Death
From Within.....


GHOST PEPPERS


Always on the lookout for interesting hot chili peppers, I came across a guy who was advertising fresh Naga Jolokia Peppers (Bhut Jolokia) or known more popularly by their street name, Ghost Peppers. These peppers were known for some time as the hottest pepper on the face of the earth at 1,000,000 Scoville units. Recent developments have shown there are hotter peppers out there but they are not readily available. To give an example there is a strain of hot peppers developed in late 2010 called the Naga Viper Pepper and then in February 2011 another strain the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Pepper at 1,464,700 Scoville units. The 1st place rank seems to trade back and forth but one thing for sure is somebody is going to get hurt eating them. No matter, any pepper over a millions Scovilles is going to be toxic to play with. For those of you non chili-heads, the heat of a pepper is measured by what we call the Scoville Scale. This is achieved by adding increments of sugar water to the pepper where you can no longer detect the presence of heat. A sweet green pepper would have no heat or capsaicin the active ingredient and thus have a 0 rating. A jalapeño is about 4,000 scovilles and my infamous wiri wiri pepper is about 200,000 scovilles units.

I had a lot of experience with the dried variety of the Ghost Pepper, but never a fresh one. This was something I want to test as there is so much of the flavour profile that you miss when you go to the dried powder. I was given the opportunity by Kyle Hayward from the Ottawa area to get my hands on the elusive fresh Ghost Peppers in relative close proximity to me, awesome I was excited. Somebody’s butt was going to be burning, and I mean burning bad. I emailed Kyle but the season had finished but he would keep me in mind for the next year. Time passed and next season arrived, June 2011, Kyle called and asked if I was still interested, just in time for my chili developing season. Are you kidding?

The plants would not be ready until late fall but there was plenty of time for me to see the plants develop. While the Ghost Peppers were being nurtured along, I got to chat with Kyle about his background as mine is an open book or in reality an open blog. Kyle was also excited to have his peppers get intertwined with the Black Pig BBQ.

Kyle first became interested in growing peppers a few years ago when he realized the variety of species that existed and the possibility of creating his own cultivars. Always being a bit of a horticulturalist, he ventured into hot peppers with his first two pepper species, Scotch Bonnets and Cherry Bombs. After a bountiful harvest his neighbors and friends were the beneficiaries of his work. Kyle ventured to create his own crop of fresh, hot and chemical free Jolokia peppers. After a laborious 5 months of indoor growth, the plants went outdoors to gain their characteristics’, flavour and of course heat. Utilizing a custom soil mix there was no need for chemical fertilization, pesticides or herbicides. All that was need was sun and loads of water. Kyle sent me a few photos of the ongoing progress of the plants and it was all I could do to contain my excitement. Imagine when Kyle sent out some Ghost Peppers to be taste tested by friends and family, everyone who tried them said they were the hottest they've ever tried.

The flavour has a hint of citrus and does not have the typical watery taste of a hot pepper. Out of the 250 fruits that ripened, 15-20 had a deep purple coloring. The will be very exciting for him to use for breeding stock over the next couple of years. With Kyle’s success this year he is starting “Hayward’s Custom Produce” while attending college for horticulture, duh go figure. This winter he will be fruiting plants indoors with hand pollination so that I can supply clients year round by the fall of 2012.

Now what I got in early October was about 250 little globes of death. Yes in the name of science and knowing your ingredients I tested one. Holy “what the hell was I thinking” moment. I hit the can of whipped cream and drank a quart of milk; that was just a ¼ slice. There was that euphoria moment and the endorphins were in full rush, WOW pay dirt. Then the moment came upon me, Good Lard Tunderin Jesus I’m hoping for a little less pain on the way out. Half of my stash went to sauce and the other half went to the dehydrator to sample another day. I wanted to compare what Kyle was producing to what I have sourced from the internet. By the way, the same heat that went in was the same heat out… Oh God this was a spiritual moment if there ever was one; why oh why do I do this to myself?

Most of the sauce is still fermenting but I have taken some out and provided for some taste test and those citrus tones and fruity underscores and a serious after burn. Good Lord this is not your store bought Tabasco Sauce, they should have called these Holy Ghost Peppers as every time you taste them you will have a spiritual moment. I dared tried some of my new Gost Pepper Sauce in a bowl of chili and does it skyrocket the taste beyond belief.

