Carne Adovada — A Taste of Heaven

CARNE ADOVADA

RED CHILE PUREE

1-2 cups water 8-10 dried red New Mexico chile pods

(Hot) - (get Hatch Valley if you can)

Tear tops off of chile pods and use knife or finger (use plastic food preparation gloves to protect your fingers as they will start to sting a bit — do not touch your eyes with your fingers until you’ve washed them) to clean out seeds and veins inside of each one. Place pods in medium sized pot and cover with water. Heat to boiling on high heat. Boil several minutes until pods are soft stirring occasionally to make sure they boil evenly. Place drained pods (save liquid) in blender container, then pour 1/2 of liquid into blender (keep the rest in the pot and add more water for the next batch) and blend until smooth, add 1-2 cloves garlic if desired. Add more water if needed, but keep in mind this is a puree, thicker than sauce or juice. When pureed, pour into a large stock pot. Sometimes you might need to pour thru a mesh sieve to remove any skins that did not blend up in the blender. NOTE: You will want to make several batches of puree.

CHILE COLORADO (Basic Red Chile Sauce)

2 T. butter

2 T. flour

2 C. red chile puree (see below)

2 C. chicken broth

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

Dash oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can get it)

Heat butter in medium-size saucepan on medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1minute. Add red chile puree and cook for about another minute. Gradually add broth and stir, making sure there are no lumps, a whisk works best. Add seasoning to sauce and simmer at low heat for 10-15 minutes.

THE MARINATED PORK:

4 cloves garlic

1 T. salt

1 T. oregano

2 recipes or more of the Red Chile Puree (above)

3-5 lbs. (approx.) pork tenderloin roast

Add garlic, salt and oregano to chile puree. Cut pork loin into four large pieces (slice in half once horizontally and once vertically) and put them in a large, glass baking dish (even better, a stainless steel stock pot) and pour chile puree over to cover — turn meat to cover completely. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours (36-72 hours or more is even better — I like to marinate mine for a week). It is a good idea to stir it around once a day or so to make sure that every part of the pork soaks in the marinade.

FINAL ASSEMBLY AND COOKING:

Place marinated pork pieces in smoker or barbeque and cook using the indirect method to keep the marinade from burning(for best results, use some pecan wood chunks or chips for smoke flavor — pecan smoke is incredible with this dish but be careful not to over smoke) and cook until internal temp reaches around 150 (use a meat thermometer).

Remove pork from smoker and cut into cubes ½” to 1″ square and put into baking pan/dish about 3″-4″ deep. Pour chili colorado over pork cubes (the pork should be “swimming in it”) and put baking pan/dish into smoker – crank up the temp to around 325 (you can do this part in the oven inside if you want) and let it simmer (for best results, seal tightly with foil so the sauce doesn’t boil off and get too thick) for at least an hour – 2 or even 3 hours would be even better (if you simmer longer than an hour you must seal with foil or the sauce will boil off).

About 5 minutes before removing from smoker, remove the foil and layer on top (fairly thickly) a good amount of pre-shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese. When the cheese melts (about 5 minutes) remove from smoker, let it cool for 5 minutes or so and serve with rice and beans and warmed flour tortillas.

NOTE: This recipe can be cooked in a regular oven (use a baking pan) instead of a smoker – you lose the pecan wood flavor but it is still incredibly delicious.

Big Dan

 

 

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Barbecue Surprises

A few years ago while competing in a barbecue event in Arcadia, Florida the unthinkable happened while preparing our chicken turn-in box.  We prepared fantastic turn-in samples and were sure we had a good chance to win, but after placing the samples in the box and closing it I discovered that our box had been damaged.

I froze for a few seconds and wasn’t sure what to do next. Should I turn in the sample anyway and take a chance that the box would be disqualified? Should I throw in the towel for the chicken category and start preparing for the rib turn-in?

It was only a few minutes before turn-in time and I decided to take the box to the turn-in table. Once there I approached the official at the table and showed her the damaged box. I asked if the damaged box would be a problem, assuming it would, and she agreed. She gave me an ultimatum. Turn-in the box and be disqualified or put the chicken samples into a new box within the next two minutes and turn it in before the cut-off time.

