Dana and I love a good pot roast.  I have cooked beef roasts in the past but I have never done a basic pot roast.  So I figured I would tackle that today.  Simple and delicious.  Beef, veggies and a slow cooker.  Couldn’t get any simpler.

Beef Pot Roast

Coarsely chop a turnip, 1 green pepper 1 onion and 2 stalks celery.  Then add the chopped veggies to a crock pot.  Then add two cups of small red potatoes, 1 cup of baby carrots and the minced garlic.

Then season the beef roast with salt and pepper.  Then place it over the veggies.  Kind of work it in a bit so that it sits within the veggies instead of directly on top.  Then finally add 1 tbs parsley flakes.

Finally add 2 cups of beef broth and let it cook for 8-10 hours on low.

After the 8-10 hours the veggies will be fully cooked along with the pot roast.  Remove the pot roast and veggies to a platter.

Strain the remaining meat juice into a sauce pan.  Then whisk 1/2 cup cold water with 1/4 cup flour.   Then slowly whisk that into the meat juice.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the gravy thickens.  It will become thick and bubbly.

Remove the gravy from the stove and serve over the meat and veggies.

This meal was fantastic and super easy.  You can assemble it in the morning and come home to a delicious meal with little to no work.

I was looking to make some peppered steak tacos, but I could not find skirt steak for the life of me.  So I took the rub and put it on some butterflied chicken breasts. It turned out awesome!  Dana and I loved them.  I know that tacos are usually served with corn tortillas but I could not get my hand on any fresh ones either.  So I am technically making fajitas, but I like to call them tacos.

Peppered Steak Tacos

Prepare the grill for two-zone cooking.  Place lit coals on one half of the grill.  If using a gas grill turn on only half of the burners.  Make sure to brush the grates clean.

Mix the rub ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Butterfly the chicken breasts and then coat the chicken evenly in the rub.  Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to let the rub set.

Once the grill is preheated and the rub is set, place the chicken directly over the heat and grill until done.  Roughly 7-8 minutes per side.  You may need to turn them once or twice during cooking to get them to cook uniformly.

During the last 4-5 minutes of cooking wrap the tortillas in foil and place them on the indirect side of the grill.  Flip them half-way through.

When the chicken is fully cooked and the juices run clear, remove from the grill and place on a cutting board.  Remove the tortillas from the grill too.  Don’t want them to burn.

Slice the chicken and serve over the warm tortillas.  Serve with your favorite salsa, sour cream, guacamole and cheese.

These tacos were a hit.  They had great flavor and they were perfect for breaking in our new patio furniture.

Recipe adapted from Peppered Steak Tacos from Weber’s Charcoal Grilling by Jamie Purviance

Naptown BarBAYq

On to the BarBAYq.  I have finally rested and had a chance to go over my results for the Naptown BarBAYq.  Overall it was a great showing.  We finished tied for 11th overall.  Not bad at all. This was a great contest situated in Annapolis Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay.  Don Chomas was the man there.  He ran a great contest.

Once again.  Here is a pic of our camp.  Nothing fancy, just enough to be comfortable and get all of the categories out.

The Team

This time around the team consisted of my Father-in-law Bill, my brother-in-law Billy and myself.  Our little helper was my son Liam.

He loves bbq, even without teeth.  His shirt says it all.  Above is Liam and my wife Dana!  They are my loyal supporters.

Results

Chicken

We ended up 11th out of 41 teams in chicken.  We were just 6 tenths of a point out of the running for a top ten call.  It was a great showing.  When we turned it in, we thought it was a good showing but not a great one.  As it turns out we were right. The scores were good, 161.5 out of a possible 180.  We were really pleased with the outcome and will continue to cook chicken in the same manner.

Ribs

This may have been out best category during our first competition in Salisbury, it was not so good for us this go around.  We ended up 23rd out of 41 teams.  Being in the bottom half sucks.  This is definitely something that we have to work on to be more consistent.  Not sure what to do, but we will have to figure it out.

