Grilled Chicken

 Charlie made out the menu for dinner tonight. I still was the one who got the pots and pans dirty.  He asked for grilled chicken, Mac& cheese, a salad and French fries.

1st time for poultry in the smoker.

I have never had any interest in smoking a bird before. Probably because I once had a smoked turkey at a Church social and didn't like it. But now I think it was the fault of the kind of smoke used that I didn't like.  I want to try some things different this year.  One was to do a chicken the other is to do a chuck roast.

Before I got the chicken, I looked in the Cool Smoke cookbook to see if he had a recipe for a whole chicken.  He did but I didn't really look at it until after I got the chicken.  That is when I found out that it was a involved version of beer can chicken.  First there was a brine that took two days  to make and another day to marinate the chicken.  Finally it was cooked at 400º while sitting on a beer can.  

There is two problems with that.  First I don't think my smoker will get that hot. My grill might but if I put a chicken sitting up, I won't be able to close the lid on either one. 

So I did this: I put a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning in two Tablespoons of softened butter and rubbed it inside the chicken and over and under the skin.  I smoked if for about 1 hour, 15 minutes at 325-350º and sprayed it with a solution of 2 tablespoons of sugar dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water then added 5 tablespoons of lemon juice.  It turned out lightly smoked with a hint of lemon and very juicy. 

 

If at first you don't succeed... Second day for smoking ribs.

I think it was Buddah who said Your best teacher is your last mistake.   Yesterdays rib cooking effort was a mistake. I tried again and got good results.

Ingredients

FOR THE RUB AND RIBS

•  ¹⁄₂ cup light brown sugar
•  ¹⁄₄ cup sweet paprika
•  1 tbsp. chili powder
•  1 tbsp. onion powder
•  1 tbsp. garlic powder
•  1 tbsp. cayenne
•  1 tbsp. kosher salt
•  1 tbsp. ground black pepper
•  ¹⁄₄ cup canola oil
•  2 racks St. Louis-cut pork spareribs (about 3 lb. each)

FOR THE SAUCE

•  3 cups ketchup
•  1 cup dark brown sugar
•  ³⁄₄ cup distilled white vinegar
•  2 tbsp. molasses
•  1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
•  1 tbsp. chili powder
•  1 tbsp. sweet paprika
•  1 tsp. onion powder
•  1 tsp. garlic powder
•  ¹⁄₂ tsp. cayenne
•  ¹⁄₂ tsp. ground black pepper
•  ¹⁄₂ cup honey
•  2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
•  ¹⁄₂ cup apple juice
•  8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
•  ¹⁄₄ cup light brown sugar
• Sprinkle rub on ribs. Let sit 1 hour before putting in smoker. Heat smoker to 275º.  Smoke spray with apple juice every 30 minutes for two hours.
• Melt together butter, brown sugar and honey. Drizzle on ribs after smoking two hours, wrap in foil and continue smoking until temp. is around 190º  ( it took one hour in my smoker.)

Un wrat,  brush with BBQ sauce, return, unwrapped to smoker to set the sauce.

STEP 1

hour.

STEP 3

Prepar

 

Spare Ribs in the smoker.. two different sauces

Cool Smoke BBQ recipe book had a spare rib recipe with a mustard sauce.  It looks like a modernized version of a Carolina BBQ sauce from the 1700's.  I did two slabs and put the mustard sauce on ont and regular tomato based sauce on the other.  The mustard sauce was really different from what you would expect from BBQ.  The first bite was good but it got a little old after that. The rub that goes with the mustard recipe was too salty for my taste.  I'll go back to my recipes that people have come to expect.

Spare Ribs with Mustard Sauce

1C. Fennel Garlic rub (p 53)

2 (4 1/2 lb pork spareribs, trimmed, membrane removed, 

1/2 C. Apple juice

1 1/2 C. Mustard sauce (P 63) 

An hour before you start cooking, dust the ribs with Fennel Garlic rub ( 1/4 C per side)

Heat smoker to 275º. Place spareribs meat side up in smoker. Cook 1 hour, spray with apple juice.  Cook 1 hour more, spraying again after 30 minutes.  After ribs are reddish brown, Wrap each slab tightly in foil and place meat side down back in smoker. ( I use two sheets each one to assure no tears)  Return to cool side of smoker; cook 2 to 2/12 hour more, until tender. Open foil and check with toothpick for tenderness.  Brush each side with 1/4 C warm mustard sauce, return to cook meat side up 5 to 10 minutes.  Watch to make sure sauce set up but not over set or burns.  serve sauce with any remaining sauce.

FENNEL GARLIC RUB MUSTARD SAUCE, makes 1 1/2C

1/2 C kosher salt 3/4 C. yellow mustard

1/4 C. cracked black pepper 1/4 C.  whole grain mustard

1 tsp. crushed red pepper 1/4 C. apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic 3 T. honey

2 tsp freshly cracked fennel seeds 1 T fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tap. cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients and store airtight Thoroughly combine. Refrigerate in airtight

 container in cool, dark place until ready to use. container until ready to use, up to two weeks.

Norm Note. Above is a nod to traditional Carolina BBQ.  Below is an example of that sauce.

CAROLINA MUSTARD BBQ SAUCE  makes about 2 C.

• 1 cup yellow mustard
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper in adobo (minced)
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients well.
• For best results, refrigerate in an airtight container overnight to allow the flavors to develop.

