It's gonna rain buckets soon here in Middlesex county, and man do we ever need it. So most of Saturday afternoon was spent doing some cooking so I can be lazy during the week. I decided to do a small meatloaf, shrimp with pineapple, and a rack of ribs. And drink a couple cold brewskis along the way. RHAB. (Relax, have a beer)
meatloaf.... 2 pounds of 85% burger, some spices,breadcrumbs, an egg and mushroom stems that needed a home. Foiled for EZ handling.
Got a 2 lb bag of shrimp at the market, I like 26/30's for this dish. Seasoned up with Paul Prudhomme's seafood blend. Found a nice pineapple to go with those, they eventually went on the smoker naked. RHAB
The meatloaf went underneath, with a couple pineapple quarters. The other two quarters went on top, along with the first batch of shrimps.
Got the ribs all ready while they were working, and they sat in seasoning for a good hour. I just peeled the back and sliced 'em in half. No need for a contest presentation here. Checked the meatloaf, it wasn't up to temp yet. Shrimp & fruit was done, I gave some to my neighbor. Guy was mighty appreciative. RHAB, The ribs went on...
Got some great smelling lilac flowers for the house out of the yard.... I had to get 'em before the schoolkids strip every last stem for their teachers on the way to school... Nice thought but it happens every year.
About a half hour later, the meatloaf was done. I let it sit for a bit before I cut it. I also brushed on a very light coat of plain ketchup onto it. The tang in it balanced out the other flavors in it. I've come to like the Simply Heinze ketchup. No corn syrup and a better taste than their regular stuff IMHO. About an hour after that, the ribs came off. Not perfect, but totally edible.
I actually tasted all three items, and I really enjoyed the smoked pineapple & shrimp. That smoky sweet & hot combo is truly tough to beat. Speaking of smoke, I used a combination of pecan & hickory for the whole thing. 80% /20% or so. I didn't want the hickory to overpower the pecan. I think it worked. I also think that people will be begging for some of this stuff in work during the week.
meatloaf.... 2 pounds of 85% burger, some spices,breadcrumbs, an egg and mushroom stems that needed a home. Foiled for EZ handling.
Got a 2 lb bag of shrimp at the market, I like 26/30's for this dish. Seasoned up with Paul Prudhomme's seafood blend. Found a nice pineapple to go with those, they eventually went on the smoker naked. RHAB
The meatloaf went underneath, with a couple pineapple quarters. The other two quarters went on top, along with the first batch of shrimps.
Got the ribs all ready while they were working, and they sat in seasoning for a good hour. I just peeled the back and sliced 'em in half. No need for a contest presentation here. Checked the meatloaf, it wasn't up to temp yet. Shrimp & fruit was done, I gave some to my neighbor. Guy was mighty appreciative. RHAB, The ribs went on...
Got some great smelling lilac flowers for the house out of the yard.... I had to get 'em before the schoolkids strip every last stem for their teachers on the way to school... Nice thought but it happens every year.
About a half hour later, the meatloaf was done. I let it sit for a bit before I cut it. I also brushed on a very light coat of plain ketchup onto it. The tang in it balanced out the other flavors in it. I've come to like the Simply Heinze ketchup. No corn syrup and a better taste than their regular stuff IMHO. About an hour after that, the ribs came off. Not perfect, but totally edible.
I actually tasted all three items, and I really enjoyed the smoked pineapple & shrimp. That smoky sweet & hot combo is truly tough to beat. Speaking of smoke, I used a combination of pecan & hickory for the whole thing. 80% /20% or so. I didn't want the hickory to overpower the pecan. I think it worked. I also think that people will be begging for some of this stuff in work during the week.
