Kentucky Hot Browns - Yet Again

How was your Thanksgiving?

We traveled to Florida so I didn't get to smoke a turkey this year.  Nor did I have leftover turkey when we got back home.

That's a problem.  If I don't have leftover turkey, how can I have one of my favorite sandwiches ever - the Kentucky Hot Brown?

The Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich with crisp bacon, thin sliced smoked turkey, tomato, and topped with Mornay sauce.  It's all put under the broiler for just a few minutes to make the cheese sauce bubbly and a little charred.

Since I didn't have leftover turkey, I ran to Food City Friday morning and bought their last turkey breast.  I didn't have time to brine so I used an injection instead.

Turkey Injection

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup white wine

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp MSG

1/4 tsp creole seasoning

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Heat all ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat and blend well.  Allow to cool slightly before using.

After injecting the turkey breast, I seasoned the outside heavily with thyme and Lotta Bull's UnBULLevable All Purpose Seasoning.  I smoked it with some cherry wood on the Big Green Egg at 300f for about 2 1/2 hours until it reached an internal temp of 155f.  

Great!  Now I had me some leftover turkey.   Time for Hot Browns.

Alexis works retail in the mall so this weekend (Black Friday) was slammed busy for her and her co-workers.  I surprised them with a batch of these yesterday.

Kentucky Hot Brown

by www.nibblemethis.com

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 45

Ingredients (serves 12)

You'll Need

• 1 loaf Italian bread, sliced on a bias into 12 pieces
• 12 pieces cooked bacon
• 1 1/2 lbs smoked turkey
• 2 tomatoes, sliced

For the Mornay sauce

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp shallot, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, whole slightly crushed
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup mozzarella shredded
• 1/4 cup pecorino romano
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic and saute until the shallot is tender, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly to form a blond roux.
2. Whisk in about a quarter cup of the half/half and whisk until well blended. Add some more, repeat. Then add the remaining half/half. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes.  Remove the garlic clove and discard.
3. Whisk in the cheeses in small batches and stir until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Sauce should be thick.
4. Assemble the sandwiches on a cookie sheet. From the bottom up, you'll use bread, bacon, sliced turkey, tomato slices and then spoon the sauce over it.
5. Stick under a broiler until the Mornay sauce is bubbly and starts to brown.

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You can use a blend of different cheeses but I always like to include some of a salty, nutty cheese like Pecorino Romano or Parmesan.

The sauce needs to be thick enough to cling to a spoon.

Slice the turkey thinly.

Ready to broiler-ize.  Broiler-ate?

One is enough for me, two really fill you up.

These Hot Browns are my favorite Thanksgiving weekend tradition.  Are you finished with your leftovers yet?

Pommes Parisienne

This might be one of our new favorite side dishes and it is just in time for the holidays.  It goes wonderfully with the cherry juice brined pork chops that I grilled tonight but it would be just as great with a prime rib, smoked turkey or ham.

It's a simple recipe.  The prep of the potato balls is the hardest part but it is worth it in the end.  The outer edges get slightly crispy from frying in clarified butter but the insides are fork tender.

Pommes Parisienne

adapted from Rouxbe.com

Cook Time: 20

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 5 lb russet potatoes
• 4 Tbsp clarified butter
• 2 Tbsp roasted red pepper, diced
• 2 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Peel potatoes. Use a melon ball tool to remove 1" balls from the potatoes and place the potato balls in a large bowl of cold water. Save the scraps for mashed potatoes, potato soup, hash browns, etc.
2. Preheat a large saute pan over medium high heat and melt the clarified butter. Note: It is important to use the clarified butter because of the temps and length of time. Plain butter will burn.
3. Remove the potatoes from water and dry carefully. Add to the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Toss or swirl the potatoes every few minutes to evenly brown all sides.
4. Add the red pepper and parsley. Season with salt and pepper (Start with 3/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper). Toss to coat and cook another 1-3 minutes.
5. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed.

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Notes:

• Melon ball tool - I started off using the type of baller that you squeeze a lever and it pops out the ball.  It broke, a potato is much harder than a melon.  Then I used one like this and it worked much better. 
• Flexible flavor - The original recipe just called for salt and pepper, so feel free to substitute whatever seasonings you like.  I went with the red pepper for flavor and color.

