Petite Fillet with Garlic Peppercorn Sauce

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Let's get the recipe out of the way first since people hate scrolling through the typical food blogger stuff to get to the recipe. This is a simple white sauce variation that is creamy, savory, and as the name implies - it has a peppery kick.

Mini-Surf and Turf - Petite fillet with creamy peppercorn sauce, snow crab legs, and asparagus.

Bahamian Pork Chops with Pineapple Herb Sauce

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"That's the best pork chop I've ever had!" my wife exclaimed.

Bahamian Pork Chops with Pineapple Herb Sauce
Salt and Vinegar Roasted Potatoes
Gold Rum Glazed Carrots

But big news, first. Two members of the Nibble Me This grilling team got married in December! My sister, Rhonda, and Sean tied the knot in a family wedding on Exuma in the Bahamas. 

NMT Grilling Team members Rhonda and Sean getting married on Jolly Beach on Exuma in the Bahamas.

Brisket, Butts, and Chicken Cook 4 October 2024

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Is this thing still on? 

I noticed our freezer stock of BBQ was looking a bit bare.  So, last weekend, I fired up my big smoker to smoke a brisket, two pork butts, and some chicken. 

Here are some notes from that cook. I hadn't been cooking a lot so this time, I was trying to use up a lot of products that I had on hand.

Meat Prep

• Brisket - 
• Meat - It was a 17.44 lb USDA Choice brisket that I wet aged for 28 days. I prefer CAB briskets but with the cost of beef these days, I buy what I can get for a decent price that looks good.
• Trim - Minimal trimming, just enough to get the fat cap about 1/4" thick and to achieve an aerodynamic shape so the smoke flows over it. If I was cooking this on a Big Green Egg I would have gone with the competition trim and split the point and flat sections.
• Injection - I used Butcher's Original Brisket injection. I used that mostly for competitions. At home, I'll often just use seasoned stock or nothing at all. 
• Seasoning - I gave the whole trimmed and injected brisket a 12-hour dry brine. I used Four 41 South's Fat Henry's Classic and Gentry's Beef Brigade. I put that on a tray and rack, covered it with a plastic food bag and stuck it in the fridge.

Rue Morgue Burger - A Bunless Burger Delight

The Beef Rue Morgue is a wild bunless burger that starts with a bed of crispy golden fries. Then it is layered with Edgar’s drunken chili, queso, a thick burger, and topped with a perfect sunny-side-up egg.

This is my version of the Beef Rue Morgue, one of the fabulous burgers served at Poe’s Tavern in Atlantic Beach, FL. Any trip back home isn’t complete for me without a trip to this Edgar Allen Poe-themed tavern because of its killer burger lineup.

Crispy fries, drunken chili, creamy queso, and a perfectly cooked burger with a sunny-side-up egg on top...yes, please!

You don’t need a recipe for a burger, but here’s what I was thinking and what I did to make mine tasty and delicious like theirs.

Of course, I cooked mine on a Big Green Egg grill but a flat top would be good too.

Gorgonzola and Roasted Garlic Sauce for Steaks, Beef Roasts, and Burgers

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This is the recipe for the sauce that we served with reverse-seared beef tenderloin at the 2023 Chain of Lakes Eggfest. We won 1st place there and this sauce was definitely one of the reasons that we did so well. A lot of folks asked for this recipe so here it is. 

About Gorgonzola Sauce

This sauce is rich in texture and flavor. Loaded with heavy cream, the sauce is like velvet. It has the flavor trifecta with gorgonzola cheese, green peppercorn, and roasted garlic. It is excellent on:

• Beef roasts, such as beef tenderloin or rib roasts,
• Steaks, including ribeye, porterhouse, strip and filet, and
• Big juicy burgers!

Green Peppercorns

Green peppercorns are just black peppercorns that aren't sun-dried. 

• Green peppercorns have a fragrant aroma and have a more fruity flavor.
• Green peppercorns have less heat and are less astringent in flavor than black peppercorns.
• Green peppercorns are more tender, so I crush mine in a mortar and pestle to get rustic, coarse bits for my sauce.
• Substitute - If you can't find green peppercorns (I mail order ours), you can probably find those little pepper grinders full of tri-color pepper in any grocery store. Coarsely ground tri-color pepper will work, just dial back the quantity to about 1 teaspoon.

Here's the recipe.

Appetizer Idea: Fried Mashed Potato Cakes with Brisket and Pimento Cheese

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I smoked a brisket last weekend and while it was tender, delicious, and amazing, that is just the start of this post.

One night last week, I made twice-baked potatoes with some of this tasty brisket and leftover pimento cheese that Alexis had made.

Twice-Baked Potatoes

The process is simple. 

• I baked two large Idaho bakers on the Egg until they were tender. 
• I sliced the top off and scoops the steaming potato pulp into a large bowl. 
• There I added about a cup of chopped brisket and a heaping amount of pimento cheese. 
• I stuffed most of this mix back into the potato shells.

I put the potatoes on a tray into a Big Green Egg set up for indirect heat and running at 350°f. I topped them with a few pats of butter and let them run for 20 minutes.

2023 Chain of Lakes Eggfest

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Once again, I'm super proud of the Nibble Me This grilling team. Last weekend, we cooked in the 2023 Chain of Lakes Eggfest and the hungry crowds voted us as the 2023 Champions.

I couldn't ask to cook with a better group of friends and family.

But even better, this grilled food festival is an annual fund-raiser hosted by Mannix Pools and Grills for Girls Inc. and the local Boys and Girls Club. The top 3 placing teams - TromboKing, Pork's Peak, and Nibble Me This - not only donated our cash prizes back to the charities but the 3 teams also MATCHED that with an additional donation, totaling $5,000 extra for the two clubs.

Here is a look back at the event.

Planning

Before we light the first fire, Rhonda (team captain and my sister) and I plan it all out.

• What to serve - We look at things that are crowd favorites, can be prepped ahead of time, and have short cook times so we can keep the food coming out.
• How much to serve - We create a demand forecast by taking the number of ticket presales and typically double that to account for walk-up sales.
• What to take - We coordinate our equipment & supplies lists so that team members bring everything we need but not 2 and 3 of everything since space is a premium.

Pre-Prep

Since we only have 2 hours before gates open on the event day, we have to smoke our green chile-seasoned pork butts during the week. Rhonda did two of these for Jordan's Drunk Pickles and I did one for the Smoked Pork Taquitos.

Eight-pound pork butt seasoned with Albukirky's Green Chile Seasoning. For smoke, I used Jealous Devil Smoke Wood blocks that I cut down to cubes for the kamado grill. I used the Thermoworks Signal with a Billows fan to run the Big Green Egg grill at 250°f.
Thermoworks Signal [Affiliate Link] (currently $59 off)
Thermoworks Billows [Affiliate Link]