Cheddar-Beer Fondue

(or real men eat foudue too!)

 

HEAT INGREDIENTS
Heat 12 oz. Light Beer and 1/2 Tsp. Dijon Mustard, 1 Tsp. Minced Garlic in a medium to large saucepan on low, whisk in 4 Cups of Sharp Cheedar Cheese tossed with 2 Tsp. Cornstarch until melted and smooth. 

SERVE
We used the Emile Henry FlameTop Cheese Foudue Set to serve Missouri Legacy Free Range Franks (I refer to them as Beef Sausages - fully cooked and always free range), French Bread cubes, and Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes (pre-boiled and slice the larger ones into two pieces).  Other ideas for this cheese sauce are apple slices and uncooked broccoli. 

Keep On Eggin' Cookbook COMING SOON!

Working out the details to allow for downloading my 320 page 2013 Keep On Eggin Big Green Egg and Rosle Kettle Grill recipe and cookbook...stay tuned.

 

I have been working on this document for over 3 years.  It contains tons of recipies, tips and fun facts about grilling.  The recipes  have ALL been prepared by myself at least one time on the Big Green Egg or Rosle Kettle Grill.  Most everything in the book is adaptable and scaleable.  The format will be a download of a large PDF file completed through a PayPal donation, from which you will get a link and own your own copy to view, print and enjoy. 

Beef Broccoli One Dish Meal

...since we worked outdoors since 8 this morning  (some vacation day) and didn't make any plans for grilling I started late on our early dinner... 

You all know that I LOVE to make one dish meals (some refer to them as casseroles, I prefer one-dish) so I pulled this gem out of that stack of hamburger recipes I have been collecting and was pleasantly surprised how great this turned out.  I was simple and quick to prepare and 45 minutes from start to plating.  

This could EASILY be done on the Egg or the Rosle too but by the time I fired one of them up I already had this in the oven; yes even I do some indoor oven cookin' once in a while! 
 

Ingredients

• 1 Lb. Lean ground beef (Free Range if you have it)
• 1/4 Cup White Rice (boil in bag will do)
• 1 1/2 - 2 Cups Fresh Broccoli Florets i.e. little to no stem
• 1 Can Campbell's Broccoli Cheese soup (condensed)
• 1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• 2 1/2  Tbls. Unsalted Butter
• A large DASH of Garlic Parsley Corn Seasoning
• Dash of Sea Salt
• Grind in a fresh Tsp. of 4 Color Black Peppercorn
• 1/2 Cup 2% Milk (Organic)

Directions - It literally couldn't be any easier

1. Boil a quart of water with the boil in bag for 10 minutes and remove.
2. Melt the butter and mix with the bread crumbs.
3. Brown the burger with salt, seasoning and pepper, add the milk, soup, rice and stir until mixed well
4. Pour into a 9 x 9 baking dish and sprinkle the crumbs on top.
5. Cook in a preheated 350 degree  oven for 30 minutes.  Remove and serve. 

Emile Henry Bread Cloche

Look what arrived in UPS this weekend!  My new Emile Henry Cloche...Here are a few pictures of the maiden voyage.

So what is a Cloche?

A Cloche (or bread bell) is typically an earthenware cooking vessel designed to be used in an oven for baking bread. Using the cloche provides different results than traditional open baking i.e., it cooks differently usually resulting in a chewy crust and a moister crumb. It is especially adaptable to baking artisan style breads. The results you get come from the bell, it stays moist and the temperature inside the cloche gets hotter than the oven itself and stays constant.

 

The TRICK is going to be making this thing work on the Egg...the instructions for baking with a Cloche call for starting with a cold oven.  All you Egger's out there know that isn't going to happen if the cooking temperature calls for 460 degrees....our oven doesn't even get that hot, you need a French oven for that temperature. 

