Silk Purse From A Sow's Ear . . .

JJC · January 08, 2005, 04:36:19 AM

Hi All,

Just had one of those "zen" moments . . .

I decided to smoke some shredded low-fat mozarella cheese, hoping to make a low-fat cheese that I actually could eat. Put the shredded mozarella in small aluminum pans sprayed with PAM and put in the smoker for 2 hr on the top rack, above the pork butt that I was smokin'. Used pecan and had the temp between 200-220. The shredded cheese melted together, and the cheese "brick" came out of the tin easily after cooling in the frig for a few hours. After a few more hours in plastic wrap, I tried it on a cracker. Pretty smoky, but still just low-fat mozzarella at heart. Disappointed, I was ready to chuck the cheese when my wife said "Try it shredded on some Tostito chips next time Jenna [our 15-year-old] asks for nachos." Well, nachos made with this stuff is fantastic! I'm going to try it on home-made pizza next . . .

I was wondering if anyone else had a "silk purse out of a sow's ear" story about smokin'?

John
Newton MA

Chez Bubba · January 09, 2005, 12:07:33 AM

Smoking's roots are tied into turning a sow's ear into a silk purse. Brisket, butt, ribs were all throw-away items until someone figured how to cook them right & make it taste good.

Unfortunately, they taste too damn good & you can't buy it for 40 cents a pound anymore.[:(] Same with the chicken wing phenonema.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

whitetailfan · January 10, 2005, 06:50:05 PM

I've mostly just learned from my mistakes, I have yet to convert a failure into a success such as smoky cheese nachos. But I read in another post that our faithful admin CB had a super spicy batch of ribs (I believe) that was too hot to eat, but made a bang up batch of chili out of it.

whitetailfan
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

JJC · January 11, 2005, 02:17:22 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by whitetailfan
 I've mostly just learned from my mistakes, I have yet to convert a failure into a success such as smoky cheese nachos. But I read in another post that our faithful admin CB had a super spicy batch of ribs (I believe) that was too hot to eat, but made a bang up batch of chili out of it.

whitetailfan
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

John
Newton MA

whitetailfan · January 20, 2005, 04:19:00 PM

This doesn't exactly match the category exactly, but I didn't want to start a new thread. Anyway we did pulled pork last week, and after two leftover meals of sandwiches, Whitetail Doe came up with a plan.

We used the meat on a homemade pizza and it was really good.
We have been mimicking a local restaurant using alfredo sauce instead of pizza sauce when you have spicy meat (cajun chicken for example), and used that on this project. Very tasty use of the last bit of barbecue for those of us who have not figured out exactly what an ABT looks or tastes like...

"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

MallardWacker · January 20, 2005, 05:28:59 PM

White,

I always get this idea AFTER the meat is gone. Probably a Pollock thing[^]. But I have a BIG hankering for long, slow baked beans with a pile of shredded pork in it while I was smoking something else.. I'm doing some Beef Ribs this friday and I would love to put a pan in with ribs. But no extra meat[V]. Just a thought to save some.

Stay warm bud.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

BigSmoker · January 20, 2005, 05:38:53 PM

WTF,
I make pizzas on my ceramic cooker quite a bit. Very good. I like to do this. Smoke Mistress makes a homemade whole wheat crust. Spread a sweet Q sauce on the crust(add some finely chopped smoked garlic to the sauce if you wish). Sprinkle sauce with what ever rub you smoked the butt with. Spread sauteed' onions and mushrooms next then the pork. Finish it with some fresh mozzarella cut into even slices and some shredded extra sharp cheddar. Bake at 425°f until cheese is bubbly[:p][:p][:p].

Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com

[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

MallardWacker · January 21, 2005, 03:04:01 PM

Jeff, Like this. Man this looks good..

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

BigSmoker · January 21, 2005, 04:11:07 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MallardWacker
 Jeff, Like this. Man this looks good..

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yep. I will probally cook a few pizzas this weekend. I had porterhouse last night so I have some yummy tri-tip left to make a nice cheese steak style pizza with[:p][:p].

Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com

[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

RhinoDoc · January 22, 2005, 02:46:13 AM

[quoteI have a BIG hankering for long, slow baked beans with a pile of shredded pork in it
[/quote]

I saved my old Brinkman cookbook, and one of our favorite recipes in it was for "Chuckwagon beans." You take a large can of Van Camps pork and beans, add a chopped onion, about 3-4 tbs brown sugar, some dry mustard, about 1/4 cup catsup and smoke it for about 3 hours. Pretty tasty, and you can vary the brown sugar and catsup to taste.

Pete

JJC · January 22, 2005, 03:20:08 AM

Stop it! You guys are killin' me! [:p][:p][:p]

My "kids" (20 and 22 years old) finished off the tri-tip a la Jeff last night, the T-shirt ham is reserved for tomorrow night, and the BB is in the smoker right now. Basically, I'm out of smoked food and as if reading the recipes wseren't hard enough, I have to look at pics, too? Give me a break . . . [:D]

John
Newton MA

nsxbill · January 22, 2005, 04:09:46 AM

Jeff,

I have a two shelf pizza oven from a company in Canada called MKE. Little 220V unit that will take two 16" pizzas and go to about 700°-750° (if I want to go that hot.) I love Pizza, but staying away from it presently.

The best pizza I ever had was one I did on my gas grill. Did my usual crust, then cooked one side on the grill, rotating every minute about 15° clockwise. When it was nice and browned, the rush begins over the hot gas burner. Flip the cooked size up, add the goodies and rotate every minute, again about 15°. Cook until the cheese is melted, Makes a great pizza every time.

For the last couple of years, I make up little 8" ones in a prep machine called a DoughPro. I have one of them that just flattens dough balls to 8" flats and the little one that does the parbaked little 8" pizzas with a little lip on them, and I freeze the batch for future use. Usually a double batch allows me to make 24 of them. When we want pizza now, I just take out of the freezer, add the sauce, cheese, meat and veggies and into the pizza oven. It is the perfect size for a more healthy size pizza and is great for pre-prep for parties. I helped a friend out recently and did up 40 of them for a party at his home. Just put out lots of different ingredients for everyone and everyone made their own little pizza. Worked great!

Love to do some little pizzas with smoked eggplant, maybe smoked cheeze and smoke veggies along with some julienned bacon wrapped chicken breast prepared in the BS.

Bill

humpa · January 22, 2005, 08:06:44 PM

OK....pizza is in my blood!!! Next time you want a good pizza, try this one. I use a pizza stone with oven at 500 deg. First put some cheese on the doe and cook it till crust is nice and crisp. Next cut up some fresh lettuce, tomato and bacon(cooked). Toss all with very little mayo and put it right on the pizza. Cut and serve the best BLT pizza ever. It gets rave reviews from all my friends.

Hey Doc...I'm down to 2 racks a day!!!

humpa · January 22, 2005, 08:21:45 PM

I'm from Boston and was brought up on thin crust pizza. I do mine like this for the extreme crunchy North End Pizza. First lay out crust as thin as you can make it. "Paint" on sauce very thin as possible. Sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of cheese and put it on a pizza stone at 500 deg. When the cheese just starts turning brown, remove it and let it cool for 5 min. Now you have the base to work with. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sauce and 34 cup of cheese. Back in the oven until cheese is melted and crust is brown. (about 6-8 min) I promise this will be the best pizza ever. I make 30 every Friday night at a local club. Let me know if you like it...enjoy!!!!

Hey Doc...I'm down to 2 racks a day!!!

BigSmoker · January 24, 2005, 04:36:01 PM

This thread has been kinda highjacked but as long as we're talking pizza...

Last night the two best pizzas ever made were basically consumed and the pics were taken fighting off the hungry family. They were a whole wheat thin crust. The first was mederterainian(sp). It started with sun-dried tomato pesto spread on the crust then black and green olives, whole leaf baby spinich, sauteed baby bellas and sweet onions, roasted garlic, more sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, fresh mozarella and shreaded 7 cheese Italian. Number 2 was sour cream first spread on the crust, more of the sauteed onions and shrooms, chopped left over tri-tip, crushed caraway seeds, fresh mozearella and a mixture of some shreaded colby jack and the 7 cheese Italian. I cooked the pizzas on an aluminum perforated pan.

Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com

[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.