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ChezJohn
ChezJohn done started him a BBQ Blog, he did, and he calls it Fat Johnny's Front Porch
We BBQ Fools Jus' Love ChezJohn's Recipes...
And We Also Love ChezJohn's Food Porn Pics & Videos...
Along with ChezJohn's Most Excellent Cookin' Info & Instructions...
Meat & Pit Temps Guide
Meat Shrinkage
Tips on Grillin' a Sirloin Roast
And, ChezJohn's Also Purty Good at Spinnin' Sum Tall Tales Too...
Lastly, and Luckliy for All'a Us, Ole ChezJohn Comes Across Summa of the Purtiest Music Y'all'll Dun Ever Heard...
Check Out Summa ChezJohn's Music Discoveries...Y'all'll Be Glad Y'all Did!!
And while y'all're at it, check out his own Musical Talents!!
Chez: Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez! - An Interview with ChezJohn on the BBQ Forum Blog.
It seems impossible to be a regular reader of the bbqforum and to not have encountered one of the incredible creations shared by Chez (or John Eddy as he’s also sometimes known). His dishes are often ingenious variations on classic American food that is, uhm, ‘kicked up,’ and given a whole other life. Other times they are truly unique inventions that spark the imagination. Always generous with recipes, advice and the Friday jukebox, Chez is one of the bbqforum regulars that gives so much to the community. Bon Appetit!*
Read the whole Interview...
1 quart mayonnaise
1 pint apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
Juice of 2 fresh lemons
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place all ingredients in a very large blender or food processor. Blend for 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined and mixture is smooth. Pour sauce into a large bowl for dunkin' chicken in it. Can also use when grilling chicken; brush lightly over the chicken during the last few minutes of grilling.
This sauce is also great for dipping; set some sauce aside for passing at the table.
4 cups pizza flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
scant tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope yeast
Mix the sugar with the warm water & stir in the yeast. Let bloom for 5 minutes or so. Flour, cornmeal, red pepper flakes & salt in mixing bowl with dough hook ... when yeast has activated, turn mixer on SLOW and add the water/yeast. Add the olive oil. Let mix for about 10 - 12 minutes ... dough should form ball ... remove from mixer bowl & let rise, covered, in greased bowl in warm place till doubled in size (takes about an hour). Punch down & let rise again for about another 20 minutes. Divide in 1/2 ... makes dough for 2 16" pizzas.
I like to let the dough rise a lil' more, once I've rolled it out on the greased pizza pans...mebbe 10-15 minutes ... then I dock the dough with a fork & build the pizza ... then bake in hot (475°) oven for about 15-18 minutes.
Pizza flour is higher gluten than regular AP flour ... I use King Arthur ... if you can't find pizza flour, use bread flour. AP flour will work, the dough will just be spongier & lighter. Important step in making the pizza dough, regardless of what flour you use, is letting the dough hook knead the dough for 10-12 minutes ... to form the gluten.
Slice up a whole Vidalia or other sweet onion ... kinda thin & give it a rough chop.
Git yer skillet hot, then turn flame down to about medium ... add a couple TBSP butter & throw the onions in the skillet to caramelize. This process will take 10-15 minutes ... don't do too fast/hot, or the onions will burn before they caramelize.
When the onions are done, remove them from the pan. Put pan back on the fire ... turn the heat back up ... add about 1/4 cup of oil/butter/bacon grease to the pan & 1/4 cup of flour. With a small whisk, mix the oil/flour real well & cook for a couple of minutes. This will result in a simple blonde roux ... no need to cook this roux for a long time, like a dark cajun roux.
Now, remove most of the roux from the pan & add your pint of beef stock ... bring it to a boil, and start whisking in the roux until you reach whatever consistency you want. When the gravy comes to a boil, turn off the heat & add the onions back into the gravy ... then season the gravy with salt/pepper, whatever you like...mebbe a lil' worchestershire ... mebbe a dollop of horseradish...
If you use a canned beef stock, you may not need to add any more salt. Voila, beef/onion gravy!!
To make yer smoked brisket & onion gravy po-boy ... just slip yer beef into that hot gravy to warm it up ... then pile it high on a good french roll ... then slap a big ol' ladle full dat onions & gravy on top ... then put the lid on & git busy!!
Might wanna consider eatin' this sandwich while standing & leaning over the kitchen sink....
Eatin' sloppy po-boys since 1903 (as BillyBob would say)
Chez
2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
4 eggs - beaten
1 ½ sticks butter - melted
1 pkg (12 oz) frozen corn - thawed
1 med onion - diced fine
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
Combine all ingredients - mix well and pour into buttered 9 X 13 casserole dish. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes...until golden brown. The batter is very thick - makes a nice, dense, moist cornbread. Best I've ever had. Sometimes I add a few diced jalapenos...great with red beans & rice...or plain ol' ham & beans!
Bon Appetito'
Chez
First Place, 2001 OK State Fair in Tulsa!
20 fresh red Habañero peppers, stemmed
2 cups yellow mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
8 fresh peaches
Combine all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth. Can in jars and pressure in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
1 stick butter, soft
4-5 ounces good blue cheese
2-3 cloves roasted garlic
couple three splashes worchestershire
fresh cracked pepper, to taste
pinch of leaf thyme
pinch of salt
Blend it all together ... grill steak to your liking (MR for me) ... then schmear a couple big dollops of this on top the steak & slide it under the broiler for a minute or two, until it's melted & bubbly. I garrontee you'll swab yer plate with yer last bite of garlic bread....(g)
The skinny end (...called the *flat*...) will get done before the fat end (...called the *point*...)
When the internal temp of the flat reaches about 175º ... take the brisket out of the smoker & seperate the flat from the point. Wrap the flat in foil & put it back in the smoker until it reaches about 185º ... then take it out of the smoker & put it in a dry cooler to rest for about an hour. After resting for an hour, take out of foil & slice ... pouring any juices that collected in the foil back over the slices.
Don't wrap the point in foil, just keep cooking it until it reaches about 195º ... then cut it in chunks & brush the chunks with a lil' sauce & continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes to set the sauce. you just made burnt ends. the holy grail of bbq, imho.
This is the brisket point, after it had been seperated from the flat & brought up to about 190º ... then chunked. I'm getting ready to brush with sauce and throw them back into the smoker for another 15-20 minutes. Brisket Point Chunked
This is those same pieces of brisket point, after being *chunked & dunked* and returned to smoker ~ they are now officially *burnt ends* - plated & ready to be eaten. Brisket Point Chunked & Dunked
There is a layer of fat between the point and the flat ... it's kinda hard to see where the break is when it's raw ... but once it's cooked & your flat reaches 175º ... and you pull it out to seperate it ... it will be much more obvious where to seperate the two muscles. Don't worry about being perfectly precise ~ we ain't talkin' about brain surgery here.
~ brisket can be a tricky lil' bugger to cook properly. best way to learn is just to cook a few of them ~ try several methods, keep notes & decide what you like best.
my favorite brisket is cooked *texas style* ... meaning cooked just a lil' hotter pit temps (275-300º) over direct hardwood coals, so the fat drips directly on the hot coals ... rubbed with only cracked black pepper and kosher salt ... and finished & served with arthur bryant's original bbq sauce. don't like sweet brisket, me, no.
bon appetito
OK ... so I'm on this pie-baking kick ... never was much of a baker, so every baking session is a learning experience. This is a scratch butterscotch pie that i just took out the oven ... why butterscotch, you ask? ... because that's what I LIKE!! LOL Also, that's what ingredients I had on hand ~ it don't take much to make butterscotch filling ... butter, brown sugar, milk, couple eggs, vanilla extract, baddaboom ~ butterscotch!
The experiment today was a *quick* crust ... can make this crust in about 3-4 minutes ... easy peasy ... have made this crust before many times, for savory pies like quiche, vidalia onion pie, shepherd's pie ... so today I just made it sweet instead of savory, and used it for the butterscotch pie ~ worked great.
The chopped stuff on the cutting board is some homemade pecan pralines that I made several months ago ... some of the pralines got broke, etc ... so I just froze the broken pieces. Original plan was to make some homemade pecan praline/butter brickle ice cream this summer ~ that never happened (don't have an ice cream freezer) ... so I figured the chopped pralines would be a nice topping for a butterscotch pie. I've not yet sprinkled them on top of the merengue because it's still hot ... gonna wait for the pie to cool down a bit, before topping it with the praline sprinkles~~
The crumbs on top the pie were some homemade pecan pralines that I made a few months ago ~ some of them broke, so I froze them ... thawed a few yesterday ~ chopped them up and topped the butterscotch pie with them. Also, it occurred to me while making this homemade butterscotch filling ... that is basically just like the sauce on Bananas Foster ... so next time I think I'll add a couple of sliced bananas to the bottom of the pie, sprinkle them with a lil' cinnamon, substitute rum extract for the vanilla extract and badda boom ~ Bananas Foster Merengue Pie? Works for me...
6 Tbsp butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup boiling hot water
3 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks - beaten
2 tsp vanilla
Merengue
4 egg whites, room temp
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Quick Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
To make the crust, in a bowl combine all ingredients and mix with a fork. After mixing well, use your hand to form a ball and then press into 10" pie pan. Bring it up on the sides and pinch the top. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove, and turn oven down to 350*
To make the filling, melt the butter in saucepan 'n simmer it until it foams 'n turns a light amber color ... then add the 1 cup brown sugar ... stir well, and cook for a minute or two, then add the hot water 'n continue cooking for a couple minutes ~ remove from heat and set aside. In another saucepan, put the cornstarch, flour and salt ... stir in the milk 'n mix well, add the butter/brown sugar mixture ... then bring to boil - stirring constantly until thickens ... now, stir about 1/2 cup of the hot filling into the beaten egg yolks to temper them, then dump them into the filling 'n continue to cook for a couple of minutes ~ remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.
To make the merengue, whip egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks ... then gradually add the sugar ... continue beating to firm peaks.
Pour filling into blind baked pie crust, top with merengue 'n brown the merengue in 350* oven for about 10-12 minutes ... remove from oven and let cool completely ... top with chopped pecan pralines ... into fridge to chill ~ cut 'n serve chilled.
Made some killer cheesy grits today ... started the pot with some bacon, then added some diced 1015 onion & cooked it until it was nice & caramelized ... then added the water/milk ... grits ... when grits were cooked, folded in a nice knob of butter & some chipotle cheddar cheese ~ definately not yer mama's grits, ah garrontee!
Grits & pigmeat ~ God Bless America!!
1.5 cups sugar
4 med eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups +/- shredded fresh zucchini
4-5 cold, leftover ABTs - chopped fine
2 TBSP chopped chives (optional)
Splash or two Tabasco Chipotle Sauce
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp garlic salt
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Mix sugar, eggs & oil well, then add all other ingredients. Mix well, and turn out into 2 buttered loaf pans. Bake 325º for 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool to room temp before slicing.
Well, I got a frien down Jawja way ... he got his own place called "Rickey's Meat & Three" ... 'spacializing in down-home, soulfood kinda grub. My kinda joint ~ but anyways, he sent me a recipe for these lil' snackins, and asked me to put mah Kaw-Cajun spin on it ... so ah did, and whooped up a batch the other day. I cracked open a jar last night, and they are very good. Easy to make, thought y'all might git a kick out of them. Next time I make 'em, I think I'll just buy a 3-4# chub of boloney & smoke it ... then cut into lil' bite-sized cubes & use dat instead of weinies?
