Fire Roasted Buffalo Chicken Sausage Mac and Cheese

[FTC Disclaimer]  This is not a sponsored post; however, the Amazon links that I give are Amazon Affiliate links.  

We were shopping for supplies for a project and found some Buffalo Chicken Sausages at Fresh Market.  We didn't need the sausages for the project, but I couldn't just pass them up once I saw them, right?  

When we were brainstorming how to use the sausage, I thought of the Buffalo Mac and Cheese that we used to get at Rafferty's (before they closed our local one....boooo).   So we made mac and cheese with the Buffalo chicken sausage instead of fried Buffalo chicken.

Of course, we made ours over live fire on a kamado grill - a Big Green Egg to be specific.  But you could do this inside as well.  Make the sausage and sauce on the stove top and then roast the mac and cheese in the oven. 

I love this small Lodge cast iron skillet because it is grill safe and the wok-like sloped walls make it easy to toss and flip food while cooking.  I bought one for my mom a few Christmases ago and was so envious I purchased one for myself!

Porterhouse Steaks with Twice Baked Potatoes

Wow, it is hard to believe that Nibble Me This is 10 years old as of today. 

Back then, I never imagined that creating a BBQ and grilling blog would lead to the opportunities that it has.  

• I have gotten to work with great food brands and grilling companies.
• I have been lucky enough to work side by side with World Champions.
• I have gotten to take educational trips to learn more about grilling, butchery, and food production.
• I have traveled to farms and ranches to gain a better understanding of where my food comes from and sustainable practices.
• I have received hands-on training to do things like break down half of a steer and artificially inseminate a sow.
• I got contracts to write two BBQ/grilling books.

But the absolute best part of Nibble Me This has been the friendships that have grown out of it. I have met so many wonderful people across the country that I am proud to call my friends.  Well....most of y'all, anyway ;) 

New Year's Eve was unseasonably warm, which are two words a griller loves to hear.  So Alexis and I grabbed a few porterhouse steaks for a quick dinner before our youngest and his friends headed out for a Dirty Guv'nahs concert. 

Twice Baked Potatoes

These are a reliable side dish - they are easy and almost everyone loves them.  We washed, lightly oiled, seasoned with salt, and wrapped russet potatoes with foil.  We put them in a 400°f Big Green Egg on indirect heat (using a plate setter) until they were tender - about 45 minutes because these were smallish.

We sliced off the top 1/3rd of the potatoes and scooped out the pulp from inside.  We then mix in finely chopped bacon, butter, sour cream, finely chopped green onion, and shredded Sweetwater Farms smoked yellow cheddar.  You are basically just making loaded mashed potatoes so throw in whatever you want.  Finally, we seasoned it with some of our NMT Beef Rub v.2 to taste, about 1.5 teaspoons.  

Stuff all of that mix back into the hollowed out potato shells.  You can make these ahead and have them ready to cook.  Then heat them through for about 20 minutes at 350°f. 

Smoky Mountain Chicken Sandwich

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Fired up one of the Big Green Eggs tonight to grill these Smoky Mountain Chicken Sandwiches.

Typically, a Smoky Mountain chicken sandwich or burger is topped with bacon, BBQ sauce, and cheddar.  I'm not sure how, when, or where this divine trinity became associated with the name "Smoky Mountain".  I have just seen it that way on countless menus.

I went in a bit different direction, but I used the same smoky-sweet-cheesy profile for this game day sandwich.  My secret ingredients were two local Tennessee products, fitting since they live in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains. 

Reload Rub and Seasoning Double Action Sweet and Smoky BBQ Blend

Alexis found this rub at Elder's Ace Hardware. It has a very balanced BBQ rub flavor, featuring things like sea salt, turbinado sugar, powdered molasses, dried onions, dried garlic, and chiles. 

Blackberry Farm Smoked Onion Jam

Yes, THAT Blackberry Farm!  This sweet smoky jam is made with sweet onions, smoked onions, cane sugar, and a few other ingredients.  The flavor is otherworldly. 

Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Thanksgiving isn't over until we've made our Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice Soup.  This is a recipe that I got from my mother years ago, and we've made it our own.  It takes your leftover turkey and surrounds it in this velvety and hearty soup.

