The Big Mouth BBQ Burger

As burger month rolls on this week’s inspiration does not come from a local burger joint but my new sweet BBQ sauce. Besides, what’s the point of having a blog if I can’t shamelessly self promote my new products, I’ve got to create some hype.  The new sauce will be available soon but for now it’s back to the burgers.

BBQ Burger with Onion Straws

The BBQ Burger

8 – Quarter pound organic beef patties

8 - Slices of sharp cheddar cheese

4 - Fresh Kaiser rolls

8 – Slices of bacon

2 – Large Onions- thinly sliced

½ - Cup of Cornstarch

AlbuKirky Seasonings BBQ Rub & Sauce

I started by weighing out the beef in quarter pounds in balls and formed them into patties.  On one side of each patty I made an indentation to help keep the patties flat during cooking.  Then seasoned the patties with my BBQ rub and set them aside while I started the charcoal.

Cooking Burgers on the Big Green Egg 

For a real BBQ flavor I cooked these burger over mesquite charcoal in the Big Green Egg.  I cooked the patties at 450-500 for about 10 minutes, to an internal temp of 130º.  When I flipped the patties I poured some BBQ sauce over the top and allowed it to cook into the meat.  A few minutes before the patties were done I topped them with the cheddar cheese and cooked for a few more minutes until the cheese has melted.

Frying Onion Staws

Now for the onion straws, I sliced to onions into very thin strips and dredged with cornstarch and added some BBQ Rub. The onions were then fried in 375º oil for 2-3 min until golden brown. These straws were so tasty right out of the fryer I almost didn’t have enough for the burgers. Since I had disc full of hot oil I dropped my bacon in the oil and fried it up.

With everything cooked it was time to assemble these beefy behemoth burgers.  I started with the fresh Kaiser bun and added the beef patties that were just dripping with cheese, the added the bacon and then topped with a big pile of onion straws.  After all that I drizzled the entire burger with the sweet BBQ sauce.  Then I capped with the other half of the bun. 

BBQ Burger

Now for the hard part, getting this tasty tower of a sandwich into my mouth.  Actually, I have a double-jointed jaw that I can dislocate to fit large bites of food into my mouth.  Once I did get my first bite of this burger it was just spectacular. The smoky beef patties, the sweet bbq sauce, the crunch of the bacon and crispy straws this burger was just a mountain of flavors.  Man was it good.  I’ve got a few more burgers to do this month, but I think this one is going to be tough to beat.

Holy Cow!

May is National Hamburger Month and I couldn't be more excited.  I love burgers, they are one of my all time favorite foods.   To celebrate America's beefy sandwich I'm going eat and cook burgers all month long.  I will probably need to start taking cholesterol medication as a result, but that's the lengths I'm willing to go to for quality blog content.
As part of the burger celebration I will be visiting some of favorite local burger joints for for some inspiration and then recreating my version of the burger at home.  Sounds like fun, huh? 

The Holy Cow Burger with Bacon Wings!

The first burger joint on my list is Holy Cow. If there is one word to describe the Holy Cow burgers it would be, FRESH!  From the buns to the toppings everything is fresh. But what really sets their burgers apart is the thick patty of grass feed beef. It has a rich beef flavor that has a slightly sweet taste that is just fantastic!  Add a couple of long thick strips of apple wood smoked bacon and a fried egg and you've got yourself a burger to die for.

Cooking Burgers on the BGE over Mesquite Charcoal

After devouring my Holy Cow burger I went out shopping for my burger ingredients with one thought in mind, FRESH.  I picked up a package of bakery buns the ripest, best looking produce I could find. Yet, finding the grass feed beef was a bit of challenge so I settled for organic, hormone free, ground beef, fortunately it had the 85-15 lean to fat ratio I was looking for.  Now I don't normally buy organic beef, but this stuff was really good. It cooked up really well and had a rich beef flavor that I was looking for.

Topping the Burgers with Blue Cheese

What I really love about the Holy Cow Burgers is the big thick patty that showcases the quality beef.  I also wanted the quality beef to be the star of this show so I formed it into thick 1/2 lbs patties and seasoned them with my Red Chile BBQ Rub.  As for cooking the behemoths, I loaded up the Big Green Egg with mesquite charcoal and fired it up to about 500º.  I cooked the patties for about 15 minutes to an internal temp of 130º. They cooked up perfecty with a nice brown crust on the outside with a pink and juicy middle.

My version of the Holy Cow

I pulled the burgers of the egg and topped them with heaping spoon full of blue cheese and allowed the cheese to melt and the meat to rest for a few minutes.   I assembled my burger and topped it with a couple of strips of my homemade bacon.  And don't think for a minute I was skimping on my bacon, after that photo was taken I added two more strips.  My lovely wife Cheryl was kind enough to cook up a batch of hand cut fries to accompany our fresh burgers.  After a few more photos it was time to sink my teeth into this beefy creation.  Oh man, was is good, the fresh bun, the homemade bacon, and that big thick patty of quality beef cooked over mesquite charcoal made it one of the best burgers I have ever grilled.  So when your grilling up some burgers this summer, remember "Fresh is best".

