Sweet & Spicy Baked Butterbeans, Brisket & Bacon

The holidays are over and I'm still dealing with a few bits and pieces of the Ghost of Christmas Dinner Past. Admittedly, this was a friendly ghost...there's nothing spooky about a great big smoked brisket!

Ahhhhhh, the brisket. Not to brag here, but this was the best brisket I've ever smoked....hell, it's the best brisket I've ever eaten! For sure, I've upped my skills over the years, but it was the quality of that huge cut of beef that made all the difference. 

Have you been to Butcher on Butler in Lawrenceville yet? Thank goodness I found them. Right after coming back from our trip to the Bourbon Trail, I hit them up for some really good thick-sliced bacon to recreate the Bacon in a Glass with Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce we'd enjoyed at OBC Kitchen in Lexington, KY. Whoa! Best. Bacon. Ever! My version kicked some major bacon butt, too...again it's the quality of the meat. I knew right then and there where I was getting my Christmas brisket. (You can bet the bacon recipe will be hitting Dinner Plan-it soon.)

Okay, back to the brisket. I put the 11 1/2 pound deckle-on, spice-rubbed beauty on to smoke Christmas Eve. Christmas morning there was a miracle of a gorgeously smoke-ringed, juicy hunk of brisket waiting to be sliced for dinner. Opening the door of the smoker was just like opening a Christmas present!

After using the leftover brisket in sandwiches, brisket hash, and such, I had one last hunk...and I was looking for something a little different to use it all up. A one pot wonder perhaps...and so a nice pot of rich, hearty, smoky beans with brisket and bacon - and a little heat and sweet was born.

Sweet & Spicy Baked Butterbeans, Brisket & Bacon

• 1 lb large lima beans, soaked overnight according to package directions - reserve the soaking water!
• 1/2 lb thick sliced slab bacon cut across into 1/4" lardons (yes, I got it at Butcher on Butler!)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 large jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz.) fire roasted diced garlic tomatoes
• 3/4 pound smoked brisket, cut into 1/2" squares
• 2 T instant coffee powder
• 3 T maple syrup - the real stuff, not fake pancake syrup
• 1/4 C blackstrap molasses
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 1/2 T Jane's Crazy Salt
• 2 T Mike's Hot Honey
• LOTS of fresh ground black pepper
• 4 C reserved bean soaking water - add chicken stock if you don't have a full 4 C

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Using a large ovenproof Dutch oven or large, deep enameled casserole dish, saute the bacon long enough to release the fat. Add the onion and jalapenos and saute until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 

Cover the dish and bake for 4 hours. Increase the oven temp to 400 degrees, UNCOVER the casserole dish and continue baking another hour. 

NOTE: I went back to B on B for my good luck New Year's kielbasa to tuck in with some good ole Pittsburgh sauerkraut. When I picked up my order after waiting in a long line with other meatlovers in the know, the meat sticks were still warm from the smoker. Meat heaven!

Pineapple Kalua Pork On The Smoker for Hawaiian Salads (and more)

One of the advantages of buying all sorts of spices, herbs and salts (that I may or may not use right away) is when I decide on a new recipe to try, there's a damned good possibility I might just have everything I need on hand. As was the case when I decided to duplicate the Hawaiian Salad with kalua pork from Nalu Hawaiian Surf Bar & Grille in Bethany Beach, DE. Yep, another of the dishes we enjoyed so much on vacation that we needed to do it again at home. 

The salad itself is fairly simple...just a matter of assembling the various components that make it "Hawaiian." What would that be? First and foremost, smoky kalua pork. We'll talk about that in a minute. The rest? Pineapple, of course, and mango, banana chips, coconut chips (Trader Joes!), macadamia nuts all mounded on a (not just Hawaiian) base of lettuce and baby spinach. 

The dressing? A decadent rich and creamy pineapple tahini dressing. The surprising thing about duplicating the dressing is that my version is relatively low in calories! Only 39 calories to 1/4 cup of dressing. You'd never guess. The Belgian endive in the pic? Decidedly NOT Hawaiian, but I'm guessing they used the spears to look life surfboards in the sand at the beach...that's what they looked like to me anyway.

