Smokin' on my Big Easy: a video post

I'm having a lot of fun with my Char-Broil electric smoker named The Big Easy, so much so that I was inspired to make a video. When it first arrived at my doorstep, I harbored doubts of The Big Easy's smokability. It was, after all, electric. But as you will witness in my goofball video, this baby brings it. I've decided she's a she. As for names, I'm thinking Bertha or Betty or She-easy. I'll take suggestions. You do all name your grills and smokers, right?

I'm writing a full post about smoking a whole picnic pork shoulder for Char-broil, but until then, check this out!

Wordless Wednesday Video Post

May Day Virtual BBQ: 9:30am, 11am, 12:20am....Moppin' Time

The mop, a total throw-together recipe from the fridge: Apple cider vinegar, bit of ketchup, puri puri spice (hot!), and the end of the orange-mango jam.

8:12am Pork butt in (I'm already and hour behind....)

It's in. In between all this, I am cleaning an apartment to show today. I come from a long line of people who like to double and triple book themselves. I'm also supposed to be working the lunch and dinner rush at the restaurant today. And I want to get the kids to the park.

Luckily I have a husband that doesn't plan beyond his morning coffee, so I can move some of my plans over to his column. He's cutting me some cherry wood off our clippings to add to the smoker as we speak....

So come y'all, whatcha got goin' on?

7:35 am: Charcoal lit

The Making of a May Day BBQ

6:21am Julie there is no coffee in the house.

6:25am She pulls out the pork butt, and seasons it with a mix of spices from her cupboard, then puts it back in the fridge.

6:35am Julie realizes speaking of herself in third person all day could get really annoying.

I head out for coffee. I am thankful to live in a city, in a neighborhood, where I can walk to a coffee shop. The morning is beautiful! Birds are singing, the sun is shining.

It's a good day for a barbecue!

Quick Chili with Pulled Pork, Smoked Peppers & Black Beans

Quick Chili is practically an oxymoron, but I like to keep ingredients on hand to whip up a batch on demand if need be. True chili should be cooked slow, letting all the flavors of the spices infuse into the meat and beans.

Like barbecue, chili fires a passion in people that can beat the heat in the chili pot itself. Some swear no bean should enter the pot. Others declare beef to be the only meat allowed. Everyone has their own idea of what spices and flavors make the best batch.

This chili is an excellent cheater chili. It's not what you'll enter into the chili cook-off, but it's a great recipe for when you think, "Mmm. Chili sounds good," at 4pm, instead of 10am.

Of course, your larder may not contain the same things as mine. I almost always have the following ready to go:

Leftover smoked pulled pork, in freezer. Leftover brisket or other meats work well too.

Smoked peppers (or whole dried). We smoke a mix of habaneros, poblanos and jalepenos at Smokin' Pete's BBQ for our barbecue sauce. Smoking the peppers gives them another boost of flavor, while retaining their natural flavors. Good quality chilis are the most important part of creating the flavor base.

Canned beans. Black beans, kidney, or navy. Beans are the biggest time constraint with chili and the best way to cheat when time won't allow an all day affair.

Everything else is an accessory to the chili pot. As long as you have the power trio above, you can make this quick chili. Even though I'd have a hard time making chili without cumin and Mexican oregano, I'm of the opinion that chili can be made with just about any combination of spices.

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 T ground cumin
2 T smoked or dried chilis, preferrably ground by hand, in mortar and pestil or coffee grinder
2 cloves garlic
2 T Mexican oregano
1 T kosher salt
1 tsp ground ginger (optional)
1 tsp tumeric (optional)
12 oz pulled pork
1-2 cans black beans (or kidney)
1 cup stock
1 small can of diced green chilis
1/4 cup tomato paste
Grated cheese (optional)

Step-by-Step
1. Sautee onion in olive oil. Add spices and stir until onion cooks nearly clear.
2. Add pulled pork, beans and green chilis. Stir until ingredients incorporated. Turn down to medium low.
3. Add stock and tomato paste and simmer for 30 minutes or more.
4. Serve with grated cheese or whatever else you like with your chili.

