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.