The Big Green Egg Lawyer

Who am I?

My name is Scott Jones.  I live in Asheville, North Carolina with my wife, Karen, and my children, Olivia, Matthew, and William.  Almost all of my time outside the office is consumed (happily, most of the time) with my kids, their school, and our church.  The office is my law practice, Cloninger, Barbour, Searson & Jones, where I am a civil trial lawyer working with three great trial lawyers, who are pretty good guys too.

Why am I doing this blog?

I have grown to love my Big Green Egg which I have had since 2003, and in learning how to really use my BGE I have learned all kinds of things from other blogs and websites.  A few years ago, I began using my Egg much more as I tried to become more health conscious. (Don’t worry; not everything I cook on the Egg is “healthy.”)  Cooking on the Egg has given me a new “outlet” that lets me try to eat healthy, but it is a hobby that does not take me away from my family – the practice of law does enough of that.

What is this blog?

I have posted here off and on for over two years.  Mostly, I try to present some recipes and other ideas for cooking on the BGE.  However, I have also veered into talking about other recipes (my wife is a GREAT cook), my family, and other odds and ends.   I hope along the way someone other than my mother and my kids find this at least a little interesting.

Guest Post by Olivia

Patriotic Pooch

My patriotic pooch is my dog Allie. Allie is a Boston Terrier and is 12 years old. The point of this blog entry as you probably have guessed is my dog on the 4th of July. One of my favorite holidays is the 4th so I have a lot of patriotic gear. I get my family to wear patriotic sunglasses, and I, of course, wear my lady liberty sunglasses. This year I wanted to dress up my dog along with my family.  I put my flag bandana on her and she looked like and was a true

Patriotic Pooch!

Blogworthy

Yesterday was the first time I have ever heard Karen use that word – at least I guess it is a word.  Someone check the OED for me.

Karen was talking about this:

This is Karen’s Blueberry Yum Yum.  It is not made on the Egg, but it does make a wonderful dessert after a good 4th of July BBQ dinner.  This is how you make it.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2  cups self rising flour
• 1/2  cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4  cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
• 1 (12-ounce)  container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3/4  cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• 3  tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 4 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Stir together first 4 ingredients with a fork until crumbly.
2. Press into a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch pan.
3. Bake at 375˚ for 15 minutes.
4. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
5. Beat whipped topping, cream cheese, and powdered sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
6. Spoon over prepared crust.
7. Cover and chill.
8. Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.
9. Whisk in 1 cup water until smooth.
10. Stir in blueberries, and bring to a boil.
11. Boil, stirring constantly, 2  minutes.
12. Remove from heat; cool.
13. Pour over cream cheese mixture.
14. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

Let me know what you think.  I think I am glad Karen only makes this about once a year.  It is just too addictive for me.

Cowboy Steak

My friend, Sean Devereux, came home the Friday before Father’s Day to a wonderful surprise.  His two sons, Jack and Michael, had gotten him a Big Green Egg for Father’s Day.  Sean promptly, with the help of the boys, cooked the next three Devereux family dinners on his new Egg.  One of those was this recipe which he got from a recipe book titled Patio Daddyo.  (Another was BBQ.)  Yesterday I used the recipe on a cut the local Ingles had labelled London Broil.  It was a success, and we will be doing it again.  I have modified it only slightly from Sean’s recipe

Ingredients

• 2-3 lb. London Broil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except the meat in a dish.
2. Cover the meat liberally with the rub.
3. Let the meat sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours
4. Heat your Egg to between 400 and 500 degrees.
5. Cook the meat for approximately five minutes on each side until the internal temperature is to your liking.  (Please do not overcook it.)
6. Wrap the meat in foil, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Slice thinly and serve.

Million Dollar Tandoori Chicken Slumdog

My Partner Jack Cloninger and his wife, LaNita, had a little cookout for the firm on a Saturday.  Jack cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, and I brought some Tandoori chicken.  Margo Searson got creative with the food, and here we are – the Million Dollar Tandoori Chicken Slumdog.  Margo took some of my Tandoori chicken, put it in a hot dog bun, and added some yellow mustard, a little sweet pickle relish, and a slice of swiss cheese.  She and Brad loved it.  I love the name, and it gives me another excuse to cook Tandoori.

