Stuffed Flank Steak on the Recteq

Posted on by October 11, 2022

10/10/2022 – These two prepared steaks bought at Publix were very tender and had a great flavor. We will try this again. Also smoked butternut squash halves at the same time.

Mary bought two stuffed flank steaks that weighed together 1.07 lb. The steaks had been cut into long 3/4-inch square strips and then wrapped in a spiral with provolone cheese and spinach leaves laid in as they were wrapped. When the spiral was about 5-inches in diameter it was bound with butcher’s twine.

She seasoned the butternut squash halves with thyme on the butter plus salt and pepper.

When the smoker was turned on to preheat to 225° she took it out of the refrigerator and seasoned them with lightly with 6POGS, salt, and, coarse ground black pepper on all sides. She put them back in the lightweight aluminum pan they came in.

  1. 4:00 PM – Put on the smoker preheated to 225° and inserted a probe into the thin spiral. The squash was inserted at the same time on one end of the grate.
  2. ~4:20 the IT per the probe was 115°. Reduced the Recteq setting to 215°.
  3. ~4:45 the IT was about 135 so reduced the setting to 210°
  4. ~5:00 the IT was 145 so reduced the setting to 200
  5. 5:30 – Pulled the meat with the IT shown per the probe at 146°. (See note below.) Covered the thin pan tightly with foil and left to rest for about 30 minutes in the inside small oven set to 100°.
  6. During that time the butternut squash halves finished smoking with the smoker turned up to 280°. They were tender when served.

As the meat spiral was only 3/4-inch thick, and there was not a large thick place to insert the probe, it was likely measuring air temp dampened by the cooler meat.

The meat after all that slow cooking was almost pinkish in the center and had a good smoky tone even though it was only on one side. The cheese was not visible but the meat was very moist as though it had a dollop of butter on it as had been planned. The spinach taste was not evident but the leaves were visible. They added to the attractive presentation.

Next time dry brine them longer than 15 minutes.

Luci’s Buttermilk Pie

Posted on by October 23, 2022

9/4/2022 – Luci Sheffield sent the recipe below that she used to make a great pie for the family meal after the Cliff Keller funeral. She said it was the Morrison’s Cafeteria recipe.

Ingredients

  • 5 eggs, whisked
  • 2-¼ cups sugar
  • 1-½ sticks melted butter
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • Dash of salt
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 4-½ Tbs. flour

Directions

I whisk together the above ingredients.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  

This makes a large pie.

Smoked Roast, Chicken, & Butternut Squash

Posted on by August 20, 2022

Smoked on the Rectec: Chuck roast, Chicken thighs, Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in thick-sliced bacon from Rouses, and a split butternut squash. Put all but the squash on at the same time at 10:15 AM with the Recteq at 225°.

Chicken thighs

  1. Seasoned with Creole seasoning and 6pogs on the rib side
  2. Smoked 3 hours 15 minutes to an average IT of 180
  3. Wrapped in foil to rest.

Stuffed Bacon Wrapper Chicken Breast

  1. Seasoned with 6POGS.
  2. Smoked 3 hours 15 minutes to an average IT of 180°.
  3. Wrapped in foil to rest.

Chuck Roast using process and temps from Kent Collins.

  1. Dry brined with salt immediately before smoking [should have let brined overnight but Mary was hungry]. Then seasoned with 6POGS.
  2. 3:30 PM the roast IT was 155°, was dark from the smoke, and looked like it was drying out. Pulled, wrapped, added more 6POGS, and moved into the kitchen oven set to 225° with the probe set to turn off at 200°.
  3. When reached 188 it seemed to be stuck there. Pulled it and it was not as tender as expected but it was dinner time. The flavor was ok. Sliced thin and cold the next day it is ok tender and has a great smoke ring.

Butternut Squash

  1. At 2:45 PM, split and seeded small butternut squash and put it in the smoker with the roast.
  2. At 3:30 PM when the roast was pulled, pulled the squash halves and moved into the kitchen oven with the roast after seasoning with butter, salt, pepper, and thyme. They look a bit smoked but Mary rubbed on the cold butter slices without burning her hands.
  3. They overcooked in the oven with the roast that stuck (see above) but were still good. The 45 minutes of smoke was a good thing.

New Orleans-Style Blackeye Peas

Posted on by August 14, 2022

Original Camellia Brand recipe extracted 8/14/2018 from https://www.camelliabrand.com/recipes/new-orleans-style-black-eyed-peas. Not made for the first time until 8/13/2022. Ironically, exactly four years later. This was very good, gave the peas more flavor and, was like a meatless gumbo.

Ingredients:

1 (1-pound) package Camellia Brand Blackeye Peas
~2 tablespoons bacon fat
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper. [8/13/22 used two small ones from the garden]
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste from a tube
~10 cups Honeybaked hambone broth with the ham bits that came from it
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot cornbread or rice
1 bunch of green onions from the garden, sliced

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon fat and sauté onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic until slightly wilted on the edges. Add to simmering broth pot that still has the bone. Stir and let heat up.
  2. Add bay leaves and tomato paste; bring to a boil.
  3. Add blackeye peas, stir well and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer—with no lid to reduce the broth—for 1½ to 2 hours or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally.
  4. Remove bone. Serve over cornbread or hot cooked rice. Garnish with chopped green onions.

