Garden Salsa

Something a little different as the growing season comes to an end. This is a great use of garden grown veggies and makes a wonderful refreshing salsa!

• 8-10 Roma tomatoes, chopped (can use other varieties but suggest removing peels and seeds if going that route)

• 1 large green pepper, finely chopped

• 1 small to medium sweet onion, finely chopped

• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped

• 1 heaping tsp., finely chopped garlic

• 2-3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (leave or remove seeds based on heat level you are looking for)

• 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, drained

• 2 Tbsp canola oil

• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp fresh chives, finely chopped

• 1 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Can be eaten right away but best after allowing to chill in fridge for a few hours/over night.

Outdoor Cooking Hardware - Update

Since I have started using this website to post my BBQ/Smoking adventures there have been some additions, subtractions, and general changes to what I use. Thought I would take a moment to share!

The first adjustment has been my move over to 100% pellet smoking, having gotten rid of my Landmann Smokey Mountain Series (Brinkmann Trailmaster) offset smoker. This decision was made mostly due to time, while I loved the results using the offset it required more attention and time that I decided would be energy better used elsewhere around the house & with the family.

That said, we still absolutely love BBQ/Smoked meals, so investments have been made in the pellet smoking hardware space. Originally started with a Green Mountain Daniel Boone but end of last year upgraded to a new Green Mountain Ledge Prime 2.0 with a Pimp My Grill rack system. I could not be happier with this setup & if the weather would allow I would easily use this every single week, for at least one meal.

The next big upgrade just took place last month, replacing my simple Charbroil 4 burner propane grill with a big step up to a Monument Grill Denali 610 6 burner propane grill. While my main choice for outdoor cooking is still using the smoker, there are a number of meals that really just need something hot & fast. I am still getting adjusted to this grill but so far I am extremely impressed!

Finally, a couple of years ago I added a griddle to the arsenal, bending to the Blackstone trend that really seemed to take over during lockdown. At the time it was actually difficult to find Blackstones so I went with a Members Mark Pro Series 5 burner griddle. While I do enjoy using this I will admit that it is not used nearly as often as I expected and I’m honestly not sure why.

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Green Mountain Grill Ledge Prime 2.0

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Pimp My Grill Rack System

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Monument Grill Denali 610

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Member's Mark Pro Series Griddle

Oven Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 16 Cups Cherry Tomatoes

• 3/4 Cup Olive Oil

• 2 Tbsp Onion Powder

• 1 Tbsp Garlic Powder

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 1/2 tsp Pepper

• 2 tsp Oregano

Directions:

• Remove stems and wash tomatoes (thaw if frozen)

• Place tomatoes in a single layer on baking sheet(s)

• Drizzle with olive oil and all seasonings EXCEPT oregano

• Bake at 425° for 45-60 minutes or until skins are wrinkly

• Let cool

• Blend in a food processor until creamy

• Run sauce through a food mill (or press through sieve) *NOTE - this step is extremely important for a skin and seed free sauce

• Add oregano

• Taste and adjust seasonings as needed

Tips:

• Garden Tomatoes give the best flavor. Clean, de-stem, and freeze them whole until you are ready to make sauce.

• You can refrigerate the sauce for a week or freeze for extended storage.

• Freezing in quart containers, inside of a gallon bag, works best for long term storage.

• Sometimes frozen sauce needs sugar to cut acidity.

Air Fryer Crispy Pork Belly

Pork belly, skin on (size that will fit in air fryer)

Slice, meat side, half way through (about 1 inch thick)

Boil for 10-15 minutes

Dry completely

Place sauce on meat side, including inside of slices

Place on foil meat side down & fold up edges to leave only the skin exposed

Dry skin again & use fork to heavily poke the skin with holes (dry one more time after poking holes)

Cover skin in thick layer of salt (about 1 cup)

Air Fry 375° for 30 minutes

Remove from fryer and clean off the salt

Place back in fryer, skin side up, without the foil

Air Fry 400° for 20-30 minutes

Remove from fryer and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into bite size pieces.

Sauce:

1 tablespoon each of the following

Hoisin sauce (garlic hoisin if possible, just omit garlic below if used)

Oyster sauce

Soy sauce

Fermented bean curd

Diced garlic

White pepper (to taste)

Corned Beef

After some trial and error I have landed on a way that works really well,though the steps seem a little odd. To start the corned beef is actually simmered for 1 hour, with water covering the meat and the juice & seasoning packet from the corned beef added (I know. Boiling meat? Really? Just bare with me). After the hour of simmering the beef is dried off and seasoned with your favorite brisket rub (in my case that is a salt/pepper/garlic blend). The next step is throwing the beef on the smoker, at 275°, for 1 hour. Next, the beef is wrapped in foil, with either butter… beef broth… or beer, and put back into the smoker for 1 more hour. Finally, once done on the smoker, everything is wrapped in a towel and left to rest for at least 30 minutes (longer is better).

Temp - 275°

Time - 3.5+ hours

Results - Best corned beef I have ever had!

