Tango Joe Cooks Up Pigs In A Cornfield

One of the many great things about the cooking community on YouTube is the wide variety of awesome video recipes which are presented by folks who truly enjoy sharing their passion for food.

It is in this spirit that I attempt to recreated a Dutch Oven dish which I saw over at Outdoor Cast Iron Cooking.

Thank you to Joanie & Dean for posting your great videos, the food you present and the locations you film are always awesome.

Here is a meal called Pigs In A Cornfield - with a name like that you know it has to be incredible!

After watching their video of Pigs In A Cornfield, we knew that we had to set aside a day to be outdoors and cook this one up.

Here is what we cooked and how we cooked it.

Our version has a few different ingredients and the cooking method was different as well. I cooked this over a wood fire and used some small lit logs on top. Using briquettes is a more accurate way to regulate your temperatures, but for me, a wood fire is more fun. We used a 12” Dutch oven.

Pigs In A Cornfield!

Pigs In A Cornfield

Ingredients:

1 Lb Breakfast Sausage

1 Lb Pork Kielbasa

3 Pork Steaks / thin cut works best

12 Cobbette Style Corn On The Cob

3 Russet Potatoes / large dice

1 Spanish Onion / rough chopped

5 Cloves Garlic / chopped

4 Jalapeños / sliced lenghwise - seeded

1 Can Cheese Soup

1 Can Cream Of Broccoli Soup

1 Can Cream Of Celery Soup

Tango Spice Southwest Sunset


Directions:

Spread the cheese soup in the Dutch Oven

Place the cobbettes of corn, standing on end, around the oven wall

Add one half the potatoes, onions & garlic in the center

Sprinkle on some Southwest Sunset

Add a few jalapeños

Add half the sausage

Add half the Kielbasa

Spread one can creamy soup over ingredients

Add the other half the potatoes & onions

Add the other half of the sausage

Add a few more jalapeños

Add the rest of the onions & garlic

Add second half of the Kielbasa

Spread another can creamy soup over ingredients

Sprinkle on some more Southwest Sunset

Place pork steaks over everything ingredients 

Top with Southwest Sunset!

Place the lid on and get cooking

My Dutch oven was set on a rack which is about 8 inches above the floor of my cooking area. Before starting the food prep I started a fire going with some charcoal and a few small splits of oak. As the wood burned down I just added more splits until there was a good coal bed and some nice sized chucks.

Once the Dutch over was full of ingredients it was placed on the rack with a some of the hot coals moved underneath. Also a couple of small chunks were placed on top.

The coal method was calling for 8 coals under and sixteen on top. I kept this is mind while using the oak splits.

After one hour I removed the lid and flipped the pork steaks. The aroma was very, very nice and the dish was happily bubbling away.

Place the cover on and cook for one more hour with the same method, keeping the coal bed going and keeping nice hot chunks on top.

After the second hour I just took the Dutch oven off the fire, cleaned off the lid and let it sit for 20 minutes to cool a bit.

I will say that this was a great meal for a cool autumn evening, very hearty and satisfying.

Flavor wise it was well balance, the taters were perfect and heat level from the Southwest Sunset was really nice. I like the pork steaks and the sausage was excellent. I will say that the next time I make this I will forego the Kielbasa. Not that it was bad, but it seemed a little overkill and Kielbasa tastes better in other dishes.

All in all this was a very fun and tasty cook and I hope that you give it a try.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Tango Spice Company!

Tango Spice On YouTube!

Tango Joe On YouTube!

Tango Spice On FaceBook!

This Is The Basic Setup

Just Like Camping

Good Cookin'!

Tango Cajun Smoked Duck with Southwest Pear & Sausage Dressing!

On a beautiful day in November here on Long Island it was a great day for a test run of two new recipes!

The first time we have ever cooked duck and smoking it on the WSM seemed like a great first cook.

So Gosh Darn Good!

Cajun Smoked Duck

1 5 1/2 to 6 Lb Duck

2 Oranges / peeled and halved

2 Small Yellow Onions / peeled and halved

Tango Spice Cajun Rub

The bird was cleaned and stuffed with the oranges and onions. I cut a couple fine slits in the breast skin and along the back bone, then applied a nice coating of our Cajun Rub, this was in the hope of draining off some of the fat. Easy as that and it was ready for the smoker.

The WSM varied between 300 and 320 degrees for the entire cook. We did not baste or rotate the duck at all, just checked it after the first hour, then again at 20 minute intervals to make sure it was not getting too crispy. Yeah, I know, crispy duck is a good thing.

The cuts in the skin really helped with the fat, so the meat was moist and not overly fatty.

We will certainly be smoking up duck like this again a few times over the winter in order to get it down pat.

To go along with the duck what better side dish than a nice pan of smoked dressing?

Southwest Pear & Sausage Dressing

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1 Cup Chopped Celery

1 Cup Chopped Red Bell Pepper

5 Cloves Smashed Garlic

2 Asian Pears / peeled and diced

2 Cups Diced Smoked Sausage

Some White Wine

Some Chicken Broth

Some Bread Cubes / Martins Stuffing Bread is awesome!

The sausage we used was a fennel Italian from Tuscany Gourmet Market in Miller place, NY that we put on the Weber Kettle a few days prior, as we knew we’d be needing it for this recipe.

This is a standard type dressing.

Saute the onions, celery & belle pepper in some bacon fat for a few minutes, then add the garlic and pears.

Once the pears start to break down a little add the sausage and cook for a few more minutes.

Deglaze the pan with some wine and transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Allow to cool for just a couple of minutes, then add the bread cubes. You can add some more wine or chicken broth to add moisture to the bread and get it to the consistency you like.

We placed the dressing in an aluminum pan then placed it on the Weber Kettle that was running about 275 degrees for an hour or so. Sometimes the more a dressing cooks on the grill the better.

Have to say that this made for a great dinner and we even recreated it for Thanksgiving dinner the a couple of days later.

I hope that you give these recipes your personal spin and let me know how great your turn out.

As Always, Thank You For Reading!

Tango Spice Company!

Tango Spice On YouTube

Tango Joe On YouTube

Tango Spice On FaceBook

Tango Spice Cajun Rub!

Stuffed With Oranges & Onions!

Let's Get Smokin'!

Hear The Sizzle!

Autumnal Smoke Signals!

Dressing On The Kettle!

How Do You Like My Duck?