Posts Tagged ‘bacon’

Bacon Weave Smoked Turkey

Posted: November 12, 2012 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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A couple of years ago, we went to my parents for Thanksgiving. They didn’t have their deep fryer anymore and I was broken-hearted. I refused to go back to regular baked turkey, so I embarked on a grilling method since they still had their grill. My mom didn’t want me experimenting with her baked turkey so she bought me a turkey breast to experiment on. Since they have a normal grill and not a smoker, I used a technique to create a makeshift smoker. I will say this… the bacon weave turkey was the first to be devoured. 😮

  • One turkey breast, cleaned and skinned.
  • Turkey injector marinade (I used Creole Butter)
  • Your favorite rub (I used garlic powder, Jane’s Krazy Salt, and a little bit of oregano)
  • A pack of pork bacon (Turkey bacon simply does NOT have enough fat, it will crisp up and break apart while on the grill)
  • Apple juice (In a spray bottle. Any spray bottle from the walmart travel hair section will do)
  • Olive Oil
  • Wood chips soaked in water overnight

If you have the time to let the turkey sit overnight, definitely do the turkey prep part first and let it sit in the fridge. Following instructions on the injector marinade you are using, inject the breast meat and apply the marinade while withdrawing the needle. The guidelines on the bottle usually say half a bottle per turkey, but I use the whole bottle for this breast. Lightly coat turkey breast in olive oil and apply rub liberally to the meat.

On a large cutting board, prepare to start bacon weaving. line up 7-8 strips (however many strips it takes to equal the length of one strip of bacon laid across lengthwise) of bacon vertically side by side and starting at bottom (or top), lay one strip of bacon horizontally, going over and under. It may help after this first row to put toothpicks on the end to keep the ends in place. Fold each vertical strip that is on the “under” side of the horizontal strip down over that horizontal strip so that only the “over” strips are still lined up. Lay another horizontal strip of bacon above previous horizontal strip and over the vertical strips. Now fold back “up” the vertical strips  you folded down before and then fold down the strips that were previously “up”. Repeat this step until to you get to the end and you should have a nice bacon weave. There are other ways to weave but this worked out easy and efficiently for me. It will definitely help to have extra hands to help you transfer this to the turkey or you can lay the turkey breast-side down on the weave and then pin the edges of the bacon to the turkey with toothpicks. (Let sit overnight in fridge if you have the time available)

Prepare the grill for indirect grilling with a drip pan in the middle. With aluminum foil, put a handful of the soaked woodchips into the middle and loosely roll this up into a tube, leaving the ends open (so that the smoke can escape). Be prepared to either have multiple tubes ready or to refill the ones your using throughout the cooking process. Place one tube on each side of the grill, directly on top of the coals. Place the turkey into the center of the grate and close lid. Spray with apple juice every 10-15 minutes, but very quickly as to not let the heat/smoke escape. (The apple juice add flavor and helps keep the bacon from cooking too crispy or burning. When the bacon looks nice and done, after about 25-30 minutes, remove turkey and wrap with foil and then return to grill and cook for another 20-25 minutes. The time depends on the size of your bird and this was just a breast. For a whole turkey, say 15 pounder, you’re looking at about 3 hours total cook time. And always check the meat to make sure its done deep down inside.

Remove turkey to a dish and unwrap from foil into dish. You will want a dish with high edges because as soon as you cut into the turkey, juices will be flowing. Make sure you get your plate first before serving everyone else, they may not leave any for you.  Enjoy!  (This also works with cornish hens).
The slideshow below shows the detailed steps. I apologize for not having a picture in process of the weaving, I did this 3am while everyone was sleep.

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Grilled Bacon Wrapped SoCo Colossal Shrimp

Posted: August 25, 2012 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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A common question I get is “Where in the world do you come up with this stuff?”. There really isn’t a method to this madness. It just happens. Sometimes tasty dishes kinda come out of nowhere. I like to do things spur of the moment perform better when I’m rushed. This particular evening I lost track of time before the family got home from school/work and I knew if something wasn’t cooked by the time the Mrs. got home, there was a pretty good chance I’d be in trouble. I remembered we had some Colossal shrimp in the freezer. Hmmm… As I walked up the stairs I noticed a bottle of Southern Comfort sitting on the bar in the basement. “Hey SoCo! Do you want some shrimp today too? Come on! we’re in a hurry!”
Upstairs in the fridge, SoCo and I find some bacon. “Well that makes everything better doesn’t it?”. SoCo didn’t say anything back, I took it to mean he was too overly excited with the thought of bacon on some shrimp. Now we need something to “hold” the seasoning. Since honey is our normal staple, decided to go with the dark agave nectar and switch it up this time. If you’ve read some of the past shrimp/lobster posts, they normally use a heated sauce I brush on while grilling. This time we’re letting it soak, no brush. (All SoCo’s suggestion)

