"Sleeping Alone Tonight" Wins Big at the Front Porch Chili Contest

Sleeping Alone Tonight is now available for sale at Atlantic Bagel Company (Atlantic Highlands)

 

Recipe

Your arsenal of great recipes must include one for chili  (mine sure does) and  I take a lot of pride in being able to make a great one.

I was reminded on Thursday that our local chili cook off was this Saturday.  I have always been busy in previous years, but at the last minute I decided to go for it.  

If you know me well, you know I play to win.  I called in Rocco, my partner in all things ridiculous, and we teamed up to make a big first showing at the competition this year.

Despite the rain, there were 400 people at the event with 40 different hopeful chefs, all of them bringing their A game in hopes of taking home the trophy.  There was a band, beer tent, rum bar, and all sorts of chili.  The kids had a great time and they even worked the crowd for me.


There were three categories of competition:  Vegetarian, which we did not bother with (Vegetarian chili is not actually chili, but rather some form of bean casserole, I suppose.  If you find yourself making vegetarian chili, do us all a favor and don't call it chili. Chili has meat in it.), Judges' pick (one of the judges, Marie, owns our local (and my favorite) bakery ), and People's pick.  Of the two categories we were eligible for — Judges' Pick and People's Pick — "Sleeping Alone Tonight" won both categories.

Dozens of people asked if we would be selling "Sleeping Alone Tonight" at Rocco's bagel shop.  We talked about it this morning, and we are going to make it available to the public starting this week.


Award winning chili, available at Atlantic Bagel Company, coming soon!


This might be our best video yet.  Check it out:

Sleeping Alone Tonight - Chili Recipe

The Griller Instinct Team thanks you for your support.  We are working on the official post and video.  This is the recipe for the chili that won the contest yesterday.

The recipe was created using Google Docs.  If you are viewing this at work, and can't open a Google Doc, email me, and I will send the recipe directly to you.

LNEFFRON@GMAIL.COM

Carolyn's Thighs

Rocco, my favorite neighbor,  managed to secure a beach house at the Jersey Shore (no, not Seaside Heights),  for a few weeks, and invited us for dinner.  Rocco’s wife, Carolyn, has her own recipe for grilled chicken thighs, and she was kind enough to share it with me to share it with you.

This recipe can be executed on any grill using direct heat.  This particular grill came with the rental house, and I’ve never cooked on a grill of this quality, but the thighs came out great, anyway, so whatever you're working with at home should be more than adequate.

Thighs are easy to grill and hard to screw up.  Give this one a shot. 

Here is the recipe.

Below is the video.

Inducing Labor

Yes, I know, what you're thinking: what does this have to do with grilling?  Other than shrimp, which can be grilled (but in this case wasn’t), the answer is "nothing."

But the story, and recipe, is too good not to share with you.  Our friend Erin was in need of some help.  She was 5 days overdue and wanted the baby OUT!  As it happens, I have a recipe that has induced labor in four other overdue women, so we decided to give Erin the push she needed.  As usual, it worked.

For those of you who have been asking for recipes that can be made inside, you apartments dwellers, this is for you.  Not only can this recipe send you into labor, it's really delicious, whether you're with or without child.
A few notes:
- This dish is spicy.  If you're not someone that likes a lot of heat, just significantly reduce the amount of habañero chili.
- I don't like rice, so we just eat this in a bowl like a stew.  If you like rice, ladle it over some.
- There are a lot of ingredients, so make your shopping list carefully.
- This is a great dish for football season.  If soemone in your house has been crying out for a healthy meal, this is it.
- Habañeros are in season NOW.

Here is the recipe.  Check out the Video.  And welcome Anderson Wells, Griller Instincts newest follower,  born 12 hours after we fed Erin the Blistering Shrimp.

Hanger Steak — What a Bargain!

Hanger Steak, is largely overlooked and a very under-appreciated part of the grilling family.  Since most of the time you can't find a good cut at the grocery store, and since by now I'm sure by now you have found a butcher you like, check in at your local shop when you're ready for a good grill.

At its low cost and great flavor, Hanger Steak  is #1 on my list for high quality steaks you can find at a bargain price.  I paid $9 per pound for this meat, and bought about 2.5 pounds. It fed four (hungry) adults, and there were leftovers.  There is a thick tendon that runs through the middle of a Hanger Steak that needs to be removed. Generally, the butcher does this for you, but if you are not buying from a butcher, just cut the tendon out.  It's pretty easy.

