I have seen Tomahawk steaks around several times but never felt the urge to purchase one until this past weekend. I was looking for something to post on the web site that I had not completed in the past. This steak was good looking piece of meat and was only $32. I did a little…
Oven Cooked Prime Rib
I decided to cook a Prime Rib for Easter this year. It seems like Publix grocery chain tends to discount beef this time of year, so I was able to snag a nice standing rib roast for $6.99 per lb. I have oven cooked in the past, and I have also smoked one. My daughter…
Big Breakfast Saturday
One of the things I have enjoyed most about being a Blackstone owner is cooking breakfast on it. Saturday seems to be the best day for me to do this, normally after golf. I tend to cook the same thing every week. I purchase all ingredients at Aldi and it comes out to around $10…
Smash Burger perfection, process and pictures
One of the things I have made the most on my Blackstone is smash burgers in the close to a year that I have owned the grill. This post will detail the process and outcomes. A little research that I completed resulted in the method that I follow. The beauty of the Blackstone is to…
One pan foolproof Sausage and Peppers
I have been a big fan of sausages for long time. There are many ways I have prepared them over the years. I have grilled them and smoked them on occasion. I have recently landed on a foolproof method of preparation. For this recipe I purchase a couple of packs of Italian Sausages, and couple…
White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Snaps my holiday tradition.
My mother did a lot of home baking as long as I could remember. This is a recipe that she provided me that I have made every year for the last 10 years or so. It is an easy recipe to make, and the cookies are really good, and a nice contrast of flavors. Dipped…
Cherry and Apple Smoked Turkey
I decided to smoke a turkey this year for Thanksgiving. I purchased a 15 lb. Butterball and decided this year to not do a brine. I have read that truly the only time you “need” to brine one is if it was a organic natural turkey. Butterball type turkeys are already treated/injected prior to packaging….
Completed my first Picanha the highly recommended beef cut.
Early on in my Sous Vide journey, I watched a lot of content by a youtube sensation “Sous Vide Everything“. I learned a lot early on, and perfected what I believe worked best for me, using this new method of cooking. Several things can be prepared really well using this method, others, I felt were…
Birria Tacos… My new favorite Tacos
While always looking for something new to cook and display, I decided to figure out how to make these properly. It took 5 attempts to virtually master the meal, in my opinion. Originally I was purchasing 1lb packages of beef from Aldi and cooking in the Instant Pot. While this did a good job with…
Introducing SPAM Fries with a cast of characters
I completed a quick smoke, after spending a lot of time playing around with my Blackstone Grill and the new Pizza oven lately. Back to the basics, chicken thighs and Italian sausages and an old familiar friend SPAM. SPAM gets a bad wrap, but I ate it as a kid and never had a problem…
The Expert Grill Charcoal fired Pizza Oven, my latest gadget.
Last week someone posted a tip after they purchased this pizza oven at a reduced price. This is the type of product that I have had an interest in for a while but I did not want to spend several hundred to try one. This was posted on Walmart.com for a sale price of $97.00…
The Stones said “Give Me Shelter” and I agree.