Colossal Shrimp peeled and deveined
Agave nectar (or honey (or maple syrup if you’re short on the first 2 options))
Garlic Powder
Old Bay seasoning (or if you’re in the deep south area try Swamp Fire)
Southern Comfort
Bacon (a half strip for each shrimp)
Toothpicks
DisAronno Amaretto in a spray water bottle (this is extra credit, I pulled this out at the last minute as I walked outside)

Get your grill started and ready for direct grilling.
Place your shrimp in a bowl and (I’m sorry I really didn’t measure this at all, I was in a rush remember?) pour on some Southern Comfort and Agave nectar. Enough to let the shrimp sit in it but not be covered. See the pics in the slideshow below for an idea. Definitely use more Southern Comfort than the Agave nectar, as too much “sugar” will burn when cooking. Toss the shrimp, mix it up, get the juices all in the shrimp. Generously add garlic powder and Old Bay and toss again. I say generously add because a lot of the seasoning will come off into the liquid. Wrap each shrimp with bacon, hold in place with a toothpick on each end, and return to the Southern Comfort Agave nectar bowl.

Brush the hot grates with a napkin dipped in olive oil, (or if you have time and feeling funky fresh, cut an onion in half, and dip that in olive oil and brush the grates with it). Place the shrimp on the grill and cover. Let grill for about 4-5 minutes. Turn the shrimp (if you are using the amaretto, spray each shrimp before turning. note that amaretto is flammable and will cause a flare up but it should be real short lived). Cover and let cook another 5 or so minutes. Spray with amaretto again and turn if needed until bacon looks done to your liking.

ENJOY!

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Bacon Wrapped Grilled Lobster

Posted: February 21, 2012 in Food, Main course, On the grill
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Always trying  to outdo previous years, I decided to experiment this Valentines day with a new lobster dish. I will try my best to go with the measurements since this was a game time decision attempt at grilling excellence.

4 Lobster Tails (Shelled with meat carefully removed and cleaned)
4 Strips of your favorite bacon
Garlic Powder
Old Bay seasoning
Agave Nectar

Basting Sauce:
1 cup Southern Comfort
1/2 cup Butterscotch Schnapps
50mL of maple syrup (Grade B preferably) (one of those little small sampler jars is what I used)
A few shakes of garlic powder
Even more shakes of Old Bay
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
A couple of squeezes of a honey bottle

Heat the basting sauce ingredients in a sauce pan, letting it come to a calm boil. Pay attention to it, because depending on how much Old Bay you use, it can bubble up and over. Once all of the butter is melted and it has boiled for a couple of minutes, reduce heat and let simmer. Taste and add honey to your liking.

Season the lobster meat with the Old Bay and garlic powder. Then lightly drizzle the agave nectar over the meat. Carefully wrap each tail with bacon, securing the ends with toothpicks.

Prepare grill for direct grilling and brush hot grates with olive oil. Over medium to high heat add the lobster tail. Be ready to maneuver quickly, as this basting sauce is pretty flammable. After about a minute, start basting the the lobster tails. As the flames flare up, just gently move and rotate the lobsters. Close the grill and repeat this cycle every minute or two.

The goal is to cook until the bacon is done. Normally when I cook lobsters in the shell, they take only 10 minutes on the grill. I don’t know the science of it, but this method actually took about 20 minutes as I had to make sure the bacon was done. The bacon will take longer to cook with the constant turning, but it seems to protect the lobster and this was the juiciest lobster I have ever eaten in my entire life!

Enjoy!

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Breakfast… on the grill (yeah, I said it)

Posted: June 4, 2011 in Breakfast, Food, On the grill
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Nothing unusual on our trip home from the day care this past Friday. I asked Nariah what did she want for dinner and after saying “You know what we haven’t had in a long time???? Breakfast food!“, I was sold on the idea. Then came the special request : “Can you grill breakfast food?”
“Can I grill breakfast food?”
“If you can grill breakfast food, then you can grill anything daddy!”
“I assure you baby, that I can grill breakfast food”
“You’re the best daddy ever!”

