Simon & Garfunkel Chicken w/Creamy Spinach Baked Roll Ups
Simon and Garfunkel Chicken Courtesy of The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling Get the book or join The Pit for the recipe kids!
Thanks to child #4 @That_Stud_Sam for making the CSRUs!
Creamy Spinach Roll Ups Courtesy of GetInMYBelly
Ingredients:
- 8 oz. Cream Cheese
- 8 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese Shredded
- 1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/4 Yellow Onion Diced Smal
- 1 10 oz. Package of Frozen Spinach, Thawed and Drained Really Well
- 1 Box of Puff Pastry Sheets (2 Sheets)
- 1 Egg
- 1 Tbsp. Water
DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the Egg and Water and Beat until well mixed.
2. Combine Softened Cream Cheese, Monterey Jack Cheese, Garlic Powder and Onion in a bowl and mix well.
3. Add Spinach into the Cream Cheese Mixture and stir.
4. Unroll Puff Pastry Sheets and Brush both sides with Egg and Water Mixture.
5. Spread Cream Cheese and Spinach Mixture over one side of the Puff Pastry.
6. Roll Up the Puff Pastry and Slice.
7. Place rolls on a Baking Sheet and bake at 400°F for 20 Minutes or until the Puff Pastry turns a golden color.
8. Enjoy!
Monday is Meatloaf and Taters Day
We decided on meatloaf for Monday over the weekend. Next time we are going to use Kathryn's Recipe (sorry it is a secret of the pitmaster club) adaptation of this ORIGINAL RECIPE.
But today we went with a simpler version that of course included bacon. You can view the cooking log HERE it includes the recipes.
Here's some pics:
Thursday: Last Meal Ribs and Center Cut Round Roast
Pictured above are the finished products. Of course you can click them for a larger view you meat perv, you didn't have to ask. Here is how we got there.
On Tuesday the meat was finished defrosting and I gave them both a nice dry brine of kosher salt, then wrapped them up nice and tight and they went into the fridge. For the pork ribs I followed this recipe Last Meal Ribs: The Best Barbecue Ribs Ever. For the beef roast I followed these guidelines Recipe: Secrets Of Cooking Beef Prime Rib Roast, Strip Loin Roast, Tenderloin, Chuck Roast, Round, Rump Roast, And Other Beef Roasts On The Grill. And This Method Works Indoors If It's Too Cold For You, Wimp.
This meal was cooked on my 22.5" Weber with a Slow N Sear. If you have a kettle grill I cannot recommend too strongly that you get one of these. The grill was "set" to 225 degrees and I added apple wood and a touch of hickory. The ribs were given a nice rub of Meathead's Memphis Dust. The beef was rubbed with MMD and BBBR (Big Bad Beef Rub).
The pork went on at 12:30 and cooked for about 6 hours. At the six hour mark it passed the bend test but I left them on as I was keeping the lid raised to sear the beef. Weber's original classic BBQ sauce was served on the side, I did not baste the ribs with it.
The beef went on at 3pm and came off at 4:30. It was a 134 internally and so it was placed in a 150 degree oven to hold. At 6 pm the beef went back on the direct heat side of the grill to be seared.
I recommend serving the beef with beef butter. Feel free to experiment with the herbs, I did as I was out of tarragon. I use a 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 teaspoon lemon thyme, and 1/2 tsp rosemary for a 1lb block of Kerry's Gold Butter.
Tuesday is Texas Brisket Day
Having experimented with the flat over the weekend, I was holding on to the point until today. I am now a full-fledged brisket fan. That point, mmmm mmmm good.
The Slow'NSear was set in accordance with the 225 degree directions and the meat went on the grill at 6:34 AM when the grate temperature hit 225. At noon we hit an internal temp of 154 and I employed the famed Texas Crutch. The point came off the grill at 4:15 when both an internal temperature of 203 and the Thermapen went into it like a hot knife through butter.
Want the recipe? Try this Recipe: Texas Beef Brisket.
Pizza on the Grill, by special request
Monday was a special day for us and the guest of honor requested homemade pizza. We all know the key to great pizza is the crust. We rely on the pros at Valenti's. For a mere $3 you can get a fresh ball of dough suitable to build a large pizza.
I removed the Slow'NSear from the Weber and started a full chimney of Kingsford Original. When the charcoal was ready I centered it on the charcoal grate. I then placed a cast iron searing griddle in the center of the top grate and put the pizza stone on top of it. Down went the lid and we waited for the top grate temperature to peak. It peaked and held at about 450 degrees but I know that the stone was hotter than that. The pizza was slid on off of parchment paper (someone buy me a pizza slide pls); you can keep the parchment paper on if you like just make sure you trim it as close to the edge of the pizza as you can. 12 minutes later the pizza crust was strong, crisp and thoroughly cooked and the toppings were beautifully melted.
For the pizza above we used bbq sauce instead of pizza sauce, and oregano, browned ground round, peppers, and mozzarella. It rocked!
First Brisket: The Flat
It is amazing how much you can learn in a single cook. There is no replacing experience! I feel much more confident and ready to cook the next one. Many thanks to all on http://pitmaster.amazingribs.com, and the author Meathead Goldwyn for putting together such a great book. I must have picked it up a dozen times today to check and recheck information. The cook log is accessible here.
The brisket was trimmed and separated into the point and flat on Friday night and then dry-brined in the fridge until it was cook time. I seasoned it with Big Bad Beef Rub and it went on the grill at 7:45am. At 4:18 it was pulled from the grill, wrapped and placed in a faux chambro. When the internal temperature dropped to 149 degrees I removed it and sliced it.
Breaking in the Weber: Chicken Kabobs and Pulled Pork
When our cheap ass gasser broke I decided to go back to my roots and get a Weber kettle. It Our SNS arrived today just prior to the time to start the Kingsford. Thanks to the authors of pitmaster.amazingribs.com and for providing the Amazon links. This cook was a little unorganized as I was trying to do too many things at once (like put together a new patio table for my bride). Dinner was chicken kabobs. Boneless, skinless, free range chicken breasts are what my wife brought home. No time to brine, my preferred method for chicken breasts, so I went out to the garden and picked some lemon thyme, cilantro, and rosemary and threw them in the mortar, added some fresh squeezed lemon juice, EVO from an Arizona Monastery we had visited in the spring, and freshly ground pepper. Hit it all with a pestle then put it into a ziplock bag with the chicken and into the fridge for thirty minutes. Added some mesquite chips just prior to putting the chicken on ( picking up wood chunks today). Chicken went on the grill first and after 25 minutes added the kabob rack over the chicken with only the corn on it. Last to go on the rack was the veg. Cook was about 340 according to the Weber lid thermometer ( I know I know, my new maverick arrives Monday). While the chicken was cooking I trimmed and portioned two 7 pound butts and added the fat slab to the grill as a burnt offering (my wife: what smells so good?) the timing was good as the chips did not last long as you might have guessed. Things I learned, experimentation is a must and it can occur as you cook. I meant to mark the 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and full vent openings with a sharpie prior to cooking. That was critical as I both let the temp drop too low, 200 and too high, 500 for a few minutes each. I was very impressed with the sped in which you can change temperatures with the bottom vent. I did leave the top vent open 1/2 way for the duration of the cook, thanks to the advice of the fine pit masters.
Sunday morning the butts will come out of the fridge and go on the Weber for an 8 hour love fest with smoke, really stoked about that. Thanks to all the pit master club members who help make us better providers of deliciousness for our friends and families. Keep scrolling down past the pictures for our first real low and slow cooked pulled pork.
Sunday, May 1, 2016 Pulled Pork
Started late, meat went on at 8:30ish. I followed the Perfect Pulled Pork recipe and the instructions from ABC Barbecue for the low and slow 225 degree cook on the SNS. It was 70 degrees outside but fluctuated up and down as the rain came and went. I moved the grill under the porch canopy for the day before it started to rain.
Friday night I halved two 7.5 pound butts. The first I cut along the bone giving me one bone in and one bone out butt, both with a narrower end on one side. The other I halved at the end of the bone giving me to uniform pieces and again one bone in and one bone out. I salted them all with pink Himalayan salt and sea salt through the grinder. They went into the fridge from there. 36 hours later, after the grill was started (giving me 15 minutes to prep the butts) the butts came out and were rinsed and patted dry. I made a paste of olive oil, dried sage, fresh oregano, cayenne pepper powder, minced garlic, bay leaves and my go to for everything, masala. The amounts were as follows:
Pulled Pork Rub/Paste #1
1/4 cup EVO
2 Tablespoons Sage
A bunch (a handful) of fresh oregano minced
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon Masala (this stuff is potent go easy until you get used to it)
1.5 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced bay leaves
The ingredients went into a mortar and got worked over by the pestle. Then it was on to the meat and then the grill being ready, I added the rest of the briquettes, wood, and water, and set the grill grate on. Next went the meat and the thermometers, then the cover went on the grill with a vow not to peak for at least six hours.