Okay, back to the kalua pork. Most recipes I've seen call for the use of liquid smoke. Come on. Really? King Kamehameha's chefs had liquid smoke on hand? I'm thinking that's a no. Why not be a (little) more authentic and put some real smoke on this baby?! What's the point of having a smoker if you don't use it instead of the fake stuff? So I did. I didn't, however, wrap the pork in banana leaves. (Hmmmmm...maybe a stealthy trip to Phipps Conservatory would have been just the thing. Just kidding!)

Anyway, here's what Kimber and I came up with and I have to say it was every bit as good as the original. And the Pineapple Coconut Tahini Dressing was even better! I'd say it was `Ono Lani. That's "delicious heaven" in Hawaiian!

The Hawaiian Salad we enjoyed at Nalu Hawaiian Surf Bar & Grille in Bethany Beach, DE

Pineapple Kalua Pork on the Smoker 

for Hawaiian Salad

• 2 pork tenderloins, pierced all over with a knife
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated, paper skins removed, smashed
• 2" long piece of fresh ginger, peeled, cut into coins and smashed
• 2 C fresh pineapple with all the juices
• 1 T Salish Alderwood smoked salt (look for it in your local gourmet food shop or order it from Gourmet Delights like I do)
• 1 1/2 t coarse black lava Hawaiian salt (check Amazon)
• 1 t Hawaaian pink salt (check Amazon)

In a gallon size zip top bag, mix together the garlic, ginger, pineapple and the salts. Add the pork tenderloins, squeeze out all the air, seal and evenly distribute the marinade mixture evenly around the tenderloins. Marinate 12-24 hours.

The next day, prepare your smoker and set the temp to 225 degrees. Remove the tenderloins from the bag, pour the marinade into the water bowl in your smoker along with water to fill. Smoke the tenderloins until they reach an internal temp of 180 degrees or until still moist and tender, but beginning to fall apart. Take it off and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before pulling.

Because a tenderloin is a long muscle, before I "pulled" the pork, I cut it into 2" slices across the grain and then pulled it. It's ready now to use in the salad or sandwiches on King's Hawaiian buns! If using in sandwiches, use a little pineapple juice to moisten the pork and maybe a little Asian-style BBQ sauce. Delicious!

Now for the dressing:

Pineapple Coconut Tahini Dressing

• approx 3/4 C fresh pineapple chunks
• approx 1/4 C tahini
• 2 T mirin
• 1 T rice wine vinegar
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 T cream of coconut (yep, the same stuff you use in a pina colada!)

Throw everything into a blender and let 'er rip!

Hawaiian Salad ala Nalu Hawaiian Surf Bar & Grille

• mixed greens of baby spinach and lettuces of choice
• a few spears (surfboards) of Belgian endive
• fresh pineapple chunks
• coconut chips (yes, I forgot to put them on the salad before the pic! But we put them on when we ate it!)
• macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• banana chips
• fresh mango, diced
• kalua pork
• pineapple coconut tahini dressing

In a shallow bowl, make a bed of spinach and lettuce, top with the above and enjoy! Aloha!

  

Bacon-Wrapped Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Tenderloins

Local blueberry season doesn't start until July around here, but I'm not about to let a little thing like THAT stop me from getting a jump on the season!

Grocery store prices on those bountiful, beautiful, USA-grown blue berries (the ones in my fridge are from Florida) are nearing rock bottom prices right now, so until my local farm markets have them fresh from the bush, the supermarket variety will do just fine.

For the next month or so around the Dinner Plan-it household, bargain blueberries from Kuhns, Giant Eagle and Costco will be studding breads and muffins, pancakes and waffles and fruit salads galore. When the REALLY sweet local berries hit the farm markets, that's when I'll crank it up to blueberry pie time. (I may be drooling just a bit thinking of a deep dish, sugar topped and lattice-crusted delightful dessert...WITH vanilla ice cream, of course!)

Last Sunday I took a couple of pork tenderloins, bespeckled them with a healthy polka-dotting of blueberries and garlic cloves, then wrapped them in thinly sliced bacon before roasting the tenderloins off until the bacon was crisp on top and the pork still juicy.

