Foggy City Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those comfort foods, but it is not something I really crave for or order at a restaurant.  Yet, there is something very special about this particular slab of ground beef and pork. Look closely at the picture above and you will see a pink smoke ring on the edge of this slice, indicating that this meatloaf was smoked.

Smoked meatloaf may sound weird, but after one bite I was hooked.  The meat includes a combination of spices and a tomato/onion saute.  It would probably be good enough baked in the oven, but it is the smoking process that really imparts a wonderful dimension of flavor to this hearty loaf.

Preparing the meatloaf was an easy task, so the only real time involved is the smoking process. So, take some time to celebrate summer. Get outside and smoke up the backyard by preparing this unusual and tasty main course.

Foggy City Meatloaf
courtesy of Barbecue America:A Pilgrimage Cookbook 

Ingredients
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 1/2 cups Ritz or Waverly crackers
1/4 cup red wine
1 egg
3 tbs barbecue sauce (additional for brushing on meatloaf)
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 minced, medium size onion
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 lb ground pork
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
non stick cooking spray

Prepare your smoker and let it preheat up to 220 degrees.

Fill a small bowl with the sun dried tomatoes and cover with hot water.  Set timer for 10 minutes for tomatoes to soften.  Once the timer goes off, drain water.  Then mince the tomatoes, either pulsing in a food processor or by hand. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Place minced tomatoes and onions in the saucepan and cook for 3 minutes or until all vegetables have become soft.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, place all other ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands or a wooden spoon.  Then take out pan or rack that has holes in the bottom.  This can be a perforated pizza pan, cooling rack or screened pan designed for the grill.  I used a pan made for grilling fish.  Spray pan with non stick spray.

Take meat mixture out of bowl and place on pan, forming into a loaf shape.  Place the pan of meatloaf in the center of grill over a water pan.

Then cover and cook for about 2 1/2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit.  The cover should stay on as much as possible during this process and meat should not be moved.  Once done, open the cover and brush with barbecue sauce. Cover again and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from the grill and transfer to large heat proof serving platter.  Cover with foil and let meat rest for 10-15 minutes.  Then slice and serve with additional barbecue sauce as needed.

Pretzel Dogs

This has to be the ultimate in bar food.  If you love big salty pretzels, then these will really hit the spot.

You don't see these served in Texas much, but they are really popular along the east coast.  They are considered so good and popular, it has the staying power to remain on the menu at pubs and restaurants-no matter how many times the ownership changes.

Also, these dogs are great for kids parties or at casual parties such as sports watching or poker.  After baking, they can be kept warm in the oven until your guests are ready to eat.  Just make sure that you use a spatula to remove them from the pan after baking and transfer to another pan to keep warm. This recipe makes 12 dogs. 

Pretzel Dogs
courtesy of Food Mayhem

Ingredients
1 tsp kosher coarse salt (plus extra for sprinkling)
1/2 tsp table salt
4 tbs melted butter
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water (for dipping)
12 hot dogs or sausages (any type as long as already fully cooked)

Mix together 1 tsp sugar, 1 1/4 cup warm water and yeast in a small bowl.  Set aside for 10 minutes, it will turn into a creamy consistency.

In a large stand mixer bowl, sift together 3 1/2 cups flour, both salts and 1/2 cup sugar.  Add yeast and vegetable oil, stirring with a wooden spoon until moistened.

Then put the dough hook in your mixer and turn on low to knead the dough. Set timer for 5 minutes.  Add the last cup of flour and turn on machine to knead.  If after a few minutes of kneading the dough seems too dry, add one or two tablespoons of water.

Once the dough has been kneaded for 5 minutes, remove and round it into a ball.  Put it in a well oiled bowl, cover and place bowl in a warm place for dough to rise.  Set timer for 1 hour for the rising cycle. Dough should double in size during this time.

