Rich G
TVWBB Honor Circle
So, I happened to be home all day yesterday (I know, what a shock!), so I got the Webers working a bit while I got in a full day "at the office" as well. First up was getting some smoke on the Chicken & Herb sausages that I made up over the weekend (grind, spice, grind, mix on Sat, stuff on Sun). I knew I wanted to keep the heat down to 150-170, so I just mounded up the coals leftover from my rib cook on the outside of the charcoal ring, and used that as a makeshift snake. Dropped a couple of pieces of cherry on top near the head of the snake, and lit her up.
Sausages on, and using my Hunsaker hanging contraption for the first time (I like it!):
While that was doing it's thing, I had ~3 lbs of boneless/skinless thighs that needed cooking, so, since it was Cinco de Mayo AND Taco Tuesday, I figured chicken tacos! Did a little web surfing, and found THIS RECIPE that looked like a good marinade. In case the link disappears for a pound of chicken, mix together: 2 cloves garlic, 1Tbsp lime juice, 1Tbsp olive oil, 1Tbsp chili powder, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp paprika, 1tsp salt, 1/2tsp oregano, 1/4tsp black pepper. Marinate chicken for at least a couple of hours, up to 24 or so. This concoction was more of a paste consistency than a marinade, so I massaged it into my bag of thighs by hand, and left it in the fridge to do it's thing.
After 3.5 hours, the sausages had enough smoke:
So, I removed them from the grill, and dropped them in a pot of 180F water to poach to final temp. That took about 15 minutes, after which they cooled in an ice bath, and were ready for packaging:
....and, finally onto dinner! I got the 26'er set up for an indirect cook, again using up leftover coals. Once the grill was ready (cruising at about 400F with everything open wide), I dropped the chicken on indirect:
I rotated the rack and flipped the thighs every 8 minutes. I like this technique because I can keep going with an indirect cook, but get some sear action as I drop the chicken onto the part of the grill that was over the coals. After about 30 minutes, the chicken was done:
I didn't get any plated pics as everyone descended on the kitchen like hungry hordes! I made a pot of Tony/Maribel's rice, and my wife made a nice cucumber salad. My chicken went into a burrito bowl, and everyone else had soft tacos. A couple of fun cooks, finished off with a great family meal (one of the benefits of SIP.....we're all home for dinner!)
R
Sausages on, and using my Hunsaker hanging contraption for the first time (I like it!):
While that was doing it's thing, I had ~3 lbs of boneless/skinless thighs that needed cooking, so, since it was Cinco de Mayo AND Taco Tuesday, I figured chicken tacos! Did a little web surfing, and found THIS RECIPE that looked like a good marinade. In case the link disappears for a pound of chicken, mix together: 2 cloves garlic, 1Tbsp lime juice, 1Tbsp olive oil, 1Tbsp chili powder, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp paprika, 1tsp salt, 1/2tsp oregano, 1/4tsp black pepper. Marinate chicken for at least a couple of hours, up to 24 or so. This concoction was more of a paste consistency than a marinade, so I massaged it into my bag of thighs by hand, and left it in the fridge to do it's thing.
After 3.5 hours, the sausages had enough smoke:
So, I removed them from the grill, and dropped them in a pot of 180F water to poach to final temp. That took about 15 minutes, after which they cooled in an ice bath, and were ready for packaging:
....and, finally onto dinner! I got the 26'er set up for an indirect cook, again using up leftover coals. Once the grill was ready (cruising at about 400F with everything open wide), I dropped the chicken on indirect:
I rotated the rack and flipped the thighs every 8 minutes. I like this technique because I can keep going with an indirect cook, but get some sear action as I drop the chicken onto the part of the grill that was over the coals. After about 30 minutes, the chicken was done:
I didn't get any plated pics as everyone descended on the kitchen like hungry hordes! I made a pot of Tony/Maribel's rice, and my wife made a nice cucumber salad. My chicken went into a burrito bowl, and everyone else had soft tacos. A couple of fun cooks, finished off with a great family meal (one of the benefits of SIP.....we're all home for dinner!)
R