Soaking helps remove some starch and avoid enzymatic browning.

Dry well shortly before cooking.  Water is the enemy of browning during cooking.

While the potatoes and chops rested, I quickly steamed some broccoli.

 

 

Cherry Brine

The brine resulted in a nicely flavored pork chop.  The cherry brine recipe was simply 2 cups cherry juice, 1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos (you can sub soy sauce), 3 Tbsp kosher salt, and enough water to make 1 quart.  I soaked the boneless chops for 4 hours and then grilled until the internal temp was 140f, about 5 minutes per side at 375f. 

 

All-Clad B3 Nonstick Hard Anodized

All-Clad has a new product line out, right now exclusively at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.  I fell in lust with All-Clad when Alexis worked at Williams-Sonoma two years ago, particularly their d5 line of stainless cookware.

So when a rep for All-Clad asked if I wanted to try out their new line, I gladly accepted.  The B3 cookware line is nonstick hard anodized aluminum.  The work horse of my kitchen for the past 4 or 5 years has been a set of Kitchenaide anodized nonstock pans so I have a good frame of reference for comparison.

The B3 cookware line seems to target the mid-range home cook like myself (cooks just well enough to be dangerous, ha ha).  It delivers All-Clad's professional performance, quality, and durability to the cooking enthusiast.  The B3 designation is given because

• they bond three layers of heavy gauge aluminum to provide even heat distribution
• they bond three layers of nonstock surfacing to give unequaled release and durability.    

They shipped me a 12" chef's pan to try and right out of the box it had the quality design and feel that I've come to expect from All-Clad.  The stainless steel handles are sturdy and stay cool during cooking.  

The sides are sloped for easy tossing.  

The lid seals tightly.   It has a stainless steel bottom plate to help durability to make it compatible with all cooking surfaces including induction.  

Of course, it comes with All-Clad's lifetime warranty.  It beats my existing cookware on all fronts so far, but how does it cook?

Steaming - The almost wok like shape and air tight lid made steaming 2 heads of broccoli easy.  
 

Sauteing - I cooked the pommes parisienne with this pan.  I had excellent heat control using it on a gas range.  This is a dish that requires frequent rotation and tossing the potatoes was easy with the banked lip of the pan.  

Excuse the blurry shot, I took this picture while I was tossing the potatoes.

Shallow frying - the heavy gauge steel bottom let me hold a consistent temp for shallow frying hash browns and quesadillas.

Overall, I was highly impressed with the All-Clad B3 Nonstick Chef's pan in terms of design and performance.  Only time will tell about durability but it seems well made.  The line is available in stores and online from Bed Bath and Beyond.

[Standard Disclaimer]  I received the 12" chef's pan for free from All-Clad for the review.

Grilled Sweet and Spicy Pickles

Grilled pickles !?!?

Yes, grilled pickles!

We had these last Saturday at lunch for Kingsford University.  They were so good that Robyn Grill Grrrl Medlin-Lindars stole temporarily borrowed the jar from another table because we had eaten all of ours.

This is another recipe from Chris Lilly, World Champion Pitmaster and our host at last weekend's Kingsford Invitational.  Why grill the pickles?  That bit of heat concentrates some of the natural sugars in the cukes and the slight char adds a subtle smokiness to the final product.

Grilled Sweet and Spicy Pickles

reprinted with permission from Kingsford Charcoal

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (3 pints)

You'll need

• 10 small cucumbers (Kirby or Persian) about 4-5 inches each, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into 8 wedges
• 6 springs fresh dill
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 3 teaspoons red pepper flakes (see notes)

Pickling Liquid

• 1 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the grill and build a charcoal fire for direct grilling.
2. In a saucepan, combine the pickling liquid ingredients and cook, stirring often, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the liquid is clear. Remove the liquid from the heat and light cool slightly.
3. Wash cucumbers well with cold water. Trim the blossom stems and grill the cucumbers over direct heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or just long enough to mark each side.
4. Grill the onions for 5-7 minutes on each side or until the onions have softened and are marked.
5. Remove the cucumbers and onions from the grill and set aside to cool.
6. Divide the cucumbers, onions, dill, garlic and pepper flakes evenly and place in three sterilized canning jars. Fill each jar tot he top with the pickling liquid mixture and seal tightly. Cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

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You can find pickling cukes at most grocery stores now.

