# All right girls



## wdbrand

the holidays are over, the weather is nasty and I doubt much fishin isa gynin on, so lets start a post with recipes somebody wants to do or try but don't know how. I'll put one up first. I've made it all my life but lets hear from some others on various recipes besides gravy, then we can get into the how to.

Gravy.


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## wdbrand

*I might add,*

that if you want a recipe, need to know how to cook something or have a general question, you only have to ask HERE!!!!!!. There's some great cooks here[self not included] with tried and proven recipes. You only have to ask.


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## Finger_Mullet

*Smoking*

I just got a charcoal smoker for Christmas. I tired smoking pork ribs and turkey legs the day after Christmas. THe turkey legs turned out great but the ribs turned out chewey.

How do you smoke the perfect ribs??????? I have an offset smoker. I think Santa got it at Walmart.


Darin


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## SNDFLEE

*Par boil*

I usually par boil mine and finish them off inthe smoker for the smoke taste. Low and slow on the heat, usually try to use apple wood. My two cents it works for me.


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## Finger_Mullet

I used to boil them and finish in the oven. But the BBQ sights said not to boil them it just washes away the flavor. 

I think I will boil them next time.

Darin


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## wdbrand

*finger,*

my son-in-law bakes them in alum foil first. Then finishes them off in the smoker or on the grill. Boiling ain't the way to go IMO. I'll get his method if you want it.


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## Peixaria

WD On the gravy front, I normally make the gravy with the natural pan juices less the fat if you can separate.I bake turkeys about 6 times a year and if you have added a chicken bouillion cube before baking it should help whats left in the roaster after you have parted out the bird. Mine is simple. Take regular flour and whisk in cold water so are there are no lumps. Remove whatever natural juices are in your pan to a smaller more workable saucepan. heat the gelatin and bits of flavor through and when heated begin to added the blended flour mixture. continue whisking and do not scald, keep it moving. Keep adding the mixture until you reach the consistency that you want. Salt and pepper to taste. Whatever is leftover goes in a container right in the fridge with the turkey meat and other leftovers and can be microwaved right on top of turkey, stuffing, Mashed potatoes, what ever is left over. can do this with roast chicken as well.

Now for the ParBoil. It is the secret to making really succulent meat of any kind. Remember in this step you can also adversly affect the flavor of pork, chicken or anything else you are heading to the grill or smoker with.
Try this on ribs: Whatever your cut of ribs seperated down into large portions for the Par Boil. I use country ribs because frequently mine go in the oven rather than on a grill as the second step. 

All the meat in a saucepan or dutch oven that can hold enough liquid to suspend the portions. Add 2 bay leaves. 2 tablespoons of pickling spice, 2 medium onions chopped, 3 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped fine, 4 or 5 cloves, 1 large tart apple,chopped like the onion. Heat this up and let cook medium high. You want the min temp to roll a boil. Like 45 minutes or so. Take out a sample and check to see if it is softening and beginning to fall from the bone. You can strain the entire mess out in a large collander and reserve all the bits of spice and onions clove etc and add it back in the next step. for me that is usually a bbq sauce mixture That goes back over the meat and into the oven. Can also be thrown away and meat prepared for grilling as you like.
More often than not I wind up defending the pot once the parboil is done because my old lady is in it before I can get it to the oven.


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## WV Cobbmullet

*Looking for a recipe*

My grandmother use to make a tomato salad cup by hollowing out a fresh tomato and useing the tomato she took out and other ingrediants to stuff the cup. I know there was bread cubes and tomato in the stuffing but dont know what else. After it was done it was refrigated and served cold, any help.


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## wdbrand

*Peix,*

the way I make it is with any grease from whatever I've cooked[pork only] then add flour and stir constantly til it browns. Then add your milk. Bring to a boil and stir constantly til it's as thick as you want. Too thick? Just add more milk.


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## wdbrand

*The secret to good ribs*

is to pull off the inside membrane before you ever reach for a pot. When the meat starts pulling back from the bone, it's time to transfer it to the smoker or grill and add your sauce of choice.


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## WV Cobbmullet

WV Cobbmullet said:


> My grandmother use to make a tomato salad cup by hollowing out a fresh tomato and useing the tomato she took out and other ingrediants to stuff the cup. I know there was bread cubes and tomato in the stuffing but dont know what else. After it was done it was refrigated and served cold, any help.


Sorry WD didnt quite understand how you were doing this.


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## wdbrand

*Wv,*

thanks for posting. There is no wrong way to do it as long as we get recipes on the board. I didn't make anything clear cause it don't matter.