Pork

This was the best category for us.  We ended up 7th out of 41 teams.  We got called, went up on stage and got our 7th place ribbon.  Although it was only a ribbon, it was our first call ever.  It was super exciting.  Check out the photo below.  We were super pumped.  I couldn’t believe it.  This was our worst category in out first competition and it turned out to be our best here.  We were blown away.

Brisket

Our downfall and the reason we were 11th overall and not in the top 10 was our brisket.  With a sweet 25th out of 41 teams we have proven once again that we need to work on our brisket.  To be honest our flat was super thin and we had to pull it super early.  However, I think it was perfect.  Our downfall was burnt ends.  I had a gut feeling that we should have left out the burnt ends, and it probably would have saved us from this horrible finish.  Next time I will go with my gut.  Who knows, maybe we could get a top 10 call.

Overall

Overall we did great.  Tied for 11th overall is a great result.  Granted we would love a top ten finish, but we are moving up with every contest.  Can’t wait for the next one. I want to thank my Father-in-law (Bill) and my Brother-in-law (Billy) for coming out and sacrificing their weekend for the team.

Over the past month I had some ups and downs.  I had a pipe leak in my house and my first floor had to be gutted.  Hence, no new recipes lately.  However, I also competed in my first barbecue competition.  39th out of 113.  Not too shabby.  During that contest I was interviewed by  HotSauceWeekly.com.  Brian and Marilyn from Hot Sauce Weekly stopped by the Rex’s Red Hot BBQ tent at Pork in the Park and did a short interview with me regarding my first contest. Just a warning, it was right after turn-ins, so I was a little exhausted and a little funny. I had a great time talking with Brian and Marilyn.

Check out the interview here.

Make sure to check out Brian and Marilyn’s other website HotSauceDaily.com for hot sauce and bbq reviews, tips and recipes.

This was the first contest that Rex’s Red Hot BBQ has ever competed in.  It was a great time. Sandy and the crew over at Pork in the Park throw a great contest.  This was no little contest either.  There were 113 different teams competing.  I could have chosen an easier contest for the first one, but I wanted to go big or go home.

Here was our little camp.  It does not require that much stuff to bbq.  We had the smoker, a tent, a cooler, a couple tables, and some zero gravity chairs (to get some sleep).

We had a great time.  We were surrounded by awesome teams.  To our left was U Needa BBQ (DJ and Greg doing it up), behind us was Philly Underhogs (Alex, Top ten Chicken) and to the right was Huck’s Huck (Huck and Huck Jr.).  It was a great contest.

Results

Chicken

We ended up 28th out of 113 teams in chicken.  Not too bad for our first go around.  We were really happy with the results.  However, the score sheet was a little weird.  We had 5 judges that gave us all 8′s and 9′s and we had one judge that gave us 5′s and 6′s.  A little weird.  To rub some salt in the wounds, the judge wrote a comment card saying the chicken was raw.  I am calling BS on that one.  It cooked for 2-3 hours.  Plus, it is hard to believe that 5 out 6 judges thought the chicken was amazing even though it was raw.  BS.  I am going to go with that judge had no idea what was going on and prefers his/her chicken like leather.

Ribs

This was our best category.  We ended up 25th out of 113 teams.  We had great presentation and flavor.  A few of the judges did not like the texture, but we did get two 9′s for texture.  This one was a wash.  There were two judges that gave us 9′s, two gave us 8′s and two gave us 7′s.  Not sure what to do to improve this one.  We got some great scores and it is hard to see where we needed improvement.

Pork

By far this was our worst category.  We ended up 77th out of 113 teams.  Not at the bottom, but pretty close.  Our major problem here was that we over-cooked the meat.  I tried a new presentation that was a hit, but our flavor and texture scores were horrible. We did our best to try to mask the over-cooked meat, but it did not work.  Next time we need to pull the pork from the smoker earlier.

