Simple Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

This is an easy stuffing recipe that is delicious and has an additional re-use I'll mention at the end. First off, since I cut my turkey in half and barbecue it my stuffing does not go inside the turkey, so technically it is "dressing". Bull. Dressing is something you put on salad and we don't go there on Stuftivus. It's stuffing whether in or out of the turkey.

My assumption is that you will have prepped your turkey by now and will have used the innards to make a nice flavorful stock, if not have some chicken stock in a can or carton ready (we prefer the Swansons cartons, no MSG and can seal and re-use).

Make your cornbread the day before. I always make two pans and use about one and a half. Let sit out uncovered all night as you want it to dry up to make bread crumbs/chunks out of them. Heat oven to about 350 degrees. Cut, chop one of your cornbreads into pieces that are forkful, a size you feel comfortable with eating in one bite; some like small, some like medium, some like large so it needs to be your "just right." Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Pull them out and check them, soft and moist? Stir them up on the pan and spread back out and into the oven. Crunchy? Perfect. You want the bigger crumbs to be crust on the outside and a bit soft on the inside so they don't turn to mush when the stuffing is put together, but also absorb juices and stock.

While your bread crumbs are getting toasty start your sausage. I use a tube, one pound, of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage and one pound of sweet Italian sausage--out of the skin. Put the sausage in your big ole pan and cook it thoroughly. As you cook chop it up with your spatula to crumble to small pieces, remember it will be eaten with the cornbread crumbs so keep in mind what a forkful should look like. Once the sausage is finished take it out and drain on paper towels. Drain the fat from the pan and add about a half a stick of butter. Add a chopped onion, not diced, chopped, depending on taste you can add another. As the onion softens add chopped red pepper and diced Anaheim chili (unless you like a lot of spice then you can add chopped, we serve this to kids so go a little more mild on the spice). When all the players are nice and soft add minced garlic to taste (3 cloves for me) and seasonings.

In a large bowl put in your cornbread and onion mixture, mix thoroughly. Does it appear to have the right balance? Too little cornbread? Take your extra cornbread, cut it in half, give it a nice rough chop and add to the bowl--if you wish you can toast these as well, I usually don't as it is not that much and there is still the crunchy cornbread. Still too little to your liking? Keep adding from your extra pan of cornbread.

Once thoroughly mixed add about a cup to a cup and a half of your turkey or chicken stock.

You can now refrigerate until about an hour before dinner. Put in a covered casserole and put in a 325-50 oven (depending on what else you need your oven for that day) for about 45 minutes. Stuffing comes out hot and moist and crunchy and incredibly delicious.

This can definitely be made a day or two before Thanksgiving and kept in the fridge.

Bonus use with leftovers: My post-Thanksgiving soup is something I start craving about Halloween. Once I have my stock and all the meat and veggies in I put in a cup or two of the leftover sausage cornbread stuffing for flavor and also as a thickener. A few are not loving the texture of the broken down cornbread, but I love it.

Ooops! Mistakes Create Opportunity for Innovation: Pumpkin Cream

Sometimes our best ideas in the kitchen come because we made a mistake and need to correct something. This Thanksgiving I had a whopper of a mistake, such a whopper that when I told my haircutter (I can't say hairdresser) while having my hair shampooed the elderly lady getting shampooed next to me laughed so hard she got water down her neck. "I can't believe you admitted you did that!" she laughed at me.

On the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving it is my tradition to make the staple for our dessert: Pumpkin Cheesecake. Over the years it has gotten better and better as I have practiced and learned about cheesecakes. The latest and best change has been the switch from graham cracker based crust to ginger snaps thanks to my friend Susan.

This Thanksgiving Eve was particularly trying with a lot on my mind and my stress level was extremely high. Usually spending time in the kitchen and cooking relieves that stress. This year that did not occur.

I went through my normal routine of making my ginger snap crust and getting it out to cool. Then put together my batter, poured it into the spring form pan and placed in the oven. About ten minutes later I smacked myself in the head.

