It's the Fourth of July and I'm heading down I75 to Kevin's for pool time, music and Big Green Egg fun! Last year it was beef tenderloin, this time it's pork spareribs smoked on the BGE. Oh and I got to meet up with a long lost friend. It doesn't get any better than that ;)
Three and half hours or so at 250F with lump charcoal and some soaked hickory chips is a beautiful thing.
Pool Dogs
A quick trip to the grocery story with no real plan in mind for dinner and I find myself aimlessly wandering the aisles. Man I was supposed to have a plan here. What happened? I set out the early morning hours with a cup of coffee in hand reading some of my favorite food blogs thinking "I really need come up with an idea for dinner. These recipes look great" and yet here I am desperately trying to formulate a plan on the fly when I spot the pita bread. Hmm, maybe something light like a vegetable stuffed pita. Oh and those Brussels sprouts I passed earlier looked good for a side...
Wait that rotisserie chicken might be good in the pitas. So much for the vegetarian idea.
What I decided on was pitas with rotisserie chicken, fresh tomatoes lightly marinated in Italian dressing, red onions with a light olive oil and balsamic marinade, goat cheese and fresh spinach and an artichoke bruschetta.
By the time I got started making these pitas I had decided to not only stuff them but to make pita pizzas out of them. Sometimes not having a plan works out okay.
No it's not a pizza pie. It's a southern thing. A trip to the farmers market yields a bunch of large beautiful ripe tomatoes and with that comes a need for recipes. I can eat a thick slice of tomato with mayo on wheat bread and make fresh tomato sauce but I'm always looking for ways to use fresh tomatoes in the spring and summer. I used this recipe as a starting point but made some minor changes to suit my tastes. First off, the method I use to peel the tomatoes is slightly different. I do cross slice the tomatoes on the bottom as she does but I dip mine one at a time for 10 seconds in low boiling water for 10 seconds then into a colander and spray with cool water.
Second, I don't think she seeded them enough. After I peel the tomatoes, I slice them in half then squeeze them to work out the seeds, After that I do the coarse chop and place them in a colander with a liberal sprinkling of salt and let them drain for at least 30 minutes, shaking occasionally. Too much moisture and seeds are the enemy of a good tomato pie!
I don't have a secret ingredient (yet). I just use dried basil, garlic powder, a sprinkle of sugar to counteract the acidity and cracked pepper. There is no need for more salt during the pie assembly as the salt used during the draining process is more than adequate.
The only other thing that I did differently was to use half mozzarella and half cheddar. Also 1/2 cup mayo per 2 cups of cheese is really quite enough Paula Dean.
I really recommend using the coarse chop on the tomatoes rather than tomato slices because it is easier to eat as you won't pull a whole slice of tomato out when you take a fork full!
Shrimp and Grits are a Charleston South Carolina classic. Traditionally a breakfast dish due to the plentiful fresh shrimp and Shrimpers in the area, it was later refined and served in fine restaurants. Here's my take on this southern classic.
First use stone ground yellow grits, no white grits or quick grits allowed. Second use stone ground yellow grits.
If you want to start out easy and get the feel for cooking the grits, just try some plain shrimp and grits or maybe some cheese grits. Once you have that down then you can start sauteing some peppers and onions and adding a sauce.
If you want to try the shrimp and grits pictured above there are five steps involved. Cook the grits, make the sauce, saute the vegetables, add the shrimp and sauce to the vegetables and simmer to cook the shrimp and meld the flavors then spoon the shrimp and sauce mixture over the grits and serve. Oh I almost forgot the sixth step! Eat and enjoy.
To cook the grits bring 4 cups of chicken stock to a boil and slowly stream in one cup of grits whisking with a wire whisk. Return to a boil then reduce heat to low and cook for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally. Now stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup heavy cream and cook for another 8-10 minutes over low. I also add 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan but that's optional. Thin with more chicken stock as needed to keep the grits creamy smooth.
For the sauce add 1 tsp oil, 1 Tbs minced shallot and minced garlic and saute for a couple of minutes then add 1 cup white wine and the juice of 1 lemon and simmer until reduced by two-thirds. Whisk and add 1 cup heavy cream and reduce by one half. Add 4 oz soft butter a whisk until butter is melted. Keep warm.
For the vegetables add 1 tbs oil to your hot iron skillet then add the red onion, red pepper and green pepper and cook over medium to medium low heat for 5-6 minutes until the peppers have softened a bit.
