pizza stone

Way back in my cupboard was a pizza stone that we had not used in a couple months, so out it came and into the 500°F oven until it was hot.  I did everything like before, plopped the dough on the stone; added sauce, cheese and toppings as quickly as possible and popped it back in the oven.  It did its thing, somehow cooking pizza on a stone is magical the crust was ‘fluffier‘ than before, it was awesome.  It did take me a while to realize how awesome it was, it wasn’t tell I was sitting back craving more pizza that I realized it was that good and it only had mushrooms and pepperoni on it.

I learn a couple of lessons this time that I will be applying to the next pizza we make.  First I will be sure to bake the crust alone in the oven for a few minutes prior to topping with sauce, cheese and toppings.  And second if I am going to be using alot of moist toppings I will be sure to pre-cook them a bit to get some of the moisture out.  With those two things, I dare say it will be pizza baking perfection.

Tomorrow we try pizza on the grill, wood-fire style.

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes No Comments

With all the hype about no knead bread and no knead pizza dough I decided it was time to take the plunge and give it a whirl.  Last night I started on the journey to make a homemade pizza with some no knead crust and to through a little twist I decided to cook it in a cast iron skillet in the oven.  Well it turned out to be incredible and I am glad I made enough dough to make a couple more.

No Knead Pizza

There was a slight bit of kneading required in spite of the name but the dough was awesome, but it needs to be planned for and made well in advance.

Ingredients
3 c + extra flour
1 1/2 c warm water
1/4 c + extra olive oil
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp yeast

Instructions
Mix together dry ingredients thoroughly, then mix in water and olive oil until it is mixed evenly, it will be very wet, like sticky and not dough like wet.  Drizzle olive oil over the surface of the dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let set for 12-24 hours.  Once dough has raised.  Turn oven on the highest temperature possible (500°F in my case) and put cast iron skillet in the oven until it is heated well.  Punch down dough flip out onto a floured surface and divide into small balls and make individual rounds of dough, for pizza.  I made three.  Roll or stretch out the dough into thin crusts.

Have your toppings, sauce and cheese ready.  Lightly oil the skillet and then place the crust in the skillet.  Quickly put sauce, toppings and cheese on the crust.  Bake in skillet in oven until pizza is done.  Mine took about 5 minutes.

Even though you have a little more planning to do than with normal this crust is well worth the effort and advanced preparation.  I am glad I have two crusts left, I can’t wait to make it again.  This time it was just pepperoni, next time it will be much more elaborate.

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