Smoked Chicken Parmesan

When I started thinking about this, I did a Google search to see if it was a thing.  All I found were recipes for chicken breasts stuffed with the other parts or for chicken parmesan fatties.  For those that may not be familiar with a fatty I'll explain it.  A fatty is made with sausage or ground beef laid out flat with other things laid down the middle then the sausage/ground beef is rolled into a log shape that is stuffed.  Many people will cover the fatty with a bacon weave before smoking it.  The closest I found to mine was a Rachel Ray recipe but she grilled the chicken rather than smoking it and used smoked Mozzarella.  She also called hers grilled chicken parmesan.  So it seems I'm safe saying this is my own thing.  Since there is just the two of us, I made three so I'd have one to to take to work for lunch.  I wrote the recipe for four.

A nice thin blue smoke, just what you want

I do have to say I don't know the temperature used to smoke the chicken since I did it on my Weber Performer and my remote thermometer probes are in the smoker.  I did use one of my baby dial thermometers to check the internal temperatures of the chicken breasts.  Yep, none of those new fangled digitals for me.

Chicken breast flipped for more even smoke

While I have a variety of woods available for smoking, I used pecan wood for this as it was what was most ready to hand.  Hickory would work well for this as would apple and cherry.  You'll want a wood with a good flavor and good smoke without being overbearing.


Smoked Chicken Parmesan


4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 quart canned tomatoes
1 medium white onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 Tbs olive oil
Grated Parmesan cheese
Grated Mozzarella cheese
salt
pepper
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper


Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder and let rest while the charcoal is getting to the proper stage to start cooking.  This means the charcoal is covered all over in a fine grey ash.  Put the chicken on the grill/smoker and add your choice of wood to the coals.  If using a grill, set it up for indirect cooking.  If you have a gas grill, put wood chips in aluminum foil and poke a few hole in it and place it over the burner that is lit.  Smoke until the internal temperature is 165F.  Once the chicken is at temperature take it off to complete the dish.

Chicken with tomato sauce ready for the cheese

While the chicken is smoking make the sauce to go on top.  Cut the onion in half from top to bottom.  Then make 3 cuts equally spaced around the side taking care to leave space at the root end to hold it together.  Then start slicing at the top end working to the root making 1/4 inch slices.  Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the onions and garlic and cook until translucent.  Once the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and roughly break them up with a spoon.  Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper to taste and stir.  Let the mixture simmer in the skillet until ready to use.  Add the juice from the tomatoes if the sauce needs to be looser.

Parmesan and Mozzarella added ready for the smoker

Use a pan that the chicken breasts will fit in fairly snuggly and you won't mind putting on the grill/smoker.  Spoon a bit of the sauce on the bottom of the pan then put the chicken in.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken breasts equally.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese then Mozzarella cheese over the chicken breasts.  Put the pan on the grill/smoker adding additional wood if necessary and smoke until the cheese is melted and has taken on as much smoke as you want.

The cheese is melted and it has picked up some smoke

Chicken Parmesan seems to mostly be served with spaghetti but you can use any pasta or other side you want.  I made a warm orzo side that also does well as a cold orzo salad.  It has orzo, a couple chopped canned tomatoes, about 2 Tbs finely minced onions, salt, white pepper, and olive oil.

The final product, a fine tasty meal

I also drizzled a bit of brandy over the chicken breast when they were seasoned just to add another layer of flavor.  You could also add some red wine to the sauce to boost the flavor but I didn't do that this time.


This dish has the advantage of easy clean up since you're only using the skillet inside and one pan outside.  This is an easy meal to throw together and yields great flavor.  The good wife said I could do this one again.  I can also attest that any leftovers are very good the next day as lunch at work or to have for another supper.


Give this a try, especially if you are wanting to try something different with your grill/smoker.

Shrimp and Grits

According to all the history I can find, shrimp and grits was a breakfast meal in the low country.  It was as simple as its name.  While the grits were cooking, someone would head to the docks to buy freshly caught shrimp.  The shrimp would be boiled or cooked in bacon grease and then be served with the grits.  A great combination to get you through the day until supper.


As time went on, people started adding things to improve the flavor.  Eventually, restaurants got into the shrimp and grits game and most every chef will have their own take on the dish.  Today, shrimp and grits is a lunch or supper meal instead of a breakfast meal.  Just like chefs playing with the dish, most people have their own take on it though most are fairly similar.


A word on grits, use real grits for this dish.  The boy called a couple of weeks ago to relay something he'd found in a cook book.  He has inherited from both the good wife and me a love of good cooking and acquiring cook books.  He was looking for a recipe for shrimp and grits and found one in a Southern Living cook book that called for instant grits.  He knew that the proper thing in the grit eating world was regular stone ground grits that take 25 - 30 minutes to cook properly.  Instant and quick grits just don't have the proper flavor, texture, or consistency.


I've seen a few recipes for shrimp and grits that use sausage of some sort but most call for bacon.  Personally, I like using bacon for my shrimp and grits.  I made some Andouille sausage a week ago so I may use some of it for shrimp and grits just to experiment a bit.