Good Job Kyle; I know where I’m going for my peppers next year. Call them Bhut Jolokia, Naga Jolokia or just plain Ghost Peppers they are top shelf eats. You can reach Kyle at

Kyle Hayward  ksrhayward@gmail.com
Haywards Custom Produce
613-875-6535

If he’s got them, you can get them.

Cheers from the Big Dog

Memphis In May
from the Black Pig BBQ

We spoke a little while back about the Black Pig Team going to Memphis in May for 2011 and if you saw on my Facebook account that the team was very successful with hitting the podium for 1st place beef in the anything butt category. We were thrilled beyond speech, so here's a little video to pass the time away all about what we saw in Memphis.

Cheers from the Big Dog

It’s testosterone replacement therapy

Brisket in the BBQ world rules, as does a slow Prime Rib Roast and even a reverse sear Strip Loin steak; we’ve done all of these here before and where does it end. It doesn’t, thank goodness, but what can I grill that has a little profile of all three hunks of cow, a man’s man cut of beef.

May I introduce to you the one step above it all, “Pit Beef”.  This is a big chunk of cow, high heat grilled over lump charcoal for pure flavour and texture. Cooked to medium rare, sliced ultra-thin and served on a large man bun with sweet onion and horseradish mayo. Good lord this screams testosterone to me, served with some killer potato wedges twice fried and a cold beverage of the malted kind. I’m talking a full pound of beefy flavour with a tangy sauce with just the right bite… ARGHHHH  

My research led me to Baltimore Maryland where pit beef is as common as hamburgers and fries. They use outside round about a 3-5 pound roast. Hit it with some salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and paprika. Throw it on a high heat grill and char it on all sides until its 130 degrees or med rare and slice thin. Easy enough but is it Black Pig quality for my buddies. Nope I can do better; the round roast is a well worked mussel and is somewhat tough. While you can get over this by slicing very thin across the grain it may still be a little dry. For me its top sirloin, this has just the right amount of marbling to taste. Get a few 3 pounders 3-4 inches thick, it might be overkill for steaks and it’s not quite a roast, but its man size meat.  

In place of the traditional spices, I decided to use my brisket rub which has the same flavour profile as the above spices but a little sweeter and a little more kick. Into some vacuum bags or large zip locks and allow to mature for two days. This is the toughest part of the whole recipe; to have the discipline to do these two days in advance is just heart breaking but well worth it. Really you have to wait two days for the spice rub to do its magic. The salt will tenderize the meat very similar to a marinade and you will be rewarded.

Two days later, it’s grilling time. I loaded up the Primo Grill with Basques Hardwood Charcoal and made sure I had a full bed of coals (about 450 degrees), now if you do not have a charcoal grill go ahead with the propane gasser but when was the last time you heard your buddies say, “Hey Big Dog, those sure are great propane grilled steaks”, I’m not judging, just saying Basques Hardwood Charcoal eh.  Onto a hot grill, flames and all for 5 minute a side, every side not just top and bottom. A three pounder will take at least 20 minutes so don’t sweat it, close your lid and let the grill do its thing.

Bring your manly meat up to 125 and pull it from the grill, the carry over will raise the temperature another 5-10 more degrees. Don’t, don’t, don't overcook it, if you don’t like medium rare then go buy some hamburger and cook it to 185; for these babies medium rare is the only way to go.

Once off the grill, you have to let them rest for at least 15 minutes, it will not slice as thin when they are rocket hot. Do yourself a favor; give it the time they need for the juices to redistribute. If you have a meat slicer, then this is the time to bring it out. You can hand slice but the slicer will do it right, each and every time, top to bottom. That $99 slicer is really starting to look good, if you don’t have one then fill your boots with a sharp knife.

Up to now you still have just a roast beef sandwich; you have to add the thinly sliced onion and the horseradish mayo, (1 cup mayo, ½ cup horseradish and a tablespoon of lemon juice). Hit the sauce on both side of your bread just like butter, an onion on each side and a pound of thin sliced “Pit Beef”; AWESOME, just frackin awesome.