Hanger Steak takes well to marinade.  This steak went into a plastic bag with:

1/4 cup oilve oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/8 cup low sodium soy sauce
combine and pour into the bag with the steak

We marinated it for 1 hour.  Very easy.  Not a big deal.

As far as cooking time goes, I mentioned in the video 7 minutes per side.  My grill is really hot, so it only needed 4 minutes per side.  You will have to judge your own doneness.  It will be between 4-8 minutes per side (for Hanger Steak), 90% of the time.

Don't forget to let the meat rest (under tin foil) once it's off the grill.

A Whole Pot of Pickles

Before I jump into this week's blog, I just want to thank you for all your encouraging emails about Griller Instinct!  A few of you on the West coast seem to really like the Cedar Plank Salmon; I'll be sure to put some more fish grilling recipes in the cue.

I've had several requests for my homemade pickles.  These are easy and there is a huge difference in homemade pickles and store bought!  It's worth the minimal effort if you are a pickle fan. When they are ready, I put them in jars and can also give them as gifts.

Keep in mind, homemade pickles don't last forever.  The cucumbers will continue to pickle as long as you leave them in the brine.  Figure the fastest they will be ready is about one week, and they will last another five weeks after that.  Then the cucumbers begin to turn in mush.

Cucumbers in brine for one week = "New Pickle"
Two - four weeks = regular pickle
Five weeks - six weeks = "Sour Pickle"
Six weeks+ = mush

So, what are you going to brine the pickles in?  Something with a lid, I hope.  I use a stock pot with a lid, but I think a crock, or even a large Tupperware will work.

Here is the recipe

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

This post should have been up last weekend, but we just had the power come on, after a direct shot from hurricane Irene. The weather was carzy last Saturday night, so we grilled burgers.  However, no one wanted to come outside and film.  Wimps!  We had a fun hurrican party.

Let me give you fair warning: we shot the video several weeks ago.  Lisa and I were having a pool party, it was 100 degrees, and, well…. you can’t see it, but no one was wearing a shirt!  So, you’ll have to put up with my scantily clad cooking, one more time. 

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri Sauce is the easiest thing I have made for you so far, and even better, it’s fast and great for a crowd.  Grill the steak, cover for 5 minutes, slice against the grain, and allow guests to add their own Chimichurri Sauce.

What exactly is Chimichurri Sauce?

Chimichurri (also spelled Chimmichurri) originated from Argentina and Uruguay, is a popular sauce used with grilled meat in many Latin American countries.

If you want a healthy, green herb sauce that is bursting with flavor, this is it! Chimichurri is a traditional Argentinian sauce where the main ingredients used are Parsley, Garlic, Pepper & Olive Oil.  Much as we use ketchup here in America, Chimichurri is used in Argentina.

1^st make the Chimichurri Sauce ahead of time (2-3 hours)

2^nd grill the Skirt Steak. 

Buy skirt steak at the butcher.  Figure 1/2 - 3/4 pound per person.  If the steaks are too long to fit on the grill, cut them in half. Marinate the steak inolive oil, (kosher) salt and freshly ground pepper for 30 minutes – 2 hours. Allow the meat to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Get the grill as hot as possible and grill for 3 minutes per side if you like your steak done rare. 3.5 minutes per side if you prefer medium rare. Never more that that! 

Pull the steaks off the grill, cover them with foil for 5 minutes, then slice against the grain.  Skirt steak is not a tough cut, but cutting against the grain is always a plus. Serve!  How easy is that?

Family Dinner

Last week, I was visiting my Aunt and Uncle in Dutchess County (upstate New York), and since my sister and her husband were there, as well, we thought a family dinner would be fun.  My sister happens to be a vegetarian (I know...  how could I have a sister who is a vegetarian?), so besides some good Rib Eye steaks, we had lots of vegetable dishes.

There are some upsides to having a vegetarian sister:  the most obvious, more meat for everyone else! The other, she comes armed with great vegetable recipes.  So aside from the shopping, this whole meal only took about 40 minutes to prepare.  

Here was the menu:

Rib Eye Steaks:

Aunt Dana ordered steaks from her local butcher.  They were two inches thick and nicely trimmed.  I let them come up to room temperature and gave them the standard Olive Oil, (sea) salt, and freshly ground pepper.  Since these steaks were thick, I used a lot of seasoning.  In the video, I mention 7 minutes per side, but 14 minutes ended up being a bit too long.  The grill was very hot, so I only cooked the steaks for a total of 11 minutes (six minutes on the first side and 5 on the other).

