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Game Time Snacks

About the Guest Blogger: Taylor Bradish
This week's guest blogger is a man of many talents... mover, shaker, butcher, baker, lover, fighter, wild bull rider. He also really knows his way around the grill.

So, Super Bowl time is here... yeah, can’t say that I’m a real big football fan, but there is just something about championship games that I like... it's probably all that “football food” I eat in just four short quarters. There are three menu musts when it comes to THE BIG GAME: An overstocked beer fridge, for starters. Then the ever vital, nachos, and, most importantly, chicken wings.
When it comes to wings, I prefer to cook a nice, large batch. No messing around- there needs to be enough wings to make it through the entire game.

I start my wings at 350° in the oven for 20 minutes, then finish them off on an Outdoor Gourmet Alder Grilling Plank for perfect texture and a smokey finish. If you've never planked chicken wings, it's a must do. Best. Wings. Ever.

I plank one small batch at a time- the first batch is hot and ready for kick off and then I skip the half time show in favor of having a fresh batch of wings in time for the third quarter.

When it comes to wing flavors, I like variety. New and interesting flavors are fun, but the classic mixture of straight-up Franks Wing Sauce and Litehouse Dressing’s Bleu Cheese is always the best.

So, after your wings' preliminary oven time is up, on to the grill they go! Throw your classically-marinated game time treat on a smoking alder plank for 10 minutes and enjoy the winter sunshine while you wait.


Once they are good and done, garnish with carrot, celery sticks, and extra bleu cheese dressing and quickly grab your favorite IPA. Maybe the second batch will be ready in time to enjoy the ever-entertaining halftime wardrobe malfunctions.

If the classic oh-so-orange wing sauce doesn’t do it for you, well, you probably aren’t much of a football fan. But for you Puppy Bowl fans, Spicy Peanut Glaze may be more your style? Just a guess.




You could buy your favorite peanut sauce and baste away, but that takes all the fun out of it.  Try this homemade peanut sauce (great in any stir-fry or as a spring roll dipping sauce!) …



Ingredients:

1 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

red pepper flakes (to taste, but don’t we a wimp!)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

¼ chopper peanuts

Juice from ½ lime

1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water

Cilantro and pickled ginger for garnish

First- add the water, sugar, lime juice, and crushed red pepper flakes to a saucepan on medium heat.
Once the sugar has dissolved, add the peanut butter and chopped peanuts.

Then- simmer for 5 minutes then add the mixture of cornstarch and water. Depending on how you like your sauce, add more corn starch for thicker sauce. Continue to simmer for 5 more minutes stirring occasionally, then use to smother wings while on smoking alder plank.

Finishing Touch- sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with cilantro and pickled ginger.

Enjoy the game! Or the commercials!

Knox Spice Yummy Chicken Rub

"Tastes like chicken" is rarely a compliment. Chicken, while so easy to make unexceptional, is so hard to make memorable. So, how to make chicken yummy?
Game Hen on RED OAK GRILLING PLANK

Outdoor Gourmet's three-fold path to poultry paradise...

1. Season well - choose seasoning with fresh, high-quality ingredients.
2. Be a cut above - pick the right pieces. I prefer thighs, wings or whole-roasted game hens.
3. Plank it - duh!  Planking infuses food with luscious flavor, while locking in the moisture. Food stays juicy and flavorful without packing on additional calories.


Chicken Thighs on RED OAK GRILLING PLANK

Putting these principles to use, I chose chicken thighs and a whole game hen. I seasoned it up right with Knox's Spice Company's Yummy Chicken Rub, which is made with fresh herbs, citrus, and coarse salt. The fresh, savory smell hits you the moment you crack that bottle.

Check out more of Knox Spice Comapany's
Dry Rubs, Spice Mixes, and Sauces: www.knoxspice.com

For the plank, I tried something new- Red Oak.  When put to the heat, Red Oak smoke is full-bodied, smooth and buttery-rich.

First: Soak Outdoor Gourmet Red Oak Plank in water for at least 2 hours.

Then: Lightly rub chicken with olive oil. This will prevent the skin from sticking to the plank during the cooking process.  Rub Chicken with Knox's Yummy Chicken Rub.