If you want pickle chips instead, you could grill the cukes whole and then cut into slices.

Pierce onion wedges with a tooth pick to hold them together and make them easy to flip.

They are ready to eat after a few hours in the fridge.

The ones that I made according to the recipe as written were much spicier than the ones at the contest.  If you have average heat tolerance, I would recommend cutting the red pepper flakes to half (1 1/2 tsp).

Kingsford Invitational
I've already introduced the judges in the prior post.  The judging criteria was simple.

• Instead of breaking out subcategories such as taste, appearance, and texture and assigning a weighting to each score, each judge would just give one score based on their overall experience.  
• The scoring scale is 1 (inedible) to 13 (excellent).  
• The standard 4 categories to be submitted are chicken, ribs, pork (shoulder, butt, or whole hog), and brisket
• Judging is blind
• No garnish for turn in boxes
• The team with the highest cumulative score for all categories wins the $50,000 and is crowned "Best of the Best" on the competition bbq circuit

The teams competing were

• Motley Que Crew qualified by winning the 2012 Houston Livestock & Rodeo World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest
• Yazoo's Delta Q qualified by winning the 2012 Memphis in May World Championship 
• Smoker's Purgatory qualified by winning the 2012 Great Lenexa BBQ Battle 
• Smokin' Triggers qualified by winning Destination America's "BBQ Pitmasters:  Season 3"
• Shiggin' and Grinnin' qualified by winning the 2012 American Royal Open
• Lucky's Q qualified by winning the 2012 Sam's Club National BBQ Tour
• Pig Skin BBQ qualified by winning the 2012 Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational
• Checkered Pig BBQ qualified by winning the 2012 Kingsford $40k Challenge

The atmosphere of the contest seemed a bit odd.  First, it seemed sterile because it was a closed event and the general public wasn't milling around.  Second, with $50,000 at stake, the tension was palpable.  Third, because of the film crew wanting to keep us out of shots, we weren't able to get the access to the teams that we normally might.  I'm not saying it was bad, just different from most comps.

The turn-ins from 1:20pm to 3pm were uneventful from what I saw.  No dropped boxes, no missed turn ins.  Then it was all over except for the cryin', as they say. 

The Motley Que Crew working as turn in times approached.

Smoker's Purgatory finishing their ribs.

Patio Daddio, John Dawson, being interviewed about the event.

Clint Cantwell of Grilling.com used the ATV to bring us team samples, the man's a saint.  Seen here with Greg Rempe of the BBQ Central Show.

I love this  shot of John Thomas of Grilling 24x7 eating ribs because he is so content looking while the rest of us piranhas dive into the tray on his lap.

Folks from the Kingsford Plant joined us after turn ins and sampled whatever didn't make it into turn in boxes.

I was still full from eating all weekend but I did taste a few samples while we waited for the judging.  Yazoo's ribs were tender but too sweet for my tastes, but that is competition style.  Checkered Pigs BBQ brisket was tender and very good.  Yazoo's whole hog was the best I have ever had. 


The announcements started with a reminder that Yazoo's Delta Q started the day with a 1 point bonus from the previous day's One Bit Challenge.

The winner of the Chicken category was Lucky's Q!

The winner of the ribs category was Yazoo's Delta Q.

The winner of the pork category was Yazoo's Delta Q.

The winner of the brisket category was....Yazoo's Delta Q.

So without much surprise, the winner of the inaugural Kingsford Invitational and $50,000.....

 

Pitmaster Melissa Cookston and Yazoo's Delta Q!

For the record in this post just a few weeks ago, I said Melissa Cookston is one of the best pitmasters out there so....yeah, I told you so ;)

My overall thoughts on the Kingsford Invitational contest was that it was wonderful and I think they are definitely on to something. 