2 quarts Jalapeno Peppers - sliced
1 large Vidalia onion, sliced
1.5 cup oil (I use Canola Oil)
1 cup of cider vinegar
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1 tsp chipotle powder
pinch of salt
1 - 28 oz bottle of Ketchup
1 - 8 oz bottle Heinz Chili Sauce
3 packages of good Hot Dogs
Wash jars & put lids & rings in hot water. Boil all ingredients except peppers/onions & hot dogs for 5 minutes. Cut hot dogs into bite size rings. Add to sauce. Bring to a boil. Add peppers and onions & cook for 8 mins. longer. Seal in pint jars.
Here's another recipe from my files ~ candied jalapenos, sometimes known as *cowboy candy* ... even sweeter than b&b japs. i haven't made these for a couple of years, but i sure do like them ... they're great, mixed with peach preserves~
1 ½ lb green jalapeno’s, sliced
1 ½ lb ripe red jalapeno’s, sliced
2 sweet Vidalia onions, sliced
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 cups sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp celery seed
1 Tbsp mustard seed
4-5 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin
Pinch of salt
Slice Jalapenos into 1/4" slices and slice the onions. Place jalapenos & onions in pan with water and vinegar and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until tender (about 5 minutes.) Do not breath fumes. Pour off the mixture into a strainer, reserving ½ cup of the water and vinegar.Return the ½ cup water/vinegar liquid to the pan, and add the sugar and spices, cook for a few minutes to completely disolve the sugar...then return the peppers & onions and the sliced garlic to the pan with the sugar/spice syrup. Mix well, and simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Place mixture into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Put on caps and place rings on snugly. Process in boiling water bath for about 5 minutes. Cool & refridgerate after opening a jar.
~~~~~
Now, once you've made the candied jalapenos....for a special treat, try mixing some of them 50/50 with Smucker's Peach Preserves for a FANTASTIC peach/jalapeno chutney! Great with smoked pork loin, grilled chicken, etc.
It's my homemade horseradish sauce ~ serve chilled;
1 cup of sour cream
2-3 TBSP prepared horseradish (excess juice squeezed out)
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
salt - about 1 tsp
white pepper - about 1/2 tsp
lil' chopped fresh parsley
6 cans (16 oz) BUSH Great Northern Beans - drained but not rinsed
1 cup Heinz Chili Sauce
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (or any other KC Masterpiece clone)
5-4 shakes yer favorite hot sauce ... Tabasco, etc.
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes w/mild chilis
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 large Vidalia onion - chopped
1 large green chili pepper (or green bell pepper) - chopped
1/4 cup rendered bacon grease
1# roll breakfast sausage - Jimmy Dean Spicy - smoked & crumbled into bite-sized chunks
(if you don't have time to smoke the sausage, just break it up in chunks & fry in skillet)
1 can apple pie filling
Drain beans & dump into big mixing bowl. Add the chili sauce, bbq sauce, hot sauce, brown sugar, tomatoes, molasses & liquid smoke. Mix well. Sweat the chopped Vidalia onions & green chili pepper in the bacon grease ... then dump into the bean mixture (grease & all) ... mix again, then fold in the cooked sausage & the apple pie filling. Turn out into a large 10x14 metal casserole pan ... or a 9x13 glass pyrex casserole. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup brown sugar on top (do not mix in) ... drizzle top with a lil' more bbq sauce ... dust with a lil' your favorite bbq rub & bake preheated 375° until it begins to bubble ... then continue to bake/bubble for an additional 30 minutes ~ entire bake time approx 60-70 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool for approx an hour before eating. They are better when they're not real hot - I actually prefer them room temp.
The technique of baking the beans in shallow pan ... in hot oven, so that they bubble ... causes the excess liquids in the beans to evaporate, and the beans reduce down & are nice & thick. I HATE runny baked beans. The brown sugar also aids in the thickening ... especially the dusting of brown sugar on top, which caramelizes & creates a nice crust.
6 cans (16 oz) BUSH Great Northern Beans - drained but not rinsed
1 cup Heinz Chili Sauce
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce (or any other KC Masterpiece clone)
5-4 shakes yer favorite hot sauce ... Tabasco, etc.
2 cups light brown sugar
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes w/mild chilis
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 large Vidalia onion - chopped
1 large green chili pepper (or green bell pepper) - chopped
1/4 cup rendered bacon grease
1# roll breakfast sausage - Jimmy Dean Spicy - smoked & crumbled into bite-sized chunks (if you don't have time to smoke the sausage, just break it up in chunks & fry in skillet)
1 can apple pie filling
Drain beans & dump into big mixing bowl. Add the chili sauce, bbq sauce, hot sauce, brown sugar, tomatoes, molasses & liquid smoke. Mix well. Sweat the chopped Vidalia onions & green chili pepper in the bacon grease ... then dump into the bean mixture (grease & all) ... mix again, then fold in the cooked sausage & the apple pie filling. Turn out into a large 10x14 metal casserole pan ... or a 9x13 glass pyrex casserole. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup brown sugar on top (do not mix in) ... drizzle top with a lil' more bbq sauce ... dust with a lil' your favorite bbq rub & bake uncovered in the oven, preheated 375°, until it begins to bubble ... then continue to bake/bubble for an additional 30 minutes ~ entire bake time approx 60-70 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool for approx an hour before eating. They are better when they're not real hot - I actually prefer them room temp.
The technique of baking the beans in shallow pan ... in hot oven, so that they bubble ... causes the excess liquids in the beans to evaporate, and the beans reduce down & are nice & thick. I HATE runny baked beans. The brown sugar also aids in the thickening ... especially the dusting of brown sugar on top, which caramelizes & creates a nice crust.
1 bag Pepperidge Farms Chessman cookies
1 bag Pecan Sandies cookies
6-7 ripe banannas
1 ~ 5 ounce pkg. French Vanilla instant pudding
2 cups whole milk
1 ~ 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 ~ 14 ounce can sweet condensed milk
1 ~ 12 ounce carton cool whip (thawed)
Zest of one orange
Use 9x13 pyrex type glass dish..
Mix the whole milk and the pudding mix together using hand mixer, blend for two minutes. In another bowl blend cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk till smooth. Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, then add pudding mixture and fold that in also...add the orange zest.
Line bottom of the dish with one layer of pecan sandies cookies. Put about 1/3 of the pudding mixture on top of the sandies, and spread it out evenly. Slice the bananas and put them on top of the pudding & cookies...drizzle with a couple Tablespoons of caramel sauce. Put the rest of the pudding mixture on top of the bananas, and spread evenly. Arrange the Chessman cookies on top of the pudding, then drizzle with a lil' more caramel sauce.
Let it set up in fridge for a couple hours..
Smoked turkey
Smoked andouille sausage
Homemade turkey stock
Homemade dark cajun roux
Olive oil
Roasted garlic compound butter
Celery
Onions
Green peppers
Carrots
Fresh garlic
Okra
Mustard greens
Plum tomatoes
Fresh oregano leaves
Fresh thyme leaves
Bay leaves
Fresh Italian flat parsley
Cajun Power garlic sauce
Worchestershire sauce
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Tony's
Green onions
5-4 slices bacon - chopped
1 tsp Williams Chili Seasoning
½ tsp chipotle powder
2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 Tbsp Zatarains liquid crab boil
2 sticks real butter
6-5 splashes Tabasco Habanero Sauce
¼ tsp each ~ basil, oregano & thyme leaf
2 Tbsp Zatarains coonass mustard
3-2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 ½ - 2# green headless shrimp 16/20, shell & tail on
Lemon wedges
Preheat oven to 375º
In skillet, fry bacon pieces...then add all other ingredients except shwimps & lemon wedges. Let simmer for a few minutes. Arrange shwimps in large casserole dish & pour sauce over. Mix it up, so all shwimps is well coated with the sauce. Bake in 375º oven for about 15-20 minutes, stirring at the 10 & 15 minute intervels. Serve HOT...with lemon wedges & crusty French bread for dippin in the sauce.
Hope They Got Biscuits In Heaven...'Cause if they don't ... I'm bringin' some of these!! Whooooboy, I just pulled these bad-boy biscuits out the oven ~ they are monsters, yet nice & flaky. Fergit about putting a lil' slice of sausage in there ... these manly-man biscuits will hold a pork chop!! Tru dat. (g) I didn't have any buttermilk, so I made my own using a can of beer & sour cream ... then figured a lil' cheddar cheese would be good ... so they ended up being "Beer/Cheddar/Sour Cream Biscuits"
4 cups King Arthur AP Flour
2 TBSP Baking Powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Crisco
1/4 cup rendered bacon fat
1 can beer
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
Preheat oven 400º. Pour the beer into a small bowl, and whisk the sour cream into the beer until smooth. Sift together the flour, baking powder & salt in big bowl ... then using hand, cut in the crisco until crumbly, then add the bacon grease & mix well with hands. Now dump the shredded cheese into the flour mixture & mix in real good ... then slowly add the beer/sour cream ... fold in gently, do not overwork the dough. When it comes together, turn out onto a well floured board & gently flatten it out into a 1.5' rectangle. Dust with more bench flour, and using big knife cut into 3" square biscuits ... place biscuits on buttered baking pan 1" apart, and into 400º oven till golden brown & done ... about 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven ... brush with melted butter & let cool slightly before cutting in half & filling with: sausage, fried eggs, country ham, breaded pan'fried pork tenderloin, hog jowel, fried green tomatoes, slices of smoked fattie, fried salmon patties, smoked pulled pork, etc, etc, etc....
Thanks to Phil Tanner's "The Biscuit Place" in Washington, Georgia for the inspiration.
107 Andrew Dr.
Washington, GA 30673
Tel: (706) 678-1672
2 packets dry Dream Whip topping mix
1 lg tub Cool-Whip (thawed)
1 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese (room temp)
1 tub whipped blueberry Philadelphia Cream Cheese (room temp)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 big can (21 oz) good blueberry pie filling
½ package Pecan Sandies cookies (about 18-20 - crushed)
6 ripe banannas
Make the [Dream Whip] topping, according to directions on box. When made, stick in fridge to keep cold.
Cream both the cream cheeses with the sugar, until light & smooth. While that is creaming, throw the cookies into a gallon zip-loc bag & crush them with a rolling pin. Reserve about a ¼ cup of the cookie crumbs...and divide the remaining crumbs evenly into 2 - 9X9 casserole dishes. Pack it down a lil' bit, the butter already in the cookies will help it stick together. Slice 3 banannas into each dish, spread evenly atop the crushed cookie crust.
Now, fold the chilled Dream Whip topping into the creamed cheese mixture and divide it evenly atop the sliced banannas in each dish. Gently smooth it out, to completely cover all the banannas. Now, spoon the blueberry pie filling - evenly dividing it between the two dishes & gently spread it. Now, divide the tub of Cool-Whip & spread it evenly over the blueberry pie filling in each of the dished. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved cookie crumbs. Chill for several hours before serving.
Miz Wiley asked: Instead of Pecan Sandies could I use sugar cookies? I'm allergic to nuts.
ChezJohn replied: Well sure, I recon you could use sugar cookies....or vanilla wafers....or graham crackers. Keebler makes a cinnamon swirl shortbread cookie, too ... that would work real well. I like the shortbread cookies, because they have a high butter content ~ so no additional butter is needed to hold the crumbs together when forming the crust.