My first bite of this beefy monster and I was hooked, it was just the right amount of everything. If the old spice guy was eating this sandwich, he could be your man, which this would make it his sandwich. Now look at him, now look at me, I’m eating your sandwich because I’m a man, not your man, but your man could be like me, or not. One thing is for sure, this is pure testosterone; I should caution you that it may induce a nap and eventual meat sweats, this is not a girly girl sandwich it’s a Pit Beef sandwich.



Cheers from the Big Dog

The Black Pig BBQ is
Going to Memphis In May

In the BBQ world there are a few events that take you breath away with no doubts the Jack is number one. However as Pepsi is to Coke there is another exclusive world championship event and going toe to toe with the Jack is Memphis in May in of course Memphis, Tennessee.

At this event there is over 250 teams competing for a world title and only cooking one meat, your choice of Whole Hog, Shoulder or Ribs. While you can cook whatever ribs you desire here baby backs are king and that is music to my ears. At the Jack we went against the odds and did not cook the customary side ribs but our infamous Willowgrove Hill baby backs with a score of 177.1 of 180. I’m hoping for some very similar results in this world championship of pork. What is different her is that we have on site judging and it your team qualifies you are judged again two hours later.

Not all BBQ are the same while the Jack is the Super bowl of BBQ the Memphis is more like the Mardi Gras. There a two and three story booths and they go way out there and spend thousands. For some teams this is a huge party and they go all out, for us its game on. Just to sign up with a smallmeager booth its $1,250 plus additional funds for a floor, portable lavatory, power and I’m sure a few more unknown surprises. Thank goodness for the assistance of our partners and sponsors; Willowgrove Hill, Grand Valley Fortifiers, Basques and Railway City.

This trip we are doing things a bit differently, some of our sponsors will be coming along for this trip, to partake in this festival. So best behavior Barb please…

We will update everybody with our progress on Facebook as well as the blog.

Cheers from The Big Dog

Winner 3 time undefeated
National Chili Champion
Mike Callaghan


Again I had the opportunity to travel down the road to Toronto and compete at the third annual Zantac Chili Challenge. I want to thank some people for this honour. First being Zantac for sponsoring the event and of course the trip to the mexico.  I'd like to thank Willowgrove Hill for providing me with a supply of fantastic pork in order to develop this recipe. Most of all special thanks to my focus group; that had to endure some really spicy samples that I know were very troubling the next day.  

The pepper that inspired this recipe was the Ghost Pepper also properly known as Bhut Jolokia. For those of you that do not know it is the world's hottest commercially available pepper.  There is that Viper Pepper, but at this time I have not found it available. Before I get side tracked about ingredients let's chat about the event. 

My new chili nemesis Lori Sluth returned with an updated chili recipe from last years contest. Lori entered the Western Canadian Regional and won the right to compete against me in Toronto. I was concerned about her recipe and rightfully so. Guess who tied for first place, that western Sushi shop owner dang nabbit. 

The top two chilies went to a tie breaker round where the manager of the Calphalon Centre decided the outcome. Yours truly reigned supreme, making me a Three Time Undefeated National Chili Champion      

Get the recipe here

2011 Screaming Banshee Chili Recipe

Chili History and Starting from Scratch

 

 

I have been asked to do a workshop on how to make a championship chili without giving away my secrets. Unfortunately, my two national winning recipes for 2009 and 2010 are posted all over the internet. While I retain rights to those recipes they are found at www.chilichallenge.ca for any home cook to use. The trick is how to come up with your own recipe and to do that you need to know the basics of what chili is.

Simple Chili Recipe   2 LBS ground meat or  (Steak 1/3 inch cubed) 2 cups diced onion 4 cups beef broth 4 tbsp chili pepper 1 tbsp cumin 2 tbsp corn flour 2 tbsp chopped garlic 2 tbsp oregano 2 tbsp kosher salt 2 tbsp oil

The name "chili con carne" is taken from Spanish and means "peppers with meat."  So our base version starts with only the basics. 

Chili was peasant or cowboy food and often cooked on the trail with ingredients you found on the way or from dried stock one might have hanging in the cart.

