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Sunday, December 30, 2012

13 Bean Soup Smoked Ham Hock

bigfatdaddys
Nothing like a tasty bean soup to warm you on a cold winter's day.

13 Bean Soup - Smoked Style

We have a running joke in my household. You see, my wife is one of those "bland soup makers." I'm not knocking her cooking, because it's darn good. You just have to put your own seasonings in if you want to spice it up. She could very well cook for Campbell's if she wanted to.  I think they would love her. You know maybe even sell those big restaurant style soups that are bulk commercial soup with no salt in it.  When it comes to Bean soup, she isn't aloud to cook it.  That's my job.

Everything I cook has it's own taste and flavor. Maybe too much, I don't know. I have a real passion for smoking everything. They key to a good bean soup I believe is the smoked flavor. If you think about it, your beans are "soakers." They are going to soak up whatever flavor you put in there. No flavor means bland beans. I hate that.

How to get that Smoked Flavor

You can obtain this one of three ways. I use #2 and #3.

1.  The first of course is adding some type of liquid smoke or smoke flavoring to your foods. I call this cheating but it's easy, and quick. Problem is if you over do it, you are going to throw your bean soup out real fast.

For most of us, I suggest the other two ways.

2. Simmering your bacon in a fry pan until it's nice and crispy. Using some of the bacon and bacon fat in your soup.  Yes, that's right, I'm telling you to add a little bacon fat - read this article as surprisingly bacon fat is much healthier than some fake fats we stick in our bodies. Not a lot, just a little will go a long way.

3. Here's something not many people think of.  When you save a ham hock from your family meal or baked ham, make it a point to smoke it on the barbeque pit within a few days to dry it out, smoke it, and remove the excess fat. Then you can freeze it so it's smoked up for your soup.  You are using bacon fat in #2 so you don't need that extra lard from the fatty part of the hock. What you do need however is SMOKED FLAVOR. I sear it good and lock in that flavor.

Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix
You can find this soup mix here. 


My Preferred Beans

I use Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix.  It's organic and for some reason the beans seem to take a lot less longer to cook than traditional store bought beans. To me, it's a good way to get in navy beans, pinto beans, small and large limas, black beans, garbanzo beans, red lentils, black eyed peas, great northern beans, kidney beans and so many more in this mix. One package will do a huge stock pot of soup for the family.

Overnight Prep

You should soak the beans overnight in the fridge.  Make sure to put in extra water these babies will soak it right up.  Pull out your ham hock that's frozen and start to thaw.

My 13 Bean Soup Recipe

5 Slices of Bacon, cooked crispy
Two teaspoons Bacon Juice
1 Frozen presmoked Ham Hock
1 Bag of Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup
1-2 Stalks of Celery, diced small
1/4 Medium White Onion diced small
Salt, Pepper to taste

Begin by simmering your bacon in a fry pan and start your ham hock boiling in a stock pot.  I use my Rachael Ray cookware (been very pleased with it, has lasted me over a year at home and that's saying something) 6qt stockpot, but you can use any size larger for this recipe. Cover the hock completely with water and let it boil down until the hock is falling apart (about an hour or less).

Meanwhile I get my bacon crispy and crumble it up in the soup pot. Two teaspoons of bacon grease goes int the stockpot too. I wipe out the fry pan leaving a bit of coating for simmering up my celery and onions, until they are somewhat cooked and toss them in to. Now you have your base boiling away.

Remove your ham hock and let it cool, picking it clean and tossing the rest of the edible ham into the pot.

bigfatdaddys
I picked this bad boy clean.
The beans, which have been soaking overnight should be drained in a strainer and rinsed just to remove any additional debris. Toss them into your stock pot.  Bob's recommends a 3 to 3.5 hour simmer on the beans but truth be told I have found that within an hour and a half my soup is delicious and my beans are tender.

Salt and pepper to taste.

bigfatdaddys


Yum. Eat and Enjoy. If you have extras be sure to freeze extras on day one, to avoid any further breaking down of the beans. When reheating, do so low and slow on low flame.

Read more of my recipes here under Recipes.


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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Custom Oyster Knives Smoking Blue Point Oysters Are A Winning Combination

bigfatdaddys oyster bake
Oysters are great on the  Smoker or Grill when done low and slow.
Smoked Oysters

For the holidays I smoked some Blue Points on the barbecue pit. I washed them good first in fact soaked them a small bit , then piled them in my "butt chicken" smoking tray in small batches. This tray has open holes in the bottom to let the heat in.

bigfatdaddys
Oyster Shucking is only possible with a good knife.