How did I know when to take the steaks off for a perfect medium rare?  Here is how I knew. This takes some practice.  Alternatively, use a thermometer.  When the center of a steak get to 110 degrees (this only applies to steaks), take it off! Put the steak on a dish and cover it with foil, and let the meat re-distribute its juices for 10 minutes.  The meat will continue to cook and will end up about 125 degrees.  That's a perfect medium rare.  

Note: anything coming off the grill should rest for at least 10 minutes after it is done cooking.  The juice in the meat is re-distributed during that time, and when the meat is sliced, it will retain most of its juice.  No dried out food!

Corn on the Cob:

Last week was peak corn season in Dutchess County.  This recipe is only for corn in peak season.  If you try this with early season corn or frozen corn, it's not going to be good.  Since I'm not a huge corn fan, peak season corn is the only kind I will eat.  Any other time of year, I just skip it.  Peak season corn is very sweet and sugar caramelizes on the grill, so the taste is great.

Uncle Ira was in charge of corn, which was picked that morning.  He shucked the corn and put it on the grill, then he rotated the corn around a few times--starting directly on the burners and then moving them up to the warming rack to caramelize a bit.  Total grill time is about 25 minutes.   Put the corn in a dish and cover with foil.  They will stay hot for about 30 minutes.  That's it!  Moral of the story: Work with fresh local ingredients that are in season, and things are simple.  Nothing fancy required here.  If you can't find peak season corn, there are plenty of other good vegetable side dishes to make.

Rachel's Quinoa with Almonds

What the heck is Quinoa?

This stuff is like couscous or rice, but way better!  Just try it.  Have I steered you wrong yet?

Coconut Curry Vegetables

Ashish's Smoked Eggplant - This stole the show in my opinion

Who is Ashish? He is my sister husband and a recent and welcome addition to our family.  My kids call him Uncle Ashish. Uncle Ashish showed me how to smoke (grill really, we did not use smoke) eggplant.  Let me tell you, this is worth making. 

Green Beans with Coconut

Try these out!  Let me know how it goes.  Send me any questions you have to lneffron@gmail.com.

Pulled Pork BBQ

I'm having a party and I want to wow my guests.  To do so, I'm willing to invest most of a day smoking meat, but I also want to hang out it the yard and drink beer with Rocco.  So... I'll be making Pulled Pork BBQ.  This is a serious undertaking and it's not for the faint of heart, but it's well worth the effort.  Everyone loves this stuff.  It's great for a party and the last time I made it was for my daughter's 5th birthday.

For those of you that have been keeping up with my previous posts, we'll see what your chops are made of with this new recipe!

Here's your timeline:

The day before your party, pick up the pork shoulder.  This may also be called Boston Butt (I'm not sure why, but if you know, please leave a comment).  I've also seen it called a picnic shoulder, but only at crappy low end grocery stores.  Let's steer clear of those. Rub the pork with....  you guessed it...  Magic Dust.  Saran Wrap the pork and refrigerate overnight.

10 hours before you want to eat, soak you chips and start your coals.  This will  ideally be done in a smoker, which is almost as good is a charcoal grill, but can also be done on a gas grill if need be.  If you plan to do this in the oven, in a pressure cooker ,or in a slow cooker, you are not making Pulled Pork BBQ. You are making pulled pork.  That kind of sucks, and if you're having a party, your friends deserve better. Take the meat out of the fridge and let it start to come to room temperature.

9 hours before you want to eat, start smoking.  If you have a smoker, get it to 275 degrees and figure the meat will cook for eight hours.  Note: if you are using a charcoal or gas grill, it will be hard to keep the temperature that low so the meat won't take eight hours to cook.  Figure 7-8 hours for your cook time.

Note: place a drip pan under the pork (under the grate) and pour a beer into it, to help keep things moist.

As the smoke tapers off (every 60 minutes or so), add more smoking chips.

5 hours before you want to eat, start checking the internal temperature of the meat.  The first milestone will be 175 degrees.  This is the temperature when the meat will be done absorbing smoke and will begin to dry out.

Once you reach 175 degrees wrap the pork in two layers of heave duty aluminum foil.  Take some of the juices in the drip pan and pour them over the pork and wrap the juices up with the meat. Do a good job wrapping so nothing leaks out. Return the pork to the smoker and continue cooking to 200 degrees.  During the last 25 degrees of cooking is when the connective tissue breaks down and the pork begins to fall apart (becomes pullable).

Remove the pork from the smoker, unwrap it and let is rest for 30-60 minutes before you want to eat. Start warming your BBQ sauce on the stove.

30 minutes before you want to eat, pull your pork. You can use two forks which is a pain in the ass.  Or you can use rubber gloves.  I use these.  You can also buy gloves like these at the hardware store.  They are cheap and really easy to clean.  Just wear them and wash your hands in the sink when you are done.

Next, add BBQ sauce to the pulled pork.  How much?  Go with your gut!  But not too much!  Don't drown the pork.  The taste of the meat and the smoke should be the predomninant flavor.  The taste of the sauce should be secondary.

Mix your sauce in and cover the pan to keep warm.  I put the covered pan onto the smoker to keep warm or to heat it back up.  Sometimes I use the oven if the smoker has cooled considerably.

What kind of BBQ sauce?


This is a long involved question that I will cover in the near future.  There are so many kinds of sauce.  Most of the time I make one red BBQ sauce (tomato based) and one white (vinegar based).  Then everyone at the party argues which sauce is better.  Kind of like the old "Tastes great / Less filling" commercials.  But the key is that I MAKE THE SAUCE.

BBQ sauce is one of those things that tastes much different when it is made fresh.  It makes a big difference.  However, I realize this whole ordeal has been a tremendous burden already, so I will share with you my favorite store bought sauce.  It comes from one of my favorite BBQ restaurants, Dinosaur BBQ.  I can get this sauce at my local market.  If you can't, order some, and keep it in the cupboard, for all sorts of applications.

Use the store bought sauce to get started.  I will also post at white (vinegar-based) sauce recipe at the bottom of the blog.  That takes 5 minutes to make, so just do it; you've come this far, don't ruin your Pulled Pork BBQ now!

Have your guests load the pulled pork onto thick white bread, top with Slaw (recipe at bottom of blog), and make a sandwich.

Good luck!  No mater how this comes out, you will have the respect and appreciation from your guests for making the effort to do it right.

The video below is from the birthday party.  There is a shot of C'est Cheese, my mac and cheese recipe, which, like all the others, can be found at the bottom of the blog.

Thunder Thighs

Here is an easy way to BBQ some food to keep in the fridge all week.  If you're like me, I love to cook on the weekends, but I have very little time after work.  After a long commute from NYC, the last thing I want to do is come home and start cooking something complicated.  So, I make lots of food on the weekends and we usually eat the leftovers for several days. 

Not all food is good for leftovers; Thunder Thighs are.  Chicken thighs are quick and simple to make.  It's hard to dry them out, they easily absorb smoke, and those are both key factors that make them great for the grill.  Not to mention they are cheap and usually readily available.

Here's a summary of the video:

1. Soak some wood chips in water.  I like Jack Daniels smoking chips for this recipe.
2.Generously season the thighs with Magic Dust (my "go to" dry rub), and some olive oil.
3.Smoke the thighs for about 30 minutes. I usually aim for 175 degrees, just to be on the safe side.  Don't worry, it's hard to dry these out.
4. Let them cool.  Taste one.  Then stick them in the fridge for up to one week.

What do I do if I don't have a charcoal grill? 

Follow the recipe, but use an indirect cooking method on your gas grill.  If your gas grill has two burners, bring the grill up to a high temperature with both burners on.  Next, turn one burner off and place the thighs over the extinguished burner. If your gas grill has three burners, same technique, but turn off the middle burner and place the thighs in the middle.  I'm unaware of a gas grill with one burner, but if that is your situation...  get a new grill!

How do I create smoke on a gas grill?

Some gas grills have a smoker box.  If so... here is your big chance to use it.  If not, no problem. You'll need to make a "smoker pouch".  Sounds cool, right?  Take the chips you have been soaking and loosely roll them up in heavy duty tin foil.  Seal the foil roll and pinch the ends.  It should look just burrito but sealed up. Poke about 18 small holes in the top for smoke to escape.  Place the smoker pouch  directly on the lit burner (it should turned up on the highest setting) under the cooking grate.  If the grate fits over it, replace it.  If not, just leave it off for this recipe. The chips will not start to smoke quite as fast with this technique, so give it a few minutes to get going, before you put the thighs on.  The pouch should look like this:





Check out the video; these thighs came out great.  You'll notice they were on the small side.  I smoked them for 32 minutes which gave me an internal temperature of about 180 degrees.  That was a little too hot, but it's always better to be safe than sorry with chicken. They were still moist, and had some extra smoke flavor.  While too hot can work for thighs, I'd recommend you start checking yours at the 28-30 minute mark.