Smokin' in Seattle 2012

Saturday was the 6th Pacific Northwest Eggfest, put on by the PNW Egg distributor, AES, in Kent.  Another great event with so much great food.  The best part is seeing old friends, making new ones.  All my favorite AES staff were back, working as hard as ever.  They just keep getting more organized every year and do such an amazing job.  They make it look effortless, but I know how much work it is!

This year they supplied us all with aprons (green of course) and added a live band, which was so great - it really added to the festivities.  They also had added a sponsor, Fletcher Fine Foods, who was there handing out meat for anyone who needed something extra to cook.  How cool is that!?!

Bacon-Wrapped Tater Tots

I started off the morning with my usual bacon-wrapped tater tots, always a big hit.  Very simple to do:  Wrap one-half strip of bacon around a frozen tater tot and place on a large circular perforated grill pan that you have sprayed with cooking oil first.  Press the bacon into itself where the end meets; it'll stick just fine.  No need to figure out how to stuff a toothpick through a frozen tater tot!  Cook indirect at about 375 degrees.  They take quite a while to cook, maybe 45 minutes.  Basically you're waiting for the bacon to crisp up.  Some people like to sprinkle a bbq rub over them, such as Dizzy Pig, but I prefer to have them just as is.

Roasted Balsamic Green Beans

Next up on my agenda were roasted green beans with balsamic vinegar, mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese.

1-1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 pound green beans, washed and trimmed
salt and pepper
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Combine the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and add the green beans; mix them to coat.  A plastic baggie worked great for me in the outdoor environment, but a bowl would be a little more eco-friendly.  Put the green beans in a perforated grill pan.  I used a square one with sloping sides.  Cook over indirect heat at 450 degrees.  Cook until the beans are the way you like them - I like them pretty well roasted.  Then put the mushrooms into the bowl/baggie and toss them around to coat them with what's left of the oil/vinegar mixture; then add them to the grill pan and continue grilling until the mushrooms are roasted, which doesn't take nearly as long as the beans.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and close the lid for a couple minutes to melt the cheese a bit.  That's it.  Very yummy as a side dish and serves about 6 to 8 people.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

The package called these fingerlings.  They were completely round and I always think of fingerlings as being long and narrow.  Whatever they were, they were delicious grilled with some salt and pepper. And very colorful too!  These would be a great appetizer while you're waiting for the main course to cook.  They work fine as a side dish and I can see roasting them, then making them into mini 'crash' potatoes too.  I contemplated sprinkling them with herbs after they were grilled but in the end went with just the salt and pepper seasoning. I wanted to show that simple can be delicious.

I tossed these with about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper, again using a plastic baggie for convenience.  Then into my square perforated grill pan and grilled them over direct heat at about 400 degrees until they were cooked through.  They didn't take long, maybe 15 to 20 minutes.

Eenie Meenie Potato Casserole

Since my earlier experiment with Eenie Meenie's Potato Casserole was such a big hit at home, and since it could be prepped the night before, transported, and put onto the BGE with no additional work, I made it for Eggfest this year.  It was a very big hit.  I did three layers since I was feeding such a big crowd, and I used the mozarella cheese specified in the original recipe.

Jim was disappointed I didn't bring any of it home, so I made it again last night for dinner.  I do like the flavor of goat cheese mixed with whichever other cheese you choose, so I added that back in last night.

Coffee-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with BBQ Peach Drizzle

For my last recipe, I did a pork tenderloin recipe from the BGE cookbook.  This recipe was provided by Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQ.  Since that cookbook is still in circulation and since I made it exactly as is with no changes at all, I will not post the recipe here.  But if you were to google the name of the recipe and click on the first link that comes up, you might find it on the web.  ;)

This was very good.  The peach drizzle reminded me of the sauce that goes with plum pork.  That might be because I may have accidentally used some yellow plum preserves rather than peach preserves - I'm not sure.  I know I used at least 3/4 peach preserves.  I'll have to make it again.  And I was talking with some of the cooks who were near me at the fest, and we decided it would be good using Greek coffee since that has more of a powdery texture, so I want to try that next time.  But you can just never go wrong with a grilled pork tenderloin.  They turn out perfectly every time - I've never been disappointed.  And they're easy and fast to do.  I should make them more often!