Shrimp and Grits


1 lb peeled deveined shrimp, 25 - 30 count
6 slices thick cut bacon
1/2 medium onion, diced small
1/2 bell pepper, diced small
2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
cumin
cayenne
2 cups stone ground grits
2 cups water
2 cups whole milk
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
butter
white wine


For the grits, in a large pot combine the water, milk, and about a tablespoon of salt.  Turn heat to medium to medium-high and bring to a boil.  Slowly add the grits stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Once the grits are fully stirred in bring the pot down to a simmer and put the lid on.  Stir every 3 - 5 minutes until the grits are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.  This can take from 20 - 30 minutes.  Once the grits are done, stir in the grated cheddar cheese a bit at a time for easier melting.


The shrimp can be done either with the tails or without.  Season them with salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne according to your taste and let them sit while the bacon is cooking.  I go a bit light on the cumin and cayenne since I just want a hint of the flavors for the sauce.


In a large skillet, brown the bacon without getting it crispy.  Remove it from the skillet and let cool.  Once cool, chop it into small pieces.  Using the grease rendered from the bacon cook the onions, pepper, and garlic until they are soft and the onion is translucent.  Add the shrimp to the onion and pepper mixture, make sure they are in a single layer to cook uniformly.  Turn the shrimp when they are halfway done and add the bacon back to the skillet.  Add 2 - 3 Tbs of butter to the skillet and let melt then toss or stir to mix the butter in well.  Add about a 1/2 cup of white wine, I use the two glug method, and stir in.  Let the whole mixture simmer until it reduces to a nice sauce.  The sauce won't be thick but it will coat the back of a spoon good.  This should happen about the time the shrimp are done.


Spoon grits into a bowl.  Spoon some of the shrimp onto the grits and then add some of the sauce.  This should serve 4 people.  You can either pile the shrimp in the middle of the grits or line the edge of the bowl with them.  It just depends on the type of presentation you prefer.

A tasty bowl of shrimp and grits

Now, let me tell you how I don't follow my recipe.  I generally slice my bacon before I cook it.  I pull the slices from the package in a solid piece then slice it about 1/4 inch wide sections.  I put the sections in the skillet cut side down.  Once the bacon has been cooking for a bit, I mash the sections with my tongs and the individual pieces separate nicely.  I find I can get a more even color and doneness than doing whole slices.  I also use a bit of shrimp broth to cook my grits.  Whenever we have shrimp, the shell and tails get put in a bag in the freezer.  When I want shrimp and grits or gumbo, I dump the shrimp parts in the pressure cooker, cover them with water, and 30 minutes later I have some wonderfully shrimp broth.  For shrimp and grits, I substitute 1 cup of shrimp broth for 1 cup water.  I just want the hint of shrimp in the grits.  Another thing you can do, especially if you want a bit more bite to your grits is use some buttermilk in place of whole milk.  I tend to reserve this for when I'm short on sharp cheddar and don't want to run to the store to get more.  I also generally use 2 or 3 of the small sweet peppers that come in a mixed bag of yellow, orange, and red.  I have these on hand most times and I like the color variation.  I'll also pull some onions from the garden and use both the white and green part.


A variation I have used is to use some of my Sriracha bacon.  Since the Sriracha flavor is not really pronounced in my bacon I added a squirt of Sriracha to the skillet while I was building the sauce.  It turned out really nice and flavorful.


This is a rather simple recipe and a dish that lends itself to experimentation.  The only hard part is finding the patience to make a good pot of grits.  An old school Southerner won't consider it difficult to properly cook grits because that's what we grew up with.  If you want to know how seriously the South takes their grits, review the movie My Cousin Vinny.  Here's a quote from the movie, "No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits."


So, give this recipe a try and let me know how you like shrimp and grits.


Uncle T

Pork Belly Soup

Is there anything so glorious as the pig?  OK, maybe not so glorious while they are running around as a pig can be quite contrary.  However, once they are converted into pork, they are indeed glorious.  The old saying that the only thing you can't use on a pig is the oink is very true.


Most people now days are only familiar with pork chops, ham, bacon, and maybe pork shoulder for pulled pork.  While fresh pork belly is gaining popularity with chefs most people are still not using it.  There is always a fair bit left after I square up the belly to cure for bacon.  That trim gets used to make some very flavorful meals. 


Yesterday was a dreary drookit day and the good wife was in a mood for soup to drive out the chill.  She'd had the fire going most of the day and even I was wishing I'd brought a heavier jacket when I left work.  Of course, good soup takes time and we had errands to run before it could be started but the pressure cooker made up for the late start.


I used pork broth from the freezer for this soup but I've never seen pork broth available commercially.  I think beef or chicken broth would work just fine with beef being slightly more preferred.  My broths are cooked down to be fairly strong so as to save freezer space since you can always add water.  I used about 3 cups worth of frozen pork broth and added 4 cups of water and still had a rich flavorful broth as the soup base.


One other item you won't have on hand is Uncle T's Pork and Poultry Seasoning.  A good substitute would be to make up some quatre épices to season the pork belly.

A good bowl of Pork Belly Soup

Pork Belly Soup


1 lb pork belly
6 - 8 cups broth
3 medium potatoes, 1/2 inch dice
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped 1/2 inch
1 cup barley
1 - 2 Tbs salt
2 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp roasted ground cumin
1.5 Tbs Uncle T's Pork and Poultry Seasoning
3 bay leaves


Cut the pork belly into small bite size pieces and season with Uncle T's Pork and Poultry Seasoning, or with salt and quatre épices.  Brown the pork belly either in the pressure cooker or a skillet.  Put the broth, potatoes, and carrots in the pressure cooker.  Taste the broth and season to taste with salt, pepper, and roasted cumin.  Remember the potatoes will need a bit of seasoning.  Add the barley and browned pork belly to the pressure cooker and stir to thoroughly mix.  Drop in the bay leaves.  Put the lid on the pressure cooker and set the pressure cook timer for 15 minutes.  After the timer goes off, let it sit for 10 minutes before venting the pressure according to your cookers instructions.  It won't hurt to let the pressure to go down naturally.  Serve and enjoy.