The cook would have some beef or pork suet where they would fry some onions and trail spices in. He would then simmer the dried peppers in some stock and in would go some dried meat or some game they were able to get on route. Soon cooks premade chili blocks from flattened meat, fat and dried chili peppers. Venison, wild boar, goat and beef were all used in variations of chili, what ever meat was available to the travelers. Soon this stew grew in popularity and ingredients were added to enhance the staple food.

tbsp smoked paprika tbsp chorizo chili powder tbsp ancho chili powder tbsp chipotle chili powder tbsp cayenne chili powder

When beef got scarce, beans were added as a protein replacement. The primary type of beans was pinto but depending on what region you were in, suitable replacements were black-eyed peas, kidney beans and great northern beans. Hence the greatest chili controversy began;

Texas Red verses Bean Stew.

Chiles   Poblano (Anco when dried) Anaheim pepper Serrano peppers Red chili peppers Thai (bird’s eye) Jalapeño pepper      (chipotle when smoked and dried) Habanero / scotch bonnet Naga jolokia (ghost)

Notwithstanding that debate there are various additions you can custom design into your own chili. Some very distinct flavors’ can be developed using a combination of the noted spices and can be found readably in most good markets.
 

With the use of dried spices, fresh chilies are also a welcome addition. Each contribution adds a different level of heat and a unique flavour augmentation. My secret ingredient from in the 2010 chili recipe is the Wiri Wiri pepper very popular in Guyana.

This year we are going even hotter with the infamous “Ghost peppers” Naga Jolokia  

Now that you have the spices and some heat, as our southern Texas cooks would say, “The rest is filler”.

Options 3 chipotles in adobo sauce 1 cup green pepper 1 cup celery 1 cup corn 1 can tomato paste 1 can kidney beans (pinto/ black) 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp instant coffee 1 tbsp coco 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 can coke 1 bottle of beer (dark) 1 shot of whiskey / bourbon 1 can mushrooms 1 tbsp cinnamon

I disagree; I like the beans and other vegetables in my chili. I have tried many combinations and found they add a pleasant addition to any chili.

 

 

Tomatoes are ok but my preference is tomato paste. The celery and corn were a welcome addition to last year’s winning recipe; I even went as far as sweet potatoes.

Consider sugar or a sweet ingredient to balance the heat.

Add some spirits to enhance the profile and to release the alcohol soluble flavors. My preference is bourbon, but my buddy is fond of beer.

A must for all to add is chocolate; it creates a smoothness and depth that you will only notice when it is not there.

This is where each individual person can create his/her own signature dish. My advice is to stay away from peanut butter, pineapples, bananas and oranges, these are just a little too funky, even for me.

Last year I was up against beef brisket, slab bacon and even smoked pork hocks, but I stayed true to my ground beef, pork, and turkey and lamb combo. I have also seen moose meat and meat substitute added to chilies with various success. The most frustrating thing I tasted in chili was cinnamon. A sweet cinnamon chili beat me out on my very first competition against my spicy rendition. It was a peoples choice judging and they were all chili virgins (UGH).

Chili should be a family affair, comfort food you can enjoy on a cold winter day. Don’t forget that leftovers can be just as tasty the next day with chili dogs, chili cheese fries, Louisville-style chili (on pasta), chili on a baked potato, chili and corn bread and the list goes on. 

  

 

Cheers from the Big Dog

 

Crown Roast of Pork

The King of Kitsch



I was really excited to get a whole bone-in loin from Willowgrove. This primal cut is in demand by the best of chefs in many restaurants in Toronto. Unfortunately there are only two loins per pig, my playtime is second to supply and demand. I knew my time would come and it did, so what project was worthy of such a wonderful ingredient.

 

I thought I would french the loin; it delivers such a incredible presentation. I remembered my youth and the Crown Roast of Pork.  This was not just a "Sunday Roast", it marked a festive event, it was a step over the family turkey even a whole salmon. I immediately thought of my mom in her apron, us in our Sunday best. Served at the table with our best china (from Eaton’s of course) and out came Grandma's stemware.