She handed me a new box. I didn’t have any of the usual tools we use to prepare our boxes, but I transferred the chicken into the new box and turned it in.

The new box was not well prepared and was not nearly as “put together” as the original. The chicken wasn’t perfectly straight. We use a very sticky barbecue sauce for chicken and transferring it left a lot of smudges and smears on the sides of the box. The sauce wasn’t evenly distributed on the individual pieces of chicken any longer either. I figured it was at best a 10^th place chicken entry.

Later on at the awards ceremony we were pleasantly surprised with a 5^th place finish in the chicken category. I was convinced more than ever that if we finished 5^th with a mediocre box, we were a shoe-in to win with the original box, but we were thrilled with 5^th considering the circumstances we had to overcome. The entire episode might have been avoidable if we’d only looked at the boxes earlier in the day.

We’ve learned many lessons about barbecue competitions. Anything can and will happen when you least expect it. At another event, a strong gust of wind blew the canopy completely off the cooking site of our neighboring competitor just as he was preparing to slice his ribs for turn-in. It didn’t faze him. He went right along slicing the ribs and ended up with a top three finish in the rib category.

The moral of this story? Never give up. Keep on trucking full steam ahead. In the end, the outcome just might surprise you.

Honey for barbecue

Like many barbecuers, I mix a little honey into almost all the store bought bbq sauce I use.  Eating locally grown honey provides some excellent health benefits such as immunity to certain types of local allergies. Buying local honey is usually better than the commercially grown honey available in the big grocery stores.

We’re lucky that we know our honey suppliers personally. I encourage anyone that eats honey to get to know the producers and only buy from reputable and verifiable sources. I avoid imported honey or non-local honey because you just never know about the environment the honey was raised in.  The local environment the bees live in definitely affects the quality of the honey produced.

Our honey comes from a rural farm in Coffee County, Tennessee. The hives are situated next to fields of clover hay and near a spring fed stream with crystal-clear water. The picture of my brother-in-law, nephew and his friend working with one of the hives that produce our honey.

Local honey costs more than the imported stuff, but it’s worth every penny.

Make it your own…

 I was told by my brother in law, Glenn, that at least one time I would want to try to make barbecue my very own…from start to finish.  I asked him what he was talking about…he explained.

He told me that I take the time to select and buy the cut of meat I am looking to cook, I trim it and do all the other prep stuff…fire up the cooker and then start the cooking process…which is a long investment of time.

He went on to say that you do all of this, take it off the cooker, hold it while you prepare other items for sides and then put some store bought bbq sauce on your barbecue right before you eat it…He didn’t understand why I would do that.

Well, to be honest, I never had given it a thought…there were rubs already made for me to use…the same thing in regards to sauces.  I figured I was just saving some time in certain areas.  But he explained that if I would just take the time to learn how to make a rub and a sauce THEN the barbecue would truly be MY OWN!  No one else’s mixes or recipes would be in my bbq hence it would be MINE from start to finish.

Just some bbq for thought for you folks who are just getting in to the art.  Don’t get me wrong, I use rubs that aren’t mine more then I use my own…but 9-10 times I make my own sauce.  I love it…my guests like it…and it just seems to compliment my barbecue.

BBQ Contest Cooking Schedule

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For those that aren’t familar with the level detail that goes into preparing for a bbq contest, I wanted to share the schedule we use to ensure that our contest entries are ready for the judges on time. The schedule below is a guideline we use at KCBS contests. Like any schedule, it’s a guideline and not necessarily the exact step-by-step method we might use, but it’s very close.