I think this would have been even better with some fresh crusty bread but I didn't have time since we had those errands to run.  As it was, it was rich warm and definitely drove the chill away.


Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Pepper Garlic Broccoli, Pork Chops, and Parmesan Smashed Potatoes

I've been making this for several years now.  It is a good way to put lots of flavor in your cooked broccoli without having to resort to some sort of cheese sauce.  It has the added benefit of the broccoli still having some body to it rather than being all limp from boiling or steaming.  Plus, it is quick to make with cutting the broccoli being the most time consuming part.




This broccoli dish goes well with just about everything I'd say.  We've not come across anything that it didn't pair well with.  We've had it with pork, venison, chicken, and salmon and it has been good with all of them.

Pepper Garlic Broccoli for two

Last night I took advantage of cutting up a boneless pork loin and decided to cook pork chops with it.  Parmesan smashed potatoes rounded out the meal.




Pepper Garlic Broccoli




3 cups broccoli florets
3 - 6 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1/2 oz lemon juice
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese




Put the olive oil in a skillet and turn on medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the garlic.  Cook the garlic until it is starting to get tender, don't let it get brown.  Add the broccoli florets to the skillet and stir to mix.  Make sure the oil and garlic coat each floret.  Add the salt and red pepper flakes and stir to mix.  Add the lemon juice and shake the skillet to evenly distribute.  Let the broccoli finish cooking to your desired level of doneness.  For us it is about 5 minutes start to finish.  You can either add the grated Parmesan cheese in the skillet and toss it or plate the broccoli and sprinkle the cheese on top.  Last night I put the cheese on top after plating.


Parmesan Smashed Potatoes


2 lbs new red potatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese


Boil the potatoes until they are almost done and drain.  After they have cooled a bit, dump them on a baking sheet.  Start smashing them one at a time and lining them up across the baking sheet.  Once they are all smashed, drizzle with olive oil.  Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to your taste.  Sprinkle a liberal coating of grated Parmesan cheese over the potatoes.  Bake in a 400F oven for 20 - 25 minutes.




The pork chops that accompanied the broccoli were fried in butter in the cast iron skillet.  They were allowed to come to room temperature before cooking.  While they were waiting, they got seasoned with salt, pepper, and a good splash of TN whiskey.  The cast iron skillet had about 2 Tbs of butter melted in it and the pork chops put in.  They were turned when the color was changed about halfway up the side.  This makes a nice browned surface for the pork chop.  They were cooked on the other side till they were the same.  I'll not give times since those depend on the thickness of the pork chop.

Pork, Broccoli, and Potatoes.  It's what's for supper.

Most times when I do steaks or pork chops this way I'll make a quick pan sauce to pour over but I didn't last night.  This is just a quick easy sauce that ups the flavor of the meat.  Leave the melted butter and juices from the meat in the skillet with the heat on.  Pour in an ounce or two of whiskey or brandy.  Let the alcohol cook off or your can get adventurous and burn it off.  Just be careful if you burn it off.  Once it is burned off, add a tablespoon of whole peppercorns and let them heat up while the remaining liquid reduces.  Once it is reduced by about half it'll be a tasty slightly thickened sauce ready to spoon over your meat.




Give this broccoli a try the next time you fix pork chops.  I think you'll like it.  If you do fix it, let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Gochujang Pork Belly

How many of you eat pork belly on a regular basis?  I'm not talking about bacon but fresh pork belly.  To my mind it is one of the best things around and can be used in many ways.

Gochujang rubbed pork belly ready for smoke

As you may have noticed, I like Korean food and Korean flavors.  This pork belly is skin on and was given a thick coating of Gochujang, fermented pepper paste.  I don't think the Gochujang penetrates like a marinade but it makes me feel good to see it on the counter.

Ready to come off the smoke

Pork belly comes eight with the skin on or skin off.  Personally, I like getting skin on.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  In applications like this, you get small bits of cooked skin to give a crispy chewy bit of texture to the pork belly slices.  The other reason is pork rinds.  When I make bacon I skin the belly.  The skin then gets converted to pork rinds.  Homemade pork rinds means you can season however you wish and they are so much better.

Beautiful sliced pork belly

I took this pork belly to an internal temp of about 165F since I wanted nice slices.  If I'd wanted it more fall/pull apart I'd let it go to around 205F.  It is still plenty tender at 165F and slices without tearing.

Gochujang Pork Belly

1 2-3 lb pork belly

Gochujang

If pork belly has the skin on, score skin and fat in diamond pattern.  Rub Gochujang heavily over the entire surface of the pork belly.  Get smoker going, or set up grill for indirect heat.  When temp is up to 225-250 put the pork belly on, skin side up, and insert temperature probe if you have one.  Close lid and relax until the internal temperature hits 150F.  If the skin side is not crispy then move the pork belly closer to the heat to finish the skin side.  Once the skin is dark and crispy remove the pork belly from the heat.  Let rest 10 - 20 minutes then slice in 1/4 inch slices.  Enjoy

A filling flavorful meat featuring pork belly

Since I was wanting the flavor of Korea we had rice and kimchi with the pork belly.  I think it would pair well with most anything.

