Sauce

1 Pound of ground veal
1 Pound of beef cubed (strip)
1 Pound of pork cubed (chops)
1 Onion
2 Peppers
1 Package Mushrooms sliced
4 Cloves Garlic chopped
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Tarragon
Can of tomato paste
Can of tomato sauce
2 Cans diced tomatoes
Sugar
Salt

Heat olive oil to med-high, add onions, garlic, peppers, and herbs. Cook for 5 minutes while stirring. Add mushrooms and meats. Brown. Add tomato products, salt & sugar. Cook for an hour or so on low heat.

………..

Cheese Mixture

Container of Ricotta
2 eggs
8 oz parmesan
Basil
Oregano
Chili Flakes
Salt
Pepper

Mix together….duh

……………

Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta Mix
Noodles
Sauce
Noodles
Mozzarella
Sauce
Noodles
Mozzarella
Foil
Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.
Uncover and Broil for 3 minutes or until cheese has browned.

It’s a similar thing in how I do the whole chickens using charcoal with hickory chunks for smoke. Meat is cooked with indirect heat meaning the heat source is off to the side of the meat.

BBQ Pork shoulder is my favorite but the most famous Bryant in the BBQ world is Arthur Bryant in Kansas City. And since he’s in KC, his speciality is (was sad.gif ) beef brisket. I love Arthur Bryants and figured I might start doing brisket more. I’ve done it before on the big OK Joe’s offset smoker burning straight hickory but that’s a little bit of work.

I was intrigued reading this one as it uses the minion method and requires very little fire maintenance.

First the beef:

Use a 5 pound “flat” cut brisket. A whole brisket is too big for most grills. Butchers cut it into a “flat” piece and a “point” piece. The flat is more unform and works best.

Like I do with the chickens, I soak it in a brine solution. This one is just a simple:

1 gallon of water
2/3 cup of table salt

Soak for 2 hours.

For the fire.

Take about 50 unlit charcoal briquets and put them down on one side of the grate. On the other side of the grate, place a 9×13″ aluminum disposable pan and fill it with a couple cups of water.

Get a chimney of charcoals heated up. Fill it about 2/3 full. When they’re hot, pour the hot charcoal on top of the unlit charcoal keeping everything on that one side. Place on top of that several chunks of hickory. The article said to soak the hickory in water but I don’t like that. I want it smoking dry. I dunno why.

Put the grate on over the coals for cooking.

Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar and koser salt on the brisket. Also liberally apply ground black pepper and some garlic powder if you like that. Put that on both sides.

Then place the brisket fat side down on the grill opposite the charcoals. That would mean its above the pan of water.

It’s probably a good idea to use a piece of aluminum foil to lay over and under the brisket on the side closest to the coals. That keeps that side from getting too dry. You also want to set the thickest side of the brisket toward the heat.

Cover with the lid and do not open for 3 hours. eek.gif Nice. This is definitely a lazy way to smoke.

After 3 hours, you can remove the foil and flip the brisket over.

Add about 10 more unlit charcoal briquets to the coals and a couple more hickory chunks. Cover and let sit for 2-4 more hours.

You’re looking for an internal temp of about 195 on the meat according to the magazine. I’m going to let mine get up to that but that seems to high to me. I know the brine will make a difference. I figure I’ll try it at that and see and then adjust for next time if it’s too done.

Here’s a pic after about 5 hours.

As with the chicken, the sugar on the surface gets really dark and makes a nice crust.

--Soak chicken in buttermilk and crystal hot sauce for 24 hours
-Remove chicken from buttermilk 10 minutes before cooking
-Do not remove the excess buttermilk
-Season each piece of chicken with creole seasoning mix
-Add seasoning mix to flour as well with extra salt & pepper
-Drop chicken in bag an shake vigorously
-Immediately drop in 325 degree Peanut Oil
-Cooked until golden
-Sprinkled with kosher salt
-Serve with excellent Side Dishes

5 pounds of stew meat – make sure the pieces are ½ to ¼ inch size (got a nice pack of USDA Choice from Costco)

1 pound of pork sausage

3 large onions chopped

6 cloves of garlic minced

5-6 large dried New Mexico Chilies (pods)

1 small can of tomato paste

1 can of tomato soup

1 tsp of cayenne pepper

2 tsp oregano

2 TS of dried cumin

2 bay leaves

½ tsp of black pepper

2 tsp of salt

13 oz of beef broth

36 oz of good amber beer (I used Fat Tire)

1 shot of Jack Daniels

34 oz of beans (optional – I used dark kidney beans)

Rehydrate the chilis in 12 oz of beer. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 min. Strain and then puree the chilis. Set aside.

In a large stock pot heat the oil. Add the onions and cook over med heat for 5 min. Uncover and bring the heat to high and brown for another 5 min. Add the garlic and cook another for 1-2 min until fragrant. Add the cumin and add the pork. Stir until the meat browns.

Add the beef, oregano, salt, pepper, cayenne and brown until most of the redness is gone. Add the chili puree, 24 oz beer, Jack, beef broth, tomato paste, tomato soup and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Then simmer for 1-1/2 hours until it has a chili like consistency.

