PICNIC ROAST

What is a 'Picnic Roast', you may wonder? Usually it is a cut of pork from the shoulder area. The shoulder area is divided into the 'Boston Butt' and the 'Picnic" The Boston Butt is the most common cut used in competition. The Picnic is triangular shaped and has a large bone. Both of these cuts are layered with fat and perfect for low and slow cooking. The Picnic cut is inexpensive and with the proper cooking techniques can taste like a million dollars.
  We had one of the first rains of the season. We have a covered patio so firing up the smoker was not a problem. In fact the smells that emitted from the smoker was intoxicating with comforting aromas of cooking pork. This particular roast spent 10 hours in the smoker. I did not even monitor the temperature. I pulled it 1/2 an hour before dinner time. What a treat this roast was. We love transforming a inexpensive cut of pork into a wonderful meal. In fact it will be several meals. Oh my!

"THE MEATRAKE"

"The Meatrake' is reviewed on 'Peppers and More" today. The best and tastiest part of this review is we got to enjoy pulled pork sandwiches. We had to test 'The Meatrake" and it worked like a charm. You can read all about it by clicking the link below.

Read all about 'The Meatrake" by clicking this sentence.

YUMMY

  

A ‘Master Certified Kansas City Barbeque Judge” must be ready to sample and score BBQ at all times. Our next competition is coming up in two weeks in Lake Havasu Arizona. Ms. Goofy will be earning her ‘Master’, certification at this event. We decided to cook some pork shoulder to keep our senses sharp. We have gained a lot of barbeque knowledge about cooking award winning pork. This was proven last summer at the ‘Oakland Bay Area BBQ Championship’. You may have noticed that we have been having a lot of fun testing barbeque sauces and rubs for review. It was time to sharpen our skills and taste some new products.

Our shoulder was cooked on a Weber Smoky Mountain cooker controlled by a Stoker unit. Our fuel was charcoal laced with apple and hickory wood. The pork was rubbed before cooking. During the low and slow journey in the smoker, the roast was basted with sauce. Halfway through the cooking process this butt was wrapped in foil. During the eight hour cook the smells emitting from the smoker were heavenly. Once done, rested and pulled the pork was sauced.

Jalapeno rolls and home made Cole slaw were the vehicles to cradle our  pulled pork. Moist, tender, smoky and bark to die for was my take on this sandwich. Ms. Goofy scored it paws up. Translated to judge speak that would be ‘9’s across the board’. She liked it. We killed a couple of birds with this roast. We sharpened our skills and sampled some new bbq products. Lake Havasu here we come.

CROCKPOT PULLED PORK

Simple, easy and tasty is our dish today. One does not always have 15 hours to smoke pork shoulder to create pulled pork. There is so much good daytime T.V. such as: “The View”, ‘Maury’, ‘Judge Judy’ and of course my favorite ‘Jerry Springer’ (I wonder if Jerry has received my letter to be on the show?) that an easy pulled pork recipe was welcome and necessary. The ingredient list is small as the directions. A pork shoulder, can of coke, a jar of salsa and some barbeque sauce is all she wrote.

The pork shoulder is trimmed of excess fat. It is placed in a crock pot with the can of coke poured over the top and set on high. Four hours later the pork is removed. Remove all the liquid from the pot. Shred the pork with a fork and place back into crock pot. Then add salsa and barbeque sauce to cook for 1 more hour. I told you this was easy. We served ours juicy and tender pork over rice and accompanied it with home made Cole slaw. We were impressed how simple, easy and tasty this pork turned out. No way will it replace pork smoked low and slow but with our busy daytime hours this was a welcome dish.

PARKER HOUSE ROLLS

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday is a lazy day to park in front of the television and watch your local football team battle on the field of glory. While watching these warriors fight for victory, nourishment and plenty of ice cold beverages will be needed for the duration. We have a beautiful pork shoulder roast obtained from the U.C. Davis Meat Labs. It will be smoked with apple wood in our stoker controlled smoker. This will be a great time to make some ‘Parker House Rolls’. These soft and buttery rolls will be great with Cole slaw and smoked pork. We will use our not so secret ingredient of Barly Malt Syrup. Let the games begin.