Prepare baking sheets by coating heavily with oil or non stick spray and preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

After the rising cycle is complete, mix together the hot water and baking soda in a bowl. This will be the bath that the pretzel dogs are dipped in prior to baking.  Set bowl aside. Then take out the oiled bowl and remove the dough. Divide it into 12 equal pieces. Take each piece and roll into a long thin rope that is about 2 or 2 1/2 times the length of the hot dog.

Now the dough will need to be twisted around the hot dog.  Take the bottom part of the dog and spiral the dough around the dog, overlapping the dough around the first rope end and tucking the last end under the dough..  I rolled the dog over the dough on the counter top, but you can use two hands to hold the dog and twist the dough around.  Whichever method is easiest.

After each dog has the dough twist, dip entirely into the baking soda bath.  Then place on baking sheet. Continue with the process, stirring the bath occasionally, until all dogs are on the baking sheet. Bake in oven for about 8-12 minutes.  Dogs are done when dough has browned on all sides and there is a small gap between bread and dog. Remove, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Inside Out Burgers

Out of all the people that won the contest of the Food Network star, Guy Fieri has really become the most popular.  Outside of his two shows, he also has played host to food contests and been in several commercials. 

I think some of his appeal is that he is portrayed as the down to earth chef that makes real "man food" cuisine. "Man-food" is defined as a dish high in meat, made for taste (not for the calorie or fat conscious) and usually goes great with beer. This chef can be found at tailgate parties, the local diner and at the grill with steaks.  Easy to relate to as opposed to another chef that cooks squab in a pristine white chef's coat.

This inside out burger recipe falls right into the "man-food" category.  The patty has bacon, onions, chorizo and cheese all sandwiched between two mounds of beef. Then it is placed on a toasted Kaiser roll and topped with a chunky tomato sauce topping.

If you want to keep any sports fan from going to the pub to watch the game, break out the beer and these burgers.  Eventually, the pub may lose a few more patrons, so remember that this recipe is for 4 burgers.

Inside Out Burgers & Tomato Topping
courtesy of Guy Fieri/Food Network

Ingredients/tomato topping
One pinch each: mustard seed, allspice, celery salt
1/2 tsp dill
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs minced garlic
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1/4 cup diced red onions
8 Roma tomatoes (skinned, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces)

In a saucepan over medium heat cook oil and onions together until onions are carmelized.  Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in the additional ingredients.  Place saucepan back on stove and turn down heat to low.  Simmer for 30 minutes.


Ingredients/burgers
4 Kaiser rolls (split and toasted)
3 tbs uncooked chorizo (out of casing)
1/4 lb chopped bacon
1/2 cup minced red onions
1/2 lb sliced Swiss Cheese (8 slices)
1 lb ground chuck (80/20 mix)

Cook bacon and onions in pan over high heat, stirring until fat on bacon is translucent but not crisp.  Then stir in the chorizo and cook for an additional 3 minutes until done.  Spoon mixture onto paper towel and set aside.

Take the ground beef and divide into 8 equal pieces. Press each of the pieces into patties (4 inches wide). On each piece place one slice of cheese and fold in corners.  Then spread 1/4 of the chorizo/onion mixture onto the cheese.  Place more cheese on top, again folding in corners of the slice. Top it all off with another beef patty. Seal the sides and make sure that no chorizo or cheese sticks out of edge.  The patty should measure 4 inches wide and about 1 inch high. Continue this process until all four patties are formed.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Put patties in a pan and cook on stove top at medium heat for 4 minutes on each side.  Then transfer to a baking pan and cover with foil.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve immediately on toasted Kaiser rolls with the tomato ketchup sauce.

Asian Braised Short Ribs

The selection of beef short ribs at the grocery store are not what they used to be.  I remember the prepackaged cuts of ribs being about 3 inches long.  Now, you can find them 1 to 1 1/2 inch long.  I guess I could have got what I wanted from the butcher, but it was too early and I did not want to wait. I hope that the prepackaged cuts get longer and more beefy when it is BBQ season.

This recipe takes a long time, since beef ribs are not a very tender cut of meat.  However, the good thing is you can prepare most of it a day in advance and put it in the fridge.  Make the recipe through the 3 hour cook time as noted below. Save the last step of cooking for the next day. Just pull them out, skim the fat off and put them in an electric skillet set at 325 degrees, pour on the hoisin sauce and cook for 1/2 hour.