Coming Soon....A New Sauce!

Summer is coming...and we have been getting ready for it.  Since the Fiery Foods & BBQ Show I have been working with a distributor to get my products into a couple of high end grocery store chains.  I'm really exciting about taking my business to the next level.  There is one little problem, my sauce contains the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.  I have been wanting to do a sweeter, more traditional BBQ sauce for a while and this was the perfect opportunity to make it work.

New AlbuKirky Sweet & Spicy Sauce!!

I have been playing around with a recipe in my head for a couple of years but it was time to make it a reality.  I waited for Cheryl to go to work, I didn't need anyone, even my lovely wife, distracting me from my mission.  To be honest, I'm a very messy cook and I didn't want Cheryl to see the disaster I was about to unleash in the kitchen.  So after several hours of measuring, weighing and tasting, my new sauce recipe was ready.  The new sauce is sweeter and less tangy than my original sauce, but the star of the show is still the Red Chile BBQ Rub.

My mise en place needs work

Actually coming up with the recipe was the easy part, now the hard work begins.  We'll be cooking up a 30 gallon test batch next week with our co-packer to finalize the recipe.  If all goes well, I expect to have bottles for sale by Memorial Day weekend.  I'll keep you all posted on our progress, just visit my Facebook page for updates.

Fun With Video

I know you have all been waiting with baited breath this, my first cooking video.  I decided to keep it simple and cook something basic and get used to the camera. I have to say it was a lot of fun and you will be seeing more videos from me.  Below is the wonderful salad my lovely wife/camera woman Cheryl made with our grilled chicken.

Salad with Grilled Chicken

Summer is coming so stock up on Green Chile Rub and our other great seasonings and sauce!  Click on the pic to visit our online store.  Use the promo code "SPRING" and save 10% on your order.

I Had An Eat-Piphany!

I've been AWOL again but I'm back.  I don't want to bore you with details of my failed leg of "lame" Easter Dinner.  Or drone on about replacing the gasket and hinge assembly on my Big Green Egg.  Nope, I'm just going to share with you my latest plan to get this blog back on track.

The Eat-Piphany Jar

For months, I have been keeping a list of all my great cooking ideas on my iPhone.  If I see a great recipe on TV, eat something that I really like, or have an honest to god epiphany,  I add it to the ever growing list.  The problem is all of my great ideas are just binary code sitting on a memory chip.  They have yet to make it to my plate and ultimately my belly.  To help my ideas see the light of day, I have printed my list and cut it into small strips and placed them in the Eat-piphany jar.  So when Thursday rolls around and I don't have anything planned for Sunday dinner, I will pull out an eat-piphany and that's what I'll cook.

Here's the best part, you can submit your own eat-piphanies and if I use them I will give you a free bottle of rub, any flavor you would like.   Just leave it in the comments or on my Facebook page and I will add it to the jar.  This is a total win-win, I get content and you get a free bottle of AlbuKirky Seasoning's Rub!

Kirby's Krunchy Potatoes

I made another batch of bacon this week; I admit I’m totally obsessed.  But I think I’ve made and eaten enough to somewhat satiate my appetite for the porky treat.  I could bore you with another bacon post but I have decide to spare you the agony and share one of my favorite potato recipes that my mom used to make for me.  I loved this dish as a kid and I think I love it even more as an adult.  It’s simple, delicious and it reminds me of my mom.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Steak & Kirby's Krunchy Potatoes

Kirby’s Krunchy Potatoes

3-4 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin

1 ½  - 2 cups of Cornflakes

1 -1 ½ cups of grated Cheddar Cheese

½ Stick of Melted Butter

AlbuKirky Seasonings SPG

Pour the melted butter in a cookie sheet, spread evenly, then layer the potatoes across the bottom of the pan.  For little extra flavor I drizzled a little jalapeno olive oil over the potatoes before seasoning with my SPG.

Spread the cornflakes over the potatoes

Add the final layer of cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes in a 400º oven. 

Cut, serve and enjoy!

Better Than The Deli Roast Beef

I had a hankering for a really good roast beef sandwich last week.  All I could think about was that rich beef, on a fresh roll with cheese, a good spicy mustard, horseradish and nice au jus to dip it in.  This sandwich practically makes itself, all I had to do was cook up a roast which I’ve had some trouble with cooking in the past.  But I was ready to give it another try; I was not going to let a hunk of beef get the best of me again.

