First ever prime rib

A good friend of mine introduced me to Adam Perry Lang(APL)'s methods of grilling. Then he posted this video on Facebook.

While APL uses a lot of ingredients and steps, everything I've tried of his has turned out amazing. I found this recipe, or close to it, in his second cookbook BBQ 25. Of course I ended up altering it some. I started off with a 3+ lb choice boneless rib-eye roast. The green egg was set up for a 375° indirect cook.

After cutting a crosshatch pattern in the top of the roast and rubbing on some seasonings and beef paste it was ready for the grill.

After 20 minutes, it was time to baste with a herb, olive olive, butter concoction and throw on some russet potatoes. Potatoes were just tossed in olive oil and coated with kosher salt.

Basting every 10 minutes, you can see the burnt ends created by the crosshatch pattern are really starting to look great. Next time I might cut even deeper so we have more burnt ends. Also, had to move the potatoes to the front since the back of the grill was a little too hot.

The roast and potatoes timed out perfectly. Internal temp of the roast was at 125° and potatoes were all right around 210° according to the thermapen. Here just letting the roast rest for ten minutes in the "board dressing."

Unfortunately, the picture is a little blurry. The burnt ends barely made the serving plate, because everyone kept stealing them from the cutting board. Each slice was drug through the board dressing to add even more flavor. We could not have been happier with my first try at prime rib. In fact if I can make it this well every time, we'll be happy. I guess it's a good sign when the sister in law asks me to send her dad the recipe and the mother in law suggests she would like to have this for Christmas dinner.

Chicken wings on the grill

Most people have trouble getting wings crispy unless they are fried. A lot of recipes I've read for grilling wings the authors think they need to add all kinds of weird ingredients like cornstarch or marinate them with some special concoction. As long they are cooked indirect at a high enough temperature they will "fry" in their own fat. My favorite wing is first cooked crispy with no marinate to burn, just plain wings...at first. Then I like them tossed in the sauce and thrown back on the grill for direct heat to give just a little char. Maj and I personally don't think smoke and chicken mix well. The smoke seems to penetrate too much and can over power all other flavors. I know many people like smoked wings but the charcoal flavor is enough for us.

1. I started with 2 dozen Smart Chicken fresh wings. (We will never buy a huge bag of frozen wings again) The grill is setup to cook indirect at 425 degrees.

2. After 20 minutes, I flip and cook another 20 minutes.

3. (40 minutes of total cooking time) The wings are cooked all the way through and crispy. Now time to pull them off the grill and toss with buffalo sauce. I like to toss some with my secret Mt. Fuji sauce.

4. Meanwhile I removed the plate setter and opened the vents, so I could crank up the heat for a direct cook. Once the heat is somewhere over 500 degrees, I throw the sauce covered wings back on.

5. Once I get the last wing on I start flipping the first ones. I move quickly, maybe 1 minute per side.

Yummy Chicken Pot Pies

It's hard to believe that two people can eat fairly healthy food all Spring, Summer and Fall, but when the cold of Winter arrives, crave warm, home-cooked foods! That's how it came about that we set out to make Chicken Pot Pies. We started with Ina Garten's recipe and made changes to it based on our preferences. I'll list the modified recipe below. I will say that we made the portions small and served them as our entire meal, trying to alleviate some of our guilt. We made four (4) potpies in total. The two other people that tried them raved about them as well!

We started with our photos a little late. So see the recipe below. We started the photos after we made the pastry.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls.
We used four small square bowls instead of the round ones that are typically used. They worked just as well and made the servings sizes a bit smaller.

Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the square to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot. Voila!

Ingredients
3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups organic chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch square. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the square to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.