Bamboo Steamer on the Big Green Egg

In my quest to cook ALL THINGS BGE and to NEVER use our Kitchen Stove or Oven again, I fired up the BGE to about 600 Degrees with an open flame and tried my new Bamboo Steamer.


With the Wok as the vessel I place water in it until it was about a 1/2" from the edge of the bottom ring of the Bamboo Steamer.

I placed two layers of Steamer full of Broccoli and Water Chestnuts, capped it with the Lid and came back about 15 minutes later to the MOST PERFECT STEAMED BROCCOLI I HAVE EVER ATE. I moved the steamer to the side and prepared some General Tsos's Chicken in the wok, added the veggies and ... well it's all gone!

I guess I'm setting the electric steamer out to the Good Will collection box in the morning!

BLOODY MARY RIBEYE

This recipe combines two of my favorite things, Steak and Bloody Mary’s. The sauce is sufficient for 4-6 steaks but the cook demonstrated here is two Ribeyes.

Ingredients - Recommended
2-4 Ribeye Steaks (or Delmonico)

Marinade

2 Tbsp Lite Soy Sauce
4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp EVOO
6 Minced Garlic Cloves
Garlic Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Bloody Mary Sauce2 lb Ripe Tomatoes
½ cup Vidalia Onions (or sweet)
3 Green Onions (or scallions)
1 tsp Cilantro
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Lime Juice (fresh)
½ cup Beef Broth (or consume)
4 Tbsp Vodka (high end)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preparation
Marinade-Mix ingredients, coat steaks, cover and chill, turn steaks once (chill a minimum of 2 hours).

Bloody Mary Sauce-Boil water and pour over tomatoes; let set for 30 seconds, drain and peal skins from Tomatoes. Quarter tomatoes and place in food processor. Place all ingredients and chop fine. If tomatoes were not ripe enough add tomato puree

Cooking
1. Remove steaks from refrigerator an hour before cooking to get to room temperature
2. Preheat BGE to 500 degrees (open flame); Remove steaks from marinade and discard remaining
3. Place Ribeyes on direct grate for 90 seconds on each side and remove, let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Place sauce in pot and simmer on grill for 5 minutes, remove from heat and keep warm.
5. Place steaks on grill for 3-6 minutes per side (depends on thickness and your taste for Rare, Medium, etc.); Remove from grill and plate, drizzle healthy serving of Bloody Mary Sauce and Serve.

Recommended Side Dishes-Corn on the cob, Garlic Mashed, French Bread, Asparagus spears

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This recipe for two is easily modified for multiples by adding extra chicken breasts. This is a quick cook on high heat with minimal basting and turning.

Ingredients - Recommended
2 large Boneless Chicken Breasts
6 medium Garlic Cloves
½ stick Butter –Unsalted
½ ball Mozzarella (fresh)
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Mrs. Dash – Chicken Seasoning

Preparation Directions1. Slice Chicken Breasts lengthwise (split not separated).
2. Mince Garlic

3. Slice Mozzarella (amount to taste) thin 4. Stuff Mozzarella into Breasts and fold over
5. Coat Breasts in EVOO
6. Sprinkle on Mrs. Dash Chicken Seasoning (to taste)
7. Generously sprinkle on minced garlic and press down and then repeat on the opposite side.

Basting Sauce
Melt butter and add 3 minced garlic cloves and stir, set aside

Cooking Directions
1. Preheat BGE to 500 degrees (open flame)

2. Place chicken on Open Flame for 3-4 minutes (open lid) and turn
3. Baste with butter and garlic sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes and turn
4. Baste again with butter and garlic sauce and cook till done without turning
5. Remove and serve immediately.

Recommended Side Dishes, Garnishes and DesertsGrilled Antipasto salad (see recipe on this blog), Green Onions and Jalapenos, Baguette and Butter

Grilled Antipasto Salad

This recipe for two is easily modified for multiples by adding extra peppers. Quick and tasty and can be used as an appetizer, salad or side dish; Shown here with Stuffed Mozzarella Grilled Chicken Breasts and Baked Potatoes.

Ingredients - Recommended2 Red Bell Peppers
1 Green Bell Pepper
2 Orange Bell Pepper
2 oz Sun-Dried Tomatoes (marinated)
2-3 Artichoke Hearts (8-10 marinated quarters)
5 Tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
3 Garlic Cloves (minced)
2 Tsp Chili Sauce (minimum)
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Preparation Directions
Peppers
Slice peppers into 8ths and again in halves (bite size pieces), Place in bowl and set aside. Julianne the Sun-Dried tomatoes and set aside. Quarter the artichoke hearts and repeat (8ths) and set aside.

