Pellet Smoked Cheesy Broccoli Rice
Sometimes a good meal needs a killer side dish. This is one of those crowd feeding side dishes that has your back on the holidays or for any get together cookout. Even if you have a small eating crew, the leftovers will freeze well for another day. Smoked cheesy broccoli rice pairs so well with many other foods that it might become your go to side dish. Kids love the cheese flavor, grandparents missing teeth love it, you just can’t go wrong.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 2 heads of whole broccoli
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cups white rice
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 16 oz cheddar cheese
- 8 oz swiss cheese
- 8 oz mozzarella
- 1 quart milk
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
Directions
First, hand shred the cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella cheeses and set this aside in a large bowl. Keep about 1 cup (8oz) of cheddar cheese off to the side for later topping.
Next, remove the large stems from the broccoli florets. Cut the florets into small sizes. Chop parts of the stems into small bits. Par boil the broccoli for no more than 5 minutes then drain in a colander. Run cold water over the broccoli to stop the cooking process.
Finely dice the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to turn translucent.
Bring the 32 oz of chicken broth to a boil, then add the 2 cups of white rice. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 – 25 minutes until rice is cooked and tender.
Next prepare the bechamel starting by melting the butter in an 8 qt pot on medium heat and stirring in the flour with a wooden spoon. Cook until it turns light brown, then slowly incorporate the room temperature milk. Next slowly incorporate the cheese and stir with a whisk when the mixture becomes thick.
Finally add the broccoli, onion and rice into the cheese sauce and mix together. Pour the final mixture into a 9×13 foil pan. Top with the shredded cheese that was set aside.
Smoke with pecan or apple pellets at 250F for 3.5 hours.
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Pellet Smoked Spinach Artichoke Dip
Pellet Smoked Spinach Artichoke Dip
Who doesn’t love a good spinach artichoke dip when you are watching “The game that lawyers won’t let us mention”. But have you ever tried a smoked version of this dip? Sure we all know what the TGI Friday’s Chili’s Applebee’s Ruby Tuesday’s (RIP) local sports bar dip is like and heck it ain’t that bad… usually. But there is something special about a smoked version of this dip with your own hand selected cheeses. One could only guess how your favorite restaurant prepares their dip, maybe it’s all a frozen pre-mix in a plastic bag. But you have a pellet smoker and free will so you can make some fresh and delicious smoked dip! The good part about this recipe is that you can do all the prep work a day or two ahead of the cook day. When you are ready, all you need to do is put this dip on your smoker and enjoy.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 14 oz can artichoke hearts
- 10 oz frozen spinach
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8 oz gouda cheese
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese
- 8 oz parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions
First, thaw out the frozen spinach overnight in the refrigerator. On the next day when you are ready to start, remove the cream cheese from the refrigerator and allow it to soften on the kitchen countertop.
Next open the can of artichoke hearts and drain out the water. Using paper towels, squeeze out the excess water from the artichoke hearts. Roughly chop the artichoke hearts and place them in a large mixing bowl.
Next open the package of the thawed out spinach and drain out the water. Using paper towels, squeeze out the excess water from the spinach. The spinach should already be chopped but if not, chop it. Add the spinach to the large mixing bowl.
Next grate the gouda, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese then set aside a small amount from each (about ½ cup total) for a topping and add the rest to a large mixing bowl. Add the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise and sour cream, then mix everything together. Add the spices and mix everything once again. At this point you can cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator if you plan to cook the dip the next day.
Preheat your smoker at 250F and use mild pellets such as apple or competition blend. The total smoke time should be at least one hour and 20 minutes but you can cook for longer if desired. Transfer the dip mixture into a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet and place this on the smoker when it reaches temp.
Stir the dip every 45 minutes and if you plan to cook for the recommended 1 hour 20, then you will stir the dip just once. If you plan to cook longer, use the 45 minute stirring as a checkup to see how much moisture is lost and don’t allow the dip to get too dry.
20 minutes before you plan to remove the dip, add the 1/2 cup of shredded cheese that was set aside to the top of the dip. Allow this to cook without stirring and let it melt down. Another option you can try is to brown the cheese topping in the oven by placing it on the top oven rack and using the broiler. Set it to high and cook for about 2 – 3 minutes. Do not walk away, always keep an eye on the brown coloring of the cheese.
Allow the dip to cool for at least 5 minutes because it is molten lava hot. Then serve it with corn chips, or pita chips for dipping. For extra fancy stuff you can thinly slice a French baguette and toast the slices in the oven.
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Pellet Smoked Cajun Butter Turkey
Pellet Smoked Cajun Butter Turkey
Holiday time is here again and your family is looking forward to your smoked turkey. And this year it’s time to give them a different flavor of buttery creole goodness. Now don’t worry, this is not spicy and grandma won’t need a tall glass of milk to cool down the burn. This recipe uses Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection which has a very buttery flavor with a little bit of kick. If you haven’t tried this before, you should give it a taste before injecting so you know what you are working with. But that’s not all, we’re going to add a creole seasoning herb butter underneath and on top of the turkey skin! Just smoke it for a few hours at 250F then crank the heat to 375F to crisp up the skin. Take it off the smoker when the breast hits 165F, let it rest, then slice in and be amazed at how juicy this turkey is.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 10 – 15 lb whole turkey
- 1 bottle Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh sage
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 3 – 5 tbsp Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
Directions
Thawing
Usually your turkey will be fully frozen and if so let it thaw out in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours.
