Memorial Day weekend - outdoor cooking

[callmeox]

So, who is cooking what outside this weekend?

I started the weekend with a cheddar burger on the Weber gasser today. Sorry purists, but I prefer gas for quick cooks like lunch when working from home. :grin:

Tomorrow, I'll be firing up the Smokey Mountain to smoke a few fatties for a party that evening. What's a fattie? Bulk pork or sausage that can be stuffed and prepped like a jelly roll and then smoked until done. I'm going to make a few different varieties for this shindig...plain mozzarella, a mozz/onion/bell pepper, mozz and chipotle peppers, maybe a garlic roll. They are great party food.

Monday I will be taking my first crack at smoking a brisket on the WSM. I've gotten a few tips from a Texas BBQ expert and I'm ready to get it done.

Who else?

[doubleblank]

I'm inviting the Houston Bourbon Posse over to do a mixed BBQ and grill. I'll be cooking a packer style brisket and spares on the 22in WSM. Jeff E is working on something to grill.

We'll be drinking some local beers from St Arnold and Southern Star.

The cooking will continue on Sunday at someone else's house.

Randy

[Rughi]

The East Bay Study Group is coming over Saturday and I'll be grilling some tri-tip so their poor little tum-tums won't get all rumbley with rye on an empty stomach. I just now got the two cuts settled into a Worcestershire and cooking bourbon marinade. I'll also have an antipasti vegetable platter.

Don't know what the rest of the gang is bringing.

Roger

[Josh]

Fired up the grill myself for the first time this year. Started out by roasting a yellow bell pepper over the charcoal chimney. Then grilled a skirt steak (marinated in my homemade hot sauce, kosher salt, Lea & Perrins and WT brown label) to perfection. Then I slapped one of my cast iron skillets over the coals and stir fried some onion and the roasted pepper strips in some home-rendered lard. I'll give you three guesses what we're having for supper tonight and the first two don't count.:grin:

[T Comp]

Monday I will be taking my first crack at smoking a brisket on the WSM. I've gotten a few tips from a Texas BBQ expert and I'm ready to get it done.

Are you using a whole packer cut brisket? If not be careful and it still might be a touch dry. My WSM got a good workout last weekend with 6 slabs of baby backs and hot links. Bone-in pork shoulder from Sam's is planned for Sunday...and possible attempt at a left over pulled pork rillette recipe posted on the best food forum site in the world, LTH. Planned beverages will at minimum include a recently found Louisville Weller Special Reserve, Old Charter 10 (in memory of my deceased Southern relatives and their preferred juice) and some assorted Two Brothers Brewing beer.

[ThomasH]

The party starts tonight at work where I'll be running the mill crane. Tommorrow it is a wedding and reception and Sunday will be opening the pool/sipping drinks. Monday will be cooking out at noon and returning to work at 4PM. Should be a fun (and profitable) weekend. This pay I am working on is in preperation for the vacation whiskey hunting trip in June!

Thomas

[wadewood]

Brisket and some chickens on the WSM planned on Sunday afternoon for about 10 family members.

[ratcheer]

It is pretty much raining all weekend, here. It may be a little better on Monday, I'm not sure. But right now, it is too messy to even think about cooking out.

Tim

[woody]

It is pretty much raining all weekend, here. It may be a little better on Monday, I'm not sure. But right now, it is too messy to even think about cooking out.

Tim

That's why grills usually have lids...so as the meat don't get wet.

[cigarnv]

This past week I whipped up a 16 hour pork shoulder on the BGE and pulled it NC style. The bourbon boys (lead by Greg G) put the hurts to that on Thursday. Smoked and steamed a few pastrami's in the Cookshack yesterday from some corned beef briskets left in the freezer from St. Paddy's day. Enjoyed a few pastrami rubens with neighbors.

Sunday will be a few racks of ribs (St. Louis) in the BGE along with a pile of hardshell crabs to pick at.

[wadewood]

Enjoyed a few pastrami rubens with neighbors.

That's looks damn good and very messy!

[callmeox]

Are you using a whole packer cut brisket?

Not a packer, just a 7 pound flat this time around. Here in Yankee land, a packer cut brisket needs a couple of days of lead time and I screwed the pooch as far as pre-ordering goes.

I'm going to foil it at 170 and pull it an hour later after testing for proper tenderness.

[callmeox]

Well, the fatties were a hit this evening.

I farked up the first one when prepping it, so I only took three and they disappeared pretty fast.