Next: Preheat grill to 500°, then place plank with chicken on grill and close the lid.  Allow to smoke and smolder at 500° for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 375°.  Remove from grill when internal temperature reaches 160° and cover with foil.

Finally: Allow your chicken to rest for 10 minutes, remove foil and enjoy.

"Whoa! That's some seriously good chicken!"  was the actual reaction of my test audience.  Way better than "tastes like chicken."
Yummy Chicken!


Welcome to your Weekend! -KB

Planksgiving 2011

Planksgiving is easily my favorite holiday. It’s everything a good holiday should be- gathering together with good friends and family as the weather begins to get chilly to over-eat in lumpy, ill-fitting sweaters.   Planksgiving is, in a word, festive.

For those of you not familiar with this holiday, Planksgiving® is an annual celebration created by us here at Outdoor Gourmet to get the holiday eating regimen off to an early start. We host this event the weekend before Thanksgiving. And this year, we planked a Turducken! And ribs!

Turducken Defined: It's a Turkey! It's a Duck! It's a Chicken! All rolled, or rather stuffed, into one.

 




Making of a Turducken... a photo essay.

The night before, trying out the new turkey injector.

The bird(s) just added to the planks.

Two turkey-sized planks, just to add to the excess.

Getting golden!

Ready to serve.

Oh, and we built a beergloo for our extensive library of newly-released winter seasonal brews.

The Beergloo

Happy Planksgiving, one and all.

Cedar Planked Lemon Herb Chicken

Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Planked Lemon Herb Chicken

Sometimes I don’t want to leave the house- like no interest whatsoever in going anywhere, including the grocery store. Zip, zilch, zero motivation to walk beyond the property line. But I still have to eat. Enter this week’s rousing game of “I’m going to plank whatever I have around the house.”   This is a variation on my “Good or Weird” game.

This round was made easy by some nice, sturdy staples in the fridge- chicken breasts / thighs, garlic, basil, and a lemon.  This is going to painless and delicious.  And best of all… no leaving the premises.  So here’s what do.





Ingredients
-1 Outdoor Gourmet Grilling Plank, soaked for an hour or more.
- 2-3 Chicken breasts
- 4 tbs. fresh basil, chopped
- Lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 tbs. garlic, minced
- Dash of olive oil
- Salt + Pepper to taste

Directions

First: Soak your Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Plank for an hour or more.
Marinade chicken in the all other ingredients for an hour or more.

Then: Preheat the grill to medium-high (350- 400°).

Next:  Place chicken on the planks and add to grill. The planks will smoke,  smolder, crackle and pop! That's good. That's where the flavor comes  from.  Grill chicken for 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

Finally: Carefully remove from the grill. Serve with lemon. And enjoy at home. No need to go anywhere.

Welcome to your weekend. -KB

 

Stuffed Cornish Game Hens

What is it about miniature things that makes 'em so much cuter than regularly sized items? Puppies, babies, smart cars- even shoes increase their cuteness quotient in a size 5 as compared to the size 9.  And don't even get me started on mini cupcakes. So, this  little number is your recipe for the week:

Cedar Planked Cornish Game Hens stuffed with Shallots and Red Pearl Onions

But before we get to the ingredients and how to's, let's talk petite poultry.  The Cornish Game Hen- what makes them different from your everyday, ho-hum chicken? Their size, and that's about it. These tiny fowl (sometimes called poussin or Rock Cornish) are actually a domestic bird, despite the misleading "Game" Hen title and can be bought at pretty much any grocery store. And though they're labeled "hen," both the male and female are used for their meat.

Ingredients

2 Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Planks (soaked for two or more hours)
2 Cornish Game Hens
1 1/2 cups of kosher salt (for brine)
3 Shallots, (peeled)
8 whole cloves of garlic, (peeled)
2 cups of red pearl onions, (peeled)
Your choice of fresh herbs- (I used thyme and sage)
2 Tablespoons of butter

First: Dissolve salt in 2 cups of warm water, place game hens in pot, bowl, or whatever, then fill the rest of your brining receptacle with cold water. Brine thawed game hens in your refrigerator over night.  Now would also be a good time to get your Outdoor Gourmet Cedar or Hardwood Grilling Planks soaking.

