Pecan smoked pork butt on 9/7/2015 at farm

Posted on by October 11, 2015

9/6/2015 at the farm. Smoking at 7:30 AM and took it off at 5:30 PM

Used the Great Smoky Mountain smoker starting out with Kingsford unlit around the sides of the fire pan with a hole in the middle. Dumped a half chimney of burning brickets in the hole. Put hot water in the pan and the meat on the rack two slots above the pan.  Maybe 20 minutes later added a small, short log of pecan. Within an hour a lot of coals were grey and that seem like a lot. Kept adding pecan to keep it burning and that worked fine.  Door thermometer and oven shelf thermometer both read the same with temp staying from 200 to 250. Lower vents set at abut 50% and missing upper vent was maybe 50% blocked with a scrap of sheet metal.

Great Bark but did not taste salty enough. Also did not pull apart like in restaurants.

The above was based on my memory the advice at AmazingRibs.com. What Meathead recommends and I should have done is:

  • “Trim most of the of fat from the exterior of the meat but not all of it. Leave no more than 1/8″ …  Most of the butts I cook are 4 to 6 pounds, pretty well trimmed, and tied with butcher’s twine to keep them from falling apart.”
  • “Rinse and thoroughly dry the meat. Salt it. If you have the time salt it 12 to 24 hours in advance.”   “1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days.”
  • Apply rub shorty before smoking. The rub will not penetrate, but the salt will. Just before cooking, wet the surface to help the rub dissolve and adhere. Some folks like to slather it with yellow mustard [instead of the water]. “
  • My roast did stall as he warns. “When the meat hits 150 to 160°F, moisture moves to the surface and starts evaporating and cooling the meat like sweat on a marathon runner. As a result, the meat temp will not rise for as long as 5 hours. It stalls at 150 to 160°F. And it significantly lengthens the cook and drives people nuts. But this process helps dry the exterior and form bark. ” I should have let it go longer and it would have pulled apart as it should have.
  • “The meat is at its maximum tenderness and juiciness when it hits 195 to 203°F (203°F is my target, but actual time and temp varies on the individual animal).”

The quotes in the bullets are taken from various pages by Meathead at AmazingRibs.com.

For his recipe for butt smoked for 2 hours then finished in the oven click here and scroll down the page to The Fast Method.

Grandma Mary’s Easter Potato au Gratin

Posted on by December 8, 2024

First made Easter 2013. This is a Tyler Florence recipe from our copy of his book.

  • 1/2 cup of heavy cream
  • 3 dried bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, plus more to finish – used more fresh thyme since I love the taste.
  • 2 garlic coves, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • unsalted butter
  • 2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8″-inch thick slices
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling
  • A Great Idea:  Mary added Asiago and Le Gruyere cheese
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
  2. In a saucepan, heat up the cream with the bay leaves, thyme, garlic, nutmeg and some salt and pepper.
  3. While the cream is heating up butter a casserole dish.
  4. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bay leaves and thyme from the cream.
  5. Pour the heated cream into a large bowl with the potato slices. Mix gently to coat the potatoes.
  6. Dust the Parmesan and other cheeses over the potatoes. Season the mix with a bit of salt and pepper. Mix gently.
  7. Spoon a little bit of the cream into the bottom of the casserole dish. Then spoon the potatoes in.  (I layered the potatoes and cheeses). Level out the potatoes for uniform cooking time.
  8. Pour the remaining cream at the bottom of the bowl over the top. Top with some Parmesan and fresh thyme leaves. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, but pull back one corner for the steam to escape.
  9. Bake for 40 minutes.