While the tenderloins roasted, I threw together a simple glaze/barbecue sauce that amped up the blueberry-ness of the dish. The result? Pure savory blueberry and pork deliciousness!

Until those precious blue gems make their all-too-short annual appearance at the markets of Shenot's and Soergel's (and hopefully in my Dillner Farms CSA basket...fingers crossed), here's the recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Pork Tenderloins. Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Blueberry Bourbon BBQ 

Pork Tenderloins

• 2 pork tenderloins - NOT the preseasoned kind that's shot up with all sorts of artificial flavors and such...just the plain, pure, pork tenderloin itself, thank you
• 1 C fresh blueberries
• 1/2 head of fresh garlic, separated into cloves, peeled and sliced lengthwise in half (or quarters if the cloves are very large)
• 1/2 pound very thinly sliced bacon - more or less to cover the pork tenderloins

Remove the tenderloins from their packaging and dry them off...the ones I buy come packaged 2 to a package which explains why I specify two. (If your package only contains 1 tenderloins, cut the recipe in half!) Nestle the tenderloins into a roasting pan they will fit into nicely.

With the tip of a sharp knife, cut rows of slits into the tenderloins about 1" apart almost to the bottom of the roast. (See pic.) 



Alternate inserting as many blueberries as a slit will hold with a sliver of garlic until all the slits are filled. I push the berries and garlic deep into the meat with a finger. Works nicely.

Once the slits are filled, lay slices of bacon lengthwise until the roast is completely covered. 

Roast at 400 degrees for about half an hour and then brush the reserved sauce over the bacon covering the bacon completely. Brush with the reserved sauce a couple more times and continue roasting until the bacon is browned and the pork still juicy. (I know the hot chefs today cook their pork to still pink inside. I can't do that...I like mine cooked through with NO pink. Sue me. That's why I don't give you a time to take it out of the oven...take it out when it's done to YOUR liking!) 

Remove the roasts from the oven and let rest ten minutes before slicing.

While the tenderloins are roasting, make the sauce.


Sauce:

• 1/2 C store-bought BBQ sauce - I used Soergel's own Sweet & Smoky, but use any GOOD bottled BBQ sauce that fits the sweet/smoky profile
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 C fresh blueberries
• 3 T bourbon

In a small, deep saucepan, bring all the sauce ingredients to a boil and stir until the blueberries begin to burst. Remove from heat and whir smooth with an immersion (stick) blender or carefully pour the sauce into a regular blender and process until smooth. Pour 1/3 of the sauce into a bowl to use as a baste and keep the rest warm to serve as a sauce when serving.

To Serve:
Slice the tenderloins into nice thick pieces, serve with sauce and start looking forward to LOCAL blueberry season and blueberry pie!

NOTE: This would be fabulous on the grill!

Fresh Blackberry Chipotle BBQ Pork Chops

I have sinned. Although I try my darnedest to abide by the dogma of fresh, LOCAL ingredients, this burning craving for the taste of barbecue blazed in my summer-starved soul. 

In order to quench it, I actually had the audacity to buy fresh, gorgeous, sweet, thumb-sized, shiny blackberries to make blackberry chipotle BBQ sauce (for pork chops on the grill) when Lord knows they aren't in season around Western Pennsylvania. Not even close...the bushes don't even have blossoms on them yet! How DARE I?! 

Somehow, I think my error in judgment is worthy of whatever minor penance might be in the offing. 

Seriously, don't we sometimes take this whole thing just a little too far? Once in a while can't we abandon root vegetables and all varieties of cabbage after a long HARD winter, loosen up and live it up with a few out-of-season berries? I say yes! So we did. Deliciously. 

Chill out a bit and rush the blackberry season yourself, here's my recipe for Fresh Blackberry Chipotle BBQ Pork Chops. Oh...and I won't tell you've also committed the "local" trangression. That issue - and whatever your conscience demands - is between you and your CSA to work out!