I forgot to put the pumpkin in the Pumpkin Cheesecake!

It was too late to add it to the batter and there was no way I was going to start another one. What to do?

How about making a pumpkin whipped cream to put on the pumpkin spiced cheesecake? Perfect!

Here's how we put it together (Blaire assisted):

Take several tablespoons of canned pumpkin and put in a bowl. Whisk it to break it up and add a little cream and whisk to incorporate, then add a little more cream, whisk, and once more a little cream and whisk. During this process you can add just a dash of pumpkin spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, not too much as you don't want to overpower the pumpkin). You should have about double the amount of volume you had when you first put the pumpkin in the bowl. Whisking in the cream breaks up the pumpkin and incorporates some cream to lighten the mixture. Set aside for a minute or two.

Start your whipping cream in your mixer, add your powdered sugar to your taste. When the cream just starts to thicken and get to "whipped" stage add your pumpkin cream mixture. Continue whipping until you have your final whipped cream. Chill and serve with your dessert!

We made a couple of whipped creams for Thanksgiving, using pretty much the same process. To save for clean up we started with a plain whipped cream, then made a coffee whipped cream and then a pumpkin. Having flavored whipped cream options was fun and our guests had fun tasting the different creams with the non-pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie.

For the coffee whipped cream I added about three tablespoons of coffee to the whipped cream when it began to thicken. For the coffee I set aside the left overs from our morning coffee, about half a cup, and put in the fridge to make sure it would be the same temperature as the cream. As the finished whipped cream chilled the flavor became stronger and with the coffee, cream and powdered sugar it tasted like a wonderful cup of cafe au lait. Served with the apple pie it was a perfect match--the all American diner experience of a cup of coffee and a slice of pie!

Other options to incorporate into whipped cream to make it flavorful are: Maple syrup, about two tablespoons. Perfect for waffles or cheesecake or pie or...? Add citrus zest about one whole fruit's worth depending on size orange, lemon, lime to have a fresh taste. Maybe a few spoons of bourbon or rum for a flavored cream for coffee after dinner?

The great thing about whipped cream is the containers we buy always provides more than we need making it easy to experiment. Make your plain old whipped cream first and then start playing with your left over cream, your equipment is already dirty so why not start adding flavors and whipping away?

Don't let a mistake in the kitchen get in your way, use them to try something new.

Now I'm off to experiment with maple-bacon whipped cream for waffles. About a teaspoon or two of bacon fat whisked with a few tablespoons of maple syrup.....

Arroz Con Pollo: It's Not That Hard!

UPDATE: I realize I did not put the rice on the chalk board! You will need 2 cups of rice for the "arroz" part of the dish!

I love stews and braised meats, especially once the weather dips below 73 degrees in Southern California. This past weekend when our temperatures dipped and the breeze kicked up I was hankering for dinner in a pot. Sunday I made arroz con pollo. There are many variations on this classic dish, the one below is very simple and you can easily add your own extra ingredients to change the dish to your family's tastes.

The prep for this takes about half an hour, most of it spent browning your chicken. Before you start cooking layout your chicken in a roasting pan or cookie sheet with edges so the juice doesn't get all over the counter. I use 10-12 thighs, if you prefer you can use a cut up chicken. I use thighs because I love the flavor of the meat and also all the pieces are the same size so they cook evenly. Don't go all healthy and skinless on this one, the skin renders and adds flavor to your dish, you can always pick it off when you eat it (heresy!).

With your chicken laid out season well on both sides with salt and pepper; I also sprinkle with small amount of cumin, cloves and red pepper. Leave the chicken out until room temperature before browning. Not all day, but about half hour before you are going to start cooking.

In a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot pour about a quarter cup of vegetable or canola oil, I also add about 2-3 tablespoons of butter. Put the pot on medium heat and bring to temperature. Then depending on the size of your cooking vessel place 3, 4 or 5 pieces in the oil, I always start skin side down. You do not want to crowd the pan so the chicken pieces should not be touching if possible, if it takes your 3 or 4 rounds to brown all the chicken so they can have room then take the time you will be rewarded with beautifully browned chicken.

