Gourmet Magazine Closes

It's not about smoking. It's not about pressure cooking. But it is significant in the world of food.

Gourmet magazine, published since 1940, is closing. A sad day indeed.

Smoked Mixed Nuts

Ever since we got out smoker, I've been wanted to try smoked nuts, but just never got around to it. But faced with a fast approaching cocktail hour with friends - I figured it would be the perfect time to try.

A bit of background.

We have a few friends coming over for cocktail hour. Knowing the players, I thought it would be fun to try to do a traditional type one where instead of the usual beer and wine we opt for some classics like bourbon manhatten's (one of our friend's favourites) and cosmopolitans or the like. Of course beer and wine would also be availalbe.

So with these classic drinks I thought some proper accompanients would be in good order. Although the drinks have that 60s flair, I wasn't quite in the mood for appies with toothpicks in them. I figured cocktail nuts with a twist would be good.

I've made nut appetizers before, but not on the smoker. I'm not crazy about nut recipes that use melted butter as they get a bit greasy and for nibblies and that's not convenient. So I went with a trusted eggwhite recipe.

The trick here is two fold (no egg white pun intended).

One: Proper egg white beating,

Two: Yummy spices. The latter is the funnest part as you can be super creative or just use what you have available. Today's line up included sugar, chopped fresh rosemary, chile

powder, cumin and garlic powder.

I won't go into details as it's easy pleasy and the recipe is below.

What I will tell you is that these were delicious. Not super smoky, but more of a hint of smoke. And did I mention easy?
Smoked Mixded Nuts

2 egg whites
1/3 cup white sugar
2 tsp chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
4 cups mixed nuts such as walnuts, pecans, almonds

Preheat your smoker to 300F.

Beat the egg whites until frothy in a large bowl (as you'll be adding the nuts to this bowl later). You're not aiming for stiff peaks here, but you don't want any clear eggy goo either. Then you mix up your spices in a separate bowl and fold them in with the egg whites.

Add your nuts and mix well. Note, I used slivered almonds instead of whole and this worked very well. When you mix you will find that the egg whites are almost stringy - that's ok.

Pour into a disposable aluminum pan and spread around evenly. Place on the smoker and cook 15-20 minutes. Mix about. Reduce heat to 250F and cook another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool before serving (although you can cheat and taste while warm as they are good then too).

Smoked Beef Finger Ribs

I am finally back at home for a stretch where I can resume some cookery of the smoker and/or pressure cooker variety! On the menu, smoked beef finger ribs

At this juncture I would like to give you some details on what Beef Finger Ribs are in terms of cut, but I can't as I just don't know. I tried to look online, but didn't find any further details, and many items discussed "boneless beef finger ribs" which these aren't - they have bone. I would like to say that the obvious is that they are a product from the cow that comes from the ribs, but then using that logic one may also think that they are a cow fingers product as well. What I can confirm based on visual (vs. the logic scenario) is they are definitely a rib product. But not the usual large ribs, so likely from a different area or a different trim.

I approached the ribs in usual smoker fashion. Dry rub marinade; sprtizing, basting with sauce. Here's the rundown.

I first used a plain basic (lazy) dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. (In hindsight, I should have used something more zesty and less salty such as my ancho dry rub or spicy dry rub which I make in supply so I always have it on hand). I let the dry rub absorb for about 1/2 hour.

I used a grapvine wood pellet and let the ribs cook at 225F for about 4 hours. I would normally suggest sprtizing with apple juice every 1/2 hour for the last 3 hours, but we ended up going for a motorcycle ride and I was able to only sprtiz for a couple of hours.

Finally, I made a yummy Chipotle Raspberry bbq baste/mop type sauce which I mopped the ribs with 3 times during the last 45 minutes of cooking. I also served a bit on the side for extra dipping (if you do this, be sure you aren't using any that's had the potential of cross-contamination).