Next time I make this dessert, I'm going to substitute peanut butter in place of the whipped blueberry-flavored cream cheese ... use crushed peanut butter cookies for the crust ... and sub Smuckers caramel sauce for the blueberry pie filling ... and top it with chopped Butterfinger candy bar! I think I'll call it an Elvis Bomb!
The possibilities are endless.
Chocolate Cake Batter:
1 cup real butter
4 Tablespoons good cocoa (I used Ghirardelli Chocolate)
1 cup strong espresso coffee
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 shot Kahlua - about an ounce (optional)
Mix sugar, flour, and baking soda together in a bowl. Bring butter, cocoa powder and espresso to a boil. Pour cocoa mixture into the flour mixture. Mix well with electric mixer. Add eggs, buttermilk and Kahlua, mix well. Pour into a greased 17"X11"X 1" sheet baking pan and bake at 350 degress for 25 - 30 minutes. Five minutes before cake is done, heat the preserves & mix the frosting.
Raspberry Chipotle Spread:
1 small jar raspberry preserves
1 canned chipotle pepper, stemmed & seeded
Heat preserves in mocrowave, dump into food processor along with 1 chipotle pepper & blend well. Drizzle over top of cake, right when it comes out of the oven....preserves will seep into the cake, then immediately frost the cake.
Frosting:
1 stick butter - room temp
4 Tablespoons cocoa (Ghirardelli Chocolate)
6 Tablespoons milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
Bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil and then add powdered sugar & vanilla. Mix well & frost cake at once (while still hot). Let set to cool to room temp ... cut into squares. Great with a cuppa good strong black mud.....
mais, this sure turned out good ~ a homemade *pimento* cheese spread, sans the pimentos. why, you ask, did i leave out the pimentos? because i didn't HAVE ANY on hand, dat's why! lol
the flavor profile in this cheese spread is dat homemade whole grain/porter mustard dat i made a while back ... and just a splash of dirty dicks ... and a lil' bit of very thinly sliced/chopped onion ... and fresh ground coarse black pepper. killer stuff ... recipe made about 3 pints ... that should git me through the holidays.
Fat Johnny's Coonass Cheese Spread
1/2 pound philly cream cheese, room temp
1/2 pound medium/sharp tillamook cheddar, grated
1/2 pound sharp white tillamook cheddar, grated
hellman's real mayo - about a half cup, mebbe a smidge more
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 heapin' Tbsp whole grain/porter mustard (sub any good creole mustard*)
1 Tbsp Dirty Dick's Oral Abuse (sub yer fav hot sauce)
fresh cracked black pepper
in mixer, blend the cream cheese till smooth - add the mayo, mustard, hot sauce & onions ... blend ... add cheeses & pepper ... blend ... eat. and yes ... if you gots some pimentos laying around ... throw 'em in there, you ain't gonna hurt my feelins!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/chezjohn/csq5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v332/chezjohn/csq3.jpg
* I like Zatarains Creole Mustard the best ... I have to drive to Kansas City to get it. Sometimes I can find some small jars of Luzianne Creole Mustard in Topeka ... it's not bad. Rex Creole Mustard is another very good one. And, as a last resort, this will get you close, Grey Poupon Harvest Coarse Ground.
1 can french onion soup
3 cans water
2 cans (use the soup can) raw, long grain louisiana rice
Tbsp butter
1# lean ground sirloin
1# spicy bulk sausage
couple pieces of hog jowl or bacon
Tbsp bacon grease
5-6 green onions
1/2 yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
4-5 stalks celery, leaves too
8-6 cloves fresh garlic
handful fresh parsley
fire roasted diced tomatoes - about a cup
Worchestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce
Tony's cajun seasoning
oregano, basil, thyme
2-3 bay leaves
salt, black pepper
make the rice the day before, by blending the onion soup and the water in blender till smooth ... then cook the rice in that beefy/onion liquid. chill rice overnight ... this step is not essential, but by adding chilled rice (the following day) to the dirty meat mixture ... the rice tends to not cook any more ... has better texture - not mushy.
start big pot with the bacon fat & diced hog jowl or bacon ... when rendered, add the sausage and ground beef ... cook until nicely browned, then add all the diced veggies ... cook for a couple minutes, then add all the seasonings/wooster/tabasco, etc ... continue cooking for a few more minutes until veggies are cooked ... then turn heat off and fold in the cooked/chilled rice ... mix well ... taste ... correct seasoning ~ badda boom ... cajun dirty rice! makes enough for 10-12 regular people ... or 2-3 cajuns, depending on what kinda hunger they got on'em!
So, I'm pushing things around in my fridge yesterday ~ FIFO ~ and I come across this container of yellow hominy. I had to open two cans of it a couple days ago ... because I needed the cans. LOL - Yep, needed the cans to prop up a mezzanine rack in my Weber kettle so I could offset/smoke 3 corned-beef brisket flats & a whole turkey breast. Sooo, what to do with this nice golden hominy? Got beer...NA <sigh>. Got shredded cheddar. Got flour & cornmeal. Got scallions ... sounds like fixins for some cheezy hominy beer bread, eh? It turned out great, and this morning I sliced off a couple nice thick slices & toasted it ... to go with the homemade smoked corned beef hash I made for breakfast. So good, in fact, I thought I'd haul off & share this new recipe with y'all. It's a dense & moist bread (kinda like a good bananna bread) - I baked it in a metal loaf pan, but would probably be great in a cast iron skillet & baked in a hot (350°) smoker ... or even a muffin pan? Here's my recipe for one loaf, but I doubled it ... because I already had 2 cans of hominy open.
2 ½ cups self rising flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp bacon grease
½ stick butter, melted
2 green onions, chopped (tops too)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can beer
1 can BUSH'S yellow hominy, drained & rough chopped
Mix all ingredients well & turn into a buttered metal bread loaf pan. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes *clean* ... Remove from oven, brush top with melted butter & leave in pan for approx 10 minutes, then remove from pan & invert on wire rack till cooled.
Locally made fresh brats w/apple & onions in them. Pan seared the brats, then in same skillet throw a couple tablespoons butter & pour 1 cup unfiltered apple cider over & oven bake 300° until done...about 30 minutes. Remove brats from pan, and put pan on stovetop burner & reduce the cider/butter liquid down to about 1/2 cup nice thick syrup....then whisk in another TBSP of butter & a dollop of the Creole mustard ... mix well, and drizzle this syrup over the cooked brats & kraut.
To make the kraut:
2-16 oz cans Franks Bavarian Kraut (drained well)
1 med sweet yellow onion, sliced
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 TBSP Creole mustard
1 TBSP dat peach/Habañero stuff
1 TBSP sugar
pinch salt
Mix drained kraut & sliced onions in bowl. Melt the butter & mix in all the other ingredients ... then pour over the kraut/onions ... mix well & turn out into a covered casserole dish. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the onions are cooked. I bake the kraut at the same time I've got the brats in the oven ... takes about the same amount of time.
Enjoy brats/kraut on a good soft bun with lots of good Creole mustard! This kraut also good to make grilled pulled pork (or smoked turkey) reubens on dark rye bread!
Bon Appetito'
Chez
Woke up this morning with fried green tomatoes on my brain. This is what I ended up with ... I just took them out of the oven, and they smell fantastic!!
(The Recipe Makes 2 14" Pizzas)
Dough:
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp salt
lil' olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 packet yeast
Sauce: (make ahead of time)
1 cup Norm Spradlin's Dumplin' Valley Mild
1/4 cup Fat Johnny's homemade peach/habanero preserves
1/4 cup Fat Johnny's homemade Vidalia onion dixie relish
Put the DV sauce & the peach preserves in blender & blend till thick & smooth ... fold in the relish
Fried Green Tomatoes:
4 large, green beefsteak tomatoes - sliced 1/4" thick (about 20 slices)
Seasoned flour (1/2 flour & 1/2 cornmeal + lil' Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning & garlic salt & black pepper)
Fry in bacon grease/Crisco
Remove to rack to drain & cool ... sprinkle with a lil' grated parmesan
2 sticks smoked andouille sausage - sliced thin (like pepperoni)
2 cups shredded, smoked provolone
4 cups pizza blend cheese (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Make the dough, and let rise till double in size (about an hour) ... punch it down & let rise again for about 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, fry the green tomatoes. After second rise, cut dough into 2 equal portions, and roll them out to fit 14" pizza pans. Dock the panned dough & divide the sauce equally on the 2 pizzas, and spread it out to the edges.
Spread 1 cup of smoked provolone on each pizza...covering the sauce. Cut all the fried green tomatoes in half, and arrange them evenly ... on top of the provolone ... on each pizza. Now spread half of the pizza cheese over the tomatoes (1 cup per pizza) ... then arrange the sliced andouille sausage on each pizza ... and finally top with the remaining pizza cheese (1 cup per pizza) ~ sprinkle with a few birdeye chilis, and bake in hot 450° oven for about 15-20 minutes ... until bottoms and edges of crust are browned. Sprinkle with some more parmesan when they come out of the oven ... let cook slightly before slicing.
If you don't have andouille, smoked pulled pork would be very good substitute ...
Bon Appetito'
Chez
Just finished formulating this recipe ... it's a fusion of 2 other recipes, one being a kicked-up banana pudding that I've made many times...and the other being a new recipe someone sent me the other day for a layered eggnog pie. I'll be making this for our family Christmas dinner.
1 bag Pepperidge Farms Chessman cookies
1 bag Pecan Sandies cookies
6-7 ripe banannas
1 ~ 5 ounce pkg. French Vanilla instant pudding
2 cups cold egg nog
1 ~ 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 ~ 14 ounce can sweet condensed milk
1 ~ 12 ounce carton cool whip (thawed)
Smuckers Caramel Sauce
Zest of one orange
Use 9x13 pyrex type glass dish..
Mix the egg nog and the pudding mix together using hand mixer, blend for two minutes. In another bowl blend cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk till smooth. Fold whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, then add pudding mixture and fold that in also..add the orange zest.
Line bottom of the dish with one layer of crushed pecan sandies cookies. Put about 1/3 of the pudding mixture on top of the sandies, and spread it out evenly. Slice the banannas and put them on top of the pudding & cookies....drizzle with several tablespoons of caramel sauce. Put the rest of the pudding mixture on top of the banannas, and spread evenly. Arrange the Chessman cookies on top of the pudding, then drizzle with a lil' more caramel sauce. Let it set up in fridge for a couple hours..
1 bag Pepperidge Farms Chessman cookies
1 can (about 2+ cups) crushed Oreo cookies
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 ripe bananas
2 ~ 3.5 ounce pkg. JELLO Chocolate Fudge instant pudding
2 1/2 cups cold whole chocolate milk
1/2 cup strong espresso, chilled
1 ~ 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temp
1 ~ 14 ounce can sweet condensed milk
1 ~ 12 ounce carton chocolate cool whip (thawed)
Smuckers Caramel Sauce
Piece of semi-sweet chocolate
Use 9x13 pyrex type glass dish..(or 2 smaller ones)
Mix the chocolate milk, espresso and the pudding mix together using mixer, blend for two minutes until nice & smooth & thick. In another bowl blend cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk till smooth. Fold chocolate Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture, then add pudding mixture and fold that in also. Chop the walnuts & mix them with the Oreo cookie crumbs & a lil' melted butter.
