Smoked Pork Chops with Roasted Pepper Sauce

This is a meal that took a little more effort and planning, but it was well worth it in the end.  The pork chops turned out delicious with the perfect amount of smoke, and the Roasted Pepper sauce rounded out the meal perfectly.  Here is how to prepare it:

 

Ingredients

• Bone in Pork Chops (marinade in mojo overnight)
• Red bell pepper
• Corn on the cob (rubbed in basil butter)
• Quinoa with zucchini and sweet potato (trader joe's brand)
• Sauce: heavy cream, garlic cloves, 1/2 an onion

Step 1: Fire up the grill with half set up for direct and the other half indirect.  See the picture below with my fire bricks separating the two parts of the weber kettle.  Roast the peppers over direct heat until they are soft and charred.

 

 

Step 2: Wrap corn on the cob in foil after coating generously with basil butter.  To cook the pork chops I first put them over direct heat and rotate in a fashion to create nice grill marks (see picture below).  Then move the corn and pork over to the indirect side of the weber. 

 



 

Step 3: Add some wood chips to the coals (cherry in my case) and let it ride. 

 

 

Step 4: Make the sauce.  While you're starting the grill, finely chop a 1/2 onion and a couple cloves of garlic.  Once the red pepper is roasted on the grill, remove the crispy exterior until you have a soft pepper remaining.  Chop this somewhat finely as well.  In a medium saucepan, cook the onions with a little spray or olive oil until they are tender.  Next add the garlic, and then the roasted red peppers.  Cook these all together for another minute or so.  Finally add about 1/2 cup heavy cream and let it simmer.  I covered this and allowed it to cook down for about 10-15 minutes.

 

 

 Step 5: Prepare the quinoa by adding a little chicken broth and allowing to simmer. 

 

 

Step 6: Pull the pork chops when the internal temp reaches 145 degrees.  Notice the nice golden brown on the chops from the smoke.

 

 

 

 Step 7: Plate and enjoy.  Top the pork with the roasted red pepper sauce.

 

Grilled Salmon Pasta

This is one of the better meals that we've had in a while, but I think it's partially because we haven't had pasta in a while and eating Salmon is even rarer.  My wife isn't a huge fish fan, so I had to find a way to blend this into a meal that was tasty. 

 

Ingredients:

• Salmon
• Angel hair pasta
• Zucchini
• Thai Shrimp Salad
• Olive Oil
• Everyday seasoning
• Minced Garlic
• Frozen Spinach

Step 1: Cook the pasta.  Drain the water and mix in a little olive oil, frozen spinach, and a teaspoon of minced garlic for flavor.  Stir well and cover until plating.

 

 

Step 2: Grill the salmon and zucchini.  I put a little everyday seasoning on my salmon and zucchini.  I cooked the salmon over indirect heat and added some orange wood chips for a hint of smoky flavor.  The zucchini was cooked simultaneously in a grilling bowl over direct heat.  the zucchini was tossed in olive oil and everyday seasoning.  At the very end I lightly coated the salmon with some orange sauce I had in the refrigerator.

 

 

Step 3: Plate the food.  I first put down a bed of angel hair pasta, then a bed of zucchini on top, and then I add the salmon.  My final garnish was this Thai Shrimp Salad that I found at whole foods when I bought the salmon.  I thought it looked good, so I gave it a try.

 



 

The end result was fantastic.  This is a perfect example of pulling together a couple of things to make a delicious meal.  My wife was pleasantly surprised!

 



 

Venison Basil Pizza

In my previous post I referenced this week's mission to clean out the refrigerator and freezer.  Well tonight's meal included frozen pizza dough, sauce, and leftover stuffing from last nights meal you can see here.  However, we did use fresh mozzarella chunks on this particular pizza.  I cooked this pizza the same way I do any other, which can be seen here.

 

 

 

Venison Stuffed Peppers

This was one of those weeks were we took advantage of what we had in our refrigerator and freezer.  If you were to ask my wife, she would say that I'm know for overbuying at the grocery store and always having leftover materials or meals in our fridge, so this week we cleaned some of that out and make some pretty tasty meals in the process.