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup warm milk


2. 1 teaspoon yeast


3. 1 teaspoon barly malt syrup


4. 1/4 cup whole wheat flout


5. 1 3/4 cup bread flour


6. 1 teaspoon salt


7. 2 1/2 tablespoons softened butter


8. 1/4 cup melted butter

Combine the first three ingredients and let proof for five minutes. Add the flour, salt and softened butter and knead until smooth. Cover and let rise for one hour. Take a cast iron skllet and use half of your melter butter to coat pan. Take risen dough and roll into balls and place in buttered pan. Let rise for 45 minutes. Brush top of rolls with remaining butter and bake in 325 degree oven for 25 minutes.

This meal was a touchdown. These rolls were rich and decadent with butter. They were a perfect vehicle to cradle some smoky delicious pork. The Cole slaw was a good accompaniment to cut the richness of the pork and rolls. This meal was comforting just like the couch that was my throne. The Oakland Raiders were not the only winners this Sunday.

STOKER NIGHT

It is a dark and stormy night. The rain is falling and we are all tucked in. The only thing awake is our Stoker which is controlling our barbeque pit. Ms. Goofy wanted pulled pork today. She is overjoyed about the Stoker. No longer does she have to get up in the middle of the night to tend the pit. We plug the unit in and program the temperature settings and we are set. This is what our roast looks like this morning. A couple more hours and we will be enjoying some pulled pork sandwiches.

PULLED PORK APPETIZERS

'Come Join The Fun' was what was advertised at the Solano county fair. We decided to go because we heard that there might be chocolate covered bacon and onion rings. Our visit to the fair was very brief. I am not sure if it was the economy or the twelve dollar beers. The fair was a pathetic shell of its former glory. Vendors, exhibitors, entertainers and customers were sparse. We never did find chocolate covered bacon. We decided to go home and create some fun of our own. We are going to make some pulled pork appetizers.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup chopped pulled pork
2. 8 ounces of cream cheese softened
3. 1 tablespoon minced garlic
4. 3 tablespoons barbeque sauce
5. salt & pepper
6. 1 pound package of wonton wrappers
7. 1 egg beaten

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Take a won-ton wrapper and place in your hand. Dip a finger in beaten egg and run your finger around perimeter of wrapper. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in center of wrapper. Fold wrapper in half and press edges. Heat some oil to 375 degrees. Fry until golden brown. (Aprox 3 minutes).

I am not sure how these compare to chocolate covered bacon but they sure hit the spot. These smoky, creamy pillows of love were a porky delight. It is a great use of leftover pulled pork. The uncooked pork pillows will freeze very well for use at a later time. See you soon!

PULLED PORK ORIGINS

SUPER BOWL SLIDERS

It is that time of year for the big game,snacks, beer and 'Super Bowl Sliders'. The Super Bowl is one week away and we need to get our game strategy together. Several of my fellow colleagues have been cooking pulled pork in the crock pot. This was inspiration to give it a Chilebrown twist. Over at the 'Meathenge lab', one of Reverend Biggles followers suggested starting the roast on the barbeque. Our roast will start on the barbeque to infuse smoke into the meat. It then will be transferred to a dutch oven and finished in our kitchen oven at a 275 degree temperature. Once cooked it will be pulled apart and seasoned and reheated with some barbeque sauce. This scrumptious pile of meat will be served on some home made rolls with cole slaw. I feel a victory coming on.

Our roast weighed 8 pounds. It was trimmed of the outer fat and seasoned with our secret rub. A hot mesquite charcoal fire will fuel the Weber. A handful of hickory chips was thrown on to the charcoals right before cooking. The meat was placed on to the grill and the lid was put into place. The meat was turned every 10 minutes for 40 minutes.

The roast was transferred to an enamel coated dutch oven. A trivet consisting of onions and carrots kept the meat off the bottom of the oven. A 12 ounce 'King of Beers' was poured into this cauldron of love. The talking meat thermometer was tucked into the roast and all was placed in the 275 degree oven. Four hours (190 degrees) later some lady started shouting French at me. I have no idea what she said but I took the roast out. The roast was left to cool while the slider rolls baked.

Slider Rolls

1. 2 cups warm milk
2. 1 tablespoon of yeast
3. 2 tablespoons honey
4. 6 tablespoons shortening
5. 2 teaspoons salt
6. 5-6 cups flour

Combine yeast honey and milk together and let yeast bloom. Combine shortening and salted flour. Use a fork and cut shortening into flour. Combine all ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down and form into small round balls. Place onto oiled cookie sheet and flatten your dough balls. Cover and let rise for 40 minutes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until browned.