Fresh Blackberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce for Pork Chops

• 2 medium chipotle peppers from a can
• 2 T adobo sauce (from the same can!)
• 16 fresh blackberries - nice BIG ones - or 32 smaller ones
• 2 t rice vinegar
• 1 t granulated garlic
• 1 T molasses
• 4 nice thick bone-in center cut loin pork chops 

In a gallon size zip top plastic bag, add all the sauce ingredients, seal the top, and smoosh (yes, "smoosh" IS a proper culinary term...you read it here first) everything together until completely mixed and (relatively) smooth. Then add the chops. Marinate overnight. 

The "smooshing" of chipotles, blackberries and other sauce components into a proper sauce.

Take the chops out of the fridge about an hour before you're going to put them on the grill. Grill over low heat so the sauce doesn't burn...too much. 

While you've got the grill going, throw on lots of fresh sliced veggies for a whole meal on the grill!

NOTE: Think you can only use this sauce on pork chops? Really good on chicken and turkey, too!

NOTE 2: When I use only 1 or 2 peppers from a whole can of chipotles in adobo, I sure don't throw out what's left. I put the rest of the can into a snack-size ziplock bag and pop it into the freezer. When I need a pepper or two the next time, I just pull the bag out of the freezer, pluck what I need out and put the rest back in the freezer until the next time. Easy. And thrifty!

The Cowboy and the Dude Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Babybacks (Oven-style!)

Imagine the scene. A cattle ranch in the old west. Nearing nighttime. A sole coyote howls at the low-slung moon. Riding herd among the softly lowing cattle, cowboys come across a stranded wagon with a lone, derbied, pinstripe-suited, mustachioed gentleman who is clearly out of his element, sitting balefully upon a broken wheel. The cowhands take pity on the dude, fix his wagon and invite him to dine around the campfire that evening.

The only thing the stranded traveler has to contribute to dinner is some mighty fancy coffee...he IS a dude, after all. The cowboys scoff at his maple cinnamon coffee. REAL men don't drink that sissy stuff and they turn up their noses. The cook, on the other hand, has an idea!

Cook added that fancy-ass ground coffee to his rib rub. Eureka! Those cowboys were amazed by the most incredible ribs they'd ever wrapped their lips around. 

The cowboys whooped and hollered, lifted the dude onto their shoulders and danced a little jig around the campfire under the starlit prairie skies. They were so happy!

Okay...so on a cattle drive there wouldn't be pork ribs. I'm sure there were beef ribs, though. The end. 

The Cowboy and the Dude
Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Babybacks
(Oven-style!)

• 1/4 cup ground maple cinnamon coffee (I get mine at Nicholas Coffee in Market Square) - if you can't get maple cinnamon, use a similar flavored coffee...pecan cinnamon, pumpkin spice...you get the idea, DUDE coffee!
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Colmans mustard powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt

• 1 rack babyback pork ribs, silverskin removed (check online for a method to perform this maneuver...Google it...it's easy, but complicated to describe)

In a small bowl, mix all rub ingredients well - I mash mine together with a fork. 

Massage 1/2 of the rub into one side of the ribs, the other half on the other side of the ribs. Do this at least 4 hours before or overnight. Wrap them well in plastic wrap.
 
The next day, bring them to room temp and set the oven to 325 degrees. 

Take the plastic wrap off the ribs, rewrap them in heavy duty aluminum foil and seal well. Put the foil-wrapped ribs into a large roasting pan or rimmed cookie sheet that will comfortably hold the ribs. Cook for 3 hours or until tender, just shy of falling off the bone. Remove from oven; open the foil, exposing the ribs completely.

Raise the oven temp to 400 degrees, put the ribs back in and let 'er rip for half an hour. Cowboy campfire goodness from the oven. YeeHAW!

Grilled Apple, Bacon & Swiss Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Looking at the abundance of apple orchards in Pittsburgh's North Hills, it clearly appears that Johnny Appleseed  traversed our hillocks, hummocks and slopes long ago, all the while leaving the fruits of his labors for many future generations. If not literally descended from Mr. Appleseed, the Shenots, Soergels, Kaelins, Reillys (to name just a few) have done an outstanding job of being the next best thing to old Johnny and his sack of seeds. Our North Hills are covered with apple orchards!

There is nothing like a fresh-from-the-farm apple, especially if it's from one of those just-mentioned local farms. Such an apple stands heads and shoulders above the long-stored, sometimes mealy and dry variety that has been shipped across country to a nearby grocery store. Hooray for local apples!!!! 

