Boiled Crawfish-Easter 2018 Test Run

When researching how to boil this Easter’s crawfish I came across The Boiled Crawfish Recipe at http://howtoboilcrawfish.com/. It made more sense than what we did last year. We decided to not do a whole sack for Easter but 10 lbs today, Saturday. Then, Sunday do 2 batches in my 42 qt. pot. This boil turned out well and will be repeated tomorrow, Sunday, with a few tweaks; i.e. doing the 4+4 correctly and using more cajun seasoning and crab boil concentrate. Continue reading

Sauerkraut w/o Juniper Berries

3/10/2018- Bought a Chinese cabbage at Hong Kong Market that when cleaned and chopped weighted 1890 gm. Mixed in 1.4% salt or 27 gms. Ground and mixed in 6 gm of caraway seed and 15 gm of yellow mustard seed.

About 4 hours later it had made little brine so mixed 1/4% salt water. Packed the seasoned cabbage into a 1/2 gallon and a 1-quart mason jars. Poured in enough of the salt water to cover and put the brining glass weight. Capped both with the brining lid and put into the guest bathroom to ferment while we are at the farm. We leave tomorrow with the new camper trailer and the truck loaded with the LAN shelves and the usual stuff.

This time used only yellow mustard seeds to avoid the dark tint in the last batch. Decided to leave out the juniper berries as they do not seem to add anything and they are a bother to fish out when eating.

3/18/2018 – Tasted it at 8 days old and it is fine but missing a flavor. The mustard is there and it is crunchy but …

3/25/2018 – I have sampled it over the week since the 18th and the additional fermenting is helping but there is still something missing. I guess the missing flavor is the juniper berries.

Smoking a Butt

3/2/2018 – Midafternoon we salted a 9.04 lb pork butt. The seasoning on top of the salt was a mixture of remaining seasoning that included: 4POGS and Kit’s Creole Seasoning. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and back into the refer.

3/3/2018 – 6:00 AM. Set the butt out on the counter while drying a combination of Lumber Jack Pecan and the blend. Preheated the MES to 250 for about 45 minutes and inserted the smoking pellets.

6:30 – Added the butt on the third rack from the top and the smoking pellets. MES is set at 250. Grate temp with the Chefworks air probe hanging at the mid point of the butt about 3″ away, after 30 minutes, shows 235 and the MES is warming the cold meat.

11:30 – Opened the MES to add a spatchcocked chicken on the top rack.

1:00 pm – Inserted a rack of Baby Back Ribs

 

Apple Fritter ToTry

Ingredients:

1/3 CUP Light brown sugar
1 tsp Ground cinnamon

2/3 CUP White sugar
1/2 CUP Butter, softened

2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1 1/2 CUPS All-purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp Baking powder

1/2 CUP Milk
2 Apples, peeled and chopped (any kind)
Old-Fashioned Creme Glaze
1/2 CUP Powdered sugar
2 Tbsp of milk or cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Use a 9×5-inch loaf pan and spray with non-stick spray or line with foil and spray with
non-stick spray to get out easily for slicing.
3. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Set aside.
4. In another medium-sized bowl, beat white sugar and butter together using an electric
mixer until smooth and creamy.
5. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended in; add in vanilla extract.
6. Combine & whisk flour and baking powder together in another bowl and add into
creamed butter mixture and stir until blended.
7. Mix milk into batter until smooth.
8. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apple mixture, then half the
brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
9. Lightly pat apple mixture into batter.
10. Pour the remaining batter over apple layer and top with remaining apple mixture, then
the remaining brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
11. Lightly pat apples into batter; swirl brown sugar mixture through apples using knife or
spoon.
12. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes
1/2
out clean, approximately 50-60 minutes.
13. To make glaze, mix powdered sugar and milk or cream together until well mixed.
14. Let cool for about 15 minutes before drizzling with glaze.
15. Enjoy!

Source : food.com

Jeff’s Reverse-Sear Steaks ToTry

  1. Dry-brine for 2 hours a 1-1/2″ steak.
  2. Let warm up before searing
  3. Use a paper towel to dry the steaks. We want them as dry as possible so they will brown with as little steam as possible.
  4. Sear in a hot skillet with a bit of oil.
  5. Season with his Texas Rub
  6. Smoke at 230° until IT is 135° for med rare
  7. When they’ve been in the smoker for about 30 minutes, it’s a good idea to baste them with something to keep them moist.
    ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
    ½ cup Worcestershire
    ¼ cup olive oil
  8. Rest for 4-7 minutes

 

Seared and Smoked Top Sirloin Steaks