Smoked Cornish Game Hens

Why wouldn't you want to eat your own mini chicken?  Best method EVER for cooking Cornish game hens!
 
INGREDIENTS:
4 Cornish game hens (about 1.5-2 lbs each)
4 large cloves garlic
Rub:
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Baste (melt together in a pan):
2 tbsp butter (or wonderfully decadent bacon fat)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of mirin (or substitute white wine or vermouth)

STEPS:
1. Rinse game hens, remove giblets if necessary.
2. Lightly smash each clove of garlic and stuff into bird cavities, then truss each bird with string.  It's no big deal if you can't truss professionally, but at least tie the legs together if you can.
3. Season each bird with a sprinkle of dry rub - mostly on the outside, but also put a dash in the cavity.
4. Set up your smoker with a small batch of coals - the fat from the bird's skin will likely drip, causing flare-ups and heat raises.  Adjust vents to obtain a temp of about 275 degrees F.
5. Get birds on grill.
6. After an hour, check to see if underside is browned.  If so, flip and baste browned side only.
7. Check after another hour.  If other side is browned, flip and baste.  Add more coals if heat is dying.
8. After another hour, check internal temp at leg or thigh.  If 180 degrees F, you're ready to rock.  If not, check every half hour.
9. Remove garlic from cavities, chop up and sprinkle over birds as a garnish.  Fresh oregano would work nicely too.

Game hens, like most poultry, would also make excellent candidates for brining.  Check out this pork shoulder recipe to learn more about brining.

Charitable Beer Event For CT Residents

Hey Connecticut people, want to enjoy a beer tasting while supporting a good cause?  Go to "Doctoberfest" October 22 in West Haven.  It may or may not have barbecue, but there will be authentic Romanian cuisine.  And you'll be helping dogs.  Everyone loves dogs.

Here's more info:

Pups Without Partners in association with
The Greater New Haven Cat Project, Halfway Home Rescue,
Sarah Inc. & Dr. Liubi Animal Wellness Fund Present
a Celebration of the Life of Dr. Liubi Tosici

On April 7, 2010 the animal community lost a great man and wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Liubi “Doc” Tosici. A man who dedicated his life to the care of animals and helping people learn the proper care of their pets. To honor him and help raise money for some of the organizations that were near and dear to him we are hosting a fundraiser with a bit of a Romanian flair.

Friday, October 22, 2010
6:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Westwoods Ballroom
85 Chase Lane
West Haven, CT

Beer Tasting, Romanian Food,
Music and Silent Auction

You may purchase tickets here online, contact one of the charities above or call us at 203‐933‐3607

http://www.pupswithoutpartners.org/doctoberfest.htm

Orange Heirloom Tomato Salsa

Heirloom tomatoes come in all kinds of funky shapes and colors, from round little brown and green striated specimens to big, bumpy, teardrop-shaped orange and yellow ones.  Italians love them, organic/natural food advocates love them, farmers' market shoppers love them, and Sizzle Grove loves them.  Many of them have a richer flavor than standard tomatoes, lower acidity, far fewer seeds, and less tomato goo.  You know what I mean.


As you know, we love to serve salsa with barbecue, particularly when we make barbecue leftovers such as pulled pork enchiladas.  Next time you cook up some meat outside and want to serve something other than barbecue sauce, try this vibrant, fresh, spicy orange heirloom tomato salsa.

INGREDIENTS:
One large orange tomato, chopped small
One slice of white onion, chopped small
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 jalapeno (with seeds for hot), minced
Handful of red bell pepper, chopped small
Juice of 1/4 lime
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp dry oregano, or a few sprigs fresh chopped
Very tiny pinch cumin

STEPS:
1. Mix white onion and garlic in bowl, pour on salt and lime juice.  Let sit a few minutes.
2. Add all other bulk and dry ingredients, stir.
3. Refridgerate a couple hours, then enjoy with enchiladas, tacos, smoked beef, or any of your other favorite dishes.

Fellow Barbecuers and NY Times Readers

Well, unfortunately we must have missed this at Sizzle Grove, but we might as well share recipes from fellow grillers and barbecuers from around the country.  Check out these links from grillmasters who read the New York Times.  Not sure how much authentic barbecue they'll have in there, but there are sure to be some great grilling tips and unique dishes...



