Tag: rub

By Posted on Posted in Grilled Goodness, Recipes No Comments

Chicken.  Blah.  Ok, maybe I should say we eat more chicken than we rightfully should, I mean we should have way more pork and beef in there somewhere, but chicken it more often times than not is.  So with that we try to spice it up and give some flavor to the unflavorable, so today (actually last night) I set out to make a balsamic glazed grilled chicken.

Balsamic Glazed Grilled Chicken

And I must admit it was rather tasty, albeit quite sweet, which for some reason I was not expecting.  Once I got past the sweet and onto the rest of the chicken it was as I said rather tasty, very tender and juicy; which is always better than dry chicken.

In hindsight I should have cooked my stuffing a little bit before shoving it in the bird.  The breasts and thighs of the bird were ready about 20 minutes before the stuffing reached a safe temperature, which much to my surprise did not dry out the meat or give it even the slightest burnt taste.

I grilled the bird on my Weber kettle over charcoal for about an hour and twenty minutes, the bird was just shy of 4 pounds.  I replenished the charcoal once at about 45 minutes with six fresh briquettes on each side and a handful of apple chips.  Once the breasts were about done I glazed the bird liberally and let it finish out its cooking, which because of the stuffing was longer than anticipated when I applied the glaze.  But it didn’t seem to burn.

Ingredients
1 chicken (or parts if you don’t wanna mess with a whole bird), about 4 pounds
1 medium onion
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c balsamic vinegar + extra
6 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper + extra
a few stalks of rosemary

Instructions
To make a rub combine 2 tbsp brown sugar with paprika, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, oil salt and pepper.  Mix well and rub all over chicken making sure to get plenty under the skin.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

On cooking day remove chicken from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.  Chop up onions into large pieces, chop celery, rosemary and garlic and combine in a bowl with pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and stuff in bird (if I were to listen to my advice I would likely bake the stuffing at this point prior to stuffing the bird for say 20 minutes in the over).

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking, clean and lube the grate and toss the bird on the grill. Once the chicken is on the grill prepare the glaze by combining ketchup, vinegar, 4 tbsp brown sugar and oregano.

Once chicken is nearly done brush chicken liberally with glaze mixture.  Cook until internal temperature of chicken breasts and thighs is 167°F and stuffing is 165°F.  Once pulled allow chicken to stand for 15 minutes before slicing.  Enjoy

Without the glaze I dare say the chicken would have been quite south western but with the glaze it was sweet and magical.  Now if I can just figure out what to do with the left overs.

 

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By Posted on Posted in Recipes, Smoked Goodness, What's for dinner No Comments

Making chili is an art, not like all out on your own art but like sewing, where you have a pattern to follow but every time something is a little different.  Cooking in general is like this but chili is a special breed of cooking, it can change quite a bit from time to time.  This time was no exception.

Chili in a bowl stacked with cheese

This was what I would refer as chili its not fancy other than what you put into it but it is full of flavor and spice, not the kind of spice that burns your tongue off and renders you ability to taste broken.  The kind of spice that is pleasant while you are eating it and reminds you when you are done that it was in fact a good spicy bowl of chili, that is the kind of spice I like with my chili.

What made the chili so special this time was the ingredients, mostly the meat if you remember in my last post I smoked a chuck roast in a chili rub just for this pot of chili.  Also what made this pot of chili quite unique was that I was here the entire time I made it, tending to it on the stove.  Usually I cook the meat if it needs to be cooked, drain off the grease and throw everything together in the crock pot and let it go.  But this time I did it in a pot on the stove, a bit more tending but it was much more rewarding and I got to throw in ingredients in phases, for instance I put in some garlic at the start then a little more about an hour before it came off the stove…gives it a bit more of a garlic taste.

So without further ado,  here is the skeleton recipe.  Like I said chili is an art and I use these more like guidelines than an actual recipe.

Ingredients
1 lb meat (beef+bacon, beef+pork, beef+sausage, etc) shredded, cubed or ground
1 medium onion chopped
2 jalapenos seeded and chopped
1 dried jalapeno
1/3 c dried kidney beans
1/3 c dried black beans
3-7 cloves of garlic, peeled smashed and chopped
1 pt chili sauce (we have a home canned variety)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c chili powder
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp oregano
1 c beef broth
water

Instructions
Once meat is cooked and (if preferred) fat is drained off. Combine all ingredients in a pot add water until liquid covers all ingredients.  It cooking in a crock pot at 1 cup more water and set it on auto or high for 1 hour then down to low for at least 4 hours.  If doing it on the stove (bonus points) or in a dutch oven (double bonus points), bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook at a low simmer for 3-4 hours.  If cooking on the stove stir occasionally and check for flavor, add anything else you feel it requires and also add water if it seems to be getting to thick.  The dry beans will soak up a lot of moisture (and flavor).

So in addition to having the smoked chuck roast as my meat in my chili it was joined by some whole jalapenos I had smoked and dried during the summer.  Chili is a great dish to get creative with, I enjoy trying new things with my chili and changing it up a little every time.  Chili is a very test and tune dish.