Mexican Corn on the Cob (Elote) ToTry

Posted on by November 12, 2017

Submitted By: blakleyl
Photo By: Soup Loving Nicole
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ready In: 20 Minutes
Servings: 4
“As served by street vendors in Mexico. Grilled ears of fresh corn are spread with mayonnaise and sprinkled with grated cotija cheese. You’ll want to eat all your corn this way from now on.”
Ingredients:
4 ears corn, shucked
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated cotija cheese
4 wedges lime (optional)
Directions:
1.     Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat.
2.     Grill corn until hot and lightly charred all over, 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the temperature of the grill. Roll the ears in melted butter, then spread evenly with mayonnaise. Sprinkle with cotija cheese and serve with a lime wedge.

 

From AllRecipes.com

Grannie’s Texas Bean Recipe

Posted on by August 26, 2015

The original recipe and background below for these beans was extracted from AmazingRibs.com. Our mods are in parenthesis.

“There are a million ways to vary this recipe and every Texan has her own twist. Some start with the stripped down recipe below and add potato chunks, bell peppers, anchos, hot sauce, ham hocks, leftover meats, or herbs. Sweeteners, such as molasses, common in Yankee bean dishes such as Boston Baked Beans, rarely appear in Texas beans. Continue reading →

Super Simple Shrimp Tacos

Posted on by July 31, 2015
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb of frozen shrimp, defrosted, peeled, & deveined
  • 6 oz fat free Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  • 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ a head of cabbage, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat tortillas over medium heat in a dry skillet until warm and starting to form small brown spots. Set aside on a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel.
Mix yogurt, cayenne, lime juice, cilantro, & salt in a small bowl, set aside.
Heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a medium non-stick skillet and add cabbage.  Cook for about four minutes or until the cabbage is just barely wilted.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Cut shrimp into thirds, so you have little bite size pieces.  Sauté in two teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper over medium heat just until done.  They cook up in just a few minutes… so be sure to watch them!
Build your taco!  Place a scoop of cabbage on the warmed tortillas taco, then top with shrimp, and cilantro sauce… enjoy!

Ruth’s Chris New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp

Posted on by September 3, 2015

Ingredients:

  • 20 large (16/20) shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 ounce canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon plus 5 teaspoons green onions, chopped
  • 2 ounces dry white wine
  • 1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
  • 4 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) salted butter

Instructions:

Place a large cast iron skillet on a burner and heat over high heat. Add oil and cook shrimp until they are just done. It’s best to prepare shrimp in batches if you do not have large skillet. Remove shrimp and set aside on a large platter.
Add green onions to the oil in the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Add white wine and let simmer until it is reduced by half.
When the wine is reduced by half, add chopped garlic, Worcestershire, Tabasco. cayenne pepper and paprika. Shake the pan well and cook for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low.
Cut butter into small chunks with the knife and slowly add into pan, shaking fast to melt butter.
Continue to add butter and shake until all butter is melted. Add shrimp back to pan and toss well to coat shrimp with butter and seasonings and to heat the shrimp. Place shrimp on four plates and enjoy.
7/29/15 – Our 1st preparation of this was great. The shrimp used were smaller than what is called for here and we had them over rice made in homemade chicken stock with green onions and cajun green-onion sausage from Bergerons.

Shrimp Boil by Bon Appétit Test Kitchen–To Try

Posted on by July 6, 2016

Ingredients

Servings: 4

  • 2 onions, halved crosswise
  • 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 4 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
  • 2 teaspoons dill seeds
  • 2 teaspoons whole allspice
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 5 dashes (or more) hot pepper sauce, preferably Crystal
  • 1-1/2 pounds unpeeled large shrimp (about 30)
  • Combine first 12 ingredients and 8 cups water in a large pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 20 minutes. Squeeze in juice from lemon; add lemon to pot. Add hot sauce and shrimp. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes.
  • Turn off heat, add 4 cups ice cubes, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and place on a newspaper-lined baking sheet. Serve with additional hot sauce, if desired.

Shrimp Boil Homemade

Posted on by July 28, 2020

Zatarain’s Copycat Crab Boil Mix

4 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons whole allspice
2 tablespoons dill seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
8 bay leaves
Salt and cayenne pepper (or liquid hot sauce) to taste.