Friday

8:00 Arrive
9:00 Set-up
12:00 Prep Meat
2:00 Purchase Ice
4:00 Attend Cook’s Meeting
5:00 Eat Supper
6:00 Get some rest
10:30 Start cooker

MIDNIGHT

Saturday

12:15 Begin Cooking Briskets
1:15 Begin Cooking Pork Butts
3:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
4:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
5:00 Spray Apple Juice on Briskets
6:45 Light Fire for Backwoods to Cook Chicken
6:00 Wrap Butts at 160-165 degrees (5 hours max)
6:15 Wrap Brisket at 165-170 degrees (6 hours max)
7:40 Begin Cooking Ribs
8:30 Prepare Lettuce and Parsley for Turn-in Boxes
9:10 Foil ribs (w/juice, meat side down)
9:15 Begin Cooking 12 chicken Thighs (biggest)
9:30 Begin Cooking 12 chicken Thighs (smallest)
10:15 Turn ribs meat side up, add dark brown sugar in foil
11:00 Sauce Chicken Thighs (target temp is 150 degrees)
11:10 Check ribs for doneness
11:15 Heat Rib Sauce
11:30 Unfoil ribs and sauce, low heat
11:45 Prep Chicken Turn-in Box
11:50 Sauce Ribs
12:00 Turn-in Chicken
12:10 Heat Brisket Sauce
12:15 Slice Ribs and Prepare Rib Turn-in Box
12:20 Make Pork Butt Sauce
12:30 Turn-in Ribs
12:45 Prep Pork Butt Turn-in Box
1:00 Turn-in Pork Butts
1:15 Prep Brisket Turn-in Box
1:30 Turn-in Brisket
2:00 Pack and Load to prepare for returning home

BBQ LAMB RIBS

Basic Brisket Rub

BOURBON MARINATING OR BASTING SAUCE

BBQ SAUCE by R Mailey

R Mailey
BBQ SAUCE by R Mailey BBQ Sauce   1 tbsp Olive Oil 1/8 Cup Red Onion finely chopped 1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar 1/4 Cup Yellow Mustard 3/4 Cup Ketchup 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 2 tbsp Lemon Juice 2 cloves Garlic, crushed 1/4 tsp Cumin 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar 1 tsp Liquid Smoke-Hickory

SMOKING THE SHOULDER

HomeBBQ.com

Pork shoulder is really two cuts of meat, the butt portion or “boston butt” and the picnic. Typically the shoulder is used for pulled pork, and rightfully so, if cooked properly this meat will practically pull itself. If you have heard the term “low and slow” it definately applies here. This cut of meat loves time. Ok, lets get started! Smoking The Shoulder   Description: Pork shoulder is really two cuts of meat, the butt portion or “boston butt” and the picnic.Typically the shoulder is used for pulled pork, and rightfully so, if cooked properly this meat will practically pull itself. If you have heard the term “low and slow” it definately applies here. This cut of meat loves time. Ok, lets get started! If I buy a shoulder, I will try to get them to take as much of the skin off as possible, without removing the fat cap. Its very difficult to use a rub when there is alot of skin. I like to use my Florida Rub (listed under rub recipe’s). It does a great job on this cut of meat. 1. Thouroughly coat the shoulder with yellow mustard. 2. Liberally cover the meat on all sides with the rub. 3. Let marinate over night covered and refridgerated. 4. I usually soak my hickory chunks over night as well. 5. Bring the smoker up to a temperature between 200 - 225 degrees. 6. Place shoulder on V-Rack in drip pan (BGE), or directly on the rack in water smokers and offsets, and place it in the smoker (make sure you add your wood chunks to the fire). 7. Smoke the shoulder for about 75 to 90 minutes per pound, depending on what temperature you are cooking at, type of pit, and the physical size of the piece of meat 8. About half way through the cook, remove the shoulder from the smoker and wrap in heavy aluminum foil. 9. Either place it back into the smoker, or in the oven at 225 degrees. 10. Let cook wrapped until the internal temp reaches 194 to 200. 11. When finished, let stand wrapped for about 10 to 20 minutes, and then start pulling it apart. 12. Now its time to add a finishing sauce, I like to use the Vaunted Vinegar sauce (from Smoke and Spice), or STUBB’s spicy. 13. Place back into the oven at 200 degrees covered for 30 to 60 minutes. 14. Remove from the oven and serve This should make you a hit at any party. Cooking times will vary based on the type of smoker you are using. Make sure to read the manual.

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