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## Peixaria

Same Goes there Cobb Mullet, don't be shy, I ain't never heard of one done in a tomatoe,but it sounds good.Chilled tomatoe, Tuna salad? Lets see onions, dill pickle relish, lemon juice? Hold On, I am having an emergency Blow and am headed for the kitchen for some food. I had a Grandmother that used to do one in a green Pepper, [like a stuffed Green Pepper]that was pretty tasty. Also had a Great Aunt in Lisbon that did a crab dip, actually served in the actual carcase[legs still attached]of the crab with the pulled meat and all the juices, cilantro, etc. Very wicked, I still wonder if thats the one that gave me Montezumas revenge on that particular trip. Anyway Mullet around here you get if you give, can be painful at times, but I think that is why others are just websites and Pier and Surf is more of a Fraternity. Tito hand me a tissue, I feel a tear coming on.


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## wdbrand

*Thanks, keepem commin.*

Old timey ones also. You know, grannys and great grannys treasures that has been passed down thru the years. All questions and any recipes not seen on here yet. Probably someone can answer them.


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## Finger_Mullet

*Biscuits*

Well this is not a recipe but as a kid I remember my grandmother making biscuits every morning. She would get up at the ass crack of dawn and light the wood cook stove. She had this small tin pan that she would spoon some lard in and sit it on the stove to melt. She would then proceed to make the dough. Have no clue what she put in them other than flour and butter milk. 
She would take the bread pan and give it a good coat of lard. (not the melting lard). Then she would roll out a biscuit and dip it in the melted lard and place it on the pan. When the pan was full it would go in the wood stove. Those were the best biscuits I ever ate. 

She also made brains and eggs a lot. All the grand kids ate it up. We had no clue what we was eating. I always thought it was sausage and eggs. After the plate was clean you grabbed the quart of molasses that always sat on the table poured some on the plate it hand churned butter and sop it up with the biscuits. The molasses were made right down the road at the neighbors house. There was never a shortage of molasses. Everyone helped on molasses boiling days and took home a big share for their help.

I miss sausage grinding, molasses making, peanut digging, tater digging, butter churning, watermelon planting and picking, pea shelling, bean snapping, jelly making and pecan cracking. All 8 kids and the multitude of grandkids would all get together for the above activities. I remember not liking it much as a kid but I sure miss it now. Oh yeah and muscadine picking, fishing and wood cutting. 

Darin


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## wdbrand

*Great stuff Finger.*

I'll try to recollect some of mine along with what I remember about the cooking and recipes. I'll ask the board if they want these stories moved to the Lounge or whether to post them here. Some probably aren't complete recipes, just snatches of such I remember from 60 years ago. Ole timey ham curing, ole timey sausage making and how they preserved it back them. A lifetime of memories for sure. Up to the readers tho.


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## dirtyhandslopez

This is an easy good one.
Take a large bulb of garlic, rub it all over with olive oil and shove it in the oven at about hot, and bake it for for 15-20 minutes or so, then remove.
The garlic will go all soft and mushy and lose a lot of it's bite, but still have the flavor. Great for straight grubbing on or spreading on toast.


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## Finger_Mullet

*Smoked Cornish Hens*

I have been trying to perfect the perfect smoked cornish hen. I smoked some on Saturday and took one with me to my buddies house to play poker. Someone brought 100 chicken wings and everyone was munching on them. I brought out the hen and everyone tasted it. Said it was the best chicken they ever ate. At the end of the night a guy took what was left and placed it on the wood stove to heat it up. He sucked every bone on that bird. Said he had to go buy a smoker.

I bought 4 hens and thawed them. I soaked them in a brine solution of 2 gallons of water, 2 cups of kosher salt, 1 cup sugar, few dashes of garlic powder, a dash or 3 of onion powder and a beer. I combined all ingredients except the beer in a stock pot and heated it until the salt and sugar dissolved. I let it cool and poured in the beer. Put the hens in and placed then in the fridge. They soaked over night. I got them out and rinsed them off. Brushed them with olive oil and put a cajun dry rub on them. 

I put a beer and water in the water pan in the smoker. Smoked the hens for approx. 3 hours using hickory chips. After smoking I let them rest for approx. 30 minutes. They turned out great!!

Now I have to work on my ribs.

Darin


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## Shooter

Ok so ya'll got me to recalln some good ol times at Great Aunt E'ms out in Phonix, Va,,, thats about 40 miles past the sticks and just left of no-where.

I got to go into a few details so ya know where this comes from,,, they did have runnen water in the house,, it was a pump that stuck up in the kitchen sink. Now if'n ya had to go to the restroom and it was dark outside ya better light a candle cause the outhouse wasn't lit and yea it did get cold as hail so no worry about taking to long.

