The Scud Missile BBQ smoker.

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Eric's Recipes

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Eric's Homemade Vegetable Soup

Serves 8-12

Makes 4-6 quarts (1 gallon)

Preparation time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
6-10 red or golden potatoes - peeled and chopped
6-10 carrots peeled - chopped
6-10 celery stalks - chopped
(optional) 1/4 cabbage - chopped
1 white onion chopped
note: 1-3 leeks chopped is an excellent replacement for onions
1 garlic segment
1 can diced tomatoes
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/2 to 1 lb of beef. I prefer to use steak. You can use very lean hamburger too.
Spices: Salt (I like to use Sea salt. regular works great), Black Pepper, Turmeric, Basil, Parsley, Fennel, Beef Bullion or beef broth.

Directions:
Take garlic clove and rub over inside of a large Soup Pan (5-10 quarts)
after rubbing, finely chop garlic and onion/leeks
Cube Meat (if steak) and brown on high heat with Olive Oil. When meat is fully cooked, add garlic and onion/leeks and sear for 20 seconds. Do not let them burn or turn dark brown. they should be limp and still fairly white.
Once done take off heat and set pad aside.
Chop all vegetables and place in soup pan. You may like them fine or course. I like course. They seem to soak up the flavors better. Fine chopped will cook faster. Make sure to save the leaves of the celery. Chop these up and put them in with the celery.
Add the can of tomatoes with the juice.

If using canned beef broth, add it in. 1-2 cans. I actually do use bullion. It has a lighter taste and you get good broth from the meat and veges. I like the gourmet bullions but cheap stuff works great too.
Bullion directions: If using cubes, place 3 in 2 cups of water and microwave until cubes are dissolved. In my microwave it takes 3 minutes. Then add to soup. If using granules, I typically use 2-3 tablespoons. Add directly to soup.
Once all ingredients are in the soup pan, add water. Fill pan so that all vegetables are covered in water. (Just over the vegetables)

I always spice to taste. I don't measure. Here are some ball park figures for the spices I use. I always taste each vegetable to see how sharp or bitter it is. If the celery is quite sharp, I'll back off the fennel. If the carrots are sweet, I'll back off the Basil. Who cares? It's soup! mess around with the levels! Try your own spices.
1 TSP of Basil
2 TSP Parsley
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Fennel
2 TSP Black Pepper

I add the salt last. My rule is to taste the broth as its beginning to warm up. I start adding salt about a TSP at a time. I stir and taste. I tend to put in enough salt to put it just below the saltiness I like. By the time the meat and onions cook down, they'll make the soup saltier tasting. It's best to err on the side of not enough salt. you can always add it in later.
Put a lid on the pan and cook on high heat. Bring to a full boil and cook for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. After the 10-15 minutes of high heat boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. Keep the lid on the pan.
Soup is ready to eat when all the vegetables are cooked but still firm.
You can eat it right after it's done cooking. I always find it tastes better after the 2nd day, however.

Eric's smoked BBQ ribs (or other meat as well)

Preparation time: a few hours over 2 days time

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:
3-5 lbs Baby Back Pork Ribs or Short End Spare Ribs

salt - pepper -apple cider vinegar - soy sauce - worcestershire sauce - Tabasco sauce - cyan pepper - rubbed sage - basil

cooking charcoal

smoking wood chips.

Large Plastic freezer bags or large covered seal bowl.

Selecting the meat:

The importance of selection good meat for smoking cannot be overemphasized. Smoking takes a lot of time. Why cheap out on the meat? I like baby back ribs because they don't have as much fat as long ends or spare ribs. Baby back or Short End Spare Ribs cook up nicely without having to gnaw your way through a lot of gristle. Cheaper meats tend to cook up chewy and tough. More expensive meat is easier to make soft and crunchy.

Directions:

Day before serving - prepare the meat.

Baby Back or Spare ribs usually come in one whole piece. If you look at the back side of the meat, you can see the ribs. You'll also notice that there is a thin, translucent membrane that covers it. Although not totally necessary, it is good to remove this membrane. It is not easy to do. The best method I've found is to take a sharp fork and gently puncture an opening in the membrane. You should enter at an angle so as not to catch the meat or bone below. Once you've opened a small hole, work the tine of the fork around to separate the membrane from the fat below. The membrane is surprisingly tough and hard to separate. Keep working the fork and pulling up away from the meat until you can get a finger under it. At some point you should be able to peel the remainder of the membrane away. This can be thrown away once you've gotten as much off as you can. Once the meat's membrane is gone, wash thoroughly with cool water to remove any loose particles.

