I adore a succulent duck breast cooked with a crisp, tasty skin on it. Yet achieving this in the Big Green Egg has proven less effective than the kitchen … until now. I found a way of getting that delicious, crispy skin using the Egg, whilst at the same time cooking a rich and complimentary mushroom side. It’s a simply trick, you just need a cast iron skillet. And a spirit level.
As lockdown resulted in postponing our USA and Canada road trip, my wife and I have been vacationing vicariously through the medium of television. In a recent series, we followed a famous chef as he travelled from San Francisco down through Mexico, enjoying local cuisines on the journey. We felt inspired to do a fusion of Mexican style flavours with traditional USA food, resulting in some delicious Mexican style BBQ ribs.
We cooked some pulled pork at the weekend, and had leftovers. Yes, I know, leftover pulled pork, how is this possible? Well there’s only two of us (along with three mainecoon cats) and I did cook a lot of pork. I recently saw a recipe for cheesey nachos with leftover smoked brisket, so emulated that … including the crispy bacon bits which, according to my wife, sealed the deal!
A cracking start to the new year, as The Cooks Digest gets back to its roots of cooking a life less ordinary. Throughout 2019 we endeavour to try brand new ideas with each post. To commence the series, a new cut of meat served with a far eastern style flair … Asian-style pork leg steak.
The good news is that I got a new job! After being made redundant and unemployed for six months, I’m once again being useful as a Scrum Master and agile coach to a large, multi-national organisation. It’s also meant that the blog has taken a bit of a back seat whilst I settle into the new role and get to know the teams I am and will be working with. So as a final blog post for the year, we return to one of my favourite meals, steak. And a new technique called the clean caveman for making those amazing reverse steaks ribeyes even better …
The “caveman” steak method involves placing meat directly onto hot coals. I loved the crisp, seared crust results but didn’t care for the ash. So what happens if we get the steaks very close to the coals without actually touching? This is what I tried … the clean caveman steak. And it’s now our go-to steak cooking method.
Earlier in the year, I made apricot preserve pork breast ribs, smoked over orange wood chunks. A reader suggested a similar recipe with peach preserve and smoking chunks. Sounded like a good idea, and the reader, very generously, sent me some peach wood chunks from the USA. He was bang on the money, the peach smoked and glazed St. Louis ribs were amazing!
Along with brisket and ribs, pulled pork is a classic “rite of passage” meal every BBQ owner (including me) aspires to create. And, eventually, excel at. It takes time and patience, but done right the reward is some of the most amazing pork I’ve tasted.
Another new discovery, this time from Hawaii, Huli-Huli chicken is a delicious alternative to your everyday, classic roast chicken dish. Cooked with a simple spice rub and glazed with a sweet, aromatic sauce, it makes a tasty talking-point for your dinner guests.
During our last day of holiday in September, we headed west of Denver in search of ghost towns. The first stop was Nevadaville, which had some interesting if somewhat derelict buildings. From there, the journey took us through the serene mountain landscapes to Idaho Springs, which has some more intact buildings from the bygone age of prospecting.
And it also happens to have one of the best BBQ places I’ve eaten at … Smokin Yard’s BBQ.
Stuffed crust pizza is a well-known take on the classic Italian meal. Cheese stuffed burgers however? That was a new one for me. Known as Jucy Lucy burgers, they are a twist on the classic American comfort food, with cheese sandwiched between two thin burger patties.
Find out how to make your own Jucy Lucy burgers at home with this simple recipe …
We bought back the idea for awesome salt ‘n’ vinegar chicken wings from the USA. We also came back with some delicious huckleberry BBQ sauce. Well, heck, let’s try making some more chicken wings with a tasty, tangy sweet fruit glaze! This was outstandingly good, it’s now a tough choice as to which would be our go-to wing recipe.
For the next in our series of burger recipes, we present the Mad Max Turkey Burger. Infused with the flavours of the unqiue Mad Max seasoning, and packed with a little chorizo, this is a great tasting lean meat burger. And utterly delicious.
The Cook's Digest 