Then add beans and cook another ½ hour.

You can substitute 28 oz of canned plum tomatoes with the juice for the tomato paste and soup.

Another short cut is to use chili powder instead of rehydrating the dried chili’s – 5 TB to ½ cup of chili powder should do it.

Since the meat is chopped already it is only about 30 min prep time. 2 hour cook time.

Garnish with green onion and cheese.

Tipsy adds Sour Cream & Fritos too.

(Originally posted on 9/3/09)
Pics Added from Tipsy’s attempt at this chili on 1/20/10

Peel and thinly slice potatoes on mandolin. See through thickness. Soak in cold water.

In pot, melt butter, add flour and start a basic roux. After a couple of minutes, add cream and heat to boiling. Never stop stirring.
Remove from heat, add cheeses, garlic, and bacon. Stir until melted. Combine with dried off potatoes in casserole dish. Bake covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 30 minutes at 325. Top with more cheddar and goat cheese and broil for a few minutes until darkening.

First step is to combine the green onions black beans, and cilantro and mix them together and add BBQ sauce. Set it aside.

Prepare your chicken breasts for BBQ. I grilled them, but you can cook them any want you want. Once they are done, set them aside.

Mix the salad and corn together with Ranch dressing so that the salad is coated, but not too heavy with dressing.

Place the salad in two parts (this makes two servings) into large bowls or on plates. Create a ring of salad leaving a small opening in the center.

Take the black bean and cilantro mix and place 1/2 of it in each plate/bowl center.

Cut the BBQ chicken in slices and place it on top of the black bean/cilantro mix

Place dollops of pico de gallo or tomatoes around the outside of the plate/bowl

Sprinkle shredded cheese across the plate/bowl

Sprinkle hand crumbled bacon across the plate/bowl

Add french fried onions (optional)

Run BBQ sauce across the plate/bowl in small streaks. I use a squeeze bottle to get the desired effect.

This is a delicious salad that is big on taste. Enjoy!

Soak beans overnight. Simmer beans in water and chicken stock with ham, salt, and pepper. Cook on low boil until fairly tender.
Saute onions and bacon until onions are semi soft and bacon pieces are not completely done. Add bacon, drained beans and ham, molasses, and brown sugar. I seasoned this batch with a little cumin and cayanne….but very small amounts as I wanted to have a base to work with here.

Bake mixture in oven for 3 hours at 300 degrees. I would do this baking in the smoker if available, but again I wanted a baseline set of beans this time.

1. Holy crap these are good.
2. A touch sweet and not sure what spices it needs, but this was a great first step and close to sell-able.

Pasta and Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
5 cups milk (see note)
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)
1 teaspoon table salt
4 slices bacon cooked and chopped up

Instructions

1. For the bread crumbs: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

2. For the pasta and cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

3. In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in bacon pieces, cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

4. Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

It’s a very easy way to make smoked chicken BBQ. And I think it tastes great. I’ve had a lot of BBQ and I’d put it up there on the list. Partly because it’s a lot easier to make your own great BBQ when you can control everything than it is to eat in a BBQ joint.

Here’s how I do it.

The Prep. Here is the secret to great chicken or turkey: Brining. Many of you already do this. If you don’t, you have to start. It’s that big a deal. All it really amounts to is soaking the meat for 4-12 hours in a salt water solution. I’m sure the science guys can explain why it works but it’s something about osmotic balance and salt ions but the net result is the meat is WAY more juicy and flavorful. I’d be willing to bet the best chicken or turkey you’ve ever eaten had been brined. Trust me. This works.

Basic rule of thumb is 1 CUP (yes cup) of regular table salt per 1 gallon of water. You can add other spices and sugars if you like. But the salt is the main thing.

Here is how I make mine when I’m going to be smoking 6 chickens. Obviously cut this down or make more based upon how much meat you’re brining and what container you’re using.

I use a Coleman 48 qt cooler.

Fill it with:

2 1/2 Gallons water
2 1/2 cups table salt
2 cans cheap lemon lime soft drink
3 lemons cut in half and squeezed
1 tbl garlic powder
1/2 tbl black pepper
1 jug (16 oz) cheap pancake syrup

Stir all this together and mix well. You have to really stir it up because that’s a lot of salt. Some people like Alton Brown advocate heating the brine but that’s another step. I skip it and mix mine directly in the cooler and it works great.

Wash chickens well under water and then place in cooler into brine.

Then pour a bag of ice over the top and close cooler lid.

I let this sit usually for 12 hours. I don’t freak out if it’s 14 hours or so but any more than that and it can be too salty.

An hour before you’re ready to put the chicken on the grill, remove from brine. Set out and let start coming up to room temperature. You don’t want to throw ice cold meat on a hot grill.
The Smoker.

I have a big offset steel smoker (Oklahoma Joes) that I like a lot. I use it for smoking pork shoulder.

