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Saturday, August 11, 2018

Baby Back Ribs on the Big Green Egg





We decided to try baby back ribs. I've avoided making ribs in the past because they aren't as appealing to me as pulled pork or brisket. However, we went to our favorite butcher shop the other day and they had a deal on fresh baby back ribs. So we thought it may be a sign? This is the weekend? Time to give in to fate and cook ribs.





Research:

Ingredients:

Two full racks of baby back ribs
Mustard
Your favorite dry rub
Pickle juice
Fox Bros BBQ sauce (for the wet half)





Execution:

Can't wait to get started on this one. Perfect timing. Hot early August day, a little bourbon on ice.

Unwrap and remove the membrane.


Removing the membrane is the hardest part of this process. It's like pulling off tape, if you use a paper towel to grab the membrane, it makes it much easier.



The magic is in this step. Use some left over pickle juice to brine the ribs for a few hours a la Chick-Fil-A


I cut the racks in half so they would fit on the egg. Brine is about 75% pickle juice and 25% apple cider vinegar then into the fridge for a few hours


Rinse the ribs in cool water and add mustard and rub





Then onto the egg at 350. Remember - get the egg hot and burning clean before adding the ribs. I placed one of the brine mixtures on the place setter to keep the humidity up and catch the drippings.


Cook at 350 for 1 hour 40 minutes (thanks to smokeware quick cook video for recommendation on cook temp and time). We cooked a little lower - maybe 300-320 and a little longer. Maybe 15 more minutes.


About 15 minute before finish, we sauced two half racks with Fox Bros BBQ sauce and put them back on to carmelize


All done.



Cut them up to serve. 






Verdict:

OMG. These may be the best thing we've ever made on the BGE. I'm not sure if it was a really good meaty cut of baby back ribs, the rub, the brine, or just the right time to do it but these were the best ribs I have had.

I am going to say that the brine was the special sauce and the other elements helped to a lesser degree. We will try this again soon and see if we can duplicate. Maybe we need to start eating more pickles.

The 14 year old boy ate an entire rack by himself.

Make these.






We would love it if you would drop us a note in the comment section and let us know how your cook went. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:

So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. unfortunately, we don't get a dime for this but still, it is one you want.

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer




Saturday, August 4, 2018

Keto Chicken Parm (Parmigiana)




I think I am eating better on this "diet" than I ever have.

How about a great chicken parm?





Research:

Ingredients:

Two boneless skinless chicken breast
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Chicharrones (get the high end pork rinds)
Your favorite sauce. We just made a meat sauce.
Egg
Zucchini








Execution:

The only thing special about this recipe is the substitution of crushed pork rinds for breading and zucchini noodles rather than wheat based pasta.

Brutally flatten your chicken



Crush your pork rinds (use your hands or wrap and pound with the tenderizer). I've not figured out the best way to do this yet.


Then bread with egg and crushed rinds



Into the oven at 400. Cook until almost done (270 degrees or so) before adding the mozzarella



Add mozzarella to melt


Finish up with zucchini noodles. Steam them just a little in a pan a little water and olive oil. Think al dente zucc. maybe 5 minutes.


Assemble and serve







Verdict:

Another winner. I prefer the pork rind breading to flour, it has more flavor and a crunchier texture. The zucchini noodles are a fair substitute. They have more water in them and tend to weep. Need to figure out how to fix that...

Next time I'll try to dry them in a colander for 20 minutes with salt maybe squeeze them? Wash the salt off later if it is too salty.






We would love it if you would drop us a note in the comment section and let us know how your cook went. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:

So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. unfortunately, we don't get a dime for this but still, it is one you want.

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer




Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Keto Tacos







We have to stop meeting this way.

As we continue our keto journey we decided to try a treat. This time we made gringo tacos. So just plain hard shell taco with ground beef protein. A standard fast food type taco. The only special keto thing about this is the shell. Rather than corn or wheat based shell we used a melted cheese hard shell. Shhhhhh don't tell Taco Bell.





