Monday, June 28th - Chicken Baste Recipe

Someone commented that they wanted the recipe but unfortunately they came through listed as 'Anonymous' so I couldn't send it directly. Here it is:

Melt butter (the amount depends on how much chicken you have)-remove from heat
ADD enough CIDER vinegar to double the amount
ADD enough Worcestershire sauce to make a med dark caramel color
ADD powdered mustard (about 1/2 tsp) or a little prepared mustard (my only addition to Mom's recipe)

Add salt & pepper if you haven't already seasoned the chicken parts


Grill, basting BOTH sides of the chicken pieces several times.

That's it! Enjoy!

Friday, June 25th, later

OMG......... when I was young, I preferred white meat (chicken)...... my father preferred dark meat (legs and thighs).......

As I grew older I saw the error of my ways and crossed over to the 'dark side'. For several years now I've cooked chicken thighs on the (gas) grill using my mothers baste (a combination of butter, cider vinegar and a few other secret ingredients (reply if you want the recipe).

But THIS was the first time I cooked the thighs on my Green Egg........ OMG....... the extra flavor from the natural charcoal gave the thighs a woody flavor that NO ONE can get from either a gas grill or from those poisonous briquettes.

I'm still in chicken heaven...........

Friday, June 25th

I had originally thought about making pizza tonight (I've had a craving for pizza for several days now!)........ but I forgot that I had bought some chicken thighs on sale (four LARGE ones for $2.76!!!!!).

So it's grilled chicken thighs with homemade potato salad (with chopped onions, chopped celery, a little red pepper and a little sweet relish - with mayo and mustard, natch!)

Can't wait!!!!!

Tuesday, June 22nd

Who ever thought that a seemingly simple meal like a Taco Salad would dirty so many dishes!!!! I thought last night was bad with a roasted chicken with gravy!!!!!! Sheesh! I HATE dirty dishes!! (But I hate frozen dinners even more!)

Fathers Day, June 20th

I am celebrating my own fatherhood as well as the remembrance of my father today. I splurged on some 14-16 count shrimp and they're currently marinating. Later they'll go on skewers along with some veggies (on a separate skewer natch cause they'll need to grill longer), then just like the Outback Steakhouse ad says, "Shrimp on the barbie!"

Wednesday, June 16th

I had a great hamburger last night cooked on natural charcoal (along with sauteed green peppers and onions).......... it was wonderful (despite the Celtics loss to LA).......... tonight is a grilled thick cut boneless pork chop (I think I'll sprinkle it with some of my rib rub)......... my ribs are all rubbed and becoming happy in the fridge until tomorrow when I smoke 'em with mesquite (instead of my usual hickory) for about 5 hours. You'll read about it tomorrow.

Monday, June 14th, #2

I had some left-over chicken and chicken gravy so I thought I'd make a chicken fricassee....... by the time I cut up the chicken and added it to the gravy, there was just something thaqt I didn't care for in the smell of th mix...... OK.... DUMP that!

So now I'm roasting a chicken (in the oven - chance of showers and I melt in the rain, ya know)...... but I could make this recipe blindfolded so I KNOW it's gonna be good!

Monday, June 14th

I found some mesquite chips on sale at a store so I just HAD to buy 'em....... can't wait to try mesquite and compare it to the hickory that I've been using.

Tuesday, 15 minutes later

OK, I just HAD to go to the fridge and get out the sausages I smoked yesterday. I had to take a slice and see if they were really as good as I thought last night and here's the result - THEY WERE! (and I ended up eating about HALF of a sausage!)

Tuesday, June 9th - sausage smoking details

Someone commented and asked how I smoked the sausage yesterday. As with most smoking methods, I cooked 'low and slow', about 250 degrees with some hickory chunks. I find they tend to generate more smoke at the beginning of the process than nearer the end but that's OK. After about 45 minutes I figured they were done. They were almost BLACK but not burned in any way.... just smoky and very, VERY tasty! Next time I'll soak the hickory a little longer before I add them to the charcoal to see if I can mediate the smoking just a bit.

Later on June 8th

Now, understand, that I really like Italian sweet sausage...... my stomach can't take hot sausage (an ulcer from many years ago still affects me), but, trust me, you've NEVER had sausage until you've eaten a smoked sausage! I smoked them for about 45 minutes (with hickory)........ the tangy, smoky taste of the sausage adds sooooo much to the taste.... kinda like a boneless rib but even tastier!

I gotta remember this recipe!!!!

Tuesday, June 8th

Awwwwwwww RATS....... the weather service said the rain wasn't supposed to start until about 5:00pm so I started the Big Green Egg at about 2:30pm....... I wanted to smoke some sweet Italian sausage. Ah well..... the 'smoke' is on and the sausage are on the grill - the rain shouldn't bother anything except my skin and shirt as I go out and check on everything! But the results should be as spectacular as my ribs were - AND IT'S WORTH IT!

Saturday, June 5th

It's been a while since I've posted - been eating uninteresting (but tasty) leftovers.

But tonight I had a hankering for black beans and rice. Now usually this is a Cuban dish with just black beans served over rice. Usually I add some cubed ham along with diced celery and onion and some cumin. Tonight I departarted - Instead of ham I used sautéed bacon and I also added some leftover chicken (cut up). I served it over Basmati rice and topped it with a little sour cream - it was AWESOME! (with a slice of buttered bread on the side).

No idea what tomorrow will bring - stay tuned!