« July 2006 | Main | September 2006 »
August 29, 2006
Fresh or Frozen? Sea Bass with Dijon Mustard-Champagne Sauce
Last night, TLW and I conducted a taste test for an upcoming party of 200. Should we use fresh or frozen Chilean Sea Bass? The client is paying top dollar and should have nothing but the best...but come on...saving $4 per pound is a big deal to TG when we are talking large quantities.
So, each piece of the sea bass was rubbed with Emeril's Essence and gently grilled in a fish basket over direct heat. I pulled them off when upon reaching an internal temperature of 130*. It was obvious to TLW immediately which piece was the fresh one. It puffed up and became much more flaky. The texture was better as well. However, both had a very good flavor. Conclusion: we will use the fresh for the party, but if one were to completely cover the fish with a topping/sauce then the frozen would be fine.
TLW found a recipe on Cooks.com for a sauce that went well with sea bass. She whipped it up with a few changes and it definitely is a winner!!
Dijon Mustard-Champagne Sauce
3 T chopped shallots
1 C champagne
2 T Dijon mustard
3 T butter
1 T flour
1 C heavy cream
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste.
Saute the shallots in a skillet with 1 T butter. Stir until soft. Add the champagne and simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside. Melt 1 T butter and add the flour. Let cook for a few seconds. Add the shallot/champagne mixture and whisk together. Add the cream and mustard. Reduce until achieving the correct consistency. Adjust the seasoning and add the lemon juice. Serve immediately.
August 27, 2006
Slight deviation
TG has always sprayed meat with 1 part apple cider vinegar, 2 parts apple juice, and enough Lea & Perrins to turn the mixture dark. One of our fellow competitors on the BBQ circuit uses a mixture of 2 parts apple juice, 1 part Jack Daniels and 1 part maple syrup. I will be trying this on my beef, pork butt and chicken next week...stay tuned!
And check out this week's Carnival of the Recipes at The Common Room...good stuff!
Posted by The General at 02:01 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBackBingo!
Since we have been here in Savannah, we have been for the most part cut off from buying CAB (Certified Angus Beef) brisket. Wow! It does make a difference. Out of desperation, I asked Donald, the butcher, at the local Piggly Wiggly supermarket if he could get some. He called back a week later to let me know my CAB brisket had arrived and were they ever nice!
TG prepped the brisket by removing any excess fat, but still leaving plenty of fat on for flavor. I seasoned it with Happy Holla' seasoning and some garlic black pepper. The pit was loaded about 10:30 pm and I had set it to cook low and slow all night. The next morning when I checked the temperature, the probe slid right through the meat with no resistance. I knew right then that we had some superb brisket! Most people would say, "Right on!" The brisket was cut across the grain in 1/4" slices and each piece was brushed with bbq sauce mixed with some honey.
Too bad we weren't competing...these briskets would have easily scored in the top ten!
Sometimes the simple things in life are by far the best. Using the fabulous brisket, we made sandwiches. I had read somewhere that one of our fellow bbq'ers at his restaurant always topped his brisket sandwiches with french fried onion rings and some bbq sauce. What a hit!
When we were closing up for the day, a fisherman who had had a little too much to drink, came up to me and started talking about his sandwich...saying it was the best sandwich he had ever had. I hope he remembers the brisket as much as he remembers the onion ring! TLW says he will probably spend the rest of his life craving that sandwich!
I wish I had my 'camera person' with me!!
Posted by The General at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThe Beaufort Inn
The Little Woman and I decided a long time ago that if you cook a lot at home, and you care about what you eat, it makes it a lot harder to go out to restaurants. The conclusion we came to was to try to eat more ethnic food... that we didn't know much about. However, on occasion, we get pleasantly surprised. Such is the case this past Wednesday when we ate at the Beaufort Inn, Beaufort, South Carolina.
Our friends, Charles and Kathleen, took their 45' yacht 'Bert's Boy' from the Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah to Beaufort, SC on their way to Charleston, SC. We arranged to meet them in Beaufort for dinner. The Beaufort Inn was recommended by an acquaintance of ours we often see at the 1790 House here in Savannah...and it is within walking distance of the downtown Beaufort Marina. It was worth the hour's drive!