In between all this grilling, I had plenty of time to walk around, talk with people, and sample some of the food coming off other cooks' Eggs.

This was hands-down my favorite 'unusual' recipe on the BGE.  So unique.  They called it Roast Cabbage Stuffed with Bacon Jam, and it was cabbage, bacon, onions, bbq sauce, and butter.  They hollowed out the cabbage, stuffed it with the bacon, onions, and bbq sauce, then dotted with butter.  Covered it with foil, set it on the egg onto little foil rings for stability, and cooked it indirect.  It was on there for a while.  You could contact them at grillography@gmail.com if you wanted to ask them specifics.  Really a fabulous grilled vegetable.

Here it is all cooked up and ready to dig into!

 Just one of the many amenities AES provides.  Here are Everett, my favorite Egger in the world, along with Art's daughter serving up sno cones and popcorn.

Had my first taste of pig candy - bacon with sugar and who knows what else - it was great!  Thanks, Sean, James and Jason for this tasty treat!

No eggfest is complete without a pulled pork sandwich.

Delicious meatball sandwich provided by my neighbor cooks Dean, his wife, and son William who does not eat vegetables.  They cooked a ton of stuff, all of it great.

My  new favorite Seattle dance band - The Woodies.  These guys rocked; they played all my favorites.

 These little cuties enjoyed the band, too, along with some nonEgged snacks.

  Seattle's hottest firemen cooked up some yummy stuff.

 

 Sadly I did not get to taste these stuffed baby bellas after they were cooked - the lines were just too long.  Guess I'll just have to make some of my own.

 These two strapping young fellows cooked up pancakes to order all day long - your choice of bluberry or chocolate chip....or a combo of both!

 

 Pancakes and beer - the breakfast of champion eggers

 Carnival area for kids of all ages, complete with balloon darts...

 

 ...egg bean bag toss...

 

...and photo opps!

(Me and Everett)

Besides working their butts off and providing all the generous raffle prizes, AES donated all proceeds to Rotary First Harvest.  That's what I call putting your money where your mouth is.

Another very fun day with friends, food, and fun - thanks AES - you guys are the greatest!

For more photos, go here.

Potato Casserole, Eenie Meenie Style, + Grilled Asparagus & Pumpkin Pie

One more barbecue to wrap up the Memorial Weekend.  We had two New York steaks to grill, plus some asparagus.  I had intended to do a potato recipe I've been wanting to try, but then I read about Eenie Meenie's (aka Rebecca) potatoes on the Big Green Egg forum and decided I needed to do those instead.  And I got to use the mandoline, which I haven't used in a while.  It's always kind of exciting to use it--will I or won't I walk away with all my skin intact?  Just kidding.  It has a safety guard on it and unless I do something really stupid, it's pretty safe.  It's always a good idea, though, just to be on the safe side, to save the drinking for after all the mandolining has been done!

Here is how to make the potatoes in Eenie's own words:

Basically, rub garlic around a pan ( I usually use ceramic or Pyrex), then smear bottom and sides with olive oil.  Thinly slice potatoes (use a mandoline if you have one) about an 1/8 of an inch or slightly more.  Then rinse them and dry them (it would be better to not rinse them then to not have them dry).  Then very thinly slice an onion (I use a sweet onion).  If it's a large diameter onion, then further cut up the round rings so that they are about two to two and a half inches.  Slice some tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and salt them and set them aside to drain. If you do not have ripe and tasty tomatoes you can drain some canned tomatoes.....drain them well.  Remove any seeds. If they are whole tomatoes, just break them up with your hands or cut with scissors into big chunks.  Chop up some fresh basil, parsley, and oregano (mostly basil and parsley, just a little oregano) and set aside. Mince some garlic and set aside..

In a ceramic or Pyrex, or baking dish, layer a layer of overlapping potatoes, then a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of onions.  Then sprinkle on some chopped basil, parsley, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper. Repeat this entire process one or two more times depending upon the depth of your baking dish.  Don't worry if it goes to the top.....it will shrink down considerably.

Top with several pats of butter, then top with foil.  Bake at around 350 or so for an hour to an hour and a half (until the potatoes are almost done.  Then top with shredded mozzarella until it is melted.  If it doesn't brown, then place it under the broiler. 

