Country Ribs, cheesy potatoes, & corn

Yesterday was an extra warm December day, 55 deg. It was windy and most of the time it was howling. I am glad I have 3 sides of my Smoke Shack covered; it keeps the wind off my smoker, and me! It was a nice afternoon to do a slow cook on the Traeger.

Wednesday we made a trip to see my Mother & take her some of my leftovers. When we got home I cooked up a batch of peach BBQ sauce. I had found a recipe at Food.com that sounded good. I just made a half batch so if I didn’t like it would not have as much to throw out. For the heat I used Chipotles in adobe sauce, 1 pepper & about ½ tsp. of the sauce.

I had 4 nice country ribs from my butcher, two were bone in & the other two were boneless, about 3 lbs. My wife tasted my sauce & said too hot for her so I would use my old standby BBQ sauce from Kah Meats for hers. It had been awhile since I did country ribs so looked up cooking methods on pelletheads.com and a couple of other sites. Only one did them hot & fast, all the rest were low & slow. I decided to do mine 2-2-1 at 225 deg. That’s 2 hours at 225 & then foil wrap for two hours, and one hour with sauce. I like the low & slow cooking best anyways; it gives me time to just sit there, relax & sip on my favorite brew!

For sides I was having cheesy scalloped potatoes and some fresh corn I had vacuum packed & froze. I usually use Campbells cheddar cheese soup but this time I had a can of La Preferida aged cheddar I wanted to try. I think I like the Campbells better. I used Yukon Gold potatoes, two layers sliced in an oiled pan, poured half the cheddar cheese I had mixed in a 1/4 cup of milk on the first layer & then another layer of potatoes & cheese.

I splashed some red wine vinegar on the ribs & my favorite Penzey’s Galena Street Rub & in the fridge for about 9 hours. I added the second shelf to my Traeger so I had plenty of room. I got the ribs on the Smoker at 1:00 225 deg. I prepared the cheesy potatoes, covered with foil & added them to the top shelf at 2:00 & turned the ribs over. At 3:00 I foiled the ribs in a foil pan I had added about 1/8 cup of water & a splash of red wine vinegar & a splash of Worcestershire sauce. The foil pan was easy but I think wrapping them tight would have been better. At 5:00 I removed the ribs from the pan, added the peach sauce to two & Kah’s sauce to the other two. I also placed a small skillet with the corn & 3 pats of butter, salt & pepper, to the top shelf. At 5:30 I turned the ribs & sauced the other side. I pulled all at 6:00 a total of 5 hours for the ribs. Tented the ribs & fixed some Texas garlic bread to serve with it.

A very tasty supper, the potatoes were plenty done but prefer them in the oven at 350 to get the top browned up some. I usually fix them the same way & in the oven covered for one hour then uncover, add some shredded cheese for another half hour. I liked the peach BBQ sauce. A little sweet with a mild heat but think it could have used more spice like chili powder & a little cumin. I may try to doctor it up & have tomorrow night with the leftover ribs. Tonight it is my Wife’s turn to cook so we are having fish from Captain D’s!

Printable Peach BBQ Sauce Recipe

Cheese & Potatoes

Potatoes ready for the smoker

My two sauces

Ribs on the Smoker

After one hour

Two hours & in the foil pan

All done

Ready to serve

My Plate

Smokin Don

My Chicken & Noodle Soup

Chicken & Noodle soup always taste good but especially in the fall or winter. I have made this enough I don’t use a recipe but basically it’s about the same every time. Homemade noodles are probably the best to use but found I don’t do noodles well! I used to use Reams noodles & their flat dumplings; you can find them in the frozen food section. They are the best store bought noodles I have found.

A few years back I found some noodles at a local bakery, Butler’s, in Van Wert, Ohio. They were as good as any homemade I have eaten. I started using them & then found that Waltz Meats bought his noodles from Butler’s & sells them along with his canned chicken & beef. If you are not local you won’t be able to find these, so just use a good noodle product or make your own.

The next thing you need is some good chicken, I spatchcocked one & did on my smoker at 325 deg until an IT of 180 deg, pulled & let cool. If I am making a small batch, 8 oz. of noodles, I use half the chicken for a large batch, 16 oz. of noodles I add the breast meat from the other half. For this chicken I rubbed some seasoned butter, Lawry’s seasoned salt no MSG, under the breast skin & brushed on the chicken. I basted it once during the cook. It took about an hour & a half. A rotisserie chicken would work too or bake one in the oven. I have also made some that was tasty with canned chicken.

