"Big Ol' Mess" Recipe

Here's something that easy to make, great for serving a large group, and always a crowd pleaser.  Plus, it's an entire meal in itself.

It's called the "Big Ol' Mess" because that's what it looks like when you're done.  But looks can be deceiving.  I got the recipe from the Marlboro Cookbook but have made some changes over the years.

It's a smoked sausage in spicy sweet sauce that can be cooked in the kitchen on the stovetop, outside on the grill, and even over a campfire.  The best place is a tailgate party.  The reason is you can cook it the day before and refrigerate it, then reheat in the parking lot.

I start with 3 lbs of sausage.  I usually will do 3 different types.  You can do all the same type if you want.  I like to mix it up so you get different flavors and textures when you're eating.

Here are some to consider.

Kielbasa: A smoked Polish sausage made with pork and/or beef and flavored with garlic, pimento, and cloves.

Louisiana Andouille:  A spicy smoked Cajun sausage that's used in jambalaya and gumbo.

French Andouille:  Similar to the Louisiana but much less spicy.  If you're worried about the heat this recipe might not be your cup of tea, but let's move on.

Bratwurst:  A chunky German farmer's sausage.

Bockwurst:  A mild German sausage made with veal, pork, milk, and eggs, and seasoned with chives and parsley.  Another one for the faint at heart.

Mexican Chorizo:  Fresh pork mixed with lots of spices. 

Italian Sausage:  A pork sausage that's flavored with garlic, fennel seed, and crushed chile peppers.

Let's get to the cooking.

I start with a large aluminum foil pan. The size depends on how many people you're cooking for and how hungry they are.

I have 1 lb of Kielbasa, 1 lb of Mexican Chorizo, and 1 lb of Italian Sausage.  I cut them all into bite-sized chunks and put all of them in the pan.

Now come the 6 medium sized Jalapenos.  I do a medium dice on these and leave the seeds in.  Again, if you're making this for the first time you might take the seeds out.  Into the pan they go.

3 Bell Peppers.  I like one green, one yellow, and one red.  With these you do take the seeds and the white ribs out.  A medium dice and into the pan.

3 sweet onions, medium dice, into the pan.  By now you might have noticed how easy this recipe is.  Everything's going to cook down so you don't really need any fancy knife work.

6 ears of corn on the cob.  Remove the husk and silk, quarter each one and add to the pan.

2 lbs of small fingerling potatoes, quartered and into the pan.

In a mixing bowl pour in 30 oz of Kikkoman Sweet and Sour sauce and

1 ½ cups of Tabasco sauce.  Give this a stir and pour it over everything in the pan. 

Open two 12 oz cans of Budweiser beer (not the light stuff).  Set one aside and pour the other one into the pan.

Now take a large mixing spoon and give the mess a stir.  Seal the pan with heavy duty foil and crimp around the edges.  Put the pan on a medium heat.  You want to get it up to a good simmer (but not a boil). 

Sit down and start drinking the other beer.  I told you it was easy.  And when this gets going the smell will have the neighbors coming out of their houses to see what's cooking.

Total cooking time is 45 minutes.  Every 10 minutes open the foil and give everything a stir.  We don't want anything to stick to the bottom.  Seal it back up and continue cooking.

Once it's done take it off the heat and remove the foil.  It should look something like this.

Give it one more stir and put it on the table.  I serve it with a couple of loaves of French baguettes and soft butter.  You could put it over steamed white rice if you want to.

Have everybody open a beer and dig in.  You can drink a red wine with this but it's really, really, really good with beer.

Restaurant Review (Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que)

If you don't live in Southern California, Arizona, or Nevada you are missing some pretty great BBQ.

The story goes that after World War II Lucille and her husband Joe opened their first restaurant in Long Beach, California using Lucille's grandmother's recipes.  And these recipes knocked me out.

www.lucillesbbq.com

We headed out with the family to the restaurant in Temecula, California.  When I got out of the car I could smell the smoke from the parking lot.  And it was calling to me.

When we walked in I saw a giant smoker in the middle of the restaurant.  I want one of these but my wife won't let me put one in our house.