#1 Smoking Oysters Tip: Get Yourself A Good Knife: Coastal Custom Knifeworks

Smoking the oysters or grilling them is easy. The number one problem with doing your own oysters is having a good shucking knife. I'm not just talking any knife and I'm definitely not talking old school style with screwdriver. I cherish my fingers here folks.  I prefer the ones over at Coastal Custom Knifeworks.  My pal Shannon's company down South hand crafts custom oyster knives--you can see them on his website or his Facebook page.

Oyster Knife
This one PURDY custom oyster knife from Coastal Custom Knifeworks.

I'll tell you why Shannon's knives work so well and last so long.  Shannon says, " I  started making knives as gifts that could be passed down from generation to generation for friends and family and it took off from there."  He crafts all the knives himself, in a small shop. He does the quality testing to make sure each knife is easy to hold and easy to use based on her experience. There is no made in China bullcrap here, and no store bought blanks. That's why. Generations of oyster shuckers used those knives.

Oyster Shucking
Big Fat Daddy's Shucking Oysters!

#2 Smoking Oysters Tip: Oyster Shucking 101

Shannon knows what a good oyster knife means . He says, "I designed my oyster knife with the positives of all the oyster knives I have ever used, while keeping the idea of having both form and function in the knife especially when incorporating a bottle opener into the design!"

I only use Shannon's knives because he uses the finest materials available and tries to give every option possible to the making of each knife. Truly each are unique and no one has my particular knife. I haven't had to replace it. If I don't have my trusty knife with me, I'm not shucking today folks!  (You can see more of his knives over at Coastal Custom Knifeworks .)

As for shucking and keeping your fingers, I look for the small opening, slowly insert knife, and wiggle ever so gently until the baby opens up for me. Don't shove the knife in or open real hard or you will have more juice and bits of oyster coating your walls and counter and self than you do left in your oyster. Professional shuckers may do this outdoors when they are under pressure to shuck a gazillion oysters quick for bull roasts and oyster roasts but in the comfort of your family and friends take your time. What's the rush

For this dinner, I simply put a kitchen towel under a cutting board, and took my time shucking. I even find doing it over a rectangular cake pan is helpful to catch the extra shells and juice--making transfer into the garbage can easy as pie.

#3 Smoking Oysters Tip:  Low and Slow Oysters on the Barbie

Just remember when doing your own oysters that's in this case it's not the size of your grill. I used my mom's very small grill at this meal, and turned out a half case of oysters batch by batch. I only put charcoal in the bottom 1/4 and make sure the heat was low, you don't want to cook too hard too fast and burn them up.

Grilling Oysters
Who says you can't grill oysters? 

I do flip them and check on them quite often. Once your coals heat up the next batch will take a little less time. You may have some open sooner, and I pull those off first. It's constant rotation.

#4 Smoking Oysters Tip:  Watch Your Butter With Blue Points

If you enjoy butter with your oysters, (who doesn't) check to make sure your butter isn't going to be too salty for the variety of oysters you have. In this case, real Blue Points are super salty, so I recommend cutting your salted butter in half with unsalted butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.  If you don't like a lot of salt, then use unsalted with lemon.

And of course, if you like a dab of cocktail, so be it:

Smoked Oysters


Custom Oyster Knives

Make sure to visit  Coastal Knives for the best selection of oyster knives. You'll only have to buy one, because it will last you. So, what's next for Shannon? He says, she wants to start crafting hunting knives and filet knives, I can't wait.     As for me, I'm off to stuffing some lobster..........

Lobster with Crab Imperial
Dinner is on!
Special Thanks to Shannon for Making Great Knives. This dinner wasn't possible without her! 


Coastal Custom Knifeworks
Summerville, SC 29483|843-514-1459 


This post last updated 12.22.14  Like it?  Pin it Below!

Smoked Oysters , BigFatDaddys







Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Beef BBQ Cube Stew Que Recipe

bigfatdaddys
This delicious BBQ you can make with Beef Cubes!
The Best Beef BBQ Made from Cubes? 
 
Here's a recipe for what I call BBQ Cube Stew Que.  You can use any type of aged brisket, top round, bottom round, or beef flat.  It's ideal if you are entertaining and making beef kabobs, and have a lot of leftover cubes.  Here is what you will need to make a decent sized pot, feeding a family of four for a day (with leftovers.)  You will have to prepare your beef cubes a day ahead, but here you go -- enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

*About 3 lbs beef cubed and fat trimmed.  (I prefer beef bottom round)
*2 Tablespoons Dry Rub or Kansas City Steak seasoning.   (See my dry rub guide here, or buy my rub in my store. )
*1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

1 Large Can Whole Tomatoes
1/3 large onion (or 1/2 of a small)
2 stalks celery
3 small or two large carrots

2 tablespoons Sugar
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
3 tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Butter
8 cups of water plus additional water on hand.
1/2 cup Sweet BBQ Sauce of Choice (Sweet Hickory)

You will need:  6-qt. Covered Stockpot, ample prep area, and Glass Bowl

Prep Time:  30 minutes total (15 to cube Day #1, 15 to dice veggies Day #2)

The Day Before Cooking:


Cube beef into 1" square chunks into a glass bowl, removing visible fat.
Hand toss into your dry rub and worsesterchire, coating well.
Refrigerate over night.  (You can actually keep for up to 36 hours.)