I do a lot of outdoor cooking and I have used many different methods when dealing with the weather. Sometimes it was avoidance, and choosing not to cook on days when the weather was not expected to cooperate. I have use umbrellas, and I used a portable pop up canopy for years until it was…
Street Corn on the Blackstone
Prep time, 10 minutes Cooke time 15 minutes Ingredients 2 cans of corn 2 tablespoons of mayo 2 tablespoons of sour cream 2 tablespoons of lime juice chipotle powder (as much as you want) 1/2 lb of crisp bacon 5 oz of Queso Fresco cheese 2 oz of crumbled FETA cheese or cotija cheese (which…
Hickory Smoked and Seasoned Cashews
A quick add on smoke after the plate ribs was to smoke some cashews. This is a smoke I have completed many times and only takes about 90 minutes. I purchase canisters from Sams, normally purchase the Planters variety, this time they were Sams private label. The cashews come salted. I place them in a…
Hickory Smoked Wagyu Ribs
I had always wanted to try to smoke some beef ribs. I assume you can find them anywhere in Texas, but in Middle TN, they are hard to come by. I was gifted a certificate for Snake River Farms from my daughter and finally pulled the trigger and orded from them. The came professionally packaged,…
Blackstone Beauty
I had never understood the fascination of the Blackstone grill, but I am glad that I took the plunge and purchased one. As a long time restaurant employee in my younger days, it brings back memories. One of the first things I am glad for is that I went with the large grill. Seems like…
The new kid in town
I had looked at getting a flat top grill for a while. I did my investigation looking at brands and options. I had looked at adding a removeable top to my Weber Propane, but ultimately decided to purchase a BlackStone. This is basic unit, but the large 4 burner, also comes with a removable metal…
Midnight at the old smoker…
Well, not really, I gave up babysitting my smoker a long time ago. This is true for brisket and butts, I tend to do overnight smokes, set it up and let it roll. This was a pretty typical smoke except for the cold weather. I did purchase 6 butts at my local Kroger where they…
Picture Gallery
I have taken a ton of pictures over the last decade, plenty of them food related. Brisket Cheese Chicken Pork Butts Prime Rib Pork Loin Ribs Turkey Pastrami Spam Nuts Burgers and Sandwiches miscellaneous
Sliced Pork Butt
Pork butt can be prepared several ways. It can be sliced into pork steaks, and grilled or smoked. It can also be cooked in the oven, which was an old family recipe that my mother would cook. The traditional method for smoking sliced pork would be to cook to an internal temperature of 170 and…
Large pulled pork project
I was looking for a replacement 22″ Weber Smokey Mountain for the last 6 months or so. With the pandemic they were hard to locate even new. I started to watch Facebook Market Place and Craigslist and had seen a few, but finally was able to score one. This one was about 6 years old…
1st Cold Smoke of 2020
On a smoking roll, 2 smokes over the last three days. I typically cold smoke cheese several time in the fall as we get closer to the holidays. I finally replaced my pellet tube and ordered some pellets. I normally smoke in the morning, but decided since the weather looked cool to try an afternoon…
Sometimes you feel like a nut…..
Finally getting back to normal after a stormy year. As I normally do near the holidays, I smoked some nuts. I purchased the products from Sam’s, as I have had good luck with the brands in the past. It was a decent day on Sunday so I smoked three batches of nuts. I did two…
Celebratory Brisket
It had been a long time since I smoked a brisket since the last one cost me $100K. I did have reason to celebrate, my rebuild after the fire was finally finished. Prior to the fire, I had all three models of the Weber Smokey Mountain. So far I have only replaced the 18″ which…
Back Yard Smoking…
With everything going on the world, with the pandemic I was excited to find a large brisket (close to 20 lbs.) at my local Kroger. I typically do overnight smokes, and always watch the weather prior to smoking. Weather looked good Friday night so I started the brisket about 8:30 PM and it was a…
It’s all about the Cheese
As winter approaches I always look forward to cold smoking cheese. I have completed two batches this year about 3 weeks apart. For the cold smoking process I have found that the cheese can take as much smoke as you want to apply, but it will need at least 3 weeks to cure. I smoke…
Another Midnight Brisket
As expected my local Kroger must have purchased too much brisket and was closing them out. I ended up purchasing 2 full packer choice grade briskets for $1.99/lb. I put one in the freezer and then prepared this one with my standard overnight smoking process. I normally use my 18″ WSM but decided to try…
Sous Vide Brisket
As a fan of all cooking, I decide to attempt to Sous Vide and then smoke a brisket. I have seen many people post about how great it turns out. My brisket was a 12.5 full packer and was too large to fit in my Sous Vide container. I trimmed it and removed the point…
Burnt Ends Project
I have never separated the point from the flat on a whole packer brisket before this weekend. I purchased this full packer brisket for $1.99/lb paying right at $25 for a 12.5 lb brisket from my local Kroger. I use many tools to prepare food, and wanted to try to Sous Vide a brisket. My…
Short Ribs Sous Vide, then smoked
I am a big fan of beef ribs, but in Middle TN they are hard to find. Normally I see them with very little meat on them. I found some decent looking short ribs at my local Publix. I did a little research and found via Sous Vide there was three schools of thought, high…