Grilled Pork Tenderloin

My butcher always has nice pork tenderloin for $4.99/lb, it was a nice night, so I felt like grilling.

I usually make my own marinades, but after a long day at work, I used a bottle of Lemon Sesame Ginger marinade I picked up at Costco...

Tossed in a Ziploc and put it in the frig for some happy time.  About 1 hour.

Fired up the Stumps Backyarder grill and got a nice, hot, fire going...

It really is like mid May around here.  Even the trees are past their bloom...

Jed is a ham for the camera.  One of the three dogs...

Put the tenderloin over the hot fire and seared all around the outside...

Once seared, I moved to indirect heat and cooked to 170 internal temp.  I use a Thermapen for my temperature taking when cooking.  Best product out there if you ask me.

It took about 50 minutes to get to 170.  I then brought inside and let rest for 5 minutes, then sliced into medallions.  Just the way I like it: brown on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside...

The marinade added nice flavor.  What would I do different next time?  I would inject the tenderloin with the marinade and I would also let it marinade at least 4 hours.

Enjoy,

Bill

Cooking for Novices, Part 3: Seafood Stew

I wanted to make this before it warmed up too much around here for stew.  It is basic, simple, and is a winner around here for dinner.  You might have to pick a few things up at the store, but you can have dinner ready in under an hour with this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 stalks of celery.  Halved and diced.
2 carrots, peeled, halved, and diced.
2 plum tomatoes, diced.
1 small zuchinni, diced.
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced.
1 clove garlic, minced.
2 cod fillets, diced.
1 cup frozen scallops, thawed and rinsed.
1 cup uncooked ditalini.  You can use what you have on hand.
32 oz regular spaghetti sauce.  I use my homemade canned sauce, but any canned sauce will do.
32 oz can of crushed tomatoes.
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese.
1 tbsp granulated garlic.
2 tsp oregano.
1 tsp basil.
1 bay leaf.
Olive oil for saute.
S&P to taste.

Take a 6 qt pan and heat olive oil.
Add celery, carrot, onion, and garlic clove and saute until they start to become tender.
Add spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes, parm cheese, granulated garlic, oregano, basil, bay leaf, and S&P.
Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add zucchini and seafood, bring to boil.  Let cook 3 minutes.
Add pasta, cook for 8 more minutes.

Serve with crusty bread and a salad for a quick easy meal.  Anyone can make this for sure...

You can add any seafood:  shrimp, crab, any firm fish, scallops, etc...  The sky is the limit.  I only used scallops and cod as this is what I had on hand.

Enjoy,

Bill

Dirty Smoke BBQ Blog: Tips From a First Time Certified BBQ Judge

A very good article below on someones first experience as a KCBS judge.

Enjoy,

Bill

Dirty Smoke BBQ Blog: Tips From a First Time Certified BBQ Judge

Three Dogs BBQ now featured on Alltop

If you look down to the right, there is a gadget that is a link to Alltop.  Alltop is a website that lists blogs across a wide range of topics.  The gadget below is a link to the most up to date posts concerning BBQ news.

So, if it looks interesting, give it click and see if you can't find something else interesting in the BBQ world.

Thanks,

Bill

Redneck Eggrolls, Asian Style

This is from a post I made on the Stumps Website a year or so ago.  I liked it so much, I am going to be making some soon and thought all of you might like to try it yourself.

Kudos to Jeanie over at Cowgirl's Country Blog for the pork marinade recipe...

Now, when you get down to it, we are all tinkerers in the kitchen. Sure, we have our recipes that will never change: Grandma's Biscuit Recipe, Apple Pie Recipe, etc... But, we always think we can make something better. These experiments come out one of 3 ways: 1. What was I thinking... 2. Not bad, needs more work. 3. WOW! I had one of those WOW moments today. Asian Style Redneck Eggrolls... Took a boneless 3 lb butt and marinaded in this marinade: http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/201 ... -rice.html My only changes to the marinade was that I used Mirin instead of sherry and I did not add the food coloring... 24 hours of happy time later, I pulled it out of the frig: Cooked at 250 with 1 piece of hickory and 4-5 pieces of peach... While cooking, I whipped up some slaw for the filling: 1/4 green cabbage, minced. 2 thin slices of red onion, minced. 1 carrot, minced. 1 stalk celery, minced. For the dressing: 2 Tbsp of soy sauce. 1 Tbsp of white vinegar. 1 healthy pinch of brown sugar. 1-2 healthy dashes of sesame oil. Mixed it all up. Believe me, it can be eaten like this, right out of the bowl: Took the butt off of the smoker at 205. Tender and very easy to pull. Mixed up with the slaw: Rolled in wontons... Here is a good resource for egg roll rolling... http://thechurchcook.blogspot.com/2010/ ... rolls.html Fried in canola oil until brown... Used this for dipping sauce: The picky 12 year old ate 3. Let me tell you guys something, this was the best pulled pork I have made in awhile. You might call me crazy, but I think you could do very well at a competition with this stuff. If you could make a nice asian BBQ sauce, you would be made. It was out of the box, but not too far. It had the right BBQ flavors, but something that made you ask, "What is different about this?" It tasted like pulled pork, but at the same time, it was just different, in a good way. What would I change? 1. More cabbage to pork ratio. 2. Maybe double the sauce added to the slaw. 3. Don't mince the cabbage so fine. Kudos to Cowgirl for the marinade recipe... If I ever get around to a catering business, this is on the menu for sure   Enjoy, Bill

