(MN) Smoked Bacon Scotch Eggs

Yep.. I went there! Unfortunately on this occasion one came out too runny and one was just to hard. 10 mins cooking time difference so I know for next time 35-40 mins is the sweet spot! Still epic!!

Take

1 large free range egg and boil for 4 miles. Pull immediately out of the water in to cool ice water and leave to cool completely..

Then peel carefully. Very carefully!!

Cut the skin off your favourite sausage (or make your own sausage meat) and roll two together. As time was against me I used bought in Cumberland.

Flatten sausage balls and place on the egg. Put the second flattened sausage ball over th top and seal..

Wrap with bacon!! Streaky and smokey of course!

Place on the egg in indirect mode at 400f for 35-40 mins! That should get you perfection!

I pull d the first at 30 and it was undercooked and the second 45.

First

Second

When I can face eating again I'll nail this bad boy!!

Also dog a quick sausage number with the left overs..

(AW) Beef Short Ribs

This is our second attempt at Beef Short Ribs.
It has to be stated, that attempt number 1 was not a success.

Video here:


But undeterred, we pressed on with attempt number 2.

We marinaded the ribs, cut by our butchers Chapmans, in a BBQ spice rub and left them overnight.
Next we set up the BGE, indirect at 225f.

On went the ribs, and we smoked them for 2 hours.

Then we wrapped them in heavy duty foil, before returning them to the egg for another 6 hours.

Finally, we rested them (still in foil, in a towel, in a cool box) for another 2 hours.

Then they could be pulled, and the bone comes out clean.

This 2-6-2 method seems simple enough, and delivers perfects beef!  

(ZA)Now for something a little bit different...

An impromptu afternoon off work gave me the opportunity to try something we'd been after doing for a while now...baking on the BGE. I never realised an outdoor charcoal cooker could be so versatile and the results were stunning!

I made my own shortcrust pastry with 200g plain flour and 200g chilled, salted butter. rub the butter in with your hands till it looks like breadcrumbs and then mix in, give or take, 6 tablespoons water with a metal knife. You can then roll it out on a floured surface, use to line your quiche dish, prick the base all over with a fork and chill for 30 mins. 

Finely slice 3 large white onions and fry them in butter over a medium heat until they start to go golden, glossy and caramelised. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, set the egg up indirect to 400 deg F. When the egg is at temperature, bake the case blind (line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans or rice to stop the base rising) for about 20 mins then take out the beans/rice and bake for a further 10 minutes until the pastry is biscuit brown and cooked.

Mix together 300ml double cream, 2 beaten eggs, 140g grated mature cheddar, the cooled onions and at least 200g of smoked, cooked meat. We used an slow-cooked, smoked ham hock but smoked gammon, bacon or pulled pork would do just as well. 

Pour the luscious cheesy mixture into the cooked pastry case. Top with sliced tomatoes and a sprinkled handful of grated cheddar and place in the egg for 45 minutes. Check the quiche every 10 minutes till the filling is firm & cooked (when a knife blade comes out clean and it springs back when you prod it!)

AW and I both agreed this was the most delicious quiche we'd ever had and was real comfort food when served with garlic roasted spuds and baked beans.

Top tip according to AW: Best eaten cold!

(ZA & AW) Big Green Egg McMuffin

Sunday Brunch called for a proper fast food classic - BGE style!

Video here:

We prepped all the ingredients to make sure that everything was ready to build the finished McMuffin  quickly as everything would be ready at once. Muffins sliced with a very light spread of butter on both halves, several rashers of "Baldock Black" streaky bacon cut in half, locally made, organic black pudding slices, free range eggs and totally-not-organic, full of MSG and really not good for you at all processed cheese slices!

We heated the BGE to 350 deg F with the cast iron grill, flat side up, and the cast iron half moon, also flat side up and placed a ramekin of water on it to create some steam to help cook the top of the eggs. We put the black pud on the grill for about 5 minutes before flipping, sprayed the half moon with oil and cracked the eggs into two poaching rings. We wanted to get the classic disc shape to our eggs and a mouthful of yolk & white in each bite so we broke the yolk and mixed it in with the white whilst cooking.

Then for the bacon, which cooked in under a minute! We then toasted the muffins for around 30 seconds before building the finished article.

Muffin, egg, black pudding, bacon, cheese slice and topped with a generous squirt of tomato sauce and the top half of the muffin....McEpic!

(MN) Bacon Wrapped Beer Battered Onion Rings

I had to do this...

Start with..

1-2 Onions. Cut thick and pull out the big bits.





Then of course, wrap with streaky smoked bacon

 

Then, get your egg to 275F and bang them on!!!!!



After 90 mins or so.... they should be done!!!




Now of course, you could eat them now.... and they'd be good... but to make them super proper epic. You need to apply the beer batter!

