(ZA & AW) Amazing, hickory-smoked Spag Bol

Today we are cooking a classic dish and, rather surprisingly, one we have not done on the egg before...Spaghetti Bolognese! I think every family has their own recipe for this meat sauce to go with pasta and this is ours with the extra dimension of hickory wood-smoke and BGE magic.

This recipe serves 3 hungry people. 

First, set up the egg to cook indirect at 300degF and put hickory chunks in water to soak. 

When the egg is at temperature, soften a chopped onion and a grated carrot in some olive oil. Take two, good-quality pork sausages and remove the meat from the skins, break it up and add to the pan to seal. Next, add 500g minced steak and sauté until the meat is browned. 

Add a splash of red wine and de-glaze the pan before stirring in a tin of chopped plum tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 pint beef stock, 2tsp dried oregano, 2tsp dried basil, 1tsp dried thyme, 1tsp dried parsley, a good grind of black pepper and 1/4 tsp celery salt (you can add more of this to taste as it is very strong!) Stir well and add 1tbsp tomato ketchup and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. 

Add a few soaked hickory chunks to the egg and leave the casserole uncovered to absorb all the wonderful, smokey flavour. Check and stir after 30 mins and again after a further 30 minutes then put a lid on the casserole to simmer for a further 30 minutes. 

Serve with spaghetti that has been tossed in extra virgin olive oil and top with fresh parmesan cheese. Goes down a treat with a glass of red and some crusty garlic bread!

(ZA & AW) Feeling chilly? Spicy peri-peri boerwors pizza

Ir's chilly evening in Stotfold UK but November temperatures never stop us from cooking outside and making some epic grub!

We ramped the egg up to over 500degF for this cook. The rib rack means the ceramic stone placed on top, indirect on the grill, is at the perfect height in the dome to cook epic pizza. We shaped our pizzas on the baking sheets that are cut to the size of the pizza stone, spread tomato sauce and grated mozzarella evenly over the dough and then put on our toppings.

Peri-peri boerwors is a delicious, speciality beef sausage from our local butcher (who have links with South Africa) and it is perfect as a spicy beef topping. I simply took the boerwors out of it's skin, broke up the mince and fried until it was caramelised and crispy. This was sprinkled over the prepared base, along with roasted red onion pieces and a roasted, chopped green chilli and sliced, fresh cherry tomatoes.

 A light sprinkling of  little more mozzarella, and pizzas were ready to go in. We were VERY careful to slowly "burp" the egg as the temperature of the dome was a blistering 550degF. Flames were licking through the open daisy wheel on top and through the vent at the bottom! The pizza went in for 12 minutes and came out golden and bubbling with a crisp base and caramelised topping. We enjoyed them with citrus olives and a fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. A touch of the Mediterranean in sleepy Bedfordshire!

(ZA) Hot stuff! Tasty chargrilled tuna steaks

Tonight was the night we decided to chargrill some fresh tuna for the first time. The tuna steaks I had, until recently, bought from our local Tesco were always too thin to be suitable for "egging" and always had a slightly unpleasant, dry after-taste. I have switched to Waitrose and the results are astounding! 

The tuna I have bought from them is thick enough to chargrill and both smells and feels really fresh so we though we'd chance throwing it on the minimax with the cast iron grill for just 2 minutes each side at 400degF and it was absolutely delicious. We served it with *hot pepper sauce and buttered new potatoes. 

*1 chopped red onion, 1 chopped red or green pepper, 1 chopped red chilli, 1 stick of celery chopped saute for 5 minutes until softened then add a tin of tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes then add juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2tsp worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp tabasco sauce and serve. Goes well with fish and also in an omelette with cheese!

(ZA) New gear update - Jalapeño chilli poppers

This weekend is going to be "Hot, hot, hot" when we try out our new chilli pepper grilling rack! 

This rack was from Amazon UK for under £13 including the chilli corer and holds 18 stuffed chillis. We will be trying out several different stuffings this weekend including cheddar cheese, cream cheese and bacon to see how this bad boy performs!

As always, a blog entry will follow.....

(ZA & AW) Cedar-planked salmon with a honey & pesto glaze.

Tonight's tea is another new dish. A delicate piece of fresh salmon with a honey and pesto glaze cooked on a soaked cedar plank. 

We soaked the plank for a few hours in cold water and then set up the egg to 350degF direct with the flat side of the cast-iron grill uppermost. To make the glaze, mix approximately 40g green pesto mixed with 1/2 tsp runny honey, 1/2 clove garlic minced and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to loosen the glaze a little. We placed the side of salmon on the plank and brushed it with pesto glaze before putting on the egg for 15 minutes. 