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

These are one of my favorite things to make due to their wow factor in presentation and taste. To prep the belly is cut up into 1.5 inch cubes and seasoned on all sides with our favorite chipotle rub and a whatever butt rub we happen to have at the time. These seasoned cubes are then placed on a rack and smoked for 2 hours. The next step involves placing all the cubes into a foil pan with a stick of sliced up unsalted butter and approximately 1/4 cup of brown sugar and/or honey. The pan is then covered with foil and smoked for 2 more hours. Once the time is up the foil covering is removed & half a bottle of the BBQ sauce of the day is poured into the pan (some of the liquid in the pan can be removed prior to adding the BBQ sauce, depending on how thin you want the end result and how much liquid is present). Finally, they are put back on the smoker for another 15 minutes or so, uncovered, to warm the BBQ sauce and get a slight caramelization going. The end result is best described as meat candy!

Temp - 300°

Cooked by time but pieces checked to ensure they made it over 145°

Spatchcocked Turkey

With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away it was time to try out Turkey on the smoker. While I have done whole chicken many times, this was my first attempt at a whole (15 pound) turkey. For prep I spatchcocked the bird and patted the whole thing dry then seasoned the inside with a garlic based poultry seasoning. Once the inside cavity was seasoned I flipped it over, injected it with a Creole Butter injection, and seasoned it heavily with the same garlic poultry seasoning followed by our favorite chipotle rub.

Temp - 300°

Smoked until an internal temperature of 165° was reached in the breast. (Only about 4 hours)

This turkey was as moist as any I have ever fried and the skin came out much better than I expected (after years of frying a turkey this was where I expected this one to fall short). In the end it was a success but now I am wondering how it would go to smoke it whole for a couple hours then finish it frying like we normally do… a best of both worlds kind of situation… I guess, more to come!

Reverse Seared Smoked Poterhouse

What do you do when someone tells you they have a local rub that is simply amazing that they then send to you? First you get curious… then you receive the rub and you bust out some 1.5 inch thick Porterhouses… finally you eat the porterhouse and become rather jealous that the rub is not local to YOU! For this I followed the same steps I normally do for my Tomahawks and they turned out so so good.

Temp - 300°

Smoked until an internal temperature of 120°

Once the internal temperature was reached I took it over to the propane grill, which was as hot as it would go, and did a quick sear on each side.

After searing it was left to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting.

Reverse Seared Smoked Tomahawk Ribeye

This might be the most flashy thing I have done so far on the smoker. The shear size (3.5 pounds) of the steak makes this a show stopper and it is rather straightforward to make. After dinner the wife made a comment that I am never allowed to make a steak any other way from now on… it is hard to argue with her!! For this one I used Weavers Dutch Country Steak Dust seasoning:

Temp - 300°

Smoked until an internal temperature of 120°

Once the internal temperature was reached I took it over to the propane grill, which was as hot as it would go, and did a quick sear on each side.

After searing it was left to rest for about 15 minutes before cutting.

Beef Ribs (multi bone short rib)

These are now my favorite things to make on the smoker and they also happen to be one of the absolute easiest things to make. Surprisingly quick and very hands off once they are on! Seasoning on these is great because it is a store bought rub that really works out great. Rub was simply a heavy coating of Weber Sweet Cracked Pepper Dry Rub seasoning & an additional coating of coarse black pepper.

Temp - 260°

After about 2 hours add a probe to start keeping track of internal temp.

Cook until an internal temp of 205°

Remove from smoker and let sit for just 15 minutes before cutting.

Smoked Prime Rib Roast

For this one I had the butcher cut & prep the rib roast by cutting off the bone and having the bones tied back on. Seasoning of the roast was butter mixed with garlic pepper seasoning and salt. This was much more simple than I expected and one of the best things to come off of the smoker yet!

*Addition 2024 - place a high walled aluminum pan under the roast as it cooks. In the pan place 3 cups beef or chicken stock, 3 tablespoons butter, tablespoon of course black pepper, chipotle (or kosmos q cow cover), a good amount of chopped (or squeeze) garlic, and about a tablespoon of dried rosemary. Take out before boosting the smoker to 400 & reheat if needed when time to serve.

Temp - 250° until an internal temp of 115°

Boosted temp up to 400° to help set up the bark

Cooked to internal temp of 125° & let rest, covered in foil, for half an hour.

Baby Back Ribs - Hot and Fast

Used a modified 2-2-1 method for these but wanted them done a little quicker than normal. Used simple rub of Quaker Steak and Lube Chipotle seasoning:

Temp 325°

2 hours on smoke

1 hour wrapped (brown sugar, butter, and additional rub added)

30 minutes unwrapped with sauce

Garlic Kielbasa thrown on the smoker during the last hour just because there was space available!

Trying something new for the site

Since I have found Smoking/Grilling as hobby I find myself trying many different ways of doing things. The downside to always experimenting like that is losing track of how I did certain Smokes. To remedy that issue I am going to attempt to post each of my successful meals here, along with the how of the cook. Hopefully this will create a repository that I can reference in the future and share with others, so they can give things a try!