Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book!

Hey BBQ fans! This is one very good book for smokers and grillers of all skill levels. Chris Lilly started at Big Bob Gibson's right out of college, and learned how to be a pitmaster at Big Bob's knee. He married into the family, and has been pitmaster for many years. Chris has won quite a lot of BBQ world championships. He shares tips and recipes in this book. The illustrations are clear, the recipes easy to understand.

One of the best sections of the book is how to set up various style charcoal smokers and grills for low and slow smoking. For instance, a round grill should have a ring of charcoal with a gap at some point. Light the charcoal on one side of the gap, and the charcoal will burn around the ring in a nice slow manner, assuring the proper heat for several hours. That's cool!

Last weekend, I made my hot chicken legs recipe, and I made up some of Big Bob Gibson's signature white BBQ sauce. The recipe looks something like this:

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup apple juice

2 teaspoons horseradish (I put in more!)

1 teaspoon black pepper (I used white pepper for a slower burn)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix and dip the chicken in. The sauce was tart with some heat, and it went very well with my hot legs!

I highly recommend this book!

Dr. Dave

Burnt Ends!

I've read about burnt ends, those scraps of a beef brisket which are so tasty, folks stand in line for a chance at 'em. I haven't ever had them. So, when I found the recipe in the book; Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, I decided to try it. I had smoked a full beef brisket during the weekend and was looking to feed our folks at work during a potluck lunch. I followed this recipe:

1 whole beef brisket, smoked 6 hours.

Separate the point of the brisket from the flat.
Place the flat onto a large piece of foil. Lift up the sides to contain liquid.
Add cup water.
Wrap tightly.
Place in a 245 degree oven.

Rub the point with your favorite BBQ rub.
Smoke for 1-2 hours (I used apple wood chips).
Place the point onto a large piece of foil. Lift up the sides to contain liquid.
Add 1 cup water.
Wrap tightly.
Place in a 245 oven.

Roast until the meat temperature reaches 190 degrees.
Let the meat rest out of the oven for 1 hour.

Chop the point into bite sized pieces.

What a fabulous taste!

Dr. Dave's Best Ribs Ever!

I am not saying last night's ribs were the best ribs ever smoked by anyone. However, they were my best effort ever! They were moist, chewy and spicy, everything I like in ribs.

I lean toward dryer ribs which take some chompin' to gain enjoyment. When someone offers fall-off-the-bone ribs, I get a little turned off. I certainly wouldn't order that type of ribs off a menu (sorry Tony Roma!).

However, When I try to create the combination of moist, flavorful and chewy, sometimes, I end up with dry and harsh ribs. So, I read every ribs recipe I come across. The consensus of most BBQ champions is that one coats the ribs with a dry rub of choice. Smoking is done with apple or hickory for 2-3 hours. Then, the ribs are sprayed with some apple juice and wrapped in foil. They are then put back in the smoker at 225 degrees for another 1-2 hours which moisturizes and tenderizes the ribs. Finally,the ribs are glazed with a BBQ sauce, and put back in the smoker or onto a grill to finish. I try this protocol with mixed results. Sometimes good, and sometimes mediocre. So, I decided to try something different.

First, I got some pork back ribs, which seem to have a bit more meat than baby back ribs. Not as much as spare ribs, but Sam's didn't have spare ribs.

Then to add consistent moisture, I marinated the ribs in a mixture of Worcestershire and soy sauce along with apple juice and brown sugar. Marination lasted ~24 hours. Then, I slathered on a mixture of yellow mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire and soy sauce, plus a little beer. Sprinkling Smoking Guns Hot BBQ rub (http://www.smokingunsbbq.com/products.cfm) on both sides of the ribs added some heat. I smoked the ribs for 2 hours at 225 degrees in my water smoker. I pulled the ribs out of the smoker, placed them in foil and brushed on some raspberry-chipolte BBQ sauce from Sugar Ray's over the meat side of the ribs. I then poured a small amount of apple juice into the foil packet and wrapped things up. The ribs were finished in the oven at 275 degrees for 45 minutes.

Here’s the final product.