I made my own broth for this batch, 2 to 3 quarts of water, 2 or 3 stalks celery, one med. onion, a handful of baby carrots, a bay leaf, 1 Tbs. kosher salt, 1 Tbs. poultry seasoning, and a few turns of the pepper mill. I had some chicken backs & giblets frozen I added, brought to a boil then simmered a couple of hours. I skimmed off some of the fat, removed the chicken & veggies then strained the broth & left on low until I was ready to finish the soup. Don’t skim off all the fat, my cousins Dad said soup is no good unless it has eyes, a little fat, on top. If you don’t make your own stock use at least one quart of chicken broth & water as needed.

When my chicken was done I let cool & returned the broth to a boil & added 8 oz. of noodles. I also added a handful of sliced carrots and a Tbs. of mustard. I lowered it to a slow boil & let the noodles cook about an hour before adding the chicken. You could add some chopped fresh parsley or a Tbs. of dried at the end. It adds some flavor & color. Add more water if needed at this time. Let simmer awhile before serving along with some crackers, I like butter on mine, or some good crusty bread & butter. Enjoy!

Soup Fixins

Chicken ready for the Smoker

Chickens Done

Broth's On

Soup's on

My Bowl w/my no knead bread

Smokin Don

Smoked Turkey & Bacon Sandwich

Yesterday I made chicken & noodle soup, good cold weather food! I made my own broth & spatchcocked a chicken to do on my smoker. My wife would be away so after I did the chicken I turned the smoker down to 300 deg & added 5 slices of bacon. It took about a half hour to brown up. I planned a sandwich with some of my no knead bread; since it didn’t raise well it was perfect for a sandwich. I had some smoked turkey breast a friend had done on his Treager, just enough for a sandwich. I threw it in a skillet with a little olive oil, placed 3 slices of bacon on & topped with a slice of Swiss cheese. I covered it with a lid and while it was heating I toasted the bread in another skillet.

I saved some of the chicken skin & nuked it in the microwave until crispy & had it along with the sandwich. I topped the sandwich with some Philly cooking cream, Santa Fe flavor. It was not the healthiest meal but I garontee it was mighty tasty!!

Bacons Ready

My Plate

Another View

Smokin Don

Muffin Pan Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaves

Yesterday I made a loaf of no knead bread to have with my supper. It turned out a little flatter than usual but still was pretty good. My supper would be four of the mini meatloaves and some potato onion stacks all in my muffin pan. While these were on the smoker I did a spaghetti squash in the oven. I don’t know why I was thinking an hour to an hour & half for the meatloaves. I put them on at 225 deg for a half hour; I then inserted a temp probe in a meatloaf. It was already at 140 deg so they would get done way before the potatoes would. I went to 325 deg & in 10 min I took the meatloaves out of the muffin pan & placed on the left side, cooler side of the grill and the potatoes on the right. After a total of an hour & 15 min the potatoes were fork tender so went inside I got the spaghetti squash ready & sliced the bread. I pulled the meatloaves & potatoes and served all up. The meatloaf recipe came from foodnetwork.com. I mixed all up & an addition was about 2 Tbs. of ketchup. I used 1 lb of ground chuck & ½ lb of pork sausage. I divided the mixture into fourths, formed a patty, added a ¾ inch chunk of fresh mozzarella cheese & folded the meat around. It made four 6 oz meatloaves & next time will go for 8 oz loaves. I had made some sauce from a 6oz can of tomato sauce, a good Tbs. of tomato paste, a Tbs. of balsamic vinegar & about ½ tsp. of Italian seasoning. I placed a spoonful on each meatloaf with 1/2 hour left to cook. I placed a spoonful on each plate & served the meatloaves on top. I can see now I need another muffin pan to do potatoes early & then add one with meat. Luckily I didn’t dry the meatloaves out & it all tasted pretty good. This will be a keeper recipe for me & next time will get the potatoes on an hour before & figure on 45 min to one hour additional for the meatloaves.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meatloaf Ingrediants

