Tango Spice Midnight Rib Meat Gravy!

Today was a day to start off with a rib sticking hot breakfast to ward off the cold. Another weekend of cold weather and there is more snow on the way this afternoon.

Two weeks ago the Shirley Pit was smoking away with a few racks of ribs, both spares and baby backs. As always, when the smoker is rolling along we toss on enough to insure some tasty left overs are going to be stocking up the freezer.

Here is how we used one rack of the Midnight Espresso spares we smoked! The rack was wrapped after it was done and allowed to cool enough to pull all the meat off. The boneless meat was then vacuum packed and placed in the freezer for future use.

What was on the breakfast menu was Biscuits & Gravy - Tango Style!

I made the Tango Rib Meat gravy last night, let it cool then placed it in the refrigerater overnight. The meaty goodness was reheated it up this morning. Gravy is one of those magic foods which always tastes better then next day.

Tango’s Midnight Rib Meat Gravy!

Ingredients:

1 lb Midnight Rib Meat / chopped fine / ground pork size-ish

2 TBS Bacon Fat

2 TBS Butter

1/3 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Beer

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 tsp Tango Spice Gravy Blend**

3 Cups Milk

Method:

Place rib meat and bacon fat in a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat, saute for 5 minutes as the meat is coated.

Add the butter, stir until melted, then add the flour and keep stirring until it is well incorporated.

Pour in the beer and stir until it gets to a paste-like consistency.

Add the heavy cream stir it all together.

Add 1 tsp of the Tango Gravy Blend**

Start adding the milk, a cup at a time, while stirring until it gets to the thickness you like.

This was served over homemade Southwest Fresca Biscuits - recipe for that soon!

**Tango Spice Gravy Blend

All Dried Spices

1 tsp Fennel Seed

1 tsp Celery Seed

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Cracked Rosemary

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Granulated Garlic

Place all in a food mill and process until almost powdered.

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Here’s a few more pics!

Midnight Rib Meat & Bacon Fat!

Added Butter!

Toss In Some Flour!

Pour In Your Beer!

Stir It All Up!

Midnight Rib Meat + Beer = Yum!

Add Cream & Milk

Gravy Spice Added!

Biscuits Are Done!

Time For Breakfast!

Tango Kale & Chile Corn Bread!

Over the weekend the Winter of 2015 rolled on, bringing more snow and ice pellets and rain - blah blah blah.

So, for this weekend's cook I pitched a tent over the smoker so I could continue to get to know the new Shirley Fabrication pit.

On the meat side of the menu was chicken thighs for Saturday & pork butts for Sunday, with a few sides to go with it all.

One side item was a corn bread which was superb!

Yeah, I know, another corn bread recipe on the internet!

Well, his bread has a super taste, nice kick from some Southwest Sunset and is very, very moist.

I would ask you to give it a try then let me know how you enjoyed it.

Tango Kale & Chile Corn Bread

Ingredients:

2 TBS Butter

1 Sm White Onion / Chopped

2 Pkgs Corn Muffin Mix

4 Eggs

1 13 oz Can Margaret Holmes Seasoned Kale / drained

1 4 oz Can Green Chilies

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese

1/4 Cup Milk

2 TBS Tango Spice Southwest Sunset

Directions:

Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Melt butter in a skillet, saute onion until tender, allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, blend all ingredients until well incorporated.

Pour into prepared pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until lightly browned.

Please give this recipe a try, then let me know how awesome yours turned out!

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Sunday With Shirley!

Once again this past weekend turned into a study in patience when it comes to the desire to be out in the yard messing around with the new Shirley Fabrication cooker. All week I had kept an eye to radar and it looked like Sunday was going to be a day with enough of a fair weather window to get some smoking done. The latest ice pellet storm was not set to show up until 5 PM so it was all good.

In the fridge were a few chicken leg quarters, some bratwurst, jalapenos, bacon, heck I even had some fig newtons to make some Fig Poppers.

Just enough good stuff to test out a cook in the warmer. I decided to use the charcoal pan in the warmer and instead of the firebox. I rigged up the charcoal ring from the WSM as an experiment. What the heck, always go for something fun on the first time out.