 

Crab legs are still on sale.

Low Country Crab Boil 

4 Qts water

1 lemon halved

1 onion quartered

1/4 C Old Bay

2-3 lbs potatoes

4 ears of corn shucked, cut in half

2 lbs shell on raw shrimp

2 bulbs garlic, cut un half horizontally

2 sprigs fresh thyme

4 smoked sausage cut in small chunks

Crab clusters

eggs.

1/4 fresh parsley chopped for Garnish

Add seasonings (lemon halves, onion,Old Bay, garlic, thyme and potatoes and eggs to water and boil 15 minutes. 

Add corn and sausage & cook 5 minutes

 Add crab and shrimp and cook 5 minutes, turn off heat, cover and let sit about 4-5 minutes.  Drain, arrange on platter;

Garnish with parsley and serve with more Old Bay  

 

 

Air Fryer Chicken

Place chicken in bowl with 1 C. buttermilk and 1egg and marinate 30 minutes.  

Prepare seasoned flour, Mix together

 2C. flour

1 T. salt

1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 T. garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. ground mustard

2 T. paprika

1 T. onion powder

3/4 tsp ground white pepper

Dredge marinated chicken in flour and let rest 20 minutes. Place in air fryer, turn on preset chicken (350º for 40 minutes) flip chicken pieces after 20 minutes.

BBQ beans and cole slaw were left over from the brisket dinner.

Corn placed unshucked in cold over and baked at 350º for 30 minutes, then shucked and served.

Smoked Brisket

I froze the thick end of the brisket I got for St. Patrick's day.  This week it got thawed and today I put it in my smoker.  It took about 6 hours at around 225º.  

the beans are a variation of this recipe

1  can Bushes pork and beans

1 TBS Rib rub seasoning 

1/4 C. Firmly packed brown sugar

3 oz. BBQ sauce

1/4 C. Molasses

1 1/2 two Liquid smoke

1/4 C. brisket chopped fine.

brisket fat if desired to taste.

I used bacon and bacon fat instead of brisket.  I adjusted the amounts to suit the smaller can of beans I had.

You don't see the green beans I made because I forgot to check on them and they got burned.

 

Chuck Roast with vegetables and homemade egg noodles.

 

Roast was cooked in the slow cooker with dry packages mixes of brown gravy, italian salad and Ranch dressing+ 1/2 C. water. Cook on high 5-6 hours.  Thicken juices with butter and flour.

Egg noodles

1 cup flour

1/4 tso flour

2 eggs

blended together until combined, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 2 hours. Roll out, cut and boil.

Creamy Shrimp Linguine with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes

This is the shrimp and pasta in an Alfredo type sauce that we both liked a little while back and we had it again today

 Creamy Shrimp Linguine with Spinach & Sun-dried Tomatoes

Charlie said this was really good, like something at a fancy restaurant.  

Creamy Shrimp Linguine with Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Written by Chef Bao

If you’re a fan of shrimp alfredo, you’ll love this recipe. Aromatic rosemary and piquant sun dried tomatoes add a flavorful twist to this classic dish. All it takes is just 25 minutes to prepare this mouth-watering pasta meal that rivals any made in a high-end restaurant. SERVING: 2 PeopleTIME: 30 min 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 pinch Sea Salt [For Linguine Boiling]
• 1 bundle Linguine
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 6 large Jumbo Shrimp, deveined
• 1 pinch Sea Salt [For the Shrimp]
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
• 2 tbsp Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
• 3½ oz Baby Spinach
• ⅔ cup Heavy Cream
• 1 pinch Sea Salt
• 1 pinch Ground Black Pepper
• 2½ oz Parmesan Cheese   

Directions

Step 1 Finely chop onion and mince garlic

Step2  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt and cook linguine for 11-12 minutes, until al dente.

Step 3 Heat a pan on medium-high heat and add olive oil. Place shrimp in the pan and sear until the bottom turns pink.  Season shrimp with salt, flip to the other side, and continue searing until the shrimp is cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Step 4 In the same pan, melt butter over medium-high heat, and sauté onions and garlic until translucent. Add in rosemary and sun-dried tomatoes, place shrimp back in the pan, then add spinach and cream, heating the ingredients until the cream comes to a boil.  Season with a little salt and pepper, grate in some Parmesan cheese, and stir.

Step 5 Drain linguine in a strainer and toss into the pan to combine it with the sauce and other ingredients. Serve on a plate and top with grated Parmesan

 New England Style Crab Boil

Prep Time25 minutesCook Time40 minutesTotal Time1 h 5 mServes8  People

IngredientsRecipe makes 8 Servings

 water to cover, i

2 cup(s) white wine

2 bulbs of garlic, cut in half, horizontally

1 large white onion, cut into quarters

2 lemons, cut in half

2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

2 springs of fresh thyme

4 fresh corn, cut in half

2 Lb baby red potatoes, cut in half

4 smoked sausage, cut into small chunks

4 Oz unsalted butter

4 crab clusters

1 Lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup(s) fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1In a large stock pot, bring water, wine, garlic, onions, lemons, old bay seasoning and thyme to a boil.

2 Lower heat to medium and add corn, baby red potatoes smoked sausage and butter. Cook 15 to 20 minutes.

3 Add crab and shrimp and cook an additional 5 to 8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and fully cooked. Toss everything gently to cover in cooking liquid.

4 Season with a little more old bay as needed and serve on a large platter.

5 Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.