It is important not to serve this immediately......the potatoes need to soak up some of the juices.  Let it rest for about 15 - 20 minutes or whatever. 

Basically use the herbs you like and the proportions you like.  I go heavy on the basil and parsley and light on the oregano.

This can be made ahead of time, up until the cheese part and refrigerated.  Let it warm up almost to room temp, then reheat.  After it is reheated, top with cheese.

Here's a link to the post, if that's of any help.

If you have any flavored oils, now's a good time to break them out.  I used this on the inside of the casserole after I rubbed it with garlic.

 First layer of sliced potatoes.

 Then the onions.

 Tomatoes are next.

 Then the chopped herbs.  I didn't have any oregano, so I used parsley, basil, and thyme.

I had a wee bit of Kerrygold herb butter, so I used that to dot over the layers.  This was 1 tablespoon worth.

I used two potatoes, three tomatoes, and one onion.  I would have liked more onion, but only had the one on hand.  I did two layers since it was just myself and Jim.  Also, I used a ceramic casserole with a lid and I cooked them on the BGE instead of in an oven.

I forgot to get mozarella cheese, so I used a combination of cheddar, Parmesan, and goat cheese.  It was really good.  Jim loved it.

While the potatoes were resting, we grilled the steaks at 275 degrees for 15 minutes, then flipped them and laid some sliced mushrooms on top.  Finished off grilling until they registered 135 on the Thermapen, which was another 5 to 10 minutes.

We put the asparagus on at the same time as the steaks, but pulled the asparagus when it was finished.  After peeling the asparagus and snapping off the tough ends, I tossed it in my flavored oil, sprinkled on some salt and pepper, and put it in the grill pan.  I love roasted veggies and grilling them is even better.

 This is my handy-dandy asparagus peeler.  It's one of my favorite kitchen tools because it makes peeling asparagus so easy.  It looks pretty innocent laying there on the cutting board, but it's actually quite wicked!

 In the grill pan and on the Egg.  For best texture, grill at a hot temp so it gets very roasted without getting mushy.

We decided that we were not fans of New York steak.  They were cooked perfectly with just the right amount of pink, but they were still tough and blah tasting.  Buddy lucked out because he got most of both our steaks!

The asparagus was my favorite part followed closely by the potatoes.  Dessert was also tasty.  We ended the meal with a pumpkin pie.  Jim accidentally bought a can of pumpkin pie filling instead of regular pumpkin (Buddy is on a doggy diet and pumpkin is great for dogs trying to shed a few pounds), and I opened it up without looking at the label, so we needed to get it used up.  I'll be putting up a full-on pie tutorial in the very near future, but here's the recipe I used for this pie:

Pumpkin Pie

Crust
2-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons leaf lard
9 tablespoons European-style butter
8 tablespoons water

Filling
2 cups pumpkin pie filling
1 cup coconut milk
3 beaten eggs
extra spices - allspice, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 425.  When you put the pie in the oven, turn the heat down to 375.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  If you're baking the pie in an Aga, put it on the floor of the roasting oven for 15 minutes.  Then move to the top rung of the baking oven for 45 minutes.  Pie perfection!

Mix the dough so that the butter bits vary in size.

I found this little 'cheater' thing a few years ago.  You put the floured dough inside this pouch, zip it up, and roll it out.  It makes it almost perfectly round.  It's small, though, and so I have to then remove the dough and roll it larger.  If you have a french rolling pin, which I do not, you can achieve a very round dough without this gadget.  Still, it's a pretty fun and handy thing to have.

I like to vary how I crimp the edges.  Here I used two fingers to push pieces together and twisted it slightly to one side.

This pastry scraper is another handy tool.  If the dough sticks to your rolling surface, you can use it to scrape the dough up without tearing it.

Pie perfection!

 I'm already looking forward to a piece for breakfast tomorrow!!!

A pretty tasty dinner in remembrance of our fathers, who both were in the Navy.  My dad died back in 1980.  He was 54.  He had a heart attack in his sleep.  Jim's dad died of brain cancer in 1986, three months before our wedding.  He was 65.

On this Memorial Weekend, I am eternally grateful to all the men and women who serve and have served in the military and am very sad that so many have had to give their lives doing so.  Today my thoughts and prayers go out to all deceased and living veterans as well as their families who have also sacrificed so much for our country.