French Onion Soup

 I have loved French onion soup since I was a child.  Although, back then it came out of a can with a red and white label.  One warning, making onion soup will make your house smell like onions for a while so stock up on Febreze or light a candle or something.  

1/4 C. unsalted butter 

6 fresh thyme sprigs 

1 bay leaf 

5lbs. large sweet onions, vertically sliced, about 16 cups

1 tbsp. Sugar

6 C. unsalted beef stock

2 tbsp. Red wine vinegar 

1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 

24 slices whole grain French Bread baguette 

5oz. Gruyere chees, shredded, about 1 1/4 cups

Place butter, thyme, and bay leaf in the bottom of a 6qt. slow cooker.  Add onions; sprinkle with sugar.  Cover and cook on high for 8 hours.  

Remove thyme and bay leaf; discard.  Add stock, vinegar, salt, and pepper; cook, covered, on high for 30 minutes.

Preheat broiler to high.  Arrange bread in a single layer on 2 baking sheets; broil 30 seconds on each side or until toasted.  Place 1 cup soup in each of 12 8oz. ramekins or oven proof bowls.  Top each serving with 2 bread slices and about 2 tbsp. cheese.  Place 6 ramekins on a jelly roll pan; broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown. Repeat with remaining ramekins. 

Per serving: 240 calories, 8g. fat, 9g. protein, 33g. carbohydrates, 

Espresso Barbecue Sauce

Oh Chris...here's a barbecue sauce we have tried making.  This one can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.  There is no way it will last around here that long!

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 C. chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, minced
1 C. ketchup
1 C. brewed espresso
1/4 C. distilled white vinegar
3 tbsp. unsulfured molasses
2 tsp. chile powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a large saucepan, melt the butter in the oil.  Add the onion, garlic and serrano and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is softened, about 8 minutes.  Stir in all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Cover and cook the sauce over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Scrape the sauce into a food processor and puree until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and let cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight to let the sauce mellow.

"TO DIE FOR" Smoked Brisket

Chris made this brisket a couple of weeks ago and it was SO SO SO good.  My house smelled like some BBQ joint in Memphis, St. Louis, North Carolina, or Kansas City.  He made a rub using the following ingredients.

• 5 tablespoons paprika
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard

You can put whatever you want in a rub...you can go hot or sweet.  This rub gives nice flavor with a slow after burn that really sneaks up on you as you eat.  Rinse the brisket and pat it dry.  Be generous with the rub, you want a good crust.  If you're a BBQ fan, you know how good the crust is.

Now, if you're going to smoke a brisket, you need TIME.  We have a stovetop smoker and it cooks on the stove for an hour or so and then it was hours in the oven at 275 degrees.  The longer you cook the more tender the meat gets.  I think this went 6 hours in the oven.  The finished product looked like this.

Notice the crust??  You can only imagine how good the house smelled!  The brisket didn't shrink down to a glorified hockey puck either.

Look at that smoke ring!

We finished out the meal with twice baked potatoes and prosciutto wrapped asparagus.  

Our furry sous chef was exhausted after all of the work that went into this meal.

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Yes, that's right...blueberry BBQ sauce.  I have the best neighbors.  We pass fruits, veggies, baked goods and meats over the fence on a regular basis.  Yesterday the doorbell rang and it was one of my neighbors with about 6 quarts of Michigan blueberries.  I may have mentioned Michigan blueberries here in the blog once or twice...they are little blue spheres of heaven.  I used to eat them when we would pick them until I had a tummy ache.  There is nothing like a Michigan blueberry...but I digress from the point of this post...BBQ sauce.

I made a BBQ sauce yesterday which I will get to eventually but I wanted to try making one with blueberries.  In my mind, you need a couple of flavors in a BBQ sauce...sweet (blueberries), sour (vinegar), and heat (hmmm, need to figure this one out).

I started with an existing recipe and then made it my own.

2 C. fresh blueberries (sweet)
1/2 C. balsamic vinegar (sour)
3 tbsp. sugar (sweet)
3 tbsp. ketchup
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Those are the ingredients in the original recipe.  I added:

2 tsp. lemon juice (sour)
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (heat)
1/4 tsp. dried chipotle (heat)

Place all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and simmer for 15-25 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken; stirring occasionally.  Let it cool slightly.  Run mixture through a blender.

Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker

OK, we're going to roast a pig in my back yard!  Anyone reading this who has been to my house knows 1. my yard really isn't big enough to have a spit big enough to roast a whole pig and 2. I own a beagle who would grab said pig and run as fast as her little legs would carry her as soon as I turned my back.

Roasting a pig in a crock pot seems MUCH safer!

1 6lb. pork butt roast
1 1/2 tbsp. Hawaiian sea salt
1 tbsp. Liquid Smoke

Pierce pork all over with a carving fork.  Rub salt then Liquid Smoke over meat.  Place roast in slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low 16 to 20 hours, turning once during cooking time.

