PRIME RIB

You ever get a hankerin for a Fred Flinstone hunk of Beef. Ms. Goofy did. She instructed me to find a large old Dino Roast. Luckily for Dino I found one that was beef. This roast is Choice USDA , Number One, and Boneless. This is the cream of the crop . We are going to cook this beauty with respect. It will be cooked with a indirect fire on my special Smoker/Barbeque. Mesquite wood charcoal is the fuel of choice. With a quality cut of beef you do not need any fancy dressings. Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper will do the trick. One of the secrets to the perfect roast is to achieve your correct temperature. I am shooting for Medium Rare. I will be using a remote thermometer and rechecking with an instant read thermometer. To achieve Medium Rare, cook till 125 degrees. When you take it of the grill and let it rest for 15 minutes the temperature will rise to 135. This is the ideal Medium Rare!

Ms. Goofy made her special Risotto. Some fresh corn on the cob was included. We had home pickled tomatoes and cold beverages. How can it get any better?

MAKIN BACON III (MAPLE)

The Chilebrown Ice Cave is getting a little low on home made bacon. It is time to cure and smoke some pork bellies. This batch of bellies is going to receive a special treat of Maple sugar. The maple sugar was procured from the Vermont Country Store. Ten pounds of pork bellies were corralled from our local International Market. To really kick this bacon up a notch it will be smoked with sugar maple wood chunks. These were bid on and won from E-bay. This will be a first for me. I have a trick to try to cut down on the saltiness. After the initial curing stage, I will soak and rinse the bellies for a longer period of time.

The recipe is exactly the same as Makin Bacon I. The only difference is instead of brown sugar, Vermont granulated sugar will be used. They will be put in the ice box for 8 days. After 4 days I will flip the bacon over to even the curing process. They will then be soaked in clear water to rinse the salt off. I will go into more detail later when the smoking begins.

Ms. Goofy and I went to Catahoula's coffee shop in Richmond Ca. today . We went there to meet and greet Pam from Zoomie Station. We gifted her a sack of home grown apples and tomatoes. Lo and hehold the Reverend Biggles was there also. Good friends and coffee is a good way to spend a plesant morning.

BHUT JOLOKIA

The Ghost pepper, Naga Jolokia, Nai Miris, Raja Mirchi (King of Peppers) and Nagahari are a few names that refer to the Hottest Pepper in the world. This pepper was discovered in India. The Bhut Jolokia is similar to the habanero pepper in appearance only. This pepper has a rougher more dented skin. Oh, and did I mention it is five times hotter than the Habanero. Gourmet magazine claims this is the new trendy pepper.

I have never thought that I would be part of a trend, but 3 Bhut Jolokia plants are growing in my yard. I bought my plants from Cross County Nursery's. Two plants are in the ground and one is in a pot. The one in the pot is growing like gang busters. It is against the house wall that receives afternoon sun. It has been fed worm tea once a week. The peppers were planted in the middle of May. September is probably when the peppers will be ready for harvest.

You may ask, why are you growing these Super Hot peppers? I guess it is because of my love and fascination with all things Chile. They are beautiful plants. They really compliment the garden. I wanted to share the progress of this pepper with you. In September there will be a tasting of peppers. Everybody is welcome to come by and try the Bhut Jolokia. The hospital is only 10 minutes away.

PIZZA SAUCE

My tomatoes are coming in like gangbusters. It is time to make pizza sauce. I will canvas the garden for all the ingredients. I have all the herbs needed and all the vegetables. The only store bought product will be the tomato paste and bacon. Paul Bertoli has a recipe for tomato paste. It is only a matter of time before I make my own. I just want to tell you how good it smells in the Chilebrown Kitchen. I like to take the skins off of the tomatoes. It only involves boiling a pot of water and blanching them. You need to cut the stem off and X the bottom. Rinse and squeeze the round orbits of summer.The skin will slide right off. Chop and your ready.