The result. Pretty delicious. Served with some corn on the cob and beets with fresh dill all from the farmers market. Does it get any better?

Chipotle Raspberry Mop Sauce

14 oz can tomatoes with sauce
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
4 cloves garlic minced
2 cups frozen raspberries
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp black pepper

Process the tomatoes and chipotle peppers together until smooth and pour into a large saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil stirring often. Reduce heat, and let simmer for 30-60 minutes.

Up-State New York n' Smokin'

No I'm not being lazy and avoiding posts. I've been travelling through New England/Up-State New York / and the Mid-West for all of July and blog-posts haven't been at the top of my to-do list (they fall short of lobster rolls, incredible architecture, and tall ships).

Although I plan to jump back into smoker recipes and pressure-cooking recipes, I thought I'd do a quick blurb on smoker cooking during my travels.

When you think of smoking, you don't normally think of Up-State New York and/or New England - you'd be more apt to think of Kansas or the deep south. But let me tell you, smoking is alive and well in the North East.

We passed many a smoker places - in hindsight I should have taken pictures of all that I saw as it truly is surprising. But what I will tell/show you is the place where we did stop and partake of a delicious smoker meal.

The Tail o' the Pup is a smoker joint just north outside of Lake Placid. We had seen it a couple of years ago when driving through, and always regretted not stopping. On this trip, we made it our initial destination (shortly followed by Lake Placid).
The Tail o' the Pup not only does smoked foods, but also seafood boils. Very cool. It's not upscale, but it is delicious, and the perfect outdoor eatery. The outdoor space (which is much larger than the indoor space) is perfectly designed for some laid-back hanging out while chowing down on big food. Since we were there around 2:00 p.m. we didn't see it, but they do have live entertainment on an outdoor stage.

In order to maximize our tasting of all things smoked, we shared the meat platter. Complete with pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, and ribs. All were tasty, and had a delicious charcoal flabour. If I had to pick the pulled pork would be my fav (my husband voted for the beef brisket).

Apart from that, I should mention, Lake Placid is a beautfiul place.

We stayed a few nights at this great hotel called High Peaks resort which is right on the main street and overlooks Mirror Lake. Fantastic. The little townsite is very nice with all the essentials (Starbucks). Also, the roads around the area are amazing, particulary if you have a motorbike or a sports car (twisty, smooth and scenic).

I should also mention this fantastic side-trip we did to Burlington, Vermont where we had a smoked meat sandwich at Leunig's downtown. It was beyond amazing.

So there it is boys and girls. A quick update.

Pressure Cooking in Jamaica (Curried Goat)

I'm currently on vacation in Jamaica mon and had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be doing any posts as I wouldn't be doing any cooking. But as fate would have it, a pressure cooker appeared on the scene and I reckoned a post was order.

We're on this amazing holiday in Jamaica in June. Not your usual time for a "hot holiday" if you're from the northern hemisphere, but our travel companions are from the southern hemisphere (Australia) and it indeed is winter there.

We're staying at a gorgeous estate called Hammerstein's Highland House (HHH). It's a private estate so it's just us eight friends (old and new) here. We have incredible amenities, including all of the meals prepared for us at the times we specify. In fact, they ring a bell when a meal is ready - which we all love. It actually makes you conditioned to start salivating when you hear it and wander zombie-like to the dining area. I can now relate to my cat and why she gets so excited at the sound of her food jar coming out.

The food has been exceptional - and we haven't had any desire to seek out other eating establishments. In fact, we tend to plan everything around our meals, and often spend a good chunk of our time talking about what we've eaten or what's coming next!

Back to the pressure cooker.

We were all sitting on the Terrace enjoying cocktail hour and the gorgeous view of Montego Bay.

Steve slipped into the kitchen and came back to announce that a pressure cooker was going. As any normal person would do given such news, I grabbed my camera and ran to the kitchen. Sure enough, a pressure cooker was toiling away. Even more exciting it was a Fagor brand 6 qt. - almost like what I have at home.