How does she do it all? She doesn't.

A while back a woman in a grocery store asked me if I knew anything about meat. She was looking for pork to make pulled pork.

"I'm going to put it in the slow cooker," she said. I knew telling her she should smoke her pork rather than crock pot it was going to go right over her head. Instead I smiled, and steered her out of the beef section. I showed her that they only had pork chops and pork tenderloin.

"You need pork butt, er that's the shoulder cut," I said, adding that she could get pork shoulder down the street at Cash and Carry. She said, "Maybe I'll just buy this sliced brisket and pass it off as pulled pork." I told her brisket was beef.

"Oh," she said, kind of sadly. She wandered off and I saw her reach for the nasty pre-mixed meat and sauce stuff that comes in a plastic tub.

What I should have done was give her directions to Smokin' Pete's to buy some pulled pork buy the pound, and told her she could have my book FREE, if she'd read it. But I was in a rush. I was working on this blog post about lamb, and while running around buying ingredients for it, baby girl fell asleep in the car. I'd rushed back to Smokin' Pete's, nabbed one of my employees to come with me to wait in the car with the sleeping babe, and had to get him back to finish opening the restaurant. I wish I'd had a moment to chat with the confused meat gal.

It gets complicated trying to raise two kids, run a restaurant, promote a book, and blog about it all. Sometimes people ask me, how do you manage it all?

I will first answer that question photographically. This is my laundry room:

Seriously and it's not that bad right now.

My second answer is quite simply that I don't. I don't make fabulous meals every night. I don't pickle or make jam. It is rare that my socks match or that my shirt is clean. Lately there have been some comments that you like to see my vunerability, my failures, my unbloggable meals. True, at least one of those comments was from my mom, who, by the way, takes bags of laundry from my house and returns them clean and folded. She's going for sainthood. Metta: Patron Saint of Laundry Piles and Pie.

So I'm in a bit of a quandry (which incidentally rhymes with laundry). I need some advice. I have a very special guest coming to cook and photograph with me on Thursday. She's a rock-star blogger, but also a mom and writer and all around busy gal.

How real do I keep my house? My first instinct is to stay up all night the next two nights and scrub the begeebles out of it, plant annuals, and re-caulk the kitchen sink.

But we have a catering every day this week except Thursday, I have to get the February books to the accountant before the excise tax is due, and I'm really stinkin' tired. Even if I wanted to put on a Martha Stewart face, I'm not sure I have the time to pull it off.

My house is very, very real, people. Should I call in professional help? Stop blogging and start cleaning? Or just hope she is fine with taking only close-ups of the food. Really tight close ups.

Sigh. At least most of the cooking will be outside.

Aloha Hawaiian Barbecue...part 3: Back in Seattle

We've settled back in to Seattle weather after a relaxing Hawaiian vacation. In case you missed it, we sampled some tasty barbecue on our trip to Maui, recounted in part 1 and part 2.

Getting out of the routine always inspires creativity. One of the first things Eric did when he got back to Smokin' Pete's BBQ was whip up a Hawaiian marinade. He dunked a whole pork butt in the marinade for four days, then seared it on the grill, smoked it, chilled it, cut thick slices and grilled them to order. The last step was to dip the slices in a glaze. I was amazed by how well it matched the barbecue we ate on our trip. It took me back.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but in reality, this is a great way to make barbecue for a party, whether at home or professionally for you caterers out there. The long marinade and smoking times are out of the way before your event. All you have to do is slice and get the meat up to temperature on the grill, making some nice crosshatch marks on each slice for presentation.

Here is the recipe for Eric's Maui Marinated Pork. Serve it with white rice and macaroni salad for an authentic Hawaiian combination.