Chilebrown's Pizza Sauce

1. 6 tomatoes (blanched,peeled, sqouzen, and chopped)


2. 1 tablespoon of tomato paste


3. 1 teaspoon of sugar (Honey)


4. 1 teaspoon of salt


5. 1/2 onion chopped


6. 2 garlic cloves chopped


7. 1/4 cup of wine or vinegar


8. Herbs (Lot, and Lots of finely chopped herbs)


9. Any other veggies from the garden finely chopped


10. 2 slice of bacon cubed

Saute your Bacon and onion until soft. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another five minutes. Add your tomatoes,honey vinegar and veggies, and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and add herbs.

We are making a Canadian Bacon,(Nueske), Mushroom and Onion Pizza today. Of course I am using the Beehive Oven. It will be served with some tomatoes dressed with Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese, oil and vinegar

BAKED BEANS

One of my favorite side dishes to go with barbeque is baked beans. To create the ultimate beans you need to bake them in a low oven for hours. When the temperature is leaning to the upper end of the scale you probably do not want to run an oven. I have a Mad Meat Genius solution. Bake your beans outdoors in a portable oven. It is the perfect solution. This is a small oven with two burners that runs on propane. Today, I am baking some beans that are swimming in a bath of tomatoes, onions, bacon,sugar, molasses and spices.

Chilebrown's Ultimate Bake Beans

1. 1 pound of navy beans
2. 4 tomatoes chopped fine
3. 1 onion chopped fine
4. 1/4 cup molasses
5. 1/4 cup of brown sugar
6. 1 tablespoon of salt
7. 5 cups of water
8. 2 slices of thick bacon chopped into cubes
9. 1 tablespoon of chile powder
10. 1 tablespoon of ground mustard

Combine all ingredients together in a cast iron pot except salt. Cover with lid. Bake at 300 degrees for 4 hours or until beans begin to soften. Add salt and remove lid. Bake until beans are nice and thick with sauce.

I have fired up the Smokenator 100 to smoke some ribs. They will be the perfect accompaniment to some baked beans. A green salad with some vine ripe tomatoes is in order. We will enjoy a nice meal without heating up the house.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN

My sister (The President of Cookies) gave me a Christmas present of some Giant Pumpkin Seeds. They are from a prize winning pumpkin. It came with an instructional video. In the video the seeds were started in a hot house. The plant was then planted in soil with warming coils. They were fertilized and watered almost hourly. Their pumpkin reached the size of 1500 pounds. It was a beauty!

I have not been as dedicated. I do hope to at least reach 600 pounds. That will be plenty large enough to make a pumpkin boat. In Nova Scotia Canada they have pumpkin boat races on Lake Piziquid. They hollow out mammoth gourds and race them across the lake. I am going to start my own event. I am going to paddle the Rodeo Creek to the Bay. Maybe I can generate enough interest and more people will get involved.
I am guessing my pumpkin weighs around 100 pounds. I still have a couple more months of growing time. I do not dare think of the cost of water for this monster. It will be worth it when I paddle down the creek into history.

BACON, LETTUCE & TOMATO

These are the Magic words of summer. How can you beat a vine ripe tomato paired with a crisp wedge of lettuce and some sweet,smoky bacon. I am going to try. I am going to make a BLT Chilebrown style. I will not deviate from the classic very much. My version will have some home made corn bread and some home smoked bacon.The tomatos will be from the garden. Let's start with the bread.

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cup of water
2. 1 tablespoon yeast
3. 2 tablspoons honey
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 1 cup of corn flour
6. 1 ear of corn shucked and sliced off of cob
7. 3 cups of flour
8. 2 eggs
9. 2 tablespoons olive oil
10. 1 egg for wash

Let yeast proof in warm water. I used a food processor. I added all the rest of the ingredients and let the food processor do its magic. It is a sticky dough. Place in another bowl and let rise for 1 1/2 hour. Place in well oiled loaf pan and let rise for another hour or until the bread rises above the loaf pan. This can take more than an hour, so just be patient.Wash top of loaf with beaten egg. Bake in a 350 oven for approx 50 minutes. Remove pans from loaf pan and let cool on a rack.

I I took a cup of Mayonnaise and added a teaspoon of home made Chipotle en Adobo. I fried the bread with a tablespoon of butter on a grill. I used some chilled iceberg lettuce and a heaping tablespoon of chipotle mayonnaise. I topped it off with a couple of pieces of home made bacon I think this this is the best BLT in my world.!!!!