The service was spectacular! We had a wonderful waitress named October (or was it September?...a month anyway) who was ever-present, but not fawning. TG had stuffed oysters...good but not worthy of repeating. On the other hand, TLW had shrimp and grits...(I think it was an effort to see if they lived up to hers!)...they were equally as good and I ended up sharing them with her. The chef promised to email us the recipe...let's see if he lives up to that promise. Charles and Kathleen ordered bouillabaisse...and they both raved over it. My scallops and TLW's mussels were very good, but we might stick with just the shrimp and grits along with a salad next time we go!
If you are ever in that area, make it a point to at least eat there, if not stay there!
August 26, 2006
Strawberry Salsa for Grilled Chicken and Pork
Strawberries are so plentiful at this time of year that it is a shame to use them just for dessert!
Try this strawberry salsa with your grilled meats (or fish)...experiment....that's an order!!
Strawberry Salsa
2 C fresh strawberries, chopped
1/2 C onion, chopped finely
1/2 C green pepper, chopped
2 T cilantro, chopped
1 T lime juice
1t sugar
1/4 t salt
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well to blend. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.Serve over grilled chicken or pork.
Posted by The General at 09:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 20, 2006
Good news for fish lovers!
Inland Seafood, a major seafood purveyor out of Atlanta, sends The General a fax every Friday morning to share what is plentiful, in-season, and out of season. This Friday I received a report that the Alaskan wild salmon (King and Coho) are now available and will be through the fall. Now, if you are used to eating farm raised salmon, this is good and bad news because once you have experienced wild salmon you will never want to return to the farm raised!
TG went to Matthew's Seafood Friday afternoon and purchased a fillet of Coho and a fillet of King salmon. I used the marinade that is my favorite (see recipe). The key to marinating fish is to not 'over do' it! Usually one hour is the maximum for marinating time.
Your fire should not be too hot. Using a piece of aluminum foil on top of the grill grate (sprayed with Pam) will allow you to pick up the foil and the fish with no sticking. However, a fish basket works best to get the 'char look' on the fish. Using the indirect method, throw some bay leaves on the coals for flavor while cooking.
Max internal temperature should be no more than 135* in the center of the fish. Bon apetit!
Water Pan? Drip Pan?
The beauty about doing this blog is that it forces The General to remember the thousands of things I have forgotten! Joe, from Florida, asked when he should use water in the drip pan and when he shouldn't. He also asked what effect the water or the spiced water has. It took some time to come up with an answer, because I haven't used a water pan in years.
In theory, a pan filled with water should help retain moisture inside your pit or smoker. If you use something like apple juice or a combination of apple juice and apple cider vinegar, those aromas should be present inside your smoker and ultimately on your meat. This is something you need to test for yourself and see if you can detect any advantages in this simple process either with flavor or with moisture.
A drip pan without any water/apple juice in it, is just a tool to collect drippings so that those fat-laden drippings don't ignite an unwanted fire in your indirect location.
Posted by The General at 01:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackAugust 19, 2006
Hot Dog Chili and BBQ Baloney
Shawn Lea, the mastermind behind the Carnival of the Recipes, is hosting this week's carnival at Everything and Nothing. She has deemed it "Bring a Friend" week. So, The General would like to introduce our friend and neighbor "Wild Bill" who loves to cook as much as TG and is a willing taster/critic for 'anything and everything' TG tosses his way. Not only does Wild Bill share a fondness for food, but he enjoys the vino as much as the missus and I....along with his lovely wife ME!! When we moved to Savannah, we hit the neighbor "Wheel of Fortune" when we were introduced to this fine couple....refreshing since we had a couple of 'questionable' and downright weird neighbors in Atlanta!
