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Last Fall, I felt like making an over the top hamburger so I took one of my favorite Steakhouse meals and made it a sandwich. Hamburger au Poivre.

I didn't write down exact ingredients, but if you want to make something like this you can see my thought process and copy it close enough.

The patties were 2/3 chuck roast and 1/3 short rib, cut up into chunks, ground together and formed into 1/2 lb patties. Each patty was liberally coated with coarse ground black pepper. Charcoal grill prepared for indirect heat, with 2 layers of coals on the hot side and no coals on the cool side.

The sauce came together while the coals and grill were heating. Melt 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Mince a shallot and cook it in the butter until it is soft. Add a few grinds of pepper to the cooked shallot. Next was a shot of cognac and an eyeballed amount of chicken stock. Probably 1/4 cup or so. Bring the sauce to a simmer and turn the heat to low. Add heavy cream until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Add some dijon mustard to taste and keep warm.

Thick burgers do better when cooked over indirect heat. I brought them to rare, 10 minutes on one side and 5 on the other then seared each side over the hot part of the grill to give a good crust on the peppercorns. Melt a piece if provolone on the patty.

Served on a brioche bun with a spread of dijon mustard, tomato, red onion, and topped with the cognac-cream sauce. Smashed yellow potatoes on the side.

90eXcDc.jpg
 
Last Fall, I felt like making an over the top hamburger so I took one of my favorite Steakhouse meals and made it a sandwich. Hamburger au Poivre.

I didn't write down exact ingredients, but if you want to make something like this you can see my thought process and copy it close enough.

The patties were 2/3 chuck roast and 1/3 short rib, cut up into chunks, ground together and formed into 1/2 lb patties. Each patty was liberally coated with coarse ground black pepper. Charcoal grill prepared for indirect heat, with 2 layers of coals on the hot side and no coals on the cool side.

The sauce came together while the coals and grill were heating. Melt 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Mince a shallot and cook it in the butter until it is soft. Add a few grinds of pepper to the cooked shallot. Next was a shot of cognac and an eyeballed amount of chicken stock. Probably 1/4 cup or so. Bring the sauce to a simmer and turn the heat to low. Add heavy cream until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Add some dijon mustard to taste and keep warm.

Thick burgers do better when cooked over indirect heat. I brought them to rare, 10 minutes on one side and 5 on the other then seared each side over the hot part of the grill to give a good crust on the peppercorns. Melt a piece if provolone on the patty.

Served on a brioche bun with a spread of dijon mustard, tomato, red onion, and topped with the cognac-cream sauce. Smashed yellow potatoes on the side.

View attachment 419651

Wow. That is gratuitous food porn.

I did save the leftover sauce because we are having burgers tomorrow.

EDIT: Yep, stuck making this with burgers in the future. It set in the fridge to the consistency of room temp butter, so we just spread it on the buns. It readily melted from the burger heat, and to my surprise didn’t separate as sauces often do.
 
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I love the idea of sherry in that sauce rather than the usual brandy or whiskey. Somehow I thought I read "sherry peppercorn butter", i.e. and compoumd butter with (duh) sherry and pepper. That also sounds darn good, and it gave me the idea that a compount butter with port and pepper sounds even better.

My personal favorite steak topper is as follows:

Cut an onion into half rings. Cook one or two strips of bacon; remove the strips but leave the fat. Meanwhile mix 1-1/2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce and 1-1/2 Tbsp red wine (or port would be good, while we're on the subject.) Sautée the onion until slightly browned, then set aside. Then cook the steak. Remove the steak to rest, and degaze the pan with the Worchestershire-wine mixture. Once the pan is cleaned, put the onion back while reducing the liquid, so where the pan has been deglazed, the onion is glazed.

You can top the steak with the bacon if you like, or just eat it; the bacon's job was done once the fat was rendered to grease the pan.
 
BBQ Sauce Braised Ribs

Got this recipe from the interwebs. Don't remember where, but it's pretty darn simple:

Take your favorite ribs or short ribs and place them in a pot. Pour two bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. When mostly done, put on the grill to finish off. Add smoke source, if desired.

I've talked to other folks who have boiled their ribs before, but not in BBQ sauce. This is the first time I've tried it that way and it's GOOD.
 
Low-Calorie, Low-Fat, Low-Carb Grilled Chicken

5 cups water
5 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c cider vinegar
2 Tbsp salt
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion minced very fine
1 Tbsp powdered mustard (or 2-3 Tbsp your favorite yellow/dijon/brown mustard)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper (opt)
1/4 cup or more of chili powder
Chicken. Bone-in thighs work best IMHO but whatever you like.
2-6 bottles of beer, your choice.

Mix sauce ingredients and bring to a boil; simmer for a few minutes, then allow to cool (faster: use 3 cups water, then add 3 cups ice cubes off the stove). Marinate chicken parts for at least 24 hours in fridge; 48 hours is better.