• Unified Championship - with all of the different world championships in BBQ I like the idea of trying to declare an end of the year, overall champion.  This concept works for me.  I'm glad Kingsford has ponied up to do this.
• Qualifying - The fact that a team like 3 Eyz BBQ, probably the hottest team on the circuit, wasn't there makes me thing there should be some tweaks to the qualifying events.  It is kind of like trying to tweak the existing college bowl system into a playoff system. 
• One Bite Challenge - That 1 point bonus going into the event can be huge.  Great twist.  I like that it wasn't a surprise challenge, so teams had time to practice their entry before coming to the event.  I think the 5 ingredient limit may have stifled creativity on some of the entries.
• Judging - I like the judging format.  There were some thoughts that the fact one team was submitting whole hog tipped off their pork entry.  Possibly, but with a field this small (8 teams) and judges as intimately familiar with the teams, all sorts of things COULD tip off a submission:  flavor profile, box arrangement, etc etc.
• Overall - I want to see this continue next year and see it grow.

If you have never been to a BBQ contest, you should check out your local events next year.  Knoxville will be having a KCBS event next spring with the West Knoxville Rotary BBQ Cookoff in May.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Bacon

This is the second of three posts about my weekend at the Kingsford Invitational.  Or maybe 4 posts.  I dunno.  I am making up the rules as I go a long.

We didn't have this recipe served at the event but it was in the recipe packet provided by Kingsford.  So I fired up my Weber Smokey Joe and made this as written.

Brined Chicken Breast Sandwich with Grilled Sweet Bacon

by reprinted with permission from Kingsford University

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 23 minutes

Ingredients (6 sandwiches)

You'll Need

• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• 9 slices thick cut bacon
• 6 provolone cheese slices
• 6 Kaiser rolls
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 6 lettuce leaves

Chicken Brine

• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 quart warm water

Chicken Glaze

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp black cherry juice
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp red pepper jelly
• 3/4 cup KC Masterpiece™ Barbecue sauce
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt

Bacon Rub

• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Create chicken brine by combining salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, garlic powder and black pepper in a Glad™ Food Storage Zipper Gallon bag.Pour 1 quart warm water into the bag, seal and shake the bag until the sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until the liquid cools, then place the chicken breasts into the plastic bag and return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. While the chicken brines, create the chicken glaze by combining the sugar, apple juice, white vinegar, black cherry juice, maple syrup, sugar, KC Masterpiece™ Barbecue Sauce, Worcestershire sauce and salt in a sauce pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the grill using Kingsford™ charcoal until the internal temperature reaches 400 degrees F.
4. While the grill preheats, mix the bacon rub ingredients in a small bowl and season the bacon liberally. Place the bacon over direct heat and cook for 1 minute on each side or until the bacon is charred and brown. Remove the chicken breasts from the brine and cook over direct heat for 3 minutes on each side. Paint both sides of the chicken with the sauce mixture and place back on the grill for 1 minute on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 160F degrees. Place a slice of provolone on each chicken breast for the last minute of cooking.
5. Lightly butter the face of the Kaiser rolls and place them over direct heat with the grill lid open. Cook for 30 seconds or until the face is light brown and toasted. Place chicken and bacon on the bun, then add tomato, onion, and lettuce as well as your favorite condiments.

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The bacon started off okay but once the fat started rendering, flames erupted and the sugar laden rub tended to burn.  Unless you are very adept at grilling, you might want to opt for cooking the bacon via indirect heat or stove top.

Given the short cooking times, I placed each breast in a Glad™ Ziptop bag and used a meat mallet to flatten them to 1/2" thickness for even cooking.

I like using Sargento's new "ultra thin" slices of cheese the past month or so.  It melts so easily on the grill. 

 

See how thin that cheese is melted onto the breast?

 

General thoughts:

• Great chicken sandwich.  We had it two nights in a row.  I used boneless, skinless thighs the next night - just as good.
• If you are in a hurry, I think you could forgo the brine and use a general purpose BBQ rub on the chicken.  But brining is better when possible.
• The chicken glaze received high marks from my family.  It is definitely on the sweet end of sauces.  This glaze is going into frequent rotation for chicken and even for pulled pork (for the heathen that don't realize vinegar sauce is the best sauce for pulled pork).
• SUPER MAYO - The recipe says use condiments you like.  Don't.  Mix half mayo and half chicken glaze together for a GREAT sandwich spread.  Alexis thought it was honey mustard when I had her taste it.

2012 Kingsford Invitational
Saturday started off wonderfully.  I woke up a few hours early so I headed down for some juice thinking I'd be the only one up.  I ended up getting to spend about an hour with Tuffy Stone, Meathead, Greg Rempe, and Robyn Medlin-Lindars just talking about barbecue, judging, stuff in general, and I even got a tip for a great butcher in Nashville from Tuffy.   With all of the events scheduled, it was the impromptu interactions like this that were my favorite parts of the weekend.