Get some Gochujang for your pantry and see how it can boost the flavor of pork, seafood, and soups.  Let me know what you think.

Uncle T

Shark and shrimp

I know I've mentioned my favorite store, Grand Mart, before.  One of the things I like about them is their seafood department.  They have a large selection of fresh seafood and a huge selection of frozen seafood.  They even have fish with which I am unfamiliar time to time.  If you can find a good seafood source near you then your culinary life is good.

I'd made the trip to Grand Mart myself to pick up a couple of things and just had to cruise through the seafood department.  Seafood wasn't on my list but, hey, me being me I have to check the seafood and meat departments at each visit.  Luckily for me, they had shard steaks on sale so I managed to grab the last two.  See what happens when I shop alone?

Shark and Shrimp ready for the grill

Usually when I grill shark I season it with just salt and pepper to let the flavor of the shark be foremost.  This time, I was wanting to experiment a bit so I decided to marinate the shark in Gochujang prior to grilling.  I then decided to marinate some shrimp in Doenjang and grill them as well.  To recap, Gochujang is Korean fermented red pepper paste used in many recipes and in making kimchi.  Doenjang is fermented soybean paste, basically the Korean version of miso.  Both have wonderful flavors to compliment most anything you want to cook.  Both the shark and the shrimp marinated for an hour and a half before they headed to the grill.

Shark and Shrimp on the grill

The shark and shrimp went on the grill at the same time.  Since I was using the gas grill I turned the side with the shrimp down so both would be done at the same time.  The shark was cooked to an internal temperature of 145 making it a nice medium.  The shrimp were cooked to color as usual.  As you can see in the picture, the Gochujang got cooked onto the shark as the water evaporated leaving a nice color to the shark steaks.  As a note, the spicy heat of the Gochujang is mellowed during the grilling so don't worry about it being overly spicy.  If you want more heat, make a finishing sauce using some Gochujang.

Shark and Shrimp are done

To accompany the shark and shrimp, we had Parmesan roasted potatoes and sliced carrots sautéed in butter.  I think they'd been equally as good served with some rice and kimchi or rice and water kimchi.

A tasty slightly spicy supper

If you have a Korean or even a generic Asian market near enough, get some Gochujang or Doenjang to add to your pantry.  They both work well with pork as well as seafood and can add a depth of flavor to soups and stews.  They can also be combined with other ingredients to make some interesting sauces.  Give one or both of these a go in your cooking and you'll be hooked.

Uncle T



Smoked Bacon Chipotle Deviled Eggs



I know you're probably thinking I've gone off the deep end with smoking deviled eggs.  Well, if you give them a try I think you'll be sold on the idea and the flavor.  I think even regular deviled eggs would benefit from having the egg whites smoked a bit.

Hardboiled egg whites ready for the smoke

I got the idea from a post on Facebook in a group I belong to called Grill Beast VIP.  The fellow that did it posted a video and his final result looked good.  I've never met Rob except through his videos and pictures of his cooks.  We've also had some back and forth in the group.  I'd say he's a pretty good griller/smoker and seems like a good guy to have as a neighbor.  Here is his video:  Rob Tuffy's Hickory Smoked Bacon Chipotle Deviled Eggs

Egg whites in the smoke


Naturally, I had to do it a bit different mostly due to ingredients on hand versus what he used.  He used chipotle mayonnaise and I didn't feel like going to the store.  So I used regular mayonnaise and some of my homemade chipotle powder.  I think I got more kick in mine that way.

Out of the smoke and ready to fill

We were going to take some deviled eggs when we went to visit our granddaughter.  We had plenty of eggs of the right age so the good wife and I each made a  batch.  We ended up taking half of each to the kids and we kept the other half for our own consumption.  The boy was at work when we got there and his wife scarfed down two of the chipotle deviled eggs right quick.  Then when the boy got home they pretty well finished them up.  So much for making them last.  The regular deviled eggs didn't last very long either.  Yes, the boy has a thing for deviled eggs.

Freshly made smoked bacon chipotle deviled eggs

I will say one thing about the eggs.  Older eggs are preferred because they are easier to peel after being hard boiled.  

Smoked Bacon Chipotle Deviled Eggs

6 large eggs, hard boiled

6-8 slices of bacon, fried crispy

Chipotle Mayonnaise

Chipotle powder, optional

Smoked Paprika, optional

salt, optional

After peeling, slice the eggs in half and put the yolks in a bowl.  Put the whites on a smoker using wood with a light flavored smoke like a fruit wood, you can use a grill set up for indirect cooking.  Smoke to desired level and let cool.  Mash the yolks and add the chipotle mayonnaise until you get a good consistency.  Crumble up the bacon and add most to the yolk mixture keeping some to top the eggs with.  Stir the bacon into the mixture.  Taste and add salt if necessary.  Stuff the smoked egg whites with the yolk mixture.  Garnish the top with the reserved bacon crumbles and chipotle powder or paprika if desired.  Serve immediately or chill and serve.