And when they open the door of the smoker the smell permeates the place and is unbelievable.



We started with an appetizer called "Lucille's Onion Straws"

These are a mound of buttermilk battered deep fried onions that come with a BBQ ranch dressing.  You could almost make an entire meal of these with a beer.  But I was looking for some ribs.

The way to tell if ribs are done is you take hold of the bone and lightly pull the meat.  It should come off of the bone easily (fall off the bone done).  And that's the way they do it here.

I ordered the beef ribs.  You can order either 3, 5, or 7 ribs.  I went with five thinking we could all share.  That didn't really happen.  I picked these guys up with my hands and got medieval.  What?  Eat ribs with a knife and fork, you say?  You've got to be kidding me.

Their beef ribs are prepared with a proprietary spice rub, slow cooked with hickory smoke, then covered with Lucille's BBQ sauce.  You can order them dry with the sauce on the side but that's a little too dainty for me. 

They have three different sauces you can choose from.  I went with the original which is a Carolina style (tomato based with molasses, cider vinegar, and a secret spice blend). 

They also have a Hot & Spicy (it's Lucille's original but with big doses of garlic, hot sauce, and hot peppers) and a Memphis style (onions, garlic, cider vinegar, dark brown sugar, molasses, and Worcestershire).

All three are terrific and my beef ribs are gone.

On the other side of the table were two full rack of baby back ribs.  Now mind you I had just put away 4 monster sized beef ribs (yes, I ordered five but I sent the fifth one around the table for everyone to taste), but I had to give these a try.

The baby back ribs are also slow cooked with hickory smoke and smothered in original sauce.  Again the meat fell off the bones and now I not only have even more BBQ sauce on my face but the juices are running down my arms.  There are not enough napkins to contain it.  Luckily they folks who work here know these things and show up with hot towels.

I'm not usually big on dessert but I decided to try the "Chris' Famous Bread Pudding" and I'm glad I did.

This bread pudding is done with sourdough bread, peaches, pecans, sweet custard, and topped with a warm bourbon sauce.  I had to remind myself that it's okay to pick up the ribs with your hands and eat them but I shouldn't pick up this plate and lick it.  I didn't... but I wanted to.

I suggest you give Lucille's a try if you can.  And just in case you're not into ribs (I can't believe I just said that) they also do a smoked BBQ half chicken, Texas style beef brisket, BBQ Tri Tip, pan blackened catfish, grilled or smoked salmon, Angus beef New York steak, marinated sirloin, Jambalaya... you get the idea.  Something for everybody.  They even have a gluten free menu. 

So what are you waiting for?  You know you want it.

Tea Smoked Duck

More and more I'm all about smoked meats.  Recently someone mentioned tea smoked duck and I thought I'd give it a go.  I've never cooked duck before but  I've had Duck a l'Orange, so I wondered if I could someway infuse the orange into the ducks without having to make the sauce.

First things first, I need a couple of ducks.  Ducks are usually 5 to 6 lbs so I thought I'd start with two.  That's because if it turns out good we'll all eat a lot.  The other reason is that if a screw something up hopefully one of them will be salvageable.

So I send my wife off to the local Chinese market.  And talk about fresh, these guys were killed, gutted, and defeathered while she was waiting.  Now that's service!

They were both right at 6 pounds.

That's my best duck face.  Now, off with their heads!  How French is that?

I planned to do an overnight brine.  I brined them separately using plastic trash bags tied in a knot.  They wouldn't fit into zip lock bags.

In each bag went:

1 tbs kosher salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black pepper
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
1 small white onion (cut into 8 wedges)
1 cup of Madeira wine
1 cup of chicken stock
1 chopped carrot
1 chopped celery rib
4 oranges halved
1 pint of orange juice.

Into the refrigerator they went.

The next day (about 14 hours later) I took them out of the brine and put them on the counter to come up to close to room temperature.  I scored the skin with a fork.  This is to give the rendering fat a place to exit.  I was careful not to cut into the meat because that can make it very dry.

I didn't have enough room to hang them in the smoker so I used my beer can chicken colonoscopy stands.  Instead of beer I had the cans filled with orange juice.