Brown the chicken about 5 minutes and then turn and brown about 5 more minutes. When your skin/meat has a nice brown color and starting to get dark in some areas you are good. Take out the chicken and set in a dish that will hold the juices. (Here I squirt a little fresh lime juice over the chicken I just took out of the browning pot). Repeat with your remaining chicken until all your pieces are browned and in the holding dish (again each time you pull chicken out try a squirt of some fresh lime juice).

When all your chicken is finished take a look at how much oil you have left in the pot, probably more than you want, and while it is filled with flavor, you may want to pour some of it out--I always do. I discard oil until there is just enough to barely cover the bottom of the pan.

While the chicken is browning dice 1 onion, brown, red, white, your choice; and several cloves of garlic.

Once your chicken is out of the pot and your have discarded any oil you are discarding turn the heat to medium low and toss in your onions. As they begin to sweat use a spoon and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. When your onions get just closed to becoming browned pour in about a quarter cup of dry vermouth, or the white wine you didn't finish last night, or as my mom used to do open a new bottle, take a swig to make sure it tastes good, pour some in the pot and then some in a glass. Once you have the wine in raise the heat a bit and reduce for about 3-4 minutes.

Time for everyone to go swimming! Add your 2 cups of rice, chopped garlic and can of black beans--do not drain toss all the juices in. At this point you can add: canned tomatoes, olives, carrots, celery, diced chilis, cooked sausage, whatever you want. I go simple just rice, beans and garlic.

Once they are all in give a couple of stirs and mix everything up. Now add your chicken pieces, and pour in all the juice that is in the dish.

When the chicken is in pour in about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth or stock (if you make your own and save this is a good time to break it out). I say about 1 1/ 2 cups because it depends on how much liquid is in the in the other ingredients you added, you want a total of about 2 cups liquid so if you add can of beans with liquid, can of tomatoes with liquid, can of olives with liquid, you will want to back down to about 1 cup of liquid maybe. But if you are going to error do so on the side of too much liquid rather than too little.

Once the liquid is in cover and bring to temperature so liquid is bubbling on the sides of the pot, a heavy simmer. Turn the heat down to a simmer and walk away for about half an hour.

You're done, arroz con pollo for dinner! You can serve from the pot or put in a casserole or on a platter with the chicken spread over the bed of rice. This feeds quite a few, the advantage in our home is that there is plenty of left overs I can bring to lunch and get jealous looks from my co-workers!

Arroz con Pollo sounds fancy, sounds difficult, sounds intimidating. But as you can see it is really simple: brown some chicken and toss in some ingredients, simmer and serve!

Faux Cinnamon Rolls

This is a very adaptable recipe where the filling can be changed for different meals and types of rolls. See bottom for other variations. I came across this idea while reading Food and Wine magazine at Jenna's soccer practice.

First you need a biscuit recipe. There are plenty on the web, I use the Joy of Cooking (click for recipe) and use butter instead of shortening/lard. By the way, the Joy of Cooking is the one essential I would have to have in any kitchen. Basic recipes that you can change and adapt to your tastes, or use as a text book to learn how to cook--that is what my mom did in the 1950's to learn how to cook and by the time I came around she was a great cook.

So make your biscuits using your favorite recipe, you can even use the one on the back of the Bisquik box for quick simple way to bang these out. Using the JOC recipe, as I said I use the butter and bring the mixture together in food processor to save time, they come out great.

Once you have your biscuit dough roll it out so it is about 1/2 inch think and somewhat resembles a square. Liberally brush the dough with melted butter, about 2 tablespoons.

Here comes the fun part, the filling.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. How much? Depends on your taste. I use about half a cup of brown sugar and about a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Spread the brown sugar mixture evenly on the dough. Options! You like nuts? Add some crushed walnut, pecans, almonds on top of the mixture. You like raisins? Add some raisins to the top of the mixture? Apples? Finely dice an apple and spread over the mixture. Go nuts, or raisins, here and add flavors your family enjoys.