Place the meat in a large bowl. Pour in a generous amount of Apple Cider Vinegar. Make sure to completely soak the meat. Turn the meat and rub it with your hands to completely soak the meat in the vinegar. If you're using plastic bags to store the meat overnight, place the meat in it now. If using the bowl for storage, drain out some of the vinegar. Next liberally douse the meat with Tabasco, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce. Roll the meat around in the sauce/vinegar mixture thoroughly.

Once the meat is well soaked, sprinkle the dry spices on liberally. Cover and seal the meat in the bowl or place in the plastic freezer bags. Store in the refrigerator over night. Remember your food safety rules. Wash your hands thoroughly before,during and after handling the meat. Also, keep the raw meat away from other food in the refrigerator.

Day 2:

Prepare to cook the meat. I use a smoker. you can use a grill for this. The idea is to cook the meat slowly over a low fire. Smoker directions may vary. Here's what I do. I soak my smoking chips in warm water for about 1/2 hour. I then put in the charcoal and get it going. When I'm ready to go, I add in some of the smoking chips and place the meat on the upper rack of the smoker. It is best to hit the meat with lots of smoke at first, so lots of wood chips. I let the meat smoke at medium heat (250 -300 degrees) for about an hour. Keep adding the chips to keep the smoke going at a medium pace for about an hour or so. After about an hour I baste the meat with a mixture of soy,worcestershire and vinegar. I then let the temperature creep up a bit for about another hour. Keep periodically basting the meat with the soy/worcestershire/vinegar mixture. After about 2-3 hours I'll stoke up the fire to the point of flames and sear the meat in flames. I don't have a particular time allowance for this. What I look for is a bit of charring on the edges of the meat. If the meat already has a slight charring, I will skip the searing step or shorten it up quite a bit. If all goes well, you don't have to worry about burning the meat with the flames. By now the moisture is fairly locked in.

At this point you may add your favorite barbeque sauce and baste the meat for a while to dry out the sauce. However, I like to serve the ribs in a more traditional manner. I leave them un sauced and let the diners add the sauce. Make sure you serve the BBQ sauce warmed up , not cold. I tend to like the ribs without sauce. I love the smoky flavor.

By the way, this process works with just about any meat. Beef, Chicken, Pork, Lamb, etc...

It's not an exact science. You may need to experiment quite a bit to get it the way you like. Here are the things I've found out about the process.

1) The cider vinegar seems to seal in the moisture. It doesn't leave a taste that is obvious. Many people cringe when they think of eating meat soaked in vinegar for a day. It honestly doesn't flavor the meat at all. I've noticed that since I started using it, my meat tends to be very juicy without being fatty tasting.

2) How long the meat needs to cook is very variable. I use a cylindrical smoker. (It's a weber that you can buy at any hardware store for 80 bucks) It has a 'dummy' thermometer on it. The temp markings are 'Cool' 'Ideal' and 'Hot' My temperatures in the recipe are based upon using an oven thermometer once or twice. For example, if it's a windy day, the temperature of the smoker tends to run a little lower and it also fluctuates quite a bit. The bottom line is that it takes as long as it takes. The best thing is to not let the smoker sit unattended. Keep an eye on it. If the temp creeps up too high, make adjustments. If it cools down, stoke the fire. The process usually takes me 2-3 hours of cooking. On really hot-dry days, I might place a tin can filled with water in the coals to add some humidity to the smoker. Some smokers have moisturizers built in. (Not mine)

Karen's Santa Fe Chicken

Serves 4-6

Makes 3-4 quarts

Preparation time: 1 hours

This is a modified recipe I borrowed from a friend. It is a great meal that is very tasty and easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups uncooked rice (instant or regular)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans Rotelle's Tomatoes and Chilies (spicy or regular)
1 Green Pepper - chopped finely
1/2 onion -- chopped finely

1 lb cubed chicken (white meat)
1 package Monterey Jack Cheese (grated)

Salt - Pepper - Chili Power - Paprika (any other mexican spices you like)

In a large Soup Pan (4-6 quarts) thoroughly brown cubed Chicken meat. Just before the meat is done, add in onions and green peppers and sear until veges and chicken are browned.

Add in 2 cups of chicken soup broth, 1 can of rotelles, grated Jack Cheese and spices. Stir.

Bring this mixture to a boil.

