I have to purchase a new trailer and equip it to meet current health codes.  Being honest up front I can’t go to a bank for help. nor can I seek assistance from the Small Business Bureau.   Short story I have been unemployed too long and circumstances prevent the normal finance channels.

I need approximately $10,000 total and I am willing to negotiate terms somewhat higher than the normal finance lines.

The plan is to bring the same fine food we serve at private parties to the general public.  We will mount three of our Big Green Eggs in the trailer and serve hot gourmet sandwiches,  burgers and other dishes to the hungry lunch crowds around Raleigh/Durham.

If you are willing to at least discuss this matter please call me at 252-657-9591.

Thank you.

Share on Facebook

To me there is only three ways to prepare the perfect steak.  All require a nice hot charcoal fire to start with.  The first is called a T-Rex. This method was named after a well know Big Green Egg user whose handle is Trex.   First step is to find a steak at least 1.5 inches thick.  Thicker is better, thinner is not.  Get you charcoal grill up to 700 degs. at the grill surface.  Season your steak up with salt and pepper or a good steak rub.  I personally recommend Raising the Steaks from Dizzy Pig BBQ .  Lay that steak on the grill for no more than 45 seconds. Rotate the steak 90 degs and grill for another 45 secs.  Flip the steak and repeat the 45 sec steps.

Now take that steak off and set it aside for a bit.  Set your grill up for indirect and get the grill surface at close to 400 degs. as possible.   Once you are setup and at the right temp put your steak(s) back on the grill and cover.   Let them roast for 15-20 minutes or till they reach 135 internal for a near perfect medium rare.  Remove the steak(s) and go feast.

The second way is called a reverse TRex.  Simply roast the steaks at 400 first and then grill at the higher heat for some nice grill marks.

The third method is called the hot-tub method.   Personally this is my favorite way.  I love my steak so rare a skilled veterinarian could still revive it.  This method gives me what I want and takes the chill off the steak.   Rub up your steak with your favorite rub or just salt and pepper.  Place the steak in a sealed Ziploc bag.  Make sure it is sealed.  Fill up a container with tepid water (105-115 degs)  and lay the Ziploc in the water.  In the mean time go get your cooker up to 700 degs.  By the time your smoke clears (30 mins) your steak is ready.   Put that steak on the grill and put the grill marks on.  Total of three minutes for rare,  5 minutes for medium rare.   What I suggest you do is experiment with this to get the steak the way you want.  The center will have warmed up because of the hot water bath and fat will have started to render.

Try all three methods to get your desired result.  Once thing for sure; you’ll be looking at that restaurant menu differently because you won’t like their steaks anymore.  Well unless you are in one of those 5 Star Steak Houses.

Share on Facebook

What a better way to actually start posting again than to describe, in my humble opinion,  what BBQ means.

Most places seem to use BBQ as a noun.  Here in North Carolina the noun refers to Pork.  In Texas the noun is Beef Brisket.  In Arkansas it’s Chicken, KC and Memphis it’s ribs and in California it means Tri-Tip.   However, BBQ , in my opinion, is a verb.  It is a process used to cook food.  BBQ by it’s nature refers to food cooked over wood, charcoal, or both, in a manner that renders the fat and collagen out of whatever you are cooking.   I will leave the debate about gas and electric as a source of heat for another time.  Regardless BBQ is not done in an Oven or a Crock Pot.  BBQ requires smoke. While you can get smoke in an oven, you can’t in a crock pot.

Having said that, BBQ is considered to be the process of cooking meat at a low temp over a longer period of time. Are low and slow temps the same for all meats?  Again, in my humble opinion NO.  While beef brisket, ribs, pork butts, shoulders and even whole hog benefit from temps between 220-250, slow roasting a Beef Rib Roast or a whole Turkey works best at 325.  As I said, the idea is to render the fat and collagen out of the of the meat.  Some cuts of meat just don’t have enough fat or connective tissue to benefit from “Lo ‘N’ Slo” least not the 220 degrees. type of Lo ‘N’ Slo.

Any meat can be cooked hot and fast.  This method of cooking is usually referred to as Grilling.   Lower the temp a bunch than even a Hot Dog can be BBQ’d.   Again in my opinion, Hot Dogs are rather tasty BBQ’d.  So,  find a lower temp that allows what ever you are cooking to taste better.  Just remember it’s not always 220 degs.