We then placed the cut lemons on the grill and cooked for a further 10 minutes before serving. The fish was done to perfection, flaked perfectly and still slightly opaque. It made a delicious tea served with crispy, buttered jacket potatoes with peppery watercress. We would really recommend that anyone give this a go on their barbecue or smoker as it really does lift a beautiful piece of fish to sublime but affordable treat!

(ZA & AW) Saturday night mixed kebab (No booze required!)

We decided we wanted to cook our own version of doner kebab this evening but add a special element of turkish marinaded chicken kebabs and serve the whole lot in a toasted pitta with the traditional "manky" salad, sriracha chilli sauce and garlic yoghurt sauce. 

First we blended lamb mince with an onion, 2tsp each of coriander and cumin, and 1tsp salt until smooth. We then formed the meat into a fat sausage shape then loaded it onto our specially-made kebab skewer. We wrapped it tightly in cling film and left it to chill in the fridge for a few hours. Egg set-up direct at 350degF, the lamb went in to start cooking. 

After around 20 minutes, we placed chicken kebabs on around the edges of the grill. The chicken had been marinaded in a new recipe we were trying today for Turkish chicken kebabs. To make the marinade, we blitzed together an onion, 2 cloves garlic, 4 tsp natural yoghurt, salt, 1 tbsp tomato puree and 1 tbsp lemon juice until smooth. We coated the chicken pieces in the marinade and left in the fridge until we were ready to load our flexible wire kebab skewers.  

We cooked the lamb to an internal temperature of 130degF, until the chicken was cooked through and had a good, crispy char on the outside. We carved the kebab meat into thin slices and served with lemon wedges, pitta and salad (finely shredded iceberg lettuce, finely slice onion and tomato wedges) It tasted amazing and we didn't even have to be drunk to enjoy it! 

(ZA) Gear update: I do love a bargain!

For sometime now, we have been on the lookout for a small, cast iron casserole dish to use as a "dutch oven" in the minimax BGE. Le Crueset do a beautiful range of cast iron cookware that we really like in a cerise colour and they do an 18cm casserole that would have been ideal if it weren't for the price tag! We are only going to be using this once in a while so we were loath to fork out over £100 for a little pot we would get minimal use from. After a bit of research, I found this little cast iron pot, made by a different company, for £35 that fits the egg a treat both with or without lid...it's even the right colour! It seems decent quality so we shall see if it does the job!

(ZA) Saturday Super Salmon

We decided to cook ourselves a piece of fish as a "trial run" for Adie Webster's official EGGspert demo at the start of September. This will be the fish course of a four course taster menu we will be preparing for those who are looking at investing in a Big Green Egg. I reckon the dishes we've come up with will show off egging at it's best. We're hoping to inspire these would-be eggers with some magical smoked food!

I left this side of salmon out of the fridge for ten minutes to come up to room temperature before placing it on a cedar plank that had soaked for a few hours in cold water. It would need to be soaked for at least 30 minutes but I had the extra time so why not?

I gave the fish a light coating of olive oil and placed it on the wet plank with a few thin slices of lemon on top then transferred it to the egg which needed to be 350degF Direct. The plank sits directly on the cast iron grate. 

This piece of salmon took about 25 minutes to cook to perfection but we checked it after 12 minutes at the same time as placing a couple of lemon halves on the grill. I would recommend that you check the fish every 3 or 4 minutes (after this initial period) to see if it is cooked through as it is easy to over-cook it. 

Served on it's plank in the centre of the table, the fish makes an impressive centrepiece. We squeezed the grilled lemons over the fish. Grilling the lemons caramelises the sugars in the fruit and gives them a sweet/tart flavour, a little less acidic that fresh lemons, which really elevated this dish to something really stunning. Grilled lemons go really well with pork belly too! 

We served our fish with steamed new potatoes and peppery watercress dressed with a honey & wholegrain mustard vinaigrette. (50ml red wine vinegar, 1tbsp wholegrain mustard, 2tbsp runny honey, salt, pepper and 150ml extra virgin olive oil. blitz until blended. If it is too acidic, add a little more honey to taste) The fish was cooked to perfection and had taken on a little smoke flavour from the plank but only enhancing the natural salmon flavour without obliterating it. A really light and delicious summery dish.

(ZA) Upper crust Squire's breakfast muffins

Today's brunch is something with a bit of class. A Squire's breakfast ensemble inside a toasted muffin with a topping of salty, ripe Stilton. Just right for an old bean with a BGE and a taste for the finer things in life!

"Squire's breakfast" is a small fillet steak wrapped around a black pudding stuffing and a couple of rashers of streaky bacon around the whole thing, secured with butcher's twine. 

We cooked these direct at around 350degF for around 10 minutes until they reached an internal temperature of 140degF so that the fillet steak was medium-rare. The bacon takes no time at all to cook and the black pudding is cooked in production so it only has to be warmed through. This allowed us to cook to the steak without having to worry about raw stuffing.