Sauce Mince three garlic cloves and place in small mixing bowl, add EVOO, Chili Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and pepper (Fresh Ground) to taste
Whisk and set aside.

Cooking Directions
1. Heat up BGE to 500 degrees (open flame works just fine)
2. Place peppers directly on grill (recommend you use a grill topper or vegetable basket)
4. Grill for 15 minutes and don’t worry about the pepper skins getting black
4. Remove from grill and place in bowl and cover with towel for 5 minutes
5, Uncover and remove all blackened skins by pinching them and they will slide right off (or if you prefer you can leave on the toasted skins)
6. Add the artichoke hearts (do not drain) and the Sun-Dried Tomatoes (do not drain) and place in pepper bowl

7. Pour on Sauce, mix and serve immediately

A View from the EGG - ZEROSCAPING Phase I

This is the view (looking out from my BGE) of our new arbor (my B-Day present-Don't Ask!), looking into our back yard (google earth doesn't have this view yet) into our zeroscaping project.

General TSOS Stir Fry WOK Chicken

Ingredients2 bags Boil in bag rice
1 Head Fresh Broccoli
4 each Chicken Thighs – Boned
1 each Boneless, skinless Chicken Breast
1 strong cup General TSOS IRON CHEF SAUCE
1 cup Snap Peas
4 large cloves Diced Fresh Garlic
1 Small Can Water Chestnuts 1/3 cup Corn Oil (sac religious; I didn’t use EVOO!)

Preparation Directions1. Boil rice and set aside
2. Separate and steam Broccoli until done (15 minutes)
3. Trim meat off of thighs into bite size pieces and set aside
4. Cut Chicken Breast into bite size pieces and mix with thighs

Cooking DirectionsFire up the Big Green Egg to full flame (T-REX HOT – 500 degrees minimum) and place Wok on Grid at fire ring level and add oil.

When oil is hot add the diced garlic and stir for 30 seconds while dumping in the chicken. Stir until done (5-8 Minutes). Dump on the Iron Chef Sauce and stir while adding broccoli, water chestnuts and snap peas. Stir for 3-5 minutes then remove from heat and serve over rice.

Options: Add Chopped Fresh Green Onions

Big Green Egg Table Project - UPGRADE!

Some of you may remember the 30 hour start-to-finish table project...(details posted here earlier. Well after seeing someone on the Egghead Forum build a bench out of scrap to create a space to hold "Hot" things...I went into the garage and started looking for things that I might use to build a similar device. Lo' and behold I find a random 48" wire storage shelf.

So off to the big box I race to get some nuts, washers, angle steel and some threaded rod. Two Hours Later!! My holding rack addition to my original table...32 hours all in and counting.

Do these projects ever end???

IRON CHEF FREE RANGE WOK CHICKEN

This recipe for three (3) adults and is quick, easy and tasty. If you enjoy Chinese, chicken and broccoli you’ll love this one and from start to finish you are only obligating about 30 minutes tops!

Ingredients
2 bags - Boil in bag rice
1 Head - Fresh Broccoli
5 each - Free Range Chicken Thighs – Boned
1 cup - Iron Chef Sauce (General Tso's Sauce and Glaze specifically)
3 cloves - Diced Fresh Garlic
1/3 cup - Corn Oil (sac religious; I didn’t use EVOO!)

Preparation Directions
1. Boil rice and set aside
2. Separate and steam Broccoli until done (15 minutes)
3. Trim meat off of thighs into bite size pieces and set aside

Cooking Directions
Fire up the Big Green Egg to full flame and let it get HOT! Place Wok on Grid and fire ring level and add oil and allow to get hot. Add the diced Garlic and Stir until it browns slightly on the edges.

Dump in the cut up chicken pieces and continuously stir fry until done (5-8 Minutes). Immediately dump on Iron Chef sauce and stir while adding the brocoli pieces and stir for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Options: Use regular chicken and/or add additional vegetables like water cress, snap peas, etc may be added to taste.

Keep On Eggin'

Fire Ring Upgrade Improves High Heat Cooking Results

I like to cook hot but it causes problems (only occasionally) so I picked up a 2" fire ring to raise my grid and the results were outstanding!

This is tonights spiral stuffed pork loin (Recipe is in an earlier Blog entry - Spiral Stuffed Pork Loin).

And this is the 2" Ring Adapter in action.

Big Green Egg PLANTER BOX

Worlds most expensive garden planter box...the base from my cracked Large Egg is now the home of my green pepper garden.