Smoked bacon chipotle deviled eggs and regular deviled eggs

I used Crepe Myrtle wood for the smoke since it has a nice floral note.  I will let the egg whites stay in the smoke a bit longer next time or use a wood with a stronger smoke.  I think the smoke flavor could have been a bit more pronounced without detracting from the overall flavor and I think a darker egg white would have been more visually striking.  These were crazy good and I think there are other flavor combinations that would do well with a smoked deviled egg.

Give these deviled eggs a go and see for yourself.  I think you'll like them.  Let me know what you think.

Update:  I made another batch using hickory wood for smoke and did a full dozen eggs.  I used most of a pound of bacon and had a couple of slices leftover.  The hickory definitely gave a more pronounced smoke flavor and color.

Hickory smoked bacon chipotle deviled eggs

You really need to give these a try.

Uncle T



Sous Vide Confit Chicken Leg Quarters

Yep, another recipe using the Joule.  One of the recipes in the guides that come with the Joule app is for sous vide confit turkey legs.  I've done them and they turned out very good.  The problem is that turkey leg quarters are hard to come by unless you purchase a whole turkey and take it apart yourself.  Chicken leg quarters are readily available and sized to make a good meal.  An added benefit is that leg quarters are very flavorful on their own and with the addition of a dry brine and some other things they become great.


I try to keep leg quarters in the freezer but I'd run out a few months ago.  I like having them on hand to make soup for the good wife along with using them in any other recipe.  There is a meat market in one of the nearby cities that had 40 lb cases of chicken leg quarters on sale for $19.99 so I got a case.  That 40 lb case yielded 32 pairs of leg quarters to be packaged.  Not a bad return on investment I'd say.  I kept out one set to be cooked sous vide for our supper the next evening.

Since the Joule app didn't have a pre-programmed cook for confit chicken leg quarters I had to search online for the temperature and time.  The most common I found was 165F for 8 hours.  Given that I wanted to have it for supper I had to enlist the good wife to start the cook.  I wrote down step by step instructions and she could also text me at work if she had questions.  Before I left that morning, I dry brined the leg quarters, put some sprigs of rosemary in the bag, and added a bit of olive oil then returned the bag to the refrigerator.  The dry brine I used was the same as ChefSteps recommended for the confit turkey legs, 5 parts salt and 3 parts sugar.  I used 1/2 Tbs as my "part" and ended up using a bit over a third of the total mix to brine both leg quarters.  The leftover is in a ziplock bag to be used later.

Once the leg quarters came out of the sous vide, I put them on a sheet tray with a rack in it to let air circulate all around.  Following the recipe from ChefSteps, I gently dried the chicken skin then put the leg quarters in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes to darken and crisp the skin.  It doesn't take very long so just watch the chicken through the oven window.

A tasty meal courtesy of the Joule

The good wife had wanted some broccoli and cheese sauce so I steamed some broccoli and covered it in a fresh hot cheddar and fontina cheese sauce.  We also had roasted potatoes with the meal.  The chicken leg quarters came out as good as the sous vide confit turkey legs did.  All you had to do was stick a fork in the chicken and rotate the fork and the meat came loose.  It was super flavorful and tender.

I hope you add sous vide cookery to your kitchen repertoire.


Uncle T

Sous Vide Creme Brulee

This is another recipe in the Joule app that I tried a few weekends ago.  ChefSteps has several dessert recipes in the app that I'd been wanting to try.  Every time I'd thought about it, I'd find that I didn't have enough eggs.  Eventually, I remembered to order extra so there would be enough for this and our regular eating.

Crème Brulee right out of the sous vide

Like all the other sous vide recipes on the Joule app, this one was straight forward and easy to follow.  It makes enough for 5 servings in 8 ounce mason jars.  I did have to break out my cooler to have room to accommodate the jars and the Joule.  The total cook time was 1 hour.  The cook time is 1 hour but they give you three temperature options to get the custard texture you want.  I went with the 181F cook to get a little thicker custard.  This was the middle option.



                           

                       Two jars of Crème Brulee ready to be torched

The only problem I ran into was the next night when we wanted to eat some.  Sadly, I didn't have a culinary torch yet.  Of course, I've never needed one before.  The main problem, was that while I do have a propane torch, and it will work, it was almost out of fuel so I couldn't get the sugar to melt and darken like it should.  It did melt and make the nice crunchy crust it is supposed to have though. Now, Uncle T is on the search for a culinary torch.

The first two to be torched.  You can tell where the torch ran out of fuel.

The flavor of this crème brulee is quite good and we were well pleased.  Using small mason jars may not be as elegant as using a ramekin but using the jars and cooking sous vide is lots simpler and neater than trying to get ramekins in a water bath in and out of the oven without making a mess.


Uncle T ended up getting a good torch.  I got a nifty little butane torch from the dreaded Wal-Mart in the plumbing department.  Price wise it was a tad less than the culinary torches sold on Amazon but they all work the same.  Mine is red and the ones sold as culinary torches I saw online were all black.  I don't care about the color of something like this just the functionality.  Since it came from the plumbing department and cost less, I won't feel bad or worry about using it for home maintenance work.

Two done with a new butane torch

So, once again the Joule and the recipes in the app have proven to be winners.  If you've not yet gotten into the world of sous vide cookery then I urge you to do so.  Besides the constantly expanding list of recipes on the app there are many sous vide recipes online to help you do your own thing.  Give it a try, I think you'll be quite pleased.