We enquired what treasure trove simmered away in this vessel. Just as I suspected, it was the curry goat that was one of the dishes on this evening's menu. The chef, Sherry-Anne, said it helps to keep it tender .

When we sat to dinner, the curry goat not only looked fantastic, but also smelled and tasted fantastic.

It was served alongside broccoli, cho cho (a local squash-type vegetable which is very good) and rice. I must confess though, I pretty much focused on eating the yummy curried goat and didn't dabble to much into the side dishes! Dessert was a delicious and perfect lemon soufflé!

I will definitely be trying to recreate this curried goat recipe in the future using my pressure cooker at home!

OMG - Pulled Pork Tinga

UPDATE: See the end of this post for another instalment of using up the leftovers - smoked pulled pork pizza. This is a teaser photo right below - it's not pork tinga!

This would be an instalment in my using up the leftovers of the "Cheap Ass Monday" Smoked Pork Picnic Roast. Although I've been using up the pork, I'm pacing myself on the postings. (Pacing=lazy)

Oh my god.

That was my first reaction to my first bite of this recipe.

After mulling over my leftover options, I decided to text one of my girlfriends from Mexico to get an idea. A simple text saying "I've got a bunch of left over pulled pork - any Mexican recipes for using it up" led to a flurry of texts for Tinga. And baby, it was so worth piecing together the multiple texts.

In fact, making this dish was thrilling on so many levels - and I can honestly say that doesn't happen every day in general cookery.

My first thrill was using a brand new All-Clad 3 quart cassoulet that I added to my collection. What the hell a cassoulet is for, I don't know (surely not just cassoulet), but it was a thrill to use. So I started by sautéing some diced onions until just starting to brown then added some of the pulled pork leftovers.

Meanwhile, thrill number two arose, when I used a food processor to puree 2 large tomatoes, a large clove of garlic and 2 chipotles in adobo sauce. This was a thing of beauty. The resulting sauce was such a deep luscious colour, I knew I was onto something good.

I added the puree to the pork mixture, along with 1/2 cup of orange juice and salt and pepper and let it simmer. Again, it just looked completely fantastic. Thrilling, in fact.

I had zipped to the grocery after work to buy tostadas (actually Wal-Mart - a store which is a negative thrill, but they actually carry proper tostadas) so after the Tinga had simmered for 1/2 hour I was ready for assembly.

My girlfriend is travelling right now, so I can't confirm the proper, traditional way to serve Tinga. So I simply put some pork on a tostada, added lettuce, cheese and sour cream. I would have added avocado but the one I had on hand wasn't quite ripe.

Then I had a bite. Oh my god. It was amazing. I couldn't believe the flavours. To coin a phrase from

Moe the Bartender on The Simpsons "It's like a party in my mouth and everyone's invited". That Moe, he knows how to call it.

Pulled Pork Tinga Recipe
1 tbsp oil
1/2 large onion diced
2 cups pulled pork (leftovers)
2 large ripe tomatoes, cored
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (with sauce)
1 large clove garlic
1/2 cup orange juice

To serve: Tostadas, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, chopped avocado, sour cream

Heat the oil in a large saucepan (or cassoulet pan if you have) until just starting to brown. Add the pulled pork and mix. Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, peppers and garlic in a food processor. Add to the pork along the orange juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer a 1/2 hour until somewhat reduced.

LEFTOVER UPDATE:

Smoked Pulled Pork and Pineapple Pizza

I won't go into the prep details for this (I'll save that for another blog - but I used more of the smoked pork picnic roast to do a smoked pizza. The result was pretty good. I really liked that it didn't have the processed flavour of bought pork product, but it wasn't exactly like ham and pineapple pizza either. It was pretty much unto its own.