The General would like to submit WB's
Carolina Hot Dog Chili recipe:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef, extra lean
1 3/4 C water
1 C onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 C ketchup
1/4 t chili powder
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t cider vinegar
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 T hot sauce (Bill used Crystal brand Louisiana hot sauce)
Place the beef and water in a 4 1/2 quart Dutch oven or soup pot over high heat. Bring the water to a boil. Add the onion. When the water boils again, reduce heat to medium and stir to begin breaking up the meat.
Add the remaining ingredients and stir well until the tomato paste had completely dissolved and the meat is broken up.
Continue to stir the chili at a slow boil, stirring about every 5 minutes or so, until the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. As the mixture thickens, you may need to reduce the heat to low to prevent sticking.
This recipe rivals the chili served at the legendary Varsity in downtown Atlanta...."what'll ya have...what'll ya have!"
How about a baloney sandwich to share with your friends?? No, not just a regular baloney sandwich (though those can be pretty tasty)...you know TG, I have to put a spin on things and if you have never tasted a Barbecue Baloney sandwich you are in for a treat!
Start with about three pounds of un-sliced baloney. Set up your kettle for indirect heat. Remove the paper encasement from the baloney and place it on the indirect side. Sprinkle 2 cups of water soaked and drained hickory or pecan chips on the coals. Put the lid on the smoker and let the baloney smoke for a couple of hours. (Too much heat will burst your baloney...so be careful!) Since baloney is a finely ground pre-cooked sausage, you are only after flavor...not doneness. Remove when the baloney reaches an internal temperature of 160*.
Great Baloney Sandwich
1 thick slice of bbq baloney (about 1/4")
1 slice fresh sweet onion
1 T your favorite BBQ sauce
1 T bbq baked beans
1 T coleslaw
1 Kaiser roll
Assemble and consume with a frosty longneck! Mmmmmmmm...good!
August 16, 2006
World Market
TLW and I had some errands to do out by 'The Mall' today. It's funny, here in Savannah there are virtually no traffic jams on our side of town, but when we head on over to "The Southside," traffic is a lot denser....however nothing like the NIGHTMARE of Atlanta traffic which we experienced up close and personal last week. (On reflection, I think the lack of traffic problems in SAV has intensified our frustration for the Atlanta freak show.) Anyway, we usually have to psyche ourselves up to go to the southside since it is just like a mall area in anywhere USA. I like to remind The Little Woman that we have one of any kind of store whereas Atlanta has dozens of them...we truly don't miss much.
One place we do miss is Tower Package Store on Piedmont Ave. It has a wonderful wine collection and some very knowledgeable sales people. Near our house we do not have a wonderful selection, even though there are some good selections at Johnnie Ganem's and Habersham Liquor Store. We have found that World Market on Abercorn has a pretty decent assortment of wines at some very reasonable prices.
Opened a couple of bottles for our 'happy hour' tonight...I am enjoying from the Cline Cellars from Northern California their Ancient Vines Zinfandel...I don't know all those fancy terms for describing wines...I just know what I like (like my cigars) and I like this one a lot!
TLW is enjoying an old standby Smoking Loon Cabernet
All of the wines we purchased today make great pairings with smoked or grilled foods.
Ravenswood VB Zinfandel
Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel
McManis Cabernet
Red Truck Red Table Wine
All except the Ancient Vine Cline sold from 7.99 to 11.99 a bottle...good prices and great wines. Enjoy!
Posted by The General at 06:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackThermometers
Received an email from our blog buddy Joe regarding thermometers. His 22" Weber did not come with one. So if you don't have a thermometer, go to your local grilling store or go to this link and order one from Tel-Tru!
Drill a small hole with a power drill and insert the rod through the cover and put the coupling on to hold it in place...and you are in business just like The General!!
There ya go, Joe!
August 15, 2006
Carnival of the Recipes 'Default BBQ Edition'
Carnival of the Recipes is now up over at 'In the Headlights'...lots of great suggestions for you to try....Thanks, Riannan!
Posted by The General at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackA New Carnival
Adam, over at Men in Aprons, has started the Carnival of the Grill. Check it out...The General now has some new inspirations! Great work, Adam!
