Alabama White Sauced Pecan Smoked Chicken BBQ Ramen

It's been a while since I have posted anything... not because I haven't wanted to, but because, frankly, I got bored with posting and I was a little busy.  Now, though, work isn't as crazy, and I have some free time. 

The weather has been a little back and forth between cold and warm.  Yesterday I smoked some chicken thighs, but ended up not eating a lot of it.  Today I was going to grill, but it was rainy and cold, so I decided to get creative in the kitchen.  In the past, I have messed around with the concept of BBQ Ramen.  Simple enough... take anything you've barbequed, and throw it in a bowl of ramen. 

I won't bore you with anymore stories, etc.  Here is one of my BBQ Ramen bowls:

Alabama White Sauced Pecan Smoked Chicken BBQ Ramen with Fried Egg Slices and Smoked, Crispy Chicken Skin Strips

step 1:
I like to rub my chicken thighs down with a chicken bbq rub, let it sit for at least 10 - 15 mins to absorb some flavor.  Fire up your smoker, add your wood (I use Pecan), add your chicken and smoke for about 1&1/2 hours.  If you want to use the chicken skin, at this point, I peel the skin back or off so that it can get smokey and crispy.  Then you want to start brushing on the Alabama White Sauce (recipe is here), on the chicken and the separated skins, do this for about the next 45 minutes.

step 2:
do a rough chop on the chicken once you've pulled it off the bone.  I like to use leftover chicken, and then heat it up in a pan or a flat top, and as I do this, I drizzle a little more ABW sauce, soy sauce, and sriracha on the chicken.  While doing this, I fry up an egg on my griddle, nothing special, just use a little salt and pepper, then slice it into strips.

step 3:
take cheap store bought Ramen noodles, cook them according to package directions.  Then, assemble your toppings, drizzle with some Sriracha, and enjoy some smokey, delicious ramen noodles.

Pork Roulade filled with Peaches & Jalapeno

Like most people, I get into ruts of things I like to cook.  For about three days straight, I have made some version of a roulade, whether with chicken or pork.  So, for the next few days, I will be posting about some different bacon wrapped & smoked roulades.

There are some constants when I do these, and that is, they are bacon wrapped and then smoked.  In my opinion, two things that make almost any food better.

I won't delay, or bore you any more... For this roulade, I pounded the pork chop flat.  I seasoned it with a salt, black pepper, and garlic mixture.  Then I layered peaches and jalapeño. (Side note: the peaches will "literally" melt into the meat, which is absolutely fantastic!)

Once that is done, I wrap it with bacon!

The last step of course is to smoke it, and I usually let it smoke for about 3 hours... Give or take a few minutes.  After you pull it off the grill, let it rest a few minutes before you carve it.

Finally, you can serve it with pretty much anything you want, but I opted for a vegetable cous cous with red onion, red pepper, and corn.

French Toast - the simple things in life

I've never been a huge fan of French toast... It usually is soggy, flavorless, and just disappointing!  I am more of a fried pancake or crisp waffle kinda guy, however, if you use a good, slightly stale bread, it can make a world of difference.

I still don't make french toast all that often, so when I do, I like to use something other than a basic white bread.  There are so many types of bread you can use, marbled rye, brioche, cinnamon raisin, banana bread... the choices are pretty much endless.

I like to (when I can) use sourdough bread.  So any time I have leftover bread, I'll let it sit for a few days, that way it's not super fresh.  I use a very basic recipe (no need to get too fancy), but if you're inclined to class it up, feel free after you dunk the bread in your egg mixture to "crust" it with crushed up cereal (frosted flakes, honey nut Cheerios, or captain crunch).

I start by cutting the bread in half (only if they are big slices)

then I make the egg mixture*,

and after my griddle is hot (I heat it to 300 to 325 degrees), I'll dredge the bread and slap it on the griddle!  I like a crispier outside on my french toast, so I'll let it cook a good 5-8 mins per side.

When the French toast is cooked to your liking, add your favorite toppings, pour a glass of cold milk, and enjoy!

*French Toast Egg Mixture

Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon Ground Clove
- 18 teaspoon Ground Allspice

directions:
Whisk everything together. 
I use 3 large pieces of bread, or 6 regular size slices.

(just a note, I like a little more spice than most, you can definitely cut back the nutmeg, clove, and allspice, or leave it out all together)

Smoked Whole Chicken with a Bacon Blanket

If there is any way to make a whole smoked chicken any better... it might be, to add a blanket of bacon to it!  I know what you're thinking, a bacon blanket will make anything better... and I really have no argument for that because I agree 100%.

But I digress, and as for the smoked chicken, it's a pretty standard affair.  I start by giving it a good dry rub of some spices.  The spices tend to vary from time to time, depending if I have left over blends, etc., but for this chicken, I use my BBQ rub (I won't share the measurements, but I will tell you what I put in it*) after I give it a good coat of rub, I then hit it with some "Tony's" creole seasoning, then let it sit for a few minutes while I fire up the grill/ smoker.

*Basic BBQ Rub (this is a very basic rub, that I am constantly changing, but these ingredients are all standard in all of my rubs)
brown sugar
kosher salt
garlic powder
paprika
ground onion
ground mustard
celery salt
ground black pepper

Once the grill is ready, I put a pan of liquids underneath where the chicken will be (and this pan can consist of anything you want, beer, soda, water, broth... anything you want to flavor your meat with).  Then I place the chicken on the grill, add wood, cover, and let it smoke.

This chicken smoked for about 5 hours total, and around the 3 hour mark, I added the bacon blanket.