When you are finished with your mixture starting at the edge closest to you carefully and tightly roll the dough. When you are finished crimp the seam.

Grab your muffin tin. Melt about two tablespoons of butter and divide into each of your muffin tin spots (is there a technical term?). Then pour a little maple syrup into each one, or if you prefer add some brown sugar and cinnamon. When finished your are going to flip the rolls out and what ever you have on the bottom of the tin will/should coat the top and drip down the sides of the rolls. Once your muffin tins are covered on the bottom with butter and syrup or brown sugar mix next and final step.

Slice your roll into equal sizes, if you have 12 cup muffin tin make 12 slices; if you have 9 cup tin make 9 slices. Place your cut rolls into the tins with the swirling side down and up. Bake according to your recipe, about 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.

When finished turn the muffin tin out on a baking sheet (put baking sheet on top of muffin tin, hold muffin tin, with pot holder!, on the bottom in the palm of one hand, place the palm of other hand on top of baking sheet, push together and then flip so muffin tin on top.) Since we have the sypup in the tin some may stick a bit--that's good! So extract with care as the tins are hot.

These are delicious and ready to serve.

Okay VARIATIONS!

Cheeseburger rolls: for filling brown some ground sirloin, put on your dough, sprinkle with cheese, go wild: smoked gouda? parmesian? just cheddar? Roll and slice. Bake and you have mini cheeseburgers.

Barbecue rolls: Have left over pork or beef from your barbecue? Spread some of your favorite barbecue sauce on the dough, cover with shredded pork or beef. Spice it up with some diced chili peppers. Roll it, slice it, put some of your barbecue sauce in the bottom of your muffin tins before adding the rolls.

Pizza rolls: Cover your rolled out dough with tomato sauce and mozarella, add some cooked off italian sausage or pepporoni, or go Hawaiian with ham and pineapple. Before slicing roll your roll in parmesian to coat the outside, then slice and put into the muffin tins.

Because biscuits are self-rising the effect of this recipe is to make a cinnamon type roll without having to go through the lengthy process of making dough, waiting for it to rise, knocking down and rolling out, filling, then waiting for the 2nd rise and then baking. This recipe can be knocked out in about half an hour including cooking time. Simple to make before church on Sunday morning or if using savory fillings as a quick fun dinner or appetizer on a school night.

Tell me what variations you come up with!

E-Z P-Z Pasta N Chee-Z

Growing up I hated Macaroni and Cheese. The dislike stayed with me well into my adult years. Our youngest daughter could live on Mac and Cheese, the oranger the better. Having made hundreds of batches from the box I started doing what I always do, thinking "how can I make this better? What can I do to make it so I would like it?" It dawned on me that the oneness of the flavor and the texture were the two things that I disliked. After watching a Bobby Flay throw down on mac and cheese I decided to give my own version a whirl.

This is very simple to make and takes about 20 minutes start to finish. There are many options along the way where you can substitute, add or leave out ingredients. What I am presenting is how I like to make it, though depending on my audience I will add or subtract heat, types of cheese, type of pasta and cream to milk ratio.

Have fun, it's Easy Peasy!

Start by making your pasta. You can use traditional macaroni noodles, mostaccioli, large shells, small shells, I have used Orzo which gives a really creamy, almost risotto like in texture with the bits of bacon and pepper giving it texture. Depending on how you intend to serve the dish choose a pasta and prepare it at the start. Have it ready to add to the sauce.

I do not measure so you may have to play with some of the amounts to get it the way you like. This dish sets up pretty well so while it may look like you have too much sauce to pasta, if it sits for a bit the proportions tend to even out. Here we go.