Singapore

I got to visit my favorite city in Asia this time around, Singapore.  If you want to visit Asia and are afraid of language barriers and Asian food, this is the place to go.  It is a melting pot of cultures: Indian, Chinese, Malay, Japanese, and English come to mind.  Everyone speaks English, it is clean, safe, and has lots of food options.  When you get tired of the Indian or Asian food, you can stop in an English Pub for a taste of the west, or even a Hooters.  I had to stop at the Hooters this time to see if it was like home and believe it or not, it is.  Chicken wings just like you get them here in the States.

A friend of mine told me about Jumbo Seafood.  Excellent Chili Crab.  Basically, it is a steamed crab, cracked then covered with a sweet and sour chili sauce.  Very good, but very messy.  I loved the whole, fried shrimp as well.  I ate them like crawfish: ripped the head off and sucked the juice, then ate the rest.

The riverwalk is beautiful and I found a nice brew pub called Brewwerks.  I had the Long Zhu Ale, which is made of Dragon Fruit.  Nice and refreshing on a hot evening.

Finally, you have to go down to the marina and check out the light show they put on with the Singapore Lion, the official "mascot" of Singapore.

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Bill

Singapore Photo Slideshow

India

Well, I have been away for awhile, but I am back.  Been on the road for 17 days in India and Asia for work.  Very tired, but I can't wait to put the final touches on practice for the upcoming BBQ season.  I will be making some ribs this weekend.

In the meantime, we will do a little travel blogging here and there.  To start: India.

I spent 5 days in country, visiting Mumbai, Baroda, Hyderabad, and Vizag.  I just couldn't bring myself to take pictures of food in a country where there are people starving everywhere.  It is unbelievable how rich the rich are (as you can see with the Harley photo) and how poor the poor are (as you can see with someones "house")

What I will say is that Indian people are very friendly and easy to get along with.  The food is much better in India than it is in the States.  If you ever get a chance, you want to try Birinyi, the official dish of Hyderabad.  You put all the spices, rice, and either chicken, lamb, or both in a pot and cook until done.  What you get is a nice fluffy rice dish full of flavor.

Hope you enjoy the pics.  When I get around to it, Singapore is next...

Bill

India Photo Slideshow

Smoked Turkey Breast on the Baby...

Last Thanksgiving, I stocked up on the 99 cent whole turkeys and breasts for a rainy day.  Well, I was in a turkey mood last weekend, so I pulled one out of the freezer and threw it on the Baby.

First, I thawed the breast and prepared a brine.  Brines can be made of anything.  But, the main components are salt and sugar.  This brine had 3/4 cup of kosher salt to 1 gallon of water, along with 3/4 cup of brown sugar.  Don't worry about the salt.  Your bird will not get salty.  The salt acts to remove all of the bacteria and bad juices from the bird, making a nice, juicy and tasty piece of meat.  The other ingredients are up to you.  I added OJ, garlic, onion, and chili powder, along with some worcestershire sauce.  The basic recipe was given to me by BOS over on the Stumps Forum.  Here is a link:

Chicken Brine Recipe

Here is the breast in the pool...

After sitting overnight, I pulled out of the brine and discarded.  Then, rinsed the breast well and patted dry.

I also took 4 tbsp of the Weber Montreal Chicken rub and made a paste with 2 tbsp of olive oil:

With the paste, I pulled the skin back and rubbed on the breast meat.  Then, I put the skin back in place and gave the skin a nice coat of olive oil, then used the rest of the paste: 

Fired up the Baby to 325 with 50/50 apricot and hickory wood.  I placed the breast on the center rack:

Thin blue smoke rolling on the hill:

Cooked to 165 internal, about 2 hours and 45 minutes, then wrapped in foil to rest for 15 minutes.  Nice and crispy skin...

Sliced and served with asparagus and rice pilaf.  The bird was nice, tender, and juicy.

Enjoy,

Bill