 

Ingredients

• 1 Lb. plain flour (500g or 3.5 cups)
• 2 Tsp. Salt (10 g)
• 2 Tsp. (10 g) Caster Sugar (we actually had some of this from a previous baking adventure)
• 3 Tsp. Yeast (fresh or dried) (15 g) (Note: this recipe calls for more yeast than normal because it has less time to work in this recipe.  The results will be a slightly thinner crust)
• 1 Tbls. Oil
• 10 1.5 Oz. Warm Water (300 g)

Directions

1. In a food processor or mixing bowl (we chose a kitchen-aid mixer) mix together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast.
2. Pour in the oil and warm water, and knead the dough for 10 minutes (or in our case mix on dough setting with a dough blade).
3. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 90 minutes in a warm area away from drafts, like the kitchen...
4. Knead the dough again to remove any carbon dioxide.
5. Sprinkle a little flour on the platter of the EH bread cloche, make a ball with the dough and place it in the middle of the platter.
6. Make several cuts in the surface using a knife (bakers blade if you own one) then place the cloche over the top and leave to rise for another 90 minutes at room temperature. 
7. Place in a cold over (that won't be an option here as we are cooking this on the Big Green Egg) but I've got a plan...and cook for 60 minutes.
8. Leave to cool on the platter, having removed the cloche.

 

First miss-step; we pulled out the mixer started this journey about 3:45 CST; so if it does turn out it may be dessert or tomorrows breakfast bread...Second change, which shouldn't be a problem is we used a mixer instead of a food processor or hand.   

 

Letting the dough rise!!!

I think we will go full flame and put the plate setter in with a pizza stone last minute, then place the cloche on that and keep the lid open until the lump gets full t-rex then close the lid and see what happens.

Looks like I could use one of those 'baker knives'...and the dough is probably a little too moist, the ball is going to spread as it sets up under the dome.

 

 On the Egg; plate setter legs UP and Pizza Stone in place...closing to get up to temperature. Placed the Cloche on the egg just after the fire got going well.  Put the plate setter on cold and set the Cloche on it and allowed the lump to burn until it got a little hotter.  This is as close to a COLD START as I can imagine on the Egg. 

 

Getting it to stabilize only required me opening the lid twice to allow the lump to flame up a little.  Now we wait...tick tick tick.

 

 

The results: Moist center, chewy crust, flavorful but a low rising loaf. 

 

Lessons learned: Bread can be tricky.  Next time out I will make dough ball larger (mine was too flat) and use a longer set up recipe to allow the yeast to do it's job better.  Also, the slices in the dough ball are clearly critical to allow for the crust to expand while rising.  The dough may have been too moist.  Need to do some homework.

 

Grade:  First time out, C+ on the cook, rushed.  A+ on the product.  Next weekend we'll try another recipe. 

 

 

Pie Dishes are NOT just for baking pies anymore!

Black Bean Burger Tamale Pie.

While playing with my new EH Cloche on the Egg (Post coming later tonight or tomorrow) I tried out this new recipe from a mile high stack of hamburger recipes on file.  This Tamale Pie features hamburger and black beans and was prepared using my Emile Henry Pie Dish...and for the first time ever, it actually saw the inside of my oven instead of my grill (there's a first time for everything).

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 Lb. 85-15 Ground Beef (Free Range)
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Yellow Onion
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Can (15 oz.) Black Beans
• 1 Cup Chunky Salsa (medium or to taste)
• Dash of salt
• 1 Muffin Mix (I used Jiffy Mix)
• 1/4 Cup 2% Organic Milk
• 1 Brown Egg (Free Range)
• 2 Cups Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese

 

This one is incredibly easy and fast...

Mix the Jiffy Mix, egg, milk half the cheese until blended then smooth out the dough mixture and bake for 6 minutes

While the dough bakes, brown the hamburger, onions and pepper (a dash of salt) then dump in the beans (rinsed and drained and set aside.

Layer on the meat mixture (leave a half inch edge for rising and return to oven for 15 minutes (375 degrees).  Remove and add the remaining cheese and bake until cheese melts, remove and serve.

 

Tailgaiting preparation 2013

Cooking is a primary feature of tailgating...and to do it right we set up 30 feet of tents for the game.  It requires a lot of space to travel.  The interior of the SUV will be filled with the party essentials, coolers, grill, cooking utensils, et al. 

No Egg however...we use a fold down butane Gasser...I know, Sacrilegious, but effective.

Bacon Bleu Burgers...

 

Bacon chunks, Angus Beef, 95-5 or 90-10 and Bleu Cheese chunks. Salt and pepper (very light) and use fresh buns from the deli. Fire up your grill, in this case the RÖSLE 25" Charcoal grill. and cook two minutes each side to medium. 

