Entries from June 2008 ↓

Brisket is a cut from the breast of a side of beef, and pastrami is brisket that has been cured and smoked. It is certainly one of the best things every to happen to a brisket.  I’ve been curing my own for a couple of years now, and it’s well worth the effort. Continue reading →

I’ve been in the mood for surf and turf, so when my dear wife picked up some nice beef filets and some truly exceptional sea scallops, I was more than happy to throw them on the grill. The only question was how to prepare them?

For the scallops, I decided that simple is best and just dusted them with a little Penzeys Northwoods Fire and grilled them directly on skewers at 400°F for just under 2 minutes per side. Perfect.

But for the steak, I went a little more exotic with chimichurri – the tangy, herb-based Argentinian sauce. Here it’s used as both a marinade and a sauce. Continue reading →

The heat of the grill does a lot to tone down the spiciness of the marinade.

Chipotle Marinade

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 chipotle chile canned in adobo sauce
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 medium limes)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher sea salt
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Continue reading →

I’ve been wanting to try and duplicate the tasty red pork that we get at our local Chinese restaurant. After doing some research, I decided to start with a 13-pound pork butt (shoulder roast) thinly sliced into strips. Rather than use food coloring to get the usual red color, I went back to the traditional method and cured the pork first. Continue reading →

After enjoying pozole (a stew made from hominy, pork or chicken, and green chiles) in Mexico, I decided to try a version of the dish on the Big Green Egg.

I wanted to try the barbacoa technique, where the meat cooks over the stock. I started with one nice roasting hen that was rubbed with Goya Sazón. The BGE was stabilized at 350°F and set up for indirect cooking. I put a cast iron dutch oven full of stock (water, onion, chicken neck, 1/2 cup Mojo Criollo, garlic, and jalapeño) onto the inverted plate setter. BGE feet were used to raise it off the plate so it wouldn’t scorch. Continue reading →

I decided to do something a little different than traditional pulled pork – pulled ham.

I started with a 5lb half of a pork butt (a.k.a. Boston butt or pork shoulder roast) and cured for 5 days using a mixture of 5T of Morton’s Sugar Cure and 5t of Dizzy Pig Red Eye Express. Continue reading →

For a bit of a change of pace, I decided to try some big ol’ scallops on the Big Green Egg.

I started with a little over a pound of fresh diver sea scallops. Half of them went into a Thai marinade:

• 4T sweet chile sauce
• 1T lime juice
• 4T soy sauce.

Continue reading →

Spare ribs are the big, meaty ribs that come from the belly of the pig. They have more fat and flavor than back ribs, but also require a bit more time or attention to prepare successfully.

The 3-2-1 method is one of the best ways to ensure that spare ribs give up all of their tender piggy goodness without drying out. It basically involves smoking the ribs as normal for 3 hours, followed by 2 hours of cooking them wrapped in foil, and then 1 more hour unwrapped. This gives the ribs a good, smoky flavor, breaks down the toughness of the meat, and adds a final crispy bark. Continue reading →