Instead of being smart and buying loose tea I bought 3 boxes of tea bags.  I'm such an idiot.  So there I was cutting each tea bag open to get the tea out.  60 bags later I had enough to start with.

I put the tea in a small aluminum loaf pan with just enough water to make it damp.  I use the same pans when smoking with wood.  They hold up to the heat and after you're done and it's cooled off you can just throw them away.

So the charcoal is up to 250 degrees and we're off to the races.  The tea put out an amazing volume of smoke... but only for about 10 minutes.  That's when I switched to apple wood that had been soaked in orange juice.  Any type of fruit wood will work.

Because I have a side smoker I rotated the ducks about every 20 minutes.

At about 4 hours I had 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer.  I doubled the charcoal and got the heat up to 475 degrees real fast to get the skin good and brown.  15 minutes later they were at 170 degrees and done.

It was a hit.  The skin was crisp and the meat succulent.  The scoring helped render out enough fat so it wasn't greasy.  I was afraid that I had over done it with all the orange components but surprisingly enough there was just a very mild orange/apple taste to it.

I served with with baked white asparagus wrapped in center cut bacon and mashed potatoes.

There were no left overs.

I plan to do some other recipes using duck but from now on I'm only going to buy breasts and legs. 

What Not To Eat

Let's start with what you should eat, then move onto what you shouldn't.

The Food Pyramid was first developed in Sweden in 1974.  The USDA started using it in 1992.  It was touted to be the gold standard on what to eat.

Over the years there were a lot of talk that it wasn't all that good for us to follow so in 2011 the USDA came out with ChooseMyPlate.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov

This version is more realistic and a lot easier to follow.  The website also has a ton of good information.

When trying to eat right is good to use the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance sometimes referred to as Recommended Daily Allowance) as a guide.  It is defined as "the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (approximately 98 percent) healthy individuals".  For people with medical problems they need to follow the advise of their doctor which may be different from the RDA. 

Anyway, for healthy individuals here's the breakdown:

The recommended calorie amount for inactive males between the ages of 14 to 50 is 2,200 calories per day, and 3,000 if active.  After the age of 50, calorie requirements for men fall to between 2,000 and 2,800 depending on the level of activity.

Active females between the ages of 14 and 50 should consume 2,400 calories per day; inactive females of the same age 1,800 calories each day.  Inactive females over the age of 51 should consume 1,600 calories per day; active females should consume 2,200 calories per day.

The RDA for sodium is currently no more than 2.3 grams (2,300 mg) of sodium daily.  That is equivalent to about 1 tsp. of salt a day.  According to MayoClinic.com, the children's RDAs for sodium are the following: ages 2 to 3, 1,000 mg; ages 4 to 8, 1,200 mg; and ages 9 to 18, 1,500 mg.

The USDA recommends that healthy adults over the age of 19 consume between 20 and 35 percent of their daily calories from fat.  Young children (ages 1 to 3 years) need as much as 40 percent of their daily calories to come from fat.  If you eat a diet of 2,000 calories per day, ingest between 44 g and 77 g of total fat daily.

To reduce the risk of disease, women should eat no more than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) of sugar a day.  Men should limit intake to 37.5 grams (9 teaspoons) a day.  Children should also keep sugar intake to 6 grams or less per day.

A lot of emphasis has been on how bad fast food is for us.  Because of this some of the major chains now show more dietary information on their menus.

But the bad news if that some sit-down restaurants aren't all that good either. 

Here are some examples:

Johnny Rockets' bacon cheddar double burger.  This burger meal served with sweet potato fries and a Big Apple shake has 3,500 calories, 88 grams of saturated fat, 3,720 milligrams of sodium and, 15 teaspoons of sugar. 

The Cheesecake Factory's Bistro shrimp pasta.  This dish of crispy battered shrimp, fresh mushrooms and arugula tossed with spaghetti in a basil-garlic-lemon cream sauce has 3,120 calories, 89 grams of saturated fat, and 1,090 milligrams of sodium.

Cheesecake Factory's crispy chicken costoletta.  This lightly breaded and sautéed chicken breast served with lemon sauce, mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus has 2,610 calories and 4½ days' worth of saturated fat.