Now what will I talk about tomorrow.

Share on Facebook

Let’s start with a blasting a basic myth out of the picture.  Diabetics have to control their carbohydrate intake, not their spice intake.  Look at the spice bottle. Do you see a nutrition label and if you do do you see any carbs?

Unless that spice is sugar you won’t see many if any carbs.

Now when is a carb good and when is it bad.  That depends on it’s Glycemic Index.  The lower the index the better the carb.  Sweet Tatters have a lower Glycemic Index than White Taters.  Which, at least for me, is a good thing.

Sweeteners; We all know them and know they are necessary evils.  What is good and what is not.  Table Sugar (Sucrose) is not good for a Diabetic.  Splenda (Sucralose) is OK and you can cook with it.  Yep, I have heard all the horror stories.  I once had a lady tell me how ill she gets whenever she eats anything using Splenda.  I smile cause she was chomping down on a BBQ Rib I made with my homemade BBQ Sauce.  Yep. you guess it, the sauce had Splenda in it and she didn’t get sick..

Honey has a medium Glycemic rating. Which is OK in moderation.  There is a great product on the market called Agave Nectar.  Yep, the same plant that brings you Tequila can sweeten your recipes.  It’s Glycemic rating is lower than Honey and teaspoon for teaspoon it has the same sweetness.

OK We have now covered the spices and the sweeteners.  Stay tuned for recipes that will be sure to please most any palate and keep the Dragon at bay..

Share on Facebook

Here is my favorite thing.   In a double boiler add a couple cups of whole milk or light cream.   Let it heat up.  Once  the milk has heated, add some of the milk slowly to 1 or two table spoons of the roux until you can pour the rouz mixture back into the rest of the milk.  You just made a Mother sauce..

Now the fun. Slowly add grated cheddar cheese to the mix.   Let the cheese melt before adding more.   Stop adding the cheese when the sauce tastes more of the cheese than the milk.    Pour  this mixture over 3-4 cups cooked elbow pasta in a baking dish.  Cover lightly with bread crumps or crushed corn flakes. Bake in your oven at 350 degs till golden.  Viola Homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

You can substitute cooked bulk sausage for the cheese and make sausage gravy..

Guess what all you that gave a need for speed –  The sauce and what you make from it freezes well..

Next: Roux – Blond or Brunette.

Share on Facebook

How much Roux you make depends on how much gravy you want to make and how thick you like it.  Typically it’s one tablespoon of Roux to one cup of liquid.

Best way to make a gravy that is not lumpy is to slowly add some of the liquid you want to thicken to the Roux.  This will temper the Roux to your broth.   Once you get the roux to where it can be easily poured, then pour it into the rest of your broth and wisk until the gravy starts to boil.   Once the gravy boils remove it from the heat.  It will thicken as it cools.

Now for you people that need to be in a hurry, Roux can be kept in your refrigerator for a couple weeks or even frozen and thawed when needed.

Next: What do I use Roux in?

Share on Facebook

My answer to that has been to learn how to dampen the noise when I need to; however, that has its own problems.  My wife calls it selective hearing.  I can be in a crowded noisy restaurant and focused on what my wife is saying, and the noise is in the gutter.  This will include the waiter trying to take my order.

So what does this have to do with the lost art of cooking you ask?

I was walking around the food section of our Local Super Walmart* the other day.  Happily ignoring peoples voices as they walked around me.   Every now and then a voice will break through the cone of silence.  “Do you see any canned gravy?  I need a can of chicken gravy!!”

My thoughts went to Chicken Stock, Roux, Gravy..   s looked around I say people getting ready made stuffs.  People in the cooler sections getting pie shells already in a pan, Bertoli Ready made meals and salads in a bag. I heard a lady proclaim, “What in the he** do you do with these?”  I looked and she was holding one of natures wonders, a pomegranate.      My mind went to a pomegranate infused glaze on a nice piece of pork tenderloin ir spread over several slices of smoked turkey breasts.  Her mind put the fruit back with disgust.

So I have deleted all the random thoughts.  I will still publish them, but they will be under their own section.  The main pages of this blog will go back to basics.   For my friends who do cook maybe you’ll find a recipe you’d like.  To my friends who think they are cooking maybe I will inspire your culinary imagination.

Home cooked food can be more tasty than anything you can buy in a store.

Share on Facebook