The breakfast sausage/mozzarella/ancho/chipotle combo was awesome with just the right amount of zip. :hot: I smoked and dried the peppers last year and my wife doesn't like them so I don't have many opportunities to use them.

[ErichPryde]

Well, the fatties were a hit this evening.

I farked up the first one when prepping it, so I only took three and they disappeared pretty fast.

The breakfast sausage/mozzarella/ancho/chipotle combo was awesome with just the right amount of zip. :hot: I smoked and dried the peppers last year and my wife doesn't like them so I don't have many opportunities to use them.

can you post a rough recipe for your fatties? I'd like to try it.

[craigthom]

What's a fattie? Bulk pork or sausage that can be stuffed and prepped like a jelly roll and then smoked until done.

You could also call it a roulade, unless I am missing the concept.

[callmeox]

Yep, it's like a roulade but made with bulk sausage instead of a piece of meat.

I use about a pound or so of well chilled bulk pork sausage and roll it out into a rectangle on a piece of plastic lined butcher paper or kitchen parchment. Waxed paper has never worked well for me and it killed the first one that I tried yesterday. The slicker the surface of the paper, the easier it is to roll up the meat since pork fat gets very sticky as it warms up.

Add in a thin layer of whatever fillings you want, like cheese or peppers or onion or whatever you have laying around.

Carefully roll the meat jelly roll/roulade style and meticulously seal any seams on the ends and across the rolled meat. This is even more important if you put cheese in there as it will leak out during cooking.

I then tightly roll the fattie in cling wrap and return it to the fridge to chill it some more. This makes it easier to handle the at the smoker.

Cook it on the smoker to an internal temp of 155-160. When it's done, I foil it and let it cool a bit before slicing.

[Virus_Of_Life]

Sorry to show my ignorance, again, but what is WSM and BGE?

Nevermind ... I got Weber Smokey Mountain and big green egg.

I was out of town so unfortunately didn't have a chance to cook anything on my Traeger, but probably will tomorrow. She is a beauty http://www.traegergrills.com/grills/texas.cfm

[callmeox]

Well, the brisket turned out ok for a first effort but I will definitely make some changes for next time. The rub was all wrong for starters. It rocks on ribs and on shoulder but doesn't cut it on beef. The texture was wrong too. It spent too long in the foil and went past BBQ'D nearly all the way to pot roast. It's good enough for sandwiches at lunchtime this week.

I've really never had a BBQ brisket that rocked my world so maybe I've set the bar too high. I will need to take a field trip to Texas and either hit Kreuz Market or hole up at Randy's place over a holiday weekend. :-)

The "mistake" fattie turned out awesome. Instead of a roll, it was mixed up like a sausage meatloaf with mozzarella, sweet peppers and onion.

[TomH]

Just got back from roughing it in the great outdoors with a large group of friends. Well, Barb and I roughed it, most of the others had nice campers and RV's while we tented it. One family makes Belgium waffles for breakfast for everyone, so I fired up the camp stove to make (what else) bananas foster to top the waffles. I made a "virgin" dish for the kids, but used OGD 114 for the main dish (Didn't have any Stagg open and wanted to take open bottles with me on the trip). Didn't do any grilling, but did cook everything outdoors on the camp stove

Tom

[doubleblank]

Our food came out pretty good. I would give the brisket a B+.....I would like it to have been slightly moister but it was tender and sliced well.

You do have to keep an eye on your brisket once you foil it. They can get soft fairly quickly. ie by staying in the foil 15 to 30 minutes too long. Practice practice and more practice will help but sometimes you just get a dud for a brisket. If a brisket turns to pot roast, it makes a hell of a stuffing for enchilladas or tacos.

Randy

[barturtle]

I did a little outdoor cooking myself: Lamb Shanks. Simmered in red wine and garlic for 2 hours, then moved to the grill after being seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary.

[pepcycle]

I don't see too many Grilled Breakfast dishes, so here's one.

Patty made a Rachel Ray recipe, Grilled Blueberry Turnovers.

Filling:

Ricotta cheese

Blueberries

Lemon Zest

Cream Cheese

Sugar

Crust:

7 Grain bread with crusts removed

PLace filling between two layers of the bread

Dip the edges of the bread in beaten egg (french toast mix)

Gently seal edges with a fork

Grill 4 minutes a side on a medium fire. (Brown not burnt, nice grill marks)

Serve with powdered sugar.

[CorvallisCracker]

Saturday evening grilled some lamb chops. Wife cooked up a rice/wild rice pilaf. Opened a bottle of 2006 Mondavi Cabernet. It was all good.