Line bottom of the dish with one layer of crushed Oreo cookies & walnuts. Put about 1/3 of the pudding mixture on top of the crust, and spread it out evenly. Slice the bananas and put them on top of the pudding & cookies....drizzle with several tablespoons of caramel sauce. Put the rest of the pudding mixture on top of the bananas, and spread evenly. Using a microplane, grate some semi-sweet chocolate over the top, and arrange the Chessman cookies on top of the pudding, then drizzle with a lil' more caramel sauce. Let it set up in fridge for a couple hours.
I have some good smoked/pulled beerbutt chicken for sandwiches ... but didn't have any bread ~ so I MADE some!! Sure smells good ~ I'm thinking mebbe a smoked chicken muffaletta??
4 cups AP flour, sifted
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 packet quick rise yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 med Vidalia onion, sliced thin & caramelized
2 cups bavarian kraut, drained well & chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, diced fine
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp coarse sea salt
Preheat oven to 375°. In sautee' pan with just a lil' oil, caramelize the onion. Remove about 1/4 of it for later topping the buns, then add the diced jap & kraut to pan with the remaining caramelized onion - turn heat off & let kraut warm.
In 2 cup Pyrex measure put 1/2 cup of the warm water & 1 tsp sugar, mix & add the yeast ... stir & let the yeast bloom (takes about 5 minutes). While yeast is blooming, put the flour, cornmeal, onion powder & Kosher salt in mixing bowl of KA mixer with dough hook ... turn on slow ... add the grated cheese & kraut/onion mixture. Add another cup of warm water to the 1/2 cup you already have with the yeast in it ... giving you 1 1/2 cups of water altogether ... then slowly add this, and the olive oil, to the flour/kraut mixture & let mix with dough hook for about 5 minutes until dough forms. If dough is a lil' wet, add a lil' more flour.
Remove dough & form into big ball ... drop into a greased bowl, cover & set in warm place to rise. When doubled in size, punch down & turn out onto a floured board. Cut into 8 equal pieces ... form into balls ... press into circles of dough about 4-5 inches in diameter & about 1" thick ... arrange on greased baking pan ... butter tops with melted butter, sprinkle with coarse sea salt & top with reserved caramelized onions. Cover loosely, and let rise again ... for about 15-20 minutes ... then bake in 375° oven on middle rack for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to cooling rack & let cool before slicing.
So, I'm lookin' thru the old family recipe box yesterday ... and come across Granny MeMaw's old dessert recipe for something she called *Old Fashioned Butter Rolls* ... made with biscuit dough. I decided to give it a go, but cheated & used a tube of store-bought refrigerated biscuits. I put a lemon spin on them, and they were very good ... couldn't be easier to make. Granny used whole milk, but I think the sauce would be a lil' more decadent if melted vanilla ice cream was used. Further spin on the recipe might be to make a lil' banannas foster ... then let it cool & mash it & spread dat on the rolled out biscuit dough, before rolling it up ~ could also spin it with apple butter & splash a lil' calvados in the sauce?
Basic Recipe:
8 biscuits, rolled out thin
Schmear each flattened biscuit with butter, sugar & nutmeg/cinnamon
Roll 'em up & place in a buttered 9x13 casserole dish
Mix 2 cups milk, 1/3 cup sugar & 2 tsp vanilla extract
Pour this milk mixture over the butter rolls
Bake 350º until browned (about 30 minutes)
Let cool slightly, sauce will thicken a lil'
Serve warm with ice cream
OK, I just made my grocery list ... here's my recipe. Now, if I could just find real muffaletta bread loaves in Kansas....<sigh>
4 cups manzanilla green olives ~ bruised/halved
2 cups ripe black olives ~ bruised/halved
1 cup pickled cauliflower floretts
1 cup mild bananna pepper ring
1 cup pepperoncini peppers ~ stemmed/quartered
1 cup baby pickled pearl onions
1/2 cup red onion ~ sliced thin & rough chop
1/2 cup thin sliced celery & leaves
1/2 cup thin sliced carrot ~ rough chop
1/2 cup roasted red pepper ~ strips
4-5 cloves fresh garlic ~ sliced thin
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp leaf oregano
1 tsp leaf thyme
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp white pepper
Drain & mix well - make a vinagrette with 1 cup olive oil & 1/2 cup olive brine...pour over olive salad & refridgerate for 4-5 days. Great on muffalettas, on pizza....or eaten with a spoon right out of the bowl!! Also makes a great olive/pasta salad when tossed with cooked bowtie pasta...
I just pulled this chicken out the oven ... and by gawd, I think it might just be the best smothered chicken dat ever passed my chops! Tru DAT!! Whooooboy, it's much more better'n good, I garrontee. The secret lies in:
1) The Cajun Power Garlic Sauce (damn, that stuff is good)
2) The fresh herbs (Thanks to Lil' Missy)
3) Using beer to make the sauce, instead of chicken stock
Cajun Power® Sauces - http://www.cajunpowersauce.com/quality/index.html
I just started throwing stuff together & it turned out so well I figured I better write it down. Gonna pass it along to y'all ... give it a go ... it'll make yer cajun friends wanna slap their mamas!! LOL
8 chicken thighs
1 cup flour - seasoned (gran garlic, Tony's, black pepper, salt)
1 lg yellow onion
5-6 roasted Hatch chiles, chopped
1 red habanero pepper, diced
6-8 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can beer
2-3 TBSP
Cajun Power® Garlic Sauce, Original Recipe
3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup AP flour
2 TBSP fresh greek oregano - chopped
1 TBSP fresh thyme - chopped
2 TBSP fresh flat leaf Italian parsley - chopped
Kosher salt
Coarse ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350º
Rinse & trim excess fat/skin from thighs ... throw into bag containing seasoned flour ... shake of excess & begin browning in dutch oven w/a lil' olive oil. When chicken is nice & crusty on both sides, remove from pan & add the onions, peppers & garlic ... sautee for a couple minutes, then add the additional butter & oregano/thyme (save the parsley for later). Now add the flour to the veggies/butter & make a roux ... let roux cook for a minute or so, then add the beer ... stir well ... then add the 2 cans of stewed tomatoes ... then add the Cajun Power sauce ... stir well & let come up to a boil ... it should be nice & thick, like a thick gravy.
Taste & correct seasonings ... salt/pepper ... then add the browned thighs back into the pan, covering them with the sauce. You want the sauce to be a lil' thick at this point, because as the chicken bakes, it will release some more juice into the sauce. Cover with lid, and bake for about an hour ... until nice & tender. Remove from oven, and top with chopped fresh parsley ... serve over rice.
1# pecan halves
1/2 stick butter
1 Tbsp good coonass mustard
1 Tbsp Cajun Power Garlic Sauce
1 Tbsp good Tennessee honey (thank you Wiley)
1 Tbsp L&P Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Melt butter & mix all other ingredients together ... then toss with the pecan halves to coat well ... then turn out on a foil-lined sheet pan ... single layer ... and bake 350* for 10 minutes, toss to turn nuts & return to oven to bake another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned & toasted. Remove from oven & sprinkle with a lil' bit of Tony's ... cool & cover tightly.
Just make these, and toss them with whatever else you want in your party mix. I went with some dem lil' mini-ritz cheese sandwich crackers, some mixed sesame nuts, some pretzel pieces, goldfish & a few cashews. Let the roasted pecans cool a bit, before tossing with all the other stuff (or it will melt the cheese in the mini-ritz thingies) ... then sprinkle with a lil' Tonys.
1 whole boneless pork butt, smoked to plateau ~ 2” chunks (about 6 pounds)
3 med yellow onions, rough chunked
5-6 med Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled & rough chunked
1# package raw carrots, peeled & chunked
6 stalks celery, chunked ~ leaves included
10-12 cloves fresh garlic, sliced
10 green hatch chiles ~ charred, peeled & rough chopped
1 quart home-canned diced tomatoes, with juice
1 quart homemade green chile verde (enchilada sauce)
2 quarts roasted garlic chicken stock
2 cups white navy beans, soaked overnight & drained
1/4 cup Frankensauce (or hot sauce of choice)
2 Tbsp Williams Chili Seasoning
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
3-4 bay leaves
1 tsp leaf oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp course ground black pepper
2-3 Tbsp brown sugar
½ cup bacon fat
¼ cup flour
I have a large, rectangular, non-stick Calphalon roasting pan...4” deep...with handles, that I use to make this in. It fits just right over two of my gas stovetop burners - this recipe makes a full pan - approx 2 gallons.
Heat pan, add ¼ cup bacon grease & begin browning the smoked/cubed pork. Make a roux with the remaining bacon grease and flour ~ set aside. After browning, add the garlic, onions, celery & carrots continue cooking for a few minutes...then add the potatoes, tomatoes & all the chicken stock and the beans. Bring to a slow-rolling boil...and simmer for 15-20 minutes until meat is beginning to get tender. Add the enchilada sauce, green chilis, hot sauce & all the seasonings. Continue to simmer another 15-20 minutes. Add the brown sugar - taste & correct seasoning. Simmer until the pork chunks and beans are fork tender ~ add the roux to thicken. Remove from heat, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.
Serve with cheesy grits and warm flour tortillas with chipotle/honey butter.
Well ... my Dad, God Bless him, wasn't much of a bbq cook. He loved eating the stuff, and he tried to cook out on his el' cheapo grill many times, but he just never got the hang of it. He'd hear Arthur Godfrey talking about bbq on his radio show ... and then he'd come home with a big ol' chuck roast & slather it up with Kraft bbq sauce & throw it on his lil' Western Auto grill over direct heat & just burn the bejesus out of that cheap ol' piece of meat ... but we all ate it & quietly nodded our approval as we gnawed burnt gristle, thankful just to have meat on the table.
Dad's favorite food was fried chicken & biscuits. Fresh, pan-fried chicken ... mashed potatoes & cream gravy ... and scratch buttermilk biscuits. So, just about every Father's Day that's what Mom made for him. I'm not gonna get my pan-fried chicken today, but I did make some scratch biscuits. They're a lil' different than what Mom used to make, but I think Dad would approve.
Happy Father's Day to all you Patio Daddy-Os out there!
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick cold butter, cut into lil' cubes
1/4 cup milk (cold)
3/4 cup dairy sour cream
2 Tbsp fresh snipped chives
Mix dry ingredients in bowl, then add the butter pieces & cut them into the flour with a fork. Add the sour cream, milk & chives, stir with wooden spoon just until dough forms. Don't overwork it! Turn dough onto floured board & cut biscuits - put on lightly greased pan & bake preheated 400° oven for about 12-13 minutes.
Fat Johnny's Taboule Salad - Just made this to take to a dinner tonight. Homegrown t'maters RULE!
6 med, ripe red tomatoes & 3 ripe golden roma tomatoes (diced, juice reserved)
2 cups toasted, cracked bulgar wheat
1 cup hot tap water
1 cup reserved fresh tomato juice
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded & diced
3 bunches green onions, cleaned & diced (green tops also)
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 large bunch of parsley, stemmed, picked & chopped
Fine zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 4-5 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
Good EVOO - about 2/3 cup
White pepper - to taste
Cumin - scant teaspoon
Kosher salt - to taste
Dice the tomatoes & put in a strainer over a bowl to catch the juice. Put the bulgar wheat in a bowl & pour the hot water & reserved tomato juice over it ... mix well, cover with film & let sit for 1 hour. While the bulgar is re-hydrating, clean & chop all the other veggies. Mix the diced/drained tomatoes & all the other veggies together. Add the lemon juice & seasonings .. but don't add the EVOO yet.
