Sweet Tater bread, not sweet..... potato bread

I like cookin, it's no secret. I do use recipes, but after I have made the stock recipe, in general, they become.... guideline. They are there to tweak as I see fit. This is no different with this bread recipe.
It started out as a pumpkin bread recipe, from this book, and printed back in the day

I like old recipe books, it's fun to look back and see how some processes have changed, and how the old ways still produce great stuff. Here's the recipe. Pictures make it much easier than typing the whole thing out. :D

Basically I follow everything here, except instead of pumpkin, i use one of the big cans of sweet potatos drained. and instead of water, i swap it out for the drained sweet tater juice. So nix the water, and use the tater juice, there is no flavor in water, and the sweet tater juice is loaded with flavor, and... it's wet so it works. Like i have learned watching Alton Brown's Good Eats, over mixing batter can ruin a good "sweet bread" recipe. so dont do it, just incorporate the flour, there may be clumps, but they will work themselves out, do not use a mixer, use a wood spoon, you'll thank me later. Mix all the wet ingredients together, and separately mix together all the dry ingredients, use a whisk to combine the dry, it is quicker than a sifter...

The recipe makes two loaves which look like this before you bake it

And after, let it cool for a good 10 min in the pan, then i'll set up on a towel, and get them out of the pans, so they dont get ... mushy, yeah that's the word. then after they cool completely, i'll put em in ziploc bags to keep em fresh, usually one will go straight into the freezer, and the other one stays out on the counter, it usually doesn't last long enough to have to be put in the fridge.

Slice it up, and enjoy, your different but similar bread for the season.

OUT

Smoked Salsa Grande

 
Last year I tried out a new pepper ...ahem.... chile... 'scuse me, CHILE in the garden. Called Santa Fe Grande. Because of it's pale yellow color, it was a very deceiving pepp....chile. I thought it would be a sweeter pepper, a milder pepper...chile, chile, CHILE!!!  boy was I wrong....sooo very wrong. These things are hotter than jales (that's jalepenos to those not in the know), and the heat sticks around. Like glue. On your lips, on your tongue, it's wonderful. It's a liar, but plenty flavorful. 


Fast forward to 2012, these things came back on their own, with a vengeance. 4 plants popped back on their own accord. and they went into full production mode. I picked one plant and not knowing what else to do with it, I figured I'd make some smoked chili powder, to spread the love of these wonderful peppers to many things.

Handy torch for startin coals

Gotta start the fire if I want some smoked pep..chiles. Don't need a big one, it's already hot w/o any fire at all. Stacked the coals i did nicely, to get a few hours of goos smoke time. all i used was 2 coals to get things goin, remember I dont need much fire since its so hot already.

NO lighter fluid!!! EVER!!

Stack the now grey hot burnin coals on top of the unlit coals with the wood, just so happened to be a hunka apple wood.  Situate the temp probe so it's under the grate. i just bent a peice of safety wire into a hook that stays permanently attached to the probe.

Temp probe hanged in position

Of course set up the grill for indirect heat. I take it one step further by putting a peice of a clay saucer over the top of the fire, to hold in the heat as it's created, and to keep it indirect. You can notice it here as the half circle on the right under the grate.

Once the fire got goin, and smoke started rollin, i threw on the  peppers..cough...hgm...chiles and had an idea, threw some maters ( also outta the garden) on to smoke  along with the chiles...happy??...very.

then we went out to dinner, nope didnt pay attention to temp, nor did i pay attention to the time they were on the smoke. almost forgot bout em, but remembered, woulda been a shame for these to waste. I went out to check and the skins on the tomatoes' skins were split open, still solid they were, but i figured that they were good and done.

We've gotta stick blender, and a wide mouth mason jar is perfect size for it to fit into, and let it do the work. Threw a few chiles in there all 4 maters, some cilantro, and basil from the garden, a good amount of fresh cracked sea salt, and coarse grind black pepper. Blended it all up, and that's all she wrote.













It's a slightly smoky, mostly spicy, nicely blended concoction of goodness, that so far has been good with chips of course, fantastic topping on my burger for dinner tonight, and I think would make a great addition to any other sauce i'd put it in.

The rest of the chiles will air dry, in the sun. The way we do it in AZ, once dry, i'll grind it up, seeds and all, fine as i can to make a nice smoky chili powder. Then i can spread the love to more of my dishes!!

OUT!!

Lightning

Buffalo Corral Barbeque

I finally was able to get to Buffalo Corral Barbeque  only a week after they opened. This can still be a trying time for a new place, but I braved the lines (and boy is there a line in this place) and we all went, the wife and her 'rents, and a couple friends and my lil'st sister. I will be back, this is no doubt, let me tell you why.

The first thing I like about the place is the atmosphere, it's got it. It feels like a down home 'que joint. It feels like a ranch house. It feels like barbeque should feel here in Arizona. Not trying to duplicate that which has been done before, however creating a pleasant welcoming atmosphere none the less.

Once I grasped the ordering system it made sense, I opted for the (2) meat + two option and chose ribs and brisket, the wife went for pulled pork under the (1) meat+two as well, the +two is your choice of 2 sides, and the number before the meat represents the different meats you choose it also comes with a drink. I had okra, and coleslaw, wifey had okra and fries.

