Smoked Mac-N-Cheese
Mac-N-Cheese; in all of its variations; has been a staple in kitchens around the world for countless years. Served as a main dish or a side, this comfort food has stood the test of time! Our twist from traditional preparation is to add a variation of cheeses and a little kick with the red pepper flakes.
Ingredients
What you'll need:
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
- 1 stick butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 cups Milk
- 1 block cream cheese; cubed
- 1/2 brick Velveeta cheese; cubed
- 4 cups grated extra sharp cheddar
- 1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp Salt & Pepper
- 1 tbsp Crushed red pepper
- 1/2 lb Bacon, cooked and chopped
Macaroni
In a large pot, prepare elbow macaroni per instructions on the package. Strain and return to pot. Add 2 cups shredded cheddar and the cooked/diced bacon; set aside
Cheese Sauce & Preparation
- In a medium sauce pan:
- Melt stick of butter, add flour and whisk until mixed well
- Pour in milk while stirring; bring to a simmer
- Add in crushed pepper, salt/pepper and stir thoroughly; mix in shredded parmesan cheese
- Add cubed cream and Velveeta cheeses and stir until sauce has a creamy consistency
- Pour sauce into pan containing macaroni, cheddar cheese and bacon. Mix well.
- Pour contents into a disposable pan; cover with remaining 2 cups shredded cheese.
- Place on smoke/grill at a temperature of 250-300 and leave until cheese on top is bubbling and slightly browned.
- Serve Mac-N-Cheese with your favorite side of meat!
Smoked New York Strip Loin
Smoked New York Strip Loin
Why is it called a 'New York Strip Loin'? ... Delmonico's Restaurant, an operation opened in New York City in 1827, offered as one of its signature dishes a cut from the short loin called a Delmonico steak. Due to its association with the city, it has since been referred to as a New York strip loin. A New York strip loin - sometimes called the top loin, or Kansas City strip - is a succulent, lean, tender, full-flavored roast.
This recipe is extremely easy and the smoked results are mouth watering and succulent. Preheat your wood pellet smoker-grill to 240ºF with CookinPellets Premium Perfect Mix. The 3 pound roast was a perfect size for my Green Mountain Grill Davy Crockett. Smoked the New York Strip Loin for approximately 2 hours until the internal temperature reached 135ºF. Rested the smoked roast loosely under a foil tent for 10 minutes before slicing against the grain.
Cut a 3 pound roast from an entire New York Strip Loin, removed the fat cap, and trimmed away any silver skin. Rubbed roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil on all sides and seasoned the roast liberally with Pete's Western Rub (page 169 of my cookbook, The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook). Wrapped the seasoned roast with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.
Apple Mash Smoked St Louis Spareribs
Apple Mash Smoked St Louis Spareribs
I prefer my ribs naked but SWMBO likes hers sauced. So in order to compromise, I smoked three racks of St Louis style Spareribs using CookinPellets Apple Mash Pellets and sauced one with Sweet Baby Ray's for her while keeping the other two au naturel ... I think that 2 racks to 1 is a good compromise - don't you?
Ever wonder why ribs come in packages of 3? Anyway, started with 3 racks of St Louis Spareribs from Costco. If you have a Costco near you I highly recommend buying your meat and poultry from them. Their quality is excellent. If you haven't yet, you should pick up one or more rotisserie chickens ... Not only are the chickens huge and delicious but you can't beat the price ... I think it's a loss leader for them. But I digress!
Begin by pulling the membrane on the back of the ribs. I like to pry a spoon handle under the first rib bone, grab the membrane with a paper towel, and pull it off. A little practice and it'll become second nature to you. Rubbed all sides of the ribs with Roasted Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and seasoned them lightly with my Pork Dry Rub (page 169 of my cookbook, The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook).
Preheated my MAK 2 Star to 180ºF using CookinPellets Apple Mash pellets. Smoked the racks of St Louis Spareribs for an hour at 180ºF before bumping the pit temperature to 250ºF. Continued to smoke the ribs for 3 hours. At this point, the internal temperature of the ribs approached 190ºF. Sauced one rack and returned the ribs to the MAK 2 Star. Smoked the ribs at 250ºF for 30 minutes. Pulled the ribs and rested them loosely under a foil tent before serving.
Pork and Apple are an unbelievable combination and the Apple Mash pellets really make a difference.
Black Cherry Smoked Meatloaf
Black Cherry Smoked Meatloaf
I used my favorite meatloaf recipe and tweaked it decided to bring it up a notch by replacing my normal tomato sauce ingredient with Lucille's New Orleans Nippy Bloody Mary Mix. I also smoked the meatloaves using the new CookinPellets Black Cherry wood pellets. The results? The taste? ... Fantastic ...
I often use Lucille's New Orleans Nippy dry Bloody Mary Mix in many of my recipes and the results have never disappointed me cause they always turn out exceptionally delicious!! Next time you want to serve your family and friends a meatloaf that will leave them craving for more then I check out this recipe.
Meatloaf Ingredients:
1 lb Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage, 1 lb 80/20 Hamburger, diced red onions, 2 eggs, 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs, tsp granulated garlic, tsp salt, tsp pepper, and 1 cup of Lucille's New Orleans Nippy Bloody Mary Mix
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients and form into two 1 pound loaves
Preheat Green Mountain Grill Davy Crockett wood pellet smoker-grill to 200ºF using CookinPellets Black Cherry wood pellets. Smoke the meatloaves for an hour at 200ºF before bumping the Davy Crockett pit temperature to 350ºF until the internal temperatures of the meatloaves reach 160ºF. Rest the loaves loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes before serving ... For planning purposes it took about 2¾ hours from start to finish.
Kippered Salmon – Wood Pellet Smoker-Grill
Kippered Salmon
This is my version of Kippered Salmon which involves first cold smoking the salmon at lower temperatures in my MAK 2 Star Super Smoker Box before finishing the salmon at the traditional temperature of 180ºF in the pit.
Started by preheating the MAK 2 Star pit temp to 180ºF using CookinPellets Premium 100% Hickory. The 180ºF MAK 2 Star pit temperature equated to the Super Smoker Box being at a temp of 100ºF. Note that the ambient temperature will affect the smoker box temp. During the 2nd hour I increased the pit temp to 225ºF and then to 275ºF for the 3rd hour. The internal temperature of the kippered salmon was at 99ºF at this point. Lowered the MAK 2 Star pit temp to 180ºF and transferred the cold smoked salmon to the pit area to finish the kippering process.
Started out by brining the salmon for 8 hours using Mr Yoshida Traditional Teriyaki Marinade & Cooking Sauce in a 1 gallon ziploc bag. Turned the salmon every hour in order to ensure that every piece of salmon was evenly brined. Yes, there are a zillion recipes for brine out there but now and then I like to take the easy way out and Mr Yoshida's is a great product.
Removed the salmon from the brine and lightly patted them with a paper towel. Placed them uncovered on a tray in the refrigerator for 8 hours in order to allow pellicles to form. A pellicle is a skin or coating of proteins on the surface of fish that will attract more smoke to adhere to it.