I know that you've probably already used up your Thanksgiving leftovers but tuck this one away for Christmas leftovers or use a rotisserie chicken instead. This also freezes well, so if you are tired of turkey, you can save it for later.  This soup rocks on a cold, dreary Winter's day.

Smoked Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Servings:  8 cups or 4 bowls

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup finely diced carrot, about 1 large carrot
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 7 cups turkey stock
• 6.2-ounce package Uncle Ben's Wild Rice 
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flake
• 2 cups diced smoked turkey
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onion, about 3 onions
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 teaspoons NMT BaCock! Poultry Rub recipe or another poultry seasoning

Instructions

1. Saute the carrot. Preheat a stock pot over medium-high heat.  Melt the butter and saute the carrot for three minutes.
2. Make a volute.    Sprinkle in flour while whisking to combine.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking continuously.  Slowly add the stock while whisking.  It seems like a lot of work, but it's worth the whisk (sorry, couldn't help myself).   
3. Add the rice, seasoning packet, black pepper, and red pepper flake.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Stir in the smoked turkey and green onions.  Cook until heated through, about 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the half-and-half.  
6. Season to taste.  Add the poultry seasoning, starting with 1 teaspoon and add until you reach the taste you like.  For us, that was 2 teaspoons of NMT BaCock! Poultry Rub but your mileage may vary.

Creamy Southwestern Chicken, Tomato, and Rice Soup

After an Indian Summer the temperatures, cold wet weather has rolled across Eastern Tennessee.  We made this velvety soup to warm the chill off of our bones.

It is a creamy chicken soup loaded with Southwestern seasoned tomatoes and wild rice.  Comfort food at its finest.

This is more of an idea than a recipe, I wasn't writing things down.  But here's the nexus of it.

1. Make a veloute sauce.  Make a roux with flour and butter, then whisk in chicken stock.  
2. Add about 1/2 cup of dry wild rice, 1/2 cup of Southwestern dried tomatoes, and season with NMT BaCock! poultry seasoning.  You could use sun-dried tomatoes instead.  Cook on a low simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Fold in heavy cream.  Taste for seasoning and adjust with more NMT BaCock! poultry seasoning.
4. Top off with dried parsley and Olde Virden's Super Fine Grind Red Hot.  

We made some croutons out of extra dinner rolls.  We tossed them into butter in a skillet and sprinkled them with some Albukirky Seasonings Green Chile Rub.  

This was so rich, smooth, crazy good and had just the right kick of spicy heat.  It almost made me wish that I had a cold because this will be AWESOME when you have the sniffles.

Chicken Scratch and Whitebird Sauce Wings

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College basketball season is underway and we fire roasted these wings for last night's Carolina-Elon game.

I was craving these after having some made by Trace Scarborough, owner/operator of Thunderbird, just 2 weekends ago at the Scenic City Eggfest near Chattanooga.  They were the best thing I ate all day.

Trace slow smokes his wings with a healthy dose of pecan wood.  I was in a hurry, so I cooked mine hot and fast.  It's all good, I like cooking wings in several different ways.

Event: 2018 Scenic City Eggfest Recap

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] This is not a sponsored post, although we do have a sponsorship with the Certified Angus Beef® Brand.

Team Nibble Me This had fun cooking and teaching a grilling class at the 2018 Scenic City Eggfest two weekends back.  For the uninitiated, an Eggfest isn't a food festival serving omelets, scrambled eggs, and eggs Benny.  An Eggfest is a food festival that features all sorts of food cooked on Big Green Egg kamado-style grills.

Here are some pictures from our perspective as a cook team so you can see what it is like to cook at one of these events.  They are a lot of fun and you get to meet plenty of great folks.

This new home for the Eggfest is Founder's Hall at The Commons in Collegedale, TN.  This beautiful, brand new facility is probably one of the most excellent Eggfest venues that I have attended.  It is second only to the Pensacola Eggfest (THIS COMING WEEKEND) which is held in the Blue Wahoos stadium, right on the water. 

I was so impressed when we walked into the venue.  It is also great seeing local companies like First Tennessee Bank supporting the event.

This event was hosted by Elder's Ace Hardware Stores, and they had an event store set up. I think the reason they have the best selection of grills, accessories, seasonings, and sauces in East Tennessee is that their leadership loves grilling and actually uses the products that they sell.