Redheart
is one Smokin' Farker
Well as promised after the pork and beans, I was gonna do something with the butt cooked, but not eaten at my last comp.
I have so much left over and I knew this week was gonna be cool and wet with Ida coming ashore, so I decided to start with some chili verde.
So yesterday I roasted/smoked a head of garlic, a cup of minced onions, a couple of serranos and a few anaheims over some rosemary sprigs. The mass of green in the middle is tomatillos. I roasted them in a foil pan, cause I was planning on them rupturing on me.
Blended them all together with a little wand blender, some dried spices and a little brew. Cause who knows I might just enter this weeks throw-down. Of course I don't think I have ever made chili without a little beer.
Do you know how hard it is to get an action shot of the beer going in when you are the one pouring and the one taking a picture?
When I found Monty Python's HOLY G/R/AIL Ale, I knew I had to make it the official drink of the 'Life of Brine' cook team. After all one good parody deserves another.
I simmered that in my dutch oven for a little while till it was reduced by about 1/2. One word of advise. Do not do tomatillos in a cast iron dutch oven.. They really began to pull a metallic taste. I transferred to a SS pot just in a nick of time. Everything went into the fridge to meld overnight. This way I have 2 day old chili on the first day!
Today while reheating the pork, I added a small bit of finally cilantro and the juice from half a lime, a dash or two of some Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt (alright it was closer to a TSP, I love the stuff), and a little piri-piri powder for some more heat.
Here is the reheated butt as it came out of the oven.
After the first pull.
Everything into the SS pot, for a toss and and a gentle simmer.
Here she is all plated up.
Notice the fork and not a spoon. When I make a stew it is a forking (or is that farking) stew and not a gruel. I still have plenty left over. I think tomorrow I will make some of the Round Up biscuits I did last week, toss them on top and really fill my belly again.
I will have to share the butt with my 2 Q'ats. They are my Q' buddies. Course they don't come out and linger around the smoker, they just sit up on the balcony enjoying the smell and making a racket ever so often to remind me that they want some too! It can be a treacherous walk from the door to the kitchen when carrying steaming hot meat.
This one is Demon Kitty and he is just that. He is lovable, cuddly and always wants to head butt, but likes to create havoc. He is very successful in that.
This is Solstice. She is starting to get up there. She was a foundling 8 years ago up in St Paul, during December. All that fur is misleading. She may look like a big ol' fat cat but she weighs a whopping 6 pounds. We have been through a lot together, a flood, a fire, a 1400 mile move and a lot more stuff than either of us needed. But like me she is a survivor.
As you can see she tolerates me, but she loves the Q and she likes it spicy! Course she doesn't get to much of the spicy. It is hard enough keeping up with the hair balls.
Well I hope you enjoyed the food and kitty pron!
I have so much left over and I knew this week was gonna be cool and wet with Ida coming ashore, so I decided to start with some chili verde.
So yesterday I roasted/smoked a head of garlic, a cup of minced onions, a couple of serranos and a few anaheims over some rosemary sprigs. The mass of green in the middle is tomatillos. I roasted them in a foil pan, cause I was planning on them rupturing on me.
Blended them all together with a little wand blender, some dried spices and a little brew. Cause who knows I might just enter this weeks throw-down. Of course I don't think I have ever made chili without a little beer.
Do you know how hard it is to get an action shot of the beer going in when you are the one pouring and the one taking a picture?
When I found Monty Python's HOLY G/R/AIL Ale, I knew I had to make it the official drink of the 'Life of Brine' cook team. After all one good parody deserves another.
I simmered that in my dutch oven for a little while till it was reduced by about 1/2. One word of advise. Do not do tomatillos in a cast iron dutch oven.. They really began to pull a metallic taste. I transferred to a SS pot just in a nick of time. Everything went into the fridge to meld overnight. This way I have 2 day old chili on the first day!
Today while reheating the pork, I added a small bit of finally cilantro and the juice from half a lime, a dash or two of some Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt (alright it was closer to a TSP, I love the stuff), and a little piri-piri powder for some more heat.
Here is the reheated butt as it came out of the oven.
After the first pull.
Everything into the SS pot, for a toss and and a gentle simmer.
Here she is all plated up.
Notice the fork and not a spoon. When I make a stew it is a forking (or is that farking) stew and not a gruel. I still have plenty left over. I think tomorrow I will make some of the Round Up biscuits I did last week, toss them on top and really fill my belly again.
I will have to share the butt with my 2 Q'ats. They are my Q' buddies. Course they don't come out and linger around the smoker, they just sit up on the balcony enjoying the smell and making a racket ever so often to remind me that they want some too! It can be a treacherous walk from the door to the kitchen when carrying steaming hot meat.
This one is Demon Kitty and he is just that. He is lovable, cuddly and always wants to head butt, but likes to create havoc. He is very successful in that.
This is Solstice. She is starting to get up there. She was a foundling 8 years ago up in St Paul, during December. All that fur is misleading. She may look like a big ol' fat cat but she weighs a whopping 6 pounds. We have been through a lot together, a flood, a fire, a 1400 mile move and a lot more stuff than either of us needed. But like me she is a survivor.
As you can see she tolerates me, but she loves the Q and she likes it spicy! Course she doesn't get to much of the spicy. It is hard enough keeping up with the hair balls.
Well I hope you enjoyed the food and kitty pron!