Cooking Day:   (Cook Time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours.)

Step One
Dice your onions, carrots and celery fine to medium.

Step Two
Adding the butter and one cup water and simmer in stock pot on high for about 15 minutes--veggies will start to become tender.  


Step Three
Once tender,  add the remaining 7 cups water and add beef cubes.  Cook for 1 hour on medium heat, covered.  If you need to add more water, do so in small quantities to avoid beef cubes from burning, you want some water in the mix, which will cook off.


Step Four
Beef cubes should appear tender by now, but not falling apart yet. Add large can of whole tomatoes, (squishing them somewhat as you go.)  Mix in brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, ketchup, and regular sugar.  Simmer on low checking often. Stir occasionally and check.
big fat daddys
Note the cubes are still somewhat together, and not falling apart. It's not done yet. Add tiny bits of water until they do fall apart.

Step Five 
Once the cubes start to fall apart with your fork, they are just about done. It should look like BBQ, and be moist, but not too moist as it must be able to put on bread or a kaiser roll! If there's too much liquid, keep cooking down--stirring occasionally. You can still see the carrots but they will easily fall apart.  If your cubes are tender enough to fall apart in your hand, turn the stove off.  Now stir in your BBQ sauce--this is just for a bit of added sweetness in the very end.
big fat daddys
It can be eaten alone or on bread.

Step Six
Enjoy this sweet BBQ with a hint of Carolina twang, on roll or bread.

Sound Yummy? 
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 Additional Tips for the Beef BBQ Cube Stew:  
  • This recipe freezes well and can be easily reheated.  
  • Cubes take much less longer than large hunks of beef to simmer down, so you can whip this up in under two hours.
  • Many people will cube a larger piece of meat--say 5 lbs. You can use some immediately having kabobs and marinate the rest to have this BBQ Cube Stew Que the next day!
  • Find other recipes on this blog!








Thursday, December 13, 2012

Livermush and Old Cars North Carolina

bigfatdaddys
This is a Livermush with Egg an Cheese. A little egg and a lot of Livermush!
My time in Shelby, NC training at the KCBS Organizer Training wasn't spent all work and no play. I mean it's only natural smelling all the great barbecue cooking all around Shelby's Hog Happnin' made me hungry. I found the time to sneak out and grab me what they call "A Livermush Sandwich." Now just the sound of it is enough to make some people cringe, thinking of mushy liver, but that's not really what it is.
Wayne M Schafer
Sandwich #2


It is what I've known growing up to be called "Scrapple" only better and tastes a bit close to sausage. Perhaps we could call it a cousin of Scrapple morphed with sausage spices, and different ingredients. When I asked the locals what spices were in there I got the "little this little that" response and so I think this secret recipe must be highly protected at best by the citizens of this area in North Carolina. I even found out the annual "Livermush Festival" is a big to-do.  Whatever it is, it's not as fatty as scrapple, doesn't have as much grease, and is darker in color.  Did I mention good? It's damn good.

vintage marilyn car
Tons of vintage cars were lining the festival grounds.
The old cars at the festival were definitely worth a look-see. There were a wide variety to the old and classic to the modified and unusual. This pink car looks like something Marilyn Monroe would have driven. My wife called this her favorite.
bigfatdaddys
Wife's favorite.

Now the cars are a usual staple every year at the Shelby Hog Happnin'. Of course they are placed far away from the smoke of the BBQ pits and smokers so as not to get all dirtied up.  I am real glad this pink one wasn't for sale because I would not have heard the end of it.

betty boop car
This modified car looks liked a piece of artwork.
There were a lot of cars modified by their owners. Some took a lot of thought and were downright unique. I am wondering why the fire estinguisher on the back? How fast does Betty Boop actually go?

betty boop car
"Size Matters" according to Betty Boop.
This motor says "Size Matters" and is turbo charged with Monster Energy Drinks. This was one of three modified in similar in style, but each very unique. This wide open front makes it cool to look at .  Here is the ass-end of another:

bigfatdaddys
Very unique detailing and ornaments. Again, a fire extinguisher on this truck.
sanford and son truck
Why does this remind me of the Sanford and Son Truck?
Now my wife took a liking to this guy's truck because it reminded her of the red 1952 Ford they used to use for "Sanford and Son" TV show. This was before they switched to a Mercury M-47 1947 one. His bed was lined with a "Welcome to North Carolina" sign and the rear said "Honk if parts fall off."