Before I added it, I baste the chicken with the juices that were underneath.  {insert drooling here}  and then once the chicken was covered, I let it smoke a few more hours. The process involved rotating the chicken, basting, adding more wood, adding more coals, etc. occasionally.  The tricky part about smoking meat, is you have to pay attention to the needs, how hot is your grill, how much smoke should you have, is the meat cooking evenly, is it drying out... The more you smoke things, the more attuned you get to these issues.

Some people don't think it's worth the time and energy to smoke things on the grill, but for anyone who has ever tried it... they will tell you the results are worth it.

Alabama White Sauce Smoked Chicken

Let me start by saying, "This is my version of Alabama White Sauce".  Having stated that, I have known about Alabama white sauce for several years, but I've never made it.  Never tried it for that matter, but as I was trying to come up with something to grill this last Friday, I wanted to do something I've never done... Enter Alabama white sauce.

I was lucky enough to come across the idea while I was reading my copy of Bon Appetit's July issue.  It was briefly mentioned in an article (it was also mentioned how good it was on smoked chicken)... I was sold!

I came home, and got my chicken prepped, which was simply rubbing it with; kosher salt, white sugar, creole seasoning (Tony Chachere's), black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.  After this was done, I coated it with Old Bay seasoning, and soaked some pecan wood chips.  Once this was done, I whipped up the Alabama white sauce.

To be quite honest, after I made the sauce, and TASTED it, I thought it was kinda gross, but I was going to put it on the chicken, hoping that that would make it better... and I'm soo glad I did.  It balanced the smoke, and there was a little heat from the cayenne, then a mellowness that came from the mayo in the sauce.  I digress..

 Once the chicken had been smoking for about 1 1/2 hours, I began a process of brushing on the sauce, flipping the chicken, then brushing on more sauce.  I did this a few times, then placed the chicken over the fire, and did the same thing.

When I pulled the chicken off, I brushed a little more sauce over it, and let it sit for a few minutes before I devoured it like a Caveman!


Without further adu...

Alabama White Sauce
ingredients:
1 cup Mayo
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Cracked Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Directions:
1.  Mix everything together
2.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
3.  Apply liberally to your food and enjoy!

Hand-Crafted Beef Jerky (Peppered)

One of my favorite snacks, is beef jerky.  I used to eat... I still eat pretty much any kind of jerky, but I have become more select in the brands or types I choose.  My all time favorite brand is Mingua Beef Jerky (it's a Kentucky made jerky, soo good), but seeing as I live in UT, and ordering jerky online is quite expensive... And I only visit KY about once a year, I hand craft my own "artisan" beef jerky!

There are a lot of styles, flavors, etc. when it comes to jerky.  One of my goals, besides flavor, is to let it compliment the natural beef flavor.  I already have a few different types I've done, Asian, spicy Asian, BBQ, garlic, and peppered.

I will keep creating different flavored beef jerky, but for now, I leave you with:

Peppered Beef Jerky (I'm am still playing around with this recipe):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Fresh coarsely ground black pepper (use as little as much as you want)

1 Tablespoon coarse kosher salt

About 1 lb thinly sliced beef (I try to use a sirloin style chuck roast, because it's leaner with less fat marbling)

Directions:

Jerky prep step 2.  salt and pepper both sides

1. Slice the meat to the thickness you want (freezing the meat to where it's partially frozen helps with slicing*)

2.  Salt and pepper both sides of meat

3.  Refrigerate for 8 - 24 hours

4.  Lay strips of jerky on your dehydrator trays

5.  Start dehydrator, let run 4 hours before messing with it

6.  After 4 hours, begin checking the jerky every 30 mins. (The thinner the piece, the sooner they will be done, and depending in whether you want a chewy jerky or not, will also change the amount of time)

7.  Once the jerky is done, let it cool down before storing

*for more consistently sliced pieces, use a meat slicer

Smoked Chicken Wings - Father's Day Tribute

I would venture to say that over Father's Day weekend... Most people are firing up their grills, smokers, and barbecues!

Well, I'm no different, despite that my dad lives halfway across the country from me, I grilled out in his honor this weekend anyway.  

I strongly believe that every son should learn certain things from their father, I.e shaving, driving a stick shift, that the best snack is popcorn with BBQ chips mixed in and an iced cold coke... And of course, the ART OF GRILLING!

Some of my fondest childhood memories (other than my twin and me getting caught stealing treats) was when my dad would fire up the grill, and throw some delicious meats on to cook.  Over the years, I have developed my own skills, recipes, and style of grilling, and a lot of that I contribute to my father.

Just a few of the mouthwatering meats that have kissed the playful smoke and fire of my grill:

And in honor of my father Larry Sloop, here is...

Smoked Chicken Wings:

Ingredients:
Chicken Wings
Your favorite buffalo sauce (I make a Honey-Buffalo Sauce, but if I don't have that, I would use anything with Texas Pete hot sauce)
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
An injector

Directions:
1.  Inject the wings with some of your buffalo sauce (or any other marinade or sauce, like a cajun butter)
2.  Season the wings with salt and pepper (or an appropriate rub depending on your marinade, Tony Chachere's creole season if you use a cajun butter marinade)
3.  Fire up your smoker (if using a regular grill, concentrate your heat on one side)
4.  Place your wings on the grill, add your choice of wood (I usually use apple-wood, but hickory, cherry or pecan wood would be good)
5.  Let smoke about 1 1/2 hours, adding more wood if necessary, and flipping the wings over halfway through cooking.
6.  when ready, place wings over the heat, and brush on your sauce.
7.  Grab some napkins, and dig in (after letting rest for a few minutes)