Take 4-6 slices of bacon, do not separate to save time, and slice into chunks about quarter to half inch in lenth. Add to saucepan and put on medium to medium-low heat. The objective is to get the bacon to become crispy. Do not cook too fast as you will be adding additional ingredients and do not want to take bacon from crispy to crunchy. Stir from time to time to break up the pieces and also to prevent sticking.

Dice about 1 cup of onion--you can use any type of onion. Depending on your personal heat index dice an jalepeno or Anaheim chili, should be about a half to one cup. When the bacon is just getting crispy, five minutes?, add the onion and peppers.

At this point I start to add some seasoning and will add salt, pepper, some ground red pepper--maybe a half teaspoon or more--and a couple of dashes of ground nutmeg or a couple of grinds of fresh nutmeg. Feel free to add additional spices you like.

After the onions and peppers have sweated and the bacon appears to be crispy we get to the heavy action part. Have the following ingredients ready to go: flour, wine (about half cup) and cream/milk. Regarding the cream and milk, this is where you can make substitution, I have made this with about 1 cup of each and with about half cup of cream and 1 to one and a half cups of milk. The milk in our home is 2%. You can also make this with no cream but the texture of the sauce may be a bit different.

With the bacon/onion/pepper mixture still on medium heat slowly add flour. Do not drain the bacon fat, just add the flour. I use about two to three of our big soup spoons, so maybe 4 tablespoons measured. When I add flour to sauces I always put the flour through our sieve and bang the side with the spoon to sift the flour over the top of the mixture. After the top of the bacon mix is covered with flour I stir to incoporate the flour and then sift more flour on top until covered and then mix in, repeating until I have added enough flour to make it begin to thicken.

Now comes the fun part. Slowly add your wine. You will notice that the mixture immediately siezes up and becomes balls of wet flour with bacon, etc. Stir this and slowly keep adding the wine. After you have added the wine give it some stirs. It may be time to switch to your whisk if you have not done so already.

Now quickly add your cream, if you are using it, and whisk thoroughly. You will see the roux that you made begin to disolve and a sauce begin. Then add your milk and continue to whisk. Keep on the heat, whisking the mixture. Use your whisk to scrape the bottom of the pan as you go. When the mixture comes up to a slow simmer (bubbles on the side of the pan) lower the heat to low and add your cheese.

Cheese This is where you can really change the flavor of this dish. I have used a mix of fontina, parmesian and cheddar, and had a very strong flavor that kids did not like and adults did. I have used fontina, smoked gouda and cheddar for a bit more mild that kids like as well. Just cheddar. Some day I will try it with blue cheese in the mix. This is where you can have some fun and really experiment on how you make it. Keep in mind that it does not take much of a strong flavored cheese to permeate a dish.

Have ready about 2-3 cups of grated cheese. When using a couple of different cheeses I will go half cup of the "strong" cheeses and one cup of the basic cheddar (white or orange).

With your now creamy, bacony, flavorful sauce add your grated cheese and stir until all the cheese is melted and integrated. Turn off the heat.

Toss in your pasta and mix throughly. If you are using pasta with "holes" like macaroni, or even shells, give it a good stirring/folding to ensure you have all the pasta filled with the sauce.

As for serving you can pour the pasta into a baking dish, cover with grated cheese and bake at 350 for a while or toss under a broiler to get the crunchy top many like. Or simply put in a bowl and set out.

While the directions are rather lengthy, once you make this dish you will find how easy it really is to put together. As I said you can really do many variations of heat with the peppers or spices, flavors with the cheese, try adding crumbled sausage or pancetta. There is no end of variations!

And oh the cheesy, creamy, bacony, goodness you will enjoy!

Simple Cilantro Sauce

This is increbibly easy to make and goes great with grilled meat. We had it last weekend and guest were putting it on the tri-tip and the chicken. Serve with the meat and some warm tortillas and enjoy!

After washing a bunch of cilantro (a bunch being the big bundle at the grocer) cut off the stems right below the leaves. No need to go picking off individual leaves, just wack off the stems. Toss the tops into your food processor.

