Beef Back Ribs

First, I must apologize for the two month hiatus. Normally August and September are extremely busy times of the year.  Thank you for your patience.

I was an adult before I ever had Beef Back Ribs. I was at a restaurant called Hill Country in Washington, DC.  They were different than the pork ribs I grew up eating.  They are not as meaty as pork spare ribs, but the flavor is bolder and richer just like their related cuts: Short Ribs, Rib Eye Roast and Rib Eye Steaks, and Prime Rib. This preparation begins with a rub with chili pepper and cumin, brown sugar and salt. Are they as good as Texas BBQ?  You can be the judge, but they are darn close for this Mid-Atlanticer. The production here was scaled down to only one 1 slab, just incase it didn't go well. Let's just say, I wish I'd prepared more.

Ingredients:

Rub:

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon garlic power
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Chipotle pepper or 1/16 teaspoon smoked paprika

Wood:
1 cup hickory wood chips

Meat:
1 3-pound slab beef back ribs


Step 1:

Mix the rub together, and rub the ribs. Place them in a zip top bag and refrigerate for 4 hours at a minimum.






Step 2:

Soak the wood chips for 30-45 minutes prior to smoking.  Add the ribs to the smoker and smoke for 6 to 8 hours at 180 to 200 degrees F.






Step 3

Retrieve the ribs from the smoker. Allow them to rest for ten minutes, and then eat.

Fall Off The Bone Tender Smoked Chicken

1 cup alder wood or apple wood chips

5-6 pounds of chicken leg quarters or drumsticks
3 tablespoons season salt
2 tablespoons black pepper

Step One:
Start the smoker.  While it come to temperature soak the wood chips for 15 to 30 minutes.  Monitor the smoker to ensure it reaches no more than 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  Add the wood chips to the smoker. 

Step two

Clean and trim the chicken parts.  Wash the chicken parts and pat them dry with a paper towel.  Season the chicken with the season salt and pepper.

Step Three:

Place the chicken in the smoker and smoke the chicken until the chicken parts reach 180 degrees. This will take about 3-4 hours. The chicken will be fall off the bone tender, and very, very flavorful. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, and then enjoy.

Smoked Country Spare Ribs

Country Spare Ribs are not ribs at all, they are actually a cut from the shoulder. They are a bit tougher, but they are very flavorful. They lend themselves to many cuisines from BBQ, Asian, Pacific Islander, Cuban, and many more.  This preparation is to smoke them.   The basics here are: a good rub (spice blend), good wood, and slow and low even heat. For those without a smoker charcoal grills and even some gas grills can be modified to achieve pretty good results. Unfortunately the smoked Country Spare Ribs can not be made in an oven and liquid smoke flavoring products will not do the end result justice. To modify this for the oven reduce the brown sugar in half and baste the Country Spare Ribs with your favorite smokey BBQ sauce during cooking. It wont be the same, but it will still be delicious.  Lastly, if you don’t have all day to smoke the Country Spare Ribs, you can smoke them for about 1 to 2 hours, and then pop them in the oven set to 200 degrees, or a slow cooker on low for the remaining time.

5 pounds Country Spare Ribs

4 cups water

2 cups apple wood chips soaked
¼ cup kosher salt 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 
1 teaspoon Everglades All-Purpose Seasoning or other all purpose seasoning.
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Step 1: 

Remove the Country Spare Ribs from the refrigerator, and place them at room temperature for 15 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl to make the spice rub. Rub (massage) the country spare ribs well. Place the rubbed Country Spare Ribs in a sealed container or zip top bag and refrigerate for at least 2 to 4 hours.

Step 2: Soak the wood chips in the water for 30 to 45 minutes, drain,  and reserve.

Step3: 

Remove the Country Spare Ribs from the refrigerator.  Get the smoker going to 180- 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the wood chips. Once the chips are smoking place the Country Spare Ribs inside the smoker. Ensure the temperature is no more than 180 to 200 degrees through out cooking. Smoke the Country Spare Ribs for 6 hours.

Smoked Salmon Filet

Ingredients
1  1 1/2 pounds salmon filet
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 cup alder wood
1 cup water

Step One:
Soak the wood chips in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes. While the wood chips soak bring the smoker to no more than 180 degrees F. Drain the wood chips and add the wood chips to the smoker. Wait ten minutes for the smoker to produce aromatic smoke.






Step Two:
Rinse and paper towel the filet of salmon dry. Notice the grain of the flesh and the whitish line that runs down the middle of the filet. Run your fingers against the grain (narrow side to wide side) along each side of the fillet. You may notice a bone or two. This is called a pin-bone, you can use a spoon or a pair of pliers to remove the pin-bones. The pin-bones must be removed.

Step Three:
Turn the salmon filet over look for any remaining skin, if you asked for the skin to be removed, remove any remaining skin. If you've  purchased a salmon filet with the skin on, that's okay.  The skin adds wonderful flavor complexities. To some, however, it is a fatty thing to toss away. In this preparation the fishmonger was asked to remove the skin, but it's not necessary.

Step Four:
Season both sides of the salmon filet with salt and pepper. At this point any additional ingredients can be added. This preparation doesn't add additional aromatics such as dill because the aim is to maximize the smoke flavor.

Step Five:
Smoke the Salmon for 20-25 minutes until it is medium.

 Step Six:
Place the salmon on a rack and reserve for 10 minutes.  Slice and enjoy.

