Wanna S'Mac?

Cooking for kids can be tough, especially when you consider yourself a bit of a foodie and you want to pizazz up your food. In your head you think you'll make a dish so well for a kid that they will have an "aha" moment and the clouds will part and they truly understand what good food tastes like. That usually doesn't happen. They usually taste whatever it is you made and prefer the version that came out of the box and tastes like cardboard. Funny how that works.

My nephews are big on Mac N' Cheese and it would always be a treat to make it for them around the holidays. My brother hates most dairy products so his household is void of dairy for most of the year. Well its a treat for me to cook for my nephews and my brother's family and it's usually a treat for them to have something drowned in cheese. I tend to make the mistake of making it too fancy and kids tend to get a bit bummed when it doesn't taste like Velveeta, butter, and pasta. Well this year for Changsgiving I decided to shop out my dish and leave it up to a recipe. It had to be simple, kid friendly and something close to Mac N' Cheese.

After picking up a new BBQ cookbook from one of our Favorite BBQ joints in the city "Dinosaur's BBQ" I was eager to try  something out of their cookbook. Surely they had to have Mac N' Cheese as a desirable BBQ side dish. Sure enough page 48 "Dinosaur Style Macaroni and Cheese Shepard's Pie", perfect!

Software:
3 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt
1 Pound of Small Pasta Shells
1 Tablespoons of Vegetable oil
2 Cups of Chopped Onion
1 Cup of Chopped Green Bell Pepper
5 Large Garlic Cloves Chopped
1  1/4 Pounds of Ground Beef
1 Tablespoon of freshly ground Pepper
1 Tablespoon of BBQ Sauce
1/4 Cup of Unsalted Butter
1/4 Cup of AP flour
1 1/2 Cups of Half and Half
3 Cups of Shredded Sharp Cheddar
1 Cup of grated Parm Cheese
2 Teaspoons of Dijon Mustard
Tabasco Sauce Optional.

Hardware:
Pot to boil past
Strainer
High walled skilled or Dutch Oven
Your favorite knife. *Today I whipped out the Kyocera Ceramic
Chopping block
Spatula
9 by 13 baking dish

First you want to get your oven going at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit. Preheat the oven as you start to prep and assemble your mise en place.

Start a full pot of boiling salted and lubed (oil) water for the pasta.

In the skillet add your oil, half the onions and half the peppers. Just saute them lightly you don't want them to take on any color so medium heat please. 

Add the garlic once the onions start to look translucent. Down in Cajun country they would call this trio the Holy Trinity and its used as a base for anything from Jambalaya to Red Beans and Rice. The french would have their take and call it mirepoix and the Spanish would call it Sofrito. Basically they are all an onion mixture with two or more vegetables or herbs that would be used as a flavor base for most of their dishes.

Continue to cook the garlic, onion, pepper mixture for about another minute.

Add the ground beef and SnP. Sautee until the mixture looks like a dark brown and the pan caramelize bits of the beef fat. Add the BBQ sauce, scrape up the caramelized goodness on bottom, and set aside to cool.

This is good time to add the pasta to the boiling water.

Clean out your skillet and melt the butter on a medium flame. Add the rest of the onions and peppers and sautee until translucent like before. Now add the flour and continually scrape the bottom of the skillet. This is called a roux and is also widely used in southern cooking. Roux's are generally a fat (butter, Lard, oil) and flour cooked into a paste of varying degrees of brown. Roux's are also the first step to a Bechamel sauce which is one of the master sauces in the cooking world. With a Bechamel you can create anything from an Alfredo sauce to a New England Clam Chowder.

This is a good time to drain your pasta. Make sure your pasta is a good young al dente remember it will continue to cook when you bake it.

As the roux goods you need to continually scrape it and DO NOT leave your pan. It burns easily and once it burns there's no recovery other than starting scratch. Take the half and half and nuke it up or warm it up in a pot while your scraping and whisking. Now add your cream slowly and you will see the roux incorporate into it making a nice cream base for your cheese sauce.

Once fully incorporated add half of your Cheddar and all of your parm. SnP to your liking and add the cooked pasta.

Now get out a 9 by 13 casserole dish and add the beef mixture first then the pasta with sauce on top. Finally top with the remaining Cheddar and place in the oven for 30 minutes until its bubbling and delicious.

The irony is that for Changsgiving the kids didn't like it up much and we ended up taking it up and ate it for the next few days. Although I thought the kids would love it and the adults the opposite I was dead wrong. The kids didn't care for it but the adults liked it. Eh what can you do? I'll get them next year!

Tandoori Chicken

Many thanks to Dhiraj and his sister Kiran for this wonderful recipe. The recipe is super simple and so perfect for a change of pace when you want to BBQ. You can make this well in advance with dark meat chicken on the bone and let it sit for as much as a day or two refrigerated in its marinade as the Yogurt penetrates the flesh and cultures start to break down the protein.

