Made some Chili

Made some chili last night because it's way too cold to cook outside.

Nope the ribs are still in the freezer. Sigh...

Ever tried to type with a 80 lb. dog wanting your hands complete attention? Believe me it's hard to type and pet a dog at the same time to try and keep her from slobbering all over the key board. (she is my shadow, where I am she is)

The temperature outside is like 15 degrees with winds out of the north.

They don't make enough whiskey to keep me warm in this kind of weather.

I ain't no Polar Bear neither.

Macdaddy

Happy Birthday Robyn

Today is our daughter's birthday.

She is 3 yrs. old today.

So I have to do the dad thing and say "Happy Birthday Robyn"

When this child came into our lives she changed us forever.

God gave us a gift in this little girl that will never be wasted.

She shows us what love is all about.

"Happy Birthday" my little one.

May God hold your hand forever in his loving embrace.

Macdaddy

Direct and Indirect cooking

Wet Weekend continued:

Ok where was I?

Go back to wet weekend and read that, then come back here.

I'll wait for you...

Back already? I left off talking about wood and pre heating your grill. For ribs if I use my Holland grill - ribs are done in a hour an a half. This grill cooks at 325 to 350. That's ok, but a little hot for ribs. That's why Henry calls them an outdoor oven. Very true, but very consistent as far as temperature and time. Even in cold weather.

My smoker is what I use for ribs. I pre heat it to about 300, I do this to get the heat up because the door will be open while I'm putting the ribs on the shelves and some heat will be lost.

I soak 2 chunk's of Pecan wood in water for over an hour, taking them out as I pre heat.

The smoker came with a chip box - I took that out and put a 10 in. Cast iron skillet in its place.

This works really well, easy to deal with, easy to remove when hot, and easy to add more wood if needed.

Once everything is back up to heat (220 to 230) the ribs are in ( bone side down) I add a chunk of pecan and watch my temperature, I try to keep it in this range - no lower than 220 and no higher than 235.

At this temperature it will take 4 hrs. to cook. The chunk's will smoke for about an hour and a half - which is good. I put pork and beans or baked beans on the top shelf for about 3 hrs. they get that smoke and I tell you smack your momma they are good.

Now I cook them 2 hrs. Naked ( this meaning not covered)

Then for 1 hr. Wrapped in double foil - at this point the ribs get rotated - what was on top goes to the bottom - bottom to the top- and so on.

After 1 hr. they are unwrapped - sprayed with apple juice - rotated again - and cooked naked for 1 more hr.

After this hr. the temperature is lowered to 200 and the ribs are sauced a couple of times and removed after 20 mins. Let them sit for a tad ( we just stick them in the microwave to sit)

Now for a grill you want to cook them with indirect heat , to do this you must have 2 burners.

Or if you use charcoal it must be spread to 1 side. Indirect cooking means away from the heat source, whatever that source may be.

Pre heat your grill ( light it up and turn it to the lowest setting ) close the top - see what your temperature gauge settles in to. You can get an oven gauge and place it on your grill grate and see what the indirect side temperature is.

Just remember not to get it to hot. It should take about 3 hrs. any quicker than that and they will be tough ( hard to pull apart) You want tender almost fall off the bone ribs.

Anybody can cook - but you must love to cook and be willing to wait to make great BBQ

Low and slow...

I will share my BBQ sauce recipe with you in the next post.

Macdaddy

Chandler's Flamin' Chili

Fabulous Slow-Cooker Recipe


This recipe was sent to me by my sister in law Lynn. "Thanks Mishy"



Chandler's Flamin' Chili: Todd Chandler, a Web site production supervisor in New York, serves this favorite recipe every Super Bowl Sunday.

He suggests letting guests add chili pepper to their own portions upon serving, so they can control the level of heat.


Ingredients:


16 oz. red kidney beans
16 oz. black beans
28 oz. canned stewed tomatoes (Mexican style, if available)
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 green peppers, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
1 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 hot chili pepper sliced and seeded (optional)
1 lb. flank steak
1 lb. spicy Italian sausage
2 tsp. to 2 tbsp. chili powder to taste
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Red onion, sour cream, Monterey Jack cheese, tortillas and tortilla chips for garnish


Step 1: Strain beans in a colander and rinse well; pour into slow cooker.

Add stewed tomatoes, tomato paste and water; mix gently.

Add peppers, onions, garlic and chili pepper; stir ingredients until mixed well.

Step 2: Grill the flank steak for just 2 to 3 minutes on each side; steak should still be just browned.

Note: (The flank steak can be marinated 6 to 8 hours ahead of time in a mixture of 2 to 3 tbsp. of low-fat Italian dressing, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and 2 tsp. cayenne pepper.)

Step 3: Slice steak into thin strips 1/4 inch thick. Grill sausage for just a few minutes on either side, then cut into 1- to 2-inch sections.

Step 4: Put both sausage and steak into slow cooker.

Step 5: Add chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir contents until mixed well.

Step 6: Turn slow cooker on Low and cook for 8 hours; if possible stir every hour or two.

Step 7: Serve with chopped red onion, sour cream and Monterey Jack cheese.