Now that apple season is here...and you know it's ALWAYS grilling season(!)...I thought it was time to combine the two. 

Pondering a way to stuff grilled chicken breasts with tart, sweet apples, the other components of the dish naturally fell into place. A melange of diced apple, onion, crisp bacon, shredded Swiss cheese and stoneground mustard was mounded into the center of each butterflied chicken breast, then secured with toothpicks and then onto the grill. A nice slow flame insured both the inside of the chicken AND the stuffing cooked through without singeing!

Then...and only then...the outside was basted with a combo of honey, balsamic vinegar, Kosher salt and stoneground mustard...just enough sweet, sour and tangy to echo and accent the sweet and savory stuffing.

Although I used Granny Smith apples, you can use your very own favorite variety. Later in the season - after the first frost, my absolute all time fave apple is the crunchy sweet and tart Stayman Winesap. Maybe the apple that's dearest to your heart is a Honeycrisp or a Jonagold, maybe an old fashioned McIntosh tickles your fancy...or even the classic Red Delicious or a Fuji or a Gala or....I could go on and on. 

If a trip out to the suburbs is on your to-do list for the weekend, be sure to stop by the farm market to load up on all the bounty apple season has to offer. Johnny Appleseed would approve!

Grilled Apple, Bacon & Swiss 

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

 Stuffing:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup onion, finely minced
• 4 slices bacon, crisped & crumbled
• 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
• 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
• 1/3 cup Granny Smith or similar tart, crisp apple - peeled, cored, diced medium fine - still some chunkiness to them

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - butterflied and opened like a book

Basting sauce:

• 2 tablespoons stoneground mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Add onion and saute until softened. Add the crisp crumbled bacon, chopped apple and mustard. Remove from heat and add cheese. Mix just to combine. Set aside.
 
Mix the basting sauce - mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar and salt and set aside.
 
Open the butterflied chicken breasts and evenly divide the stuffing among the breasts, firmly mounding the stuffing along the inside seam. Fold the breasts over the filling, compacting the filling as you go. Secure the edges with toothpicks to keep all the goodness inside.
 
Preheat the grill. Grill the breasts over indirect heat until each is thoroughly cooked all the way through, making sure the stuffing is cooked through, as well. Once the breasts are done, baste with sauce on both sides and grill until browned, but don't let them burn.

Enjoy!

Maple Chipotle Sweet & Spicy Smoked Pork Chops

Lazy days of summer are on the wane, while fall is ramping up to be quite the busy season! Gone (already!) are the slow Sundays of sitting by the smoker, feet up with a cold one in hand, listening to birds chirping in the trees and the gurgle of the pond. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it? In theory, it does - in reality, the summer was just as busy as this (impending) fall is shaping up to be and that scene was just a dream.

Busy or not, who doesn't love a good, simple recipe without a lot of fuss? I, for one, would be (and am) a fan of just such a recipe. How do you like that, I just happen to have one! Maple Chipotle Sweet & Spicy Smoked Pork Chops fill the easy prep/easy cooking bill quite nicely.

Four simple ingredients make up a wet rub: grade B real maple syrup (richer and with more intensity than Grade A), canned chipotles in adobo, minced fresh garlic and Kosher salt. That's it! Mix them up into a wet paste, rub into the chops, refrigerate overnight and smoke them over maple wood chips the next day. 

Even the smoking process is a basic one that leaves you with time for other things...like raking leaves that are starting to flutter from the trees or planting a riot of yellow, red and purple mums where fading summer blooms once were.

Bonus! Once those Sunday chores are done, sidling up by the smoker in a comfy chair on a cool, fall afternoon is a very pleasant, warm and toasty way to end your day...along with that cool one in hand!  

Maple Chipotle Sweet & Spicy Smoked Pork Chops

• 4 pork chops, 1" thick, bone-in, center cut loin chops

• 4 tablespoons maple syrup, grade B, if you can find it
• 3 tablespoons chipotle chiles in adobo, 1 small one, plus sauce to make 3 tablespoons, mashed well
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Mix the wet rub ingredients together well. Rub into the pork chops and put them into a ziplock plastic bag. Be sure to put ALL the rub in with the chops, squeeze out all the air and seal. Refrigerate overnight.
 