But for smoking chickens, I learned on the most reliable piece of BBQ equipment ever created and I’ve just never strayed from it – the Weber Kettle Grill.

But we’re not grilling. Grilling is high heat directly below what you’re cooking.

What we’re doing with this is smoking. That is lower heat, with the heat source off to the side of what you’re cooking. Cook books will call it Indirect Heat. Fancy term for saying the chicken is in the center of the grill in an aluminum pan sort of shielded from the heat and the heat source is on the sides of the grill.

Weber makes little holders to hold the briquets off to the side http://www.amazon.com/Weber-9600Char-Baske…3475&sr=8-1

They work fine. I made a cheap divider out of metal tht is basicall just two flat pieces of steel with a bar in between. Looks like I–I Coals go on the outide of the I. Bottom line is you want the coals to the sides, not directly under the chicken.

Charcoal. There is lots of talk about hardwood charcoals and natural lump charcoal. I always have just used regular Kingsford charcoal. ( never use the matchlight stuff that is soaked in lighter fluid. Never. ) I have never found that much difference between the more expensive lump charcoal and the regular stuff. A recent test in Cooks Illustrated magazine found the same thing.

To start the charcoal, a fantastic invention is the chimney starter. It’s a must have. I highly recommend this one http://www.amazon.com/Weber-87886-Chimney-…3475&sr=8-1 and Ive tried a lot.

You crumple up 3 sheets of newspaper in the bottom and fill the top with briquets. Then light the paper and the chimney effect does the rest. 45 minutes later, you have perfect coals.

So pull the chicken out of the brine. And fire up the chimeys of charcoal. You’ll need one chimney for each grill.

Getting the chicken ready to go on the smoker.

Use one of those heavy duty aluminum pans like you’d cook a turkey in.

Rinse off when the chicken is out of the brine. Coat lightly with vegetable oil. sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and black pepper.

Put 3 chicken in each pan. Breast side down.

I also will do a big box of chicken legs for the kids. They are brined right along side the chickens.
When the briquets are ready to go (meaning they have turned from black to ash gray), you spread them out on each side of the grill. Put a chunk of hickory wood on top of the briquets. Some people like to soak it in water. I don’t. Just put it on dry and it’ll be fine. Chunk of wood is about the size of a 12 oz. coke can.

Once the chicken is on. You pretty much just beer.gif

Every 30 minutes, you need to do 2 things.

Add 2 more charcoal briquets to each side of the grill (4 per grill) and put a new chunk of hickory wood on top of the briquets if the old one has burned up.

Adding new briquets to the hot briquets is sort of the “minion method” we’ve talked about earlier. The new briquets will light themselves from the hot briquets over the next 30 minutes or so. You keep replenishing the briquets every 30 minutes and you can go for a while.
After 2 hours, do this:

Remove the pans with chicken from the grill and drain off the juices. Sometimes there’s a lot. Somtimes not as much. But you don’t want the chickens submerged at all. I usually just carefully tilt the pan and pour into a container. Do NOT tilt too far over. So if you’ve been doing a lot of beer.gif up to this point, get someone to help. Dumping 3 half cooked chickens on the ground is not good eats.
Oh yeah, sorry – 2nd thing to do at 2 hours is to flip the chickens over.

Now you want them breast side up.
Continue with the same drill of adding charcoal and hickory chunks every 30 minutes.

About another hour or so to go.

It’s so tender at the end that it’s pretty much falling off the bone.

When they’re done (usually about 4 or 4.5 hours) I’ll pull off the grill and let rest for about an hour or so.

Then I’ll just pull pieces of meat off and pile it up. Looks a lot like pulled pork BBQ.

Some people make sandwiches out of it.

Some eat it without a bun but add sauce.

Some eat it just plain by itself (my preference)

When you’re eating BBQ out, always go for the “pulled” version if you can. Lots of places chop the meat really fine or put it through a grinder. They do that so they can use more of the meat. When it goes through a grinder, you can throw in all the gristle and whatever. When it’s pulled, you can cull out the bad pieces and leave just prime. (Of course you want some crispy skin and a little fat thrown in. This isn’t health food although smoked chicken is pretty darn healthy I guess. Pork shoulder not as much)

Today I make one of my all time favorite pasta dishes stolen from a restaurant I used to manage way back in the day. It is really just a play on alfredo, but has been known to make people obsessed.

Tipsy’s Sherried Chicken Linguine

2 oz olive oil
4 oz (8 pieces) cubed chicken breast
2 tbsp reen onions
2 oz sliced mushroom
salt
pepper
4 oz reduced heavy cream
1.5 oz sherry
1 tbsp grated pecorino/romano
Linguine

Add oil to sautee pan and heat. Add chicken and sear on one side. Turn chick, add green onions, mush, garlic, salt, and pepper. Saute until chicken is browned and then deglaze pan with sherry. Add cream and pecorino. Once thickened pour over cooked linguine.

Open wine. Drink contents. Do not drink the sherry unless you are in prison.

It has been a while since I made this and right away I must say the recipe is for an individual plate or two of the stuff. Double everything for a family batch.