If it's Friday..It must mean a new CONTEST!!!!!

Big Poppa

Administrator
Comeon...break out old Uncle Charlies famous recipes...how about adapting some of moms finest?

Enter and win...also show the curious lurkers all that can be created with a Pelletsmoker!

First place $25.00 Store Credit to Big Poppa Smokers
Second Place $15.00 Store Credit to Big Poppa Smokers
Third Place $10.00 Store Credit to Big Poppa Smokers

$5 Bucks store credit to everybody else that enters

Lets keep it up...the cooks have been spectac!
 

ACW3

New member
I guess I'll kick things off.

The trip to France was great. I was able to eat a lot of cuisine that is not generally available, especially in this part of NC. The trip inspired me to prepare one of the dishes using my MAK. It has taken a while, but I think I was able to come up with a menu for a meal that went from some appetizers to a wonderful dessert. Here goes.

My wife came home from one of her book club meeting and said, “Here, try some this homemade pimento cheese. It is really good!” It was really good. She got a copy of the recipe and I have since made it twice. The second time I made it I decided to try add some chopped up pig candy. The basic pimento cheese recipe comes from Victoria.com. Details of the recipe are in my other post.

This is appetizer number one. The basic recipe mixed in the bowl.

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Pig candy off the MAK using Bacon Savor rub.

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Everybody is mixed, in the bowl and ready to serve. I like a touch of Slap Ya Momma on mine.

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Appetizer number 2 is a bit different than any appetizers I have seen. It is Pork Belly Confit. It is Jim Drohman’s recipe in Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn’s book Charcuterie. This is a somewhat labor/time intensive process, but it was worth every minute I spent putting it together. And before anyone asks, yes, I would do it again.

I made a half recipe, following their directions as closely as possible. Two major differences, however. First, I left the skin on the pork belly and scored it in a diamond pattern. (I had further plans for the pork skin.) After cooking the pork belly slowly in my Dutch oven, I cooled the pork belly overnight and then smoked it on my MAK with BD cherry pellets.

The pork belly, scored and ready to be seasoned. The spices have been rubbed into both sides of the pork belly. The next step is to add the Pinot Grigio to the rubbed pork belly, and wait for about a day and a half.

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The Dutch oven has enough lard melted into it to cover the pork belly, which I had to cut in half in order to make it fit properly.

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After cooking the pork belly in the lard for several hours in the oven, the pork belly was removed and put on the MAK to get some cherry smoke. These are the cut up pieces of the “meat” from the pork belly, ready to be deep fried and served.

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This is what it looks like after deep frying.

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Now this is the reason I kept the skin on the pork belly. I wanted to be able to make some brined, smoke flavored chicharones. That Pinot Grigio brine was amazing. It imparted a not-to-sweet flavor to the pork skins.

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Here is an appetizer plate with some mixed greens topped with several pieces of Pork Belly Confit. I drizzled a little blood orange EVOO on and around the greens. This step really finished the appetizer. The slightly crunchy outside of the confit and the inside that just melted in my mouth.

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Part 2 follows.

Art
 

ACW3

New member
Okay, here is the final part of my contest entry.

Time to put the main course together. I bought several tri-tips a while back. I now had enough time to try this one the MAK. I started out with the glue, an espresso balsamic.

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I put some Money on both sides and wrapped the tri-tip in plastic wrap and back into the refrigerator overnight.
In my haste to put everything together, I forgot to take any pictures while the meat was on the MAK. I had the MAK set at 250. However, I did keep an eye on the IT and pulled it when the meat was 125 in the thickest part.

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This is what it looked like when I sliced it. The chef’s piece while carving tasted great. Wonderful flavor and it was fairly tender, too. Money has become my wife’s favorite rub. It is not as strong to her as some of the other rubs.

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I finally plated my portion. From all the snacking beforehand, I limited myself to meat and tomatoes. The tomatoes had some garlic EVOO with salt, pepper, and some dried basil.

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For dessert I had made a cake from a recipe I copied off the Bradley Forum. It was called Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cake. The first picture shows the 9x13 dish with a few pieces missing. This cake was really good. It would make a great breakfast cake with coffee in the morning.

I barely had any room left, but I couldn’t resist. I had a small piece (with moo juice).

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And that, my friends, is my entry into this weeks contest.

Art
 

squirtthecat

New member
Black Iron & Bisquick!

Doing a 'retro Mom' cook...

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It's called a Chicken Parmigiano Pie.

Layer cottage cheese/parm cheese. Top with chopped chicken mixed with a can of tomato paste and some Mozz cheese. Blend together milk/eggs/Bisquick and pour over the top.

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Set the pit at 400°.

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30 minutes in, top with more Mozz.

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Almost there.

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Cook until a knife comes out clean. (sorta)

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PDG!

