Noodles And Smoked Balls

Since I got the new Myron Mixon "Everyday Barbecue" book we've been wanting to replicate the Spaghetti and Smoked Meatballs recipe. It's a little different but simple meatball recipe and sounded delicious. 

1lb Lean Ground Beef (calls for 80%, but we did 93%)

1lb Ground Pork 

1/2 Sleeve Ritz Crackers

1 Egg (beaten)

1/4 Cup Ketchup

2 Slices White Bread, lightly moistened with water and torn (had to use a bun since we didn't have bread)

1 Medium Onion (or a half and dice the crap out of it if you hate onions like myself)

Salt and Pepper to preference

The next step is the most complicated, so get ready ... 

Ready? 

Put it all in a bowl and mix it together.

Ok, now I get to say balls a lot and not get smacked for it. 

To try to make as even of balls as possible we've came up with a little trick. I'll lay out a cutting board and spread the mixture out as evenly as possible. Then, take a knife or pizza cutter and cut into evenish sections. After that you can just pick that little section up and roll it up into balls. It's a lot quicker and easier than just pinching pieces off or even using an ice cream scooper. If you don't make perfect cuts, it's ok. On some of the big balls, tear a little piece off and add it to the smaller balls to make them a little more evenly. 

And here is my new Weber charcoal chimney. No, I didn't have to have a new fancy smancy Weber chimney to go with my WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain). My other chimney is about to rust out, and I like the extra handle of the Weber one ... and, yeah, I needed a new fancy smancy one. 

For the balls o' meat, it called to smoke them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. It was raining, once again, so I had to take Bullet Bill to the front porch again (loving the newest addition to the family and the fact I can move him wherever, whenever I need to), so I was having some issues getting him up to 350 from the lack of air flow up there. However, I realized if I left the door open for a little while that the extra oxygen that way would help get the fire roaring. 

The balls went on before I reached the 350 mark so I just extended the cook time a little. 

After 30 minutes or so I flipped the balls over, and wasn't ready for a picture but they definitely deserved one of their own. 

The recipe calls for spaghetti, but we went with this spirally noodle instead. I'm sure it has a fancy name, but Dawn is out of town on business right now and can't tell me what it is.

This picture was actually the wife's idea. While I was taking a picture of the plate she said "oh my gosh, it actually has a smoke ring. You have to get a picture." 

I have to say, this is probably the best meatball I've ever had. These balls might have been small, but they were filling. I ate most of my plate and was miserably fool for the next few hours. I didn't even want to move I was so full. 

While I was eating, I did suggest that we try this recipe with the cheese from the other meatball recipe we've been doing ... cheesy Myron Mixon balls mmmmmmmmm sounds delish. 

Bacon Bro's Public House

Bacon Bro's Public House is a new restaurant on Pelham Rd near the 85 exit. I've heard great things from others, so for my birthday, we decided to go check 'em out. 

The first thing I noticed when we walked up was that it was in a strip mall. Now, there's nothing wrong with any restaurant in a strip mall, but as you can see by the picture, the look and feel they're trying to go for is NOT strip mall. They're going for the more upscale dinning experience. The paint, wood work, and other decor gave it a nice dim atmosphere for a good sit down dinner with my wife. I had to go to the restroom, and once you walk in you immediately notice that it looks like a whole in the wall bar's. The paint is all there, and the door on the stall is still standing, but it's the very cheap plastic wall and door divider that looks like it should have written on it "for a good time call ...". Does the bathroom really matter in the scheme of things? Maybe not, it just wasn't very appealing for the atmosphere they're shooting for here. 

While we're waiting, I go up to the bar and grab a glass of wine for the wifey, and I shoot for a Jack and Dr. Pepper. I get the bill and it's $14. That's a little on the pricey side, but again, it's a nicer place so it's expected. Once I receive our drinks, I was not thrilled with the portion size to price ratio. 

We got their around 6, and was told there was a 30-35 minute wait ... ok, no problem. While we were waiting, I noticed a table right in the middle of the dinning area empty. At no point was it ever dirty, so it obviously hadn't been used in a while. There were 2 separate times while we were waiting that there were 3 empty tables in the dinning area. A table would leave, be cleaned, and then left empty for (what seemed to be) no less than 5 minutes before someone was sat down. 

Bacon Bro's also has 4 tables our on the front walk way. They were all empty when we got their, but we wanted to eat in, so we passed on those. Two other couples/parties came shortly after us and sat outside. About halfway through our wait, a couple walked in and once the hostess told them the wait time, they asked to sit outside (2 empty tables left). The hostess looked at the customer and said "oh absolutely, there's a 5 minute wait." Remember, these tables are EMPTY. Approxamity 2-3 minutes later, another couple walks up with the same request. The hostess tells that couple that sure they can sit out there, but now it had a "10 minute wait." 

It wasn't all doom and gloom. Once we sat down we had great service. Our waitress was extremely nice and polite, and quickly let me know that they were out of the Chicken Fried Pork Chops that I originally ordered. At 6:30 on a Friday, they were out of a menu item and she didn't even hesitate when I ordered them either, so that gave me the impression they didn't just run out. 

Ok, anyway, places run out of items all the time. I then turn my eyes to the ribs. Dawn gives me a hard time that I'm too picky about places ribs and that I should stop ordering them, but I was trying to find something quick since the waitress was there and it was a safe bet at this point. So, I look over and 1/2 rack of ribs is $12 or a full rack for $21. I settled for the 1/2 rack since we were splitting an order of fries ... you see, no entree comes with a side, so a side of fries was $3 extra. 

If there's one thing that burns me, it's when a restaurants menu says one thing, but you receive another. A full rack of ribs has 12 bones. Therefore, if someone was to get half of that ... they'd receive 6 bones, right? Bacon Bro's 1/2 rack of ribs is 4 ... 1,2,3,4 bones. Their ribs are at least Spare's so you get some meat with the bones, but it's not a 1/2 rack. If you're going to quarter them or third them, then say 1/3 or 1/4 on your menu. Don't say it's a 1/2 rack of ribs and then bring me out barely enough to taste. If 4 bones cost $12, I would have hated to see how much/little you get for $21.

With all that said, these were some of the better ribs I've in Greenville. The top piece you see was one of the ends so it was a little extra crispy, but that's no biggie. The flavor and texture of these ribs were spot on. When you bite into the rib it doesn't completely fall apart in your hands like some restaurants do. There's a nice pull with great tenderness. I don't know if the ribs tasting so great made up for the missing bones, or pissed me off more because I didn't have as many to eat. 

Dawn had a much better experience than I did. She got the Jerk Chicken Sausage, and really enjoyed it. I think the spice of the dish lit her rear on fire a little, but she still really liked it. 

Although I had a delicious HOME-MADE German Chocolate Cake at home, the Turtle Bacon Brownie caught my eye. The piece we got was an edge piece, which is usually my favorite because you get that good crunch. This piece was a little extra extra crunchy ... as in it was inedible. The rest of the brownie was AMAZING!!!!!

The prices weren't horrible. It was about where we were expecting before we went in (minus my $3 a bone ribs). I don't see them changing the size of their adult beverage glasses, so if you're looking to get your moneys worth you may want to stick to the beer. The rest of the "issues" I had I really think will be fixed if they realize they have an opportunity here and move to a stand alone building. This could have been their first stop and a cheaper way to get started and get their feet wet to see if they were on to something, and if so, that's understandable. Maybe they are a strip mall type business, and I should have held them to that standard, but judging by their appearance, they want to be a higher end restaurant than that so that's how I treated them. 

Although we didn't have the best time ever, I can see us returning. The food definitely saved them from the pits of hell. If I had to rank the experience without the food, it would have been about a 1 pig, but the food was the saving grace.

My First Brisket Attempt

Dawn has been begging me to do a Brisket for a year not, and this week's Throwdown is the "Brisket Master" which we will all learn shortly ... I am not. 

I went with Myron Mixon's beef injection. It's a real easy and simple injection to do, and since I was doing some Butts too, I wanted simple.

While the injection cooled, it was prep time.

I trimmed the fat and the silver skin from the top, and thinned the fat on the bottom. I wanted to leave some fat cap down there, but didn't want the 1/2 inch that was there already. 

Once everything was trimmed, I injected the brisket, threw it in a pan, and put it in the fridge over night.