Next: Remove game hens from brine, pat dry.  Stuff birds with shallots, garlic, pearl onions, and herbs, then rub the game hens skin with butter, salt and pepper.

Then: Place stuffed game hens on wet cedar grilling plank, place grilling plank on hot grill. Let the grilling plank begin to smoke and smolder (approximately 10 minutes), reduce heat to low, or move grilling plank to indirect heat area for slight smolder. Allow to cook for 40-50 minutes. Check regularly to prevent cooking too quickly. Use meat thermometer (internal temp. 1700 F.) to test for doneness in the thickest part of the chicken.

Finally: Carefully remove your birds from the grilling planks, cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Welcome to your weekend. -KB

Ain't No Thang but a Cedar Planked Chicken Wing

There is nothing more American than hot wings and Football.

Shortly after Buffalo grew wings, the people of upstate New York deep fat fried 'em, smothered them with their signature day-glo hot sauce, and served 'em up with celery and Bleu Cheese dressing to cool the fire.

This was essentially a regional specialty until the Buffalo Bill's were in Superbowl XXV, XXVI, XXVII, and XXVIII. Yes, they lost all four years
consecutively, but the love of wings lives on and we'll be adding an extra dash of Americana (and subtracting more than a dash of saturated fat) by using Outdoor Gourmet's USA harvested and produced Cedar and Maple Grilling Planks to make this week's recipe.
Cedar Planked Hot Wings
AND
Maple Planked Thai Peanut Wings with Caramelized Ginger

Ingredients

-Outdoor Gourmet Cedar and Maple Planks, soaked for 2 or more hours

-Fresh or frozen chicken wings and drummettes

-Your sauce of choice- I used classic store-bought hot wing sauce. (I didn't look at the ingredients- don't want to know where that color comes from) and a Thai peanut sauce.

-Celery and Carrots to munch with the wings

Directions

First- Marinate wings and drumettes in desired sauce (BBQ, teriyaki, hot wing sauce) for at 2-6 hours. Soak Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Planks or Hardwood Grilling Planks at least 2 hours, preferably more.

Next- Preheat oven to 350°, then bake wings for 25-30 minutes, flipping once if needed. Preheat grill to medium heat, then place planks and wings on grill after baking is completed.

Then- Leave on grill for 10-12 mins. The planks will smolder, smoke, and possibly even catch on fire! It’s OK- don’t panic! That’s what wood does when you put in near an open flame. Just have some water on hand to douse the flame with.

Finally- Remove wings from grill serve the classic hot wings with Homemade Bleu Cheese dressing and celery. 





Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing

2 Tablespoons Buttermilk
¾ Greek Yogurt
6 oz. Roquefort Bleu Cheese
Fresh Ground Pepper and Sea Salt to taste

Directions- Take all the ingredients and mash ‘em together!

Thai Peanut Wing Garnish

Carrots
Celery
Sesame Seeds
Cilantro
Avocado Oil (or some other high-smoking point oil)
Agave Syrup  (honey or brown sugar will work great too)

Directions

-Heat avocado oil and add thinly sliced ginger. Once the ginger starts to brown, drizzle agave in pan then remove from heat.
-Sprinkle  Thai peanut wings with sesame seeds and garnish carrot curls, cilantro, caramelized ginger, fresh ginger (Julienned). 



Welcome to your Super Bowl weekend. -KB

Planksgiving©

Today was the first annual planked Thanksgiving Feast and as most Northwesterners will tell you, the holidays are often paired with a lot of that white, sometimes-fluffy, cold stuff. It's okay. We're used to it. Grilling in the snow doesn't scare me one bit- the 20 lb. bird on the other hand... scary, but do-able.

snowgrill

This morning, I drained off the aforementioned brine water, patted my bird dry, stuffed it with as many Walla Walla sweet onions and fresh herbs as it's cavity would hold, then got to work with the herb butter.

This wasn't just any herb butter... this was hand-rolled Amish butter, with fresh thyme, sage, an entire bulb of organic brown tempest garlic, celtic sea salt, and rosemary from my Momma's garden. I'd have been happy with just a smear of this and hunk of bread, but I had 14 hungry people headed my way, so the herb butter was carefully placed under the turkey's skin and a light coating was rubbed on the outside. Now the bird was ready.

