BBQ Bacon Cheeseburgers

Here is an idea I got from working at a place that was my income for a long time. Rafferty's gave me a lot of ideas that I took and ran with. Some for the better and some flopped but I can make some mean fried mushrooms and I can make one hell of a bbq bacon burger. Another thing that I learned from many attempts at trying to recreate the magic of this burger and putting a hit spin on it, I realized that there was no way that I could do this right unless I used rendered fat. Yes the sound of the Theramin starts ringing in your ear and you feel ominous in some way. I said rendered fat. The thing that you always thought was taboo and evil and in some ways it is. Using rendered fat and grease will send your taste buds into euphoria and put you on cloud nine. The secret behind the flavor of this burger is use of bacon grease on the onions. As for the burger there is nothing really crazy about it other than the seasoning in and on the meat. I'll list the things you'll need but other than using a hot grill and a frying pan for the onions, there really are no tricks to the building of it.

2 lb of 80/20 ground chuck
1 medium size sweet yellow onion.
8 slices of bacon
BBQ Sauce
Dijon Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Italian Bread Crumbs
1 Large Egg
4 slices of Smoked Cheddar Cheese
Hot Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper
Celery Salt
Garlic Powder
White Pepper
Italian Seasoning
White Pepper
Creole Seasoning

Put Meat in a bowl with a 1/2 cup of Worcestershire Sauce, 3 tbsp of Dijon Mustard, 4 dashes of hot sauce, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, and 1 large egg. Mix this together with your hands. If you don't like getting messy you can wear gloves. When you mix everything together, you're going to make 4 rather large 1/2 pound burgers. Place burgers on a plate and your going to mix the other spices left above into a small baggie. 2 tbsp of italian seasoning and creole seasoning and tsp portions of everything else. Mix seasoning vigorously in baggie and cover burgers in plate with 1/2 of spice mixture. Place burgers on the grill seasoning side down for 7-8 minutes and cover other side of meat with the other half of seasoning rub mix while the other side cooks. Flip the meat and cook for another 5 minutes the burgers are going to basically be done. Remove from the heat for a little bit and the burgers will continue to cook as the juices in the meat will settle back and back into the burgers. Do not squeeze the burgers at all, and I mean ever before eating. Don't press them on the grill and do not ever squeeze them. You also only ever want to flip them once. Now for the other thing. Frying the bacon and onion. You want to fry up the bacon until crispy and remove it and throw in the sliced onion into the rendered grease. Don't think about it, just do it. Fry the onions until they become slightly transparent and are pliable. Place the burgers on a cookie sheet, put 2 slices of bacon on each, split the onions between them, put 1 tbsp of bbq sauce on each burger and then put on the slice of cheese. Place in oven on broil long enough to melt the cheese and then remove. Toast 4 egg buns or sesame rolls and put a little bit of bbq sauce on them as well and place the burgers on the buns. What you have is a work of pure art. These things will make a sane person want to smack someone in the face. They are just that good.

Oven Smoked Pork Butt in a Cheerwine infused BBQ Sauce

Ok...First of all, don't be alarmed by the sound of this because you all know what sweet and sour sauce tastes like. It is sweet and sour sauce with a spicy kick. Now that you feel a little at ease about this then lets talk about some food. I watch The Food Network religiously and something that I've seen a lot of is smoking meat in an oven. Yes smoking meat indoors is possible and it works great. Living life in an apartment again has gotten me back to using some really weird tactics to cooking stuff that I love. I can't just go out onto the porch anymore and smoke meat like I used to. So I got a cheap pan from the dollar store, put some wet wood chips in there, and placed the pan one level down from the butt in the oven. Rather simple and it worked out very well. I got the idea of using Cheerwine from the advent of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts coming out with their Cheerwine cream filled doughnuts. I said to myself, self, I'm gonna make some bbq sauce with some Cheerwine in it. So I used my normal base except for using a little spicier mustard and red wine vinegar instead of the apple cider vinegar. First I'll tell you how to make the sauce then I'll describe the smoking technique. Here are the things you need.

Ketchup
Dijon Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Red Wine Vinegar
Cheerwine
White Sugar
Kosher Salt
White Pepper
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper

1 3lb Boston Butt Pork Roast
Cracked Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Creole Seasoning
3 cups of wood chips (I like Mesquite but Hickory is always good to use)
6 cups of water
1 cheap dollar store aluminum roasting or lasagna pan.

First you're going to set your roast in to smoke in the oven. First things first. In the pan you're going to put your 3 cups of wood chips into the pan and soak in the 6 cups of water for about 20 minutes. While the chips are soaking go ahead and rub the meat with the combo of Italian Seasoning, fresh cracked black pepper, and creole seasoning. Set the racks of the oven so that the top rack can fit the roast in the middle of the oven and the bottom rack will be on the bottom so that the chips can sit about 6 inches below the roast. Preheat to 325 degrees. Drain the water after the chips have soaked put into the oven and then put the roast over the pan so that the fat may drip onto the meat.You'll want to put the fat side up so that the fat can drip down through the meat and keep it moist while smoking and the direct smoke can begin forming a bark on the outside of the pork butt. Smoke the roast in the oven for 2 hours and then reduce the heat to 275 for 2 hours.

Now it is time for the sauce. If you are using soda you will use very little sugar as the soda is a sugary substance. Start by putting a small saucepan over medium low heat and adding in about 2 cups of ketchup, 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard, and 1/4 cup each of Worcestershire sauce, and red wine vinegar. Start wisking and bringing the heat up gradually. Go ahead and add a cup of Cheerwine or other cherry soda and continue wisking. Add teaspoons at a time of sugar to thicken slightly as this sauce is going to be a sort of mopping sauce. Very good with flavor but sticky enough to stick to meat. Once the mixture is simmering and you can see some bubbling add the spices (kosher salt, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and white pepper). Mix in the spices and let simmer for another 30 minutes or so and you will turn off the heat and set the sauce aside.

Once meat is done you will want to take the roast out with two forks and place in a dish or pan. Let it set and continue to cook during rest for about 10-15 minutes and then you want to start tearing the meat apart. It will fall apart and fall off of the blade of the bone in the meat and be like regular pulled pork. Pour the sauce over the meat and mix and toss all of the roast in the sauce. Serve with some of your favorite sides. I had baked potatoes and my spicy baked beans with mine which the beans are on the blog. Hope you enjoy it if you try it out.

Stewed Pork with Cranapple Lambic BBQ Sauce.

Think for a moment and believe that you can make some crazy good food with what you have in your fridge. Yesterday I had more of the Country Style spare ribs because they are always going on bogo, some decently good red ale which I reviewed on my other blog, some more ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, various spices, and some Cranapple Juice. Then I just started to experiment. Here are the things that I used...feel free to mess around with it as you see fit.

6 Country Style Spare Ribs
2 1/2 cups of Cranapple Juice
2 12oz bottles of Ale
1/2 cup of Vinegar (Balsamic and Apple Cider are good for this one)
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup Horseradish Mustard
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Apple Sauce
2 tbsp Honey
2 dashes of lemon juice
2 dashes of Hot Sauce
BBQ seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Pepper
Kosher Salt

The first thing that I think about when I'm going to stew meat with a sauce is that I will stew it in a brine that consists of some of the same flavors that the sauce is going to have so that the sauce and the meat marry with some major flavor punch. This recipe will blow your mind. I like for my taste buds to do some crazy tumble runs when I cook so I like to build some very rich flavor profiles. Don't follow this too closely. Like I said, experimentation is something that you will want to do in the kitchen. I like to fix meals early in the day and let them cook over time so I'm not standing in the kitchen for an hour making a good meal. The prep time for this takes maybe 10 minutes. Then 30 minutes before you plan to eat...you get the side dishes ready unless you make instant sides. I made oven fries and steamed asparagus. Choose what you want to do.

Directions:
Use 2 cups of Cranapple Juice first off and mix in some black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, 2 dashes of hot sauce, 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 dash of lemon juice and start to heat over a stove for about 5 minutes on low heat. Preheat the oven to 250 and line your cooking pot with the pork strips. Add sugar and stir into the hot liquid until disolved and mix in 1/4 cup of horseradish mustard, and 1 tbsp of honey. Make sure it is all dissolved and pour the very thin liquid over the top of the strips. Pour 1 1/2 bottles of beer on top of the brine and ribs, put a top of the pot, and put into the oven. Set aside the remaining half of bottle of beer for your sauce. Your going to stew the meat in the oven for about 5 hours. The idea with this is to cook the meat low and slow and it will be very tender and fall apart when you get it out of the oven. Around 30 minutes before you eat, your going to mix your sauce. In a pot on Medium high heat your going to mix the ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, apple sauce and spices that I put into the list together and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of cranapple juice and the other half of beer into the thick sauce and let it simmer for another 10 minutes and reduce on medium heat until the sauce is of medium viscosity. Remove from heat and let the sauce marry down. Pour sauce into a squeeze bottle and put onto pork once plated. Once you remove the pork from the brine, it will tear apart. There's no need for a knife just use two forks to break it apart. This stuff is great. Just make sure you bring your appetite and maybe a bib because like any good dish it is a little messy.

Roasted Pork in an Asian Fused Mustard Peanut Sauce

Once again, I was just perusing what we had in the fridge and the cupboard and came up with an idea that was nothing short of amazing. If you haven't ever bought country style spare ribs at the grocery store, they go on BOGO quite often and yield a lot of meat. You have to cook these low and slow, but the flavor is definitely there. This sauce I made is just me mixing some stuff together and it ended up being so good. It is rich in flavor with a big salty hit of soy on the front with a peanut flavor that kicks you pretty well on the back. The mustard just links the two hits together in a delightful spicy bridge with a sweet hint of honey going through it. Here are the things you will need for this delicious treat.

8 Country Style Pork Spare Ribs
Greek Seasoning (use for the meat rub)
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce
Whole Grain Mustard
Honey
Peanut Butter
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Paprika
Italian Seasoning

Your going to heat the oven to 325 for this recipe. Sprinkle the Greek seasoning on the meat and rub into the ribs. Wash your hands really well and then you'll need to place the ribs in a glass casserole dish. In a mixing bowl, mix about 1/2 cup of Whole Grain Mustard, 10 dashes of soy sauce, 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp of honey, 1 heaping spoonful of peanut butter, 1 tbsp each of garlic and onion powder, 1 tsp of black pepper, 1 tsp of paprika, and 1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning (this contains oregano, basil, coriander, thyme, parsley, and rosemary if you don't have the italian seasoning blend). Mix vigorously with a wisk and pour all of the sauce except for 1/4 cup over the pork (place the rest to the side, you will use it later). Place in preheated oven for 2 hours. After an hour and a half, turn the ribs over and allow the other side of the ribs to roast in the sauce for 30 minutes. What this last step does is allows the side that was once drowned in the sauce to sear in the sauce and allows the roasted side to rest in the flavor again for a little while. Remove from the oven and let the meat set off to the side for about 10-15 minutes which allows the pork to finish cooking in its own fat and will let the juices inside the meat settle a little bit. You'll want to slice the meat into small chunks and then you will use about 1/4 cup of the sauce that is leftover to toss the pork around in. Serve the Pork with some potatoes or rice, and some corn and you are good to go. Hope you'll enjoy this one.

Roasted Potatoes

Here's my roasted potato recipe...quite easy thing to do for any meal. It only takes 25-30 minutes and uses very simple ingredients. Here's what you'll need.

3 regular Russet Potatoes. (cut into wedges)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Creole Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Sea Salt
Italian Seasoning

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees and place potato wedges on sheet pan. Drizzle wedges with olive oil and sprinkle some of all ingredients on them and put them into the oven once preheated. Bake on 325 for 15 minutes and then turn up the heat for another 15 minutes to 425. The lower heat will cook the potatoes mostly through and the rise in temperature will finish cooking them and crisp them up nicely. You don't want to peel the potatoes because the peels actually contain the only real nutrients in the potato. Just wash them well before cutting them into wedges. You can drizzle these with a little malted vinegar or eat them chili and cheese or you can do like Canadians and cover them with gravy. I know that the last idea sounds very sickening but trust me, it is truly a tasteful delight. Whatever you do with these I promise you will enjoy them.