Air Fryer Blackened Shrimp

Posted on by August 6, 2022

8/6/2022 – This was Mary’s first shrimp cook in her new Ninja Air Fryer. The shrimp turned out good and we learned a few things to make them better.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined.
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of our blackened seasoning
  • Chopped green onions from the Grow Boxes

Instructions

  1. In a mixing bowl, seasoned shrimp with Blackening Seasoning, tossed with oil then let marinate in the refrigerator for several hours.
  2. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
  3. Oiled basket lightly and added shrimp. [Should have put more blackening on it then.]
  4. Cook at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes, shaking once halfway through. This cook shook them at 2 minutes but should have waited to 3 minutes. Cook until shrimp turn pink.

Pickled Okra 2022-25

Posted on by August 30, 2025

8/3/2022 – Given the 60-ft row of Clemson Spineless and the 60-ft row of Red Burgundy okra at the beginning of their season…at least this year…we had enough to make our popular pickled okra.

8/18/2022 – Made 4 more pints using this recipe and process.

8/1/2024 – Two years later we found two pints. We opened one and, at room temperature, they were still firm and had a good flavor.

8/19 & 29/2025 – Made 6 pints so increased the brine by 50 percent for the 8/19 prep and had far too much. On 8/29 made the recipe quantities for 4 pints and had more than enough for 6 pints.

8/18/2022 – The prep was based on what we did on 8/3/2021 based on the first effort in 2019. The only difference is using our dehydrated Carolina Cayenne Peppers instead of Jalapenos and Serranos.

  1. Sanitized jars and lids in boiling water.
  2. Packed 4 pint jars with fresh small okra from our garden with stem ends trimmed off.
  3. Made the brine with the following ingredients and brought it to a boil. [See note above on 8/19/2025 as this makes enough for 6 pints.]
    1. 3 cups white vinegar,
    2. 3 cups water
    3. 1/4 cup + 1T canning salt,
    4. 1/8 cup + 1T sugar
    5. NOTE: These amounts are not exactly what the past pickled was. That was for 3 pints of okra mix 2C+2C+¼C+1/8C.
  4. Pour over okra, filling to 1/2 inch from the top.
  5. While filling added:
    1. Large cayenne peppers dehydrated this week from Carolina Cayennes that are hotter than typical cayennes. Equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon.
    2. 2-3 garlic cloves, each cut in half in the bottom and top and
    3. 1 level tsp. of dill seeds in the bottom of each jar and 1 in the top.
  6. Place jars in the canner so covered by 1 inch of simmering water. Bring water to a rolling boil for 10 minutes.
  7. Cool, label, and store

Small Roast & Veggie Tray on the Recteq #2

Posted on by August 3, 2022

8/3/2022 – This smoke is the second small beef roast on the Recteq based on the first one here. Dry brined a 2 lb. roast 2 days earlier and seasoned well with fresh coarse ground black pepper and a light dusting of 6pogs on both sides. Preheated Recteq to 260°.

While that was getting underway, Mary cut up the following and drizzled it with pecan oil and thyme. mixed it with her hands. The full tray smoked with the meat as outlined below.

  1. 1:45 PM – Put it on the smoker at 260°. Probe read the IT was 55 as we had let it sit out for maybe an hour.
  2. 2:35 PM – Added vegetable tray.
  3. 4:00 PM – Roast’s IT was 148 and when sliced open it was still a little pink. Pulled and wrapped in foil to rest on the counter. Stirred the veggie tray. They are close to being done.

Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad

Posted on by July 23, 2022

A great salad was first made on 7/20/2022. Inspired by the recipe at NatachasKitchen.com

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Better Boy tomatoes from our garden, chopped
  • 1 medium cucumber from our garden, sliced
  • 6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 small red onion, sliced
  • 1/4 cup basil from our garden, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Calamata Olive slices

Salad Dressing Ingredients:

Reverse Seared Burgers on the Recteq ToTry

Posted on by July 16, 2022

Inspired by the recipe at Recteq.

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds Ground Beef 80/20
2 tablespoons 6POGS
2 1/3 tablespoons Creole Seasoning
Our Russian Dressing
6 Kaiser Rolls
Lettuce & Tomato

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat recteq to 225°F with a sear kit flat side up.
  2. Shape the ground beef into 6 large 1/2 pound burger patties. Season each side with 6POGS
  3. Smoke the burgers at 225°F for 45-60 minutes until 120°F internal.
  4. In a medium size bowl, prepare the burger sauce by combining the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, sweet pickle relish, 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning and two shakes of 6POGS. Mix well.
  5. Once the burgers have hit 120°F, remove them from the grill and isert the sear kit flat side up and increase the grill temperature to 500°F.
  6. Once the grill has reached the higher temperature, add the burger to the flat side of the sear kit and cook for 3-4 minutes a side until 135°F internal.