I do remember going out to the barn with the men and watchen them take the burlap off a ham hangen from a rafter, I always thought it was bad cause it had a little mold on the outside :--| I was told "Ya just trim that part off"

I did learn ya never asked Great Aunt E'm whats for dinner, she would always come back with a sharp snap "Why, don't ya like my cooken?" Of course ya told her ya loved her cooken then she would reply "Then why ya worried about what I am cooken" 

This is the same woman that would give me a dime and make me run to the store and get her some ROSE SNUFF,,, little did I know at that time it was OK for a lady to dip a bit of snuff but bad if she smoked 

After dinner one night I was asked "How was it?" I should have known I was being set up but either to young or to dumb but I said As always it was great.
Dear sweet ol Great Aunt E'm got this big ol chit eatten grin on her 120 year old face and said "Now ya can go back and them city folks how good Possum taste" 

Just in case ya didn't know, ya have to corn feed your possum for a week before cooken him up so ya clean him out. 

The sad part is I never did get Dear sweet Great Aunt E'ms recipe for possum


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## WV Cobbmullet

*left over recipe*

Grandma would take leftover mashed potatoes kraut and layer it in a pan, then crumbel sausage allover and bake till sausage was done.Allways thought it sounded awful but sure put a lot of it away when I was a kid.
Hey Shooter Ill one up ya on the aunt story aunts running water was a pully and bailer hanging from kitchen celing , but she sure cook.


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## wdbrand

*Shooter,*

I'll assume it's alrite to post some ole timey recollections and the recipes or parts we can recollect in the recipe forum instead of elsewhere. As long as the recipe readers don't object. I'll have some commin on curing country ham and making pork sausage and a lot of other pieces after I get a consensis from the readers. Ya'll have a goodin this weekend and stay safe.


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## wdbrand

*Finger Mullet,*

here's the ticket to perfect smoked ribs. A rack or 4 of ribs, I only do pork. PULL THE MEMBRANE OFF THE BACK OF THE RIBS[INSIDE]. Rub with dry baste of choice. Put in smoker for around an hour to get the smoke taste. Take them out and wrap real good in alum. foil. Put back in smoker and cook for around 2 more hours. Meat will make its own juices. Check and if the meat has pulled away from the bones, they are done. You can add heated bbq sauce and serve as is or top off on grill. Be careful if you put on grill not to over cook them.


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## Finger_Mullet

*Opossum*

Grandpaw would put them up and feed them sweet potatoes and milk for a couple of weeks. He said it cleaned them out. Then knock it in the head, skin and bake it. 

We used to chase the chickens around the yard and sprinkle them with flea powder. Pissed grandmaw and grandpaw off. We made one hen a pet. She would come running for treats. Well one Saturday grandmaw got the hatchet and went outside. The hen came running up and she grabbed it and chopped her head off. We cried. She said go out there and get another one of those hens tame so I don't have to chase them around the yard next Saturday. I guess we got pet and food mixed up. She set us straight pretty quick. 

Also, we would go and catch huge bream at grandpaw's pond. When we got home grandmaw would clean the fish and pack them in jars and can then. I did not like them that well but she had fish all year long without having to go catch them. She canned sausage as well. It was delicious. The best I can remember is she fried the sausage and stacked it in a jar and poured the grease over it and then the flat and lid. Sure was good. 

Darin


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## Bobmac

*Pyrohy*

These are otherwise known as Perogies to most people now days
4 cups Flour 
1 large Egg	
1 3/4 cups Water (warm)
1/2 tsp Salt

Combine egg, water, salt and beat well. Mix in 3 cups of flour and form a ball.
Knead in as much of the last cup of flour as required to make the dough smooth
and elastic. (You don't want it sticky)
Brush with vegetable oil, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out as you would a pie crust. Cut into squares, circles or what ever shape
and place a piece in your hand. Place a spoon full of filling in the center, fold and
press the edges to seal. (If the edge doesn't seal, try dipping you finger in water
and run it along the edge to moisten the dough.) Place on a tea towel or a sheet
of aluminum foil..

*Pyrohy Filling - Traditional*

My grandmother was Ukrainian and this was the traditional recipe that the whole
family used. There are variations that are just as good.
2 Cups Potatoes - Mashed
2 Tbsp Cooking oil. Preferably not a strong oil or you will change the flavour
2 Tbsp Onion - Chopped fine
Salt & Pepper to taste

*For The Seasoning*
Onion - Chopped as desired
Bacon - Diced and fried with the onion

Saute the onion and add to the mashed potato. Season and mix well.

The traditional way of cooking is to boil them a few at a time until they float.
Fry up the bacon and onion and pour this over the cooked Pyrohy.
Serve with Sour cream or syrup.