 

Doesn't have to be pretty to be awesome...and it doesn't require sauces and marinades, elaborate preparation or ingredients to be utterly amazing.  And while I may never win any photo contests but I'll put these burgers up against any pretty picture on the Internet, LOL. 

Roasted Chicken (and some new toys)

Nothing fancy about last nights cook,.  Two 'Bare Brand' Free Range chickens.  One Injected with Tabasco Brand Garlic Marinade and the other rubbed with Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic.  Mounted on two RÖSLE Chicken Roasters. 

 

Fired up the Egg to 350+ degrees indirect (plate setter legs up) and they cooked in about an hour.  The temperature did creep up on me towards 400 which may have impacted the time.  The Prudhomme Rubbed Chicken turned out the best.  I need more practice injecting the chicken and a better marinade...

The RÖSLE Chicken Roaster is the perfect tool for roasting an entire chicken on the grill (you can use it in the oven too).  It features a removable handle to allow for more space on the grill.  The size is small as to permit the placement of several roasters on one grill.

I used the RÖSLE Marinade Injector to inject the Marinade.

New York Strip Bits and Wok Shrimp

New York Strip Bites and Wok Shrimp

Quick and easy...no award winning recipes here tonight. 

 

Light the fire, get it t-rex hot, drop on the NYS bite sized pieces (pre-seasoned), remove and let rest.  Drizzle some vegetable oil in the WOK, add minced garlic and green onions and when hot, drop in the pre-seasoned shrimp (a combination of Louisiana Shrimp Mix and Bad Byron's Butt Rub, shook up in a bag about an hour before the cook.

 

It all finishes in about 4-5 minutes; it was gone so fast we didn't even take any pictures...BLOG FAIL I know...Keep On Eggin' Tomorrow night; Whole Chickens on the Egg using my new Rosle Chicken Roasters...

 

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

The Rösle Kettle Grill and Rösle Kabob rack with skewers combine for the perfect set of implements to prepare tonight's dinner; Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs.  If you scroll to the bottom you'll see the great set up I have to work with from Rösle and some of the great features of this rack set up and plated on Emile Henry Dinner plates of course!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbls. Light Soy Sauce
• 3 Tbls. Brown sugar
• 2 Tbls. Cooking Sherry
• 1 Tbls. Sesame oil
• 1/4 Tsp. Ground ginger
• 1/4 Tsp. Garlic powder
• 4 - 6 Large skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1½ - 2 inch chunk
• 1 large can of pineapple chunks, drained (or substitute whole fresh pineapple)
• EVOO spray
• Rösle Kabob rack with grill skewers

"The Raws"

Ingredients ready for mixing and marinading.

Directions:

1. In a medium/large bowl mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder.
2. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated.
3. Cover  with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator (a minimum of 2 hours).
4. Fire up your Rösle Kettle Grill (or Big Green Egg or any grill you own actually and settle the temperature to medium high.
5. Alternate the threading of chicken pieces and pineapple chunks onto your EH skewers.
6. Place Rösle Kabob rack on grill and add the skewers grilling and turning intermittently until the chicken juices run clear.  Remove skewers and serve immediately. 

Recommended side dish, herb rice.

Marinade ready for the refrigerator

FLAME ON !!!!!

Rösle Kabob rack with Rösle double-legged skewers

 

 

See how you can rotate the skewers in 90 degree increments...makes cooking evenly very easy to accomplish.  All skewers were done at the same time...

Plated on Emile Henry Dinner Plates OF COURSE !!!

A well equipped Kettle Grill ready for the Kabob (Kebab) grilling.

The rack comes packaged like this...and they clean up really well in soapy water.

 

 

Rösle Kettle Grill Customer Service gets 4 Stars!

Last week I received a package in the mail.  It was from Rosle.  It contained a new temperature dial.  The accompanying letter indicated they had discovered on some of their temperature gauges that it was possible that moisture would get under the glass.  While I keep my Rösle Kettle Grill covered year around, I had not found this to be an issue.  However, how great is a company that is this proactive?  Fabulously proactive from my perspective.  Pictured below is the top of my grill (which is going to see some action tonight on the first sunny day of winter this year).  It shows the replacement dial before installation. Installation took about one minute. 