Spatchcocking
When the turkey is thawed, remove it from the packaging and remove any giblets and pop up thermometers. Next, cut out the backbone using kitchen shears or a chef’s knife. Cut from the tail along the side of the backbone up to the neck. Repeat this step on the other side of the backbone and remove it completely. Following this, cut the breastbone in the center and now you can flatten out the turkey. This flattening of the bird is called spatchcocking and it will allow the breast and thigh meat to reach their finishing temperatures at the same time. And don’t throw way that backbone, it’s perfect for making gravy or turkey broth!
Injecting
For this recipe, we are using a bottle of Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection. You may end up using only half the bottle per turkey so pour the injection into another container and do not stick your injection needle directly into the bottle. That will cross contaminate the injection liquid with raw turkey and besides that, it’s just easier to use a wider mouth container. Use your injection needle to pump the turkey up with all the injection liquid as possible. Inject the thighs, legs, wings and breasts and move the needle around to inject multiple points. Putting too much liquid in one area will create a pocket of injection, which is not a bad thing but will be noticeable.
Butter Rub
Use one stick of room temperature unsalted butter and mix with 1 tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Add about a teaspoon each of fresh chopped sage, thyme, and rosemary then mix everything together. Next use a small silicone spatula to separate the skin from the meat starting at the neck area and working around to the thighs. Next you can put some seasoned butter on the spatula and work it down underneath the skin. Use your fingers above the skin to spread the butter around. If you are careful you can separate the skin from the thigh meat and get some seasoned butter there as well.
Seasoning
Flip the turkey over and use Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning to coat the inside of the turkey. You can be heavy handed with the seasoning if you like, this is a big piece of meat! Flip the turkey back over and season the skin side. Next rub on the remaining seasoned butter then add the remaining herbs. Add one light coat of creole seasoning for good looks and flavor.
Smoking
Turkey can be smoked at temperatures ranging from 225F up to 325F. However there are some food safety concerns when smoking a turkey larger than 15 pounds at 250F or less. For this recipe we recommend using a turkey less than 15 pounds and smoking at 250F using a wood such as apple, pecan or hickory. Your total cook time will vary depending on the total weight of the turkey and cooking temperature. A 14 pound turkey would take around 4 hours more or less of cook time. The problem with a smoke temperature lower than 300F will be rubbery skin or at least skin that is not crisp and possibly chewy. To help fix this, you will need to crank up the heat of your smoker to 375F when the breast reaches an internal temp of 150 – 155F. Let the turkey continue to cook and when the turkey reaches around 165F in the breast and 175F in the thigh, remove it from the smoker and let it rest uncovered. If you cover the turkey for too long, the steam will work against you and moisten the skin. Just let it rest 15 minutes to allow carryover cooking to do it’s job and work the juices around. After resting, carve into that turkey and be ready to deal with a cutting board full of juices!
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Pellet Smoked Chicken Breasts
Pellet Smoked Chicken Breasts
Chicken breasts on a pellet smoker are always a delicious meal. But you should avoid the boneless skinless breasts because they are lean meat and that usually dries out on the smoker. Go for the bone in skin on chicken breasts which usually cost less than the boneless skinless type. The rib bones help protect the meat from the heat and the fat in the skin keeps the lean breast meat from drying out. If you have time to do an overnight brine, the meat will be even juicer and more flavorful. Smoking chicken under 300F usually results in a rubbery skin texture and to avoid that you can cook the final stages under high heat or over a flame. For this recipe, were going to smoke the chicken breasts at 235F for roughly 2 hours until they reach about 158F. Then they get transferred to to a grill and placed skin side down with the lid open. This will tighten up the skin and give it a nice flame kissed flavor.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 2 – 4 chicken breasts bone in skin on
- 2 tbsp BBQ rub
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 lemon
Directions
Boil 1 gallon of water along with all of the listed brine ingredients. Allow the brine to boil for a few minutes then turn off the heat. Remove the pot from the burner and allow the liquid to cool for 1 hour. You can add ice in a large zip seal bag to speed up the cooling process but do not add ice directly to the brine because this will dilute the solution. When the liquid reaches a medium warm temperature, add it to an 8 quart container and place it in the refrigerator for several hours.
When the brine reaches refrigerator temperature (around 32F) then add the chicken breasts to the brine. Place the brine back in the refrigerator overnight or at least 12 hours.
After the brine phase, wash off the chicken breasts then place them on a sheet pan with a cooling rack. Pat the chicken down with paper towels to absorb as much liquid as possible. It is important to dry off the skin as much as possible to prevent rubbery skin texture. If you have time, place the chicken back in the refrigerator overnight and this will circulate air around them which dries off the skin.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your smoker to 235 using pecan wood pellets. Place the chicken breasts on an upper rack in your smoker and let them cook for around 2 hours or until they reach a internal temperature of 158F.
Transfer the chicken breasts to a preheated grill and place them skin side down. If you are using a gas grill, set the burner on medium. Keep the lid open and watch out for any flare ups as the chicken fat melts into the flame. Cook until the skin reaches your desired doneness, then flip and cook on the rib bone side. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
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