We toasted standard English muffins on the hot grill for serving...

and served the meat in the muffin with a little Stilton crumbled over the top. Rich black pudding, crispy bacon, strong tasty Stilton and soft-as-butter, silky fillet steak was sublime and delicious but even better once we lowered the tone with a squirt of tomato ketchup!

(ZA) "Who needs Dominoes?" rainy day pizza.

New pizza toppings today! It has been miserably rainy for most of the day but we've never been ones to let a bit of British weather spoil our fun so, during a lull in the downpour, we lit the egg, put in the pizza stone and ramped her up to 400degF ready to pop our pizzas in for a few minutes to cook.

I used my bread machine to make a basic olive oil pizza dough. It only takes 50 minutes and is infinitely better than the packet pizza dough mix or ready-made bases so well worth the effort. I shaped the dough on non-stick oven liners, then left to rise again for 15 minutes before I covered them generously with passata,  grated mozzarella and the toppings of choice. 

The pizza pictured above is our slow-cooked short-rib beef with chopped fresh tomatoes and onions that had been caramelised in a little butter until soft and sweet. A topping off with a sprinkle of more grated mozzarella and on the BGE indirect, with the pizza stone sitting on top of a rib holder to get the food right to the hottest part of the dome. Around 9 minutes and we check to make sure the base is cooked.

The home-made dough made a light, airy pizza base and the base was crisp and delicious.

The pizza below is topped with deli smoked pork sausage, ham, roasted peppers, onions and chestnut mushrooms. 

(ZA) Zingy red onion and orange relish

A few years ago, we went to a food fair  where they served Big Green Egg pulled pork with this amazing fresh onion and orange relish. It's taken quite some time to reverse-engineer the recipe but we finally did it and it goes beautifully with belly pork as well as in a bun with pulled pork.

Take two large red onions and slice finely. Place the onion in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to steep for one minute and then drain. Add the juice of five limes (one cup of lime juice), the juice of two oranges and 1tsp malden salt. At this point you could add a very finely chopped fresh red chilli. Mix thoroughly and place in a lidded container in the fridge overnight. The juice will turn pink and the onion will be slightly pickled but still crunchy. 

(ZA) Everybody loves a belly rub!

We asked our tame Butcher for a pork belly, off the bone and skin removed and then marinated it in a mixture of two rubs overnight. Rub one was a piquant, hot, house rub of garlic powder, onion powder, white & brown sugars, chipotle powder, hot chilli powder, english mustard powder and black pepper. Rub two was a sweeter, fruitier rub of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, chipotle powder, brown sugar and sea salt.

We smoked the pork over applewood chunks for 5 hours at 210degF, indirect and checked to see if it had started to render out the fat. After 6 hours, the pork was cooked and caramelised with the fat having crisped up on the outside and softened on the inside. If necessary, with a larger piece, it could go another hour before being at this stage.

We then placed the pork in a container that was very slightly bigger than the joint (but only slightly) place greaseproof on top and another dish weighted down with cans from the cupboard to press the pork down while in the chiller. Chill for a few hours. Once chilled slice into portions.

When you are ready to serve, take the pork slices and grill them, direct, at 400degF for 3-4 minutes each side until crisp, caramelised and warmed through. 

We served ours with bacon, maple and blue-cheese slaw (see previous blog entry), stuffed goats cheese portobello mushrooms and a red onion & orange relish (see next blog entry). We also put a few lemon halves on the grill for a few minutes which gives the resulting "squeeze" a delicious caramel sweetness!

(ZA) Slaw doesn't have to be sloppy! (bacon, maple & blue-cheese slaw)

Adie never been a big fan of coleslaw and I don't like the store-bought stuff cos it is usually swimming in dressing so I gave this one ago instead and we've never looked back! It's crunchy and tasty, with a hint of sweet maple and a hit of savoury slat flavour from the bacon and stilton. So simple to make and perfect with any summer cook!

Mix 1 cup of ranch dressing with 1 tbsp granulated sugar and 1 tbsp maple syrup. stir into 1lb of coleslaw vegetables (1lb = approx 1/2 white cabbage shredded, 1 carrot peeled & grated and one onion finely sliced but you can change the ratios to suit your own taste) I use a cheat ingredient of pre-cooked crispy bacon rashers but you can crisp up your own. Add 100g roughly chopped crispy bacon and 200g crumbled blue cheese (I use a good bit of stilton) into the coleslaw mixture and mix well until everything is nicely coated in the dressing. 

This will keep well in the fridge for at least 2 days. 

