Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon

Posted on by December 24, 2022

12/23/2022 – This was a very good soup. The ingredients were inspired by the recipe here but the directions came from a recipe here. Note we made a different potato soup recipe—a Tuscan version—the next day and it was also great.

Ingredients

1 bunch scallions
1 (12-oz.) pkg. bacon, roughly chopped
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1?4-inch pieces (7 to 8 cups)
2 cups chopped yellow onion (from 1 large onion)
3 tablespoons butter
3 small garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups chicken broth
8 ounces white Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 ounces yellow Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1?2 cup), for topping

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat; add onions, bacon, and bay leaf. Cook and stir until onions are nearly transparent, 5 to 7 minutes.
  2. Pour chicken broth into the pot; add potatoes, flour, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
  3. Stir sour cream into soup; cook another 1 to 2 minutes.

Serving

  1. Add a dollop of sour creme to the center of the bowl of soup.
  2. Sprinkle grated cheese around the sour creme.
  3. Sprinkly green onion bits on to of the sour creme.

Mary’s Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

Posted on by December 22, 2022

12/21/2022 – Mary made up this casserole on her birthday to take to the UBC Wednesday Night Supper this evening and it was great. The dish was moist and chunky with no sauce as in a typical casserole. Each bite tasted like baked potato improved by the slightly brown surface of the potato chunks. We will make this again for potluck dinners and, if I am lucky, just for us.

Ingredients

  • 3.5 lbs. Red Potatoes cut into bite-size pieces and sprayed with olive oil.
  • Approximately 1 cup of green onions from the grow boxes
  • 12 oz. of thick slice bacon
  • 1 cup Sour creme
  • 1 cup Blue Plate Mayo
  • Sharp cheddar cheese grated in the bag from the store
  • Salt and pepper

Assembly

  1. Brown the bacon in a 400° oven on wire racks. Save maybe ¼ cup of bacon grease to drizzle on the baked potato pieces. (Put the rest in the bacon fat keeper…of course.)
  2. Season the potato pieces with kosher salt and fresh coarse ground black pepper. Bake at 350° until browned and tender but firm. After they were done drizzle with the saved bacon grease
  3. Blend the sour creme and mayo while the above is in the oven
  4. Mixed the sour creme and mayo with the baked potato pieces
  5. Blend in a handful of bacon pieces and some green onions
  6. Pour all into the 9×13 Pyrex baking dish. It will be about half full
  7. Sprinkle remaining bacon pieces and green onions
  8. Sprinkle on the grated sharp cheddar cheese
  9. Let it rest until time to bake it so it is hot when it arrives at the Church supper

Next time:

  • Could add some spicy cajun sausage and cayenne pepper left out as it is for the Alabama church folks most of who do not like any kick.
  • Coat the potato pieces with olive oil before baking rather than spraying the tops of them in the hot sheet pan as done above. This could be a good time to sprinkle on some cayenne pepper to be carried in the oil with the black pepper. Could then go full “Prudhomme” and add some white pepper.
  • There was room in the pan to hold the 5 lb. bag of potatoes and all the other ingredients could have been increased by maybe 25-30%. But, it might have been less firm when cooked in the approximate 1.5-inch relatively thin layer in the 9×13.

Two Butts on the Recteq

Posted on by November 28, 2022

11/27/2022 – Bought a 21 lb. two-pack of butts at Rouses on sale keeping them in the outside refrigerator until this morning at 4:30 AM. Rinsed and cut off fat cap and loose ends. Sprinkled with salt and a good “rub” of 6POGS. All that while the Recteq preheated to 250°. Planned to smoke them until they get into the stall at 165 then move them into the inside oven. But, they never seemed to stall.

  1. 5:20 AM – both butts put into the preheated Recteq set at 250°.
  2. At about 2:30 the IT on both was over 190 so lowered the set to 225°.
  3. About 3:15 one had reached 210 and was pulled and wrapped in foil to rest.
  4. About 4 PM the other reached 205 and was pulled and wrapped in foil to rest.

They seemed to cook differently than usual and the only thing I did differently was that they were not opened up like for a competition smoke. This smoke was begun before Church and continued while we were there early and left last as this was the Sunday Jason Newell was called. I watched the IT via the telephone app and did not notice a stall.

Smoked Salmon on the Recteq

Posted on by September 25, 2024

11/25/2022 – This was the best smoked salmon I have made and the easiest. The method is presented here by a cook who caters events and this is her most often requested dish.