Marinade Ingredients. Note: You will make this twice, once for the marinade, and once for the glaze.
2 T. fresh grated or powdered ginger
16 oz pineapple, orange, guava juice (Nantucket Nectars has this flavor, substitute something similar)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
1 cup soy sauce
1 T. pepper oil (we make our own at Smokin' Pete's, but any chili oil will do).
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar or 1/4 cup white vinegar

Combine all marinade ingredients and put one Boston butt in the marinade. Let pork marinate for 4 days in refrigerator. Turn pork a few times a day to make sure all parts get covered by marinade.

Remove pork and pat dry. Sear over direct flames of grill, then cook in smoker slow and low for about 10 hours. You want the pork to be tender but not falling apart.

Fully chill (at least 2 hours per pound). Before getting ready to heat and serve, make the marinade above again. Heat on medium low and add a little cornstarch to thicken. Keep warm near grill.

Cut 1 inch slices. Grill over direct flames for a few minutes, then rotate 30 degrees on same side to make crosshatch marks. Flip and repeat. Check that the slice is fully heated in the center.

Remove from grill and either mop with the warm glaze, or dunk the slice whole into the glaze. Serve with white rice and creamy macaroni salad.

Barbecue 101: Five Tips for Smoking a Perfect Pork Butt

This week I'd like to come back to pork butt, the Boston Butt cut of the pork shoulder. I haven't talked about pulled pork lately on the blog, ironic because it is true barbecue, or considered the first barbecue. My post on Smoke Ring on Your Pork Butt is also the most visited of my blog, so I know it is what people searching for barbecue topics are most interested in. This week I give you my top five tips on smoking the perfect pork butt.

Five Tips for Smoking a Perfect Pork Butt

1) Rub Generously. Give a good coating of spice rub and pat rather than rub. This will help the pork form a tasty bark, or crust, that will add flavor and seal in the juices as it cooks.

2) Get your smoke on early, but back it off at the end. I like to hit the pork with wood smoke for the first three hours if using a charcoal smoker. If you are using an electric smoker, then keep the wood smoke going for about 5-6 hours. What wood you use will add subtle differences. Fruit woods are always a good bet with pork.

3) Get in and get out. Do your fussin' all at the same time so that you keep your lid on as much as possible. In other words, when you add already hot coals to the fire, also mop quickly (I like to use a spray bottle to quickly coat my pork with a mixture of half apple juice and half apple cider vinegar).

4) Use a remote thermometer. A remote thermometer can monitor the inside temperature of you smoker. Toward the end of the cooking time, I insert the remote thermometer into the meat. For a butt to be done, but not over done, shoot for 180 degrees. Then give the finger test, my tip #5.

5) You don't want your pork to be a contender. A good, non-technical way to tell if your butt is good and tender is the finger method. Push a finger just a bit into your pork. If the pork "fights back" like a bouncy ball, it's not done. If it seems like your finger will push on through the bark, then it's ready.

And here is the Bonus Tip. Let the meat rest before you pull it. I like at least 20 minutes before I put on my gloves and pull. Sprinkle it with some Lexington Sauce, or your favorite barbecue sauce and dig in.

Barbecue Leftovers Week: Braised Pork with Pears & Cabbage

I often slice smoked pork vs pull it, and when I judge barbecue competitions, I always appreciate the sliced entries. This doesn't mean I give them higher marks based on that fact, but you can't hide mistakes in a slice like you can when it's pulled. Pulled pork can be moistened up with sauce if it was overcooked, or can be pulled finely to hide that it wasn't ready yet. A slice gives you no such cover.

Now we all know, (don't we?), that if you are taking the time to smoke a pork butt (the Boston Butt cut often used to make pulled pork), then you may as well smoke two or three to put away for another day. If you do, consider leaving one butt whole, chill it, and slice in a day or two to make a recipe like this: Braised Pork with Pears and Cabbage. Because the pork is already cooked, the "braising" takes no time at all. It's a perfect fall meal. Apples may certainly be substituted - my brother dropped off a huge bag of perfectly ripe pears that needed to be eaten before they pearished. Dear me, bad pun. Let's get back to cooking.