 

Ingredients:

• Bell Peppers
• Ground venison
• Mozzarella
• Frozen Spinach
• Feta cheese
• Zucchini
• Italian Seasoning
• Fresh Basil leaves

To make the stuffing, start by browning the ground venison in a sauté pan.  You could also just substitute ground beef here.  Once it's cooked, add it to a mixing bowl.  In the bowl combine the browned venison, 1 cup of feta, 1 cup frozen spinach, chopped fresh basil leaves, and Italian seasoning.  Stir this mixture together well and stuff the peppers.  Top with grated Mozzarella.

 

 

Cook on the grill over indirect heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the sides of the pepper feel soft. 

Fresh Fish Tacos

What do you do when you catch fresh fish at the beach?  Make fish tacos!  These are three decent size Black Drum I caught off the Ocean Isle Beach pier just recently.  I fileted them on the spot and froze them for only a couple of days.  They were as fresh as can be by the time we made our fish tacos.  For the full recipe, please visit my previous post by clicking here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Stir Fry

This is the new Weber Grill Wok I recently found and purchased at a garage sale.   After using it only once I question whether the previous owner had even used it at all.  Woks discolor with use and heat, and this one was in perfect condition when I bought it.  It is now seasoned and will certainly be used again.

 

The first thing I did was build a very large coal base.  Let the coals mature and then spread them throughout the weber for even heat distribution on the wok.  You want the wok to be very hot for cooking, so don't worry too much about adding too many coals.

 

 

 Once the wok was hot I added some wok oil which immediately smoked once it hit the wok surface. This told me the wok was at the right temperature.  The first food I added was some chicken sausage. I've heard that it's really good to season a wok with bacon, so I figured sausage would be the next best thing. 

 

 As you can see, the sausage seared and cooked rather quickly.

 

 

 Next I added some shrimp which were peeled.  This also cooked up quick at which point I pulled the shrimp and sausage and placed it in a serving bowl.

 

 

Everytime I add something new to the wok I add a little more wok oil.  Next up were the veggies which were partially frozen.  I sautéed these in the wok until they became tender.

 



 

 Next in the stir fry was pad thai noodles which I precooked.  These were part of a package, but I only cooked the pasta and reserved the sauce packet that came with for the grill wok. 

 

 

Once the pasta was separated and mixed with the veggies I began adding a little bit of soy sauce and orange stir fry sauce.  I added a little more sauce in three separate stages while continuing to stir the food.

 

At this point the stir fry is nearing completion.  I add the shrimp and sausage back to the wok along with some sesame seeds.

 

Lastly I add one more batch of sauce and really stir everything together.

 



 

Pictured below is the finished product topped with some crushed cashews.

 



Garage Sale Find

Last Saturday I found all of this at my neighborhood garage sale. I happened to be on daddy duty that morning and took my son for a walk around 8am. Right next door I noticed what appeared to be a brand new Weber. $30 later I walked away with a barely used Weber kettle, charcoal chimney, and Weber brand wok which they don't sell anymore.  I consider this a pretty big score for a grilling fanatic!  Needless to say, these are now used goods.

Saturday Spare Ribs & Pool Time

This past weekend was one of our first Saturdays in town in months where we had no plans other than to enjoy ourselves.  On top of that, it was our 6 year anniversary weekend, and we enjoyed an excellent dinner at Little Alley on Friday night.  Together with our good friends the Rackley's, we decided to spend the day by the pool while cooking ribs for dinner that evening.  There was no better way to do this than to fire up the green egg, set the DigiQ, and let it ride.

 

The Prep: 3 racks of spares prepared the same way as any others.  The membrane is pulled off the back, and I used some Green Egg seasoning that turned out well.

 

 

The Cook: 3-2-1 method with the egg set at 225 degrees.  The beauty of the DigiQ is that I can set it and forget about it.  I fired up the egg at noon and let it come up to temp until around 1pm.  At 1pm I set the DigiQ for 225 and left for the pool.  Jeff and I came back at 2pm to put the ribs on.  The BGE was at 275 when I came back to put the ribs on which was a cause for concern, but I closed all dampers as much as I could without extinguishing the coals.  We put these on and went back to the pool.  About two hours later I walked back to check on it, and the thing was holding steady right at 225.  Perfect!