August 13, 2006
Dillard GA Bluegrass and Barbecue 2006 KCBS State BBQ Championship
On August 4th and 5th we returned to Dillard, GA...nestled in the NE corner of the state and near Highlands, NC. The significance of Dillard is that it is the site of the GA KCBS BBQ State Championship and it is run by an excellent promoter, Jane Tomlin. TLW and I won this event in 1999! The contest actually started in a small Farmer's Market and it has grown substantially (this year 57 teams attended)....some of the best in the Southeast.
We thought we would share the recipes we used.
There are four major categories in the Kansas City Barbecue Society contests. They start with chicken, then ribs, pork and finally beef brisket.
Chicken
We always use thighs in competition because they are the juiciest. We bought some thighs at WalMart and some from Sam's Club.
TG believes in 'hedging my bet.' So I used three different marinades: Champagne Dressing, MoJo, and a combination of Italian Dressing and 8 oz. of Dijon mustard. Those little guys marinated overnight in the different mixtures.
After removing the chicken from the marinade, I gently washed the messy mixtures off. Using Happy Holla rub, I made sure that all of the chicken including under the skin was covered to penetrate all surfaces.
The chicken went into the Southern Pride cooking at 225* and cooked to an internal temperature of 170*.
We started doing well in this chicken category after we got a tip from our BBQ buddy "Jumpin' Jim" many years ago. Remove the chicken from the smoker and let it "waller" in a pan of sauce for 1 hour.
Our Weber was set up for indirect grilling with some pecan and hickory chips to give it that final smokey flavor. Let the chicken remain on indirect heat for about 20 minutes...making sure the thighs don't burn with all the sauce on them.
All three of us decided that we liked the flavor of the MoJo marinade and those were the ones we entered.
In chicken we placed 7th out of 57 teams!
Ribs
First I rinsed the ribs off with water after removing them from the package. It seems to make removing the membrane easier. After removing the membrane, I used yellow mustard and Happy Holla rub along with some Garlic Pepper and I slathered the ribs on both sides with the mixture. I put the ribs in a plastic bag and let them rest overnight in an iced cooler. At 7:00 am the morning of the contest the ribs went into the Southern Pride. They ran for 4 hours between 220* - 240*. We were showing "good bone" after the 4 hours. The only real way one can tell if the ribs are finished is to pick them up on the ends and they start breaking in the middle they are done.
We put one slab on the Weber for about 20 minutes saucing it repeatedly after removing it from the Southern Pride. Much to our surprise the fire was hot enough to caramelize the sauce. TLW and our helper Buckhead Janet liked the flavor of that one and that is the one we entered. The jury is still out on that one??? We probably shouldn't have entered that one, because some of the coating (sauce) turned too dark and got chewy like peanut I brittle... Our rib score was our lowest.
Pork Butt
I rinsed the butts off with water and used Happy Holla' seasoning along with garlic pepper, yellow mustard and a good coating of brown sugar. I slathered the mixture well on all sides of all butts.
The pork butts ran in the Southern Pride at 220* - 240* from midnight to noon the next day. I took the butts off when they reached an internal temperature of 190*. I wrapped them in aluminum foil and let them rest until time for turn in.
Brisket
We use CAB (certified angus beef) for our brisket entries...always. After removing from the wrapper, trim the fat off leaving about 25% of the fat. TLW is quite handy with her knives and likes to do this. She thinks TG take too much fat off. Leaving a good amount of fat on will flavor the meat as the brisket cooks since we always cook brisket with the fat side up...
I used Happy Holla rub, garlic pepper and olive oil to coat all sides of the brisket.
The briskets went on with the pork at midnight at 220* -240* and ran all night until I achieved the internal temperature of 190*. ( TG wrapped with aluminum foil one of the four briskets after it reached an internal temperature of 160*...in order to collect some of the juices.) After hitting the perfect internal temperature, the briskets were removed from the smoker and loosely wrapped with foil.