Around the Grill - Readers' Barbecue Recipes

Thanks to our friend Robin for submitting this link!
We encourage relevant submissions to sizzlegrove@hotmail.com

All I want for Christmas is a Weber Smokey Mountain 

Grilled Garlic Dill Chicken

Sometimes it's a bit much to light up a batch of coals, trim and marinade a big rack of ribs, and cook for four hours.  Not to mention, it gets expensive, especially when you're cooking for friends.

Anyone who has ever thought these sentiments, here's a recipe for you.  You can use your propane grill for this one (or hey, if you want to use coals, sweet), and it's quick.  You can prep the marinade in the morning before work, or an hour or two before you throw the chicken on the grill.  Bone-in chicken is often inexpensive, and often on sale at big grocery stores, but tastes delicious when cooked right.

Also, don't forget you can still get some smokey flavor from your propane grill.  Just click on the link to see our tutorial.

Serves 6-9 people, depending on how hungry they are and how many sides you make.
 
INGREDIENTS:
9 lbs chicken thighs (bone-in) and drumsticks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of one lemon
A handful of chopped fresh dill, or 1.5 tbsp dried dill
2 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
A drizzle of olive oil

STEPS:
1. Rinse off chicken and place in a large bowl.
2. Squeeze or drizzle lemon juice over chicken, plus a drizzle of olive oil.
3. Sprinkle dill, garlic, salt, and pepper onto chicken.  Mix everything around to coat.
4. Cover bowl in foil, refrigerate if you wanna be extra safe, and let marinade for an hour or two.  Get your grill set to about 300 degrees F.
5. Place chicken pieces onto grill skin-side-up, close lid.  Keep an eye on your heat, as these pieces of chicken will drip a lot of fat and may cause flare-ups.  If so, just move chicken around or adjust heat accordingly.
6. Once the chicken has cooked about 45-60 minutes, turn heat up to 400-425 degrees F in order to finish the chicken and crisp the skin.  Check chicken for internal temp of about 170 degrees F, or once it's juices are clear rather than red or yellowish.

Serve with grilled vegetables or garlic dill pickles, and couscous or garlic bread.

Autumn Curried Chicken Salad

 
The foliage is glowing in Connecticut, and we're going apple and cinnamon crazy at Sizzle Grove.  This smokey chicken salad combines autumnal ingredients like apples and cinnamon with a few Indian curry-esque spices for a cool dish with a warm flavor.  It may look like a lot of ingredients and a lot of steps, but it's actually way easier than it appears on paper... or on a computer screen.  If you're like me, a lot of this stuff is already on hand in the spice cabinet (except maybe turmeric and smoked paprika... no screw that, you should totally have this stuff!).

INGREDIENTS FOR STEP ONE:
1 lb. of chicken thighs
A few slices of white or yellow onion

1 clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika, or cayenne
Pinch of salt
A dash of water


STEP ONE:
1. Wash chicken thighs, set aside in bowl.
2. Mix all other ingredients (except water) in a blender or food processor.  Blend until thick, adding water until it becomes a pourable sauce.
3. Pour sauce over chicken, mix it all up, and let it marinade a few hours.
4. Light a small batch of coals, pour into smoker, and add plenty of soaked wood chips (wood chips, as opposed to large chunks, are useful for faster cooking times).
5. Put chicken skin side down on grill, close to heat if possible, adjusting vents to obtain a temperature of about 375 degrees F.
6. Once skin is seared and crisp, flip over.  Grill for 30 minutes or so until chicken's juices run clear, or until internal temperature of chicken is 165 degrees F.
7. Remove chicken, let rest five minutes.  Dice it up into small pieces.

INGREDIENTS FOR STEP TWO:
Diced chicken from Step One
3 celery stalks
1 small apple
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp spicy mustard
Pinch of salt and pepper


STEP TWO:
1. Mix mayonnaise, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a bowl until it forms a dressing.
2. Dice up celery stalks, mix into dressing.  If leaves are on it, include them - they add great flavor.
3. Dice up apple into small pieces, mix into dressing.
4. Add chicken to the mix and stir it all together.  Refrigerate and serve with fresh sliced bread or ontop of a bed of mixed greens.