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A quick tease of things to come.  Today I took the first step in making what will be hopefully some undeniably good chili.  So to get things started I whipped up a rub and rubbed a chuck roast and let is sit in the fridge overnight wrapped snugly in plastic wrap.  Notice no mustard, just rub.

Rubbed and ready chuckie

Once this morning rolled around it was straight onto the smoker at 225°F for about 8 hours over apple wood until it reached 205°F.  I spritzed it with apply juice after about an hour every half hour or so and at about 160°F I brushed it with a ‘glaze‘, a mixture of apple juice, chili powder, onion powder and brown sugar.  Once  it was done, I pulled it off the smoker, wrapped it in foil and towels then let it rest for about an hour.   Once this was done I pulled it and stashed it away until its time to make chili.

Chili rubbed chuckie on the smoker

Ingredients
3 tsp paprika
4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
5 tsp chili powder
4 tsp ground black pepper
4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp whole mustard seed

Instructions
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.  Rub evenly and generously over a hunk of meat.  Let it sit wrapped in plastic wrap overnight in the fridge.  Then cook the following day.

So the real intention of the rub and the smoke was to get some meat ready to make chili, but I had to try a piece and it was good.  It kinda tasted like chili at least near the bark but as you moved in it was just good ole tasty juicy beef.  Check back soon for the sequel (the chili).

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Well I have been holding onto this one for a while, a while back I got some books from the library and one of them featured a Fennel Coriander Rub, which while unique I thought sounded incredible to have on a beef roast or better yet a beef brisket.  Well I was a little unsure so I went with a chuck roast, instead of a whole brisket.  It would be horrible to make a whole brisket that tasted horrible.

Fennel Coriander Rubbed Beef Chuck Roast

Yesterday on the way home I picked up my chuck roast, the selection wasn’t very good so I got a smaller one, about 3 pounds.  Then it was time for the fennel, I had gotten a bag full of fennel heads from my dad so all the seeds needed to be pulled off the heads, this might be alright a tablespoon or two at a time but for a half cup it was a lot of work.  Anyways I rubbed it last night and threw it in the fridge over night and then it was onto the smoker this morning.  I smoked it at 225°F for about 5 hours to about 160°F, basting with apple juice and Worcestershire through the cook about every half hour.  Then I foiled the meat and stuck it back in the heat until the meat reached 200°F.  Then I pulled it and let it rest under a couple of towels for about an hour.

Then we sliced it and ate it with some garlic and rosemary mashed red skin potatoes they are quickly becoming a staple.  But back to the roast, it was cooked to perfection, it was juicy and tender and it had a great smoke ring.  But it wasn’t as good as I had thought it would be.  I didn’t think it was bad but the fennel really comes through, which if fine if you really like fennel (licorice).

Ingredients
1/2 c fennel seeds
1 1/2 tbsp whole coriander
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp granulated orange peel

Instructions
Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat (cast iron if always good).  Once heated add fennel seeds, coriander and peppercorns to the skillet.  Keep them moving by swirling them in the pan, they burn quick.   Cook the seeds until they turn light brown and become fragrant.  Your nose is your guide in this one.  Once they are done pull the skillet off the heat add the salt and mix it in well.  Once the mixture is completely cooled.  Pour mixture and orange peel into a spice (coffee) grinder and grind to a fine powder.

Now for the verdict the meat was good and the rub was alright.  It was very fennelish, which depending on your perspective could be a bad thing.  I really enjoyed it but my wife was not a fan.  She said it tasted too much like licorice.  So would I make it again, I am not sure I might try it on something else maybe lightly on some pork or lightly on some fish even.

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Ribs, Again!  This time with more style.  Last time I used two rubs out of a bottle and had good ribs come up but the rubs was not complimentary.  The ribs were good but they were not as good as they should have been.  This time, I managed a little more success.

Ribs with Garlic and Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

Last night I whipped up perhaps my favorite pulled pork rub, a brown sugar and rosemary rub, using some fresh rosemary, from the plant to the rub, it doesn’t get much fresher than that.  From there I lightly rubbed the ribs with Dijon mustard and then the rub and then it was into the fridge to rest overnight in bask in that magnificent rub.

Then in the morning it was onto the smoker with some apple wood and some hickory at 225°F for 3 hours, I did spritz the ribs a couple of times as the skin dried out with apple juice during this time.  Then it was into a double layer of foil for 2 hours, then back onto the grate in the smoke with no foil until they reached 172°F in the thickest part of the rib.  I brushed them lightly with BBQ sauce during this time as well.  Then it was off the smoker and back into some foil, a wrapped in a couple towels and then into a cooler for about 30 minutes of rest to allow the juices to redistribute and the flavor to mature.

Then it was time to eat them.  They were better than the last rack of ribs I smoked, either half of them.  They were sweet and had a nice bark on them were fall off the bone tender.  The rosemary complimented the sweet and the delicate flavor of the pork ribs, they were perhaps the best ribs I have ever had.

With one exception it looks like I have found my rib recipe for at least the immediate future.  My wife smelled the cumin in the rub when I was making it and she was able to taste a hint of it in the finished product, she wanted less cumin next time.  I thought all was well the way it was.

Either way they were great, an appropriate use of such a fine piece of meat and they went well with some garlic and rosemary mashed red skin potatoes.

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