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Mom would have sided that with some 'Suddenly Salad' and pumpkin bars. ;)


Now I'm gonna need a jackhammer to get the burnt cheese off of the Griswold.. :eek::eek:
 

cowdog

New member
I'm a noob at this entering contests thing. Hope I am correct by posting straight in here.

I was in too much of a rush and forgot before shots, but here is my simple entry:

I attempted reverse-seared steaks for the first time. I did not think to take any before pictures, but did get a plated pic. I had a ribeye, the wife a filet. Both were rubbed with EVOO, then I applied BP's DSSR. Potatoes were covered in EVOO, sea salt, and coarse ground black pepper. Veggies are Summer and Italian Squash with Desert Gold. Started with the potatoes on smoke for 30 minutes (wasn't sure if I would actually get a smokey flavor, but tried), then cranked the 2 Star to 450 for 45 minutes. Placed potatoes in the warmer as the grill cooled to smoke. At smoke, I placed the steaks on and smoked for 45 minutes. I then placed them in the warmer drawer with the potatoes and boosted the temp to 450. When temp got to 350 I put on the veggies, which were in a make-shift aluminum bowl with sum butter. Placed the steaks back on when grill reached 450. It only took ~5 minutes to get to 130. Pulled everything. Wrapped veggies and potatoes in foil while the steaks rested. Here is the plated pic.

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bflodan

Member
Crab Cake Sandwich's and Parmesan Crab Risotto Cakes

Did some Crab Cakes 2 ways tonight and decided to make a sandwich out of one of them... I first made a quick Lemon and Tarragon Aioli and let that chill as pulled about 30 snow crab legs apart... They are small but I love the taste of Snow Crab! The Aioli was just a mixture of Mayo, fresh Lemon Juice and Zest, chopped Tarragon, Dijon Mustard and a little salt and Pepper..

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As all that was going on I also made some Parmesan Risotto and let it cool for about 30 min to stiffen up a little.. Crab Cakes where a mixture of Crab, Green Onion, Aioli, Minced Garlic, Dijon, and Panko..

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Parm Cakes where just a mix of the Risotto and Crab

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Made both into Cakes and Coated in a little Panko.. The Risotto cakes are the two on the bottom..

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On the Mak for 30 min of smoke..

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Then onto the griddle at 400..

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Crab cakes plated on a fresh Ciabatta Roll with some mixed greens and Aioli and a little Mixed Green Salad with A Balsamic Vinaigrette..

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These Crab Cakes come out great off the Mak...Love that Griddle!!!
 

Chili Head

New member
I cooked at my buddy's 50'th birthday party lastnight and I have to work tonight so I didn't have time to do much this weekend. We ended up doing burgers and dogs today for the MIL bro in law and my wife's aunt.

Burgers and dogs

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Everyone loved the burgers off the MAK! No surprise there.

Plated with potato salad, baked beans and chips and a glass of moo juice.

The dog got nothing but pepper plant garlic hot sauce. I love that stuff!
The burger got dressed with cheese, onion, tomato, bacon and yellow mustard.

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For dessert I grilled a few pieces of pound cake and added some fresh local strawberries and some whipped cream.

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Thanks for looking!
 

Tatonka3A2

New member
Steak, shrimp & potatoes

Nothing too fancy here this weekend - we finally had a weekend of no rain so we worked outside and got tons of things done!! So on to it....

Started with the ribeyes and the potatoes getting some smoke for a little more than an hour at 150° with some charcoal pellets. I forgot to get the prep pics...busy getting yard work done. The steaks were seasoned with Tatonka Dust and some Canadian Steak seasoning.



Pulled the steaks off and turned the temp up to 500° to get ready for some nice grill marks. Once the Yoder was up to temp I added the steaks back on, along with the shrimp (seasoned with Tatonka Dust, minced garlic, and butter) the potatoes, and some garlic bread.




The steaks on the flip side...




Close up - LOVE the grill grates!!




Marty's plate



My plate




Nothing like a perfectly cooked ribeye!!

 

soupyjones

New member
I had intended to make a brunch for mothers day but mom was not available and the wife was sick. So I made brunch for me. I started on friday by making a jalepeno and onion relish. I put it on the Traeger while I was making dinner.
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This morning I threw on some bacon to get some extra smoke.
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Then made a giant cheese biscuit and turned the heat up to 350.
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Off and ready for the next step.
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Put a good thick layer of my onion relish on the biscuit then the bacon then cracked 2 eggs on top.Broke the yolks hoping it would all settle.
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Back on the Traeger for 15 then off and eaten.
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Thought about a cold beer but settled on apple juice. Thanks for looking.
 

Deb

New member
Simple Mother's Day cook......... I went to my parents for the weekend to cook for my mom, for her that is a perfect mother's day... I didn't plan well so no cook from that to post here..... had a time in mind that I wanted to leave there today, added two hours and left two hours later than that so the afternoon I had planned of cleaning the MAK, taking the dog for a walk and cooking myself a nice dinner didn't happen.... no biggie, I cook for myself all the time :). No food in the house, I said to my husband I have no idea what to cook, he said hotdogs......... hotdogs it is....

