App Review: Omaha Steaks Steak Time

Here's the situation: You have several folks over for steaks on the grill. Each one of them likes a different cut and doneness. How do you make sure all the steaks are ready at the same time? Sure, you know to start the steaks sentenced to being well done before the medium and rare steaks, but how do you time it so they all are done together?

Enter Omaha Steak's free Android app Steak Time.

Steak Time is basically a multi-timer application that allows you to create separate custom timers for each steak you are cooking. The timers tell you when to put the steak on the grill, when to flip them, and when they are all done. This is what makes Steak Time so helpful. Each steak is staggered based on total cooking time so all of them are done at the same time.

And Steak Time plays a jaunty tune to let you know when the steaks are ready.

More on how to use Steak Time when you grill, and its other features after the jump.

Recipe: Chipotle Spice Rubbed Beer Butt Chicken

A few months back I picked up a cookbooklet at the grocery store checkout line. It's called Cooking with Beer and promises "More than 50 simple recipes!" Chipotle Spice Rubbed Beer Butt Chicken is one of them.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
• 1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• 1 can (12 ounces) beer

Directions

1. Prepare grill for indirect grilling. Grease grid.
2. Combine sugar, paprika, cumin, salt, garlic powder, chili powder and chipotle pepper in a small bowl, or pulse in blender for thorough mixing. Gently loosen skin of chicken over breast, legs and thighs. Rub spice mixture under and over skin and inside cavity. Drink one fourth of beer. Position chicken on grilling stand with beer can (pictured).
3. Place chicken on prepared grid. Cover and cook 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender and cooked through.
4. Remove chicken from grill and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from stand and carve. Discard can.

Comments

Not bad. I recommend increasing the chipotle pepper in the rub for a spicier result. Use hickory, misquite and apple wood chips when cooking.

Recipe from Cooking With Beer. I can't find a direct link to the book, but the publisher is Publications International, Ltd. 

Half Smokes

If you live in or visit Washington, DC, you can't help but notice the street vendors. And the main item on most of their menus is the half smoke. According to Wikipedia, the half smoke is a half beef, half pork smoked sausage, bigger in diameter and spicier than a hot dog. The etymology of the name is uncertain but the most common explanation is its half-and-half meet composition. It's served on a bun, often with spicy mustard and sauteed onions. You can also get it with chili.

I simmer my half smokes in a good beer for about 15 minutes (like cooking with wine, don't cook with a beer you wouldn't drink), then finish them off on the grill. I cook several slices of bacon, then saute the onions in the same pan. Spread spicy mustard on a toasted potato roll, add the half smoke, then top with the onions and crumbled bacon. Enjoy.

Half smokes are packed in natural casing so they give you a nice pop when you bite into them. The next time you visit Washington be sure to try a half smoke.

Restaurant Review: Cotten's Bar-B-Que

Ask ten people at random what their favorite BBQ joint is and you'll get ten different answers. Ask ten people in Jacksonville, Florida, the same question and nine of them will tell you Cotten's Bar-B-Que on the corner of East 16th and North Main. The tenth person won't be from Jax.

Fred Cotten's Bar-B-Que has been a Jacksonville fixture for decades (founded in 1944). Growing up, my family ate there all the time. They still do. And I make a point of going there for lunch at least once every time I visit. In it's heyday, you could find city officials, including the mayor, and police eating lunch just about any day of the week. You can't get much better recommendations than having the police as frequent diners.

Cotten's features pork ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, smothered in their secret recipe mustard and vinegar sauce. Our favorite is the rib sandwich plate. It includes about a third of a rack of ribs between white bread slices, with straight cut french fries and a small salad. The salad features Cotten's unique dressing, similar to thousand island. Somehow those ribs on the right were cleaned off before I had a chance to take a picture. Oops.

Cotten's is small and serves up everything on Styrofoam plates with plastic utensils, but that just adds to the experience.

As I understand it, after Fred Cotten passed on the restaurant was run by his long time employee, Ms. Lucille (it was still owned by members of the Cotten family). She always had a smile and good conversation. I remember one time in the 90s I went to the counter to order some sauce to take back with me. "You know, I came all the way from Atlanta for this BBQ sauce," I told her. Ms. Lucille laughed and said, "If you came all that way then I'll give you a bottle free!" She also warned me to keep it refrigerated "because Mr. Cotten, he gave me the recipe before he died but he didn't say how long it'd keep!"

Since then I've always had the image of Fred Cotten on his deathbed, giving out the ingredients between gasps until finally, "...and it will keep for... arrgh!" RIP, Mr. Cotten.

Unfortunately, all has not gone well for Cotten's in this century. A new owner, Billy C (pictured on the left with long time cook Johnny),  bought it in 2000. He has renamed it Billy C's Fred Cotten Bar-B-Q and added more items to the menu. Since then business seems to have been on the decline. The politicians and police have moved on to an even smaller BBQ joint opened by Ms. Lucille and her sister Ernestine in 2002 called TC's. I'll review that when I get a chance.