 



 

The 2 & 1: For those who don't know the 3-2-1 method, it is 3 hours unwrapped to absorb smoke, 2 hours wrapped in foil, and the last hour unwrapped to finish the ribs.   I don't have a picture of the 2, but the 1 is pictured above along with some corn wrapped in foil with basil butter.  I made three different flavor profiles for the three racks: Hawaiian Teriyaki, Tiger Sauce, and BBQ.  Of the three, the Teriyaki turned out the best.

 

Our sides included fresh fried okra and corn with basil butter.  Basil butter consists of 2 sticks of butter, one teaspoon of chopped garlic, and finely chopped basil leaves.  Mix this all together in a bowl and then reform and wrap in saran wrap.  Place back in the refrigerator and allow the butter to re-harden.  

 

 

Our finished product along with a tasty Mojito!

Neopolitan Style Pizza & Capri Salad

My wife and I had our good friends and former roommates in town this week from Nashville, and Stephanie and Meredith wanted Pizza.  Rather than cook the same old pizza I typically make, I wanted to do something both lighter and more authentic Italian.  This was the end result.

 

 

Regular Neapolitan Pizza: thin crust, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves

 

 

Tom's Version: thin crust, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella but also a little shredded as well to fill in some gaps, parmesan, pepperoni, portobello mushrooms, and Italian seasoning

 

 

 

 

Capri Salad: fresh sliced tomatoes and mozzarella, basil leaf, and balsamic vinegar

 



 

 

This meal turned out to be a pretty big hit, and needless to say I will be making this style of pizza more often. 

Grilled Lamb Chops & Homemade Steak Sauce

This meal wasn't really about how I cooked the food, but rather pairing it with a homemade steak sauce I've really been wanting to make and try out.  To simplify the recipe, I'm going to briefly tell you about the cook and then give the recipe for the steak sauce in greater detail below.

 

 

Lamp Chops: season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sugar.  Grill over direct heat until a nice char develops on both sides.  Finish over indirect heat on the weber until they are cooked to your preference.

 

Asparagus: season with olive oil and garlic.  Cook for only a couple of minutes near the very end when the lamb is basically done.  This allows for nice grilled flavor while retaining the crispiness of the asparagus.

 

Corn: wrap in foil with a light coating of butter.  Put these on the grill first and allow them to cook over direct heat rotating often.

 

 

Balsamic Rosemary Steak Sauce

• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 3 large red bell peppers, grilled, peeled, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon apple jelly
• 1 tablespoon cherry preserves
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic, jelly, preserves, and rosemary in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Remove the rosemary and let cool to room temperature.

 

Place the peppers, honey, horseradish, molasses, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and some of the cooled balsamic mixture in a blender. Blend until smooth. Season with the salt and pepper. Taste, and add more of the balsamic reduction as desired. Yield: 3 cups.



 

 

Plate and enjoy with some red wine!

Sliders and Steak Fries

My wife and I often like to grill hamburgers, but we have a hard time agreeing which kind we want to grill.  Sliders were a perfect way to resolve any disagreement and make three separate kinds to enjoy all in the same evening.

 

Ingredients:

• Ground beef
• Slider buns
• Portobello mushrooms
• Swiss and Cheddar cheese
• Slaw & fresh jalapenos
• Idaho potatoes
• Sauces: mayo, chipotle mayo, and bbq
• Seasoning: Montreal Steak and Montreal Mesquite

I don't believe I need to tell you how to cook burgers, so I'll explain the steak fries and how I prepared the three different sliders.  Just to remember to make your patties a little larger than a slider bun.

 

 

Steak Fries: Cut two Idaho potatoes into wedges.  Each potato should produce about eight wedges.  Season with olive oil and Montreal steak and put them on the grill.  I grill over direct heat until there are nice grill marks and then move to the indirect half of the weber to allow the potato wedges to bake throughout. 

 

Jalapeno Cheddar Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal Steak
• Toasted bun
• Fresh sliced jalapeno
• Topped with melted cheddar cheese
• Chipotle Mayo on bun



 

Mushroom Swiss Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal Steak
• Toasted bun
• sautéed Portobello mushrooms - Worcestershire and beef stock
• Topped with melted swiss cheese
• Mayo on bun 

 

BBQ Sliders:

• Burger seasoned with Montreal mesquite
• Toasted bun
• Topped with homemade coleslaw
• BBQ sauce on bun