It was packed inside, so the 7 of us decided to eat on the patio outside, which was pleasantly decorated in such a way that it felt the "outsiders" were included. The theme from inside, that comfort level, that ranch feeling was carried to the outside patio.

The ribs, were a bit skinny, but they were there. What I mean is, the flavor is there, the texture is there and the look is there. These ribs are not quite up to say "competition" par, but they are by far better than most ribs I have gotten at other 'que joints. The texture FINALLY is not a fall off the bone overdone sloppy mushy mess, there is a defining bite to them. It's tender, and there is no need to say gnaw  on the bone to get the meat off, but it doesn't slide off, it's cooked like a proper BBQ rib should be cooked.

Moving onto the brisket. Ohhh the brisket... this I have to admit, is the best RESTAURANT brisket I've had. I've had some horrible pot roast tasting (not that potroast is bad, but when I want BBQ brisket...) and I've had dry to the bone (well there is no bone in brisket...) I've also had brisket that was well overcooked, and mushy. Back to BCB's brisket. It has the texture, that I desire in a brisket, that slight tug when I pull the slice apart with my fingers, slightly elastic, before it tears apart. I appreciate that they serve the point sliced up, oh the wonderful point with it's fatty goodness full of flavor. BCB is using mesquite, and I can taste it, oh it's fantabulous!! yeah it's a word....

I snagged some of the wife's pulled pork, some of the good stuff, you know, the bark, and some of the other stuff too, and was pleased with the texture and flavor there as well. I love the fact that I can get the meats dry (no sauce) which seems foreign to some other joints... usually covering up for poorly cooked meat. The pork stood out on it's own with nice crusty bark, and deep flavorful porky goodness, which was complimented well by the more vinegary sauces.

The sides, how could I almost forget the sides, Coleslaw: spot on for what I like. Crispy, sweet, and tangy. The okra was as okra should be, slightly crispy on the outside, and ooey gooey on the inside.

Speaking of Sauces, they have 3 signature sauces. All of them are liquidy, vinegary, and full of flavor. (when I go to a 'Que joint for the first time I always try all of the sauces) I was unprepared and forgot to get the names of the sauces, but they have an original sauce that is middle of the road, as far as flavor goes, not too hot, not too sweet but very complimentary to the meats. There is a spicy rendition, that the sister and I both enjoyed, and last there is  an awesome  sweet sauce, that balances vinegar and sweet quite nicely.

My overall impression is, Buffalo Corral Barbeque is here to stay. It's a local joint with good food prepared simply, and served fresh and hot.  I will be back, and I'll bring the camera next time.


View Larger Map

23 N Garden Ave is where you can find it, just head towards the main gate @ Fort Huachuca on fry and you will not be able to miss it, you'll smell it and know BBQ is in the air!!!

So you're a BBQ Newb? getting your fire started

First off WELCOME to the club!!!

I dont want to come off like I know everything about BBQ, far from it, I got all my knowledge, (well lots of it also came from experimenting) from THE BBQ BRETHREN go there, no regrets! Tell them MMMMEAT sent you, that's me.

Dont be scared, click it!

Next we gotta be realistic, you cant buy a smoker and pile o meat and turn out a good result. There are LOTS of factors you need to take into account. You need to learn fire control, the MOST important of the addiction you will soon have controlling your life. To do that, you must practice, that's the only way. I could give you pointers all night long, but if you dont implement them in practice, you'll never learn the ways of your pit.

Definitions:
STICKBURNERS

 

STICKBURNER

CHARCOAL TYPE

Weber WSM

 

Brinkmann Smoke n Grill  

I guess we'll start the fire, and I SWEAR, if you picked up a bottle of lighter fluid to start your, I'm gonna stab a baby bunny with a pitchfork then feed it to a baby seal, before i club it. Dont do it, get a charcoal chimney starter. It will save you money, and takes just about the same amount of time to light off.

how is it cheaper?? a bottle of lighter fluid is right about 7 bux, and how many cooks does it do for you? lets say 5-6 even 7 that's a dollar per cook. While a WEBER charcoal chimney starter runs 15 bux after your 2nd bottle of lighter fluid ( and the nasty taste thereafter) is gone, you automatically start spending more money than the chimney starter, which will last years BTW.

Fluid BAAAAD

Chimney GOOOOOD

That's if you are using a charcoal smoker you can use charcoal in a stickburner (i do to get it started). What do you do to control the fire in a stickburner??  Well, that'll be another blog.

Next up is the smoke. I do not recommend wood chips. they burn up too quickly to effectively get the smoke flavor out, get chunks, and depending on your smoker you can be sparing with the chunks as they'll last a lil while. In  a stickburner here's hoping you'll have a bigole pile of wood to keep things goin for the length of the cook.

Chunks equal smoke

           

Chips equal fire

The next choice you have is in the charcoal you choose. I am a big fan of the Kingsford Bluebag. It's consistent and that is important for me. Lump charcoal is some people's fav because of how clean it is, pure wood no fillers, it often burns hotter, but in my experience it's inconsistent, from cook to cook, a learning curve, i am too lazy to overcome. But both are ok in my book, no thumbs required.

Kingsford Bluebag

Lump Charcoal

For now i'll leave you to your devices, I'll come back with some insights on each type of smoker (that i use or have used) and some of the modifications you can do to each of em to make them do what you need them to, to get that good Q.

OUT