No Knead Bread

Ready for the Smoker

About Done

Spaghetti Squash

Taken After Cold

My Plate

Smokin Don

Bacon Spam

When the wife is away the cook will play. My wife went out with her lunch bunch for dinner & a play so it was a good time to cook what I wanted. I bought a can of Bacon Spam I wanted to fix and do a test on some muffin pan potatoes I wanted to have with some Mini Meatloaves tomorrow night. I know I am kinda on a muffin pan kick right now! I laid the Spam on its side & cross sliced it about half way through ½ inch apart & sprinkled on some Cajun seasoning. The cross slicing allows it to open up some & give more edges to brown up. I sliced up two Gold Potatoes about ¼ inch thick leaving the skins on and sliced 8 slices of sweet onions as thin as I could. I melted 3 Tbs. of butter with some garlic powder & Lawry’s seasoned salt brushed the potatoes on each side & altered with the onions in my muffin pan. I put the Spam directly on the grate on Smoke mode 180 deg for ½ hour then went to 225 deg & added the muffin pan with the potato & onion slices. In another ½ hour I went to 325 deg. In another hour & half all looked done, I had basted the potatoes with the butter several times. I was confident I could get the potatoes done tomorrow with the meat loaves, they tasted good & the Spam was great, almost over done, but the crispy edges were good.--------------------- Bacon Spam

Potatoes & Onions

About Done

Spam

My Plate

Smokin Don

Leftover Pork Fried Rice

Last nights supper was quick & easy, it also tasted good. I had some leftover pork loin, rice, & peas, perfect for some fried rice. I chopped up a sweet onion, two cloves of garlic, & some red pepper. Diced up the pork & seasoned with some soy sauce. I beat two eggs & fried in a small skillet, then diced it up. When I do a stir fry I like to get all ingredients ready & in bowls, the cooking goes pretty fast. I had a steel wok, it’s probably somewhere in the garage gathering dust, but always had a flat bottom one since I have an electric stove. Anymore I just use my regular skillet but have found you need to do it at a lower heat or you wind up with rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. I start on med heat, two or three Tbs. olive oil & let heat up about 5 min. Throw in the onions, garlic, & peppers, cook until getting a little soft. Throw in the diced pork & heat through, since it was already cooked just need to heat up. Add a couple drops of sesame oil. Throw in the peas & turn heat to med low. I am stirring some during each addition. When this is all heated throw in the rice, then finally the egg. Stir & add more soy sauce if needed. I had done some Texas garlic toast to have with the fried rice. Sometimes I like to add some celery or water chestnuts for a little crunch. I didn’t measure anything but you can see from the bowls there was about equal amounts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Ingredients

All Stirred

My Plate

Smokin Don

Muffin Pan Chicken Stacks

I have had a cold for a week now so I haven’t cooked much. I did do a pork sirloin roast that didn’t come out the way I wanted so I didn’t bother posting it. I wanted to try something different in my muffin pan so I thought this one up. I would layer chicken breasts, onions, & red peppers, on a slice of bacon for a chicken stack.

I bought a package of 3 skinless, boneless breast halves. I had planned to flatten the breasts & cut to get 12 slices for my 6 cup muffin pan. I had drilled 3 holes for drainage in each cup earlier to do chicken thighs. When I was ready to do the breasts they were like sized so just sliced each half length wise, about ½ inch thickness; then cut in half crosswise. This gave me the 12 slices I needed.

I marinated half in Lawry’s Mexican Chili Lime marinade, & the other half I drizzled with red wine vinegar & some Penzey’s Galena Street chicken rub. In the fridge for an hour before assembling the stacks. I suppose it’s a little silly to use skinless breasts then replace it with bacon! Well the bacon sure makes chicken taste better!!

I assembled the stacks about an hour before cook time, a slice of bacon, a chicken slice, a ¼ inch slice of onion, a slice of red bell pepper, another slice of chicken; then fold the bacon over & secure with a couple presoaked tooth picks. It’s best to do 3 at a time, I did 3 on one side with the marinade then the other 3 with the seasoning, so I could keep them separate. These went back in the fridge for another half hour, while I fired up my smoker.

I figured on an hour & half, ½ hour at 225 deg, then finish at 300 or higher. After ½ hour at 225 deg I went to 300 deg. I removed them from the pan & on the grill after the ½ hour at 300 deg & inserted a temp probe in one. My sides were some pecan wild & long grain rice & frozen fresh peas so I got them cooking to be done with the chicken. After 45 min at 300 deg the bacon needed browned up some so went to 375 deg for the last 25 min. So cook time was a total of one hour 40 min. IT was at 160 deg which was actually in the center where the onion & peppers were. Bacon was crisp & chicken plenty done.

I served my wife & I one each of the flavored stacks, & some rice with peas over top. We both thought the Penzey’s seasoned ones were best; the chili lime marinade didn’t add much taste. I think these would also be good with a BBQ sauce over top or some other good sauce. The onions I used were some sweet onions from Peru & they are about as good as Vidalia onions.

Marinade & Rice

Chicken Slices

Onions & Peppers

Making up the Stacks

Ready for the Smoker

On the grill & Ready

My Plate

Smokin Don