Cranberry-Jalapeño Relish

Posted on by November 21, 2023

11/20/2023 – Mary and sister Susan made this for the first time in advance of Thanksgiving 2023. It was great. It was inspired by the recipe here.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz. bag of dried cranberries
  • ½ cup orange juice. [This was too much. Should have started with maybe half of this and added if needed.]
  • ½ cup diced red onion
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced – Did not include this due family that does not like heat.
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine cranberries, orange juice, onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, and salt.
  2. Stir together and chill for 2 hours before serving.

BBQ Chicken on the Recteq No. 3

Posted on by December 21, 2024

6/3/2023 – This Q turned out very good. It differed from the recent ones as it used a slower pre-smoke and a spicer sauce. The additional smoke time due to a lower temp start followed by a sauce with 6POGS made a really good Q. The spice was about right for Alabama although it was weak for Texas.

  • Trimmed thighs quarters of fat and excess skin. Salted both sides lightly to dry brine, sprinkled on Creole Poultry Seasoning under and over the skin. Put back into the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
  • Premixed 1 cup of So-Good BBQ sauce with 1 tbsp of 6POGS Rub and 1/4 cup of ACV.
  • Preheated Recteq to 255°F.
  • Placed chicken in Recteq and smoked to an internal temp of 155 in the largest leg.
  • Painted on the blend of So-Good BBQ sauce and increased Recteq to 300°F.
  • Painted on the sauce 2 times as the IT rose.
  • Cooked for about 30 minutes until it reached an internal temp of 185°F in the largest leg.
  • Removed chicken from Recteq, covered tightly with aluminum foil, and allowed it to rest for about 20 minutes.

FWIW – Recteq’s recipe calls for the Recteq to be at 350° and the final IT of 195°.

We have made this several times since the cook above. The important part is letting them get to at least 185°. We now make the sauce blend with Creole seasoning instead of 6POGS.

Air Fryer Garlic Butter Steak Bites

Posted on by October 9, 2023

9/26?/2023 – This was an easy prep that turned out great. The meat bites were tender even though it was not a high-quality cut. That was surely helped by the steak having been dry brined and seasoned with black pepper before it was vac-packed and frozen. This was inspired by the post here.

Ingredients

1 pound sirloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
? teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Directions

  1. Preheat the air fryer to 400°F.
  2. Toss cubed steak with oil, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
  3. Lightly brush the air fryer basket with oil. Add the steak, spreading it out in an even layer, and cook 7 minutes.
  4. Combine the butter, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder in a large bowl. Add the hot steak bites and toss to coat. Serve with chopped green onions.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Posted on by October 9, 2023

10/3/2023 – This very good dish was inspired by the recipe by the Mediterranean Dish, Suzy Karadsheh, here.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails attached
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons of our homegrown red pepper flakes made it far too hot. See the instructions below.
  • olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 5 garlic cloves chopped fine
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 15-ounce can diced manzano tomatoes. She used fire roasted.
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • Black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • ½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

  • Pat the shrimp dry and season with kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for 45 seconds to 1 minute over medium heat until they are mostly pink. Move the shrimp and its juices into a small bowl.
  • In the same skillet, heat another 1/4 cup olive oil over medium-high until shimmering. Reduce the heat to medium then add the onions and garlic. Cook tossing regularly until the onions have softened and turned a light golden brown and the garlic does not burn. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half.
  • Stir in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with kosher salt, black pepper, the oregano, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. Bring to boil, then lower the heat so the sauce to simmers for 10 minutes or so until thickened.
  • Return the shrimp to the skillet and mix into the sauce. Cook until the shrimp is just all pink. Serve over rice with bread to clean the plate.

Smoked Salmon & Mahi Mahi

Posted on by December 25, 2023

7/9/2023 – Smoked Salmon & Mahi Mahi on the Recteq with mesquite pellets. The salmon was done the same as on 11/26/2022 and the Mahi Mahi was similar but included Kit’s Creole Seasoning.

Instructions

  • Preheated the smoker to 225 degrees using Recteq’s Mesquite pellets.
  • Seasoned the flesh side and edges of the salmon filets with Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and coarse ground pepper.
  • Seasoned the Mahi Mahi fillets the same then added creole seasoning moderately.
  • Placed salmon skin-side down on a mat in the smoker and Mahi Mahi beside them. Smoked for a little more than an hour until the internal temperature of the much thicker salmon reached 135° (F).

The salmon was good. The Mahi Mahi seemed overcooked as with it then than the salmon it reached temp sooner then could have overcooked.

Rosemary-Garlic Pecans

Posted on by November 19, 2024

7/5/2023 – Mary made this with old pecans that had been vac packed and frozen. They turned out very well. This was inspired by the recipe here.

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg white
  • 3 tablespoons dried rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder. On 11/19/2024 Mary used 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic.
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 3 cups pecans

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
  2. Whisk egg white, rosemary, and garlic salt.
  3. Add pecans and toss to coat.
  4. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until dry, about 45 minutes.

Meat Church’s Rubs-First Use

Posted on by June 22, 2023

06/18/2023 – Jeff gave me a Meat Church 4-pack of rubs for Father’s Day and we tried two of them today on ribs and chicken smoked on the Recteq at 250°. The meat turned out good although the ribs had a tough bark likely due to being in the smoker too long and too hot. It was in there maybe 4 hours.

Holy Voodoo
Holy Cow