Ginger-Spiced Spare Ribs

Here's another recipe inspired by Asian restaurant-style spare ribs, cooked with American barbecue methods.  Ginger-spiced spare ribs... not to be confused with the British pop "singer."


Cook time four hours.


INGREDIENTS:
1 full rack of spare ribs
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
Plenty of Rob's Ginger-Infused Dry Rub

STEPS:

1. Trim spare ribs according to our guide.

2. Drizzle soy sauce and rice vinegar over ribs and rib tips.  Sprinkle generously with dry rub. Let marinade for 4 hours, or up to overnight.

3. Light up a small batch of coals, pour into smoker/grill. Keep more coals on hand.

4. Put soaked hickory (or your favorite wood) onto coals, set grill grate on, and put on ribs and rib tips.

5. Be ready with another small batch of lit coals to pour in after the two hour point.  Add more wood as necessary.

6. Cook another hour, then wrap spare ribs in aluminum foil.

7. Cook for an additional hour, then open foil and season ribs and rib tips with more dry rub.  Wrap back up, take off smoker/grill, rest for ten minutes.

8. Cut ribs into sections, and chop up rib tips into little pieces - just like the boneless spare ribs we all love from the Chinese restaurant!  Great in lettuce wraps with hoisin sauce or plum sauce.

Rob's Ginger-Infused Dry Rub

You've seen the Butter Basted T-Bone Steak recipe from Sizzle Grove correspondent Rob.  Now it's time to see how this dude whips up a dry rub.  This rub infuses a distinctly gingery, insanely savory flavor into any pork dish, from shoulder to ribs.

Yields about half a cup of dry rub.

MIX TOGETHER:
5 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp powdered wasabi
1 tbsp ground mustard
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp Kosher salt

Store in a jar, ready for use next time you light up coals.

100 Fans on Facebook!

Our Facebook page now has 100 fans!  How did that happen so fast?  Scrumpdiddleyumptious recipes? Sizzling hot barbecue photos? Or obnoxious self-promotion?  Who cares, we're proud.  Thank you all for the support!

-Nick

Autumn Apple Sauce

Apple sauce is generally pretty boring.  It reminds us of little kid.  Or people with dentures.  That's probably because the stuff we buy at the store usually sucks.

Homemade apple sauce is an entirely different monster.  It is flavorful, cinnamony, heart-warming, and really really healthful.  In fact, much more healthful than the pale yellow sauce at the store where they remove the apple skins.  We have no idea why anyone would remove the skins when making apple sauce.  The skins have tons of vitamins, plus they add color, texture, and flavor.

We love Autumn Apple Sauce as a side dish for ribs.  Here's how we make it at Sizzle Grove:

INGREDIENTS:
8 small, crisp apples (washed)
Juice of half a lime, or lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 whole cloves
Tiny pinch of earl grey tea leaves (optional)
1 tsp honey

STEPS:
1. Cut apples into quarters, removing cores/seeds/etc.  Throw each piece into a saucepan.

2. Immediately pour lime juice or lemon juice over apples, then turn heat on medium-low.

3. Add all other ingredients except honey.

4. Simmer about 20 minutes, stirring apples around ocassionally, or until apples begin to soften a bit.  Some will be soft, some will be less soft.  This will give it texture.

5. Bring off heat, remove cloves.  Add honey and stir.

6. Using a hand blender, blend in pulses wherever skin is visible.  Don't go nuts blending, it can have some texture, just try to grind up the skins as much as possible.  If there are some bits of it, that's fine - it's rustic.  BE CAREFUL NOT TO SPATTER HOT APPLE SAUCE ON YOURSELF!

7. Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cooled.


Of course, you could grill the apples instead of simmering them inside!

This sauce won't last as long as store brands loaded with preservatives, but it should keep for a week or two.  Try using it as a marinade for ribs, mixed with a bit of cider vinegar!  Store ribs overnight, remove excess sauce, sprinkle with your favorite zesty dry rub, and barbecue up!