Happy Grilling!

“Spaghetti sauce” over shirataki noodles – another non-Egg recipe

Karen makes a wonderful meat sauce to go with spaghetti.  The recipe is direct from Southern Living, except that we specify 93% lean on the ground beef.  When we have it, I occasionally substitute shirataki noodles for the spaghetti noodles.  This is Karen’s recipe for the sauce.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. 93% lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato puree
• 1 (6-ounce) can Italian-style tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil

Directions:

1. COOK first 8 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; then drain.
2. STIR in mushrooms and next 6 ingredients.
3. Simmer 3 hours.
4. Stir in 1 tablespoon basil just before serving.

Serve this on top of shirataki noodles, after rinsing the noodles 5-10 minutes under cool running water and then cooking the boodles for 5-10 minutes over medium heat in a non-stick skillet.

If anybody out there has any good tasty recipes using shirataki noodles, let me know.

This is heretical, but …

Pork tenderloin in a Crock Pot

Karen has wanted to find some good recipes for her to fix during the week while I am working, but without her spending “forever” in the kitchen.  Despite her almost religious belief that a recipe cannot be good if it is one that I “made up,” this is tomorrow night’s dinner.  Our friends the Stowes and I had it once a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed.  That night Karen ate hot dogs with the kids, but tomorrow she is going to be adventurous.

Ingredients:

• pork tenderloin (1 lb. or a little larger)
• 1 cups ketchup
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup  apple cider vinegar
• 2 sweet onions (hand chopped, not too fine)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 tsp brown sugar
• 4 tsp molasses
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne (amount depends upon how hot you want it)
• 1 TBSP smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce

Directions:

1. Brown the pork tenderloin on the stove top.
2. Add the browned pork tenderloin and all other ingredients to the crock pot.
3. Cook on low until the tenderloin shreds easily. (6 hours or more)
4. Serve as you would pulled pork with sauce.

Let me know how it goes.  Also, let me know if you have any good crock pot recipes to pass along to Karen.

I will get another BGE recipe up soon.  Lately, we have just been extraordinarily busy with all sorts of fun family stuff.  I have been grilling, but sticking to the tried and true.

Spicy garlic shrimp on the Big Green Egg

You will have to forgive me if I miss anything in these directions, but dinner was a little hectic.  I am just taking time to type this out so that I remember what I did .  I grilled 3 (or 4 depending on how you count it) different entrees on the Egg, and the indoor power went out just after I had started the french fries inside.  I fixed Italian chicken for Karen and the boys, plain but delicious salmon (flavored by the addition of some alder chips for Olivia, some plain shrimp for Olivia, and this spicy garlic shrimp for me.  I only have a sample size of one, but I think they were great.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. medium to large shrimp
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tbs water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel the shrimp.  You can leave the tail on to hold them by if you like.
2. Mix the minced garlic kosher salt, cayenne, lemon juice and water.
3. Pour mixture over the shrimp and mix with the shrimp thoroughly.
4. Let stand for 30-60 minutes.
5. Heat the BGE to about 400 degrees.
6. Spray the shrimp with olive oil spray and place in a wire basket.
7. Place the basket in the Egg over direct heat.
8. After 4-5 minutes, turn the shrimp.
9. After 2-3 more minutes, the shrimp should be done.

 

Panko-crusted swai

I love to eat fish, and so does Olivia, but our 2 out of 5 vote does not often carry the day when planning the menu at our house.  When it does, this is a relatively quick and easy (and healthy) choice.  Credit to the naked whiz for the basis of this recipe.  I just swapped swai in place of his tilapia and made a couple of other minor changes.  Swai is  an inexpensive (even compared to tilapia) mild fish.