My turkey spent the first several hours of cooking time in the oven at 350°, then was transferred out to the grill on a burly one-inch-thick cedar turkey plank, made especially for this occasion.

turkey1

Once added to the Outdoor Gourmet cedar grilling plank, the bird took on a great redish-brown color from the mix of cedar plank and hickory smoking chunks.

 

turkey2

The ribs hit the gas grill around the same time as the turkey, but they were on a rough-cut piece of hickory and was served with ginger orange zest cranberry sauce.

sageribs

cranberrysauce

We pulled the bird when the thermometer read an internal temp of 140° and foiled for a resting period of 15-ish minutes. The ribs- honestly, I was running around mashing potatoes and filling ramekins with Amish butter, so they just got pulled when they looked done.

Along with our meaty entrées, we served brussel sprouts with shallots in white wine sauce, fruit and nut stuffing, chilled barley and broccoli salad with feta, grilled sweet potatoes, and of course, mashed potatoes with brine dripping gravy.

potatoes

Friends brought homemade bread, pies, babies, wine, and dogs along for the feast, which was held in the wood stove-heated garage with a couch, four chairs, and five coolers as seating.

baby

When it came time for pie and fresh whipped nutmeg cream, we were out of plates, so Styrofoam cups made for a classy, yet ergonomic vessel.

emptycup

Dishes- done. Turkey carcass- simmering into stock. Now I need to go sleep off this food and wine induced comma. Happy Planksgiving to one and all!!

Welcome to your Planksgiving weekend! -KB

Planksgiving© Prep

It's simple- everyone says so, but at the sweet, young age of twenty-three, this is my first time. I can't help but be nervous- I'm preparing my first traditional Thanksgiving dinner, except it will be going down the Friday before the big day.

I unwrapped my turkey, looked it square in the gizzard and said "I'm not scared of you!" It's important to establish dominance right off the bat. As Cesar Millan would say- "be the pack leader." Or in this case, the flock leader? Well, whatevs, I just need to plank this bird for the first annual Planksgiving© (copyright symbol- this mean, y'all F&F-ers!) which is tomorrow and we are already having some logistical problems.

The bird has been thawing for three days and it's still pretty frozen and this thing needs to hit the heat in t-minus 20 hours. A quick trip to wikihow's HOW TO DEFROST A TURKEY taught me...

As a rule of thumb, you'll need 24 hours for every five pounds of bird, so a 20-pound bird will require four full days of defrosting time. As I am 24 hours behind the curve, I am going with an alternative. Overnight brining.

Here's how I made my brine...

I grabbed whatever homemade stock I had in the freezer, some coarse sea salt, a couple bay leaves, fresh thyme, cracked black pepper, and a PBR for good measure. Cooked it all together and then plopped the bird in the largest pot I could find- it was a tight fit. Then I covered the bird and brine with cold water and put the whole unit back in the fridge.

salt

Ok, turkey is brining, now for the ribs. We're going to go for a traditional Thanksgiving dry-rubbed short rib, just like the pilgrims shared with Squanto that first Thanksgiving.

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 1/4 cup paprika

* 1 tablespoon black pepper

* 1 tablespoon Johnny's Sea Salt

* 1 tablespoon chili powder

* 1 tablespoon garlic powder

* 1 tablespoon onion powder

* 1 teaspoon cayenne

Combine all these in a bowl, mix 'em together, then rub your ribs. Wrap your ribs in foil and they take a spot in the quickly dwindling refrigeration space as well.

Tomorrow, we will be planking these two main attractions, but for an extra smoky kick, the gas/charcoal will be forgone in favor of Hickory smoking chunks.

chunks

Now I'm off to chop some veggies and make some pies, but the bird and ribs are prepped for the big day. Stay tuned for more Planksgiving fare.

Welcome to your Planksgiving weekend! -KB

The Hot Wing Massacre and Redemption

Everybody has one thing they are really good at- some are talented artists, or singers, or dancers, while others tell funny jokes. I am not very artistic and my singing voice leaves something to be desired. My jokes leave even more to be desired, but man, I can make some good chicken wings! It's practically a savant talent, but I cannot take all of the credit for my phenomenal wing-making skills. My momma, who cooks just about everything very well, makes some darn good teriyaki wings herself, and all three of my sister have been known to crank out some wings themselves. So, it must be genetic, but enough of tooting my own horn...

This past weekend, I had a group of ten I was grilling for and I had a magnum of drumsticks marinating in Honey Ridge Farms mild Honey BBQ Sauce. The grill was pre-heated, the cedar planks were soaked, so we slapped the chicken on the planks and got it going on the Weber charcoal kettle, while the corn and brats occupied the gas grill.

The trick to any backyard BBQ is timing- getting all the grub on the grill at the right time, so everything is ready at the same time. And this weekend, my timing was off, way off. The brats and corn came off the flame, but the charcoal grill was taking a looooong time and we had a group on hungry people. So my fellow pit master and I had the bright idea to move the grate of the charcoal grill to the gas grill to give the oh-so-close-to-being-done chicken that last little kick of heat and get these people their dinner.

Disaster struck and our shoddy-at-best method of moving the grate failed. Ten-hungry-BBQ-goers worth of chicken hit the ground with a thud and a clang, getting a healthy coating of "floor spice." But not to worry, Trucker, the trusty labra-mut, who lives by the mantra "dirt don't hurt" promptly swooped the situation and got straight to clean up.So... brats and corn it was, for everyone but Trucker, that is.Not one to except defeat (especially since I hadn't been all that modest about my wing chefin' abilities and failed to produce anything but dirt chicken), I tried, tried again the next night. This time I used two different marinades: Honey Ridge Farm's BBQ Sauce and a generic hot wing sauce, which I added some honey to. Any marinade with honey as a main ingredients will really aid the texture and appearance of the wings.

Below I have listed my basic method of prepping these wings. Note: The time in the oven will be longer the larger pieces of chicken you use. i.e. if you decided to use full-size drumsticks apposed to wings and drumettes. labramutt

Disaster struck and our shoddy-at-best method of moving the grate failed. Ten-hungry-BBQ-goers worth of chicken hit the ground with a thud and a clang, getting a healthy coating of "floor spice." But not to worry, Trucker, the trusty labra-mut, who lives by the mantra "dirt don't hurt" promptly swooped the situation and got straight to clean up.

So... brats and corn it was, for everyone but Trucker, that is.

Not one to except defeat (especially since I hadn't been all that modest about my wing chefin' abilities and failed to produce anything but dirt chicken), I tried, tried again the next night. This time I used two different marinades: Honey Ridge Farm's BBQ Sauce and a generic hot wing sauce, which I added some honey to. Any marinade with honey as a main ingredients will really aid the texture and appearance of the wings.

Below I have listed my basic method of prepping these wings. Note: The time in the oven will be longer the larger pieces of chicken you use. i.e. if you decided to use full-size drumsticks apposed to wings and drumettes.

Cedar Planked Hot Wings

· Marinate wings and drumettes in desired sauce (BBQ, teriyaki, hot wing sauce) for at 2-6 hours

· Soak Outdoor Gourmet Cedar or Hardwood Grilling Planks at least 2 hours, preferable more.

· Preheat oven to 350°, then bake wings for 25-30 mins.

· Preheat Grill to medium heat, then place planks and wings on grill after baking is completed.

· Leave on grill for 10-12 mins. The planks will smolder, smoke, and possibly even catch on fire! It’s OK- don’t panic! That’s what wood does when you put in near an open flame. Just have some water on hand to douse the flame with.

Remove wings from grill and enjoy with homemade Bleu Cheese dressing and celery.

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing

Take all the ingredients and mash ‘em together!

2 Tablespoons Buttermilk

¾ Brown Cow Greek Yogurt

6 oz. Roquefort Bleu Cheese

Fresh Ground Pepper and Sea Salt to taste

The second round of wings was thankfully a success! Everyone was fed enough and my good name was cleared, but there is still photo evidence of that one time I dumped roughly 12 lbs. of chicken on the ground due impatiences and bad engineering.

Moral of the story: Good things are worth waiting for and Jimmy-rigging the grill will just end in tears and a well fed dog.

Welcome to Recovering from your Weekend! -KB

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