Now I’ve never grilled breakfast food before, but I do remember maybe middle school or high school time frame staying at my paternal grandparents and the power went out (or “current went out” as they say in the county) and Papa grilled some eggs on aluminum foil. That’s the extent of my breakfast knowledge. Building on that, here’s how you can secure your super parent status with your child, or for yourself, the food was that good. Even Toya was skeptical when I told her what we were doing and made the “I don’t know about this one” face, but she loved it.

Menu:
Scrambled eggs with fresh spinach, green peppers and orange peppers
Turkey bacon (the pork was frozen, didn’t feel like thawing out)
Maple sausage links
French Toast
Grilled home fries (strips)

Preparation:
Start grill and arrange hot coals for mostly direct heating. (Leave about 1/4th coal free to allow the potatoes to finish cooking with ease) 

Home fries:
2 large red new potatoes, halved lengthwise and then cut into strips (steak fry sized)
Toss strips in a bowl with olive oil and set aside

Scrambled eggs:
5 eggs mixed in a bowl
handful of diced green peppers
handful of diced orange peppers
2 large handfuls or more of fresh spinach leaves
1 tablespoon of butter
Garlic powder
Jane’s Krazy Salt (or salt and pepper)
2 slices of american cheese (or your favorite cheese) 

French toast:
6 slices of potato bread
2 eggs scrambled
About a cup of milk? (I didn’t measure, sorry, maybe it was in between that and 1/2 cup?)
4 shakes of nutmeg
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1-2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1/2 shot of Disaronno Amaretto 
Mix ingredients except bread and set aside. 

Grilling:

Brush hot grates with olive oil soaked in a paper towel. Set a large cast iron skillet on grill to pre-heat. Lay potatoes across the coals and shake garlic powder and salt/pepper over them. They will burn fast so keep and eye out on them. When they brown to your liking, flip, season, and brown some more to your liking and then move to the “coal free” zone of the grill. Fold bacon into a ribbon (see pics) and place over coals along with the sausage. As soon as the meat is done (flipping and turning) remove to a plate and get ready for the eggs and french toast, these cook the quickest.

Add butter to the skillet and in about 10 seconds add the peppers. Wait about 30-45 seconds and then add the spinach. Dip potato bread into french toast mixture, coating both sides, and then lay over hot coals. When the spinach cooks down a little, add garlic and salt/pepper and then stir frequently as the spinach reduces. Check french toast and flip when needed. After one round of french toast are completed, start another batch and then add the eggs to the skillet. Let it sit and sizzle for a good 10-15 seconds before stirring. After about 30 seconds add your cheese and continue stirring until your desired doneness is reached and season to taste in this last leg of stirring. Remove eggs and remaining french toast to plate.

Check doneness of the potatoes and remove or continue to cook to your liking. The thinner ones will cook faster.

Serve and enjoy.
You can also grill pineapple rings sprinkled with brown sugar (we were out, so I couldn’t show you this go around)

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The ultimate crab chowder

Posted: May 22, 2011 in Food, Main course
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I apologize in advance, I forgot to take pics. Please don’t hold it against me.

I actually made this up myself, just taking bits and pieces of crab chowders that I’ve enjoyed at different restaurants and adding different things that I like to it.
(feel free to sub out what you don’t like, I know everybody can’t like everything! I just added things I like, almost turned chowder into gumbo, lol)

6 servings (manly servings that is)
Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 4 fresh spring onions chopped (aka chives or green onions)
* 3 tablespoons of garlic powder
* 3 1/2 cups (1-inch) cubed red potato (about 1 pound) (skin on)
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
* 8 slices of cooked bacon, sliced into 1cm thick pieces
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 turkey smoked sausage cubed (i prefer EckRich Skinless turkey smoked sausage, its skinless)
* 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
* 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
* 8 ounces lump crabmeat (or more if you’re crabby)
* 3 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning (i’m a little heavy handed on this one)

Preparation

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add onion, and garlic powder; sauté 4 minutes.
Add potato; sauté 1 minute.
Sprinkle with flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Stir in milk, pepper, corn, and broth.
Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally.
Fry turkey in separate pan without grease until browned to your liking liking.
Stir in crab, bacon, spring onions, Old Bay, and turkey; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy!