Smoked Chicken Thighs - Traeger Style

Ingredients:

• Chicken Thighs
• A Binder for the Rub: Zesty Italian Salad Dressing.
• Your favorite Rub

Method: 

Trim the thighs, I like to remove as much loose fat as possible without taking the skin with it.

Slather the thighs with a binder for the rub. I always use Zesty Italian Salad Dressing.

Apply the rub liberally, I recently found a rub with no salt at Costco.  It has been good enough to reuse often.

Start the Traeger on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Once the fire is established, move the temperature to 250 degrees F.

Place the thighs directly on the grill and cook until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F. About 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove, cover with foil.

Raise the Traeger temperature to 450 degrees F then place the thighs back on the grill each side for 4 to 5 minutes to get the skin crisp.

Remove, cover tightly, let rest for 5 - 10 minutes, the enjoy.

Eggs on Avocado and Toast

We came across this simple and easy recipe on Pinterest.  Hungry and trying to think of something "new and different," we found this easy to put together little snack on Pinterest. It made a perfect brunch.

Simply do this:  toast a piece of multi-grain bread, spread a bit of avocado mixed with just enough cottage cheese to give a smooth consistency, a few drops of lemon juice, layer one over-easy, sunny side up egg atop, sprinkle with crushed pepper and a bit of sea salt.

Easter Ham with Honey, Mustard and Clove: 2015

Whether you believe in Jesus, or the Easter Bunny, Easter brings both its promise of eternal life and/or - more eggs in your basket. Usually celebrated, like holidays, birthdays, Saint Paddy's Day, and others, with food, for this occasion most of us enjoy - a big chunk of pig thigh - we call, ham.

We love to get the family all together for Easter.  The kids are all just a bit past hunting for eggs, but we enjoy the meal and all the craziness that goes on while they are here. In years past, the ham has tended toward dryness, and often too salty, so this year we went for something a little different...un-sliced, shank ham.

Un-sliced ham offers up thick pieces of juicy, tender meat. That is because slicing meat adds surface area through which moisture escapes during the baking and even while sitting on the platter. Some people slice off bite-sized pieces of meat on the plate because they would rather conserve the moisture - for taste.

We didn't do anything to reduce saltiness of this ham, other than use a glaze that called for none, as most glazes do. Not sure why, but no one seemed to notice the usual saltiness in this ham.

It was as good as the picture indicates, maybe better.


Ingredients-

1 10 lb ham, shank
1 C honey
1/4 C Whole Grain Mustard (Dijon works)
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp crushed cloves
4 tbl unsalted buter

Method-

Prepare the glaze: Place the butter in the pan at med-low heat.  Once melted add the other ingredients and stir util well blended, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and let cool, preferable to a honey-like consistency.

Take ham out of refrigerator half and hour before putting it into the oven.  Set the oven temperature at 350 degrees F.  Trim the fat leaving at least 1/4 inch.  Layer the pan with a couple of layers of aluminum foil (nice when it comes clean-up time).  Just before putting the ham in the oven, cover the top with parchment paper, then wrap the entire ham tightly with aluminum foil.

Cook for 55 - 60 minutes.

Take the ham out of the oven and reset the temperature to 425 degrees.   Remove the foil and the parchment paper.  Score the meat with slices no deeper than 1/4 inch. Brush about a third of the glaze over the top and down the sides; then back in the oven.  Every 20 - 25 minutes, brush more glaze, do this until all the glaze is used and the ham is a dark golden color with a brown crust. Remove from the oven, cover in foil and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Collect the pan juices, remove the fat that rises to the top, and place on table as a aus jus.

Enjoy

The Croque Mademoiselle

I came across the Croque Monsieur and Croque Mademoiselle in the book, "Paris Cafe: The Select Crowd," by Noel Riley Fitch and one of my online friends, Rick Tulka (a Mad Magazine cartoonist).

Both Croques are basically ham and cheese sandwiches, but what sets the Croque Mademoiselle off is that it has an egg on top. Both are lathered in a sauce of some type: bechamel, Hollandaise, etc.

My version of the Croque Mademoiselle is a combination of recipes I have found, including the one in the book mentioned above, and what I like in a breakfast plate - with two eggs, not one, on top.

The Croque Monsier was first mentioned in literature with volume 2 of Proust's, "In Search of Lost Time," 1918.

Ingredients:

Two eggs, poached
2 or 3 slices of ham
1 piece of bread, white will do, toasted or roasted, and buttered
1 slice of gruyere, swiss, or asiago (I used asiago here and grated it over the top)
bechamel sauce, or in my case, 1/2 pkt of Hollaindaise mix from the grocer's

Procedure:

Prepare the sauce
Toast the bread
Poach the eggs
Heat the ham
Toast on bottom, then layered with the ham, then the eggs, the sauce, then the grated cheese.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy

"Pan Seared Steak with Brandy Sauce"

Pan-seared Steak with Brandy Sauce,
Asparagus and noodles with Pesto

Watching some "ol-boys" in Montana, with Anthony Bourdain, working out of a blackened, cast-iron skillet, this idea for a sauce-lathered steak came to mind. After some thinking and some internet searching here's what we came up with:

Ingredients:

1 lb steak: round, flank, skirt, or your favorite choice
1/2 C finely chopped shallots, or scallions
4 tbl Butter
1/4 C Red Wine
1/3 C Beef Broth
4 tsp Worcestershire
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Tomato paste
4 tbl Brandy
1/2 C Cream of Mushroom

Procedure:

At high-heat, place 2-3 tbl butter in the pan. Swirl to contact all sides of the pan. Add 1 lb of bite sized chunks of the steak. Brown on all sides, reduce heat to medium-low, add another tbl butter, if needed, and the red wine. Continue at this heat until the red wine evaporates and the liquid in the pan thickens. Remove the meat, and cover.

Saute shallots/scallions for 2 mins on medium-high. Add brandy for deglazing the pan, increase temperature to high-heat. Once the brandy has evaporated, add the broth mixture (broth, Worcestershire, Dijon, tomato paste). Bring to a boil. Cook until thickened.  Add the cream of mushrom, stir until the liquid is well mixed.

Enjoy.

 

"Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs"

As a young man I could take, or leave, chicken of just about any kind: grilled, barbecued, or baked.

On a 45-day guided tour of Europe in 1970, I had fried chicken 23 times. It was years before I could eat it again, and enjoy it.

However, as I accumulate more and more years, I am finding I like chicken better and better - fixed just about any way.

This is a super easy recipe from "Simply Recipes" by Elise Bauer, which we found today, and put it together this evening for a very flavorful dinner.


Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1/4 C spicy mustard
1/4 C honey
1tbl olive oil
3 or 4 springs fresh rosemary
salt
freshly ground pepper

Method:

Set the oven for 350 degrees.

Mix the mustard, honey, olive oil and salt in a small mixing bowl. Further add ingredients to taste.  I added a bit more mustard and salt.

Place the thighs in a roasting pan and pour the mixture over the top.  Add the rosemary springs between the pieces and bake for 45 mins to an hour. We removed ours at 45 mins, but it could have gone just a few more minutes for added browning and crisping of the skin. Done when the juices run clear, or at 170 degrees.