Uncle T

Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

The weather turned pretty cold the other day and the good wife wanted soup to combat the chill.  That got me to thinking about what I had on hand to make soup with since I didn't feel like getting back out to go to the store.  I was able to make this with stuff already in the pantry since they are all staples for us.

Ground beef and onions

Now, I know cheese burger soup is a thing and has been around for quite some time.  The good wife has made it a few times from a recipe she found in a Taste of Home magazine.  While these are good, they all seem to rather thick and heavy.  I also question what kind of cheese burger has carrots and other vegetables like many of these recipes.  When you look online, many of the recipes describe the soup as luxurious, creamy, or rich so you know they'll be thick and heavy.  What I came up with is lighter feeling but still quite filling.


Bacon Cheese Burger Soup


1 lb ground beef
8 oz sliced bacon
1 medium white onion, diced
8 oz elbow macaroni
32-48 oz chicken broth
4 oz Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 Tbs butter
3 Tbs flour
3/4 cup milk
salt
pepper
garlic powder


Cut the bacon slices into 1/2 inch wide pieces and heat in a skillet until almost crispy.  Remove the bacon from the skillet and pour the bacon grease into your grease pot for future use.  Put the skillet back on the stove and add the ground beef.  Season the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder as you would a hamburger.  As the ground beef browns, break it up and add the onion.  Once the ground beef and onion are done remove from heat.  In a stock pot, melt the butter and add the flour and stir.  Once the butter and flour come together to make a light roux, add about 3/4 cup of chicken broth to hydrate the flour, stirring well to keep smooth.  Once the broth is absorbed, add the milk and stir to combine.  Add the Velveeta cubes to the béchamel sauce to start melting.  Once the Velveeta is mostly melted, start adding the Fontina and Cheddar and continue stirring until all the cheeses are melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the rest of the chicken broth, at least enough to total 32 ounces and mix well.  Add the ground beef and onion mixture as well as the bacon and stir to mix well.  Cook the elbow macaroni and add the drained noodles to the stock pot and stir.  If you want the soup a bit thinner, add up to another 16 ounces of chicken broth.  Taste and add seasoning if desired.  Let the completed soup simmer for 30 minutes to help meld the flavors and stir occasionally.  Serves 4-6 people.  To further evoke the cheese burger theme, you could garnish the soup with chopped dill pickles.

A pot of cheesy goodness

I used the full 48 ounces of chicken broth.  If I'd had beef broth I may have tried it but I think the chicken broth is a better choice since it is rather mild flavored and lets the main ingredients shine.  For the seasoning of the ground beef, I used a personal ready made blend of the three seasonings that I call GPS.   I used to just call it grill seasoning until I saw the BBQ Pit Boys on YouTube and they have their own blend they call SPG.  I like putting them in alphabetical order.  I used the GPS generously on the ground beef while it was browning since it had the onion with it and didn't need to add anything at the end.

A good bowl of Bacon Cheese Burger Noodle Soup

As a note, I had lots of egg whites left from another recipe and had scrambled them for a treat for the dogs.  The good wife likes eggs in any form and was snatching bites out of the skillet.  Since the leftover soup wouldn't fit in one container we split the little remaining in the pot.  The good wife wanted scrambled egg whites put on top of hers.  She convinced me to do the same and I must say it was pretty tasty.  I'm not saying make eggs to add to the soup, but don't be afraid to garnish the soup with what you have on hand or what might suit your fancy.


Give this soup a try.  Like any soup, it gets better with age so enjoy the leftovers.  Let me know what you think.


Uncle T

Ultimate Grilled Chicken Breast

OK, I don't know that these are the Ultimate, but they are pretty tasty.  Ultimate is one of those words that get thrown around in the culinary world till they have no meaning.  It is in the same realm as the phrase, cooked to perfection.  This habit is particularly prominent among TV chefs and those hoping to be.  My question is always, "If it's not cooked to perfection, why would you send it out to a customer?"  One TV chef even has Ultimate in his show's name which to me sounds like he thinks his version of dishes is the ultimate version.  I've watched his show and have not always been impressed, especially when he screws with traditional dishes.  Now that my mini rant is over, on with the more serious stuff.

Cheesy, peppery goodness

A more proper name for this would be Grilled Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I know some will say that adding bacon to it makes it ultimate.  I'll agree that adding bacon to most anything makes it awesome.  I decided to do this for a couple of reasons.  One is to use up things we've canned from the garden.  The other reason is that due to weather and other issues popping up, I haven't been able to use the grill or smoker as often as I'd like.  Yes, I grill/smoke year round but combining wind and rain makes temperature control difficult and I hate my grilled/smoked food getting rained on as I'm  taking it inside.

The raw ingredients for greatness

The beauty of doing chicken breasts this way is that you can easily tailor it to suit your tastes or what you have on hand.  I'll tell you how I did it and then you can follow suit or use it as a guideline to do your own thing.


Ultimate Grilled Chicken Breast


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz jar poblano peppers
Fontina cheese
Swiss cheese
bacon


Cut a pocket in each chicken breast by slicing down the middle of the breast without going all the way through and stopping 1 inch from each end.  Then cut a pocket in each side trying to get the top and bottom to be the same thickness.  Divide the poblano peppers between the breasts and place evenly in the pockets.  Add as much of the two cheeses as you can to each breast and still close the pocket.  Starting at the large end, start wrapping the breast with bacon.  Once completed, let the bacon wrapped breasts sit on a tray until the grill is ready.  Place on a hot grill with the cut side down.  Once the bacon has cooked and is done turn the breasts over to complete cooking.  Once the chicken is done, remove from grill and allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Goodness on the grill

To accompany the chicken breasts, I fixed Parmesan roasted potatoes and sautéed carrots with a brandy and butter sauce.  It was a highly flavorful meal.  Luckily, I made enough potatoes for leftovers and an extra chicken breast to take to work for my lunch the next day.  Where is it written that a work lunch has to be boring?