Combine all dry ingredients thoroughly. Place in a square of muslin or cheesecloth and tie securely with string, like a large sachet spices. Add salt and cayenne or hot sauce to the water to taste, then bring to a boil.

When water for seafood is boiling, add the bag and boil for several minutes, until the boiling liquid is tinted and seasoned, then add vegetables and/or shellfish and cook until done, depending on what you’re using.

Yield: Enough crab boil seasoning for 5 pounds of seafood.

Journal:

1/10/2016 – Mixed one batch using about 1T of ground All Spice (did not have whole) and brown mustard seed. Boiled 4 qts. water with 5T salt and a lemon cut in half. Added 1/2 of the bowl of seasoning loose plus a little more All Spice as it seemed to have settle to the bottom of the bowl and 1/2 did not get into the pot. Boiled slow for 20 minutes then added the 3 lbs. of 16-20 headless shrimp that were near room temp due to prior luke-warm water bath for 15 minutes. Before return to boiling, 10+ were floating so removed them with strainer spoon to ice cubes in SS bowl. Poured a little of the pot liquor into the ice enough to float everything. Ice did not melt completely. Left the shrimp in for maybe 30 minutes.  TASTE – Shrimp peeled easily and were crunchy–not tough or chewy. Needed more salt. Try 1/2C in 4 quarts. The 4 quarts of water could have easily done 4 lbs.  Seasoning is much better than today’s Zatarain from the store in the cachet. Need to get whole All Spice.

7/08/2017 – At Farm with Royal Reds.  Very pleased with the crab boil as it had the carport smelling like old-time crab boil with strong full aromas. The shrimp had the flavor but not overpowering.

Boiling Shrimp till a few float

Posted on by September 28, 2015
  • 2 lb. shrimp head on, no matter the size of shrimp, cover with water so there is at least 1 to 2 inches of water covering.
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning, to taste
  • spices, to own liking,if desired

Directions

  1. I don’t care if you use cold, warm or hot water!
  2. Start cooking shrimp.
  3. The water may never come to a boil.
  4. But constantly stir shrimp.
  5. Don’t worry about the water boiling or time, it does not matter!
  6. When you see 1 or 2 shrimp float drain immediately and have an ice bath waiting, to shock the shrimp and stop cooking process.
  7. Drain well and chill 1 hour before serving!
  8. If eating hot serve right after cooking.
  9. If you follow this method you will only serve the best.
  10. I have been following my recipe for over 20 years and it is fool proof.

A Reviewer said; “add along with the Ole bay, some Garlic powder and Cavender’s Greek seasoning (Salt Free version), keeps the shrimp from getting tough. ”

Found at http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-boiled-shrimp-112889

7/28/15 – First try was with headless and the tails rose to point up after only a few minutes in the water that was boiling when dropped in. Did not seem so rubbery but also not “crunchy”.

Mary’s Mustard Greens

Posted on by September 28, 2015

First made on March 4, 2015.

1 small bunch of mustard greens
2 strips of thick sliced smoked bacon
1 white end of a leek
1T Butter
White wine
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste

  1. In large dry skillet begin cooking 2 strips of thick slice smoked bacon cut in 1/2″ long pieces.
  2. When the bacon has cooked enough to have bacon fat pooled in the pan, but not done, add the white part of the leek cut into 1/2″ pieces broken into ringlets and sweat them;
  3. Add 1T butter to increase the fat level;
  4.  Deglaze with cheap chardonnay and once deglazed add more wine to create a thin sauce;
  5. Add greens that have been rough cut to 3/4″ slices;
  6. Steam with lid to wilt then add 2 gloves of minced garlic;
  7. season to taste with fresh-ground course black pepper and kosher salt;
  8. Cook until almost done and turn off until Tom is home from work;
  9. Reheat to finish cooking and serve.