Braised Pork with Pears & Cabbage

serves 8 (whole butt)

Ingredients

1 chilled pork butt

1 onion, diced

3 cups sliced cabbage (or slaw mix without the dressing)

1 julienned carrot

4 pears, sliced chunky

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Optional: I kept this simple, as we have a kid pallet in our home. Add a few dashes of balsamic vinegar to the mix for some zing, or one sauteed jalapeno for some kick. I love the combination of hot peppers and pear - they are such polar opposites that they create an interesting balance.

Slice chilled pork butt in thick 1 inch slices. Place in a cast iron or heavy duty pan and heat on medium. Carefully flip. Once the fat is rendered from the slices (you will see it), carefully lift up slices with a spatula, and add in onion underneath. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper.

Onion becomes clear, lift up meat slices like before and add in pear. Lay meat back down and top with cabbage, carrot, more salt and pepper, and cover. Cook until cabbage is fully steamed.

Plate up with in order of the pot from the top: A bed of cabbage, then pork, topped with pear and onion "sauce". If your pork falls apart - oh well - it tastes just as good jumbled together.

PNBA Nightcapper Recap

Tonight I had a blast at the PNBA nightcapper party. I signed books with 20 other authors in the room while booksellers made the rounds piling our books into their goody bags. I served pulled pork and a smoked duck salad with pears, apples, currants, and greens in a orange marmalade dressing. The barbecue scents drew in the crowd and I blew through my 100 books in no time. I loved talking to the booksellers. They seemed positive and energized for the coming season -a good indicator that our economy is starting to turn around.

In my corner of the room were other cookbook authors. Next to me was Linda Ziedrich with her two books, The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and Other Sweet Preserves, and The Joy of Pickles. Love that pickle title. It'd be a good band name too. Pickling and preserves are "hot" right now. People like to go back to basics during tight economic times. There is also something about harvest time that makes me want to pick fruit and preserve it for the winter. I make soup, too, out of all the bits in the refrigerator, because, you know, we're hunkering down for the winter. I've been on a soup kick and will put some up on the blog next week.

But I digress....

I met Lisa Schroeder of Mother's Bistro in Portland. Her new cookbook, Mother's Best: Comfort Food That Takes You Home Again, looks amazing. Her shrimp were divine. Smart gal for serving shrimp, for as we know, no crowd can resist the power of shrimp. She gave away all her books too, so we'll swap books by mail.

The best surprise was that there were two SCBWI members representing kid lit. Bonny Becker, showcasing her new bear book, Birthday for Bear, and another, The Magic Ms. Plum, and Doug Keith, for illustrating The Bored Book, by David M. Slater. Bonny's first Bear book, A Visitor for Bear, was named Amazon's Children's Book of the Year, among numerous awards.

I'm pooped. I cleaned up the mess in the hotel room from the tornado of getting ready for this event. I've twittered and blogged and checked all my e-mails. Now it's off to that blissful night of sleep I keep talking about.

One little ducky, two little ducky...

After waffling on whether or not I'd bring food to the PNBA conference nightcapper event, I decided, "Of course!". Here are my three pretty smoked ducks. They came out perfectly. I just finished pulling them for a duck salad that I'll assemble at the event in Portland, then scoop in endive spears for an appetizer. I am also bringing pulled pork, because it would be sacrilege not to.

The challenge for bringing food was keeping it properly hot without ruining it, given the distance and time. I opted for a chilled salad (smoked duck with apples, currants and ginger, in a orange marmalade dressing), and an easy re-heat (pulled pork with Lexington sauce). My car will be packed to the hilt. Even bringing just a "taste" for 150 is like a full-scale catering in terms of equipment. I may get some looks from the front desk.

I promise to take pictures and post from the road!

She-Smoke Contest Winners. Whoohoo!

The She-Smoke Virtual Barbecue contest ended on the 7th and I was lucky to announce the winners on KXL Radio's "Cooking with Mr. Barbecue". Before I tell you the winners, let me just say that the entries were amazing. Truly. I was so thrilled to view each entry and couldn't believe the quality.