Remove meat from slow cooker and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Check out the Bark!

So if you are in the Chicago area and you are wondering what that fabulous smell in the air is, it's the barbecued brisket we cooked at home today.  Chris used the following rub recipe and then used our indoor smoker and made some BBQ that was out of this world!

2 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ancho chili
1 tbsp. paprika
2 tsp. coffee grounds
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

Check out the bark!

Grilled Nectarines w/ Feta

If you've read this blog or let's be honest, simply a post or two, you know we like summer and we love to grill.  As I type this we are smoking a brisket indoors because it's 22 degrees outside and I am not going to make poor Chris hang around outside for umpteen hours while the brisket smokes.  Let's just say, it's a shame I cannot convey the smell in my house through this laptop.  Anyway, back to grilling.  I have wanted to try grilling fruit forever.  Once nectarines come into season, we're going to try this.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

4 nectarines, halved and pitted
1 C. coarsely crumbled feta cheese
Melted butter for basting

Prepare barbecue (medium high heat).  Brush nectarines with butter.  Grill nectarines, cut side down, until grill marks appear; about 4 to 5 minutes.  Turn nectarines over.  Sprinkle with cheese, then pepper.  Grill until grill marks appear on the bottoms, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Enjoy!

Rib Rub

Nathan has few requests when he comes to Chicago. Gyros and ribs come to mind immediately. I have no clue how to make gyros so we go out for those and this year he went to Greece so he got some authentic gyros made from pork and chicken instead of lamb--who knew??

Anyway, I made ribs for him today and I created a new rub. I am not huge rib fan but this rub was my favorite by far and the ribs I got at Caputos today were the meatiest I have ever bought. They were amazing. Topped with Chris' BBQ sauce (recipe is in the blog) they came out great!

I don't measure when I make a rub except if I am using something particularly spicy. I mostly add stuff and taste and tweak it until it tastes "just so". I can't tell you what "just so" is but you'll know it when you get there. Some of the spices are from Penzeys and I know that not everyone has Penzeys spices but pick out your favorites and mix your own. If it's good on ribs it will be good on pork roast as well.

I made two batches of this rub and it covered 3 full slabs of ribs.

BBQ of the Americas (Penzeys)
garlic powder
BBQ rub (Pampered Chef)
BBQ seasoning
Galena Street (Penzeys)
1/4 tsp. Cajun seasoning (add more if you like it hot)
Charbroil seasoning
brown sugar

Margarita Chicken

I am always looking for new marinades for chicken. I am a big fan of margarita and I think this will be awesome (to coin one of Charlie's favorite words) on chicken. I bet it will be good on skirt steak too.
Maybe I should mix a pitcher of margaritas while I am preparing dinner! LOL

1 10oz. can frozen non alcoholic margarita mix, thawed
3 tbsp. lime juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, 6oz. each
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a small bowl, combine the margarita mix, lime juice and garlic. Pour 1 C. marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Drain and discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Grill chicken, covered over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear, basting with reserved marinade.

Chipotle Sliders

This recipe looks fun. I may tone down the spice for the kids. I could also see switching out the chipotle and pepper jack cheese for bacon and bleu cheese or jalepeno peppers and cheddar.

1 pkg. Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 tsp. minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, divided
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
10 slices pepper jack cheese
1/2 C. mayonnaise

Place 2 rolls in a food processor; process until crumbly. Transfer to a large bowl; add the salt, pepper and 6 tsp. chipotle peppers. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 patties.

Grill burgers, covered over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees and juices run clear. Top with cheese. Grill 1 minute longer or until cheese is melted.

Split remaining rolls and grill, cut side down, over medium heat for 30-60 seconds or until toasted. Combine mayonnaise and remaining chipotle peppers; spread over roll bottoms. Top each with a burger. Replace roll tops and serve.

Beer Marinated Brats

These were delicious...about 30 minutes simmering in a pan on the grill and the on the fire for some "handsome" grill marks. They were served with a few different kinds of mustard; one was a dijon with bleu cheese that was out of this world.

1 large onion
2 12-oz. bottles of beer
2lbs bratwurst
Smoking chips

To marinate the brats, place the onions, beer and brats in a large pot.

Add just enough water to cover the sausages if needed.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

While the brats simmer, soak your smoking chips in water.

Heat a gas or charcoal grill over medium low heat.

If using a charcoal grill, scatter the wood chips over the charcoal. Add chips in a smoking box, if you are using a gas grill.

Grill the sausages with the lid closed, turning occasionally, until crisp and smoky in flavor.

Once the sausages are smoky, open the lid and increase the heat to crisp the sausages.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes, and then cut into slices and serve with assorted mustards.

You can boil the brats on the stove if you want but when we made this in class, the pan was right on the grill the whole time.