At 5 the next morning it was time to get up and get things going. I let Dawn sleep in (till 5:45), and then made her get up and take pictures for me (that's what marriage is about, right?).

I've heard nothing but great things about Pit Bulls Rub on briskets, so I tried theirs out. 

Some coworkers have been begging for pork for a few weeks, so I picked up four 8lb butts with the brisket. I used the Pit Bulls injector (a must have), and added my injection.

I wanted to try a few different rubs so I put the same Pit Bulls rub on the back 2 butts, Bone Sucking on the bottom left one, and Plowboys Yardbirds.

We've gotten rain every day for 2+ weeks, and cook day was no different. I had a tent put up, but the gusts of wind was blowing wind and rain all over the place. My temps were actually fairly steady all day though.

I opened up the first Pit Bulls butt and it looks beautiful. They obviously use more brown sugar than Plowboys does since it darkened up more than usual. I sampled a few pieces while pulling (perks of the job) and the bark was amazing. It was right at the point of perfect crispiness and not burnt. 

The brisket came out with a matching dark bark. Since it was so big, and I was cooking 4 other butts, I had to put the brisket on my top rack and since heat rises ... it came out a little dryer than I had hoped.

This also gave me an excuse to finally use my (I mean "our" since it was a wedding gift) new electric knife.

We added zucchini chips and my poor, poor excuse of burnt ends that came out more like beef stew than anything else. The flavor of the brisket was awesome, but it was a little dry. We added some sauce to it and that actually made it really good. 

It wasn't the greatest brisket ever cooked, but it wasn't the worst ever done either.

Movie Review: RED 2

If you saw and enjoyed RED, you'll love RED 2. From the get go Marvin is up to "the world is out to get me" old self, until tragically, the world catches up and actually gets him. Ok, so maybe he's pretending.

A huge story-line is built when Miranda Wood (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) shows up and lays a big honking kiss on Frank (Bruce Willis) and his girlfriend Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) is standing there to see the doozy it puts Frank in.

Victoria (Helen Mirren) is ordered to kill Frank, but her old ties to the group forces her to side with her friends over her country and teams up with them to find a portable nuclear device that was created in the 1970s (maybe the 80s).

Like RED, the sequel is action packed with some "experienced" great actors and actresses. This reminds you of how great Hollywood used to be when they were able to build a tremendous story with the perfect amount of action and even a few chuckles along the way ... did I just say chuckles? Geez.

I'm one of those people that try to figure out plots or "find out who done it" before it's revealed, and I'm normally pretty good at it. Well, as RED 2 states on more than one occasion ... "I didn't see that coming."

This might not be the big mega blockbuster of the Summer, but it's a great movie for sure.

Bullet Bill's First Cook

There's no point in having a new toy if you can't play with it. We thought since we haven't had smoked Pork Chops in a while, that it'd be a good way to break in Bullet Bill. 

I pulled out my copy of Smokin' With Myron Mixon, and flipped to the Sausage Stuffed Pork Chops. We also do a little twist to his recipe. He calls for pork sausage, but we use spicy turkey sausage. It's a little healthy, and the spicy gives it a little extra kick ... nothing major though.

I cut the fat side of the chops all the way to the bone, and filled in the sausage closing the wholes with some toothpicks. I then covered the chops with Big Poppa Smokers' "Money" rub. 

We also, decided to smoke some potatoes to go with the chops. While I was working on the meat, Dawn poked and coated the potatoes with butter and 3 Beer rub. If you haven't tried to the 3 Beer rub, you should. I don't use it for a lot of meats, but it's a great rub/seasoning for fries or ... smoked potatoes. 

Thanks to 2013 bringing more rain than we've had in 20 years, I had to break Bullet Bill in on the front porch under cover. 

Myron says to cook at 300 for an hour and then 10 more minutes once you sauce, but since I couldn't get any air flow, I had to cook at 275. I flipped the first time after 30 minutes, but let it sit for a good 40, before I added sauce and flipped again. I probably cooked them for another 15-20 minutes giving the overall cook time around 130. 

The potatoes are supposed to smoke at 300 for an hour and 15 minutes. 

Bullet Bill reminded us just how great smoked pork chops could be. These things were juicy and delicious. The potatoes, however, were still a little hard. They could have went on 15 minutes or so earlier, and I think they would have been on point then. Even though they were a little hard, the 3 Beer rub made the skins amazing. 

