Special dinners call for a special menu.

When it’s the entire family you may prepare a pork or beef roast, a turkey or maybe a whole side of salmon. But when it’s just the two of you — now that means a simple meal can be the most elegant and tasty too.

A few weeks back I was shopping at one of the markets I frequent and saw the perfect meat for a special dinner I was planning – duck breasts. They felt plump and looked to be very fresh.  I enjoy preparing duck. Slowly roasted in the smoker, grilled or in The Big Easy – I enjoy eating duck!

Ooops – let me clarify that. I enjoy farm-raised duck. Cooking and eating wild duck is an entirely different process that (more…)

It’s been just a bit more than a year since Char-Broil introduced the world’s first oil-less turkey fryer. Called The Big Easy it’s become a favorite of many backyard cooks and not just for preparing turkey.  With no pre-heating, no oil to buy or worry over and certainly no disposal problem after cooking – the 100% infrared cooker has found a solid base of fans. (more…)

Please say hello to Tommy Bommarito who hails from Alabama and has become a regular contributor to The Big Easy Users Forum.  Check it out and you’ll see his signature ‘TMB’ enthusiastically placed on just about every subject having to do with The Big Easy.

After reading about his cooking experiments I believe you’ll agree with me when I say (more…)

I am not a world traveler.  While I’ve been fortunate to visit most of the United States and experienced some great meals – I’ve only ventured to Canada a few times and never crossed the border into Mexico.  I know that’s a pretty insulated life.

Grey-Poupon jar from CB's collection

Several years ago I had the great pleasure of experiencing a 12-day trip to France, specifically to Champagne and Burgundy, where I gained more than 15 pounds during the food indulgence of a life-time.  Each day presented me with meals befitting someone of much higher status in life than I hold – that’s for sure.  I enjoyed amazing flavors in food crafted by world-class cooks and every meal was enjoyed to the full extent of the law! That meant several hours of dining upon multiple courses paired with wonderful wines and, at meals end, some amazing desert followed by a cheese course.  Of course mid-day meals were immediately followed by a nap and evening meals began later than my very American 6 p.m. supper time!.  I assure you I partook of the local cuisine with enthusiasm – be it a market stall where fresh crepes were made, a small cafe on the back streets where no one spoke English and my French could only say please and thank-you, or at several famous ’starred’ restaurants where dishes I’ve enjoyed for years were ‘invented.’ (more…)

Evidently all the recent posts featuring pork have inspired Bob of Memphis.  He sent me several photos of an extensive menu he cooked in a short and tasty email:

Boston Butt cooked 7 hours. Photo submitted by Bob Mychajluk

Hi CB,
This is not my first grill – but is is brand new – and I decided to break it in properly!

I cooked:
3 slabs of St. Louis Style Ribs  – 6 hours
Boston Butt – 7 hours
BBQ Balogna – 3 hours
Beef Short Ribs – 6 hours

- Bob “This is my idea of fun!” Mychajluk, Memphis TN

Whoa Bob! And did you eat all of this yourself? – CB

Folks just seem to naturally gather round The Big Easy!

The Big Easy oil-less infrared turkey fryer scored big with Alabama and Ole Miss Fans at this week’s game! Folks just could not believe they could fry a turkey with absolutely no oil! And then they tasted it!

This week we head to Shreveport for the Louisiana State Fair. First stop in Louisiana for the Char-Broil INfrared Tour this year.  If you are in the neighborhood – make sure to stop by and see us!

Shreveport – Are you IN?

Pork shoulder, beef brisket and ribs are just a few of the cuts of meat you normally associate with slow cooking – and for good reason. These meats have a generous supply of collagen and tougher muscle fibers that take time to meld and soften so, when cooked low & slow (with maybe some smoke!)  you end up with some of the tastiest meat to be found.  I’ve demonstrated you can cook low & slow on your gas or charcoal grill and, (more…)

Smokin’ – CB – Simply Smokin:

I took two pork butts (aka ‘Boston Butt’ & ‘pork shoulder’ – CB) and rubbed them down with  my Dry Rub consisting of 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup six pepper blend, 1/4 cup garlic salt, 1/4 cup BBQ Seasoning, and let them sit in the rub for several hours under refrigeration. I fired up the Char-Broil Double Door offset smoker with a hot mesquite fire using charcoal briquettes and mesquite wood in the fire box. Once it was up and running at the 250F degrees I added the pork butts to the smoker and threw in a few chicken quarters to fill out the grill. Heck – I didn’t want to waste the smoke on two lonely pork butts!

In preparation of smoking I soaked some mesquite wood chips for an hour to help bring on the smoke. After placing the pork butts on the smoker and checking the temp I threw some wood chips into the smoker box and let the smoke work it’s magic. As usual I checked the smoker every 30-45 minutes and added between 8-15 briquettes to the fire to keep it running between 225F – 250F degrees. I added the wood chips every hour for the first 4 hours and then 2 more times during the end of the smokin’ to work some more smoke into the meat. I also made a mop sauce that I slathered onto meat which was comprised of, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup apple balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup Smokey Sweet BBQ Sauce, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 1 tbsp hot sauce. I added this mop sauce after the first 5 hours of smokin’ and left the meat alone to pull in all that flavor.

After 10 hours of smoke and it reaching an internal temperature of 160F degrees – I did the usual, removing it from the smoker, placing it on a platter, sampling some of the best tasting meat around and then wrapping it up for service during dinner at the University. At the time of service I had one of the cooks pull the meat and after bringing it up to 140F degrees in a slow oven. I then mixed 1/4 cup apple balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar and 3 tbsp honey with 1/4 cup bbq sauce and incorporated it into the meat to keep it juicy but not heavy on sauce. I had people searching it out for dinner and the pan full of BBQ was picked clean in less than 45 minutes.

Till next time keep on smokin’ – Chef Scott

If you’d like to view a printable version of Chef Scott’s Smoked Pork Butt or to save it to your Free “My Favorites” account on the Char-Broil web site, just click on this link – CLICK HERE

EVERY THURSDAY FamilyTime.com will be hiding Thanksgiving turkeys throughout their site–all but one are golden yellow. Find and click on the roasted brown turkey for a chance to become the daily instant winner!

When the prize has been claimed it will be noted on the homepage so no “wild goose chases.” Check out the Big Easy Turkey Thursday Hunt section of the FamilyTime homepage for a yellow (it’s on!) or a brown turkey (the turkey has been found–try again next week).

Happy Hunting!

A few weeks back I asked for your favorite tailgating recipes. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send me theirs –

Brady ready to taxi - have the tailgating target in site!

I have to acknowledge a friend who sent me his favorites first, because, well – he just might strafe my house if I don’t!

BRADY’S GRILLED CHICKEN & MUSHROOM QUESADILLAS

BRADY’S GRILLED JALAPENO & CHEESE SHRIMP IN LEMON BUTTER