 

 

Thank you.  You are a great company and I am so happy to own your grill.  Watch more many more cooks and recipes this summer!

Peppercorn Encrusted Strip Steaks (pre-cooked)

 

The weather forced me indoors to the stove top, so it was canned asparagus, canned potatoes and pre-cooked pepper encrusted pre-cooked strip steaks tonight.  No challenge and not nearly as satisfying as freshly prepared ANYTHING on the BGE or the Rosle.  It does present well on our new Emile Henry Dinner Plates however...Maybe we'll get back out doors next weekend, and then its out of town for a couple weekends.  Back to the NCAA tourney!

 

Snow Ball stew

Spring has arrived again this morning with another 8+ inches of snow to go on top of the 1-2 inchess of rain we received last night.  I'm thinking that I WON'T be grilling out on the Rosle NOR the Big Green Egg this weekend...BRB, in the Spring, or the thaw at least.  In the meantime, I am looking for sponsors for production of my eBook "Keep On Eggin'" based on this blog's recipies if you're interested.  Stay tuned.

Paella

Paella; a yummy Spanish dish with its classic saffron-yellow rice, brightly colored veggies and combination of seafood and meats. For this recipe I used a small vintage Dansk paella pan for preparation of the down-sized original recipe. This version only serves 2-3 so you can scale it as applicable.

 INGREDIENTS
• ½ -3/4 Lb. Boneless, Skinless Thighs (Organic) chopped into bite size pieces
• ½ Tsp. Turmeric
• ½ Tsp. - Pimentón
• Dash (1/16th Tsp.) Oregano
• EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
• ½ Lb. Mild Italian Sausage (ground)
• 1 Medium Vidalia onion, chopped
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
• 1 Orange Bell Pepper, chopped
• !0 oz Rice - Yellow Saffron pre-spiced Medium Rick
• 3/4 Cup Diced Plum or Amoroso Tomato
• ½ Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
• Garlic to taste 2-3 large Garlic Cloves (Sub: Garlic Onion in season)
• 3 Cups – Organic, Chicken Broth, low sodium
• 1 Cup – Frozen Broccoli, thawed
• ½ Cup – Frozen Peas, thawed

 

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat Big Green Egg to 400 degrees. If you can’t swing grilling this recipe you can start it on the cook top and finish it in the oven (sacrilegious of course).
2. Add Turmeric, Pimentón, Oregano, salt and pepper to chicken stock and set aside.
3. Heat oil in Pan of Choice (Paella, Iron Skillet, Terracotta, etc) and precook the chicken and sausage then remove and set aside.
4. Sauté the onions and garlic, asparagus and peppers and when just about tender, add the tomatoes, sauté for 3-4 more minute then remove and set aside.
5. Change from direct to indirect setting and add the stock and rice, Paprika, Saffron (if applicable).
6. Stir ONCE and close the lid and sauté for 15 minutes checking the rice for tenderness before adding the remaining ingredients.
7. Add the sausage, chicken and sautéed veggies and peas and stir well and close the lid again for 8-10 minutes of simmering. ; Remove from heat and serve from Paella pan.

 

 

Emile Henry Bread Cloche (coming soon)

.

Also known as an instant brick oven a bread Cloche typically consists of a stoneware bell or dome that fits over a wide, shallow dish with 1-3 inch high sides. They are known for out performing bread machines by a country mile.  Why?  Compared to other bread-baking mediums the cloche baker bakes larger, lighter loaves. When bread is baked on a sheet pan or preheated baking stone, the yeast in the dough is shocked by the intense heat and dies quickly. This limits the rise of the bread. In a cloche, the dough is protected from the shock of the heat, allowing the yeast to live longer and increasing the volume of the dough.

 

Endless possibilities...saving up those pennies to add this to my collection...watch for it at Emile Henry USA.

Mac and Cheese w/Ham

Prep Time about 20 minutes, Cook Time: 40-50 minutes; recipe serves 6-8.  The leftovers should make for some mean fried Mac and Cheese cakes! Cooked in a Emile Henry Flame Roaster and served up in EH Salad Bowls.