The next day, take the chops out to bring to room temp before putting on the smoker.
 
Prepare the smoker and soak the maple chips for 1/2-1 hour. When the smoker is to temp, put on the chips and the chops and smoke for 2-3 hours, depending on your own smoker - all smokers are different.
 
Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Plum Smoked Duck with Plum Wine Reduction

Duck...duck...duck...NOT goose! Duck. Smoked duck to be specific. Fine tuning it even more, duck marinated in Japanese plum wine (gekkheikan), garlic, Asian 5-spice, star anise, Szechuan peppercorns and tamari, then smoked over a combo of apple and cherry woods and served with a fresh plum and plum wine reduction. Drooling yet?

This was our very first venture into duck smoking so we kind of went into it blindly. (Just so you know, with great effort I'm resisting a duck blind joke. You're welcome.) I knew I didn't want to go the traditional orange route...so overdone, don't you think? But the classic combo of fruit and duck is a time-honored tradition for a reason. They were meant for one another!

The plan was to use sake as the marinade base, but when I found plum wine on the state store shelf, the rest of the flavors fell right in line. Plums are plentiful in the farm markets right now so Italian prune plums went on the list. The rest of the ingredients found their way from the pantry and spice rack into the solution and became one beautifully fragrant bath for our plump duck.

After hours of smoking the duck to a deep, rich brown lacquer, all that was needed was a simple sauce to highlight the the smoky, sweet flavor. You should have smelled the luscious, fruity, spicy aroma as it rose from the opened smoker! Heaven. 

Isn't he pretty?!

A simple reduction of the same plum wine mixed with crushed plums, organic orange blossom honey (ha! I did get the classic orange in there after all!), sharp Colman's mustard, ginger and garlic produced a gorgeous dark red sauce that accented the sweet, slightly game-y duck perfectly. You might even say dinner was plum delicious!    

Plum Smoked Duck With Plum Wine Reduction

• 1 5-pound (approximately) duck, thawed if necessary

• 3 BIG garlic cloves...or 6 smaller ones, smashed
• 1 star anise, crushed
• 3 slices fresh ginger root, about quarter sized
• 1 tablespoon Scechuan peppercorns, crushed
• 2 teaspoons five-spice powder
• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce, Gluten-free to make this GF
• 1 1/2 cups wine, Japanese Plum Wine - also known as Gekkeikan

• 1 cup wine, Japanese Plum Wine - yep, same as above
• 4 very ripe Italian prune plums, seeded and quartered
• 1 teaspoon honey, orange blossom...or your own favorite
• 1 teaspoon Colman's dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• a hefty pinch of powdered ginger

The night before you want to serve this, combine garlic, star anise, fresh ginger, Szechuan peppercorns, 5-spice, tamari and plum wine in a gallon size zip top plastic bag. Squeeze out all the air, seal tightly and put it into a bowl that holds it snugly. (If it leaks, it won't be all over your fridge if it's in a bowl!)
 
The next day, take the duck out of the marinade and discard the marinade. Dry the duck thoroughly with paper towels. Pour the soda out of a soda can, add about 1/2 cup of plum wine, a hefty shake of granulated garlic, 1/2 t. - 1 t. cayenne, 1/2 t. mustard powder and 1 t. ginger. Yes, this will cook beer can chicken style! Fit the duck over the spice and wine filled can and carefully set aside.
 
Soak a combination of half cherry/half applewood chips for at least an hour. Prepare the smoker according to whatever smoker you use. When the coals are hot, scatter the chips.
 
Put the duck on the smoker and smoke for at least 6 hours - more or less according to your smoker and/or your preference. You know I'm loose about smoking instructions...every smoker is different! Remove the duck and let sit while you make the reduction.
 
REDUCTION (reDUCKtion?): In a saucepan combine 1 c. plum wine, the quartered plums, honey and spices. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Let simmer until the liquid reduces by half. Strain the reduction through a small strainer, pressing the solids to extract all the liquid.
 
Slice the duck and serve with the beautiful sauce. This would also be wonderful with a chicken...and there's a LOT more meat on a chicken! (A turkey breast would work well, too!)