Take a proportion of your pulled pork and reheat it in cast iron skillet. Add some salt & pepper and your favorite barbeque sauce. Serve this on your slider bun with some home made cole slaw. We have a TOUCHDOWN!!!!! The meat was smoky and oh so tender. With this method the cooking time was cut tremendously. The only thing I miss is the bark (meat candy) that true smoking will create. This will rock any Super Bowl party.

COVERED MEAT PIE

Covered Meat Pie or Calazone, whatever you may call it, it was darn tooting good. It was a beautiful clear sunny day in the Bay Area. This was a perfect day to fire up the wood burning oven. I checked our local government website to see if they would grant permission to build a wood fire today. Thank goodness the coin flip made it legal to burn wood and use your barbeque. Bureaucracy be damned. The beehive was stoked with almond wood. Once the fire is going, a soothing calm is enjoyed watching the flames flicker.

Some pizza pie dough was made. It is a secret recipe that I will share with you. Homemade sauce is mandatory for all pizza made in the Mad Meat Kitchen. Leftover pulled pork, green chile, cheese and mushrooms would be the filling. With every thing set it was easy to just roll out a couple of rounds of dough. One round was placed on top and the edges were pinched to hold all the goodness in. The calazones hit the oven and were done 6 minutes later.

A beautiful day and some wonderful eats. Does it get any better?

"BABY" PULLED PORK

Life is good!!

PULLED PORK BABY

It is 8:30pm Pacific Raider Time, do you know where your children are? I know where my pork shoulder baby is. It is in the Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker. It is going to take a 225-250 degree sleep as long as it takes. The weather forecast is 41 degrees with a chance of showers. The smoker is blanketed with a covered patio and green foliage fence. Extreme weather will only affect cooking temperature and time. I have the baby and the cradle, alarmed with temperature probes to keep it safe and slow cookin. It will awake transformed into the most wonderful ‘Pulled Pork Sandwiches’. ‘Sleep baby, Sleep.’

LASAGNA & CARNITAS

We have some home grown crookneck squash and some killer music flowing through the ' Mad Meat Genius Kitchen' The recipe starts with some Jazz. The ingredients flow with peppers and tortillas. Oh by the way there is some killer carnitas in the Beehive. This is a meal to bring in the Fourth of July. Happy day to you all!!!

Vegetable Tortilla Lasagna

1. 1 cup of corn
2. 1 large crookneck squash cut into thin strips
3. 1 cup of black beans
4. 1 1/2 cup of jarred or home made salsa verde
5. 1/2 cup of sour cream
6. 8 flour tortillas cut into strips
7. 1 cup of cheese of choice. (cheddar)

Take a pan and heat to medium high heat. Add a drop of oil and cook your squash for a few minutes on each side. It does not have to be cooked all the way. remove and reserve. Combine the black beans, salsa, corn and sour cream. Take an oven proof dish and oil bottom and sides. Take a layer of tortilla strips and cover bottom. Layer squash onto tortillas. Spread some of your sour cream and vegetable mixture on top.Sprinkle with cheese. Layer more tortillas on top and repeat until ingredients are used. Bake at 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

PULLED PORK LASAGNA

It is Valentines Day and something special needed to be made for this occasion. Ms. Goofy requested Pulled Pork. Of course the Mad Meat Genius had to bring it a step Further.. Pulled Pork Lasagna is the ticket to a wild ride this Holiday. Yesterday two pork shoulder (Butt) roasts were smoked for 12 hours and finished off in the oven. These roasts were masterpieces standing on their own. We had some sandwiches for quality control purposes. After it was determined the meat would pass muster it was combined with tomatoes , barbeque sauce and simmered. Combine it with noodles and cheese and We have one decadent lasagana.

Smoke your Butt !

We will redirect you to Butt smoking directions from Mad Meat Genius history. Survival Spice was the rub of choice today. In fact it is on sale from the manufacture if you are interested.

Lasagna

1. 3 cups pulled pork
2. 1 package of lasagna noodles: cook per package instructions
3. 1 cup parmesean grated
4. 1 small container ricotta
5. 1 bottle of barbeque sauce (your choice, today was from Peppahead)
6. 1 small can diced tomatoes
7. salt & pepper
8. survival spice
9. 1/2 pound of mozzarella grated
10. 1/2 pound of jack grated

Place tomatoes and barbeque sauce in pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Add pulled pork and salt & pepper to taste. Reserve and let cool a little.