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Lb. Elbow Macaroni
• 6 Tbsp. Salted Butter
• 5 Tbsp. Enriched Flour
• 1 Tbsp. Corn Starch
• 1 ½ Tbsp. powdered Mustard
• ¼+ Tsp. Cayenne
• 4 Cups 2% Organic Milk
• 1-12 Oz. Can Evaporated Milk
• 2 Cups Monterey Jack and Mild Cheddar, shredded
• 1 ½ Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• ½ Cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded fine
• ½ + Cup Sweet Onion, finely diced
• ½ + Tsp. Paprika
• 1 ½ Tsp. Kosher Salt
• 12 – 16 oz. Baked ham, diced (not smoked)

DIRECTIONS

1. Fire up the BGE to full flame and grid on the fire ring then bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. 
2. Add macaroni and cook to al dente.
3. While the Pasta is cooking melt 5 Tbsp. butter in separate pot on the grid. 
4. Whisk in the flour, cayenne, paprika, salt,, paprika and powdered mustard, stir until slightly browned (keep it moving constantly); simmer for several minutes making sure it is free of lumps.
5. Stir in the milk, evaporated milk and onion.  Simmer for ten minutes then stir in 3/4 of the cheese. 
6. Fold the diced ham and macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole pan.
7. Top with remaining cheese and Panko bread crumbs. 
8. Remove grid and place plate setter legs down (indirect set up).  Adjust temperature to 350 degrees.  Place a pizza stone on the plate setter and then place casserole pan on stone.  Bake for 40 minutes then remove from BGE and rest for TEN (10) minutes before serving.

Note:  This SAME procedure works in your indoor oven at 350 for about 50 minutes with a 10 minute rest..

 

Ham and/or Pea Variation – Stir in a ½ cup frozen peas during final 5 minutes; substitute deli sliced ham or eliminate the ham altogether.

Stuffed Peppers

Bell Peppers stuffed with Italian Sausage, Ground Beef, Rice and Cheese; baked indirect on the BGE (sleet and rain notwithstanding)...Used my new Emile Henry 5.2 Qt. Flametop Dutch Oven for preparation and the EH Flame Roaster for finishing the peppers.

Pictured here with about 15 minutes to go...before serving scoop a couple of spoonfulls of the sauce over the top of each pepper and serve with garlic mashed potatoes and italian bread with butter and garlic parsley seasoning. 
 
Ingredients                                                              

• 6 Large Green/Red/Yellow Bell peppers               
• 1 Lb. Medium Italian Sausage
• 1/2 Lb. Lean Ground Beef (organic)   
• 8  Large Green Onions, diced                              
• 10 oz. Yellow Saffron Rice (pre-cooked) –Substitute White       
• €8-16 oz. finely shredded Parmesan cheese (to taste)
• €48 Oz. Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce   
• €2 Cups Mozzarella cheese, grated                     
• €6-8 Large Garlic Cloves peeled and minced.
• €Celery Salt and Fresh Ground 4 color Peppercorns (to taste)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)                             

Preparation and Cooking

1. Cut tops from peppers and remove membranes and seeds; for more tender peppers, par-boil for 5 minutes and drain
2. Pre-cook Saffron Rice per package directions
3. Bring BGE to full flame and drizzle EVOO into a Cast Iron skillet on a raised grid and brown the sausage and ground beef EVOO with the green onions, celery salt, garlic pepper and diced garlic and drain.
4. Mix Sausage, Beef, onion, rice and parmesan cheese and stuff the peppers with the mixture
5. Spoon pasta sauce into 13” baking pan about 1/2-3/4” deep
6. Sprinkle 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese over peppers
7. Pour remainder of Pasta Sauce over peppers
8. Sprinkle remainder of Mozzarella cheese over the top (optional add Parmesean too)
9. Remove Grid and 2” fire ring and replace with Plate Setter positioned with the legs DOWN.
10. Close lid and stabilize temperature to 350-375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes

Browning the meat, onions, garlic, salt and pepper...

The mixture ready for scooping into the peppers.

Ready for baking...350 degrees for about 45 minutes (till peppers are just past tendercrisp)

Recommended Side Dish - Garlic Mashed Potatoes