When the bulgar has soaked up all the water/juice ... it should about double in size. Dump it into a fine strainer & drain/gently press out any excess water. Dump the drained bulgar into the veggie mixture, and mix well. It should not be *soupy* ... but if it's a lil' wet, let it sit for a while & the bulgar will continue to soak up some of the juices. Now add the olive oil, mix, taste & correct the seasonings. Cover & chill for several hours. Serve with pita bread, feta cheese, black olives & grilled chicken breast strips....
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
whole jar (1.5 oz.) birdeye chilis (also called red pepper flakes or crushed red pepper)
zest & juice of 4 fresh limes
4-5 cloves fresh garlic - minced very fine
1 pint wild sand plum jelly
1 tsp salt
Boil the vinegar & sugar, stirring often, until it reduces by about 1/3 ... remove from heat & add the pepper flakes, lime zest & juice, and the minced garlic. Mix well, then add the jar of plum jelly. The jelly will become liquid when it's mixed in with the hot vinegar/syrup. Let cool, stirring often - it will thicken slightly, when it cools. Taste, and add salt as needed. Bottle it when cool ~ great finishing glaze for pork chops, grilled chicken breasts, etc.
This recipe makes about 3 pints...
Milk Bath:
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon Tabasco
Let wings soak in bath for 5 minutes or so then coat with the following flour/meal mixture by shaking them in a bag.
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1 Tbs White pepper
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 Tbs Freshly cracked black pepper
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp
Zatarain's Creole Seasoning
Let the breaded wings sit in refrigerator for a while -- long enough to get a fire built, started and the grill started.
Grill over med to moderate heat in the Weber Kettle, not a smoker - using some hickory wood.
Melt one stick butter and add equal amount of Tabasco. Dunk wings in this mixture & serve with good bleu cheese dip & celery sticks.
Triple-Decker Thickburger ... Fat Johnny Style ~ Ground the beef myself, flame-broiled over real hardwood charcoals ... topped with thick, grilled slices of sweet Texas 1015 onions
The onions are new crop Texas 1015 supersweets. They just hit the market last week ... very good onions ... they usually come to market about a month before the Vidalias do. I think I actually like the 1015s better, because they seem to have less water content than the Vidalias ... sometimes the Vidalias get too mushy, but that's neither here nor there.
I grilled 8 big burgers today, so I took 2 whole 1015 onions - trimmed & peeled them, then cut each whole onion into 4 thick slices, giving me a slice of onion for each burger...leaving the rings intact. After the burgers were cooked & the coals were still very hot ... lay the onions on the grill, season them ... after 4-5 minutes, flip 'em over...season the other side, cook another 4-5 minutes...then brush the onions with a lil' bbq sauce flip & cook just a few more minutes until the sauce & onions git a lil' burn on 'em ~
Bon Appetito'
Chez
12-14 sm/med baby new potatoes (garden fresh)
1/2 pound bacon
2-3 bermuda onions - sliced, about 1 cup (garden fresh) 1/4 cup green tops reserved
2 cloves fresh garlic - thin sliced
2 TBSP flour
2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP kosher salt
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp cracked black pepper
6 TBSP red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 TBSP good Creole mustard
Put whole potatoes on to boil ... do not peel & don't overcook ... cook just until tender, drain & reserve.
Cut bacon into 1/2" pieces & render until just crispy ... remove bacon from pan, and add the onions & garlic to the bacon grease & sautee' until soft. Add all the other dry ingredients to the onions, and cook for a couple minutes ` making a roux. Now add the vinegar & water, and stir until thickened. Add the creole mustard, and mix well.
Slice the warm potatoes into a bowl, pour warm dressing over & gently mix ... try not to break up the slices too much. Taste, and correct seasoning. Serve at room temp, or slightly warm.
Marinated the chicken overnight in the olive oil/vinegrette that I saved off a couple jars of the homemade giardineria mix, blended with a dollop of dijon mustard & a lil' fresh lemon juice. Grilled direct about 8-10 minutes per side, then moved indirect & threw a couple chunks of applewood on the coals ... smoked for about an additional hour. Seasoned with kosher salt & a lil' Cavenders spice ... topped with the giardineria. Mighty fine grinding.......
5-6 fresh apples - peeled, cored rough dice
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven 350º
Mix apples & sugar ... add nuts, eggs, oil, vanilla & zest ... mix ... add the dry ingredients & mix well ... fold out into buttered 13x9 casserole dish ... bake about an hour, till done.
Fried Coldwater Walleye from Northern Minnesota ... Very Tender & Flaky.
I marinated the fish for a couple hours in some homemade buttermilk, then removed from the buttermilk, shaking off the excess, and threw into a bag containing a seasoned breading mix of:
1 part flour
1 part white cornmeal
1 part yellow cornmeal.
Shake to coat evenly & deep fry 350º until it begins to float (6-8 minutes) ... drain & sprinkle with a lil' Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning ... splash of Tabasco & squeeze of fresh lemon.
Here's how I make my tomato pudding ... it's the way my Granny used to make it. Never wrote the recipe down, I guess mebbe I ought to someday.
2 quarts canned homegrown tomatoes
2 cups of sugar
1 stick of butter
6-7 day-old Cathead Biscuits
salt & pepper
Dump all the tomatoes into a pan on stovetop, add all the sugar except for 1/4 cup, and about 3/4 of the stick of butter. Heat tomatoes/sugar & butter until sugar and butter are dissolved & tomatoes are hot. Add salt & pepper to taste.
Break all the biscuits into chunks in a casserole dish & pour the tomatoe mixture over them. Top with the remaining sugar, and dot top with the remaining 1/4 stick of butter. Bake in 350° oven until bubbly & browned on top. Let cool to room temp before serving. I like it cold, too.
Made a couple of pints of homemade mustard today ... easy to make ... using Coleman's dry mustard, some brown and yellow mustard seeds, cider vinegar, white and brown sugar, several eggs, salt, couple of chopped chipotles and some honey. My recipe makes 2 pints ... so I made the mustard ... filled the wide mouth jar with the plain Sweet/Hot Mustard ... then added a couple of chopped chipotles and the honey to the remaining mustard, stirred it in good, then filled the second pint (regular mouth) jar with the Chipotle/Honey Mustard. The mustard was still warm when I took these pics ... it's been in the fridge for a couple of hours now, and has set up nicely ... nice and thick. Can't wait to try it on some smoked pulled pork or smoked turkey ... or a fattie!!
Sweet/Hot Mustard
1 1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 4 oz can Coleman's dry mustard
1/4 cup yellow and brown mustard seeds - mixed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
Chipotle/Honey Mustard
Couple chopped chipotles
1/4 cup honey
Crush the mustard seeds, then put them in a bowl with the vinegar and nuke for 2-3 minutes ... let cool slightly, then mix in all the dry mustard. Let sit for a couple of hours. Then, mix in the sugars, salt and beaten eggs, and cook in double boiler until thickens - about 20 minutes. At this point, you can turn into jars, or mix in the chipotle and/or honey. Best to let it sit in fridge for a couple of days before using ... flavors meld, and it gets smoother. Keeps in fridge 3-4 months.
Homemade Pastrami that I made from scratch ... using tri-tip for the meat. I cured the tri-tip for about 5-6 days first, using a dry cure ... then smoked it to 165º internal, using a mild wood (probably apple, don't remember exactly) ~ it was excellent pastrami. I chilled it before slicing for the pics ... but it definitely tasted better right off the smoker, even though it didn't slice as cleanly.
Two different rubs ... the Dry Cure Rub, and the Cooking Rub. Coat the meat with dry cure, into gallon size ziploc baggie & store in fridge for 4-5 days - flipping daily. On fifth day, rinse dry cure off ... and coat the meat with the cooking rub. Smoke to 165º internal. I've done this with brisket flats, tri-tip & turkey breast - all work good.
Additionally ... if you have any cure/rub leftover ... mix them together, add a lil' cayenne pepper & cure some cheap pork steaks or country-style pork ribs ... after 4 days of curing, transfer them to smoker (leave the rub on them) ... voila' ... tasso
Pastrami Dry Cure
1 cup Tender Quick
1 cup black pepper
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated garlic
½ cup ground coriander
Pastrami Cooking Rub
1 cup coarse black pepper
¼ cup coarse ground coriander seeds
¼ cup granulated garlic
¼ cup cracked mustard seeds
And, I'll sometimes use TVWB's Pastrami Making Process when I'm using a Brisket Flat.
The Pickled Veggies & Spices:
1 pint Fat Johnny's B&B Japs, drained (liquid reserved)
1 pint green olives w/ pimento, chopped
1 12 oz jar pepperoncini peppers, halved
1 6 oz jar capers
5-6 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin
1 Tbsp leaf oregano
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
The Fresh Veggies:
1/2 head cauliflower, small florettes
1 red bell pepper, 1/2" dice
1 green bell pepper, 1/2" dice
1 yellow bell pepper, 1/2" dice
1 Vidalia onion, sliced
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
3 carrots, peeled & sliced
The Brine:
1 cup olive oil, plus all the brine from the olives, pepperoncini, capers & b&b japs ... heat to boil.
Mix all the drained pickled veg in bowl, add the fresh garlic & spices ... pour 1/2 cup olive oil over & mix well. Set aside. Bring the brine/oil mixture to a boil.
Cut up all the fresh veggies, into big bowl & cover with salt water (1/2 cup salt & 1/2 gallon water). Let sit in brine for 2-3 hours, then drain brine off & rinse in cold water. Drain well, then mix in the pickled veggies. Mix the 2 together real well ... and spoon the mixture into sterilized jars. Top the jarred mix with the brine/oil & seal jars ... give a boiling water bath & remove to rack to cool & seal lids.
Holiday Party Snack Food Idea
Made a batch of Jezebel Sauce today ... good stuff ... zippy, yet sweet. The plan is to make a layered spread with 1# of cream cheese on bottom (mebbe a lil' honey & green onions folded into the cream cheese) ... then top the cream cheese with some smoked/pulled pork, and then drizzle this Jezebel Sauce over the pork. Will serve with sliced baguette/crostini or bagel chips. I think this would be good, substituting flaked/smoked salmon for the pork, too.
Jezebel Sauce
1 jar pineapple preserves
1 jar apple jelly
1 small jar horseradish
1 small can dry mustard
1 T coarse black pepper
Mix well ... room temp ~ do not heat/cook it.
I first heard of this sauce back in the early 70's ... when I was working in New Orleans and as I understand it, it was first made by the Gullah people, in the Deep South. They used fresh peach preserves & fresh-grated horseradish root. It's also made with apricot preserves, and even cranberries. The idea is to create a fruity/sweet/hot/peppery mixture. It's great on baked ham.
1 cup yellow corn meal (Bob's Red Mill - med stone ground)
3/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP sugar
pinch salt
1 can whole kernal corn - drained
1 can cream style corn
1/2 stick butter - melted
2 eggs - beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 fresh green jalapeno - seeded & diced fine
1 fresh red jalapeno - seeded & diced fine
1/4 cup fine diced onion
1/4 cup diced tasso
Mix dry ingredients ... then mix in all the wet ingredients ... turn out into a buttered 2 qt lidded casserole ... bake preheated 350º covered for approx 45 minutes until almost set, then take lid off & finish baking uncovered another 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven & brush top with melted butter & dust with Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning. Let cool slightly before serving. Great with smoked/bbq pork.