This Indian dish is named appropriately after the "gadget" that it is prepared in. It was developed to be cooked in an Indian clay oven called a Tandoor. This clay oven has the ability to heat up to 900 degrees using natural lump charcoal. This renders the protein with a crispy exterior almost as if it was fried. It also creates such a crisp crust on the exterior of the protein it seals the juices in the protein and allows the protein to stay juicy. The yogurt added here is not only for richness and flavor it also helps to break down the flesh and hydrates it so that it doesn't burn during the baking process. This is a world famous dish synonymous with Indian cuisine.

This recipe goes wonderful with a side of Basmati rice. Delish.

Tandoori Chicken Software:
4 skinless leg quarters
2 tbsp ginger paste
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 cup yogurt
3tbsp oil
2tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1tbsp coriander powder
1tbsp cumin powder (My deviation from the original recipe)
1 tsp garam masala powder
SnP

Tandoori Hardware:
Covered BBQ grill or oven. Hell if you have a Tandoori oven go for it.
Food Processor or Mortar and Pestle

To Prepare the dry spice toast whole coriander and cumin in a medium heat in a dry pan. Toast until you can smell the oil off of the pods warming to the surface and giving off a warm smell. It should take 5-10 minutes shaking often.

 
This works better with the original "food processor" the mortar and pestle. If you don't have one or are impatient then go for a food processor. I highly suggest the mortar pestle method as it really bring out the flavor of the herbs by bruising the flesh rather than crushing it.

 
First start with toasted coriander under a powder, then mix the Turmeric, Garam Masala, and Chili Powder. Pound and grind until homogeneous. Then take chopped garlic and ginger and either finely mix or blitze in a food processor. Mix the wet and dry in the mortar and mash until you have an aromatic homogeneous paste. Mix with yogurt and set aside.

 
To prepare your chicken remove the skin, rinse under cold water and make 45 degree angle slits in the chicken. The point here is that the skin will prevent the marinate from permeating the flesh. The slits assist with the permeation and quickens the cooking process a bit. This is especially important for bone in meats that take a bit longer to cook.

 
Pat the chicken dry so that the spices stick to the flesh. SnP and smear the marinate on both sides. Refrigerate for 6 hours to 2 days.

 
On the day of cooking take the chicken out an hour before cooking to let the flesh come up to room temperature. This is perfect as you start the coals of your Grill or Preheat your oven to the Max temperature setting.
 

Once the grill is ready with the coals set it to indirect heating by placing the heated coals to one side and place a drip pan with water directly underneath the chicken. Place chicken on a heated, cleaned and well oiled grate and cover. Cook for approximately 30 minutes turning over only once and absolutely no peeking.

 

If using the oven just the chicken on a baking tray and place into the oven once the max temperature has been reached. Keep an eye on the chicken and cook at this chicken only until the desired browning has occurred approximately 10 -15 minutes. Once the chicken looks really good and browned drop the temperature to 375 and cook for another 20 minutes until you can pierce the flesh and the liquid runs clear and free of blood.

BBQ Primer subject Pulled Pork

A Facebook buddy recently purchased a grill for BBQ and asked for advice and suggestions on BBQing. This prompted me to write this blog as a BBQ primer via Pulled Pork, so Brandy this post is for you.

Brine Software:

•8 ounces or 3/4 cup molasses

•12 ounces pickling salt

•2 quarts bottled water

•6 to 8 pound Boston butt

Rub Software:

•1 teaspoon whole cumin seed

•1 teaspoon whole fennel seed

•1 teaspoon whole coriander

•1 tablespoon chili powder

•1 tablespoon onion powder

•1 tablespoon paprika

6-8 Pound Pork Shoulder

Hickory wood chunks
Buns
Cole Slaw

Hardware:
Smoker or BBQ grill of your choice.

Start with getting a 7-8 pound pork shoulder or Boston butt. Although its called the Butt its actually the back side of the leg muscle. It has tons of connective tissue unlike other leaner meatier pork pieces such as the loin.

Fatty/Gristly Vs. Lean/Meaty
When BBQ at low and slow temperatures you're better off with less expensive fatty and connective pieces of meat such as brisket or Boston butt. The fat content allows it to cook for an extended period of time without drying out. Low and slow cooking also allows much of the connective tissue and fat to render out leaving only water and sugar. This leaves your protein filled with pockets of moist flavor. These type of meat are very typical for BBQ. Leaner and meatier cuts of meat such as Pork Loin or Filet Mignon packs great flavor but due better fast and hot such as grilling. This allows you to sear the meat with a crust to entrap the moisture and cook it through. The leaner meats you can cook to a medium allowing some of the moist texture of the meat to remain. So think BBQ = Fatty cheap cuts and Grilling = leaner more prime cuts.

Start by mixing the Brine mixture together and and place the whole shoulder or butt in making sure its completely submerged. I like to leave it in a dutch oven with the lid on. Keep this in the brining liquid for a minimum of 4 hours up to 18 hours refrigerated.