An awesome supper

A quick word on the carrots.  They were sauteed in butter with 4 smashed cloves of garlic and and 3 thin slices of ginger.  Once they were almost done, a couple of ounces of brandy was added to the skillet and cooked down to make the pan sauce.  Finish it with a light pinch of kosher salt.

 See, a quick simple way to make grilled chicken much more flavorful.  Give this a try and create your own ultimate.  Let me know how it turns out.


Uncle T

Review of Joule: Sous Vide by ChefSteps

This is the promised review of the Joule:  Sous Vide by ChefSteps.  I pre-ordered it from ChefSteps early last year and it was due in June/July time frame.  Due to some issues, mostly outside the control of ChefSteps, delivery got pushed back to September.  To their credit, ChefSteps kept those of us who had pre-ordered informed of delays and new delivery dates.  Since delays are common to new products I wasn't concerned since they did keep the flow of information going.  Once the government-caused issues were solved, an email came saying deliveries would go out in the order that people had purchased their Joule.  I got a final email telling me it was coming and I had it in just a couple of days.  If you want to get into sous vide cooking, you can click here to order your Joule.

Poaching eggs in the shell.  Joule is in an 8 quart stock pot.

One of the things that had kept me from trying sous vide was the size of the sous vide units.  Even a small one required a substantial amount of counter space.  Frankly, not many average folks have that much counter space to give up.  Even if you wanted to store it between uses, it would take lots of space.  Over the past few years, heating and circulating units have come into the sous vide world and the price has come down.  Joule is smaller than any others I've looked at.  It is smaller than my immersion blender.  Joule's small size makes it easy to store in a kitchen drawer.

KitchenAid immersion blender and Joule

Another advantage of the Joule is the fact that it is operated via your smart phone.  It is compatible with both Android phones and iPhones.  Using smart phones to operate means that ChefSteps can push software improvements and new recipe guides out as needed.  There has already been a couple of recipe guide updates and I'm sure more will follow.  The Joule app has visual doneness pictures for every type of meat you want to cook.  All you have to do is select the degree of doneness you want and it gives you the time to cook.  Some, like steaks, ask the thickness of what you are cooking and that affects the cook time.  If you want to cook something by a sous vide recipe you found online or you want to experiment you can set the time and temperature manually.  Some people complain that there is no display on the Joule but even I have a smart phone these days.  I don't see the lack of a display as a problem.

Joule app opening on my phone and Joule guides showing on the tablet

The Joule is quiet.  It is so quiet that if the water level is over the discharge hole I can't hear it if anything else is going and barely a hum if all else is turned off.  You can't beat a quiet appliance.

Since the Joule is a heater and circulator you need something to hold the water.  I primarily use one of my stock pots.  When I did a 24 hour cook for confit turkey legs I used a small cooler to help hold its heat.  For a long cook you probably should cover the container to help retain heat and stop evaporation.

The first thing I cooked with the Joule was a pair of strip steaks.  I think I went with medium-rare.  It was good but to suit us I should have gone with rare.  Since the time is also determined by steak thickness I would round down.  I wet age the strip loins prior to cutting into steaks and packaging so they are already tender and tasty.  Done with Joule they were even better.

Strip Steak, sous vide then seared

The good wife likes poached eggs almost to the exclusion of any other cooking method.  Joule has a poach in the shell program for eggs.  I do six every Saturday after breakfast so she'll have a poached egg available each morning for breakfast.  Just gently tap around the middle of the egg with a knife and slide the egg out of the shell.  The good wife will let the egg sit on the counter warming up while the coffee perks.  She'll then crack it into a small bowl and put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.  I've also poached eggs to top Udon noodle dishes.  This is so much easier and neater than cracking the egg into a pot of simmering water.

Poached egg after the break out

The absolute best thing I've cooked with the Joule was turkey legs.  Under their poultry guide is a recipe for sous vide confit turkey legs.  I followed their instructions fairly close only changing the herbs that were added.  It was a 24 hour cook so I used a small cooler for the insulation to help retain heat and covered the top with plastic wrap and then draped a towel over it to reduce evaporation.  The cook I chose yielded turkey that was so tender I could have made pulled turkey and the flavor was great.  The good wife said to definitely do this again.

Fresh from the bag, ready to sear

Crispy skin after 5 minutes under the broiler

The latest cook was a nice thick sirloin steak.  I followed the guide for ultimate steak which involved a quick sear before bagging and adding some crushed garlic, fresh herbs, and olive oil.  The sous vide time for the doneness I chose and the thickness of the steak was an hour.  This ended up being an extremely tender flavorful sirloin steak.  This is the one I talked about in the previous post.

Starting the sear with herbs and garlic from the bag

Tender, tasty, and perfectly cooked

I've also done pork belly, hamburgers, salmon, and squirrel using the Joule and the results have been very good.  I still need to tweak the time and temperature for the squirrel or any other small game but I was pleased with my inaugural small game cook.