OK, this is my original recipe that I use to make this corn casserole all the time. However, a couple days ago when I made it...I didn't have any shredded cheddar or jack cheese ... all I had was a package of cream cheese...so the second recipe here is how I made those Fried Kaw-Cajun Creamy Corn Pones.
1 can whole kernel corn, drained (Mexican Corn is good)
1 can creamstyle corn
1 box Jiffy Cornbread mix
½ stick butter, melted
2 whole eggs
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 cups shredded pepper jack or cheddar cheese
½ cup thin sliced scallions - green parts too
1 stick andouille sausage (bout ½ pound), small dice
Pinch of salt & white pepper
Mix all ingredients together, reserving ½ cup of shredded cheese. Turn batter into a buttered 2 quart casserole & bake covered, in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes. Remove lid and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup shredded cheese on top, and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes, lid off...until cheese is melted and casserole is done. Let set for 10-15 minutes before serving. Great with BBQ, or pork chops.
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamstyle corn
1 box Jiffy Cornbread mix
½ stick butter, melted
2 whole eggs
8 oz shredded cream cheese
½ cup thin sliced scallions - green parts too
Pinch of salt & white pepper
1 cup crushed bbq corn chips
Put the package of cream cheese in the freezer to firm up. Preheat oven to 350° & butter a 2 1/2 qt lidded casserole dish. In big bowl, mix well the 2 cans of corn, melted butter & beaten eggs. Add the onions & cornbread mix & mix again. Now, take cream cheese out of freezer & shred it into the bowl, using one dem box graters. Add seasonings, mix well & turn out into buttered dish - bake covered for 30-35 minutes ... then remove lid & sprinkle crushed chips on top & bake uncovered for another 10 minutes until done.
Refrigerate overnight. Next day, cut cold casserole into thick slices...roll in crushed chips that fall off the top as you are cutting it, and fry in butter in skillet 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown & heated through. Great for breakfast.
Homemade smoked beef stock
Onions
Mustard greens
Okra
Celery
Barley
Corn
Tomatoes
Fresh garlic
Oregano
Thyme
Filé (ground/powdered sassafras leaves)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Cayenne pepper
Bacon roux - med/dark
Worchestershire sauce
Red pepper flakes
Leftover smoked brisket
I got this recipe from Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri ... "The Home Of The Throwed Roll". I used to stop at this restaurant all the time, when I was traveling between Kansas City & Memphis.
1 pkg. dry active yeast
1/4 C. tepid water (105 - 110°)
1 C. warm milk
1/4 C. melted butter
1/4 C. sugar
1 egg beaten (at room temp)
1 tsp. salt
4 C. all-purpose flour
Combine the 1 tsp. of sugar and yeast in tepid water. Let stand 5 - 10 min. until yeast begins to foam.
Thoroughly mix milk, butter, sugar, egg and salt in large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and 3 1/2 C. of the flour, adding a bit more if necessary to make a soft pliable dough. Turn dough out on floured board and let rest while you clean and butter bowl. Knead dough gently, 4 - 5 minutes, adding flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and silky. Return to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in size.
Butter a 12 cup muffin tin. Punch down dough. Pinch off pieces about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (enough to fill 1/2 of muffin cup), and roll into smooth spheres. Place two such pieces in each prepared muffin cup (It should be a tight fit). Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap for 45 min.
Preheat oven to 350º. Bake rolls 20 - 25 min. or until light brown. Serve as soon as they are cool enough to throw. Makes 12 rolls.
Manly Sandwich Buns Instead of Little Biscuits - Just make dat roll recipe I posted ... Then instead of pinching off lil' dough balls, just cut the whole thing into 6 equal pieces (about the size of a baseball) and flatten them into rounds about 1" thick. Lay the rounds on a buttered sheet pan, cover them with a clean kitchen towel & put them back in a warm place & let them rise until they are about 2" tall ... Then pop them into a 350° oven - about 15-18 minutes.
Phred asked, "Hey, any good ideas for chicken salad other than just mayo?"
To which ChezJohn replied, "If you're going to be smoking the chicken ... mebbe carry through on that theme & make a chipotle flavored mayo ~ smoked chipotle chicken salad? To make a chipotle mayo, just get a lil' can of chipotles in adobo ... mebbe 1 finely chopped chipotle & a lil' of dat adobo sauce per 1 cup of mayo? Squeeze of fresh lime ... mebbe a lil' fresh chopped cilantro, etc
I also have a great recipe for Mediterranean chicken salad ... learned to make it when I was Chef at a Mediterranean Bistro in Kansas City, years ago ~ lemme know if you wanna tray dat one, and I'll dig it up."
And then JGBFool requested, "Hey Chez, if you can dig that recipe up, I'd love to give it a try. Other than adding some Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt, I am short on ideas on how to jazz up chicken salad. Any advice would be greatly appreciated."
And lastly, ChezJohn complied with, "JGB ~ here's all that I have written down ... we never measured anything when making it. This is an *entree* chicken salad, not a sandwich chicken salad ... I make it every summer, for my sister, on her birthday. I like to serve it on a bed of crisp bib lettuce, in a fresh cantalope ring, with some fresh grapes & a couple lemon wedges on the side.
After poaching the chicken, cook the fettuccini in the same chicken stock, drain ... then kinda break up the strands of pasta into lil' shorter pieces ... toss the pasta and poached chicken together, and add all the other veggies, etc. Then make the dressing, with the mayo, honey, mustard, lemon juice, curry/tumeric, etc ... fold chicken/pasta/dressing together ... taste ... salt & pepper ... chill & serve.
Whenever I make this, I also serve it with some grilled pita bread & hummus drizzled with EVOO~~"
boneless chicken breast - cut in 2x1" strips, then poached in chicken stock
fettuccini noodles
fresh carrot matchsticks
red bell pepper strips
green bell pepper strips
garden bermuda onion or green onions, chopped
fresh Italian parsley
fresh basil
marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
black olives
mayo
honey
fresh lemon juice
whole grain maille mustard
thin sliced fresh garlic
curry powder
tumeric
fenageek - optional
red pepper flakes
kosher salt
white pepper
"I just remembered that I had a pic of this chicken salad ... took this pic the last time I made it. I used penne pasta that time, and it looks like I must have had some pepperoncini peppers on hand, too. Can't really see a lot of chicken in it, but trust me, it's in there. Good stuff." ChezJohn
Here's my recipe for a *Piedmont-style* BBQ Sauce, using a sweet KC type sauce as a base.
1 cup sweet KC style BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)
2 cups cider vinegar
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp celery seed
2 Tbsp L&P Worcestershire
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp onion powder
Mix well in saucepan & bring to slow-rolling boil ~ boil for about 5 minutes. Let cool & bottle in pint jars w/ lids ... keep in fridge. Gets mellow with age.
3# slab thick-sliced bacon - cut in 1/3
2# DARK brown sugar
1/4 cup 6-Pepper Blend
Mix the sugar & pepper blend together.
Separate sections of bacon in large pan & start mixing in the sugar mixture. It gets messy ... but so what! Continue to press the sugar into the bacon pieces ... it will begin dissolving ... continue until it's completely dissolved into syrup ... no dry/loose sugar in the pan.
Cover sheet pans with foil, lay the bacon out on the foiled pans ... and smoke, uncovered, for 1.5 - 2 hours @ approx 225-230° - when the bacon is done, remove to clean serving platter using tongs. Let cool slightly - betcha cain't eat just one!! heheheh
CandyManChez
BTW, save dat sweet liquid piggy candy love that renders itself & use it in yer next batch of baked beans ... or baste a ham with it ... or brush yer teeth with it.........<g>
1 box Vanilla Wafers - crushed
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs - separated
1 15 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup chopped marachino cherries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tub Cool Whip whipped topping
Cream butter & sugar until smooth. Add yolks, cream well. Add cherries, pineapple & nuts.
Beat whites till stiff. Fold into creamed mixture. Fold in whipped topping. Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with 2/3 of the crushed wafers. Pour filling over wafers & top filling with remaining wafers. Chill covered for 2-3 hours.
This makes about 1 cup of relish ... but it's so good, I recommend making a double batch. It would be great on scrambled eggs, on a burger, on tacos, etc ... you'll think of lots of uses for it. I wanna mix some in with raw hamburger, then make the patties & grill them ... top with jack cheese & mebbe a lil' quacamole?? LOL
12 green jalapeno peppers
4 ripe red jalapenos
1/2 large vidalia onion
3-4 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP sugar
Salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
Preheat oven broiler. Stem, halve & seed all the japs. Throw them into a bowl & splash them with a couple TBSP olive oil, salt & pepper. Toss well & dump them out on a baking pan, turning them all cut side down. Slice the onion & throw it into the same bowl ... lil' olive oil, salt & pepper & the sugar. The sugar helps the onion caramelize mo' bettah. Tos & dump it out on the same baking pan ... keep onions separate from the japs ... because the japs will cook faster than the onions. Slice the pan underf the broiler & roast/char everything. When blistered, remove & let cool enough to handle ... chop everything up & mix together ... adding the oil from the pan. Dat's it!! Easy peasy.
This is the recipe I use for creole butter ... I also use this to inject in turkeys I'm gonna smoke or deep-fry. Scottie is a lawyer in Chicago, and cooks in bbq comps all around the country.
1/2 can of Beer
1/2 lb. Butter
1 tsp. BBQ Rub (any mild BBQ rub will do)
2 tsp. Paprika
1-1/2 tsp. White Pepper
1-1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
1-1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Coleman's Dry Mustard
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp. Tabasco
Let mixture cool a bit and then inject.
I roasted a bunch of Hatch chiles today, then converted the kettle to a smoker & smoked a meatloaf that was stuffed with a bunch of chopped roasted green chiles.
Here's a Coupla Pics of the Smoked Meatloaf: One with Real Mashed Potatoes with a Caramelized Onion/Roasted Garlic Cajun Gravy and another of it Smothered with a lil' dat Homemade Cajun Onion Gravy.
Meatloaf was made with 85/15 ground chuck ... mixed in some Pickapeppa Sauce, a couple beaten eggs, salt & pepper, lil' cumin, chopped fresh parsley & green onions, chopped roasted Hatch chiles & a whole head of roasted garlic ~ mix all together, formed into a loaf & put on a 16" metal pizza pan & dusted with a lil' chili powder.
I had my Weber kettle fired up & was roasting Hatch chiles over direct hot coals ... then when all the chiles were roasted, I pushed all the hot coals to one side & put a piece of hickory wood on top the hot coals ... and put the meatloaf (on the pizza pan) in the kettle & put the lid on. The temp was running around 350º-360º ... smoked the meatloaf for about 45 minutes, then lifted the pizza pan out & poured off the juice & grease, then topped the meatloaf with a couple cups of sauce & put it back into the smoke for about another 30 minutes - cooked to internal temp of 165º.
The sauce was a homemade bbq-type sauce I made a couple weeks ago, completely from scratch starting with homegrown tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, etc ... to which I added a lil' more brown sugar & some chipotle.
The smoked meatloaf did have a lil' bit of a smoke ring ... but not a lot because it was only exposed to smoke for about an hour ... and not a LOT of smoke, at that. Also, since the meatloaf was sitting on a pan ... only the top of the meatloaf was exposed to smoke. That's not to say that it didn't have a smoky flavor ... it did, and it was just right. Modesty aside ... it was the best meatloaf I ever ate, by far.