This dish was very popular post WWII with the availability of fresh meat. It was celebrated to make an outstanding presentation fit for royalty. In my humble opinion, TV made this popular with the masses. Local butchers made the custom cut more popular and affordable, promoting the dish. The roast itself was simple to prepare and it was as excellent vessel for stuffing with various components, as vast as one's imagination, breads, sausage and even other game meat.

Simple but extravagant, it was the perfect ingredient for every home cook who wanted to stand out at a dinner party.
 
You can get your loins whole and do it your self but ask your butcher to french the loin for you. Seriously, get the butcher to do it, it worth the money. If you’re not doing this every day, as in my case, it may take a full hour to clean my bones off. This is not hard work, it is just time consuming.

If you must, look at the profile of the loin you will see the muscle line and the large fat component, while I always say fat is flavour, today we are losing it. The cleaner you get the bones the better your presentation.

I chose to marinade my loin overnight in olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon and a nice bunch of fresh oregano. The stuffing would be roasted pine nuts and blue cheese.

The next day I roasted a cup of pine and got the loin out of the fridge. Match the two ends together to make a nice small crown roast. Another version is made with two loins but expect enough for 12-15 people; we were ok with 8 that night.

Off to my stuffing, two cups of panko break crumbs, course chopped pine nuts and 8 oz of blue cheese, crumbled. A hit of fresh cracked pepper and I filled the centre of my roast.  Don’t wipe off the marinade, it will add to the flavour giving it a nice crust. I add flavourmatics to the pan with the choice of baby potatoes, small onions and carrots. You might as well go all out with traditions here, carrots with the texture of warm butter, how this reminds me of mom’s cooking, I hang my head another notch. Into the oven for 2 ½ hours at 375 (f).

Now here is where I part from tradition and my mom’s cooking. She would cook the roast to an internal temperature of 180 (f) and she wanted to make sure it was safe so she would let it go until 185(f). This woman never heard of carry-over so her internal was likely 190 (f) by the time she served dinner.  Hence, my mom’s roast was approaching pulled pork and we could cut it with a fork. There was a certain dryness that was eagerly reconstituted with apple sauce… good times.

Nope, for me I was pulling at 140 (f) with a carry-over to 145-150 (f). This would leave my roast nice and juicy.  Now don’t cry to me about the danger of undercooked pork. The  Ontario Pork Counsel confirms a loin is done at 160(f) and their pull temperature is 155(f). Good quality pork can be eaten medium rare, just like beef. I’m not sure I would eat my pork blue as I do with beef, nope thats just a little too rare for me. If you have great concerns, cook it like my mom did, it’s your digestive track and you know best, for me it’s all about the flavour.

While it’s all about the flavour, I not sure I would repeat this recipe, it was a success and it was loved by all, I would stop at the french cut and not bother to tie the roast I’m not a big fan of stuffing and like my meat with a nice crust. I rather cook my loin whole and on the grill. A fast sear and a slow dry roast with a hint of smoke.

I can get some very nice results with the presentation directly on the plate. The days of little paper hats on the ribs, presenting the whole roast and rushing  back into the kitchen to cut it is long gone in my opinion.  




The family loved this project; there was no complaints, no snide comments, and no request for cheese curds. The family was unusually silent about dinner that night, and even asked for seconds, there was not a scrap of food left except one roasted onion and that was gone before dishes were done. Hmmm silence is golden. Oh and the blue cheese stuffing, spot on, there was no apple sauce on our table that night.
 
Crown Roast is just a little too kitsch for me, but if that’s where you what to go, it is truly king.


Cheers from the Big Dog

 

The Black Pig Competition BBQ Team Update

There never seems to be as much time in the day as one would like. I’ve heard this so many times but it not how much time there is in the day but what your priorities are. Mine start out work, family and then bettering our BBQ scores, and we have done just that.

 

We have had three very impressive events and one cancelation, but that’s another story. As our season starts, if you recall I won the 2010 National Zantac Chili Challenge and the prize was another trip to Mexico (again). We booked for the third week of May to allow for the May 24 weekend to be included in our holiday with the kids. Unfortunately The Ottawa Smoked to the Bone competition was the same Friday we were returning. To boot Susan was unable to attend that competition due to work commitments. The icing on the cake was the Upper Canada BBQ championship was started and Ottawa was the first on the list. We were committed.