Step 8: Warm tortillas also offer another fun option to make "chili-burritos," or serve with tortilla chips and use the chili as a dip.

Makes 12 to 15 servings.



I'll get back to talking about how I cook my ribs in the next post.

Macdaddy

Wet Weekend

I said in my last post that I had some ribs to fix when ever the weather cooperates.

Well so far it hasn't.

It has rained pretty much off and on since last weekend. (no outside cooking at all)

Sigh...

We got a Black Lab this week from a lady that was helping a rescue shelter hold her until she found a good home.

She found one, we will give her all the love she deserves.
Her name is Sweetie and she is 3 yrs. old.
She's a big black teddy bear.


Since I can't cook any ribs, that don't mean we can't talk about them.
This is how I fix mine.

Ribs can be done on a grill, on a off set cooker, in a cabinet smoker, in a WSM, (Weber smokey mountain) or a Brinkman... and even in the oven.

But great ribs, I mean GREAT ribs are done outside. You can't get that good smoke flavor in the oven (even if you use liquid Smoke) which I don't care for, so I don't use it.

I have done my ribs in the oven and they are good but, not the same as outside ribs.

As you know ribs come in - baby backs and slabs- (St. Louis style are cut from slabs)
I like both, but slabs offer more meat at a good price. So it's up to you.

Prep:

This sometimes involves some work on your part or you can ask your butcher to do it.

Do what?

Remove the membrane on the bone side of the ribs, this must be done to have top notch ribs that you can be proud of ( if it is not removed the ribs will be hard to pull apart and won't cook as good)

So get rid of it, to do it yourself - get a flat cookie sheet pan - place the ribs meat side down - start at the bone and prick it up so you can get a hold of the membrane - after this is done I get a towel to grip it and pull - pull off as much as you can.

Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's a pain in the butt. Believe me it's worth the effort.

Ok, this being done it's time to season the ribs.

There are many good rubs to be bought or made at home.
Most basic rubs are pretty standard.

Bill Arnold of Blues Hog has some great rubs and sauces that he makes. He has many friends in the world of bbq.

Bill is a pit master - cafe owner - pit builder- and rub and sauce maker - just some of the many hats he wears.

Give him a try at WWW.blueshog.com

With the ribs still bone side up - Spread your rub and work it in - then flip and spread the rub on the meat side - again work it in.

Let the ribs sit a few mins. and then place them in a 2 1/2 gal. Zip Lock bag. Place in the fridge over night.

Remove from fridge and let ribs come to room temperature at least 1 hr. to remove the chill of being cold.

Pre heat and wood: I 'm not going to list every method here. I will later on direct and indirect cooking.

Wood: I like Pecan wood for the smoke and flavor that it gives to meat. (pork-steaks-chicken)
Some like Hickory or Oak. I like Pecan. That's about all I use now for the Hollands and the smoker.

Next Up: Pre heat - Direct and indirect cooking (sorry- Sweetie has to go out to do her thing)

Macdaddy

Happy 2005 - Recipe for Creole Seafood Seasoning

Well, I hope everybody's in good shape and good spirits.

The weather has been very calm here in Tennessee. (this week anyway, but that was not the case last week)

I'm glad the Holidays are over. For the past 2 months, I have been bugging my butcher for some Ribs.

Slabs or St. Louis style or Baby Backs, anything." Just get me some Ribs."

You see, Ribs are not a "Traditional Holiday" meat such as Ham or Turkey or Chicken are.

So nobody had any Ribs on order, Period !!!

Until, yesterday...


Woo Hoo!!! "Come to papa my little scrumptious ones. "

I found some slabs. Two packs was all they had - and I would have clobbered somebody with one of the many Turkeys they still had on sale if they even thought about " touching" those Ribs.

Cleaned up the smoker yesterday.

I was going to (the operative word being - was) going to prep them this morning.

Got up this morning and it's been friggin' raining. FRIGGIN' RAINING!!!!!

Still raining at 10 o'clock. " Oh the cruelty of it all"

So now I guess I'll just put them in the freezer.
And look at them with longing eyes and a heavy heart.
Until the weather cooperates.

Next weekend... maybe...(sigh)


Here's one more of the many recipes that Willard sent to me.
He also provides some comments and suggestions.
Enjoy.
Macdaddy



Creole Seafood Seasoning

Book: Louisiana
Chapter: Seasonings


If there is any "magic" to our cooking, it's in seasoning mixes such as this. With this mixture, we try to unmask the depth of flavor in our native seafood, not overpower it. We want every bite to display a full flavor profile, so we liberally sprinkle seasoning on the entire piece of fish. That means both sides. Make a decent-sized batch of this mixture so it will always be handy, then rub it or sprinkle it on the food. Remember, mixtures such as this cost very little to make yourself but quite a lot if you buy them at retail.


1/3 cup table salt
1/4 cup granulated or powdered garlic
1/4 cup freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1/3 cup paprika
3 tablespoons granulated or powdered onion


Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl, and pour the mixture into a large glass or plastic jar. Seal it so that it's airtight. It will keep indefinitely.


Chef Jamie's Tip:
Cayenne pepper is the main source of heat in this mixture. If you wish, reduce the quantity by as much as half.


Makes about 2 cups.