Time to Relax

All of this festival going was very relaxing to me, as I am used to being on the other side of the festival, having to work long hours in the food stands. 
Big Fat Daddys
I'm with Betty, size matters.
We did however eat at the festival, and at night after we left.  Next time I'll tell you about my trip to Bridges BBQ, somehow relation of Alston Bridge's BBQ. 

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  • rkashyap (Dec 06 22:48)

If you haven't caught up on my Shelby posts here they are: 

Part Four KCBS Reps
Part Three What Competitors Want
Part Two Alston Bridges BBQ
Part One Two Old Men and a Grill Take Grand Champion


Sunday, December 2, 2012

Ernie Linda Poland John Busch KCBS Reps

BBQ Pits and Grills
This is another example where your pits and grills are mounted to a trailer. This guy uses Kingsford only!
If you can't tell I'm really dragging out my trip to Shelby North Carolina, when I went to the Hog Happnin' for the Kansas City Barbeque Society "BBQ Organizer" training because there are so many pictures I can't fit them in one post. I told you about my arrival day in Shelby and meeting Two Old Men and a Grill, my stuffing my face with Alston Bridges North Carolina Barbecue, and about what the Competitors had to say. Saturday morning things were really shaping up at the festival. Before the public arrived, I had plenty of time to walk around.
Ernest Poland
From Ernie and Linda Poland, we learned it's essential for reps to spend time greeting every team.
KCBS Reps

Now if you talk to some competitors, they have a real misunderstanding of just what the KCBS reps do. Truth be told I didn't know my darn self, I thought maybe their day was gravy. After following Linda and Ernie Poland and John Busch, around all day, I changed that opinion.  They really are busy all day and do alot...at this festival, they all really represented the professionalism of the KCBS in the highest regard.

Now John Busch is regular at this particular festival, but Ernie and Linda were new to this festival---coming in on a last minute notice to replace the other two regular reps.  Smaller festivals may only have two reps, but once you get over so many teams, you are looking at three.  They ran a cook's meeting to introduce themselves and put new competitors through a video training. They did a meet and greet with every team, answering questions along the way.  They really reinforced the turn in times and spent a lot of times with newer teams that had questions.  

John Busch
John Busch: Walking Encyclopedia for KCBS

On the inside, they make sure everything is running up to par. Judges signed in and piled in from all over the country.  We were amazed at how far they would travel to judge a BBQ contest.  John, Linda and Ernie ran a quick judges meeting and made sure the turn in times were enforced. Oh, and by the way, the judges and reps don't fraternize with the teams on game day.  We threw a million questions at John, Linda and Ernie and they had great answers and advice for us! Thanks guys.

 
KCBS Judging Area
Joyce Gardner, festival organizer, does a great job with the judge area.


No Cheating in This Game

What we really liked is that Linda Poland made sure to change the labels on all the competitor's boxes when they came to a table, and mixed them up in a top secret way, so that no one would know who was who.  No also, she then mixed up the entries before giving them to the Table Captains so that no table essentially ate the same bbq twice .... essentially this levels the playing field and really evens out the possibility for winning.  Many teams sent extra meat in so that after all the judging rounds the table captains and volunteers could nibble accordingly.

 It's a numbers game for sure.  When Kansas City Barbeque Society says it's a fair and square blind judging process they aren't lying. We watched the boxes from the turn in table get processed to the Judge's mouths. There is essentially no way to cheat and we were in awe of the professionalism of the judges.  Joyce and Jerry Gardner were nice enough to let me try some ribs from what they call the "grazing table" or extras. Like a cow in a pasture I grazed some delicious ribs. Of course I don't know whose they were but they were a ten in my book!  After the judging was completed, we watched as the reps made sure the scores were compiled and data entered in.

old galaxie car
The car show was great, I'll post more pictures soon.


Meanwhile on the outside...

The festival was now open to the public and there was a lot going on. The antique cars were to die for and that will have to be a whole other post.  There were merchandise vendors and food vendors, the local fire department's PINK engine (read that post later), entertainment and a marching parade were just a few things I saw. Daryyl Mast from BBQ Superstars was getting in as many interviews as he could.

Daryl Mast BBQ Superstars
Darryl Mast from BBQ Superstars was filming on the outside.

And of course during all this I found the smell of all that judging making me hungry as hell and I found y own time to graze...which I'll tell you about next...my trip to 3 Eyz BBQ and the Livermush Sandwich.......

In the meantime, please visit my friends who keep me writing. You can find the best Australian Yumcha here : Yum Cha at home

big fat daddys
A giant shopping cart hot rod was a good photo opportunity!





Hey, guess what?
I'm adding more shirts to my store. I have leftover limited anniversary edition shirts. Now you can be a member of my pit crew!  Soon I will be adding these:
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