Gas grill: light one side and set to high, leave other side off. Charcoal: coals on one side, get 'em hot. Place chicken skin-side down over the hot side, give a couple minutes to heat, then move them to the "off" side before they burn. Every 15 min, pull the chicken off the grill, dunk in the marinade, return with the opposite side up. If it seems to be cooking too slowly, put the parts on the "hot" side for a bit. Takes about 2 hours to get it completely done; I usually end up finishing it off in the microwave.

The beer? You're out there in the heat, cooking chicken for two hours, whaddaya think you're supposed to do with the beer?!?!

My family doesn't really like spicy food...but they love this chicken. I always make at least twice what we'll eat that day. Leftovers are great in a chef's salad with greens, tomatoes, etc. for hot weather.

Best -- Terry
 
That chicken sounds good. I know what I'm grilling next time I get bone in chicken.
 
Low-Calorie, Low-Fat, Low-Carb Grilled Chicken

5 cups water
5 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c cider vinegar
2 Tbsp salt
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion minced very fine
1 Tbsp powdered mustard (or 2-3 Tbsp your favorite yellow/dijon/brown mustard)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper (opt)
1/4 cup or more of chili powder
Chicken. Bone-in thighs work best IMHO but whatever you like.
2-6 bottles of beer, your choice.

Mix sauce ingredients and bring to a boil; simmer for a few minutes, then allow to cool (faster: use 3 cups water, then add 3 cups ice cubes off the stove). Marinate chicken parts for at least 24 hours in fridge; 48 hours is better.

Gas grill: light one side and set to high, leave other side off. Charcoal: coals on one side, get 'em hot. Place chicken skin-side down over the hot side, give a couple minutes to heat, then move them to the "off" side before they burn. Every 15 min, pull the chicken off the grill, dunk in the marinade, return with the opposite side up. If it seems to be cooking too slowly, put the parts on the "hot" side for a bit. Takes about 2 hours to get it completely done; I usually end up finishing it off in the microwave.

The beer? You're out there in the heat, cooking chicken for two hours, whaddaya think you're supposed to do with the beer?!?!

My family doesn't really like spicy food...but they love this chicken. I always make at least twice what we'll eat that day. Leftovers are great in a chef's salad with greens, tomatoes, etc. for hot weather.

Best -- Terry
Man, how many people in your family? I couldn't eat this much in 3 weeks. ;)
 
Man, how many people in your family? I couldn't eat this much in 3 weeks. ;)

I have 13 siblings, most of them in PA. One of them has four kids, the rest three, two, or none. We learned.

SWMBO and I decided on two kids. After two you're outnumbered. Unfortunately we had two girls, so I've been outnumbered for about 32 years. :)
 
What many people do, some of them pros, is parcook the chicken by boiling before putting it on the grill. I'm not sure what that would do with the marination.
 
Made tempura for lunch.
0714201049[1].jpg

Not from scratch, cheated a little:
0714201049a[1].jpg

Ingredients: Sweet potato, string beans, shrimp, panko, tempura batter mix.

Heat some oil in a deep fryer. I use the Presto Fry Daddy. Prepare batter according to box instructions. Tip: Use ice cold water. Wash veggies. Peel and slice the sweet potato. Trim ends off string beans and cut to length. Peel and devein the shrimp. Cook the sweet potato and beans first, you don't want shrimpy tasting vegetable tempura. Cook sweet potato slices to a golden brown. For the green/string beans I like to cover three or four lengths of beans in the batter then grab one end. Swish the other end in the oil a few seconds before releasing into the oil. This keeps the end together when releasing the bundle into the oil.
For the shrimp cover in batter then lay it down in a dish of panko. Do both sides. Then cook in the oil. When the shrimp turns pinkish-orange it's done. Goes well with rice and soy sauce.
 
Made tempura for lunch.
View attachment 424505

Not from scratch, cheated a little:
View attachment 424506

Ingredients: Sweet potato, string beans, shrimp, panko, tempura batter mix.

Heat some oil in a deep fryer. I use the Presto Fry Daddy. Prepare batter according to box instructions. Tip: Use ice cold water. Wash veggies. Peel and slice the sweet potato. Trim ends off string beans and cut to length. Peel and devein the shrimp. Cook the sweet potato and beans first, you don't want shrimpy tasting vegetable tempura. Cook sweet potato slices to a golden brown. For the green/string beans I like to cover three or four lengths of beans in the batter then grab one end. Swish the other end in the oil a few seconds before releasing into the oil. This keeps the end together when releasing the bundle into the oil.
For the shrimp cover in batter then lay it down in a dish of panko. Do both sides. Then cook in the oil. When the shrimp turns pinkish-orange it's done. Goes well with rice and soy sauce.
@kuririn How old is your Fry Daddy? I just looked at reviews on Amazon and saw that it is too hot compared to older models.
 
Greg, it's ancient. But it works for me. I tried another brand with a basket and a larger capacity. Wound up using a lot more oil and the batter stuck to the basket wire.
 
Or, a good cast-iron dutch oven.
+1, or a cast iront chicken fryer pan, which looks like a 3"-ish deep skillet. My kitchen pride and joy is lots of cast iron skillets, griddles, dutch ovens, cornbread forms, many Lodge brand and several skilletswere used and belonged to my great grandmothers.
The best ribeyes are seared and brouled on cast iron!
 
+1, or a cast iront chicken fryer pan, which looks like a 3"-ish deep skillet. My kitchen pride and joy is lots of cast iron skillets, griddles, dutch ovens, cornbread forms, many Lodge brand and several skilletswere used and belonged to my great grandmothers.
The best ribeyes are seared and brouled on cast iron!
I currently have about 6 pieces of cast iron. One of them was my grandmother's. I'm 57 and it's older than I am. Bottom is smooth like a baby's behind!
 
Lots here,
Top pieces were great grandmoters cornbread molds and popover pans, a cast iron trivet and ribbed griddle (Lodge, 10 years old, makes great indoor grilled burgers).
20200715_161701.jpg
Lodge Dutch ovens, black one in back is an 8 quart and fairly old as it belonged to my sisters mother in law, front one is 12 quart. We also have two 12 quart camp dutch oovens.We also own a couple of wheat grinders.20200715_161739.jpg
Lots of skillets, 3 square ones about 12ish inches each (great grandmothers, grandmothers, and my Moms square skillets) Mom has gotten to the point the cast iron is just too heavy for here to handle easily., a smooth grill pan, fryer pan on left top, a 14" ish skillet on floor under fryer, and a 16" ish Lodge skillet (I bought new for camping mainly, on bottom of shelf next to wheat grinder).
20200715_161812.jpg

About 15 pcs all together, they definitely take practice to cook with but have really even heat control. Cleaning is as easy as deglazing at end of cooking with a little water, wiping with a couple of paper towels, and coating with a fresh coat of oil, wait till it cools, wipe off excess oil and store. No scrubbies ever get used on these pieces.
 
Love the cast iron.
I purchased a large Dutch oven and four skillets from a 6 to 16 in way back when I was starting to cook. Grandfather was not willing to pass his on to me yet.
I‘ve been using them now for pretty close to 50 years. My 6 yo will get them when I am gone.
 
I make meatloaf thats in "The best I ever had" category normally..
I just made the best meatloaf I've ever had..
Soft, tender, juicy on a new level..
And I made it in my smoker..


IMG_0296.jpgIMG_0295.jpg
Second pic is when I was turkey basting the drippings out of the pan..

Teddy
 
That meatloaf looks great, I love them wrapped in bacon and out of the smoker.

I smoked a pork butt yesterday. Nothing fancy, just a simple rub, Cherry wood, and time. I had plenty of leftovers from it, so this is the most complicated thing I have made today.

PSX_20200809_202745.jpg
 
That meatloaf looks great, I love them wrapped in bacon and out of the smoker.

I smoked a pork butt yesterday. Nothing fancy, just a simple rub, Cherry wood, and time. I had plenty of leftovers from it, so this is the most complicated thing I have made today.

View attachment 427570
Picked up a Masterbuilt propane smoker today. Normally $250 brand new, found it barely used for $100. Next, to talk SWMBO into buying me a brisket to smoke...
 
Ohh mann,,
A simple rub, any fruit wood and time is all it takes...
That sounds wonderful..
I've been wrapping everything ( except the meatloaf ) in peach paper when 150 internal is reached..
I learned that from brisket, but it works great on beef ribs and baby backs as well..

Teddy
 
Teddy, PLEASE invite me over to have some of your smoked meatloaf. I just LOVE meatloaf. My wife, not so much unfortunately. I bought a smoker this year but have yet to use it. Any recipe/smoking details would be very much appreciated!
 
Teddy, PLEASE invite me over to have some of your smoked meatloaf. I just LOVE meatloaf. My wife, not so much unfortunately. I bought a smoker this year but have yet to use it. Any recipe/smoking details would be very much appreciated!

Are you kiddin,
Come over with the Mrs anyday..
I'm not sure who this is though so it may be a ,ong drive, lol..

There a few important points when cooking ground meat..

1-- anything you make with ground meat,
the moister the meat mix is,
the moister and juicier the finished product will be..
When you put all of the wet ingredients into a bowl including the panade, add water to it..
You know how much onions reduce when cooking,
A lot of finely chopped onions in the meat mix will leave voids ( increasing tenderness ) of moisture and flavor..

2-- Bacon wrapped is a big trick to protect the meatloaf from the heat of the oven ( or smoker )..
Near the end of the cook ( I cook this to 155 or 158 internal ) at 150ish crank the oven to crisp the bacon..
At this 150 point load the roasting pan with the tomato wedges..

This is where I got my start with meatloaf..

1597178135462.png

Wow, It didn't want to upload..

Hope this all helps..

Teddy
 
Great looking Meatloaf! and I AM Hungry!

I will try this one come payday/store trip.

Tonight will be a Pea Salad :)

I also like try Cooking. Recently threw out all the cheap no stick stuff, got stainless and re-habbed some cast iron.

It is a Journey :)
 

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