My latest Addiction!

Smoked salmon! Man is this stuff good!

I made it for the first time about a month maybe six weeks ago but I can't get enough and neither can the SpecialEd Siblings.

I can't afford the good stuff (wild) so I get farm raised fillets of Atlantic Salmon from Costco.

The first step is to rinse it well in cold water, dry it with paper towels and apply the cure.
The cure consists of one part kosher or sea salt to two parts brown sugar plus a couple tablespoons of freshly cracked black pepper. For a 1.5 lb fillet, I use about a cup of sugar, a half cup of salt and a 1/4 cup of pepper.

Let that sit overnight and the next day the fillets will be sitting in a pool of liquid that the cure has pulled out of the salmon flesh.
Wash the cure off very well and if it's still overly salty you can soak it in cold, fresh water for a little while.

Now lay it out on a rack or cutting board to air dry until it is no longer tacky to the touch (about an hour or so). I use a small fan to help the process along.

Then dust it with your favorite spice rub--for salmon, I use Dizzy Pig's Raging River. Let that "melt" in to the salmon for say 30 minutes then put it on the smoker.

I smoke it at about 210-220 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees. That's it! Chill it in the refrigerator, get some crackers and cream cheese and it don't get much better 'n that!

BTW, I have been using Sugar Maple and or Cedar from Lexington Outdoors of Maine but I just ordered a bag of Alder chunks from them so I can finally try the traditional salmon smoking wood. The ever helpful Dorie of LOofM also gave me some of her own recipes and ideas for recipes to try so check back soon.

Off to a slow start...

All I managed to cook yesterday was some Fourth of July Fatties. I let the weather intimidate me and so I got off to a late start. (Boy I miss my deck canopy!)

Fresh on the grill.

Ready to come off.

Ready to go.

(Warning, not for the squeamish) Death on a plate!
The good thing about Fatties, is that they can be eaten hot, cold, room temperature, with crackers or toast or stuck on the end of a toothpick!

WARNING! Fatties are not for the very young or elderly. Women who are nursing or pregnant or who could become pregnant, should avoid Fatties. Vegetarians and those with weakened immune systems and compromised constitutions should not be in the same room as Fatties.

In a world where... (movie trailer guys voice)

there's one man, one grill, and only ten days to clear the fridge, can he do it?

Mrs. SpecialEd and the two SpecialEd boys are flying out tomorrow morning (July 4th) for sunny, southern, California for ten days. That leaves me alone with the two SpecialEd dogs and the GrillDome for ten days!

I've already stocked up on ribs, lamb, chicken, the makings for "Fatties," BBQ beans and a tandoori, yogurt marinade for the chicken and lamb. I even have a commission for pulled pork for next week. All I need now is a little cooperation from the weather.

What am I going to do with all this food? What better way to bribe people into helping me getting a few things done around the house while the family is away!

BTW, "Fatties" has nothing to do with illegal substances, (though as deadly as they are, they should be!) Here is a recipe for Fatties from a great BBQ site by a fellow "Domer," Mike Stines of Cape Cod Barbecue.

Enjoy!

(I'll post pics as I go)

Did you say "Extra Cripsy?"

Jaden's Roasted Chicken with Sweet Plum Sauce

The day after I read this recipe on Jaden's Steamy Kitchen, I went out and bought a bottle of plum sauce. Today, nearly three months later, I finally got around to trying it, only I did it a little differently, outside on my GrillDome... of course!


I also did mine upright, think beer in the butt chicken without the beer can(I have to agree with Dr. BBQ on this one, see page 140-141 of Dr. BBQ's BIG-TIME BARBECUE COOKBOOK for his theory on Beer Can Chicken).


I have a set of Spanek vertical roasters, which work very well. Instead of stuffing the cavity of the chicken, I put the lemon quarters, onions and spices in a water pan under the chicken. As you can see from the pictures, I should have heeded Jaden's warning a little more seriously about covering the bird with foil if the skin starts to get a little... extra crispy! When I Opened the Dome to check on the bird about 40 minutes into the cook it was already well caramelized on the top. I guess the top of the bird was much closer to the Dome-lid ceramics than I realized. I covered it with foil then. (Better late then never.)


Not to worry though, I brushed it with the plum sauce a few times in the last few minutes and let it rest under a tent of foil while still sitting in the pan, on the stand. All in all, no more then 90 minutes start to finish for an average size bird.