So...

- 2 Cups Plain Four
- Salt and Pepper (to taste)
- Bottle of beer

Mix it up.





After the Bacon Onion Rings have cooled and formed, band them in the beer batter..



Then... heat CORN OIL to 350-375F and in they go..

Wait till there perfectly browning and pull them out to cool on a kitchen roll!

And of course... serve with a Hache Steak Burger!!

 

(ZA & AW) Doner kebab with manky salad & chillis

Turkleton has been angling to make a lamb doner for quite a while now so we decided to give it a go tonight. We mixed a kilo of minced lamb and doner kebab spices with bare hands until it formed a smoothish paste. We then covered a stainless steel vertical chicken roaster with extra strong aluminium foil and layered patties of the lamb up the sides of the roaster to form a tall column of meat around the central tube of foil.

We then placed a probe in the meat and placed it into the pre-heated, indirect setup egg at 350 deg F.

We were aiming for an internal temperature of 160 deg F. when the temperature was reached we placed our pitta breads on the grid for a few minutes, turning once.

We carved the kebab meat into thin slivers and served in the pittas with salad, lemon juice, chillis and lashings of chilli sauce.....

I even spilled my beer on the floor to give that authentic "late night, sticky-floored kebab shop" feel to the whole experience! Super delicious!

(ZA)Slam-in-the-lamb

Having bought a lovely breast of lamb, now to try out a new idea for the stuffing!

The butcher kindly did the hard work for me by boning and de-membraning a breast of lamb ready for stuffing. He also gave me a couple of metres of butcher string to secure it before cooking. I covered the inside of the breast in a light layer of dijon mustard and sprinkled a little lamb rub over it. I then took a mixture of seasoned pork sausage meat (with lashings of freshly ground black pepper) and added a teaspoon each of sweet paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and a good splash if chilli sauce. I used srirachi sauce - a vietnamese sauce which is made from sun-ripened red chillis and garlic - but you can use harissa instead.

Once the meat & spices were thoroughly mixed, I spread it evenly over the lamb, over the mustard/rub mix then carefully rolled the breast and secured with 4 or 5 loops of butcher's string. This string is specially designed to be heat and stretch resistant and also grips itself when you tie a double knot in it to make it easier to work with than cotton string.

I then rolled the lamb in the rest of the lamb rub to lightly coat the outside. We placed it in the pre-heated, indirect set-up egg and cooked using the digiQ to maintain 230 deg F until the lamb reached an internal temperature of 187 deg F.

We carved it into slices and served with herby garlic roasted potatoes and roasted mediterranean veg. Beautiful!

(ZA & AW) Extra-ordinary burgers.

Back-to-basics today!

Video Here:

This burger was created from minced chuck steak from local beef cattle, cooked direct on the cast iron grid (flat side up) 350 deg F. The meat was minced and seasoned simply with onion granules, salt and pepper then formed into patties using a burger press. Once the burgers had been on the grill around 15 minutes and had beautiful char marks on both sides, we brushed them with our mustard/tabasco mixture to create a sweet, hot crispy bark, flipped the burger and place mature cheddar on top to melt a little before building our finished bun.

We toasted the buns, spread our special lettuce relish on and placed the burger on top. The perfect accompaniment to bring out the beautiful taste of this good quality beef. Great ingredients, cooked with respect. 

(ZA & AW) Cool beans!

We made these baked beans a few weeks ago with leftover smoked gammon but they were so delicious that they we decided to do them again. We decided to use some of our leftover pulled pork as the smoked meat contingent and video, this time, for the you tube channel. The result was just gorgeous. These awesome beans are destined to make a great light supper later in the week or part of a proper comfort dinner when served with a slice of home-made quiche lorraine. Can't wait!

Video Here

(ZA & AW) Thursday Bhuna

Today seemed like a good day to cook our latest spicery monthly curry blend - Lamb Bhuna. A rich, slightly fruity curry with an onion base and flavoured with ground cumin, coriander, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric, cinnamon & cloves.

Video Here

We heated the large egg with the dutch oven in an indirect setup to 350 deg F and then added some ghee, a chopped onion and a paste of pureed onion & spices to the pan. We let the onion mixture cook out for a few minutes and then added the diced lamb. The meat had been marinading in spices and yoghurt. We left it to start to caramelising in the dutch oven, lid off, for 15 minutes. 

We then added some warm water to loosen the sauce and left it to cook for a further 20 minutes. At this point we added chopped, fresh tomatoes and left it to cook for a further 25 mins while the basmati rice was steaming. When the lamb was cooked and tender, and the tomatoes had made a thick & unctuous sauce, we took the dutch oven & grid off the egg and placed naan breads directly on the plate setter to warm them through and serve with the Bhuna. Delicious!