I Light Fires!!!!!

Summer has a rhythm all it's own. The sky's are bluer and the air is filled with the scent of new life. It's a time to celebrate the passing of the gloomy demeanor known as winter. No longer are we locked away in our domiciles hiding from the cold and blustery season. We are free to roam the wild yonder under the sun's yellowy-orange warmth. We are released from the doldrums of  the grey season and awakened to play in the lush vibrant radiance of newness. We are reborn. We once again feel the energy of our childhoods rushing back to us. Many feel the primal call of the wild and choose to live within the wide open frontier, if only for a few days. We feel the need to return to our roots and become one with nature as a means to escape the rat race around us. We yearn for the quiet simplicity of a by-gone era before the great expansion of machinery and technology stole our souls.

The simplest of escapes, cooking over an open fire. Nothing beats that. The roar of the flames, the smell of the searing flesh, it's as old as man himself. Nothing beats the unmistakable taste of a steak seared to juicy perfection over an open flame. It's like tasting food for the first time all over again. A man will stand at his grill all day flame-broiling proteins for mass consumption just to taste that smoky sweet flavor. For most of us, it's a compulsion, an unconscious desire that as soon as the sun shines and it gets warm, we must grill. I've even been known to stand outside in zero degree weather buried by snow grilling, I may have an addiction.

The grill is a magnificent tool. For some it's like an appendage, to others a complete mystery. Grilling can be made more complicated by bright shiny gas grills or worse, the dual grill. It's a hybrid of technology that gives you the choice to cook with either gas or charcoal. Honestly gas is fine but it leaves a strange taste on your product. I use charcoal, plain old charcoal in a kettle grill. No fast light stuff for me because like gas it too has a funky aftertaste. I also light my charcoal with newspaper soaked in vegetable oil instead of  lighter fluid. The propellant can leave a strange smell and flavor on your food.  With the vegetable oil it burns slower and lights the coal and wood chips more evenly without the gassy smell and taste. Squirt a little veggie oil on the black nuggets and wood chips as well, it will help you regulate the heat more.

So I say unto you my fellow grill geeks stay true to the ancient ways and you will find a better tasting, more flavorful piece of protein. From bovine to the kingly pig, all things are better over the naked flame. Grab your friends, relatives, or neighbors and get together to celebrate our ancient heritage and cook a hearty meal over natures greatest cooking instrument, the glorious open flame. Enjoy and God Bless!!!  

Not The Same Old Pork And Beans!!

I know what you are thinking, how can you dress up the old stand by pork and beans?
Well it's not quite what you think. The pork is boneless chops and the beans are French cut green beans. It's a quick and easy way to have a tasty dinner you and the family will love.

First heat an 8" skillet and add just enough oil to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Next add a cup of chicken broth, a half cup of apple juice, and two heaping tablespoons of minced garlic, this will create a brazing liquid. Let simmer for about a half hour before adding three or four boneless pork chops you have tenderized and lightly salted. Cook until chop starts to turn white on the bottom side, flip over and repeat on uncooked side. Now return to original side and cook for five minutes per side. Finish cooking when the chops inner temperature is 160 degrees. You can use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.

While you are waiting for your brazing liquid  to come to temperature you can heat up a frying pan to toast a half cup whole almonds. After the almonds are toasted, lightly salt them and rough chop them in a food processor. In a dutch oven boil one cup of chicken broth and add a pound of French cut green beans . Cook the beans in the broth until most of the liquid is absorbed. Strain out the rest of the broth to use with the pork chops. Put beans in a small casserole dish and combine with a can of cream of mushroom soup and sprinkle the almonds evenly over the top. Place in the oven at three hundred and fifty degrees for about ten minutes.

So there you have it, a quick meal for you and the family and none of those nasty pork and beans. Enjoy and God Bless.

Smoking Is Good !!!!!

Not cigarettes. Meat. Smoking meat is awesome. Sure it is laborious but it is so worth it.
You haven't lived until you've tasted a chicken smoked for sixteen hours with a sweet BBQ sauce and garlic mashed potatoes.
That was what I did for my birthday on Saturday, I smoked a chicken. We ate like kings. I put the chicken to smoke at midnight Friday seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, and cumin, after it soaked for four hours in a brine of  salt, pepper, sugar, and rice vinegar before it was introduced to my smoke box.

Slowly that box smoker cooked that beautiful bird at 150 degrees until four o'clock Saturday. First off, the smell was enough to drive you crazy, second, the skin was crisp and a dark reddish brown. The taste was a smoky, salty flavor with a hint of sweet spices.
As the chicken finished off in my oven (about 10 minutes), I concocted a Kansas City style sweet BBQ sauce from Rice vinegar, brown sugar, cumin, paprika, ground sage, majoram, and a dash of ginger for a little heat.
The sauce  cooked for about a half hour to forty minutes while the bird set up and cooled off a little.
The chicken itself fell from the bone as I touched my 7" santoku to the legs and wings. The breast just surrendered when I carved the succulent poultry as I needed to add it to the sweet tangy BBQ sauce.
So let me tell you this, if you ever get the chance to have smoked meats.......just do it!!!!!