Showing posts with label beans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beans. Show all posts

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Little Vegas Cup 2011

Here is the spread Jeff and I made for the Fantasy Football Draft. It consisted of:

Smoked Pulled Pork (one boston butt and one shoulder, Simpkins)
Baked Beans
Coleslaw
homemade pickles
buffalo chicken dip
skyline dip
soft pretzels and nacho cheese
3 types of BBQ sauce. Honey Mustard, Memphis, and Carolina


Pork:

Dry Rub (see below) smoke with apple, pecan and alder for 14 hours:








The smoked beer can chicken was for the chefs only:




Topped it all off with a keg of PBR!




Rub Recipe:

•1/2 cup paprika
•1/4 cup kosher salt, finely ground
•1/4 cup sugar
•2 tablespoons mustard powder
•1/4 cup chili powder
•1/4 cup ground cumin
•2 tablespoons ground black pepper
•1/4 cup granulated garlic
•2 tablespoons cayenne

Beans Recipe:



•1 pound smoked brisket or bacon cut into 1/4-inch slivers
•1 can (15 ounces) black beans
•1 can (15 ounces) dark red kidney beans
•3 cans (each 15 ounces) baked beans or pork and beans
•1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
•1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
•1 poblano pepper or green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•3 to 6 jalapeƱo peppers, seeded and diced (for hotter beans, leave the seeds in)
•2 cups sweet red barbecue sauce (your favorite commercial brand)
•1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, or more to taste
•1/2 cup Dijon mustard, or more to taste
•2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional; see Note)
•Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper

You'll also need: 1 large (turkey-size) or 2 medium-size aluminum foil pans; 2 cups wood chips or chunks (preferably pecan or hickory) soaked for 1 hour in hot water to cover, then drained.

1. If using bacon instead of brisket, place it in a large skillet over medium heat and fry until crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour off all the bacon fat, saving a few tablespoons for the beans, if desired.

2. Empty the cans of black and kidney beans into a colander and drain. Rinse the beans under cold running water and drain again. Place all the beans (including the baked beans or pork and beans) in a large nonreactive mixing bowl and add the onion, bell and poblano peppers, garlic, and jalapenos and stir to mix. Add the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, mustard, liquid smoke, if using, and brisket or fried bacon and stir to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding more brown sugar and/or mustard as necessary, and salt and black pepper to taste; the beans should be very flavorful. Transfer the bean mixture to the aluminum foil pan or pans. (If you used bacon, you can drizzle a few tablespoons of bacon fat over the beans for extra flavor.)

3. Set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-low. If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-low. If using a charcoal grill, preheat it to medium-low, then toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

4. When ready to cook, place the pan of beans in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat, and cover the grill. Cook the beans until they are thick and richly flavored, about 1 hour. If the beans start to dry out, cover them loosely with aluminum foil. Remove the beans from the grill and let them rest for 15 minutes, then serve.

Note: If you cook the beans in a gas grill, you probably won't be able to generate enough smoke for a strong wood flavor. Add the liquid smoke in this case.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Fish Dinner


So, the other day I had some hankerin for some fried catfish. I strolled (drove) up to the local fish market to find that they had no catfish that day so the fish monger suggested tilapia or grouper. So I says, "how bout a little of both!" Alright, I got my fish, but what about a side item... Well my friends, a southern style dish deserves a souther style side so I went with Red Beans and Rice, vegetarian version of course. The fish and beans turned out pretty nice, if you've never fried grouper I would definitely recommend it; D-lecious. Served it all up with some homemade tartar sauce and a side of Jeff's Famous Cole Slaw.

For the Fish

I wasn't real sure what type of breading I wanted to do, so I soaked my fish in a mixture of buttermilk and hotsauce for 20 mins or so, then dredge them in flour that I seasoned with old bay. I also add just a little bit of cornmeal to the mix for some crunch. Pan fried them in a cast iron skillet.

For the Beans

I've been cooking a lot of beans for my vegetarian wife lately, so at xmas I acquired a pressure cooker. I par cooked my presoaked red kidney beans in the pressure cooker (about 5mins)to cut down on the cooking time. In a separate pot I cooked celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and a chipotle pepper together. I used the chipotle to add a little smokiness since I wasn't using any ham hock or anything. Then I added my beans with the cooking water and some salt and simmered for 45 mins or so. Served over white rice with some green onion, parsley, and a dash of tobasco.

Tartar Sauce

Mayo, Dijon, Lemon Juice, Relish, Capers, dash of tobasco, salt. Throw some of each in a bowl an stir, Voila! Tartar Sauce!