In spite of the recent changes, Cotten's is still the best BBQ place I've ever eaten at. If you get a chance try their rib sandwich plate with sweet tea. You won't regret it.

Recipe Review: Silver Paper Chicken

This is the second of my recipe reviews from Steven Raichlen's Barbecue! Bible. According to Raichlen, Silver Paper Chicken "was inspired by San Francisco's celebrated dim sum palace, Yank Sing." These are  chicken thighs or breasts, marinated with soy sauce, five spice powder, and a few other things, then individually wrapped with scallion in aluminum foil and put over direct heat on the grill until done (about twenty minutes). The recipe calls for bone in thighs but I used boneless, skinless thighs and had excellent results. The finished product makes a great appetizer. It would go well as a starter for Susur Lee's Chinese Barbecued Pork.

Preparing these is very easy. Cut the thighs or breasts in half. Mix the marinade ingredients together and marinate for at least a couple of hours. When you're ready to grill seal each piece with some scallion and a little bit of the marinade in a small foil square and start cooking!

As you can see from the finished product above, these come out nice and juicy and, you can take it from me, extremely tasty. The five spice powder, a blend of cinnamon, pepper, cloves, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise, give the chicken a distinctly Asian flavor.

If you want to impress your friends with the range of your grilling ability you definitely want to try these.

Obligatory quibble: Like the other recipes in The Barbecue! Bible, this isn't truly barbecue since it's prepared over a direct grill. Who cares? It's the taste that counts.

Bacon and Crackers

Photo © 2012 by Larry Gaian

The folks over at The BBQ Grail have asked the question "Does bacon make saltines taste better?"

The answer is yes. Yes it does.

Recipe Review: Susur Lee's Chinese Barbecued Pork

I reviewed Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue! Bible last week. This week I'll talk about a couple of his recipes. The first one is Susur Lee's Chinese Barbecued Pork. According to Raichlen, Susur Lee was born in Hong Kong and owns a restaurant in Toronto called Lotus. Well, he used to own a restaurant in called Lotus. As I said in my review of the book, I have an old edition. Since then Lee has moved on to other culinary pursuits.

Susur Lee's current whereabouts and activities aren't really relevant to how good his Chinese barbecued pork recipe is. And it is good. One of my favorite Chinese dishes is barbecued spare ribs. The sweet glaze they use gives the ribs an exotic flavor and unique red tint. I've tried many times to duplicate this, to no avail. Until I tried this barbecued pork recipe. It uses pork tenderloins instead of ribs but possesses the same taste. The only thing missing is the red tint. I can live with that.


The ingredients are shown on the right:

• Pork tenderloin
• Celery, chopped
• Carrot, chopped
• Onion, chopped
• Ginger, minced
• Tangerine or orange zest (I used both)
• Rice wine or dry sherry (I had sherry handy)
• Soy sauce
• Maple syrup
• Asian dark sesame oil

Preparation is easy. Combine the vegetables and liquids to make a marinade. Marinate the tenderloins at least a day (two days is better). On cooking day remove the tenderloins from the marinade then strain the marinade and reduce it in a sauce pan on the stove.

Grill the tenderloins until done, brushing frequently with the marinade. Let them rest, slice, eat. The remaining marinade makes a great sauce. Steamed cauliflower goes well with this entree.

What makes this recipe so great while all my previous attempts failed? It was the sesame oil. I think that added the piece I've been missing to solve the Chinese barbecue puzzle. Now I can't wait to try it on ribs.

Obligatory quibble: Like the other recipes in The Barbecue! Bible, this isn't truly barbecue since it's prepared over a direct grill. Who cares? It's the taste that counts.

Recipe: Game Day Queso

You need chips and queso if you're planning to watch the game. This is really tasty cheese dip made great with an unexpected ingredient.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 1 can original Ro*Tel, drained
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• Tabasco Sauce

Procedure:

Melt Velveeta in a small sauce pan over medium heat.

Add Ro*Tel and cream of chicken soup. Stir until it's heated through. Add Tabasco Sauce to taste.

You'll want to eat it straight with a spoon. It's better if you serve it with your favorite chips.

Recipe: Cheater's Baby Back Ribs

There's nothing low and slow about these ribs. They're simmered for an hour or so, marinated for a couple of hours, then finished on the grill. That's why I call them cheaters. But they taste great.

Ingredients:

• Rack(s) of Baby Back Ribs
• Your Favorite Pork Rub
• Mustard Based BBQ Sauce

Procedure:

Remove membrane from underside of ribs. This is actually pretty easy to do. Slide a butter knife under the membrane to loosen it. The use a paper towel to hold onto the membrane and just peel it off. I usually start in the center of the rack and work my way to both ends.


Apply a liberal amount of your rub onto the rack. Cut it into 4 rib segments and seal in vacuum pack bags. Refrigerate over night.