This step will determine the amount of heat you and your guest can tolerate. Since I often do not know the heat tolerance of my guest I use one whole Anaheim pepper (the long green skinny ones), which I prep but slicing open and cutting out the seeds and the white stuff that holds the seeds. This is where most of the capsaicin is held which is where a pepper gets its heat. If you like it hot leave the seeds, or use jalapeno or other peppers instead.

Once your pepper is prepped, cut into large chunks and toss into the food processor.

Depending on your taste take a clove or two of garlic and mince fine (food processors, or at least mine, never seem to get the garlic fine enough) and add to the mix.

We are fortunate to have a very prolific Mexican Lime tree in our yard that produces wonderfully juicy and delicious small limes, they are just smaller than a golf ball. I squeeze the juice of three to four of these limes into the mix; probably would measure a quarter cup? Maybe more? If you are using the typical large limes from the market I would say use one to start and adjust with the juice of a second if needed (probably will).

Throw in some salt and pepper to your taste, this is easy to adjust later. As well if you like to spice things up you can put in some red pepper, or a dash of cumin, or use your imagination. I go with just salt and pepper to allow the lime, pepper and cilantro to shine.

Put the lid on and start the machine to processing. As it is whirring away pour in some olive oil. I have no idea how much I put in, probably about a quarter cup? Maybe a half? I want just enough to keep everything together and emulsify the ingredients. Whir this for quite a while to ensure all the cilantro is chopped fine and the sauce has come together.

Give it a taste and adjust for salt, pepper, lime or heat. Note that as it sits the acid from the lime will pull out the heat from the peppers, meaning the longer between when you make it and serve it the less heat it will have from the peppers. Also if you like a very "clean" sauce you will need to strain this as it has pieces of cilantro, my guests don't seem to mind and I don't think yours will either!

Prep time is about 3-5 minutes depending on how long it takes you to prep your ingredients. You can make this a day ahead of time and put in the fridge, or go right from the food processor to a serving bowl, pitcher.

Let me know what you think and any adjustments you have made to this very flavorful way to kick up your barbecue!

Stuftivus In Arizona...7 Days A Week

The Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona is a place that has the Stuftivus spirit!

Stuftivus I: We Made, We Ate, Again & Again &...

Bacon Explosion Steps 1 (weave) 2 (sausage on weave) 3 (cooked bacon) 4 (rolled!)

And this is how our Saturday began! Reno Mike showed up in our kitchen about 1:30 on Saturday with some homemade KC sauce and mint juleps in jars from his accountant and ready to roll some Bacon Explosion! The sauce was sweet and sour and tasty, the roll was expertly achieved and the mint juleps...well that is another story that can be told later.

While Smokey was browning lamb to stuff into a pork loin, Reno Mike began construction of the Bacon Explosions--yes plural. His technique belied years at summer camp weaving lanyards and baskets, quickly he had constructed the first bacon lattice that would wrap the sausage and was asking for "more bacon!" Which was not a problem as described in previous post he shuttled a fifteen pound box down from Carson City.

The Bacon Explosion layers are thus:

1) Weave bacon in a tight weave (picture far left above)

2) Cover with sausage (picture 2) and apply generous amount of your favorite rub and barbecue sauce

3) Cover sausage with cooked bacon (yes bacon rolled in sausage rolled in bacon)

4) Roll the sausage to one side of the bacon weave

5) Roll the bacon weave over the sausage into a nice tight bundle (final picture)

6) Put on indirect heat (make sure you have drip pan under the Explosion!) and baste with barbecue sauce for the next couple of hours.

Serve! (Reno Mike cutting Bacon Explosion with guidance from Colleen):

But this was the capper, the piece de resistance, the grand finale...well we had dessert so it was the last bit of pork served at Stuftivus I. Prior to the Bacon Explosion Smokey and Reno Mike were pulling food off the grill and guests were dishing it as well. We had four kinds of sausage (not counting what was in the Bacon Explosion), the Tulsa Treat (barbecued bologna), pork belly, chicken, tri-tip, pork loin stuffed with lamb, brie and basil, Arrogant Bastard beans with two kinds of pork, hash brown casserole with cheese and butter, cornbread, home made bread and some stuff people described as "asparagus" and "salad", and to make sure no one went home hungry we ended with Ginger Orange Cheesecake--all of it. For the record that is ten different variations of pork. No wonder Chef Paul was calling it Pork-A-Polooza!

