(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...

(ZA) Road-testing the egg station

New gear update!!!

The weather was fine and warm today, just right for road-testing our new egg station with a few sumptuously-marbled sirloin steaks. After ramping the egg up to a blistering 450degF, We seared the steaks for 90 seconds on each side and then rested them while we cooked some peri-peri chicken pieces using the Big Green Egg wire kebab skewer. Once the chicken was cooked, the steaks went back on to an internal temperature of 130degF, a perfect, juicy medium rare. Served with Jersey Royal new potato salad (potatoes so exclusive that AW believes they are flown to the UK on their own private jet which is why supermarkets charge "so bloody much" for them!) and a fresh buff mozzarella, basil, tomato salad with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Lush!

The verdict on the new egg station was that it is the perfect height to cook on the egg and it is great to have the convenience of all the cooking paraphernalia right next to the egg making things so much easier to handle plates, chopping boards, heatproof gloves and cooking tools without needing another pair of hands!

(AW) Newman Slayer

I was bought a branding iron as present, and for its initial outing, what better than to mark up some prime beef steak.

So I set up the iron to spell what I wanted, and stuck it into the firepit to get up to temp.

What I will say, is the branding worked a treat, and almost cooked the steak to perfection, but I did give it another 30 seconds on the cast iron grill to finish it off.

Sorry Mike ;-)

(MN) Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Pork Loin

Webster Killer...

First, wrap bacon

Then, remove ribs from HUGE Pork Loin

Stuff with stuffing, or whatever you fancy! Season and roll!

Bend so it fits in the egg!

Then I let this sit in the fridge over night to gain shape..

I then set the egg up for indirect smoking at 250f using Maple wood...

Cover in apple sauce... Of course

And on she goes... Smoked for the first 90 mins at 250f, then turned up to 350f for an hour, then back down for the final 250f... Or until it hit 145f internal.

Unbelievable Jeff