When mixture is boiling, add in rice and stir thoroughly. (if using instant rice, take off heat and place lid on pan for 10 min tues. If using regular rice, cook according to directions on the rice package. Most regular rices asks to be boiled for about 20 minutes.)

This meal is a great one to whip together in a pinch. It tastes great and looks good when served. It's very colorful. It is also very filling.

Eric's Meatloaf

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs. of good quality Ground Beef or Ground Sirloin.
2 cups ground up crackers (This is the area I change the most. I typically use whatever's around. I've used almost anything. Things I've found that work best are Kix cereal, Wheaties cereal, Fish Crackers. I also will typically mix together several things.)

1-2 slices Finely cubed bread

Finely chop :

1 cup mushrooms

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup onions

2 tbs. Basil

3 tbs worcestershire sauce

2 eggs

1-2 tbs salt

1 tbs pepper.

any one or more of the following: brown gravy, tomato catsup, tomato sauce

Crush crackers/cereal into as fine a powder as you can.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix thoroughly using a fork.

Once well mixed, sprinkle worcestershire sauce over dry mix. Add mushrooms, celery, onions and mix again.

Add in eggs and mix until all ingredients are well blended and no sign of the egg is left.

At this point, there should be no free-standing liquid in the bowl. The mix should be moist but fairly dry. (Not soupy)

Place ground meat into the bowl of mixed ingredients and kneed thoroughly by hand. Squeeze the mixture between your fingers and turn and break the loaf in half to ensure even distribution of the ingredients.

It is important to mix the loaf well as the mushrooms have a lot of moisture that comes out when cooked. If there are globs of mushrooms close together the loaf will have wet-gooey spots.

Shape the loaf into a size and shape similar to a loaf of bread.

Place in a glass or metal bread pan. Make sure there is an air space around all sides of the loaf.

Place in a preheated oven at 375 degrees. Cook for 60-70 minutes. When surface of loaf is beginning to get brown and crunchy looking, baste loaf with brown gravy, catsup or tomato paste. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Take from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. And please, Please, PLEASE serve this with mashed potato's and gravy. Meatloaf deserves nothing less.

Cooking Tip: I've gotten to the point that I can get a good meatloaf that's moist but stays together and is nicely firm. I don't have any good way to help with this. However, I will say that I do add more cracker/cereal dust after mixing the meat if it seems still a little too wet. A lot depends upon the meat and how lean (or not ) it is. Also, I tend to err on the side of dryness. As I said, the mushrooms give out a lot of water when they cook. I've found that erring on the dry side tends to yield the best results. If you make the loaf too moist you end up with a mess or you have to overcook it to get it dry enough. (I do admit that I actually like the crunch bits of meat that stick to the pan...)

Eric's Black and White Bean Soup

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 1.5 hours (for dried beans soak beans one night before or as package directs)

Ingredients:
1 bag of Black Beans (frijoles negra). substitute 2 cans for quicker preparation

1 bag of White Beans (navy or white). substitute 2 cans for quicker preparation

1 lb of cubed ham

1 small white or yellow onion.

2 cans chicken broth.

Sour Cream.

Salt and Pepper

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ingredients to make roux.

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon butter or margarine.

2 cups milk.

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Soak beans overnight as package directs. (you can use canned to save time. use 2 cans each black and white beans.)

Put chicken broth, beans, cubed ham and chopped onions in a large 5-6 quart soup pan.

Heat on high and high boil for about 10 minutes. Lower to a simmer for 1 hour. (1/2 hour for canned beans.)

After simmering, prepare the roux.

roux directions.

(note: it is important to have all the things you need to cook the roux at hand as it requires that you not leave the pan while you're doing it. If you leave the burner or take the pan off the heat you'll mess up the roux.) So, have at hand small sauce pan, fork or stirring device, butter, flour, milk.

In medium to medium-high heat melt butter. Once butter is liquid, add flour and stir constantly. Butter/flour will form a mushy dough. stir vigorously while it cooks. It is important to not let the flour burn. However, undercooking it will make the roux taste 'doughy'. Once thoroughly cooked, slowly add milk. Add the milk little drizzles at a time. Simply pouring in the whole cup will result in scorching. The milk will make the mix turn into a nice firm cream. Bring the whole mixture back to a slight boil. Once the mixture is creamy, pour it into the large soup pan and mix thoroughly. Don't worry. If you mess up the roux, just toss it and try again. It takes a little practice at first.

Leave soup on low heat for about 10 minutes to let the broth set up.

Serve in a bowl with a teaspoon dollop of sour creamed in the middle. A great side with the soup is dark rye bread slices with butter.