So, started dessert first - before I left my parents I picked some rhubarb - cut it up into small pieces , into a small baking dish with some vanilla sugar and put that on the top shelf of the MAK
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started some alexia onion rings, a little later hot dogs onto the grill grates
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buns on the grill, then filled with some shredded cheddar and into the warming drawer
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for me a hot dog needs to be natural casing, it needs to pop when you eat it and it needs to be cooked til it burst (these are borderline underdone)
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hotdog w cheese and some garlic kraut & onion rings
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time to finish dessert...... when I got home today I found some chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge, cut a few up....
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into the dish with the rhubarb which has nicely cooked down and made a nice syrup
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back into the mak for a few, mix it up, the chocolate & rhubarb syrup made an incredible sauce, over some vanilla frozen yogurt, it's not pretty but it is oh so good.
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FLBentRider

New member
Mothers Day rib roast

Started with a 7lb rib roast
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Add some BP LLGS w/P
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On to the MAK 2 Star on SMOKE with BD Hickory.
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A couple of hours later
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We sent the mom for a nap and I took the 7 and 9 yo to Gander mountain to get a bow and use the archery range.
I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some sweet corn on the way home.

Out of FTC
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After a quick blast in a 500F convection oven
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Time to slice
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to be continued.
 

FLBentRider

New member
Plating
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There was supposed to be a green vegetable on the plate, but a certain someone(me) forgot to pick it up at the store.
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For dessert, double chocolate brownie with ice cream.
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Yeah, we ran outta plates...
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I did the entire cook on the SMOKE setting on the MAK. Total cook time was about 5 hours, plus an hour of FTC and five minutes in the 500F convection oven. The resulting roast was evenly and perfectly cooked, with a nice smokey crust.
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Mothers Day soup

Day before steam asparagus for 5 minutes, then onto the smoker set on smoke for a hour. Take off put in a zip lock bag and in the frig for a day if you want to intensify the smoke flavor.

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Next cut up some leeks or onions (mild) and saute in a pot. Cut up the smoked aspargus and into the pot

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Add a cup of chicken stock for every half pound of asparagus. Simmer for 30 minutes and then Blend with a thunder stick or in the blender.
Serve with graded cheese of your choice on top.

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Salmon for Mother's Day

Apologize for the poor quality pics....

First, blended some butter, garlic, dill, and lemon juice:

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Blended into a log and put in the freezer:

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Then, cut some gold potatoes and some new potatoes. Also cut some zuchini and yellow squash:

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After mixing with Annie's EVOO and BP's Desert Gold:

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Then, cut some of the butter mixture and put on the Salmon:

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Put the salmon, potatoes, and veges on the MAK:

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After a while:

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Meanwhile, made a tomato, mozarella, basil salad with EVOO and balsamic:

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All plated up:

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Really good Mother's Day meal. Wife loved it!
 

roburado

New member
This weeks contestants:
ACW3: homemade pimento cheese...Pork Belly Confit...tri-tip
squirtthecat: Chicken Parmigiano Pie.
TomC: Reverse-seared steaks
bflodan: Crab cakes 2 ways
Chili Head: Burgers and Dogs
Tatonka3A2: Ribeyes and potatoes
soupyjones: breakfast-y cheese biscuit with bacon and egg
Deb: Dogs, strawberry/rhubarb dessert
FLBentRider: Rib roast
jimsbarbecue: Mother's Day soup
NorCal Smoker: salmon and veggies

Okay, I think I recapped everyone. Anyway, everyone did a great job! I think this was a pretty great week.

The results:
3rd Place - Deb
Love the cheesy dogs, but loved the strawberry/rhubarb dessert even more!

2nd Place - bflodan
I don't remember seeing crab cakes in the weekly contest too many times. I thought that was really different. Whether I was wrong about that or not, it looked delicious! Loved the use of a risotto cake.

1st Place - ACW3
I'm a big fan of Brian Polcyn. I'm also a big fan of his restaurants here in the Detroit area. Pork Belly Confit? Chicharones? Yeah. Pretty much two of my favorite things. Both in one dish? Love it! It looked fantastic. Love the citrus flavored oil with the fatty pork too. Great touch. Perfectly cooked tri-tip? Yeah. That didn't hurt. Neither did pimento cheese.
 

ACW3

New member
WOW!!! What a way to wake up this morning. It's pouring rain outside, but really sunny inside. Congrats to my fellow winners, Deb and Dan. Thank you BP for letting us "express" ouselves. It seems that each week it gets harder and harder to come up with a winning cook. That is part of the fun and definitely the challenge. I can only imagine what next week will bring us.

Art
 
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