Food, Wine & Just Good Living With SaucyJoe

It started with a love of food, wine & fun and blossomed into a maddening pursuit of the best recipes, techniques, grills, smokers, wines, crafted beers, rubs, marinades and sauces... We do more than play with our meat though -- we review and discuss all things cooking, drinking, reading, laughing and living at SaucyJoe's.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Christmas in Ohio!

Several of the sullivans immigrated to northern Ohio for the Christmas holidays. As Dr. Dave, his family and Mom Annie are preparing a meal of leftovers from the week's cooking, some reflection is in order.

As we were preparing to head on over to Ohio, we got a call from Mom Annie's back neighbor telling us that Mom was in the hospital with a mild stroke. Grandson Greg was just getting in the car for his trip to 'Grandmom's', so he, wife Angela and son Bryceton shot on up to hold the beachhead until reinforcements arrived. The Iowa Sullivans (Dr. Dave and family) got the family cat, Ozzy, into the vet, and headed east the next day.

By the time we arrived, Mom was home and doing well. Gladly, her stroke was mild, and she had almost all of her faculties. So we began the holiday festivities.

Christmas Eve:

Smoked Pork Tenderloin:

Dr. Dave took time out the weekend before to smoke a 5lb pork tenderloin using the Tennesee Whiskey recipe found on the Saucy Joe's website. When the tenderloin was at the end of it's smoking time, the tenderloin was removed, wrapped in foil and frozen. It didn't thaw too much in the cooler on the 9 1/2 hour journey, and was ready for cooking on Christmas Eve. We placed it, still in foil, into a baking pan, and cooked at 325 deg F for two hours. The meat was tender, and the smoke flavor was very evident. The next day saw pork tenderloin sandwiches being consumed at a high rate. Thank goodness there are a few left for tonight.

Christmas Day:

Mimosas happened. Bryceton opened everyone's presents!

Prime Rib was the fare for Christmas dinner. Mom put it in the oven at 500 deg F for 15 minutes, then turned the heat to 325 deg F for 2 more hours. The prime rib was medium rare, and delicious! Mom tells me that my great grandmother, Mum Moore, would put a prime rib in an oven pre-heated at 500 deg F then turn the oven off and leave the rib to cook for 5 hours as the oven cooled. This sounds like some indirect ccoking we do in the smoker, but the temperature staring out is too high for my stuff. Linda says she's game for trying it.

The kids left the next day to visit Angela's folks in Riverside, Iowa (remember Captain Kirk's home town?).

Boxing Day:

Dinner for the day after Christmas was Dr. Dave's BM Tonic Beef Brisket. This beef was also prepared and smoked earlier, frozen and cooked in the oven for two hours at 325 deg F. The BBQ sauce was Famous Dave's (no relation, I wish!) Texas Pit BBQ Sauce. The meat came out very tender with all of the brisket taste we have come to love!

The next night, we again proved that BEER CAN CHICKEN RULES!

Mom Annie had a beer can chicken rack, which isn't absolutely necessary, but helps out.

We got a 3 LB Will Purdue chicken (good stuff!), A Chopolte Pepper olive oil from International Collection and French Herb Roasting Rub from McCormick. We brined the chicken for an hour in cool water and salt (1 cup per gallon), then brushed the oil on the chicken inside and out. The Feench Herb roasting rub was applied ot the inside and outside of the chicken. Half of the can of beer was 'discarded', and two teaspoons of the rub were poured into the can. Also a teaspoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of Cayanne pepper were added to the can fro a little heat. The peppers don't influence the final meat flavor too much, so don't worry about adding too much to the can.

Since Mom's grill is put away for the winter, we stood the chicken on the can in a baking pan in the oven and baked for 1 1/2 hours at 325 deg F. I will tell you, we almost fainted from the fabulous flavors coming out of that oven! The McCormick rub and the chipolte olive oil fumes filled the house. This recipe actually smelled better than it tasted, and that is saying alot! After baking, the chicken just fell off the bone! It was scavenged pretty well, but there are a few tender morsels left for tonight!

Tomorrow, we head back to the hinterlands of eastern Iowa, carrying many a fond memory of Christmas in Ohio!

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