Hot meatloaf sandwiches for supper tonight!!!
Hey dere, Q'Haids...how y'all are? I had a productive day in the kitchen, and was so pleased with a hot German Potato Salad that I made...that I was just writing down the recipe & adding it to my files...and thought I'd share. It's a winner. I now officially have more tomatoes than I know what to do with...so tomorrow I'm gonna make a fresh gazpacho, and a batch of fresh salsa. Beer-butt chickens tomorrow night on the Weber...and that should keep me in grub through the weekend.
8-10 med Yukon Gold potatoes
1 med Vadalia onion, sliced thin
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped coarse
½ pound bacon
1 Tbsp Coonass mustard
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup cider vinegar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup flour
Salt
White pepper
Celery seed
Slowly boil the whole potatoes with skin on, until just tender when poked with a knife tip. Do not overcook. Carefully drain, and let cool at room temp for several hours.
Cook the bacon, reserving about ¼ cup bacon grease in the frying pan. Coarse chop the cooked bacon, and set aside. Add the flour to the pan with the bacon grease, and make a roux. Add the vegetable stock, vinegar and sugar...stirring until it thickens and comes to the boil. Remove from heat, and add the celery seed and mustard. Stir well, and season to taste with salt and white pepper.
Peel the potatoes, slice and toss in a big bowl with the thinly sliced onions & the chopped bacon. Pour the hot sauce over the potatoes, onions & bacon...and mix well. Add the chopped hard boiled eggs & mix again, tasting & adding more salt or pepper to taste.
Let sit for 10-15 minutes, and serve warm with a dollop of sour cream on the side....or serve cold. It's great both ways, and goes well with smoked pork or *beer butt* chicken.
16-20 med/large jalapeno peppers - halved lengthwise & seeded
1# sliced bacon - cut in half = 32-40 half slices
Put 40-50 round wooden toothpicks in bowl of water
8 oz Philly Cream Cheese
8 oz tub whipped Philly Cream Cheese - onion/chive
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup chopped crawfish tails - cooked
1 Tbsp fine diced pepperoni (8-10 slices)
2 pineapple rings - diced fine, excess juice pressed out
8-10 black olives - diced fine, drained well
1 tsp Coonass mustard
2/3 cup fine shredded cheddar cheese
Split & seed jalapenos - set aside. Cut slab of bacon in half & set aside @ room temp to get soft & flexible. Mix the two kinds of cream cheese, the honey & lime juice together until soft & smooth. Fold in the crawfish, pepperoni, pineapple, olives & mustard. Mix well, then add the shredded cheddar & lightly mix. Fill each jalapeno pepper half with the cheese mixture, and put them on a platter & refridgerate for about a helf hour...to firm up the cheese (it's easier to roll w/bacon when they firm up). Roll each stuffed jalapeno with 1/2 slice of bacon & secure with wet toothpick. Sprinkle top with a lil' Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning...
Smoke/cook on smoker or Weber kettle (cheese side up) using indirect heat...temp 250°-275° for about 30-35 minutes...until bacon is done and peppers are al dente' ~ no need to turn over, etc. When done, remove to platter, and let set @ room temp for a few minutes before serving. I drizzled with a mixture of lime juice, honey & Worchestershire when they were on the platter, and served with a bowl of ranch dressing for dipping!
12 cups homemade stock (ham bones/chicken bones/shrimp shells, etc)
6 ½ cups Uncle Ben's Converted Rice
3# spicy andouille sausage - chunks
4-5 smoked chicken breasts - cubed
1# smoked pulled pork
3 green bell peppers - rough chop
2 med yellow onions - rough chop
6 stalks of celery - leaves included - chopped
2 bunches green onions - chopped
2 whole fresh garlic bulbs - (20+cloves) - sliced
4 carrots - cut into matchsticks
2 qt. jars Newman's Diablo sauce
2 - 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
5-6 ounces homemade hot sauce (or Tabasco)
3-4 Tbsp sugar - to taste
Seasonings: (to taste)
2 Tbsp Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1 tsp Granulated onion
1 tsp Granulated garlic
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black pepper
1 tsp Whole thyme leafs
6 Bay leafs
In large dutch oven on stovetop burner, heat the Diablo sauce and tomato sauce. Sauté all the veggies and garlic, using a lil' olive oil, and dump them into the sauce in the dutch oven. Add the hot sauce, sugar & all the other spices and simmer for a few minutes. Add the cubed chicken and pulled pork. Sauté the andouille sausage...browning it a lil' bit...and add it to the sauce. Stir well, and adjust seasonings. The sauce should be HOT & SPICY...and THICK with goodies. Let sauce simmer on low heat while rice is cooking.
Heat stock in large roaster pan on stovetop burner - add rice, stir well - cover pan with foil and put in preheated 400º oven and bake until rice has completely absorbed all the liquid. Will take about 30-40 minutes - stir well after about 20 minutes...cover & return to oven until done. When rice is done, remove from oven...stir & fluff it well with big wooden spoon...then dump all the sauce/meat mixture in the rice and stir well. Cover with foil, and let set for 10-15 minutes...until the sauce is absorbed with the rice. Serve with Tabasco on the side, and cornbread & butter. Will feed 18-20 normal people....or 6-8 Cajuns, depending on what kind of hunger they got on 'em!
Southside Johnny's Ragin' Cajun Beans - An adaptation of Big Mamaw's *Old Settler's Beans*...sometimes known as Trailer Park Chili
2# lean ground beef
1# spicy Italian sausage (bulk)
1 yellow onion - diced
1 Tbsp fresh garlic - minced
1# maple flavored bacon - cut in ½ inch pieces & fried (retain about 1/3 cup drippings)
1 can pork & beans (31 oz) - do not drain
1 can ranch pinto beans w/jalapeno's (17 oz) - drained
1 can lima beans (17 oz) - drained
1 can dark red kidney beans (17 oz) - drained
1 cup Pico De Gallo
1 cup light brown sugar - packed
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
4 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1 cup catsup
1 cup bbq sauce - thick/sweet one (Smokin'Lizards Spicy Original)
4 Tbsp molasses
half dozen or so generous splashes of yer favorite hot sauce
2 Tbsp Williams chili seasoning
2 t salt
1 t black
pepper
Brown meats, adding minced garlic last few minutes of cooking. Transfer to BIG mixing bowl. Fry bacon, add cooked bacon to meat mixture in big bowl. Sweat onions in 1/3 cup bacon drippings. Add to big bowl, bacon grease n' all. Mix meats, bacon & onions well. Add ALL the other ingredients to the big bowl. Now you know why I say: BIG BOWL, eh? Mix everything together real well.
Transfer to a baking dish, and bake covered for 30 minutes in 350º oven. Remove cover, stir well...and bake uncovered for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for about 15-20 minutes before eating....will thicken slightly as it cools a lil'.
It's gooder'n all git out, I garrontee!! Will feed 8-10 regular folks, or 2-3 Cajuns.... depending on what kinda hunger they got on 'em.
Lassize Les Bon Temps Rouller
Chez Johnny
Diced and Sautee'd:
Red Bell Pepper
Zucchini & Yellow Squash
Bermuda Onion
Fresh Garlic
Carrots
Fresh Spinach
Pepperoni
1/2 Sleeve Saltine Crackers, Crushed
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Eggs
Oregano
Basil
5# fresh green jalapenos (plus about 10 red ripe ones)
2# sliced Vidalia onions
10-12 cloves fresh garlic
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 lemon, sliced
The Brine:
4 1/2 cups cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp pickling spice
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp tumeric
juice of 1/2 lemon
Slice all the japs - discard stems
Put all sliced japs in big bowl & fill with cold water - stir
Most of the seeds will settle to bottom - separate, drain & repeat
Add the rinsed sliced japs back to big bowl & mix in the sliced onions
Reserve 1 slice of lemon and 1 whole clove of garlic for each jar
Slice all remaining garlic & add it plus lemon zest to the japs - mix
Drop 1 lemon slice & 1 garlic in each hot, sterile jar
Tightly pack each jar with the japs/onion/sliced garlic/lemon zest
Mix all brine ingredients in saucepan & bring to boil
Fill each jar with hot brine - leaving 1/4 inch top space
Wipe tops of jars, and put lids on
6-8 minute boiling water bath
Let cool at room temp - make sure all jars seal
Let them *age* for at least a week before eating
Great with BBQ, Mexican food and with pizza
1 boneless pork butt - about 6 pounds
Beef chuck - about 4 pounds
2 cups beer
1/2 cup dry powdered milk
2 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp cayenne
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp chopped fresh garlic
1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp coriander
1 Tbsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp thyme
2 Tbsp Tender Quick
1/2 cup TC's hot jawjah piedmont pecker mash (optional)
Grind the meats together, mix well, then grind again. Add all the spices & powdered milk to the beer ... mix well, then pour the beer/spice slurry into the ground meats & mix really well. Stuff into casings. Best when smoked or grilled ...
1 bag Pepperidge Farms Chessman cookies
1 can (about 2+ cups) crushed Oreo cookies
2 ~ 3.5 ounce pkg. JELLO Butterscotch instant pudding
3 cups cold whole milk
1 ~ 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temp
1 ~ 14 ounce can sweet condensed milk
1 ~ 12 ounce carton Cool Whip
Smuckers Butterscotch Sauce - optional
Use 9x13 pyrex type glass dish..(or 2 10-inch pie shells)
Mix the milk and the pudding mix together using mixer, blend for two minutes until nice & smooth & thick. In another bowl blend cream cheese with sweetened condensed milk till smooth. Fold Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture, then add pudding mixture and fold that in also.
Line bottom of the 9X13 dish with a layer of crushed Oreo cookies & drizzle with butterscotch sauce. Dump the butterscotch pudding mixture in the dish, level it out & arrange the Chessman cookies on top of the pudding ... then drizzle with a lil' more butterscotch sauce. Let it set up in fridge for a couple hours.
I've seen a couple posts recently that lead me to believe this chart might be helpful. These are the temps that I go by, and with a variance of +/- a few degrees, they are pretty much standard in the bbq universe. There are those who do not subscribe to the *low & slow* method ... but I believe it's the best way to produce good bbq. Generally speaking, the cheaper the cut of meat ... the more fat it has in it, and the lower & slower it should be cooked. Leaner cuts of meat (and poultry) do not benefit from long, low & slow cooks. Yes ... you CAN smoke a chicken *low & slow* ... and you CAN cook a steak in the microwave also ~ it's just not the best method.
I cook on WSMs and I measure pit temps thru a hole in top vent. The degree of variance between dome temp & grate temp is not enough that I concern myself with it. It's generally thought that dome temp runs about 10º hotter than the top grate...close enough for gubmint work, eh? I use sand in my water pan, for a heat sink on long, low & slow cooks ... and for chicken & ribs, I take it out completely ... no water OR sand ... no heat sink needed.