Picture on the left is the early grill with sausages, Tulsa Treat, chickens and tri-tip; picture on the right is the grill with the Bacon Explosions added (note the drip tray, critical!).

Smokey and Wonder Woman want to thank Reno Mike and Shelle (or Mark and Shirley) for their help and guidance, and very importantly, Anna, Brian, Brian, Chef Paul, Colleen, Dana, James, Julie, Marty and Nicole provided the great laughs, friendship and of course receptivity for everything coming off the grill! Special thanks to the little ones Blaire, Jenna and Skye for keeping themselves occupied and allow the Mamas and Papas the ability to relax and enjoy.

As for that beverage debate, Smokey weighed in...beer goes best with the Bacon Explosion and of course, you can have barbecue sauce on anything including Ginger Orange Cheesecake!

Planning will be underway soon for Stuftivus II as Reno Mike and I contemplate moving from the plains and Porkapolooza to the other three-quarters of the earth and feasting on water based food stuffs, we will have to Sea it to believe it! Stay tuned! Harrison is resting so he will be ready!

Postscript.... About 9:30 Wonder Woman proclaims, "I can't believe this...I'm kind of hungry."

The Shipment Is Rolling!

Reno Mike just called from the 395 and he and Shelle are headed south with over 20 pounds of pork for Stuftivus. It seems his bacon purveyor only sells in quantities of 15 pounds, what's a fella to do?

Drive careful there Reno Mike, that is some precious cargo you have in the cargo hold!

Forty-eight hours to Stuftivus One!

Is It Wrong?

Here is a question for Stuftivus readers. Is it wrong to start meats in the oven for the long slow cooking and then finish them on the barbecue to pick up the smokey flavor and add sauce for glaze and more flavor?

I never cook ribs on the grill. Following the food genius Alton Brown's method I rub them, wrap them in foil, pour some braising liquid in the foil pouch and leave in the oven on 250 for about three hours. Then I take the braising liquid, maybe add a thing or two, boil it down some more and use it to as a baste for the ribs.

The ribs are put on the uppper rack of my barbecue over some wood chips and I baste them for fifteen to thirty minutes (depends on what my "basting" liquid is and how fast I want to drink it). Ribs get a nice glaze from the basting sauce and a nice smoke flavor from the wood but I don't have to mess with checking them on the grill for several hours, worry about flame ups, etc.

Is this wrong to start your meats in the oven and finish them on the grill?

Menu Items

We already know we are having the Bacon Explosion as the centerpiece of Stuftivus, I thought I would share some other tasty treats that are making your way onto the menu for Stuftivus.

Reno Mike's gal Shelle is bringing hashbrowns with many additives that makes for a delicious sounding dish--and believe me if Reno Mike passes a dish to be present you know it is delicious.

Chef Paul (really, he's a chef how he managed to make the cut for this amateur event is under intense investigation--we can probably use photos to blackmail him later to protect his career) is bringing "Arrogant Bastard Smoked Pork and Beans." Someone point out something wrong with that juxtaposition of words! Every time I read that phrase I salivate.

Smokey is going to have some chicken on the grill to cleanse the palettes, nice and juicy. As well a bit of tri-tip for the obligatory beef dish. Accompanying this will be plenty of Nancy Jane's barbecue sauce passed down from Momma to Smokey.

Anyone up for some ginger-orange cheesecake? We'll be getting that put together as well.

Smokey is working on one more stuffed pork item that was debuted about seven or eight years ago combining pork and a four legged protein not yet mentioned on the menu. Stay tuned!

