Center Cut Chops and Potato Salad

08 15 2017

Sundays supper was pretty easy, all I had to cook was the chops. My sides were bought potato salad and some sliced fresh tomatoes.

I had some chops a while back that were called rib end chops; they were kinda small and a darker color than loin chops. I salt cured them and added my favorite rib rub then on my smoker at about 250 deg. grill level while I cooked something else. Later the next day when the wife and I ate those chops we thought they were extra tender. I had them on the grill about 2 hours or so and they were at 160 deg. IT.

For chops usually I brown in a skillet and then finish in a 350 deg. oven while I finish cooking or smoke for an hour or so on my Traeger and reverse sear on my gas grill.

For these boneless center cut chops I dry salt cured them for 2 hours, wiped them off and added the rib rub for two hours. It’s best to use a rub or seasoning that does not have much salt in it. You can always rinse the chops too to get more salt off.

I heated my smoker at 225 deg. and was getting 250 deg. grill level to cook the chops. I figured on 2 hrs 15 min. but they were done, 160 deg. IT, in an hour 45 minutes. I didn’t have anything else to cook so I pulled them and after a 5 min. rest served.

The chops were good, tender and moist. The potato salad and tomatoes went well with them.

The chops

Ready on the smoker

Resting

My supper

Detroit Style Pizza

08 12 2017

Back in the 80’s sometime a friend took the wife and me to a place called Buddy’s in Detroit for pizza. He said the best pizza you will eat and it was. I have wanted one every since. I found this site Serious Eats that has great pizza recipes and they had one for Detroit Style.

I did one of their Grandma style that turned out delicious so wanted to try their Detroit style. I got an anodized aluminum pan to use and had a granite square pan too. I did one with pepperoni in the large pan and used the granite pan for one with just cheese for the veggie DIL.

I meant to take more pics of building it but got distracted and only got one of before and after baking. I had a can of San Marzano tomatoes to use for the sauce and then followed the recipe pretty close.

The son and wife came for supper and everyone loved the pizza. The grandson stopped in later and ate some. The only thing I need now is to learn how to remove from the pan! I had a devil of a time with the edge where it gets real crispy. I had plenty of olive oil but it still stuck.

Click Here for link to recipe

Naan BLT's & White Corn

Aug 11 2017

BLT’s are at the top of my list for this time of year. Also corn on the cob and white corn is my favorite. I get all my corn from Suter’s Red Wagon, a veggie stand that is here every summer since I remember. They have 10 produce stands around the area. The corn is about all bi-color but have enough white for 2 or 3 days. I think I missed it last year but just had some last night. I I got 6 ears; I blanched and cut the corn from 4 ears, about 20 oz., and saved 2 for supper.

I decided to use some Naan bread for the sandwich and had iceberg lettuce, fresh tomatoes and mayo. The bacon I did on my Traeger and threw on a couple pieces of smoked sausage since I didn’t have that much bacon.

One sandwich was enough but was sure wanting another ear of the white corn!

The bacon and sausage

Toasting the Naan

My BLT & white corn

Swineapple?

Aug 08 2017

When I saw this had to try it. It is said to be from a guy called Josh Bush. It seemed easy enough, hollow out a pineapple, stuff with seasoned pork, wrap in a bacon weave and smoke until an IT of 160 deg.

First I had trouble getting the core out then with getting it wrapped with the bacon weave. I had so many tooth picks stuck in it it looked like a porcupine. Traeger had a recipe that said to smoke at 275 deg. for 4 to 5 hours. I thought too high a temp and too long. I did mine at 250 deg. and was done in 3 ½ hours to an IT of 147 deg. I pulled it then since the bacon looked burnt to me. It about fell apart getting it out of the smoker.

I had it stuffed with some seasoned pork chop. I had made some Zatarain’s butter garlic rice and sauteed some red, yellow peppers and onions to serve with it. We also had some bread and butter.

Well the bacon was burnt too bad to eat, the pork stuffing was too mushy from the pineapple acid.

Oh well the pineapple the rice, peppers, bread and butter was good! Next time I would just grill the pork and pineapple separate since they do go well together.

I doubt if I’ll ever try this again but any of you are welcome to try it!

I am sorry some bacon was harmed in preparing this meal!

My Supper

The Son's Burgers & Fried Green Tomatoes

Aug 06 2017

The Son cooked on his 36 inch Blackstone last evening for a little party. He called at noon and wanted to know if I wanted 2 burgers he had seasoned & made up, he said you need to cook them. I said yes and he brought them down. I had something special I had planned but that would wait until tomorrow.

They looked good and I had a green tomato left to use. I fried the burgers on my Weber Spirit and topped with some provolone cheese. I used some dark rye bread, not my choice but needed used up.

I just used Panko bread crumbs on the tomatoes and fried them in the skillet with olive oil. They came out better than on the grill.

The burgers were good, better than a lot of  mine! I’ll have to find out what he seasoned them with.

On the grill

Tomatoes in the skillet

My Supper

Sausage, Fresh Corn Cakes & Fried Green Tomatoes

Aug 05 2017

I broke out my Camp Chef griddle for this cook. I was not going to post this since my fresh corn cakes were almost a flop! I need more practice on pan cakes. I didn’t get many pics, I was busy trying to salvage the corn cakes!

I had some Tennessee Pride sausage for patties and some green tomatoes to fry. I used Panko bread crumbs and some corn meal to bread the tomatoes. I got the griddle hot and was doing the corn cakes first and keep warm under a dome while I did the sausage and tomatoes.

I had the griddle too hot and the cakes were done on the bottom before ready to flip. I did manage to save them. The sausage was done just right but the tomatoes were a little under cooked. Oh well 1 out of 3 ain’t bad! It was not my best cook but tasted good with some Ohio maple syrup on the corn cakes. I just need a little more practice on my griddle!

Click Here for corn cake recipe

On the griddle

My Supper

Shrimp Boil 2017

Aug 02 2017

Nothing tastes better in the summer than fresh picked corn on the cob unless it’s cooked in a shrimp boil. The corn was picked fresh today. I had a pound of raw shell on jumbo shrimp, a pound of smoked sausage, a pound of new red potatoes, a med. onion sliced open, a bulb of garlic with top sliced off, a lemon cut in half, 2 TBS. Zatarains liquid crab boil and a good TBS. Of Old Bay seasoning. I used 4 ears of corn broken up.

I placed the potatoes and sausage in my pot, added the garlic, onion, and seasoning. I covered with water to cover plus more for adding the rest. I brought it to a rolling boil and after 20 minutes added the corn. In 5 minutes I added the shrimp for 5 minutes. I raised the basket to drain and dumped all on a tray to serve. I had some sourdough bread and garlic butter to serve with it.

The kids and grandson came down to eat with us. The DIL ate a salad & tomatoes but I think she sneacked in there and had some potatoes and sausage! There was just some of the sausage left. It all sure tasted good. The red potatoes take on the garlic and seasonings for an extra good flavor. I hope I can have this once more before corn season is over. 

Ingredients

In the pot

Served

My supper (first plate!)