It made my job difficult. If you didn't hear all my explanations and descriptions on the show, here are the winners, and why I picked them.

1) Most Humorous. OK, I changed the "Best Party" to this category. Many of the entries could have won best party, but the two gals, Sharon and Ellen put on quite a show, complete with tiaras and dancing cans. Check out their video here.

2) Most Unusual Smoker. I loved Brad's video. He really gets what barbecue is - the noun, the cooking method, and the event. He showed us his smoker made by students at the high school where he teaches.

3) Best Video: Andrew's video took the cake in this category. His video told his story in a documentary style - from interviews with his mom and dad, to the whole family cheering on the Lakers.

4) Most Appetizing 'Cue: I must say that the first video entry by my cousin Courtney, showed some delicious babybacks ribs coming out of my Uncle Steve's Big Green Egg. It helps that I've tasted those ribs before. The video from the Tennessee family is hilarious, and one I'll cherish. I'll send them a book, but in case any one has an issue with one of my family member's winner, I'd like to nominate Brad M. as theh official winner. His tasty plate of pulled pork (not to mentino the perfect slices of brisket at the opening) will win him a bottle of my Cocoa Bliss Rub.

And now for the Grand Champion. To me it came down to a near tie between Andrew and Brad's entries. Both videos were rock solid. Both told the story of what barbecue meant to them. Both showed what they were cooking and that the cooking was part of the event of barbecue that brought family and people together. I connected with both of these videos and wanted to give them both a Traeger. Alas, we have only one. I was leaning toward Andrew because he brought us in more directly to his story. Brad, however, had the most passion for, and knowledge of barbecue in his video. What was I to do?

Then I noticed that Brad's video was over 3 minutes, the maximum time specified on the contest rules. Though I hate to have it come down to a technical disqualifier, them's the rules. It also helped me choose! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the entry that won the $400 Traeger Junion Pellet Grill. The Grand Champion entry. Take a bow, Andrew Perry, and then start smokin' your heart out!

Smoke Ring on your Pork Butt

I was going to post a grilled pork chop recipe I cooked the other night, that was delicious, but something about the eerie storm brewing outside made me want to write about barbecue, true barbecue, and smoke rings. I love the phrase smoke ring. It makes be think of an Atoll, or a smouldering volcano..smoke ring, ring of fire, Pacific Rim, Lord of the Rings, fires of Beltane...

The smoke ring is that prized red or pink ring just inside the meat. It comes from cooking meat low and slow. Though perhaps too much emphasis is given to the smoke ring, it does give you a visual cue of a job well done, that appears almost magically, or secretly, just inside the meat. Actually, it is caused by a chemical reaction between the liquid in the meat and the smoke, but whenever I cut into slow-smoked meat and first see that smoke ring, I get a little thrill. Like I've just uncovered a secret.

Though we smoke cases upon cases at the restaurant, I still like to smoke pork shoulder at home. I usually smoke the upper part of the the shoulder, called the Boston Butt, or simply pork butt. It is almost fool-proof for pulled pork and one "butt" is a nice size for a small to medium gathering.

The pics here are of a Boston butt I smoked on a Weber grill, not a dedicated smoker. After getting a good coating of a spice rub (use your favorite), it slow-cooked for about 11 hours and was purrfect. I used a blend of apple and hickory wood chunks, and mopped it with apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes and a little mango-peach juice. I usually mop with a spray bottle, but the red pepper flakes clog up my sprayer. Instead I just drizzled it over the meat about every hour.

Once I let it rest a bit - about 20 minutes - I "pulled" it. I actually chopped this one with a heavy duty cleaver, and then hand pulled the bigger chunks into smaller pieces. I mixed in some Lexington Sauce similar to the recipe in the book. Here is that recipe:

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
3 T hot sauce (Any decent vinegar based hot sauce will do. I’m partial to Frank’s hot sauce.)
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 t Worcestershire sauce

What does the phrase "smoke ring" make you think about, or feel?