Take a lasagna pan and assemble by layering noodles, cheese and meat sauce. I save the Parmesan for the top layer. I sprinkle a little Survival Spice on top of the Parmesan to make it all pretty for Valentines Day. Cook for 40 minutes covered in foil. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Today was a perfect Valentines Day. I spent it with the ones I love! The Pulled Pork Lasagna was just the icing on the cake. It was rich and cheesy just like me.

PULLED PORK

Dr. Biggles, Ms. Goofy and Myself are judging a barbeque competition today. I needed to prove to myself that I am worthy of judging. Pulled pork was just the ticket to prove my worthiness. To cook an eight pound pork shoulder to fall apart goodness is a two day commitment. Thia roast can take anywhere from 12 to 15 hours to smoke properly.

The first day, you need to Rub your Butt. (I still get a kick out of saying that) I am using a not so secret rub. Let the rubbed roast sit in refrigerator for a couple of hours. The next step is to get the barbeque ready. I am using a Weber Rocky Mountain Smoker. Kingsford briquet's and sugar maple wood chunks will be the fuel of choice. I started my fire at 10 o'clock in the evening. The proper smoking temperatures are 225-250 degrees. Once the roast was tucked into the smoker it was time to get some shut eye. I only got up once to check on this baby. I was awaken by the delicious smell. Fast forward to 12:30 the next day. The internal temperature of the roast was holding at 192 degrees. It had been on the grill for over 14 hours. I put it in a pan and placed some foil loosely over the top. I let it rest for 30 minutes.

You may have heard of people talking about the bark. This roast had some serious bark. This was achieved by never wrapping it in foil. This bark had a chewy jerky like consistency. You could taste the rub. It was pork nirvana. We kept grabbing little samples. I finally had to tie up Ms. Goofy so we would have some left. We were going to serve this beauty as Pulled Pork sandwiches. We were going to try two different sauces. One was from Memphis Minnie's. The other was a simple sugar, vinegar sauce. We took about 3 cups of meat and place it in a bowl. We took two forks and shredded (pulled) the meat. It was so tender and so very, very great smelling. We added about 1/2 cup of sauce to the two different bowls. They were then served on rolls with some cole slaw.

This was some serious barbeque. We are ready to judge some fellow barbeque enthusiast. Bring them on!

Vinegar Sauce

1. 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
2. 1 cup of water
3. 2 tablespoons sugar
4. 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
5. 2 teaspoons salt
6. 1 jalapeno chile sliced

Combine all ingredients and stir until blended.

PULLED PORK

One of my favorite barbeque dishes is Pulled Pork. This dish takes an investment of time. I think it is worth every morsel of smoky goodness. It involves smoking a Boston Butt of Pork for almost 12 hours. I use a ‘Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker’. It is a full proof easy tool to achieve great results. I got up at 3 am to start the fire. It is stormin outside. It took about an hour to get everything going. I then went back to bed. I had to kick the dogs out of my spot. My fancy thermometers have alarms if the temperatures fall or rise from the correct smoking temperature. Let’s go into some more detail

1 8 pd Boston Pork Butt
1 cup of Rub (Wild Willy’s Number One-derful Rub)
A handful of wood chunks for smoking

The night before you are going to smoke your roast, rub it down with rub, refrigerate. Take the roast out of the refrigerator while you are starting the fire. I use Kingsford charcoal. I also use a propane torch to start my fire. This torch means business so be careful! When the charcoal has a white ash add wood chunks, fill water pan and assemble smoker. Place meat in smoker and go back to bed.

I have two Nu-Temp thermometers to regulate the heat and cooking time. One probe is in the Meat to let me know when the roast is done (195). The other is in the cooking chamber to let me know what temperature the smoker is at. (225-250 degrees). Both of these transmitters send to a base station. You can see it on the arm of my chair, while I am watching TV.(Chilebrown at Home picture) I can just let Ms. Goofy know to open or close a vent on the smoker or if I am low on beer. Ha!

I let the roast cook for 8 hours and then I wrap it in foil and return it to smoker. After eight hours it has had plenty of smoke. The hard part is waiting the rest of the time till the roast reaches an internal temperature of 195. When it reaches this temperature take it off the smoker and let it rest for 45 minutes.

I like to serve this with coleslaw and baked beans. It tastes great by itself. To make pull pork sandwiches take a serving size hunk of pork and separate with two forks. Place in a sauté pan and add some of your favorite barbeque sauce and heat mixture. Traditionally it is served on hamburger buns. I made some home-made buns.
Enjoy!!!!!