Research:



Ingredients:

A lot of cheese. We used shredded chedder and monterey.
Two pounds of ground beef (You should use one pound for 4 guests) with taco seasoning
Homemade Pico de Gallo
Homemade avocado dip
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Onions
Jalapenos







Execution:

The only thing special about this recipe is the shell. Let's focus on that first.


First, little piles of shredded cheese.


Then into the oven at 400. The trick is when to know they are done. Focus on the color and test with a spatula as they begin to firm up and brown. Not done enough and they won't harden, too done and they won't bend.

We had plenty that didn't bend and we even made chips for dipping avocado dip. Excellent either way.


Bend over a wooden spoon to get the shape correct.


Also cool others on a rack to harden and cool.


The shells actually turned out great. 


Avocado dip


Pico de gallo


Taco meat





Verdict:

We loved this. The shells were excellent and durable and tasted like toasted cheese. Next time, I'm not sure we will take the time to bend them into taco shells but rather just make nachos using the chips.




We would love it if you would drop us a note in the comment section and let us know how your cook went. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:

So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. unfortunately, we don't get a dime for this but still, it is one you want.

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer




Saturday, July 14, 2018

Keto Pizza






Long time no see.

Believe it or not, we continue to use our site as a reference for our Big Green Egg cooking and even update some of our methods on occasion or add clarifications on cook time. However, we haven't grilled much beyond the things we've already covered in our current posts, hence not much new to report.

However, we have recently decided to jump on the keto bandwagon and we are trying to live the no-carb, or at least very low carb, life. Less than 30 net grams per day. As such, we've been experimenting with new ways to eat.

Last night we tried our hand at pizza that substituted a cheese and cauliflower crust for the normal flour-based crust. So we go from what is about 36 grams per slice for a normal pizza crust to near zero.

Let's see what we can do.
help support the site!





Ingredients:

We used two Italian sausages out of the freezer
Sliced mushrooms
A homemade marinara that we made a few nights previous for another keto recipe
Mozzarella cheese
Cauliflower rice (from the frozen section of the grocery)
1 - egg
1 - cup of parmesan

turns out the prepackaged cauliflower pizza crusts still have a lot of carbs.








Execution:

People. Let's not forget that a glass of wine when making pizza is mandatory.



First we must make the crust.

Empty the frozen cauliflower into a pan over medium heat to help dry it out. We did this for about 5-10 minutes


Stir occasionally


Then we added a cup of grated parmesan. We added this while still on heat. In retrospect, you should probably add it after removing from heat and let the pan heat melt the cheese.


transferred to a bowl and add an egg and mix well.



pour it out onto parchment paper cut to fit our pizza stone. It is about the consistency of bread dough.


and then spread out like a pizza crust. Note that it makes a thin crust, but because it is so rich and cheesy, it is how you want it.


Browned our sausage while preheating oven to 400 with the pizza stone in the oven



Then cooked the crust first. Maybe 20 minutes or until it started browning.


How good does that look?




Then toppings.

and back in the oven to make this


Verdict:

It was incredibly satisfying and bursting with flavor. We really enjoyed the cheesy crust even though it wasn't as crispy as we would have liked. If we could get the crust crispier, it might be better than a flour crust.

Will be making this again soon.

Lessons learned. Remove from heat before adding cheese, maybe add basil midway through cooking to not dry it out too much and let it cool a bit on a rack to see if the crust will crisp up.


We would love it if you would drop us a note in the comment section and let us know how your cook went. We are always looking for suggestions and improvements! We have opened up the comments so that anyone can post now, so please do. I'll try not to delete anything unless it is spam or stabs me in the heart.



Please help support our site, buy something you like on Amazon. Simply click through the links below and though you can pick anything, I suggest the thermometer and knives below:

So apparently Thermoworks doesn't sell through Amazon anymore. You must buy direct. Still the thermometer to have. Go here and order direct. unfortunately, we don't get a dime for this but still, it is one you want.

Aaron Franklin's Favorite trimming knife:

Dexter-Russell (S131F-6PCP) - 6" Boning Knife - Sani-Safe Series

Aaron Franklin's Favorite Brisket cutting/serving knife:

Sani-Safe S140-12SC-PCP 12" Scalloped Roast Slicer




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