(ZA) Whip up a bit of swanky-ness

Very fashionable in posh delicatessens and Masterchef-style TV programs, bone marrow is seen as a swanky and avant-garde ingredient that can only be sourced and understood by "Chef types" but, in reality, it is really inexpensive and easy to prepare. It can be frozen in small batches and mixed in to casseroles or grated in with minced beef or other meats to make even juicier burgers.

Ask your butcher for bone marrow and he will, no doubt, present you with some daunting-looking pieces of shin-bone. Don't panic. Just scoop the soft marrow into a food processor using a teaspoon. It is the consistency of chilled lard or butter so it's not difficult to extract. 

Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, add a minced clove of garlic, a good pinch of maldon salt and blitz for around 8 minutes until it is silky smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.

Pass the marrow through a sieve and then add freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley. Use immediately or freeze.

(ZA) Leftovers can be epic too!

It's all well and good creating amazing food on the Big Green Egg but, after the initial meal of juicy pork and piquant sauce in a fresh bread roll. What do you do with the rest of it? Well....this "Hog Mac'n'cheese" is one answer to that question!

Cooked macaroni and leftover pulled pork with a creamy three-cheese, shallot, garlic and thyme sauce with a topping of bacon rub, toasted breadcrumb and cheddar mix. The topping gives it texture whilst the extra punch of shallot in the sauce give levels of flavour that a simple cheese sauce can so often lack.

• Take two chopped shallots, two cloves garlic minced and the leaves picked from a sprig of fresh thyme and soften all this in 60g butter. Meanwhile cook 500g macaroni to the packet instructions. Once it's cooked, rinse the macaroni in cold water and drain. 
• Add 60g plain flour to the shallot mix and cook out until a foamy paste is formed then remove from the heat. Add a pint of whole milk to the paste a little at a time, stirring constantly. This will take some time...don't rush it as you'll end up with floury lumps. 
• Once the milk is used up continue to stir the sauce over a low heat and add 125g each of stilton, mature cheddar and any really strong, sharp, aged cheddar (I used Canadian extra mature) and stir in to the sauce until melted.

Now to make the bacon rub as everything is better with bacon! 

• You will need 50g of very crispy cooked streaky bacon for this. Put the cold bacon into a food processor with 20g golden caster sugar (or maple sugar), 1/2 tsp hot paprika, freshly ground black pepper ,10g maldon salt and blitz until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

• Blitz 100g white bread to make breadcrumbs then dry toast in a frying pan until golden & crispy.

• Mix your macaroni and chopped pulled pork into 2/3 of the cheesy sauce and spread evenly over the base of a large, oven-proof dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the top. Mix the breadcrumbs with 50g of your bacon rub and 100g of grated cheddar and sprinkle this evenly over the top of the macaroni sauce.

If you are cooking in the Egg (...& why not?) set up for indirect at 350degF for about 30mins until golden and bubbling. 

(This recipe can also be made with any leftover meat or some bacon you have lying around and cooked in a regular oven at 180degC for 30 minutes)

(ZA) Egg maintenance and a new bit of kit!

We had been considering a table set-up for our large egg since we had our garden refurbished and, after some research, we decided on the acacia bench table by the Big Green Egg company. It is specifically designed to support the weight of the large BGE and provide a cooking station at precisely the right height for ease of use. 

It arrived flat-packed so the boys got stuck into to the assembly. It went together very easily and looked very sturdy. The wood is a very pleasant warm colour. It's a very well-made, nice-looking piece of furniture! 

We took the opportunity to do a little egg maintenance while the egg had to come apart to be lifted into it's new position. 

Replacing the gasket was really easy. We soaked the old gasket in iso-propyl alcohol and then scraped it of gently with a paint scraper. We then left the ceramic rim to dry for a couple of hours to allow the alcohol to evaporate off before sticking the new, self-adhesive gasket around the rim.

Once we had put the gasket on, we replaced the gasket around the chimney in the same way. We then fitted the lid of the egg back on and made the necessary adjustments to ensure a good seal on opening and closing the egg. It is very important that the ring and spring-hinge assembly is properly adjusted to get a good seal for smoking and prevent the gasket from being unevenly worn over time. The BGE comes with some red plastic spacers to use for ensuring the hinge rings are properly adjusted and some small pieces of perspex that stop the springs from "pinging off" when you dismantle the egg for cleaning and maintenance. 

The finished egg station looks great - it's a nice-looking piece of furniture - and the weather-proof, vented cover fits a treat (although we have used a "roof-rack" strap to secure it around the tops of the legs as that little bit of our garden can be something of a wind-trap) 

We also now have a weather-proof, lockable socket for the digiQ to be plugged in without having to leave the garage open and the electric lighting wand to be used with a special weather-proof  box for the digiQ controller itself to sit in during low'n'slow cooking. Now all we need is a wall-mounted bottle opener...apparently...