Instructions

  • Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees using Recteq Master Blend pellets.
  • Seasoned the flesh side and edges of the salmon filets with Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and coarse ground pepper.
  • Placed salmon skin-side down on a mat in the smoker and cooked a little more than an hour until the internal temperature of the salmon reached 135° (F).

Next Time

The original recipe suggests of their favorite side dishes for salmon or check out all of our side recipes.

  • Garnish – We love adding freshly chopped parsley and a squeeze of grilled lemon over the top.
  • Roasted Potatoes – Crispy exterior and soft interior these potatoes are our number one side dish for salmon.
  • Grilled Vegetables – We love grilling a platter of vegetables when we do a whole filet as a great option for a family style layout.
  • Coleslaw – Since salmon is a richer flavor we like to offset that with an acidic side dish like our no-mayo coleslaw.

Note in the linked recipe how she cuts the fillets into serving-size blocks leaving them attached to the skin. Then seasons and smokes. The finished fillet is served whole on a platter so the guests can pick off blocks of the meat.

Photo Credit Vindulge.com

Turkey/Sausage Gumbo with Rouse’s Roux

Posted on by November 27, 2022

11/25/2022 – This cook referred to the cook in Thanksgiving 2021 that is here and that one referred to the one in Christmas 2017 that is here. The one in 2017 was inspired by Chef Robert Barker’s recipe on page 41 of Kit Whol’s book New Orleans Classic Gumbos and Soups. The following is a simpler process than those and it turned out great. This cook used Rouse’s dark roux from a jar and Kit’s Creole Seasoning.

Continue reading →

Smoked Turkey, Dry Brined

Posted on by November 24, 2022

11/23/2022 – Bought an off-brand, on-sale, 12 lb. bird at the new Publix on Cottage Hill for $0.49 per lb. Smoking it on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we have leftovers as this year we are going to Becky’s in Pensacola for the family meal.

It turned out good given how easy and quick it was. The skin was crispy to the point of having to use some force to slice it. It had a good flavor from the seasoning and the smoke. Drying it overnight open in the refrigerator while it dry brined worked well.

Pulled off the meat and put the carcass on to boil for gumbo.

Generally followed the advice in the Meat Church video here.

  1. Spatchcocked but only cut one side of the backbone leaving it on the other side so the backbone is smoked and adds to the broth for the turkey gumbo.
  2. Dry brined it for about 16 hours with table salt generously applied to both sides. Put it uncovered in the outside refrigerator so the skin would dry out.
  3. The next day, an hour before the smoke, added our Creole Poultry Seasoning (not heavy) to all sides and under the skin of the breasts and thighs.
  4. Preheated the Recteq to 325° with Recteq master blend pellets.
  5. At 9:15 am put the bird in the center with a probe in the deepest part of the breast and one in the thigh near the bone. IT of the thigh was 46° and the breast was 38°.
  6. Pulled it at 2 hrs 20 minutes when the IT of the thigh was 186° and the breast was 169°. Let it rest for maybe 20 minutes when I pulled a leg quarter and cut up a thigh for Mary as she was hungry.

Smoked, Shrimp-Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, Bacon Wrapped

Posted on by November 12, 2022

Made these the afternoon we were smoking butts for the UBC Reunion. They turned out great and well worth making again. The tasso next to the shrimp slices inside the large thick pepper wrapped in bacon was a beautiful when cross cut.

  • Made with fresh, milder Everman Jalapenos grown in our garden. I used large green and red ones.
  • Removed the stems, sliced the large meaty peppers in half, and removed seeds and pith.
  • Stuffed them high with
    • A sliver of our tasso smoked today with butts
    • Creme Cheese
    • Cabot’s extra sharp white cheese chunks
    • half a large shrimp
  • Wrapped them in Zeigler’s average-sliced bacon and seasoned with Creole Seasoning. Started the wrap on the stem end with the large end of the bacon strip. Used a toothpick to secure the loose end of the bacon.
  • Smoked at 250° for about 1.25 hours until the bacon was crispy. Some of the stuffing had melted and run out of the jalapenos.
  • Put them on a small baking sheet, covered with foil, and put them into the warm oven for about an hour.
  • Pulled them to cool for about 30-45 minutes before serving so the cheese would not be runny.
  • Sliced them into 3/4 to 1inch lengths and served on the wooded cutting board with toothpicks.

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.