I'm a man of numbers. I'm a man of data. I'm a man who would sell his kidneys for some really good bacon. But I know that there are those of you out there who are afraid of bacon. Many of you fear the god-meat, but you don't need to. Just look at the data:

Nutritional Values

Preparation	Serving Size	Carbs	Fiber (g)	Fat (g)	Energy (kj)
Middle Rasher - fried	1 (10g)	0	0	3	155
Middle Rasher - trimmed, fried	1 (10g)	0	0	1	95
Middle Rasher - grilled	1 (10g)	0	0	2	135
Middle Rasher - trimmed, grilled	1 (10g)	0	0	1	10

I would like to point out that there are only three grams of Fat in bacon. And if you look carefully.....there are no calories. That's right. Look at the table above.....grams of Fiber, grams of Fat and kilojoules of Energy....but not one sorry calorie.

So rest assured fellow Stuftivus travelers, there are no calories in bacon, and naturally that means that pigs in general are calorie-free. So enjoy the pig. Embrace the pork.

Now with no calories.

Cheers.

The Initial Debate

The initial debate centered on Stuftivus was not between Smokey and Wonder Woman when the Bacon Explosion was introduced--that merely sparked a series of comments from WW, "that's gross" "I don't want to see you make it or eat it" and "that will kill you." Smokey took the comments in stride and pressed ahead without argument. The first debate was in fact the beverage to accompany the Bacon Explosion.

One of the more, how can I say this without seeming judgemental....let's say "elitist" comments on the Bacon Explosion indicated she would "provide the wine." Wine? With pork wrapped pork cooked on flame? Smokey's head almost exploded from the possibility. Beer. Beer is a beverage that is provincial, rooted in American culture and damnit is what one drinks with pork wrapped pork.

It did not take long for the beverage snobbies to begin to disparage poor Smokey and his clinging to his grill and his beer. Wine, they said, wine has varieties that go with every meal! A zinfandel or cabernet is perfect with the Bacon Explosion. One "expert" stated she had in fact had the Bacon Explosion with a cabernet and it "paired beautifully."

The debate was on creating one of the challenges for Stuftivus: beverage tasting test with the Bacon Explosion. Wine or beer, try a bit of both and decide for yourself.

After this was decided a new voice cried out, "what about margaritas?" Huh?

Welcome Stuftivus Invitees!

If you are reading this chances are you have received an invite to Stuftivus. Stuftivus is the result of a serious argument on Facebook between "friends" as a result of a posting by Dennis, aka Smokey, of this gorgeous barbecue element, the Bacon Explosion. After posting on the item several friends who know my passion for combining controlled fire and meat challenged me to make one and to invite them. Despite Leslie's, aka Wonder Woman, initial refusal to allow me to not eat this gastronomic wonder, I pressed ahead. The comments section quickly degenerated into whether red wine could be served with the Bacon Explosion--whose name and ingredients and blue collarness scream "BEER." It became necessary to create the Bacon Explosion and have a taste testing as to which paired better, the beer or the cabernet/zinfandel/Boon's Farm.

Mike Caltagirone, aka Reno Mike, has known WW since their days at CalState Fullerton and as passionate about what he eats and makes as anyone we know. His love of pork products extends to my regularly receiving text messages of pictures of barbecue from all over the country as his previous luckily landed him in some of our nation's finest smoked meat havens. Nothing like checking your Blackberry on a Tuesday evening and all the message consists of is a picture of pulled pork, brisket, cole slaw and a biscuit on a paper plate from an oilcloth covered table in Kansas City. Once Stuftivus the idea became Stuftivus the event the date had to be delayed until Mike's travel schedule would have him within 200 miles of Long Beach. Thankful that date is a mere weeks away.

Smokey and Reno Mike will provide grilled proteins and guests are encouraged to bring everything else for our Stuftivus event. Our invitation list has been carefully crafted to provide a wide range of personalities and backgrounds to encourage lively discussions, new friendships, and entertainment for all. Come hungry, physically and intellectually--this event ain't for lightweights.