Brining:
Think of brining as a marinating process. What happens is you place a significant amount of salt in a flavored liquid. Since nature will always want to equalize the liquid will start to infuse into the meat. What this does is bring in additional water content, bring in the marinade directly into the meat, and break down the protein to tenderize the meat. This works great for almost all meats that you intend on cooking for a long period of time such as BBQ or roasting.

Rub:

After about 12 hours, dry the shoulder out and pat dry. Mix all of the dry rub ingredients in your spice grinder, mortar and pestle, or food processor and rub it into the meat. Leave the meat in a dutch oven try and covered in the rub for another 12 hours refrigerated. Drying out the surface allows for the meat to form a nice crust when BBQing. This will allow for the moisture to be trapped internally in the meat.

On the day of the BBQ set your Grill up for Indirect heating with your choice of hardwoods nestled into the charcoal. Preheat for at leas an hour and use the time to clean and oil your cooking grate. Replenish after about 4 hours when your temperature drops and / or your smoke lowers.

Minion Method:

To allow the heat to continually heat for an extended period of time without replenishment I like to fill the charcoal bucket with unlit coals and hardwood (I use hickory and mesquite). Place the fully lit coals on top. As it burns down it will light the unlit charcoal and Wood allowing it to continue cooking even when your original lit coals burn out.

Direct Vs. Indirect heating:

When grilling lean and meaty meats direct heat works great. What this means is that the heat source is directly near or in contact of the meat cooking it very hot and fast.

Indirect heat is when the heat source is offset allowing the grill surface to be cooler. This is a finishing area by which you will allow your meats to cook through. What you will end up doing is searing on the direct heat side and moving it over to the indirect side to cook through. When BBQing you will almost always spend the majority of your cooking time on the indirect side to cook slow at lower temperatures.

Fuel Source Lump Charcoal Vs. Briquets Vs. Gas Vs. Electric:

Most BBQ enthusiasts will almost soley stick to charcoal briquets or lump charcoal. Lump charcoal is make from fire kiln dried hardwoods leaving nothing but pure carbon behind. They typically burn hotter and quicker but cleaner and imparting a nice char smokey taste to your food. Charcoal Briquets originated from the Ford Motor company originally where scrap wood was chopped up and compressed with saw dust, chips and petroleum. This allows for a nice even heat that cooks for longer without replenishment. This hows has some petroleum in it and burning it off fully before use is best. Some people with a discerning palette can actually taste a bit of the petroleum. This imparts less of the smoky flavor in your food but better char flavor than gas or electric. Gas and electric will allow you more control over your heat source but it will impart little to no flavor onto your meat. It is a wetter heat source so it will impart more of a moist cook to your food.

You would want your heat to be constantly around 225 degrees for your pulled pork although it will have a momentary tolerance from 190 - 250 Degrees but don't take the tolerance for granted.

Heat up your Grill and take your pork shoulder about for about an hour to heat up to room temperature. This allows for more even cooking without pockets of cold producing uneven heating. Pat down the should and place on the grill with an internal thermometer placed into the thickest part of the pork without hitting the bone.

I like putting a flavored water pan underneath allowing for a moist marinating wet heat. This also provide another layer between the heat source and the shoulder for indirect heating.

For my Water Pan:

I like putting in water, whisky or a dark rum, ouzo, sage, oregano, thyme, and Rosemary. This also acts as a drip pan allowing for the rendering fat to remain collected instead of burning onto the coals causing flares up and potentially carcinogenic elements to be released into the air.

Cook for 1.5 hours per pound or until the internal temperature reached 190-210 Degrees. This will typically be around 12 hours. You will notice that your internal temperature will race to about 140-169 degrees then plateau for a long period. At 160 your shoulder is technically cooked but tough and gristly. At the plateau is where the collagens and connective tissues are actually breaking down into water and sugars and becoming tender and soft.

Once fully cooked remove from your grill and wrap fully in a heavy gauge aluminum foil for 1.5 hours.

Once fully cooled using your hand remove the skin and bone from the flesh. This should easy as the meat will literally fall off the bone if done right.

Smoke Ring:

You should notice that the flesh is pinkish in color. This doesn't mean its raw but rather that the smoke has actually permeated the flesh into the meat. The thicker the smoke ring from the skin the greater the smoker you have actually yielded from smoking.

Bark:

The crusty seasoned exterior of the pork is most commonly known as the bark. This chewier, drier, denser, flavored bit should be shredded and mixed homogeneously into your pork shreds. This will give you some texture and full flavored bursts in your sandwich. Some people don't like it. I love it! It also does well chopped up and mixed into baked beans for added smokey flavor.

Discard the skin and bone or give it to your dog as I have with Mollie.

Now shred the flesh with either your fingers or a fork. Drizzle with apple cider vinegar or homemade BBQ sauce and serve on a toasted bun with Cole slaw.