Some variation on the filling were:
Filling with cottage cheese
Adding grated Cheddar to the filling


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## Outrigger

There are alot of great cooks here on the boards, and I've printed out some pretty amazing recipes that I have yet to try out. I think I'm gonna take a stab at the foil-wrapped ribs, the brined and smoked game hens and Bobmac's pyrohys. 

I chanced upon this recipe many moons ago when I was traipsing through the airport out in Los Angeles. It appeared in one of those obscure newspaper inserts and I ended up cutting and pasting the dish to a _Word_ doc so I'm not quite able to give the contributor their just attribution. It's an ethnic-inspired Indian dish that my girlfriend is taking to her potluck luncheon at work today.

My only adjustment to the recipe is that I think two full heads of cauliflower are a bit much for the amount of seasoning; I would start with one head and add extra florets or otherwise increase the amount of oil the recipe calls for. I like to let the cauliflower, potatoes and curry mixture rest together in a bowl a bit to allow the flavors to meld.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower, Potatoes and Peas










» 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
» 1 tbsp black mustard seeds 
» 2 tbsp curry powder
» 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
» 1 tbsp minced garlic 
» 1 tbsp sugar 
» 2 tsp coarse salt 
» 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

» 1 onion, peeled and quartered 
» 2 heads cauliflower, cut into florets 
» 2 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

» 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 
» 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 
» Salt, fresh-ground black pepper 
» 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 
Serves 10

Preheat the oven to 475 F. Whisk together oil, mustard seeds, curry, ginger, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pull apart the onion quarters into separate layers. Toss the onion, cauliflower and potatoes with curry mixture. Distribute mixture equally on two large, rimmed baking sheets; spread veggies in a single layer. Put one baking sheet in the middle of the oven and the other on the lower rack. Roast for 30 minutes, switching sheets halfway through roasting time. Add the peas and roast for five more minutes. Mound the vegetables in a large bowl. Season them with the lemon juice and with salt and pepper to taste, and then sprinkle with cilantro.


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## Paymaster

*Ribs*

This is just my way of doing ribs( Never Boil ! ) 
I have an offset smoker and I do my ribs thusly:

I run my smoker at 250 degrees and use oak/hickory as a base wood for heat and apple or pear wood for flavor.
I always pull the membrane from the back
I slather with plain yellow mustard all over
I spread my rub( I use various purchased and home concocted rubs)
I spread the mustard and the rub on both sides
place the ribs in the smoker and leave them for 2 hours at 250 degrees
I baste/spray apple juice on the meat side of ribs twice in the 2 hour smoke time.
after 2 hours I place each rack in a piece of heavy duty foil with some apple juice, and place the foiled ribs back in the smoker. I keep them foiled until the temp between the bones is 180 degrees( usually 2-3 hours)
I unfoil when they reach temp and place back on the smoker for about 30 minutes. I don't sauce mine often but when I do, this is when I do it. 
For anyone wanting a carmalized sauced glaze, place the ribs on a hot grill and sauce them until they are the way you want them. My wife loves them sauced and carmalized. Here are some of my recent ribs.


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## Outrigger

Paymaster...I'm all for the saucy, slathery, lip-smacking yummy-ness of wet moppings, but I'm kinda a dyed-in-the-wool dry-rubber by default. I did have a couple of ??? about the cooking time on your ribs. Are you cooking them for an additional 2-3 hours after you foil them up, or is that the total cooking time altogether? Also, are you tossing fridge-chilled ribs straight onto the smoker or do you allow them to come up to a warmer room temp before the smoking?


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## Paymaster

Outrigger said:


> Paymaster...I'm all for the saucy, slathery, lip-smacking yummy-ness of wet moppings, but I'm kinda a dyed-in-the-wool dry-rubber by default. I did have a couple of ??? about the cooking time on your ribs. Are you cooking them for an additional 2-3 hours after you foil them up, or is that the total cooking time altogether? Also, are you tossing fridge-chilled ribs straight onto the smoker or do you allow them to come up to a warmer room temp before the smoking?


Total time is 5-6 hours so yes the 2-3 hours is additional to smoke time. 6 hours total is not unusual if the ribs are very meaty, sometimes even longer if you like them fall off the bone.I don't like them fall off the bone.Most important is internal temp,not time.If they don't get to temp, they will not be tender. I like to bring my meat up to room temp before I put it on the smoker. By the time I take the ribs out of the package, rinse and remove the membrane, slather and rub, they are just about there.And just in case some don't know,a paper towel is handy for removing the membrane. Just get a corner loose and then grip with a dry paper towel and gently pull.


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