Sunday #BBQFest

Over the weekend, my ever so thoughtful son decided to remind me of the BBQ foods that we have not had in a while and he decided that Hot Dogs and Hamburgers were at the top of the list.

There is just something about hot charcoal on a cold night

Cottage Fries

Sriracha Aioli

Caramelized Onions

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving was different than in previous years. Family was pulled in different directions, and my wife decided to try and hit Black Friday deals one day early. That left me with the kids and to figure out dinner plans, which also means my good friend Weber would be helping out. I decided to smoke some chicken and throw on some hot dogs. It reminded us once again that Thanksgiving is not about the food, but rather the company and family time that is spent together.

Shabbos #Smokefest

My son had his first high school Shabbatone this past weekend which meant I was going to have 3 teenage boys for the Friday night meal. Since this was my son's first year in high school, and first time hosting kids from his class, this could be a make or break weekend for him. If the boys have a great time, it reflects positively on him, if they have a bad time, it reflects negatively. Or so my wife and I thought. Therefore it was time to pull out the big guns for these boys.

I decided to go with Beef Flanken ribs that were well marbled. For these I went with my go to dry rub with the addition of some brown sugar to help the bark form during the smoke.

Fresh foil for the water bowl

 For this smoke I went with Cherry and Pecan wood

Using the minion method I went with about 25 briquettes

Once the charcoal was hot, I poured in the center

For best smoke, its important to space out the ribs so that the smoke can circulate better

Temperature was kept constant at 225 with air flow being regulated through bottom vents

After 3 hours, the ribs were ready to come off, and get a thin layer of BBQ sauce and then wrapped for another 3 hours

At this point I threw on a cut up chicken that I did with my go to dry rub. I added a couple of chunks of apple wood to get the smoke going again.

And of course, what is shabbos without an Apple Kugel

Smoked Lamb Shoulder for the Jewish New Year

This year, I decided that for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) I would smoke a boneless lamb shoulder in addition to other festive foods. What I really enjoy about my local butcher is that you ask for is what you get (if not more). My requested 5-6 pound lamb shoulder turned into 7.5 pounds. In addition, he had a great package of beef short ribs that I couldn't pass up.


Lamb:
6 pound boneless lamb shoulder roast
2 tablespoon fresh garlic
2 tablespoon fresh rosemary
2 tablespoon fresh thyme
cooking string

Mop:
1/4 cup pomegranite juice
1 tablespoon fresh garlic
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 sprigs of thyme

Rub for Beef Ribs:
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)

Start by opening the lamb shoulder up and undoing any string that may be holding together your roast.

Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary

Spread the garlic/rosemary/thyme mixture all over the lamb and tie the roast again

While this was marinating, I used the rub on the ribs and made pancakes for the kids

start the smoker by taking 30 charcoal briquettes and lighting in the chimney

In the bottom of the smoker, pour charcoal making a space in the middle and add your cherry wood

When your neighbors start smelling your BBQ and come over to take a selfie

After 3 hours, I pulled the ribs off of the smoker

and sauced them before covering them and placing them in an oven to finish cooking

Take the pomegranite juice, garlic, thyme and rosemary sprigs

Every 30 minutes for next 2 hours, go and mop the lamb using the sprigs

Cook the lamb until you reach an internal temperature of 135 degrees Farenheit and allow carry over temperature to 140 degrees.

Pulled BBQ Beef Sliders

One of my favorite low and slow recipes is pulled BBQ beef. While historically this is done with brisket, I like doing it with the less expensive beef chuck roast. The last time that I made this, I served it on slider rolls, however next time I am thinking of getting mini tortillas and have them as pulled BBQ beef tacos.

Recipe:

5 pound chuck roast
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
Disposable aluminum pan

Start by lighting about 25 charcoal briquettes and setup your smoker with charcoal and wood for minion method smoking

For this smoke, I am using cherry wood 

Cut the chuck roast into large chunks and spread the rub evenly over the meat

Once the charcoal is white, pour it in the center of the charcoal and the wood

For the first 3 hours, cook the chuck roast chunks in the pan uncovered. After 3 hours, cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook for an additional 2-3 hours until the meat is fork tender

After 5.5 hours the meat looked amazing with great bark

Take the chunks and two forks and start shreadding the meat

Take 1/4 cup of the juice from the bottom of the pan and mix with 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce and mix with the shredded beef

With this BBQ, I also grilled some yellow and green squash that I marinated in olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and black pepper and smoked some chicken

I

BBQ Beef Sliders with smoked chicken and grilled squash

Chicken Shwarma BBQ Style

To say that my kids are picky eaters is an understatement. Shwarma is a staple in my diet and considered one of my four basic food groups with Coffee, Steak, and Pancakes being the other three. Convincing my children that this is a must style dinner meal would be a foodie's greatest challenge. This weekend, I decided it was time to introduce my children to new culinary delights.

Like any other Sunday, the morning began with, "What's for Breakfast?". This was an easy one, since I would be able to utilize leftover Challah from Shabbos. "French Toast" came the reply from the kitchen.

As the day wore on and errands were run in preperation for the start of school this week, the dinner question started to come around. The mysterious answer was "Middle Eastern Chicken". And with that, the adventure began. As today got hectic, I had to settle for fresh bakery pita over making it myself.

Recipe:

Israeli Salad

1 Cuccumber

1 Tomato

2 Sour Pickles

Chicken Shwarma

6 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs

1 onion sliced thin

Marinade

4 Tablespoon Olive Oil

2 Tablespoon Cumin

2 Tablespoon Tumeric

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper (to taste)

8 Pita Bread / Hogie Rolls

Tehina Sauce

Skin and debone the chicken thighs and place in a bowl with olive oil and the marinade. Mix well and let sit at room temperature.

Fill 3/4 of a Charcoal chimney and light it.

While the charcoal is going, dice your vegetables for your Israeli salad.

And start sauteing your onions

Once your charcoal is hot, grill the chicken thighs on both sides until cooked through

When the chicken is cooked, bring inside and dice into small pieces. Add the pieces to the onions in the pan and heat through, stirring to combine the flavors and ingrediants

To assemble: Cut the top off one pita bread, fill the cavity with the chicken and onion mixture, top with tehina and the Israeli Salad and even more tehina as you like.

Here is another way of doing it in a hoagie roll

Once the kids heard this was really shwarma, they voted this one of the top 5 dinners.