The ring from the WSM 22.5 fits in the pan real well. Inside is an old charcoal grate lifted by a couple of bricks. Put a paver inside to help create a sort of Minion idea. Worked out darn good.

On the rack above the charcoal I put the heat deflector that came with the pit and that worked out real well.

The chicken was coated with Tango Spice Chik N’ Rib Rub

The Fig Poppers were flavored with our Cajun Rub

During the cook the outdoor temps were a steady 30 to 32 degrees. It took about 30 minutes for the cold steel of the pit to steady out at 290 to 310 degrees. There were a couple if times when the pit temp got to around 340-ish, but I messed with the air intake / exhaust to get it dialed back in. I am happy to be getting some learning done on new pit during the winter, as I think in the warmer months it will be even easier than it is now.

Using the ring in the charcoal pan worked out great and I will certainly be doing that again.

The Fig Poppers took about a 90 minutes to get to the way I like them and they were spectacular.

The brats and chicken I left on there for 2 1/2 hours with both being very tasty and quite juicy. I could up the temps and do a hot & fast cook. which I will try soon.

The warmer box has been a great part of the Shirley Fabrication cooked and I look forward to many more ‘experimental’ cooks on it, as well as big cooks in the main chamber.

Here are a re few pics of the action.

Looks Bad Ass In The Yard!

The Weber Basket Fits Perfect
The Paver Makes The Minion Method Work
The Deflector Goes On The Bottom Shelf

The Top Two Shelves Get The Grub On

Beans & Brats & Fig Poppers Oh My

It All Looks & Smells So Great

Almost Time To Eat 

Dinner Is About To Be Served

Plate Full Of Goodness Thanks To
Shirley Fabrication

Now That's A Smoke Ring!

Good Eats Indeed!

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Tango’s Cajun Fig Newton Jalapeno Poppers!

Today was another day to be outside in the elements goofing around with the new Shirley Fabrication cooker we recently brought home.

This was a cook done in the warmer box, using the charcoal pan instead of the firebox. Wow, have to say that even after just three cooks so far, the versatility of this SF Cooker is amazing.

On the menu today was chicken leg quarters, thrice baked beans, bacon wrapped bratwurst and the snack to be a highlighted in today’s blog.

Tango’s Cajun Fig Newton Jalapeno Poppers!

Ingredients We Used:

Plump Jalapenos / cut and cleaned as shown below

Fig Newtons / outer cookie edges cut off

Bacon / Kirkland if you can find it, great bacon

Tango Spice Cajun Rub / or any Tango Blend you wish

Method We Followed:

When I buy jalapenos I let them sit in a bowl on the counter for at least a day or two so they can continue to ripen a little bit

Once the jalapeno has been cut and cleaned, put in as large a piece of fig newton as you can fit, fig side up.

Lay bacon slices individually on a cutting board, sprinkle with Tango Spice.

Tightly wrap one slice bacon around one jalapeno, sprinkle with more Tango Spice.

Our Fig Poppers were placed on the top shelf of the warmer box, which was running along between 280 and 320 degrees, mostly on the 310 side. This is the first time using the warmer box with this set up and once I got the air flow dialed in it was smooth BBQ.

The Fig Poppers were in the box for a little over an hour, until the bacon got to where I like it. I like a decent set on it, bite through goodness.

Took them off and let ‘em cool for about 10 minutes then dove in, as the aroma was fantastic.

I will say right now, these were freakin’ amazing - a taste sensation that you NEED to try.

So, that is a small part of our Sunday Mid-Winter Cook Out.

Here’s a few pics!

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Simple Ingredients!

Stuffed With Fig Newton Sweetness!

Fig Poppers In The Pan & Bacon Wrapped Brats!

Fig Poppers, Bacon Brats & Thrice Backed Beans!

Can Ya Smell What I Am Cookin'?

Hanging With Shirley Fabrication!

Look At That - I Know You Want Some!

On a mid-winter’s Saturday I had planned on cooking up some stuffed chicken thighs on the Weber, but with outside temps only being in the teens by mid-morning heading outside to fire up the kettle was not in the plan.

