Chile-Lime Marinade

This was originally posted at DC's Musings February 3, 2009. A friend recently asked how I grill my tri-tip and it caused me to think of this wonderful and simple marinade.


I love to barbecue (or grill, I use the terms synonymously knowing that barbecue is a type of food in some regions and how it is prepared in others--if you have an issue then you have issues). I love to experiment. I love to experiment with food and flavor combinations for my barbecue. This weekend I hit a homerun on a new technique that many may already know, but it was new to my un-culinary-educated experience.

Some of my favorite marinades and basting liquids contain lime juice--fresh lime juice from the limes on our tree in the front yard (a "Mexican" or "Key-Lime" tree). The limes are just smaller than a golf ball with incredible flavor. Squeeze one on a piece of tri-tip or a butterflied chicken and bliss is found.

Grilled chili peppers is also one of my favorites from the outdoor cooker, I love the flavor and the spice they bring to a tortilla filled with any grilled meat. With kids the flavor and the spice can sometimes be too intense so I have had to cut back on how many, and what type, of chilies I like to use. Until Saturday.

I was listening to a radio program and the on-air expert (not Melinda Lee who I very much enjoy) was explaining how the heat in chili peppers is cut by acid and if you soak them in acid they will retain their flavors and loose much of their heat. Perfect! I like acids: citrus juices, alcohol, vinegar (in smaller doses than Leslie) and was excited to try a new technique.

Saturday afternoon to prep for my Super Bowl chili I cut the stems off and just scraped out as much of the seeds as I could in jalapeno, Anaheim and banana peppers. Then I put them in a Ziploc with the juice of two of our small Mexican limes. Making sure the juice got inside the peppers I put the bag in the cold-box overnight.
Sunday morning when I opened the bag to retrieve the peppers for roasting I was hit with the wonderful aroma of chilies and lime--it smelled fantastic. Not one to waste something that smells that good I quickly rubbed my pork loin chops with salt, pepper and house rub, placed in a bag, poured in the chili-lime juice and vacuum sealed the contents. Into the cold-box until after church to marinade.

I grilled the pork over the mesquite and without basting the flavor of the chili-lime marinade was terrific. There was little heat, but not too much, and to be able to enjoy the flavor of the chilies without worrying about the heat was a plus.
The pork, the roasted peppers and the left over chili-lime all went into the chili pot for what may have been the best SB Chili I have made in the almost 25 years I have been making it.

Try it, bag of chilies and lime juice then use to marinate chicken, pork, tri-tip, fish--you'll love it!

Crowning the Queen of Stuftivus

"I didn't know that eating pork improved sexual activity," Fernandez said in a meeting with representatives of the swine industry late Wednesday. "It is much more gratifying to eat some grilled pork than to take Viagra."

So says President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina. Between issuing true political pork to subsidize the pork industry of Argentina and promoting pork as a benefit to an active sex life, President Fernandez de Kirchner is hereby dubbed the Queen of Stuftivus II.

In her honor Smokey suggests a Saturday evening dinner with your honey featuring a menu of oysters and champagne, followed by bacon wrapped pork sausage on a bed of pulled pork with a Guiness, finished with a chocolate souffle and small glass of Tokaji.

What a great two days for Stuftivus! On Thursday we get our muse for Stuftivus II and today we find our Queen for Stuftivus II!

Now off to cook some pork for dinner!

Stuftivus II Finds Its Muse

Stuftivus I centered on the Bacon Explosion. From the simple email from Sister Sharon about the Bacon Explosion came an explosion of commentary on Facebook about when Dennis, aka Smokey Stuftivus, would be embarking on such a culinary journey. The answer begat Stuftivus. With the help of Reno Mike and some pork products it was a rousing, and rotund, success.

Now Sister Sharon has descended from Mount Novato with yet another delight. The Brandcheezie (pictured compliments of its home at Brand BBQ Market in Chicago). Some thoughts.

First, "cheezie" is in the name! Harkens "E-Z Cheese". Possible substitute for gorgonzola or blue cheese? Squirt some E-Z Cheese in that big guy? Harkens my E-Z P-Z Pasta N Chee-Z would would be a fine side dish for the Brandcheezie.

Second, while the original Brandcheezie is fried, I think Reno Mike and I showed our grit at Stuftivus I in being able to grill huge amounts of bacon wrapped pork wrapped bacon, so the Stuftivus version of the Brandcheezie will not doubt come to grill.

Third, is there a better Muse out there for Stuftivus II than the Brandcheezie? If so I don't know that I want to know. Smokey will be dreaming of sausage stuffed with cheese wrapped in bacon glazed with barbecue sauce and alcohol.

Coming soon the official date for Stuftivus II: We thought about fish, but its still about Pork!

You know what won't be at Stuftivus II, or any Stuftivus!

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!

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.