 

My buddy Ron met us in Toronto when we landed and Sam drove the van home to London and we continued on to Ottawa. This was Sam’s Prom weekend and she was not passing that up for BBQ. Barb was about to bail on me as well but after she found out Sam was not going to be home anyways, she decided to help me out. Josh was doing the amateur event (same day). To make a long story short, I was not going to get any help as Barb ended up helping with the administration of the event; I was cooking alone.

Thank goodness we had prepared all of our rubs and sauces ahead of time and much to my surprise it all came off rather smooth. I nailed a 1st Place in Pork, 2nd Place in Ribs, 2nd Place in Brisket and a respectable 4th Place in Chicken.

Good enough for Grand Champion. Even better I broke that 2^nd place pork curse that I had for awhile. Thanks to Harley who is the organizer of the Smoked to the bone, it was a great event.

By the way Josh nail a 4^th place in his ribs, 36 points back from first place. He stayed strictly to his time table and the ribs were a little under done. I told him he has to be more flexible. Oh and his team name Well Hung Meat, nice, a name that parents could be proud of.


On to Paris...












A special thanks to Willowgrove Hill (of course) Hayter's Turkey and our Country Cooker Whole Hog  

A week to recover and reset and June 11th we are heading down the road for the Ontario Pork BBQ Championship in Paris. Both Susan and Barb were onsite. With this event being so close, we had friends and family galore in on Saturday. The torential rain held off until turn in time and everybody piled into the hall for the results, now the pressure was on. 1st place ribs, 1st place brisket, 2nd place pork and rounding up the rear again was a 4th place chicken.

Our pork was 2 points out of first; I hope this was not going to be another trend. The boys also did ok, Susan’s boy Matt and his team “Rub & Tug” got a first in the amateur ribs, and Josh took 7^th. He could not find his sauce sitting in the cooler and used our chicken sauce instead.

Way to go Matt...


Four days to reset and we would be off to Toronto, nope.

Late Friday night, with 6 days to go, Toronto was canceled. That’s ok because I needed some time at home to put the Christmas light away and start up the pool.

Well, July 1 was going to be a really big weekend. We were heading to lake Placid where the Black Pig Team was fielding two JR teams at the

I LOVE BBQ JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

not only did the kids have to make 6 serving each of Streaks, Ribs, Chicken and Desert but two sides as well per dish. Samantha and Julia had to be recruited for Josh’s team and there were issues with the team name. Hence his team became “Well Hung Meat & a Rack” (will this torture ever end).

Matt had his good friend Jeremy and his brother Daniel. Bob and Joanne also decided to join us for the trip. More of this on their own blog story.

 

Friday night saw us cooking in the NEBS event and we had to cook that dreaded Fatty. I spoke with Tim Brown from Can't Stop Grilling and he was in the same foreign boat as us, not a clue.

Well I have to say we did Ok, Tim and I came second and third (respectively) with him over me by .0002 of a point. As Tim stated a win is a win… (jerk) J


Sunday the Black Pig took its turn and our Pork tied for first place with Cancersucks Chicago at 170.2856 just shy of ten points from a perfect score. They went to a tie breaker process and I ended up in 2^nd Place Pork

(I guess that’s karma for the dam kid’s team name).

Overall we took 4^th place in a top five group of Jack Daniels winners.

Tim, took 1^st place chicken, no small feat. I asked him if he was going to share his chicken secrets, and he asked if I was going to share my pork recipe, nuff said!


Next week Listowel where we will do the third of the Upper Canada BBQ Championship. This weekend I’ll be working on may chicken recipe.

 

Cheers from the Big Dog

 

Très Dégueulasse,
Translation... very icky



We have been very busy lately getting ready for competitions and I have been neglecting the blog for a few weeks. With the association and the team in full swing, throw a trip to Mexico in there and our fans are the last to get my attention. So I have got one of those updates everybody likes... Me falling flat on my face…

May I present my first Fattie.

Now do not digress here, its not a big chick on a moped; this is sausage meat stuffed with high cholesterol artery hardening foods often wrapped in bacon and then slow smoked, seriously WTF... 