Red Hot Brats

Red Hot Brats
(Remember were talking sausages here not spoiled children...these brats rhyme with "hots" not "hats.")

The other day I caught a promo for the Johnsonville "Don't Pierce the Brat" Music VideoContest. Under normal circumstances, I couldn't agree with the sausage company's sentiment more. Sausages on the grill should never be pricked or pierced in any manner - they should be handled gently as to not allow all those tasty juices to escape. Save the flavor for yo' mouth!

Except.  All this summer I've been pricking and piercing my favorite Johnsonville Stadium Brats before grilling to allow spicy, smoky, garlicky flavors IN. Yep...I stab the sausages all over (kind of therapeutic, actually) and marinate them in a spicy bath of fresh-sliced jalapenos and chopped garlic, smoky chipotle powder and apple juice - the juice carries the heat throughout the brat and the sweetness gives balance to the heat. Since the brats are fully cooked to begin with, they don't take much time on the grill at all so all that juicy heat stays right where it is.

Consider yourself warned....the heat these babies are packing is not for the faint of heart! In fact, a batch of these would be right up there heat-wise with a really spicy andouille sausage. Come to think of it, these would make a very nice addition to shrimp and sausage gumbo! (Note to self: make extra this fall for GUMBO!!!!) 

For now, though, I'll continue to enjoy them tucked into a bun (gluten-free in my case), slathered with a little mustard (Bone Suckin' Mustard is my fave) and crowned with some crisp diced Vidalia onion or even some sweet onion relish. You just might say I 'brot' the heat! Or maybe not. 

Red Hot Brats

• 1 package Johnsonville Stadium Brats, pierced on all sides with the tip of a sharp knife - BE CAREFUL!

• 10 ounce bottle of apple juice
• 2 LARGE jalapenos - sliced thinly into rings - leave the ribs and seeds intact
• 1 t. chipotle chili powder - available at Penzey's or the Latin section of the supermarket
• 6 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped coarsely

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a quart zip top bag, seal & mix well. Open and put in the pierced brats, squeeze out all the air and seal tightly. Let marinate overnight.

Brats hangin' out in their jalapeno, chipotle and garlic marinade. Ahhhhhh...

   
The next day, remove the sausages from the marinade, dry them with paper towels and grill until beautifully browned on all sides. Remove as soon as they're browned. Great on good buns with a smear of mustard and chopped onion or onion relish!

NOTE: These are pretty amazing on the smoker, too! Don't oversmoke them, though...just a light smoking - half an hour to an hour tops over applewood chips. Yum.

Bacon Pineapple Chicken Skewers with Asian Orange Glaze

Nothing like coming home from a long day at work...or a 7 hour road trip...and still having time to grill a good meal. Burgers? Nope. Almost just as easy, yet just a little more interesting was what I had in mind. 
 
I knew we already had the ingredients for a good shish-kabab. There was a fresh pineapple that had been intended for another dinner on the counter NEEDING to be used and there was bacon in the fridge (just between you and me, there is ALWAYS bacon in the fridge!). Eternally versatile and endlessly adaptable, boneless chicken breast was the third choice for a light and satisfying, threaded-onto-wooden-skewers summer evening dinner on the deck.

(Entertaining a few friends? You could whip these up on smaller skewers as an appetizer, too.)
 
Once the kabobs were cooked through on the grill, a quick baste of an orange marmalade, garlic, soy sauce and cayenne pepper mixture added a nice zippy accent that glazed them to picture perfection. 

All that was left was to plate the skewers on a bed of Romaine lettuce, add a drizzle of extra glaze whisked with a little champagne vinegar as a dressing and our Bacon Pineapple Chicken Skewers made a lovely and light meal for one weary traveler. 

Easy clean-up, too! At least it was easy when the hubby cleaned up the kitchen while I relaxed the miles off my weary-from-the-driver's-seat tush. Thanks!

 Bacon Pineapple Chicken Skewers 

with Asian Orange Glaze

Serves 4 as an entree, 6-8 as appetizers

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
• 1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cored, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
• 10 slices bacon, cooked slightly, don't let it crisp!