Beef Steaks & Roasts
Rare ~ 125º
Med Rare ~ 135º
Medium ~ 145º
Med Well ~ 155º
Well Done ~ over 155º
Beef Low & Slow BBQ ~ Packer Briskets, Chuck Rolls & Shoulder Clods (Pit Temp 225-250º)
Plateau around 160-170º
For thin slicing ~ 185º
For pulling/shredding OR thick slicing ~ 200º
Brisket Flats (Pit Temp 250-275º)
Plateau around 160-170º
For thin slicing ~ 185º
For pulling/shredding OR thick slicing ~ 195-200º
Pork Loin - Boneless (Pit Temp 275-325º)
For thick slicing ~ 145-150º
Pork Butts and Shoulder for BBQ (Pit Temp 225-250º)
Will plateau 160-170º
For slicing - 185º
For pulling/shredding - 200º
Poultry - Chicken/Turkey (Pit Temp 325-350º)
White meat / breast - 165º
Dark meat / thighs - 175º
sano asked, "Chez, you ever actually compare start vs finished weights?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To which ChezJohn replied, "used to calculate *shrinkage* and *yield* all the time ... it's the only way you can accurately figure your food costs (and ultimately, your profit margins) in restaurant/catering settings.
generally, we figure whole packer briskets to have 50% shrinkage (therefore, 50% yield) when smoked low & slow to internal temps near 200º ... some places that sell meat by the pound only take their brisket temps to about 180-185º internal temp, resulting is less shrinkage (at that temp all of the fat & connective tissue has NOT rendered out)...meaning higher yield (60%) = more profit. because of the high fat content of a whole packer brisket, they are relatively inexpensive - right now my butcher has choice grade packers for $1.69/lb
brisket flats retail for $3.59/lb ... but they don't shrink nearly as much, resulting in much higher yield
shrinkage on pork butts is usually a lil' more than 50% because in addition to the fat that renders out, there is also a bone that has to be factored into the shrinkage. i usually figure 55% shrinkage/45% yield on pork butts, but it varies & sometimes can be as high as 60/40 shrinkage to yield. that's why pork butts are so cheap ... today, they are $1.19/lb at my butcher shop
chuck roll is another cut of beef that is good for bbqing low & slow ... cook it just like a brisket ... yield is a little better, usually around 60% ... not a good candidate for slicing (brisket flats are great for slicing) ... but when cooked right, a chuck roll will *pull* just like a pork butt & make great shredded/chopped bbq beef for sandwiches."
Then blford asked, "To what Internal Temp fer the Chuck Roll?"
And ChezJohn said, "pulling/shredding temp for about any cut of beef or pork is in the 195-205º range ... sometimes they pull easily at 195º ~ other times you gotta take them to 205º before they give up the ghost ... it just depends on the characteristics of that particular piece of meat. 200º is a safe bet ... i don't like to cook anything past 205º because the meat starts getting dry beyond that~
if you wanna slice the meat, 185º is the target temp because it still has a lil' bit of the connective tissue in it & keeps the slices from falling apart"
Well, it depends on the cut of meat. You always wanna cook it the way you like it. Generally, the leaner a cut of meat is, the rarer you want to cook it. If you cook a lean piece of meat too much, it will be dry & tough. For instance, if you have a ball tip sirloin roast, it's very lean & if you cook it medium or higher, you gonna have tough meat. Also depends on how you gonna eat it/slice it? If you plan to slice it paper thin for sandwiches, then toughness becomes less of an issue. If you wanna slice it thick for center of the plate entree ... then you might wanna make sure your steak knives are sharp! (g)
Rare is cold red center = 125º
Med-rare is warm red center = 135º
Medium is warm pink center = 140-145º
Medium well is no pink center = 150-155º
Well done is burnt = 155º+
A popular misconception is that if a piece of meat is cooked well done (155º) that it is *done* .... not true. Fatty/gristly cuts of meat (chuck, brisket, pork butt & shoulder) are not *done* until they reach internal temps of 195-200º and all the fat & connective tissue renders away.
Grade is also an important factor, as is *age*. Two identical cuts of meat, one being choice grade & the other being select grade, will be very different in their tenderness. Aging also affects tenderness & flavor. Worst case scenario for flavor/tenderness is: a cheap cut like chuck, lower grade like select, green (meaning no age) ... and cooked to the wrong temp! LOL Guaranteed to be tough. Best case scenario: more expensive cut like sirloin (or ribeye, or tenderloin, etc), better grade like choice or prime, aged ... and cooked to proper temp that maximizes tenderness.
So if we don't want it obviously bloody, what temp should the roast be for it to be cooked and still tender and juicy, not leathery?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shoot for medium ... pull it when it's got a warm pink center, and let it rest for a few minutes ... temps will continue to rise a few degrees, juices will redistribute ... then slice thin against the grain.
Bon Appetito'
Not only is ChezJohn makin' us all suffer wif dem Awesome Food Porn Pics of His by sendin' 'em to me to post here...
But he's also been makin' sum Awesome Food Porn Videos...
And he's been addin' new Food Porn Pics on Photobucket as well!!
Just finished smoking a couple coils of the homemade sausage I made the other day ... I elected to leave them in coils, rather than make links. The top coil is Texas Hot Links (coil) ... and the bottom coil is Cajun Andouille. They look the same, but have very different flavors ... the Texas Hots are made with pork & beef ... the andouille with pork & venison. Andouille not quite as hot as the Texas ... but still pretty zippy, with fresh green onions, fresh garlic & cooked rice in it.
The other piece of meat is some homemade Canadian Bacon with a maple glaze on it. I'm taking the sausage to my neighbors, and will make a homemade Canadian Bacon pizza for my supper tonight. Still got a couple more pieces of pork loin in the fridge curing ... will smoke & glaze them with Jezebel Sauce for Christmas Eve dinner.
BBQ ... it's not just for 4th Of July any more!!!! (g)
Sooo, a couple weeks ago a friend gave me some fresh jalapenos & I made a couple quarts of b&b japs ... cracked open a jar this morning, to eat with a cheese omelette & they were a lil' tough ... good flavor, but a lil' tough. So, I got the KA grinder attachment out & turned them into a relish ... adding a lil' homemade salsa that I had in the fridge (fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, lemon, celery, carrots, etc) ... and ended up with a darn tasty b&b jap relish. Thinkin' it might be just the ticket to kick up a smoked meatloaf a few notches ... or on a SW burger ... or in some homemade quacamole ... or in scrambled eggs ... or in a cream cheese spread, or make a kicked-up tartar sauce for fried catfish, etc.
Keep On Smokin'
Chez
Merengue Pies
Chocolate Merengue Slice
Butterscotch Merengue Pie
Butterscotch Praline Merengue Pie
Butterscotch Praline Merengue Slice
...[P]ics I took last year at a friend's farm in Oklahoma, when we gathered for a weekend of food & music. The music I used for the video is a song written & sung by my friend Monica Taylor...Monica Taylor and Patrick Williams a.k.a. "The Farm Couple" ChezJohn
Kansas City Southern - by Monica Taylor - What a beautiful song!! Y'all jus' gots to go listen to the snippet of this song on their web site, seriously!! Thanks fer postin' that 'un ChezJohn!! blford
Have y'all heard Mary Gauthier? (pronounced Go-Shay) I discovered her about a year ago, when I first heard "Drag Queens In Limousines" ~ her story is quite compelling, and her songwriting reflects the life she's lived. Here's her new song/video, on the album by the same name.
Mercy Now
http://umgnashville.com/site/losthighway/marygauthier/mercynow/video/mercynow-album.asx
My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor
Fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over
It won't be long and he won't be around
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now
My brother could use a little mercy now
He's a stranger to freedom
He's shackled to his fears and doubts
The pain that he lives in is
Almost more than living will allow
I love my brother, and he could use some mercy now
My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow them down
I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now
Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, well
They'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now
Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it
But we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance
Dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
~~Mary Gauthier
Mary Gauthier Biography
Our very own ChezJohn sings Albuquerque Turkey
(If fer some reason the song doesn't open up yer default Audio Player and start playin', just Right-Click and choose "Save Target As..." and save the file to yer Desktop and then Click on the link from there and it "should" start playin'.)
Albuquerque he's my turkey
Oh he's feathered and he's fine...
He wobbles and he gobbles
And I'm awfully glad he's mine.
He's the best pet you could ever get
Better than a dog or cat....
Albuquerque he's my turkey
And I'm awfully glad of that.
Albuquerque he's my turkey
He's so cozy in his bed....
Because for Thanksgiving Dinner
We had baked ham instead!!
One time Boudreaux, da Cajun Mafia Godfather, finds out that his bookkeeper, Jamie Lafitte, has taken him for $10 million.
Dat bookkeeper wuz plumb deaf ~ considered an occupational benefit and why he got the job in the first place, since it was assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not be able to hear anything if he'd ever have to testify in court. When Godfather Boudreaux goes to shake down the bookkeeper about his missing $10 million, he brings along his attorney ,Etienne DuBois...aka Hambone, who knows sign language.
Godfather Boudreaux asks on dat bookkeeper: "Where's the 10 million bucks you embezzled from me, HUHHHHH?"
Ol' Hambone, him, using dat sign language ... asks the bookkeeper where the 10 million dollars is hidden.
The bookkeeper signs back: "I don't know what you are talking about."
The attorney tells Godfather Boudreaux: "He say he don't know whut you're tawking about."
Along 'bout that time, Godfather Boudreaux pulls out a pistol ... puts it to the bookkeeper's temple, cocks it, and says: "Ask him again!"
The attorney signs to the underling: "He'll kill you for sure if you don't tell him whar dat money is, lickety split!"
The bookkeeper signs back: "OK! You win! The money's in a briefcase buried behind the shed in cousin Armand Fortier's backyard in Lafourche Parrish!"
Godfather Boudreaux asks the attorney: "Well, what'd he say?"
The attorney replies: "He says he don't think you've got the guts to pull that trigger!!!!"
Chez & His Buddy, Junior, Go Fishin'
Mais...me & Junior, we been fish'n down by de farmpond all day an done run outta night crawlers. Junior, he be bout reddy to leave when he seen a snake wit a big frog in his mouf. He knowed dat dem big crappie fish like frogs, so he decided to steal dat froggie. Dat snake, he be a cotton-moufed water moccasin ... so Junior had to be real careful or he'd get hisself bit. He snuk up behine de snake and grabbed him roun de haid. Dat ol' snake, it din't lak dat one bit. He squirmed'n'hissed and wrapped hisself roun Junior's arm try'n to get hisself free ... but Junior, him, had a real good grip on his haid, yeh.
Well ... by'n'by, Junior commenced t'hollerin fer help, so ah went over dere & pried dat snake's mouf open and got de frog and puts it in Junior's baitcan. Now, Junior knows dat he cain't let go dat snake or he's gonna bite him good, but he had a plan. He reach into de back pocket of his bib overhauls and pulls out a pint a moonshine likker. He pour some drops into de snakes mouf. Well, dat snake's eyeballs roll back in his haid and his body go real limp like. Wit dat, Junior toss dat snake into de deep end dat pond & he goes on back to fishin'.
A while later, me & Junior wuz havin' us a lil' nip dat ol' nasty ... and ah dun feel sumpin tappin' on mah barefoot toe. Ah slowly look down and fry mah hide, dare dat water moccasin was ... with two more frogs!!!
Boudreaux and Thibodeaux
Boudreaux and Thibodeaux waz sittin' out backa dere lil' cahbins on da bayou ... shootin' deh breeze, yeh....tawkin' bout dere wives.
Bou, him, he hauled off & ask Thib: "If I snuck ovah to yore house while you waz out fishin' an made love to yore wife ... an she got pregnant, would dat make us kin?
Thib scratched his head for a bit, an den sed: "I don't think so, Bou ... but it shore would make us even!"
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