To finish the shrimp aspect, add the shrimp, sauce and chopped cooked bacon to the pepper and onion mixture and simmer for 5-7 minutes until the shrimp are done. Salt and pepper to taste.
Assembly. Plate the creamy smooth cheese grits and spoon over the shrimp mixture. Enjoy!
Shrimp and Cheese Grits drizzled with a wine and balsamic sauce.
Shrimp sauteed in an iron skillet for the above simple Shrimp and Grits
What you will need.
For the grits
1 cup stone ground yellow grits
4 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
For the Sauce
1 tsp oil
1 Tbs minced shallot
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
The juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of salt
The rest of the story
About 1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined
1/4 cup red onion diced
1/4 cup red pepper diced
1/4 cup green onion diced
3-4 slices of thick cut cooked bacon chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Carnitas are a wonderful thing. Slowly braised Boston Butt tender and succulent on the inside with a nice caramelized crunch on the outside. The principle is simple, cut up a Boston Butt into about 2 inch strips and add just enough water to cover the meat and then slowly simmer until the water is gone. Once the water has simmered away you will be left with the pork and the rendered collagen cooking away to form the caramelized crunchy exterior. The whole process will probably take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Mine didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped as I started stirring the meat too much once the water had evaporated and shredded quite a bit of the meat. I used a large cast iron wok but a dutch oven would work very well. The next time I'll be a little more gentle turning the meat once the water has evaporated. Oh and you should never touch the meat during the braising process. Anyway if you want to see it done the right way check out The Homesick Texans version.
I decided to make tacos with Salsa Verde, onions and cilantro on flour tortillas. I served these with baked pablano peppers filled with refried black beans, queso Chihuahua and Mexican sour cream.
I never “got” Chicago style hot dogs looking at pictures of them or seeing them on television. I was like “That’s no hot dog, there’s way too much stuff on them!” Some of them were topped with huge amounts of toppings that would presumably take a knife and fork to eat. It just didn’t make sense to me until one day I went to a Chicago style dog place and had one and it clicked. These are great man!. I can’t believe I never had one of these before. Notice I said Chicago style dog as I have never been to Chicago. I do feel there is a reasonable amount of topping to put on one though even if I were in Chicago. I’m sure I’ll be lambasted for that as well as not using poppy seed rolls.
I cook my dogs in a cast iron skillet over medium heat with about 1/2 cup of water or more. After the water simmers away the dogs will be left to cook in the rendered fat.
Traditional Chicago style hot dog toppings. Tomato, relish preferably neon green), minced onion, Sport peppers, yellow mustard, Kosher dill pickle, celery seed and optional cucumber on a poppy seed roll.
My all time favorite though is the West Virginia Slaw dog with chili sauce, minced onion, yellow mustard and sweet slaw on a steamed roll. Again I’ll probably be lambasted for using wheat rolls here but I liked them.
I'll have the #14. Nothing authentic here, just the feel of ordering a number from the menu of your local neighborhood American Mexican restaurant. Tasty, comforting and familiar, it's how Americans eat Mexican food but nothing like real Mexican food. I'm going to have to try some of those Mexican street foods I've seen on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations but for now please enjoy your number 14.
What you will need for the Taquitos.
2 Lbs chicken breast cut up
1 red onion diced
1 red pepper diced
2-3 jalapeños diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tbs Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil for frying
24 Corn tortillas
Heat your cast iron skillet over medium heat, add about 2 Tbs oil, chicken, onion, red pepper, garlic and jalapeños and cook until chicken is done and vegetables are soft about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the oregano and cumin. Add the chicken mixture to the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, set aside.
Prepare the tortillas for the filling. There are two ways to do this, restaurant style and nuke. To prepare restaurant style heat about ¼ cup oil in your skillet and place a corn tortilla in for about 3 seconds then turn over for another 2 seconds, remove and place on paper towels to drain. The corn tortillas really only need 5 seconds. To microwave place tortillas on a plate and cover with a damp cloth or paper towel and microwave for about a minute depending on your microwave. Please be careful here as you don't want to start a fire in your microwave.
Place about a tablespoon or so of the chicken mixture in a tortilla and roll tightly securing with a few toothpicks. I always make these too big. I just can't seem to make the small and tight. Oh well. Keep the tortillas covered while working to keep them pliable. Fry the Taquitos for a few minutes, turning after a couple of minutes until nicely browned.