TLW sliced it across the grain and made each slice about the width of a Number 2 pencil. She sauced each piece front and back with some of our sauce mixed with some of the brisket juice left on the foil wrappers.
Sauce
We used Head Country Sauce and Buckhead Janet mixed up in a half pan a concoction of mostly regular with a dash of the hot. In the half pan she squeezed two lines of honey and added 1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
Going to a cookoff when you haven't been cooking can be somewhat of a gutsy thing. The teams you are competing against are generally out there every weekend. We try to take a more social attitude toward going now, but the competitor is deeply engrained in us. When it was all over, we felt both emotions of joy and a little sadness. In the side categories, we took 1st in the grits and a 3rd in cabbage. For the main contest we took 7th in chicken and 2nd in brisket. There were 57 teams participating and on our finish we tied for 2nd place...only less than two points shy of bringing the title of the GA State KCBS Championship home to Savannah! We were thrilled with our victory, but wondering where we could have picked up those two points....surely with a better rib selection???
Next stop...Douglas, GA on November 4 and 5..
August 09, 2006
BLT Recipes
A while ago TG mentioned that the Southern Foodways Alliance was calling for some recipes for your BLT's. Well, they have posted a bundle of them. Check them out!
Posted by The General at 07:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack1st Place Grits!
I usually stay in the background and let The General do his thing on this blog....yes, I play the part of his slave scribe...but it is The General's thang! However, I have his permission to write this entry on my own! We have been out of pocket for over a week because we left our beautiful adopted city of Savannah to travel to Dillard, GA to compete in their 10th Annual Bluegrass and Barbecue contest. Dillard is very special to us as we have competed in nine straight contests there!
Usually we don't enter the side categories...and when we do, I cook them and we usually don't hear our name called at the awards ceremony! This year we decided to enter the grits category, even though up until last week we had no idea what we were going to cook! Then our neighbor 'Wild Bill' mentioned to Wiley that he thought the best grits he had ever tasted were from The Carolina Rice Plantation. TG called Carolina Rice Plantation and ordered some to be shipped overnight to our house in Atlanta.
Then what would we do with them?? Wiley now has his cookbook collection all in one location after we had some bookshelves made and with his library handy, he found a recipe we both thought was interesting. (Last year we did a Paula Deen shrimp and grits recipe that made a very poor showing...sorry Paula!)
The recipe is in a book called 
"Lowcountry Delights Cookbook & Travel Guide" (Maxine Pinson, Malyssa Pinson)
The book is filled with 'signature recipes' of restaurants from the area and the recipe we chose is one from a famous Charlston location called "Slightly North of Broad"...S.N.O.B.'s Award Winning Maverick Grits (p.84). We made some adjustments to the recipe and the following is our version:
Grits
Use Carolina Plantation Stone Ground Yellow Grits. Follow the directions on the package (I doubled the recipe). In place of water, use low sodium chicken broth and after the grits thicken, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream.
Topping
1 T butter
8 oz country ham, julienned
8 oz smoked pork sausage, cut into circles
8 oz Boudain sausage (purchased from Wal Mart)
3/4 lb. shrimp, peeled tail on, deveined
8 oz crawfish tail meat
4 cloves fresh garlic
Pinch of cajun spice
1/2 cup green onion, diced
1/2 cup tomato, seeded and diced
2 T water
2 T additional butter
Saute the country ham until crispy in 1 T butter. Remove from pan and saute the smoked pork sausage. Set aside. Smoke the Boudain in your smoker until it reaches 170*. Cut the casing and scoop out the sausage, and place it in the pan along with the country ham and smoked pork sausage. Add the shrimp and the crawfish and saute for 1-2 minutes...until the shrimp are opaque. Add the garlic and spice and saute for an additional 30 seconds or so. Add the remaining ingredients . Adjust the cajun spice to your own preference.
Using small red cabbage leaves as containers, spoon grits into each of six leaves (one for each judge). Spoon equal amounts of topping over each serving and finish with minced parsley.
How cool is that! TLW actually won something on her own!...and I split the $200 prize money with TG!
Posted by The General at 04:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