This is one of those things that just does not cross my mind to make. I understand the principle but I just have never engaged in it.

There are food porn sites that I sometime frequent that have the most incredibly revolting combinations of overindulgence you could imagine. There are things like deep fried Mars bars wrapped in thick slices of French toast covered in cheese curds and gravy, served on a crêpe and the smothered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream. 
 

It's like a car accident on the 401, you know you shouldn't look and you know it's going to be bad but you just have to look and then you’re sorry you did. 

Well we have to make a fattie for a competition in the United states and as much research you can do on the net, sometime it just does not work out.

I hand made our sausage meat with our traditional Italian blend and rolled it out in a large gallon zip bag to get it even and about the size of a piece of paper. Our filling would be roasted red peppers, caramelized smoked onions, cherry smoked bacon and creamy cheddar cheese. All rolled up tight and put on the smoker. It went for the two hours at 220(f).

This was as falic as you can get.... argh argh
 
Cutting into our delight of indulgence was pitted with disaster, perhaps Velveeta cheese was not the best idea I had ever had. As soon as the pork fat hit the soft cheese it vaporized any thought of texture and turned my work into a molten pool of goo.

My thick manly fattie was now a floppy protrusion of impudent pork.


 

Nuff said...

Back to the drawing board...

Cheers from the Big Dog

 

The King of Beef – Prime Rib  

Here’s something you don’t see every day, Prime Rib cap off for $3.99 a pound. Now I'm a huge proponent of well age dry hung local beef and I would exclusively eat it every day, if I could afford it. I would also eat lobster and caviar as an appetizer for every meal but my wallet is not endless and I have to watch my trim figure

At the heart of BBQ is slow and low cooking, so I do not always need to get the best cuts. Hey BBQ is all about dealing with the toughest cut of meat cooking them like butter.

Well my local grocery store had the Prime Rib on sale and I was in for 6 bones. Who was I inviting over to taste this little baby, nobody. Do I dare say leftovers, why yes. The plan was that this one roast was going to 4 separate meals, at $58 for the entire roast (score) I want to prove that this could be cost efficient to cook this much roast for the family. I had the butcher cut the ribs off and tie them back on, try flipping the bones over to expose the meat to the cooker, more on this later.

As usual give your roast a good rub of oil and season well with your favourite rub. On the grill (indirect) for about 4 hours at 220 (f) add smoke if you can, I chose Smokinlicious Sweet Maple and a dash of Hickory chips.

Keep an eye on the grill to keep the temperature down (low and slow please) and stick a probe into the thickest end of the roast. Run the internal temp up to 133, there is very little carry over here as we are cooking at a low heat. Let the roast rest for at least 15 minutes or the juices will run. I thought I would be ok after 8 minutes, nope you need 15 minutes under tin foil.

Cut the strings and roll the roast off the bones and re-season the rack of ribs before putting them back on the grill for an hour or so (till after dinner); that will be lunch tomorrow. Slice your beef for some nice thick slices and enjoy dinner.

Did I say "ribs for lunch the next day", that’s a great idea except Josh and I devoured them about 10:30 that night.  Served with a nice cold barley beverage, yum, fracken yum,

We had a good 6 inches of roast left which was left to chill in the fridge till the next day. For the next part you need a home slicing machine, mine is somewhat commercial but I have used the $99 home slicer with great success. This is a worthy item to purchase. Slice all of the beef into thin but not shaved slices, presto cold cuts at a fraction of the price. Sometimes I will slow roast turkey or another beef roast just for this. 

Save some of the cold cuts for the ultimate "Hot Roast Beef Sandwich". Two cups of home made gravy and if you have to, store bought. Bring to simmer and put your beef in for ten minutes to reheat. You will lose the pink medium rare look but the meat will still be so tender. Plate that bad boy up with some classic peas and fries. Unfortunately the deep fryer is verboten as you will recall so I have to make some sacrifice to the perfect meal.

So we served 5 for first meal, 2 on the ribs, 4 on the hot roast beef and gravy and 3 lunch wraps with the cold cuts.. 14 fantastic serious meals @ $4.00 a plate.... That’s Home Economics.


Cheers from the Big Dog