3:52 into the cook we are holding steady at 232 degrees BBQ. Meat temperature is 154.
4:10 into the cook we are at 225 and 156 respectively.
5:10 198 & 154
Added 10 charcoal and some wood of course temp plunged to 178 so I adjusted vents until it came to desired range and closed the vents to prescribed positions
5:30 214 & 154
6:41 214 & 162
7:34 255 & 163
7:49 250 & 165
At about 8:30 temperature started dropping hard had to add 3/4 chimney of brqquetes and 4 wood chunks
9:00 back at 221 & 171
10:30 finished a tad high at 318 but dead on at 195 on the meat
Pulled the meat off the grill and through on some asparagus, onions, acorn squash, & butternut squash. The asparagus & onions came off when I finished pulling the pork. The squash is for tomorrow and will be on the grill for about an hour tonight.
So lets sum it all up.
Time: 10hrs 30 minutes. Target temp: 225 Actual temp: 178-318 Meat temp: 195
Ambient temperature and weather: 62-77 degrees raining changing to sun at 4pm
Fuel: Weber 17005 Apple Wood Chunks and Kingsford charcoal.
Sauce ingredients:
3 cups vinegar
1 TBS minced garlic
1 TSP dried basil
2 TSP Worchestshire
2 TBS Pink Himalayan Salt
1 1/3 TBS cracked red pepper
2 TBS Hungarian Paprika
1 TSP fresh ground pepper
Lessons learned: 4 butts is too much unless you want to plan 12 hours of work. Know your vent positions, your fuel, and thank goodness for the ET-732 and SNS! The Pit rocks! Check it out you will not be sorry.
What is it really about?
I had the privilege of officiating a dual meet between Mac Williams and Grays Creek middle schools in Cumberland County. There were four preliminary bouts all but one held to the customary 1 minute periods. One prelim was wrestled with 30 second periods. This was to allow a disadvantaged wrestler the opportunity to compete. This Grays Creek wrestler was very excited to take the mat, his opponent did not appear to be as enthused. The match went three periods with the Grays Creek competitor scoring all the offensive points. Ankle bands were taken off, and the hand was raised in victory. A truly heart felt "YES!" could be heard as the wrestlers went to shake the coaches' hands.
I missed an opportunity yesterday, one that I hope I have the opportunity to not miss again. I wish I had stopped the Mac Williams wrestler as he left the mat, shook his hand one more time and said, "Smile. You should be proud of what you just did. Because what you just did makes you a winner off the mat and on the mat. And ultimately, we want our young people to wrestle so they can be great human beings off the mat."
I have had the honor of meeting many great humans in my forty-eight years on this planet. Yesterday, I met one more.
~Marty
The Stars and Stripes
Take the opportunity to honor our great nation
Image from this site tattoo by Marc Durrant
Yesterday afternoon I stood on the edge of a middle school wrestling mat in a modified position of attention, right hand over my heart, gazing upward to the center of the gymnasium at our nation's flag as our national anthem played. I thought about the middle schools and other schools that do not play our national anthem, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or honor the flag in some other way before athletic competition. I thought about the schools that did not do this but now do simply because I asked them if they were going to play the national anthem. And I smiled. And then my thoughts turned to the flag itself and what it represents. The United States of America, progress, freedom, sanctuary... thousands upon thousands who have and will make the ultimate sacrifice...not for a flag or even this country but for what this country represents and for each of us. Please dwell on that for a moment or two, close your eyes and reflect on what our nation's flag means to you. Ask yourself, is that not worthy of three minutes of honor? And the next time a school does not take the opportunity to render that honor, please ask them to do so next time.
~Peace
The Secret to 50 Years of Marital Bliss
"Just keep loving each other, and when you have an argument, don't be afraid to shut up. Take your wife in your arms and kiss her tenderly and tell her that you love her and do the housework and things that a woman should do. Court her forever and bring her flowers, and your love will last forever." 1994, Perry B. Bartram, Sr.
