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)

Maple Sausage and Jalapeño Gravy over Biscuits

Anyone who is a true southerner... Will always love a good gravy biscuit!  There are many places that have really good sausage gravy and biscuits, probably my favorite is Bojangles!  I would be there now if there was one located here in Utah.  Alas there is not, so I resort to the next best thing!  I make it myself.

Making biscuits and gravy should be a rite of passage for any southerner... But I'm afraid it is not... We should pass a law, but I digress... This particular day, I opted for maple sausage and added some diced jalapeño for a little heat.  It was surprisingly good.

Basic Sausage Gravy (this recipe is not exact, I didn't measure, I just eyeballed everything)*

Ingredients:

1/2 package ground sausage

3 Tablespoons All purpose flour (about)

1 cup Milk (about)

Salt and pepper to taste

Basic sausage gravy is simple enough: You start by browning your sausage over medium heat, then drain it depending on how much grease there is.  Next you want to add flour, and stir it in with the sausage, and let it brown just a bit (or longer if you want a darker gravy), then add your milk, stir fairly constantly until it starts to thicken.  I find that if I turn off the heat just before the gravy is the consistence I want, it will continue to thicken up.  I also usually add some salt and pepper to mine, to taste of course.

* to make what I did, just use maple flavored sausage and add a diced jalapeño to the sausage as you brown it.