If you like ribs with a caramelized crust and tender inside meat that falls off the bone, you will decide that this recipe is a keeper. It makes enough to serve 6-8 people.

Braised Short Ribs
adapted from David Lebovitz 

Ingredients
3 tbs Chinese or Japanese Rice Vinegar
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 1/2 cups dark beer (room temp)
1 cup hoisin sauce*
Salt and pepper
3 tbs vegetable oil
10 garlic cloves (peeled and minced)
1 inch piece of ginger
10 short ribs (3 inches long if requesting cut from butcher)

Season the ribs with salt and pepper.  Take an electric skillet and put in vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees.

Place the ribs in the pan and fry.  Let each side to cook for about 12-15 minutes before turning.  You want the sides to be dark brown and caramelized.  This process could take an hour or more, depending on how many rib batches (due to size of skillet) you need to cook.

Unplug or turn off the heat under your skillet.  Transfer the ribs to a heat resistant bowl and set aside.  Slowly pour your beer into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits with a spatula.  Take a wooden spoon and stir in the garlic and ginger.  Then turn on the heat to medium or plug in skillet and heat to 325 degrees, continuing to stir the mixture with wooden spoon.

Once the temperature reaches 325, pour in the vinegar and sprinkle in the chili powder.  Mix with wooden spoon until distributed in liquid.  Then place the ribs back in the pan. Cover and let cook for 3 hours.  During this time, turn the ribs every 45 minutes.  Also, add additional water if the liquid evaporates.

Then uncover and pour the hoisin sauce on the ribs.  Cook uncovered for an additional 30 minutes. Serve with rice and steamed bok choy or mashed potatoes and green beans.

*the rice vinegar is easy to find, but I had to go to a few grocery stores for the hoisin sauce. I finally found it at Albertsons.

18 hour Guinness Burgers

I'll bet your wondering why so long for a few burgers. To be honest, it actually came as a surprise.  Our burger dinner was actually put off once due to the fact I never read the recipe all the way through. I did not see the additional hours required in the fridge after you make the patties.  The good thing about the recipe is that you can make in advance, so all you will need to do when your friends are over is just cook/grill.  This recipe delivers a lot of flavor.  We opted for hamburgers but the original recipe shows the beef patty served by itself with a butter garlic topping. 

Guinness Burgers
adapted from oui chef network

Ingredients
1 red onion
4 bacon slices
1 lb of ground beef
2/3 cup Guinness Stout
1 tsp creamed horseradish
1 egg
1/2 tsp paprika
2 heaping tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste

Night before:
Place your ground beef in a bowl and mix in Guinness.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for at least 12 hours.  Take your bacon slices and dice.  Then do the same with the onion.  Saute bacon and onion together until the onion is carmelized and the bacon is crisp.  Then drain off any excess fat.  Set aside in a bowl to cool.  Once cool cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge also.

Next day-6 hours prior to dinner
Take the beef out of the fridge and pour out any excess Guinness from the bowl, squeezing the meat and set aside.  Your egg will need to be beaten in another bowl.  In the beef bowl, you will mix in egg, paprika, onion bacon mixture and horseradish.  Once thoroughly combined, add salt and pepper along with the flour.  All seasoning should be evenly distributed.  Divide meat into four equal portions and form into patties.  Then place on baking sheet with parchment paper.  Put in fridge for 1-6 hours to firm up.

When you are ready to cook, you can use an oiled skillet and cook each side for 5 minutes or until done to your liking.  I elected to use a grill (heavily oiled) and it took about eight minutes on each side.  Since the Guinness stains the meat, you will need to check for doneness by seeing if they resist slightly in the center and are not mushy.

We actually marinated the meat for 24 hrs and left the patties in the fridge for 6 hours.  My husband really enjoyed these and we still have plenty of Guinness for more, so I am sure I will be making these again in a few weeks.