IHOP's country fried steak and eggs.  This breakfast dish has 1,760 calories, 23 grams of saturated fat, 3,720 milligrams of salt and 11 teaspoons worth of sugar.

Maggiano's Little Italy's veal porterhouse.  This veal dish with roasted garlic, caramelized onions and lemon with crispy red potatoes has 2,710 calories, 45 grams of saturated fat, and 3,700 milligrams of sodium.

Maggiano's Little Italy's chocolate zuccotto cake.  This rich desert dish has 1,820 calories, 62 grams of saturated fat, and 26 teaspoons of sugar.

Smoothie King's peanut power plus grape smoothie.  It may sound healthy, but this 40-ounce drink has 1,460 calories and 22 teaspoons of sugar.

Chili's full rack of baby back ribs with Shiner Bock BBQ sauce.  This dinner meal that comes with homestyle fried and cinnamon apples has 2,330 calories, 45 grams of saturated fat, and 6,490 milligrams of salt.



Uno Chicago Grill's deep dish macaroni.  This 3-cheese dish has 1,980 calories, 71 grams of saturated fat, and 3,110 milligrams of sodium.

The reason I bring all this up is that we need to do a little research when we go out to eat.  We don't need to consume an entire days calories in just one meal.

All restaurants, both sit down and fast food, have menus that show the nutritional breakdowns of their meals.  And many even list meals that are approved by the American Heart Association. 

You usually have to ask to see these menus. 

So ask already. 

Smoked Turkey

This last Thanksgiving was at the Los Angeles City Firehouse 61. 

My son-in-law, Stan, was on duty.  My wife, Kim, and our daughter, Katie, and I were invited to the pot luck.

Four of the guys at the firehouse and myself each cooked a turkey.  To give everyone some variety we all cooked them differently.

I've done a lot of turkeys over the years.  Usually they were baked in the oven and a few were even deep fried, but this year I decided to smoke one.

After defrosting the turkey in the refrigerator I gave it a wash then dried it with paper towels.  Now for the brine.

And not just any brine but one by Emeril Lagasse because I wanted to kick it up a notch.

In a large plastic bag I put one gallon of cold water, 2 minced jalapenos with their seeds, 2 oranges cut in half, 3/4 cup of fresh orange juice, 1 cup of lemon juice, 1 cup of chopped yellow onions, 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1 cup of kosher salt, 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro leaves, 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of dried Mexican oregano, and finally 1 tablespoon of Emeril's Original Essence.  BAM!

After mixing it all together I put mister turkey in the bag, sealed it up, and put it in the refrigerator for 3 days.  Twice a day I would turn the turkey over ensure it was evenly marinated.  I'm never really happy with the white meat on a turkey.  It's usually too dry with not much taste.  That's why I did the brine for 3 days.  Turkey skin is pretty thick and I wanted to make sure the marinate penetrated all the way in.

Thanksgiving morning I took the turkey out of the brine and wrapped it in bacon.  That's right, bacon.

I had planned to smoke it at home nice and slow for about 8 hours.  The problem is we were going to leave for the firehouse at 1:00 pm.  That means it had to go in the smoke at 4:30 am.  Gee, this sure sounded like a good idea the night before.

So there I am at 3:30 in the morning, a shot of Jameson in my coffee, getting the charcoal going.  I had one pan of cherry wood chips soaked in apple juice for the smoke and another pan of apple juice for the steam.

I had the smoke going the entire time and kept the heat between 200 and 225 degrees.  After 7 hours I took the bacon off and threw it away.  That was a heart breaker.  Throwing away bacon.  

For the last hour I increased the heat to 275 degrees.

At 8 hours and 20 minutes I had 165 degrees on my instant read thermometer.  I put the turkey in a covered roasting pan and we were on the road.



There was a lot of food.  Everybody brought something and it was all great.  All 5 turkeys got great reviews.  I was really happy with mine.  The white meat was very moist and had the flavor of the marinate and the smoke.

And, yes, twice during dinner the alarm went off and the guys headed out with lights and sirens.  But that's the nature of the business.