The next morning put your rib packs in a pot of water and simmer for about an hour. The longer you simmer them the more "fall off the bone" they are. But don't over do it or the ribs will fall apart.


After they're done simmering take them out of the vacuum packs and marinate in your mustard based BBQ sauce. This won't work with a tomato based sauce. Don't even try. If you have to use a tomato sauce go straight to the grill.

Cover the ribs and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat your grill to medium-high.

Grill the ribs for about 20 minutes, turning at least once.

You may have noticed there are more ribs shown on the grill than I had in the intermediate photos. That's because I cheated again (these are cheater's ribs, after all). I sneaked in a second rack of ribs with a maple glaze. See if can you tell which is which.

I might give out the recipe for maple glaze later.

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Recipe: Grilled Sausage and Vegetables

This is a quick and easy sausage and veggie on the grill recipe. The vegetable mix is really whatever you have on hand. You will need a grill pan or grill wok for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Smoked Sausage
• 1 pint Sliced Mushrooms
• 1 sliced Onion
• 2 sliced Bell Peppers (read and green for color)
• 1 pint Baby Corn
• 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
• 3-4 Garlic Cloves, rough chopped
• 1/2 T Adobo Seasoning
• Salt (not pictured) and Pepper to taste
• 2-4 T Olive Oil

Procedure:

Preheat the grill for direct cooking.

Mix the vegetables, oil, and seasonings together and set aside.

Cut the sausage into 3-4 inch pieces. This makes them easier to handle on the grill.

Cook the sausage pieces on the grill until they have plumped up and the skin has good marks. Take off the grill and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch bite size pieces.

Put a grill pan on the grate and let heat for several minutes.

Put the vegetables in the grill pan and let cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the sausage to the mix.


Cook on the grill, turning occasionally, until vegetables are cooked through.

Enjoy.

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My First Bacon Explosion

The bacon explosion burst onto the scene about three years ago by the guys over at BBQ Addicts. They have detailed instructions on how to build your own so I won't waste time repeating them here. I'll just feature some highlights of my first bacon explosion experience. The end result is pictured above.

About two and a half years ago we had a big Fourth of July cookout (well, more like a close to Fourth of July cookout). I wanted to do something special so I drafted my daughter Betsy to help assemble this pork extravaganza.

We made Italian sausage for the filling and used center cut bacon for the the weave and bacon crumbles. Getting the weave tight is critical to bacon explosion success. Our handiwork is the first picture on the left. Betsy put her pie making skills to good use for this.

The next key to assembling the bacon explosion is the roll. Like the weave, it must be tight. The next photo is our sausage roll. All that's left is to wrap the bacon weave around it. Then it's off to the smoker!

Time to start smoking. Three hours to go and then it's bacon bliss...

Wait for it...

Can you stand the antici... pation?

Three hours later, it's ready for the sauce and then it's time to eat!

Review: The Barbecue! Bible

I've had Steven Raichlen's Barbecue! Bible for several years. It's a great resource for beginning and experienced backyard cooks. Novices will appreciate his how-to tips ranging from the basics of how to tell if your steak is done to how to keep your kebob skewers from sticking to the grill grate. The sheer mass of recipes (over 500!) will keep seasoned grillers busy for a long time.

I wrote "grillers" for a reason. This book may have the word "barbecue" in the title and Raichlen may talk a lot about low and slow, but the recipes are all for the grill. He has recipes that use a variety of grill techniques and cooking times, but none are what a purest would call true barbecue.  More on the difference between grilling and barbecuing at another time.

The only other complaint I have about the book is the lack of photographs. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Illustrations in the book look like cartoony clip art. Pictures with the recipes would have been helpful in choosing which ones to try. The latest edition of the book is in color and has photos, so hopefully this deficiency has been rectified.

The depth and variety of recipes is what really makes this a bible, barbecue or otherwise. When most people think of grilling they probably think of meat. Meat is important, no doubt, but you can cook much more on the grill and Raichlen covers just about all the bases. Here's a quick sampling from the book's extensive index: potatoes a la ketchup (!), chorizo grilled mushrooms, grilled provolone, Vietnamese grilled beef and basil rolls, tandoori cauliflower, grilled eggplant, Peruvian fish kebabs. He has recipes for all the meats you expect (beef, poultry, pork, lamb) as well as seafood and vegetables.

A quick comment about his fish recipes: He describes a variety of ways to cook fish but doesn't mention planking fish (or anything else). Maybe planking is a recent fad but I would liked to have seen the method mentioned.

The recipes I've tried have all been great. "Silver Paper Chicken" is marinated chicken thighs wrapped in aluminum foil and then cooked on the grill. An excellent appetizer but also good to eat as a main course. "Susur Lee's Chinese Barbecued Pork" is as close to the flavor of restaurant style Chinese barbecued spare ribs as I've ever gotten at home. And I've tried.

 To sum it up. If you have a grill and want to cook more than steaks and chicken cutlets The Barbecue! Bible is what you need to succeed.