Ingredients:

•  4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 4 swai filets
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• fish rub (your choice)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Put the plate setter in your egg before firing it up.
2. Heat your Egg to 400.
3. Cover a cooking grid with aluminum foil and generously coat the foil with olive oil.
4. Pour the bread crumbs onto a plate and the milk into a shallow bowl.
5. Dip each filet into the milk and then generously coat with the garlic and then the bread crumbs.
6. Place filets on the foil.
7. Sprinkle with your favorite fish rub.
8. Put a handful of wood chips for smoking fish (alder) onto fire and place the cooking grid into the Egg.
9. Cook until the top side looks like toasted bread crumbs and the underside is crispy.

Blueberry lemon cream cheese pound cake

This one is not terribly different from my other two cream cheese pound cakes, but it is delicious.

Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2  cups butter or margarine, softened
• 1 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1  teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer  until creamy.
2. Gradually add sugar, beating well.
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
4. Gradually add flour to butter mixture, beating at  low speed just until blended after each addition.
5. Stir in vanilla and lemon
6. Spoon batter into a greased and floured light bundt pan.
7. Bake at 300˚ for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until a long wooden pick  inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Wrap and place in freezer as soon as you are able.
9. After the cake is frozen, add icing from below; then serve or put back in the freezer.

Icing

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Mix sugar and lemon juice until syrupy.
2. Pour over cake.

Something Unique – a new recipe for the Big Green Egg

Making BBQ from pork tenderloin

OK.  I am making a little fun of myself with the main title.  I have not posted very much lately, and none of the posts have been new big green egg recipes.  Today I tried two different recipes that were a hit.  I will share the first one here.

As you know from some of my earlier posts, I love making BBQ on the Egg.  As you probably also know, even if you trim as much fat as possible from a Boston Butt (the traditional cut used to make BBQ), you are not exactly getting the most healthy meal.  The problem with trying to make barbecue from tenderloin, however, is that without all that fat, the meat dries out.  I think this recipe solves that problem.  Although the responsibility for this recipe is mine, I got the idea from a recipe I saw online by someone with the nickname ClayQ.  I do not know who he is, but thank you ClayQ.  The recipe below is for two pounds of pork tenderloin, but it is scalable – depending on the size of your dutch oven.

Ingredients:

• Pork Tenderloin (2 lbs.)
• Water (4 cups)
• apple wood chips
• WNC BBQ sauce (recipe about 2/3 way down in this post)

Directions:

1. Heat the BGE to 400-500 degrees.
2. Add a handful of apple wood chips.
3. Cook the tenderloin for 25-35 minutes, turning it a few times to brown it on all sides.
4. Place the tenderloin into a dutch oven in which you have already put the water.
5. Put the lid on the oven, and put the oven in the grill.
6. Reduce the temperature to 350-400 degrees.
7. While the tenderloin is cooking, prepare the WNC BBQ sauce.
8. After one hour, check to make sure there is sufficient water in the dutch oven.  If not, add additional water.
9. After an additional 45 minutes, check to see if the tenderloin can be pulled apart with a fork.
10. If it can be pulled apart, remove the dutch oven from the grill.  If not, close the lid, and check again in 15 minutes.
11. When the dutch oven comes off the grill, if there is more than 1-1 1/2 cups of liquid remaining in it, drain the excess.
12. Pull the tenderloin apart as you would to make traditional pulled pork.
13. Add the WNC BBQ sauce to the dutch oven.
14. Leave the lid off.
15. Add a handful of additional apple wood chips to the fire.
16. Return the dutch oven to the grill.
17. Reduce the heat to 300-350 degrees.
18. Cook for 1 hour.
19. Enjoy your tenderloin BBQ.

For some people this will be too spicy.  That is why I did something else with the rest of the tenderloin today – more on that in a later post.  If you are one of the “it is too spicy for me folks,” you can either reduce the amount of cayenne in this sauce, or just replace it with a mixture of 75% store-bought BBQ sauce and 25% apple cider vinegar.  The adults here sure like the home-made sauce better, but your mileage may differ.