We invited family and friends to enjoy a July 4th celebration with us. Lanier, Lanea with Spencer and Peggy with Frank were the family component. Bro. Digger Creel, Carol, and Morita, with Sterling and Helen Hines, plus Ann Gaston, were the friends.* The hit was the smoked, stuffed jalapenos.
Notable food prepared and served by us was:
Smoked Pork shoulders
- Two for a total of 20 lbs. after trimming. Dry brined for 36 hours.
- Removed from the refrigerator to warm up for about an hour. Slathered with yellow mustard as they were not moist enough to hold the seasoning. Shook on 6POGS moderately.
- Smoked in the Recteq at 276° for 6 hours.
- Pulled, wrapped in aluminum foil, poured in maybe a cup of ACV, wrapped tightly, and put into the convection oven at 275° until the probe alarmed at 205 in the average size piece.
- Pulled that piece and the smaller piece. Moved the probe to the large piece and pulled it when the probe alarmed at 205.°
- Put the pieces in the small Igloo cooler. About 2 hours later when removed and served they were still hot, very moist, and falling apart–but not too much.
- Comments – Good flavor and not too spicy for this crowd who are wimps.
Smoked, Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, Bacon Wrapper
These were very popular and many said they were special.
- Made with fresh, milder Everman Jalapenos grown in our garden.
- Removed the stems and sliced the large meaty peppers in half and removed seeds and pith.
- Stuffed them high with Ina’s Spicy Pimento Cheeze with small pieces of last week’s Pork Roast with a lot of bark bits.
- Wrapped them in Zeigler’s thin-sliced bacon and seasoned with Creole Seasoning.
- 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 1″ lengths and served on the wooded cutting board with toothpicks.
.* Becky did not want to drive at night so she did not attend. Tommy Browning just caught Covid so none of them attended. Don’t know where Jack is.