The last couple of roasts I’ve cooked were top rounds, this time I decided to go with a bottom round.  It was bigger, had a really nice marbling throughout the meat and a thick fat cap, all of the qualities I look for in a good brisket.  After cooking the bottom round I think the problem with the previous roasts was the cut, the top round is just too lean for the tenderness and flavor I was looking for.

Smoked Bottom Round Roast

I started by scoring the fat cap, coating the roast with a good olive, then seasoning with my SPG seasoning.  This roast was the perfect application for SPG.  It's a simple seasoning developed to enhances natural beef flavors.  The 4-½ pound roast cooked for about 3 hours at 300º in the Big Green Egg over mesquite charcoal.  When I pulled it off the grill it was 140º, just a tad over my target temp of 130º, but it was acceptable. I should have pulled it off about 15 minutes earlier.  Since I was trying to recreate deli style meat I placed it in the fridge over night.

The next day I pulled the roast from fridge, I took my taste test and was very pleased with my work, but my work was not complete, as it was time to make the au jus.  I sliced the fat cap off and placed it in a stockpot with the beef drippings and simmered it for 10 minutes.  Then I added 4 cups of beef stock to the pot and simmered it down for another 20 minutes.

Au Jus Base 

Once the au jus was done it was time to make the sandwich I had been dreaming about. My dreamy beef sandwich started with a fresh Ciabatta roll, a coating of spicy mustard on one side and creamy horseradish on the other.  Between the bun I layered on the roast beef, a slice of provolone cheese, a few sliced dill pickles and a few leaves of fresh lettuce.

Roast Beef Sandwiches & Kirby's Crunchy Potatoes

Finally, my sandwich was ready. I dipped it in the warm au jus and let the bread drink in the savory broth, then I took that first bite.  It was everything I was hoping for and more.  The roast was perfect, it had a rich, beefy flavor with just a hint of smoke and the SPG was the perfect seasoning for it. The au jus really added another layer of beefy flavor, it was just awesome.  I have since eaten 4 more sandwiches from my roast and there’s still some left, I never get tired of eating a good sandwich.

Makin' Bacon!

For the past two weeks I have been tormenting my Facebook followers with pictures of all the delicious bacon I have been cooking.  Well, bacon and a video of me laying on the floor at the Fiery Foods & BBQ Show.  If you’re not a follower, you really should start because you are missing out on a lot of high quality food porn.  So here it is... the recipe I’ve been promising my Facebook friends for 2 weeks, HOMEMADE BACON!!!

Grillin' Bacon

This bacon cure recipe is from Michael Symon’s book, Carnivore. Of course I put my own spin on it by adding my rub.  I’m sure if Michael had some of my BBQ rub he would use it too.  If you can’t find the curing salt, don’t worry about it. I’ve made two slabs; one with curing salt and the other without and there really is no difference in taste.  The curing salt maintains the color; the kosher salt actually does the curing.

Bacon Cure

Bacon Cure

3 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

1 ½ Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon AlbuKirky Seasonings BBQ Rub

1 Teaspoon Curing Salt (optional)

I started with a 5 lb skinless pork belly and coated it on both sides generously with the curing rub. To make the curing rack for the fridge, I used 2 cookie sheets, a cooling rack, a sheet of parchment paper, 4 paper towels and a heavy lid or a couple of cans.  Lay the paper towels down on the first cookie sheet, then place the cooling rack on top.  Place the belly on top of the cooling rack and cover the belly with a sheet of parchment paper. Set the 2^nd cookie sheet on top and weigh it down with a heavy lid or several soup cans.  Place the whole thing in the fridge for 7 days.  Be sure to change out the paper towels as needed.

Pork Belly prepped and ready for the fridge

 After 7 days of curing, it was time to smoke the bacon.  I filled up my Big Green Egg with mesquite charcoal and a few chunks of maple for added smoke.  I set up the egg for indirect cooking and heated it to 200º.  I placed a drip pan between the plate setter and the grate, then placed the pork belly on the grate.  I tried to keep the heat around 200º so as not to render too much of the fat off the bacon.  After about 3 hours of smoking the slab, it was officially bacon.  The internal temp of the bacon was 160º when I pulled if of the smoker.

Smokin' Bacon

We’re in the home stretch now, after the bacon had cooled I sliced it up and threw it back on the grill to cook and give it another dose of smoke.  I placed what was left of the bacon in a ziplock bag and put in the fridge.  It will last in the fridge for a week, but we all know it will be gone in just a few days.  

Bacon before the final cook

This is the by far best bacon I have ever eaten.  It would best be described as pure bacon flavor...nothing artificial, just the simple taste of bacon, salt and smoke.  If you are a bacon lover you owe it to yourself to make your own.  You may have to call a few butcher shops to find the pork belly, but the extra effort is well worth it.  So get out there and start making some bacon.  Don’t forget to send me some pics!