Making things a bit smokey

I have spoken about how when doing "Chirp and Turf" it is important to first smoke the wings and then get the fire hotter for the hamburgers. Its a great way to smoke and grill, but as I have worked with this incredible charcoal Weber One Touch for the last 4 years, I really wanted a dedicated smoker that didn't need as much involvement like the One Touch does when I use that to smoke. I decided it was time to take Everything is Better Grilled to the next level and get a dedicated smoker.

While there are many different smokers available on the market, I am a big fan of Weber's products and quality and went with the 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain.

For this Sundays BBQ with friends, I started the smoker first since this would be cooking the longest.

Like the One Touch, you start with filling and lighting the chimney

Once the chimney is lit, you add the ring that keeps the charcoal in place and pour your charcoal and wait until the smoker comes up to temperature. Add your wood chips and your food and let it go. Since I was doing a variation of chicken and sweet potatoes for my first smoke, I waited an hour before starting the chimney for my grill.

As you can see, this turned my backyard into a real BBQ House!!

The good part about doing these separately was that the grill was able to get super hot for the hamburgers and hot dogs

Around the time that the burgers and spiral hot dogs were done..........

....the smoker was done too. Since the smoker has two levels, I put the sweet potatoes under the chicken so that when the chicken smoked, those juices landed on the potatoes giving them some extra flavor.

Needless to say, there were very little leftovers. Stay tuned for more smoking and grilling recipes over the coming weeks.

Summer version of Shnitzel

Shnitzel is a classic Jewish meal involving breadcrumbs, hot oil, and chicken breasts. In this house it is a fan favorite as I put my own spin on it involving cayenne pepper and combining bread crumbs with Panko bread crumbs for added crunch. During the summer months, I would prefer to take advantage of the warmer weather and and make shnitzel outside (minus the hot oil and breadcrumbs)

July 4th BBQ for One

With my fellow BBQ Foodie son away at camp for the summer and my daughters and wife choosing salad and tuna fish for dinner, I was left to BBQ for myself on July 4th. Why you ask? Because not BBQing on July 4 is like saying that the Communists won the Cold War!!

Here are some pictures to help stir up the patriotism.

I went with lump charcoal because it adds a different flavor than the briquettes

Its my birthday and I will golf and BBQ if I want to....

....barring any Hatzolah related or work calls....

Sunday was my birthday. And while it was a day that would allow me to spend time with my father on a golf course, it began the night before jumping into support a massive technology undertaking that had most of my team going until a little past 3:00 AM. 35 minutes later when my alarm went off, I got up, davened and picked up my father to play the greatest game in the world, Golf at 5:40 AM.

Unfortunately, on the way home, I was asked to help cover the evening and overnight support so I had to change my dinner plans with my family and instead fired up the grill, because even birthdays are better grilled #EIBG.

I picked up a 1.5 inch thick 22 oz Rib Eye steak and used a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, fresh cracked black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper for the rub. I used some cooking string to tie it to keep its shape.