The Newest Member Of The Family

I woke up Wednesday (my bday) to a video from my, about to turn, 3 year old niece singing me happy birthday. She even made sure to include the "you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too" ending. With that type of a start, it was promised to be an amazing day. 

Minus last year, for obvious reasons, I never work on my Bday. Some people say I'm weird and it's "just another day", but it's not just another day. It's the anniversary of when I was born. If it wasn't for that day I wouldn't be on this Earth to wake up and go to work, cook BBQ, drink beer, and to hang out with my wife and friends. You don't have to celebrate the number if you don't want, but I think everyone should take 1 day a year to celebrate being alive ... it's more than some can do. 

Ok, so back to the important stuff ... MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Dawn didn't take the day off (she knew I'd be in front of the TV in my gameroom/Man Cave playing PS all day), so she tortured me by having to wait and open presents once she got home. 

Once she got home, I had to stay in the bedroom (no, it's not one of THOSE presents) while she got everything set up. As soon as I walked in I noticed MY brand new WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) lid sitting in floor. There were a few things in the way, but that was the present I was hoping for. 

Pictured, but wrapped, is a new wooden cutting board, grilling cook book, meatball tray, and a sappy lovey dovey card. 

Since I got Jessica, we haven't been able to "dinner" cooks. She's just too big to get up to temp and a lot of work just for an hour smoke for dinner. I told her I needed a smaller smoker, so we can do quick little cooks like that, and she actually agreed. 

I decided to go with the WSM, because I hear so many great things about them and how easy they are to work with and well they hold temp. I was originally looking at the 22.5 model, but once I saw on in person I knew that would be a little bigger than what I really wanted. 

I decided to stick with the smaller 18.5 model, and it's PERFECT.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you ... Bullet Bill. 

Movie Review: The Lone Ranger

 

If you didn't know, today (July 3rd) is my birthday. From the moment we saw The Lone Ranger would be opening on my birthday Dawn has been saying it would be my "birthday movie". She's a big time Johnny Depp fan (ok, she's in love with him), so me being the loving husband that I am ... I refused to go see it on my birthday, and instead had been telling her we would be going to see Despicable Me 2. Of course the whole time I had all intentions of going to see The Lone Ranger, but it was more fun torturing her ... loving husband, remember?

 

The past few years Hollywood has ran the creative pool dry, and have mostly been doing remakes. With remakes you're either going to win the lottery, or you're going to go broke and be sleeping under the bridge overpass. I don't envision the people that made this movie having to warm their hands from a trash can fire anytime soon.

 

The Lone Ranger gives us a movie that we've all longed for whether we knew it or not. We all grew up hearing about the great Wild West TV shows and movies, but it seemed those shows and movies were a thing of a past ... until now.

 

Although it is a remake, The Lone Ranger gives us that classic Cowboy and Indian, Wild Wild West movie, with a Johnny Depp twist to it. Not only does it have his sense of humor that we've come to know and love from the Pirates series, but it also throws in little nods to movies past. Don't ask for them, because I don't know them all, but there were a few Monty Python and other slight hints.

 

I would give it a 5 pig rating, but it's a 2 1/2 hour long movie, so there are a few sections that seem to just be time fillers. I was falling into one of those moments, and then the end started closing in and this movie TOOK OFF!

 

We both commented as soon as we left the theater about 2 awesome parts. I won't tell you what they are, but I'll let you know what to look for when you go to see it ... and yes, you WILL be going to see it.

 

The first is during a battle, when the gun fires, glass breakings, bodies falling, and all of the other commotion, actually happen to the beat of the music. It's almost like a dance, where the dancers hit moves to the beat of the music, but this is a fight scene in a movie. I've seen a LOT of movies, but this is the first time I've ever seen this done, and it was a very nice touch. Hats off to whomever that idea was by.

 

The second part was when something took place ... was said ... was done ... who knows, I'm not telling ... but Tonto says "Don't ever do that again." It's another Johnny Depp one liner to keep an otherwise serious scene back down on Earth, and not too serious. Like I said, it's a Wild Wild West movie with a Johnny Depp twist.

 

If you don't go see this movie, you will be missing out.