Brisket

We thought we did awesome in brisket.  The pull was nice, the burnt ends were fabulous and the presentation was spot on.  However, there were some amazing cooks out there.  We ended up 45th out of 113 teams.  Still in the top half.  The scores were good all around.  The problem was that we did not receive great scores.  The major problem here is that I think we cooked the brisket a little past perfect and it started to toughen up.  When we pulled it from the smoker it was perfect. However, after resting, cutting, and boxing, I think it got a tad bit tough.  Sucks, but we still did awesome!  Hell we beat some amazing teams.

Overall

Overall we ended up 39th out of 113 teams.  That is awesome for our first cook ever.  I want to thank my Dad (Don) and my Brother-in-law (Billy) for coming out and sacrificing their weekend for the team.  We can’t wait to cook again.  Our next contest is the barBAYq in Annapolis, MD (May 4-5).  Should be a fun contest.  Hopefully we can take some of what we learned during Pork in the Park and make our next contest a winner.

I am a huge fan of caramel.  I can not get enough of it.  So I decided to create a caramel pecan cookie.  I modified a standard cookie recipe to include dark brown sugar.  The added molasses in the dark brown sugar enhanced the caramel and pecan flavor.  These were some of most delicious cookies that I have ever made.

Caramel Pecan Cookies

I could not find caramel bits so I bought kraft caramels and cut them into tiny cubes.  Then I dusted them in a tsp of flour to keep them from sticking together.  This also allowed them to be even distributed throughout the dough.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the butter, sugar, dark brown sugar and vanilla extract into a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer.  Mix on medium until the mixture the is light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time.  Make sure to fully incorporate each egg into the mixture before adding the next one.

Gradually add the flour, salt and baking soda to the mixture.

Beat until combined.

Stir in the caramel pieces and the crushed pecans.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat and then place 1 tablespoon sized portions onto the baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

When golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes.  If you have a wire rack, remove the cookies to the rack to fully cool.  If you do not have a wire rack allow the cookies to fully cool on the cookie sheet.

These were delicious and did not last long in the house. These are a must make cookie.

In the bbq world everyone talks about fatty’s.  The Gist of it is a smoked log of sausage.  I did a quick take on it by stuffing the log of sausage with my favorite breakfast items.  It is hash browns, cheese and hard boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and bacon.

The Breakfast Fatty

To start, placed a pound of breakfast sausage into a 1 gallon zip top bag and rolled it out flat.  The plastic bag makes the rolling easy. Plus it gives you a final size to shoot for.  Then you can cut the top off and you have a perfectly flat sausage patty.

Then top the sausage with hash browns and hot sauce.

Next add a few hard boiled eggs.  A quick lesson on how to make perfect hard boiled eggs can be found here.

Next season with salt and pepper.  I used salt and Obie Cues Double Strength garlic pepper.  This seasoning is awesome.  You should try it.

I then topped it with habanero cheese.  If you can’t find this, standard cheddar works great.

Then I rolled the sausage up and formed a giant meat burrito.  Awesome, I know.

Next weave 1 lb of bacon into a tight weave.  This step took me a bit.  I would also weave this on top of foil or parchment to help you roll it.  I did not do this and it was quite hard to do.  To make the weave lay out eight strips vertically on a piece of foil or plastic wrap. Then fold over every other vertical piece of bacon in the middle then place a strip horizontally across the vertical bacon. Then unfold the strips. Next fold back the alternate row of bacon that you previously left flat. Then place the next piece of bacon across the vertical strips directly adjacent to the first horizontal piece. Repeat two more times.  Once you finish the first half, repeat with the other half.

Top the bacon weave with a drizzle of maple syrup and then roll it around the meat burrito.

Setup your grill or smoker for offset cooking.  I cooked mine at 275 degree Fahrenheit.

Place on the grill and cook indirect for 1.5 – 2 hours or until the internal temperature is 165.

Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.

Slice and enjoy!

How awesome are these slices.

This was the ultimate breakfast!

With Easter upon us, I wanted to discuss a basic technique that was pertinent to the time of year.  So I decided that the perfect technique would be hard boiled eggs.  They can be used to make colored eggs or they are the perfect addition to some homemade potato salad.    The technique is easy and fool proof.  It is a set it and forget it type of technique.

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

The first step is to choose large eggs.  This technique is for large eggs, but you can adapt it for smaller or larger eggs.

Next place the eggs in a single layer into a large pot and cover the eggs with cold water.  Make sure that the eggs are just covered with water.

Place the eggs on the stove and bring to a rolling boil.

Once the water is boiling, turn off the burner and set the timer for 18 minutes.

When the timer goes off submerge the eggs into an ice bath and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Remove the eggs from the ice bath and peel.

That is my technique for a perfect hard boiled egg.

A quick tip to peeling the egg is to peel it under running water.  The water will get between the shell and the egg and help you peel it easier.

The other day I picked up a new Weber Charcoal Grill.  I love it because it is the perfect size for my family.  Plus it allows me to smoke ribs, brisket and pork butt without having to pull out my giant Lang BBQ.  To test it out I picked up a rack of BBQ beef back ribs.  They were on sale at the local store and figured I would give them a go.

BBQ Beef Back Ribs

I first set up the Weber for offset cooking.  To do this I placed two firebricks lengthwise down the middle of the grill.  Then I put about 5 lbs of unlit charcoal on one side.  Then I lit 7 brickets and placed them on one end of the pile.  This is a slow minion method that will produce just enough heat for about 4-5 hours.  I then placed a few wood chunks throughout the pile.  I wanted the offset side to read at about 275 degrees.

Next I trimmed the excess fat off the ribs. It is noted that the beef ribs in the picture were not as meaty as I would have preferred, but that is why they were on sale for less than $5.

Then I rubbed them with my beef rub (recipe below).

Once the grill was steady at 275, I placed the ribs on.

You can adjust the the grate temperature on the offset side using the vents on the grill. Close the vents to reduce the temperature and open the vents to increase the temperature.  The Weber set up this way kept the temperature for about 3 hours with no adjustments.

After 5 hours the ribs were perfect.

I sauced them with my favorite bbq sauce and then served them.

The ribs are huge compared to a standard pork back rib.

As you can see the meat on Beef ribs is more in between the bones instead of on the bones like traditional pork back ribs.

I recently saw a commercial with what looked like Smore Brownies in it.  Not sure if it was but it gave me the idea to tackle this recipe.  I used a graham cracker crust, a chocolate brownie filling and topped it all off with some marshmallow fluff.  It was delicious.

Smore Brownies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place a piece of aluminum foil in a 9×9 pan.  Lightly grease the foil with cooking spray.

Creating the Crust:

In a medium bowl combine the 1 1/4 cup of cracker crumbs with 1/3 cup of butter, 3 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Press the mixture into the foil lined and greased 9×9 pan.

Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or just until the cracker crust sets.

The Brownie

You can use your favorite brownie recipe, a boxed recipe or my favorite brownie recipe.

Mix your brownies and have them ready for when the crust comes out of the oven.

Pour the brownie batter into the pan over the cracker crust.

Bake the brownies according to your brownie recipe.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

The Marshmallow Topping

I failed to allow my brownies to cool completely so when I added the marshmallow fluff to my brownies it immediately started to melt.  Oops.  At least you get to learn from my mistakes.  Let your brownies cool.

Spread the marshmallow fluff over the cooled brownies.

Then using a butane torch gently brown the marshmallow. If you do not have a torch, don’t worry.  Set your oven to broil and broil the marshmallow until browned.  Watch out.  Fluff is extremely flammable.

Lift the brownies from the pan using the aluminum foil.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

These brownies were delicious!  They totally had the campfire feel.

I love the fluff.  A tip is to make sure to use fluff.  It will not get as hard as marshmallows once browned.  If you use marshmallows, they tend to immediately get hard and make the brownies inedible after an hour or so.