Sous vide pork belly with Udon noodles topped with a Joule poached egg

Hamburger sous vide and seared.  Pink, juicy, and flavorful.

There are still some recipes in the Joule guides that I am looking forward to trying.  The top two are Heavenly Honey-glazed Ham made with a pork butt and the collection of custards.  Ok, I guess that should be top four since there are three sous vide custard recipes to include a creme brulee.  I'm also interested to see what recipes they add to the guides next. 

All in all, I would highly recommend the Joule as your entry into sous vide cooking.  The small size and ease of operation are strong points in its favor.  Part of the ease of use is due to the cooking guides with visual doneness pictures contained in the app.  The only negatives I can think of are not negatives to me but may be to others.  First is the lack of a display panel to check your settings.  I've seen this complaint online but it makes no sense to me.  Using your phone, you don't have to walk to the kitchen to check the display.  It sounds like someone looking for something to complain about to me.  The other potential negative is the fact that it is only available in the US and is only designed to work with US electricity.  So, someone from overseas or a military person stationed overseas would have to find a different sous vide unit.  Lastly, sous vide is slow so it takes planning to use properly.  Like I said, I don't see this as a negative because the results are worth the time.


There you have it, a long drawn out review of the Joule.  If you want to up your kitchen game then get a Joule and get into the world of sous vide cookery.  If I didn't answer a question let me know.

Uncle T

Sous Vide Sirloin Steak and Brussels Sprout Salad

I've been interested in Sous Vide cooking for some time now.  Until fairly recently, sous vide cookery was priced beyond most home cooks.  Even if someone wanted to spend the money for a sous vide cooker, you ended up with a huge appliance taking up space on your counter.  Over the past few years sous vide circulators have come on the scene reducing both the cost and kitchen foot print of sous vide cookery.  Last year I ordered a new sous vide circulator that was coming on the market and have used it frequently.  I got the Joule, by ChefSteps, and I'll be doing a review post in a few days.

Our local warehouse store had a sale on Sirloin Butts a couple of weeks ago and I took advantage of the situation.  Sirloin steaks have great flavor and I cut some thick steaks to cook sous vide as a test.  I'm happy to say it turned out quite well.

Starting the post sous vide sear

The Brussels sprout salad was inspired by a guy on Instagram that goes by the name, Bacon Dealer.  He has some awesome pictures of smoked and grilled meats as well as his home made Bacon and Pancetta.  Bacon Dealer developed a broccoli salad and over time got it to taste like he wanted.  Once I found out what he used I told him I'd be adding my own spin to it.  Here is the post with his broccoli salad with the ingredients in comments, Bacon Dealer.

The sirloin steak was cooked according to the program in the Joule.  I seasoned each side with salt and pepper then did a quick sear on each side.  The steak was put into a zip bag with 3 cloves of crushed garlic, and some sprigs of thyme and oregano from our herb garden.  Then a bit of olive oil was splashed all over the steak and it was ready for the cook.  I chose 129F for the cook and with a steak the thickness of this one it cooked an hour.  After the cook, 2 Tbs of butter were melted in a hot skillet and the steak was put into the skillet along with everything in the bag with it.  The steak got a quick sear, about 45 seconds, on each side.  While it was searing, the top side was getting basted with the oil and butter mixture in the skillet.  Once both sides were seared, it was time to slice.

Ready to slice

Before I sliced the steak, I made a quick pan sauce to top the slices.  I added another 2 Tbs of butter to the skillet and let it melt.  Then I added 1/4 cup or so of Brandy and let the alcohol burn off.  A little extra simmering to reduce it a bit and it was ready.

Nicely done

The Brussels sprout salad was mostly prepared while the sous vide cook was taking place.  I waited until the steak was almost done before dressing the salad.  It is a quick salad and easily adjusted to suit your family's tastes.

Brussels Sprout Salad

8 oz Brussels sprouts
4-6 oz Pancetta lardons
2-4 oz Cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup Pistachios
1/4 cup Pecans
1/4 cup fermented red peppers, julienned
 Apple cider vinegar
Olive Oil
salt

Thinly slice the Brussels sprouts and place in a bowl.  Dice the Cheddar cheese and add to the sliced spouts.  Put the Pancetta lardons in a skillet and cook until just brown.  You don't want your Pancetta crispy like bacon.  Add the freshly cooked and drained Pancetta to the bowl with the sprouts and cheese and toss to mix.  Do a rough chop on the Craisins, Pistachios, and Pecans and add them to the bowl and toss to mix.  Take a bite and add salt if needed.  When ready to serve, splash vinegar and olive oil over the salad and toss to mix.  Add more of each if the salad is too dry.  Serve and enjoy.   

A fine tasty meal.  The steak is ready for the pan sauce.

Since the salad was all we were having with the sirloin steak we had a larger than usual portion.  If we'd had a potato as part of supper then we'd have gotten 4 servings out of this recipe.  I used fermented red peppers because I still had some and they came from my garden.  You can use either fresh red pepper or pickled pepper as a substitute. 

If you've been thinking about getting into sous vide cooking then I highly recommend the Joule.  Sous vide cooking is not fast but the results are worth the wait.

Give this salad a try the next time you want a salad or just need to add something green to your supper.  I think you'll be pleased.  If you try it, let me know what you think.

Uncle T