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.
Beef short ribs are a deliciously rich and flavoursome cut of meat, one of our favourites to cook any time of the year. Smoked over cherry wood and then braised for a few hours in a red wine sauce to enhance the deep flavours and you’re on the way to create a winning dish to impress friends and family alike.
Continue reading “Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce”
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.
My wife and I experienced a fantastic lunch at the Gatlinburg branch of Calhoun’s Tennessee BBQ in 2019, part of our east coast USA tour. The highight was the best chilli that we’ve ever tasted, using brisket as the meat. After cooking and enjoying some brisket back home, we had leftovers. Time to emulate that amazing Calhoun’s Tennessee brisket chilli.
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.
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!
I’ve had tomahawk steak in the past, the classic cut of bone-on beef resembling the weapon of the American Indian people. But tomapork steaks? That was a new one on me, and came into the “gotta try this” category. Slow roasted and served with buttery potatoes and green cabbage, this make for a fantastic meal with an impressive centrepiece.
Another one of those “that’s a new one on me” blog posts. Pork riblets (also called pork shoulder ribs) are a small, meaty rack of unevenly cut pork ribs, a perfect size for a single serving. They are incredibly tasty, and normally great value. Cooked low and slow, with a spicy, warm basting sauce made by my wife, we present some delicious pork riblets with chipotle sauce.
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.
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.
Whilst staying in Yellowstone National Park, we had the pleasure of enjoying a delicious bowl or three of smoked bison chili. It was absolutely delicious, the meat and sauce had a richer flavour than beef chili dishes I had previously tasted.
After a bit of research back at the home ranch, we came up with our own version using buffalo and cooked up some tasty buffalo chili with roasted tomatoes.
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 