My motto is "Never waste smoke!". Yesterday, I smoked two pork butts in the Big Drum Smoker, and the fire had not burned down, so I went to the store and bought some salmon. I slathered on a mixture of Dijon mustard, beer, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. I liberally sprinkled on Kosher salt and ground pepper. Then I smoked over apple wood and charcoal for an hour plus 1/2 hour.

The result: Some fine salmon shared with good friends.

I wish you all the same great times.

Dr. Dave

Smoked White Chili

The folks at work, Rockwell Collins Printed Circuits (CPC), showed their generosity once again through cooking and serving food this week. One of our fellow employees has a daughter with type 1 diabetes, and she is riding 100 miles to raise money for research to cure this often deadly disease. The folks at CPC decided to raise money by having a chili and hot dog lunch. Volunteers signed up to provide the fixin’s , and quite a few folks said they’d make chili. Dr. Dave said “Hey, count me in!”.

OK. I am a big chili fan, and fixing chili is as rewarding as eating chili. A really good chili takes as long as smoking a pork butt, and it is very complex in flavor. Many recipes have layer, upon layer of spices incorporated into the final chili. A good chili doesn’t just BRING THE HEAT! It brings a wide array of spices well blended to tantalize!

I surveyed the chili cooks and found that the variety of chili recipes was covering most of the bases. We had several Cincinnati recipes ranging from medium heat to much hotter. We had two Texas chili recipes (NO BEANS!) ranging from hot, to hotter. So, Dr. Dave decided to concoct a white chili recipe.

For those who don’t know, white chili is made with chicken and uses “white” ingredients. No red chili powder, very little cayenne pepper, no tomatoes, no beef (no Beef! OMG!). That still leaves the door wide open on the amount of heat which can be brought on. Dr. Dave decided to push for a medium hot chili made with fresh peppers and a few spices. The market had a pretty good variety of fresh hot peppers, so I decided on Anaheim, Pasilla, Serrano and Jalapeno peppers. Most recipes for white chili call for chicken breasts, but I wanted more flavor from the chicken and chose chicken thighs instead. I also decided to add some flavor by smoking the peppers and the chicken thighs.

Ingredients:

8 Chicken thighs, skin removed
2 Anaheim peppers
2 Serrano peppers
2 Jalapeno peppers
2 Pasilla peppers
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 White onion
1 Tbs Cumin
1 Tbs White pepper
1 Tbs Kosher salt
2 tsp ground cloves
48 oz Canned Northern White Beans
1 qt Chicken stock
1 qt Vegetable stock
2 pt Heavy whipping cream
BBQ rub of choice

Directions:

- Slice all of the peppers in half. Remove seeds to keep things from getting too hot.
- Place the peppers in a vegetable grilling basket and smoke for 1 hour at 225°F.
NOTE: An alternative is to roast the peppers in a 225° oven for an hour

Peppers prepared for the smoker

- In the meantime, soak the chicken thighs in a salt brine solution for an hour
- Remove the chicken from the brine solution, rinse and pat dry.
- Lightly sprinkle with the BBQ rub.
- Smoke the chicken thighs for 2 hours at 225°F or roast in a 225° oven for 2 hours
- In a stock pot, combine the chicken stock, half the vegetable stock, 1 pint of heavy whipping cream, the cumin, white pepper, salt, garlic and cloves.
- Rinse the beans and add to the stock pot.
- Bring the mixture to a low boil and then turn to low.
- Finely chop the peppers and onion, then add to the stock solution.
- Cut the chicken meat into ½” cubes and add to the stock pot.
- Simmer covered for at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally. The liquid will absorb into the chicken and peppers as well as evaporate.
- After simmering, add the remaining vegetable stock and the other pint heavy whipping cream.
- Pour into a crock pot and keep warm until serving.

When ready to serve, sprinkle on some cayenne pepper(adds flavor and helps with the presentation).

Serve with:

Slice black olives
Salsa
Sour cream
Pickle jalapenos
Avocados

I am proud of the CPC folks. We raised $519 for this worthy cause.

USA! USA! CA-LAH-FOR-NIE-AAH

Gary V, proudly goes to some heavy hitting California reds for your tasting pleasure. Watching his with a bit of spring in the air makes me want fire, wine and RED MEAT.

Enjoy.