It went very well with some curried couscous and since we are not much of a "skin" eating family there was no problem with the "extra crispy" parts. I will certainly do this one again (probably tomorrow as I bought a double pack of roasters at Costco and still have the other one in the fridge!)



Thanks again Jaden!

Heat Wave, Commencement, Father's Day (did I mention it was hot?)

Congratulations Kevin!

My nephew Kevin graduated from high school today. Even though Commencement was today, the party, for logistical reasons, was yesterday.

The temperature reached a sweltering 91 degrees, but there was often a nice breeze and plenty of shade in the pavilion we used at a local State Park. Plenty of good food, lots of good company, even though there were a few missing family members we would all loved to have seen.

The little ones played in the ice water and didn't seem to mind the heat, the big ones complained about the heat but had a good time anyway (you would be surprised how much fun a pair of bear-claw pork shredders can be, right Maria?) and everyone slept well last night!

That last part was important as today is Father's Day, I got to sleep in even more than usual! (Thanks guys!).

My boys gave me a wonderfully, hilarious card featuring Cartman from South Park. (Gee, I'll bet mom picked that one out!), and my wife is working on a cover for my deck (outdoor kitchen).

Did I get my dad a card? Did I give him a phone call? Hell no, I put him to work. My GrillDome lid needed a little adjusting and that was a job right up his alley. The way I look at it, I gave him a chance to get dirty, sweaty, curse a little (or maybe a lot) and most of all to fix something! What more could a dad ask for?

Unfortunately, even though I had my camera with me yesterday and today, I never got around to taking any pictures.

So congratulations to Kevin and everyone in the class of 2008.

And Happy Father's Day to my dad and every dad!

Hot fun in the summer time...

The boys are done with school and the weather has been oppressive! Fortunately, for them, their mother, in her infinite wisdom, got them a new game for their Xbox to celebrate the successful completion of another year of school.

I, on the other hand, am not content to sit in front of the television screen all day, even if it is air conditioned inside. Besides, who wants to heat up the kitchen when the outdoors is already hot?

Nothing new or special, just the same old. A couple of pork tenderloins that had been marinating in a Teriyaki sauce for a few hours, then some Salmon for snacking.

This salmon was meant for eating cold so it was treated to a salt, sugar and pepper cure for four hours then smoked. We'll have that later on crackers or toast.

Nothing else new or exciting to report. Just gearing up for a big pork-shoulder roast this Friday night for my nephew Kevin's graduation party on Saturday. Looking forward to seeing the whole clan again.

The weather is beautiful, what to do?

Why cook of course!

Fired up the grill Saturday for lunch and pretty much kept it going until 12:00 today (Monday, Memorial Day).



For starters, or for lunch actually, I did something a little different, for me at least and grilled some great big Portabello mushrooms. Soaked them in a beef broth, olive oil and maple syrup marinade for about 20-30 minutes, then grilled them slowly for another 20-30 minutes. Plopped on a bun with some caramelized onions and goat cheese and they were quite good! (thanks again to Gowan for the recipe and idea)



After the Dome cooled down I cleaned out the ash and filled it up with a fresh load of Wicked Good Charcoal, Weekend Warrior and wood chunks for an overnight brisket cook.



I've cooked brisket "flats" before but this was the first time I got a whole "Packer cut." This is the flat muscle along with the "point" muscle. I had the butcher separate them and trim the fat to a uniform 1/8 inch.



I put the flat on the main grill and the point on the upper grill. Got 'em started around 8:00PM and took them off around 1:30 on Sunday afternoon. I wrapped the flat in foil and towels and put it in a cooler for a couple hours but I cubed the point(which wasn't easy as it was trying to fall apart!), gave it another liberal dose of Rub and put it back on the Dome in an aluminum pan for another two hours to make "burnt ends."

When the burnt ends were done, I called SpecialEd Sister #7 and said "I have some Cow Candy, fresh off the grill!" When she said "Cow candy, what the...?" I just said "come over, you'll like it! She did, and so did SpecialEd Sister's #2,#5 and several of their kids.



Once again, I cleaned out the ash (not much ash when using WGC) and built a fresh, full load in the pit. This time, three bone-in pork shoulders about 7-8lbs apiece.

Two on the bottom, one on the top, fired up around 6:30 let go overnight.

One shoulder was done at 8:00 this morning but the other two didn't come off until Noon. (each shoulder has it's own personality and agenda!)

Sent some home with my BIL, as a token of appreciation of hard work, sold some to a secret admirer (no kidding) and the rest is calling my name!