Going Italian tonight with Peposo Toscano, meat and sauce served on a bed of pappardelle. Pretty yummy if I do say so myself...
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Nice day with the wife today out running a few errands. It’s balloon fiesta week and the weather is PERFECT after the last two weeks of hurricane remnant rain. Enjoying the fire and some excellent hot wings!
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Trying to dial in the new cooker. Need to get it to roll at 275. It loves 225-250, but it would be nice to get it hotter for the rib and turkey breast cooks.
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It's raining all weekend, so I needed something I could cook indoors. I'm a big fan of the YouTube channel Dimitra's Dishes, which are Greek/Mediterranean-inspired. (She's also local to Houston.) I did her Creamy Chicken with Spinach and Feta: https://www.dimitrasdishes.com/30-mi...-spinach-feta/
You season some diced chicken breasts or thighs (I used about 2.5 lb of thighs) with salt, pepper, cumin, oregano (Greek, if you have it), and paprika (I used smoked) along with a good dusting of flour.
Then you brown those in batches and remove.
Fry some minced garlic until fragrant, then add in 3-4 tbl of butter, 2-3 tbl of flour and whisk to get a roux going.
Then whisk in a cup of chicken stock and 1.5 cups of whole milk. Once that gets hot, wilt in an entire pound of baby spinach. (This always floors me....it looks like it will never fit, but it all wilts down just fine.) Season with some salt then return the chicken to the pan. Crumble in about 4 oz of feta, stir well, then cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is done (I took mine to 170 F).
Then just plate up!
It's really good. It's almost like a soup/stew. Very warming and the addition of the feta is really delicious.Comment
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SheilaAnn I know! (If I don't eat the rest of the block outright....it's sooooo good!)
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my wife is canning some pasta sauce today. 40lbs of tomatoes from the garden.Comment
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Feels like forever since I last got to use one of my cookers, I think it was late July the last time I rolled smoke.
I tried to use the MAK but it kept blowing the GFCI on the outdoor kitchen. It was raining last night so not sure if it's the wiring or if my ignitor cracked during transporting the grill to this house. I'll check after everything's been dry for 24 hours.
Anyway, waiting on some welded wire mesh because the boys have lost enough weight that they can get out the new fence so I rolled the Roughneck into the dog yard.
Blackened smoked wings and some mild sausage sure hit the spot!
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Troutman similar but these things can hang a ton of ribs or cook a mean bird barrel style with the benefit of being able to add fuel. I have a love hate relationship with the thing, cooks amazing but built like crap for the price.
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Big Glory Bay king salmon over an oak fire on the Buckaroo. Served with garlicky, creamy orzo and asparagus.
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Decided to give chicken legs a try for this weeks competition practice. Pretty pleased with the results, planning to cook legs at my next comp...
The PBC continues to do an excellent job...
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I had to use up some Peppers from the garden so Smoked Stuffed Peppers it was yesterday. We had enough for the freezer too.Comment
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Smoked...interesting and sounds good. I remember the first time I had a smoked meat loaf at one of our fundraising events. This chapter had a smokehouse cater their meal. I was busy at the event but grabbed the meat loaf as I did not think I had time for the ribs or other foods. Glad I did because that was fantastic. I think your stuffed peppers would be that way also. Somewhat similar
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No smoked meats this weekend, but I did get to use the Blackstone a couple of times.
First, breakfast on Saturday (no pics), nothing exciting just some eggs, bacon, and pancakes. First time cooking pancakes on the griddle. Wife was pleased, so I believe I pulled it off ok!
Sunday, one daughter came home for dinner and to pick up supplies (ie: Groceries) for their apartment. I had some shaved beef sitting around that I needed to use, so Cheese Steak sandwiches sounded pretty good.
Onion and Green Peppers rounded out the sandwich. Grilled the buns with a little mayo for crispness:
I made a really messy sandwich. Trying to use up as much beef as possible with no leftovers. Made a sandwich that basically needed a knife and fork. I'm ok with that. Provolone added:
Also made a nice batch of hamburger cabbage soup. Found a recipe online that says it's a close copy of a local restaurant's version of this dish (which I've had many times, and it's always good). Flavor didn't seem to be has notable as I thought it would. Still good, but needed "something". Brought some in for lunch today, we'll see if that changes things a bit. Oh, and made some little smokies for the heck of it. Also, had those sitting around and needed to use them.
Still trying to dial in the heat on the grill for different things. Bacon on Sat was getting away from me, and pancakes were a challenge. The Sunday cook was not quite as challenging, but still had to really keep an eye on things to make sure I finished everything close to each other. So far, I either get it too hot or not quite hot enough and have to play with the knobs some during the cook. I'm definitely grateful I purchased an IR gun for reading the surface temps!Last edited by dpearce; October 5, 2026, 08:58 AM.Comment
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One of my favorite things to cook is the smoked mac & cheese from the free side. I change it up a bit by adding sausage and using cavatappi pasta instead of elbow macaroni. (I also add in 4% of sodium citrate by weight of the cheese to get the most creamy sauce.)
Typically, I use andouille for this, but I used spicy hickory smoked Conecuh sausage this time. I'm really not sure which one I prefer. The Conecuh has a much more pronounced smoke flavor; however, you have to cook it and I think I charred these a bit too much. I like reasonable amount of char on a hot dog, but it kinda made this taste a bit off. Also, I typically do half sharp cheddar and half colby, but HEB was out of Colby, so I used a Colby/Monterrey Jack blend. The Jack definitely melted easier, but it is such a mild cheese I didn't overly care for it. It also makes the cheese sauce look whiteish rather than yellow. (I grew up on Stouffer's so mac & cheese is supposed to be quite yellow!)
Topping is panko sprayed with fake butter spray (I ran out of actual butter)....turned out just fine and is easier than melting butter and mixing with the panko.
Always, always a liberal dosing of cayenne.
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HotSun Yeah, the Monterrey Jack made it look like a cream sauce....which doesn't....look right.
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