Topping Chili

Growing up in the south has definitely made me grow up loving hot dogs. One of the things that makes a true southern hot dog great is chili. I like a little more of a tang in mine but one thing is constant...I want it to kick me in the taste buds. This recipe is something that I make with or without beans and I can pretty much make it in any size vessel. For hot dogs or burgers I like to make it in small amounts. I'll make it easy and use a pound of meat in this one so that I don't confuse anyone. Here are the things you'll need. I don't measure a thing in this so this won't be exact. Just eyeball it and experiment.

1 lb Ground Chuck (fat=flavor)
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
8oz canned diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
ketchup
yellow mustard
hot sauce
soy sauce
chili pepper
ground cumin
black pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

Start by dropping the meat into the saucepan and mash it down with a potato masher to really break up the meat. You don't want any clumps. About halfway through the browning process, your going to drop in the finely diced onion, and garlic and mix it into the meat. Add the diced tomato. Go ahead and add about 1/4 cup of ketchup and 1/4 cup mustard 2-3 dashes of hot sauce. You want to taste the pepper out of the hot sauce and not make it overly spicy. Add a couple of dashes of soy for some saltiness and add the chili powder and cumin. Be copious with the chili powder and use about a tsp and a half of cumin. Mix in the black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Don't use too much because you already added the onion and garlic to the chili earlier. Let simmer for about 20 minutes on medium heat. When you come back to it, add in the tomato paste to thicken it a little and crank the heat up to medium high for 10 minutes or so to allow the liquid to steam off a little. Your going to have to stay with this because you don't want this to burn, so stir it around every minute or so. Reduce the heat to low on the stove to keep warm. For a dryer chili, your just going to strain it through a wire strainer and not a colander. The meat should have been broken down so much that it will go through a colander. Just top off your favorite dog or burger and you'll have something that will surely smack your mouth somethin' good.

Smoky Garlic and White Wine Chuck Roast

Here is yet another roast to add to the many that I do. I was thinking of some really great flavors and I had a good chuck roast sitting in the freezer. I just thawed it out and made a gem of a roast. On a difficulty level I place it right around a 6 out of 10 and is quite easy until the end. Prep doesn't take long and a good side dish is just some oven roasted potato wedges which is another one of easy set and forget things and I'll add that one to the blog soon. Here's the things that you'll need for the roast.

3 lb Chuck Roast
1 stick of Margarine or Butter
2 oz Dry White Wine
Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
White Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Pepper
Creole Seasoning
Rosemary
1/2 cup flower

Sprinkle spices and rosemary on one side of the roast and put spice side down into olive oil lined large skillet on medium heat. Sprinkle more spices and rosemary on the other side of beef and flip over. Grill on both sides for about 3 minutes until spices and rosemary are completely seared in. Remove the roast and put into casserole dish for roasting. Preheat the oven to 325. While the oven is heating, you're going to make the smoky garlic butter sauce. Melt the stick of butter in same skillet you just seared the meat in and scrape pan with a wooden spoon until all of the little bits of spice and rosemary are mixed back in with the butter. Pour in the wine and stir briskly to deglace the pan further and then add around 5 dashes of Worcestershire Sauce and 2-3 good dashes of Hot Sauce. Add the minced garlic and allow to cook for about 2 minutes. Pour this mixture back onto the beef, sit the skillet to the side (you'll want to use it again later), cover with foil, and place into the oven for 3 hours. Once 3 hours is up, you will want to pull the roast out of the oven, take off the foil, and let the meat rest and let the juices set back into the meat for about 10 minutes. After around 10 minutes, spoon some of the Au Jus in the bottom of the casserole dish back onto the meat and set the meat in a serving bowl or a dish. In the same pan you used earlier, pour the Au Jus in the dish back into the skillet and mix in the flour and mix into a rue. Add 2 cups of water gradually and continue to stir to make a good, gravy. Put a couple of hunks of meat onto a plate, spoon some gravy over the meat and you are done and ready to show down. This is possibly one of the richer tasting roasts I've made in a long time and it is definitely a party to the taste buds. Hope you all like it!!!