The first event was a discussion with the panel of judges.  Just like the elite field of competitors, these judges are BBQ royalty themselves.  From left to right:

• Tuffy Stone - owner of A Sharper Palate, owner of Cool Smoke BBQ restaurants, competitive smoker, BBQ Pitmasters Season I (competitor), BBQ Pitmasters Season III (judge)
• Amy Mills-Tunnicliffe - co-author of Peace, Love, and Barbecue, judge for Food Network's Best In Smoke, BBQ consultant for OnCue, and BBQ Heiress of 17th Street Bar and Grill.  Oh yeah, she's also the daughter of BBQ phenom Mike Mills.
• Chris Lilly - VP Big Bob Gibson BBQ, author of Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book, 12 time world champion pitmaster, TV personality, Kingsford Spokesman, and the list goes on.

• Meathead - "Barbecue Whisperer", certified judge at top competitions, syndicated journalist, and just about one of the most interesting BBQ dudes I have the pleasure of knowing.  He also runs the #1 trafficked BBQ website in the world AmazingRibs.com.  
• Ardie Davis aka Remus Powers - easily the most well known BBQ judge on the circuit, Ardie is also an author of 5 bbq books, writes for National BBQ News, and founded a portion of the American Royal.
• Harry Soo - Pitmaster of Slap Yo Daddy BBQ, BBQ Pitmasters Season I (competitior), California Team of the Year, 27 Grand Championships and 80+ First Places.  What I like most about Harry besides his humor and enthusiasm is that he kicks all that BBQ butt using Weber Smokey Mountain Smokers - the same kind that is found in back yards across the country.  No $20,000 rigs for him.  
• Brad Orrison - Co-founder of The Shed, competitor on Best In Smoke, award winning competitive smoker, and funniest guy of the weekend.  He had me in tears when the bus got lost on a dirt road Friday night.  Plus he surfs - he and I talked about some of the spots he and I have both surfed in Florida. 

The judges discussed their thoughts on

• The level of difficulty for qualifying for this event
• The judging process used and why it is more fair than other judging situations
• blind judging - don't know who's entry they are trying
• comparative - side by side judging of entries
• One table, same judges - (Some contests have 500+ teams and perhaps 100 judging tables so their can be inconsistency between tables)
• no regional bbq prejudice on the judges part 
• Their BBQ preferences and beliefs
• A few ultra secret tips like using Tang for your competition style chicken.  I didn't tell you HOW to use it so it is still a secret ;)  

Next we had a tour of the Belle, MO Kingsford Charcoal plant, one of 7 such plants across the country.  The plants are located based on the availability of local hardwoods.

I was impressed by a two key things that other folks may not have noticed.

• Safety - They have not had a work related injury in over 2 years.  That might not seem like a big deal to you but my former career and college degree are related to occupational safety and health.  For a plant of this type and size to take safety seriously as they noticeably do, is no accident.
• Environmental Stewardship - The plant has almost no emissions.  They capture their emissions for reuse in their dryers.  I saw engineering controls to minimize any stormwater run off. They have a high level of automation and monitoring to maximize efficiency.

The reason those two things impressed me so much is that they are no accident.  It is hard and cost money to do that.  It takes top down commitment and an organization that is focused not only on profits but also on doing the right thing. [Stepping off my soapbox now]

They go through this much hardwood (oak, hickory, etc) pieces every 3 months.  I swear he said 50 trucks a day.

Brad Orrison's straw hat goes EVERYWHERE with him...even when wearing a hard hat ;)

After the wood is ground, charred, and stamped into briquettes, it is still soft and crush-able by hand.

Hardened after a while in the dryers.

The packing line made me think of that I Love Lucy episode on the candy line.

He said they are a little low on volume right now...I can imagine what it looks like when gearing up for the summer!

I tried talking them into a complimentary pallet...it still hasn't arrived.

It takes about 6-8 hours from start to finish to make the briquettes that end up on your grill. 

It was an interesting tour and when I poured my Kingsford into the grill for the first time after the trip, I picked up a piece and thought about how it had gotten there.  


Okay enough for now.  I'll talk about the final competition with my next post.