No Recipe, Just Cookin’

[David2011]

Last weekend was warm enough to grill some burgers. Today I’m giving it a go to smoke the first ribs of the season. The wind is stiff at 24 mph and strong gusts. Last year I changed the rubber wheels out for steel ones so it’s easy to turn the air inlet away from the wind. The smoker weighs about 500 pounds. Visibility is about 2 miles due to the dust in the air. Got some Merlot and my TV on the patio which is mostly sheltered from the wind and has the roof of the house over it. Gonna just kick back and enjoy cooking this evening.

[gbrown]

Sounds like a plan to me! Enjoy.

[David2011]

It might not be as much fun as I planned. Vis down to about 3/4 mile but I’m committed at this point. A friend built the smoker. Temp has been 225-228 for nearly a half hour without me touching it. I love the smoker.

[MaryB]

Snow, more snow, deck is under 4' of the stuff...

[RED BEAR]

Grill is under car port so it gets used rain or shine summer or winter hot or cold . Neighbors don't understand but there is nothing like grilled or smoked food. It is one of lifes little pleasures i wouldn't do without.

[David2011]

Snow, more snow, deck is under 4' of the stuff...

Condolences. It will be a different story for me when I'm in Texas full time later this year. Four feet of humidity. . . I won't miss much of my native New Mexico (grew up in Houston) when I move to the Houston area. The progressives in Santa Fe and Albuquerque are doing everything they can to crush the Second Amendment. Taxes are high. Two things I will miss are the low humidity and the dark skies. I also enjoy amateur astronomy and it's never dark in the Houston metro area.


Grill is under car port so it gets used rain or shine summer or winter hot or cold . Neighbors don't understand but there is nothing like grilled or smoked food. It is one of lifes little pleasures i wouldn't do without.

You are so right! I grill under cover but can't/won't use the smoker under the covered part of the patio. The gusts hit 50-55 mph last night and unfortunately that's not unusual in this area so it makes for a bad combination when it's cool as well. I don't like trying to grill when there's a lot of dirt in the air.

The covered portion of the patio under the house's roof, not a patio cover like most and I'm afraid hours upon hours of running the smoker would permeate the house. The smoker is the traditional kind with a fire box and 100% manual operation. I've been cooking with a truck load of pecan that I bought when my friend converted a mediocre charcoal grill into an awesome smoker. When I bought the house it was just a 20"x3' charcoal grill made from oilfield casing. He added a 20x20x20 firebox, baffles inside the cooking area for more even heat, cut of the two piddly 1.5" exhaust stacks and put a 4.5" smokestack on it to let the bad stuff out. It will run about 5 hours on 4 pieces of fireplace log sized pecan maintaining 225 degrees.

If anyone has a good dry rib rub recipe that they would like to share I'm open to suggestions.

[MaryB]

No recipe but my hands down favorite commercial rub is Smokin' Guns Mild

[Lloyd Smale]

son in law was over yesterday shoving off the garage AGAIN. when he was done the snow bank was so high he stepped down off the roof. It would take me a week to dig the shed out that has my grill in it!
Snow, more snow, deck is under 4' of the stuff...

[farmerjim]

When I lived in Montreal, I would go grill out on the deck in the middle of winter. My neighbors thought I was crazy.

[Wag]

Nothing better to do yesterday so I whipped up some cowboy beans. No real recipe, just started throwing stuff in a pot. They were positively delicious. My favorite way to cook.

--Wag--

[Reverend Al]

If you want to try my recipe for Canadian Cowboy Beans next time here it is ...

Canadian Cowboy Beans

1 pound or so of soaked, boiled, and pre-prepared white pinto beans (or a mix of beans, your choice). Prepare them by soaking the beans covered in water overnight, drain and rinse several times next morning, then cover with fresh water and bring beans to a full boil for about 10 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for at least three hours until the beans are just tender. Drain off the water and hold the beans aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

½ pound of bacon diced
2 cups of chopped onions
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of “Creole” seasoning (whatever your favorite brand)
1 ½ teaspoons of salt
½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
4 to 6 cloves of minced garlic (I use 6 of course!)
1 large can of chopped tomatoes c/w the juice
1 (12 ounce) bottle of lager or ale
½ cup of Maple syrup
½ cup of packed brown sugar
½ cup of chicken stock
½ cup of Canadian rye whiskey
2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves

In a large pot, cook the bacon over medium high heat until brown and fat is rendered, about 6 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. To the fat in the pan, add the onions, chili powder, Creole seasoning, salt and pepper, and cook stirring often until the onion is soft and clear, about 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute, then add the tomatoes with their juice and cook a further 2 minutes or so. It’s not listed in the recipe, but I also add about 2 to 3 diced bell peppers to the mix as well.

Add the beer, maple syrup, sugar, chicken stock, whiskey, mustard, Worcestershire and the 2 bay leaves. Stir it all very well and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the cooked, previously prepared beans to it all and bring to a boil. Add the bacon pieces that you removed earlier. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Then remove the lid and continue to simmer until all is tender, about 1 ½ to 2 hours more, stirring occasionally adding a bit more water or chicken stock as needed to keep the beans covered. At the end, I thicken the bean mixture by bringing them to a boil again and adding 6 to 8 tablespoons of Masa Harena (corn flour) thoroughly mixed with some cold water.

If you can be patient enough, they’re even better if they are made a day in advance, left overnight to cool and thicken, and then re-heated to be served the next day. Just like stews, they taste WAY better on the 2nd or 3rd day after all the flavours mix, rather than on the day they are first made …

[Reverend Al]

My brother in law and mother in law are out for a 2 week visit and staying with, so the other night I fired up the BBQ for the first time this year. In the afternoon I started up all of the burners and ran them on high for about 15 minutes to burn all the winter accumulation of crud off the grills and then brushed them down briskly with a brush. When I went to fire it up for dinner later the burners were barely making fire and it was struggling to get up to 200 degrees. I changed out to a brand new tank of propane, but still the same. Had to connect, disconnect, and reconnect the tank about 3 times before the burners started to run right. Not sure what was going on there? Anyway, dinner was steaks, and skewers of marinated prawns, peppers, and mushrooms. Must have been OK since there were no leftovers!

[Wayne Smith]

For ideas and recipes get Smoke and Spice by the Jimmersons - full of ideas.