• 6 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce (wheat-free tamari to make this GF or regular soy sauce if gluten isn't an issue for you)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to your taste - you know I like more!
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic

Soak 10 wooden skewers for at least an hour in water - add salt to the water to help season the chicken and pineapple from the inside out! I used 4" appetizer size skewers.

Ready for the glaze, a close up view of the alternating assembly.         Easy...you can do it!

 

Skewers Assembly: When the skewers are ready, thread a chicken cube, then an end of the bacon, a pineapple cube, fold the bacon back and skewer again, then the chicken, fold the bacon over, the pineapple...you get the idea. Just keep alternating chicken and pineapple and weaving the bacon back and forth until the skewer is full. Set aside.
 

Glaze: Mix the marmalade, tamari, cayenne and granulated garlic well. Set aside.
 

Preheat the grill and grill the skewers over a slow heat turning occasionally until the chicken is cook through on all sides. Once they are done, baste the glaze on one side and turn. Let them grill until the glaze is set on the first side, turn again and set the glaze on the second side. Remove to a clean plate and serve.
 

NOTE: You can mix up another batch of the glaze, add a tablespoon of champagne or rice wine vinegar to it, stir and there you have a dipping sauce for the kebabs. Do NOT use the glaze leftover from basting the skewers because they will be contaminated with raw chicken from basting.

Low Country Grilled Shrimp, Andouille & Veggies with Old Bay Beer Butter

Feelin' beachy? Me too! So much so that I've been craving a good ol' shrimp boil...something to help assuage the longing for sand, sun and seafood until we hit Ocean City next month. This one easily qualifies under my "Quickie" category because there's almost no prep and it cooks in minutes. Nope, not in a steamer as is traditional for a boil, but on the grill. And it's done in a flash!

Usually we haul out the propane-fueled turkey fryer/steamer to do a boil...and that's just perfect with a big crowd. With just the two of us for dinner on Sunday, that method didn't make any sense at all. Out came the grill!

To get the same Maryland-style flavors we were craving, Old Bay beer butter was basted onto heaps of shrimp, small red potatoes, onions, Andouille sausages and corn right on the grill.  Yes, there were some flare ups, but that just helped to give a desirable blackened quality to the andouille and shrimp and made the corn almost caramel-y. 

The result? It seemed just like being oceanfront at the beach with the same hoppy, spicy deliciousness of a boil, combined with the smoky flavors only a grill can produce.  We were happy campers!

Even though the cries of seagulls were missing, I swear I caught just the faintest whiff of salt air. Not only that, I think our grilled "boil" may have been even better than the original! Now bring on Ocean City and crabs....I'm READY!

 Low Country Grilled Shrimp, Andouille & Veggies

with Old Bay Beer Butter

 Serves 2 - with plenty of leftovers

• 1 pound shrimp, jumbo, raw, peeled, tails on - threaded onto metal skewers (or wooden skewers that have soaked in water (or beer) for at least an hour)
• 1 pound sausage, andouille if you can find it - kielbasa is good, too!
• 1 pound red potatoes, small ones, cut in half - cooked in the microwave for a few minutes until almost done, but not quite
• 1 large vidalia onion, peeled, cut into eigths - leave stem end intact so the layers don't seperate
• 4 ears of corn, husked, silk removed

• 2 sticks butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons Old Bay Seafood seasoning
• 1/4 cup beer, gluten-free beer to make this GF - your favorite regular beer if gluten isn't an issue

Baste: In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, beer and Old Bay. Set aside.
 
Heat up your grill - keep it low because the butter baste is going to flare up...even with the heat low. It's okay because that smoky, blackened flavor intensifies the sweetness of the corn and the veggies...YUM! Also, be SURE to use a long-handled basting brush and work quickly to avoid the flames. No burns or catching on fire, please!

 

Once the grill is ready, pile on the corn, potatoes, onions, sausage and last, the shrimp. Baste liberally with the Old Bay Beer Butter. This will flare up. Be very careful,! As each item is done, remove to a platter. The shrimp won't take long at all. When everything is done, it's dinner time! All you need is some good crusty bread and a bottle of your favorite beer or wine. So easy! So good!