Posted on 06/17/2011 7:58:56 PM PDT by Bean Counter
As hard to believe as it is, the 4th of July is nearly upon us, and it is not too early to start making plans for grilling and outdoor entertaining before the fireworks on the 4th.
So what have you got planned for the grill this year??
Beef? Bird?? Hawg??? Burgers???? Brats????? All of the above??????
Let's talk about some early preps and plans for some good eatin' on the 4th. What I'm lookin' for is recipes for rubs, marinades, favorite smokes, and grilling/smoking techniques and tricks...
Do you mind sharing your formula for good pork and beans, mine sucks.
I wii send it tomorrow
I haven’t tried the yellow curry as a rub or in a marinate but the red and panang are great. Penang is good with beef. You can cook the Penang with a little coconut milk and use that as an excellent marinate and still cook the penang with potato, egg plant or whatever to go along with the beef. Serve over rice or rice noodles.
Thanks!
That sounds good! Have a great Fourth!
Liberals.
Just Kidding. ;)
Going for big ole beef ribs this year. Haven’t had them in a while and I am over due. Hahaha
After seeing that I have no appetite ! :)
Hubby sez we are going “over the border” this weekend for our fire works. Love the cakes and the fountains. We have to be super careful in town - (NY) - but if we can’t get to the camp we’ll pop up a few here in our backyard.
Mr. smokes with various woods depending on the type of meat and cut. We have a freezer full of assorted stuff and venison. I expect we’ll have a bit of pulled pork, served on kaiser rolls with both a vinegar and a smoky sweet BBQ sauce, topped with a mound of cole slaw. Pickle if ya want it. We’ll also likely have a beer can smoked chicken, and a brisket. Baked beans - heavy on real maple syrup and bacon, potato salad, mac salad and probably a blackberry cobbler.
We will live off of leftovers for days.
Sounds great.
Just for fun we’ve got peppers growing in containers, Jumbo Jalapenos, Cayenne & Red Chili. I’m just not sure what to do with them !
I’ve given the first Jalapenos away to someone who makes poppers but will shortly have three or four Cayennes. Already got a jar of ground Cayenne and it’ll last me years :)
Guess I could hang ‘em in the kitchen, they’re very colorful.
My cooking time often extends by several hours and I find an internal temperature of 175 makes the meat shred easily.
His rub is a good basic one which can easily be customized.
For our block party I'll be doing a Bacon Bxplosion for the first time.
I finally put my hawg rub together today, and here’s what I came up with...I started originally with Emeril’s “Southwestern Rub” and modified it to my likes.
There are any number of good sources for spices out there, but I use Penzey’s because we have a couple of local retail stores here, and generally if they don’t have it, you don’t need it...
You can adjust this recipe down for any amount you choose, just use smaller amounts of each ingredient; but this will yield a quart jar, and it is handy stuff to have in the outdoor cooking pantry...
Ingredients (1/2 Cup of each)
Chili Powder
Smoked Spanish Paprika
Whole Cumin Seed
Whole Coriander Seed
Toasted Onion
Toasted Garlic
Kosher Salt
Mixed Peppercorns (Black, Green, White and Red)
Epazote (Mexican herb)
1/4 Cup Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Cup Sweet Paprika
Method:
Heat a saute pan dry over high heat, and add the Cumin seed. Keep shaking the pan (like you were making popcorn) and keep the seeds moving as they heat up. look for them to start smoking and crackling slightly. Let them begin to brown, and then turn them out into a stainless steel bowl to cool.
Return the pan to the heat, and repeat with the Coriander seed. Let it toast, then put it with the Cumin to cool quickly.
You should see smoke...when the seed begins to smoke it is almost toasted, so don’t panic....it’s what you want. Just don’t get carried away because the smoke can be quite an eye-burner if it gets away from you...
Add all of the other ingredients to the toasted seed.
Process the mixture in an electric spice mill until finely ground. Put the ground mixture into a second SS bowl until all of it has been ground.
Sift the mixture through a fine sieve back into the first bowl. You will have a surprising amount of unground whole pepper, cumin and coriander seed, so return it to the spice mill and grind it, and sift it until all of the mix sifts through.
Stir it up a bit, then transfer the powder to a quart mason jar. You will have to tap it down as you go, but it will all fit in one jar. Close the jar with a new seal and ring, it will keep for years this way. All of the flavors marry up in a week or so and it just outstanding for any kind of pork.
To use it, I’ll dress out my Boston Butts, and thoroughly dust all of the meat. I use plenty and make sure I get all of the meat covered. I cover the meat with plastic and foil, then let it marinate under refrigeration for at least 2 days, then bring it out the morning I am going to cook, and let it warm a bit before it hits the grill.
The Hawg Mop will rinse off the extra spices, and the smoke adds even more flavor, and of course there is a finishing sauce for the shredded pork...
Cheers, and happy grilling!!
Awww yeah.
Looks good, huh?? The mop sauce is black as molasses and has the aroma of Ancho pepper that is so strong you cannot smell the vinegar....that's gonna add some real flavor... I'm using mesquite charcoal with chunks of mesquite hardwood in the smoker; should have a great flavor when they are done. 
This will be a lot of fun...I've been preparing for a couple of weeks and I'm ready to go. I'm going to smoke them starting Sunday morning, and I expect it will take at least 6 hours before they are close to done. I'm shooting for an internal temp of 150 in the thickest part of the meat, then we'll pull it, rest it, and dress it, and refrigerate it. The party starts at 3 on Monday and the plan is to put the meat in a 200 degree oven Monday morning so it will be hot to go by the afternoon. Gonna be nice and warm and sunny here for the 4th, with a clear night for fireworks. Cheers everyone! Enjoy your holiday!
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