"Cheap Ass Monday" - Smoked Pork Picnic Roast

You may be wondering why the "Cheap Ass Monday" bit in the title. Well it's to flag that this post is intended to be a submission to Michelle over at Thursday Night Smackdown for her "Cheap Ass Monday" (formerly "hobo Mondays") monthly event - where a dinner for six can cost no more than $13.

It is pure coincidence that I'm making a smoked pulled pork dish on the heels of Michelle's recent smoke-a-thon. You see, I was at the grocery yesterday and they had these pork picnic roasts (hock removed) on sale. How could I resist. It was screaming "smoke me" I'm cheap!

Usually when I make pulled pork, I use a pork blade shoulder roast . But when I saw these big pork shoulder picnic roasts, I figured I should throw all caution to the wind and give it a whirl.

I began by trimming the excess fat from the roast. EXCESS fat, not ALL. This is critical to the end product. Not only does it keep the meat tender during its long cooking process, but it also creates the most amazing crispy crust on the outside that is worth the whole dinner in itself.

I slathered one of my favourite spicy dry rub recipes. This is a concoction I created by picking and choosing things I liked from different recipes. I make it in bulk and use it on various meats/cuts including chicken and pork ribs. I've even contemplated packaging it as a gift for friends and family at Christmas, but the lazy side of me always interferes.

I wrapped the rubbed roast in plastic wrap and let it sit for an hour to "marinate." I should note that it was 9:00 a.m. as this is one of those low and slow recipes. Then it was smoking time. I preheated the smoker, filled with maple pellets for 15 minutes. I then put the rubbed roast on (plastic wrapped removed- in case you are silly enough to think it stay) and turned the heat to 225F. A bit of basting and 8 hours later you're ready to eat!

For sides dishes I made a smoked potato casserole (yes I just made this last week, but it was so delicious I was craving it and had to make it again), and a simple tomato salad (yayyyy - I finally have productive basil in the yard to do this).

When the pork roast was ready it looked amazing, and tasted even more amazing. I had originally planned to drench it with a bbq sauce, but it was so good on its own I didn't - turns out this was an opportunity. . . .

As for the pork picnic roast - I will choose it over the pork blade roast from now on for pulled pork. It was much better for "pulling" and had tonnes of meat.

This was originally a dinner for 6 (that's what the math is based on), but the pork roast turned out to be so big that I've got enough leftovers to get me through numerous meals. A Challenge! I plan to use the leftovers in various meals for the next few days (i.e. Before I get sick of eating pork or before it starts to grow some crazy bacteria that will make me sick).

Stay tuned. . . .

The Math:
for Cheap Ass Monday, Smoked Pork Picnic Roast for Dinner for 6 per instructions
Pork Roast $6.00Potato Casserole Ingredients ($1.59+$.59+$1.5+$1.89+$.25)
Tomato Salad ($1.15 + $1.5)
Total: 14.47 CDN - converted to USD $13.29*
*yes its slightly over the limit, but if the CDN dollar hadn't strengthened this last week it would have been well over


Spicy Dry Rub for a Plenitude of Purposes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Mix all ingredients together. If making the bulk mix using a strainer to remove any lumps. Store in airtight container.

Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder Roast
1 6-8 lb pork shoulder picnic roast
1 recipe dry rub mix (above)

Trim the roast of excess fat - but not all. Be sure to leave a thin layer to keep the roast moist during cooking and create a delicious crackling whilst cooking. Rinse with water.

Rub the roast all over with the dry rub and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let sit for one hour to "marinate." 15 minutes before it's ready prepare the smoker by heating it on high with maple wood. Turn the heat to low or 225F and put the roast on. Baste with Raspberry baste every hour for 8 hours until the roast is cooked.

Once cooked, remove from smoker. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Pull the pork into strip using a fork and a knife. Be sure to remove excess fat, but keep the crispy crackling (you may even want to snack on it as you go).

Raspberry Vinegar Baste
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
Mix all ingredients together.