Grilled Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus (approximately, 1 pound)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper


Asparagus, now available year round, is one of the best vegetables to eat during grilling season.  It is a cool weather plant that can take 2-3 years to get to the point that it can be harvested, so when you see that bunch at the vegetable stand or grocery store you should honor all the effort and prepare it to maximize the flavor. One of the worst ways to cook asparagus is to boil all the vitality and asparagusness out of it. If soft mushy asparagus is your goal, then canned asparagus may be right up your alley. This preparation employs the grill, but asparagus (in particular thin asparagus) is perfect sautéed, or even flash fried such as in tempera.


Step 1:

Wash and dry the asparagus.  Pour the olive oil into a large bowl.  Add the asparagus to the bowl and toss gently. Add the salt and pepper, and toss gently again and reserve.






Step 2:

Place the asparagus on the grates of a hot grill or grill pan.  It takes only a few moments to cook, therefore it must be monitored. A simple rule of thumb is to cook it for a minute and flip it/or roll it, for another minute and then retrieve. The finished product should have some char, but be tender, crisp, with some residual crunch. 

Fresh Chicken Burgers

2 lbs boneless and skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup onions, diced

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons bread crumbs.

Cooking spray

Step 1:

 Cut the chicken into 2-inch chunks. Following you grinder’s directions, grind the chicken coarsely into a large mixing bowl.

Step 2:

Mix the remaining ingredients into the ground chicken, save for the cooking spray.  Form 4 equal sized patties for ½ pound burgers, 8 equal sized patties for ¼ pound burgers. It isn’t suggested to go below ¼ pounds.

Step 3: 

Spray the skillet with the cooking spray, and heat to medium high heat. Cook the burgers until their internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F, turning them over once halfway through.  The onions will help the burgers to remain moist.  As an alternative after cooking the burgers for 5-10 minutes per side lower the temperature and lid the burgers. This will allow them to cook slower and more evenly reach 180 degrees F.   Remove the burgers and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.

Grilled Salmon

1 1/2 pounds of salmon filet, skinned and pin bones removed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Everglades All-Purpose Seasoning
Cooking Spray or cooking oil

OR

1 1/2 pounds of salmon filet, skinned and pin bones removed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Cooking Spray or cooking oil


Step One:

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray or brush oil on the grill.  While the grill is coming up to temperature, section the salmon widthwise into one inch pieces. Season the salmon on both sides.  Place the pieces on to the hot grill pan skin side ( or what was the skin side) up. Grill the salmon for about 1-3 minutes.





Step Two:

Turn the pieces over.  Using a fish turner is helpful here.  The presentation side will have beautiful grill marks. That's why that side is grilled first. Grill for about 1-3 minutes pending on your desired level of doneness. Like with tuna or steak. Salmon should not be over cooked. Once you've achieved your desired level of doneness remove the salmon from the grill to a plate or tray.  Allow the salmon to rest for about 3-5 minutes, and then serve.

Turkey Sliders

Ingredients

Cooking spray
6 slider rolls

½ pound ground turkey

½ cup onions, minced

1 clove garlic, pressed

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 egg

¼ cup bread crumbs

Step One:

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Lightly apply cooking spray to the skillet.  Split the sider rolls and place the cut side down in the skillet until evenly toasted.  Repeat this for each roll.

Step Two:

Mix the remaining above ingredients together in a bowl.  Form six 2” meatballs and then flatten the meatballs to a small burger patty shape.

Step Three:

Apply cooking spray to a non-stick skillet or griddle, and heat it over high-medium heat.     Add the sliders.  There should be a sizzle sound, and almost instant browning.

Step Four:

After five minutes flip the sliders over to cook the other side. Cook the sliders until it reaches doneness.   Place each slider on its own roll and dress it to your liking.

Smoked Pork Shoulder

Ingredients:

1 3-pound boneless pork shoulder

1/2 cups Light Brown Sugar

1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 teaspoons black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Approximately 2 cups soaked hickory wood chips

Step One:

Remove the pork shoulder from the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature for approximately 15 minutes.  During that time mix the remaining ingredients, save for the wood chips, in a container.

Step Two:

Place the pork shoulder on a cutting board. Generously rub the mixture onto the meat pressing it in as you go. The mixture is called a dry rub because what your doing is rubbing it onto the meat.  Place the rubbed pork into a container. Lid the container and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours. The
pork can also be plastic wrapped and then placed in the container.

Step Three:

Soak the wood chips for 30 to 45 minutes. Heat the smoker, and once it is ready add 1/5 of the wood chips, you’ll need to replace the wood chips once an hour or so. In the order of preference there are three types of smokers that can be used for this preparation: charcoal (offset, vertical with a water pan), gas (propane or natural gas), and Electric.  

If using charcoal, then you’ll need to monitor the smoker to ensure against flare-ups or fading temperatures. There are other smoking methods such as pit smoking (think Hawaiian luau) or cold smoking (think gravlax), but they are not particularly well suited for this recipe. Ensure the thermometer on the smoker reaches 225 degrees and not much higher.  A hallmark of smoking is slow and low.  Since shoulder is a working part of the pig, it is tougher than the loin so if cooked too fast at high temperatures it becomes too tough to eat.

Step Four:

Place the pork in the smoker. Smoke the pork 4-6 hours. The internal temperature should be around 165 it is done.  The pork will have a shiny crust from the sugar and internally there should be a pink ring around the pork. The result will be tender, moist, and flavorful. 

Note:  If you want to have a smokey flavor, but do not have 5-6 hours to monitor a smoker, then you can smoke the meat for 2 hours and then finish it the oven or a crock pot set to 225 degrees for the remaining 3-4 hours. The result will be good.  A lot of restaurants actually use this method, and it works well.