Being that all the ingredients were on hand I knew that it was a good day to try this recipe out on the oven.

Not everyone has a Weber Kettle, smoker or even a gas grill and let’s try to adapt an outdoor cook to be done tastily indoors.

Here is how we did stuffed chicken thighs, wrapped in bacon.

Chicken Bacon Bombs!

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs - skinless / boneless - as many as you need

Bacon - thin sliced - one slice per thigh

Jalapenos - one half - seeded per thigh

Mozzarella Cheese - sliced as in pics below

Seasoned Kale Greens - canned - drained very well

Tango Spice Rome Is Burning - as much as you like!

Method We Used:

Trim the thighs if needed, or as you like.

Lay bone side up, yes there is no bone, just pretend for a second.

Sprinkle Rome Is Burning on the inside of the thighs.

Lay a slice of cheese, jalapeno, and a teaspoon-or-so of kale on each thigh, then close it up.

Wrap a piece of bacon around each stuffed thigh and place it on a wire rack which is on a foil lined, rimmed baking sheet.

Sprinkle more Rome Is Burning on top of each oe, as much as you like.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an our. This helped the bacon tighten up.

Remove thighs from the fridge and then preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

When oven is preheated, remove plastic and place baking sheet on the middle rack. Yes, I did write remove plastic, just because.

Bake at 300 degrees for 50 minutes, at this time remove from the oven, and crank the heat up 400 degrees.

While oven temp is climbing, brush on your BBQ sauce of choice.

Place back in the oven and check the internal temp after ten minutes.

Once you are there, take the chicken out and let them rest for at least 10 to 15 minutes, to let the cheese and juices set back up a little.

Now of course ‘this is nothing like’ bbq or grilling, but it was darn tasty indeed. These thighs were excellent, the crisp sauced bacon, plump juice dark chicken, cheesy goodness along with the pop of flavor from the collard greens.

Top all of this with Rome Is Burning and you have some great bites for sure.

I purposely saved a couple to put in the fridge overnight, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. Later we sliced each one real thin and served them on toasted baguette slices.

So, whether the weather is not cooperating with your plans for a cookout or cooking outdoors is just not an option where you happen to be, crank that oven and get cookin’!

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Rome Is Burning - Yes!

Cheese & Rome!

Add The Jalapeño & Kale

Wrapped In Bacon & Ready To Bake

On The Wire Rack

Sauced Thighs!

Lookin' Good

Tasty Thighs Indeed!

Tango's Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread

Sometimes the weather outside is just a little too chilly (8 degrees this morning) for firing up some charcoal or wood to do any outdoor cooking.

It is during these times when you look at the spice cabinet that an idea pops into your head.

Let’s make some Cranberry Bread! Not just any cranberry bread, this is Tango Spice after all - Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread!

Just happened to have all the ingredients I needed, including some ‘fresh’ cranberries. By ‘fresh’ I mean these were fresh picked here on Long Island before Thanksgiving and what we did not use then was frozen in one cup portions for future use. Lucky me!

Here is the ingredient list and the method I used to prepare it.

Southwest Sunset Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cup AP Flour

2 tsp Tango Spice Southwest Sunset

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Eggs

1 1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Stick Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 TBS Lemon Extract

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Cranberries

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, mix flour, Southwest Sunset, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

Put the buttermilk & ricotta in a small bowl and blend together.

In a mixer bowl add the eggs and sugar, beat until thoroughly combined and light in color.

Add butter and beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined.

Add the ricotta-buttermilk mixture, lemon & vanilla extracts. Mix on low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and mix well on low speed, do not over beat.

Fold in the cranberries by hand until just combined.

Pour batter into a 5X9 loaf pan prepared with cooking spray.

Place on middle rack in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes. Skewer should pull out clean.

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

I am sure you will enjoy this bread very much. The sweetness from the butter milk and sugar goes great with the tart from the lemon and ricotta. Underlying all this is the the subtle heat from the Southwest Sunset.

When you bake this, please let me know how great yours turns out!

Please - Give This A Try!

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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.

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This Is The Basic Setup

Just Like Camping

Good Cookin'!