Big Fat Daddy's Zesty Marinade Recipe Ribs Chicken Steak

These boneless ribs come out tender and pack a punch with my Big Fat Daddy's zesty marinade. See how to do this Boneless Country Ribs meal here. 

I get asked a lot about basting meats, using marinades or using injections.  This is something I do quite frequently and I'm old school, so I believe when doing them "less is more."  In my opinion, twenty crappy ingredients won't yield you the same results a few fresh ingredients.  I am a firm believer that less ingredients extracted at a higher quality, can produce a better result.  Much along the same lines of my dry rub, I feel that marinades really bring out the flavor of your meats.

Juicing your marinades pull out the ingredients in the spices that you would not normally expect.

In this case, I have my original zesty marinade recipe that you can make in small batch quantities at home, but you will need a juicer.  This marinade can be applied days ahead of time on you steak, chicken or ribs to marinate in the fridge, or can be used immediately when cooking to produce a zesty flavor full of heat.  My wife loves this on her wings.

Ingredients for My Zesty Rib Marinade:  REGULAR   (7 ingredients)

This will yield enough for one large rack of ribs, or two small racks, a family pack of chicken, one rump roast, a small brisket, or six nice steaks. 

2 teaspoons whole mustard seed  (Sauer's)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 teaspoon Whole Peppercorn melange' or Peppercorn Medley (Sauer's)
1 slice of a small red onion (fresh)
1 pinch of White Pepper
1 small fresh clove of garlic  (Peeled)
1/3 Cup Lite Italian Dressing

or (Use Gluten Free Recipe Here) for Less Zesty Alternative)

2 teaspoons whole mustard seed  (Sauer's)
1 tablespoons Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Whole Peppercorn melange' or Peppercorn Medley (Sauer's)
1 slice of a small red onion (fresh)
1 pinch of White Pepper
1 small fresh clove of garlic  (Peeled)
1/3 Cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil


Blend the ingredients in a juicer.   Not using a juicer will yield you unsavory results. I cannot stress enough how a juicer can take a small piece of food and pull out the flavors you never expected.   These ingredients must be juiced until they create a liquid.  You will still see small chunks of peppercorns which should now resemble large bits of pepper but no trace of the onion.  (see photo above).

You can either: 

A) Marinate your meat with this product up to 24 hours in the fridge.  The longer you marinade the more overpowering the peppers and garlic will become. I usually do not go over 24 hours but my wife marinades wings up to 48 hours in this, and they are good.

B)  Pour over your meat when baking  using 3/4 of the product up front, and 1/4 of the product nearing the end of your cook time as a brush on baste, or dribble baste.

For grilled products, you will want to use 3/4 of the marinade  as in step A, but save 1/4 of the product as a last minute baste. You must remember the oil in the dressing will speed up the browning process so using A. 

YOU MAY LIKE:
You can see this marinade on Boneless Country Ribs with Pumpkin Butter Ten Minute Prep here

also did you know that shopping with CF Sauer online gives you free shipping over $25 in spices?   They are my sponsor and you should enjoy theirYou can also nab some of the great Sauers recipes here.

Hey, we're working on some new icons, do you like them?

              

Big Fat Daddy's is celebrating over three decades of catering, fairs and festivals therefore, we thought it only right to vintage up our blog a little. Here is an old child's learning game!

Welcome to the fair! Made of wood is always good!

This post last updated 12.15.14

Turkey Legs Ribs Smoking on the Barbeque Pit Photographed

Maybe I love taking pictures of my food as much as the barbecue sport itself, I don't know. I really work hard to get my smoked turkey legs looking beautiful so when John Q. Public walks by they can't help themselves from wanting a bite.

When the sun hits the turkey legs a certain way it looks like heaven is smiling down on my barbecue pit. Does this sound corny? I don't know,  but there is an ear of corn to the left.  I wish I could get better with my camera, to the point where my photographs were ultra professional looking.

As you can see the turkey legs when cooked from frozen, have an altogether different look. Much like the raw ribs, it takes awhile to get the turkey legs looking beautiful.  I'm not sure why I really like this shot of the ribs in the covered smoker.  Perhaps it's start to finish and such a huge difference in color!

There's only so much you can do with a smartphone. Here I have buried the legs with the ribs, hoping to smoke them faster.

All these have been taken with my Sprint HTC smart phone. I am a crazy barbecue guy who has to get my shots in before I serve the food. In doing so I have managed to destroy several smart phones just this year, dropping one in a bucket of water.  Oh well, what can you do. Pictures like this don't come often.

As you know some consider Turkey Legs and other poultry a healthy alternative to red meats.  The key to living a long and healthy life is to find the right blend of diet and exercise.  The Nutritional Health Supplements Guide is the definitive source on all things related to nutritional and dietary supplements. We suggest reading it.

Now if only I could learn my NIKON. 
 

The Perfect Baby Back Ribs : Part Two Recipe

If you read The Perfect Baby Back Ribs: Part One, you have surely seen how to grill them up. Now I'm going to give you a complete meal recipe here, something that I make in the back woods of Maine and really can say it's worth a chow down. This recipe is for two sides to go with your ribs:

Angus Macaroni and Cheese  and  Maple Summer Squash


One thing I do want to reiterate on the ribs, remmember even if your ribs have been sitting on the pit for awhile, they may look crispy on the outside...

but the key is cooking low and slow to get them yummy and falling apart on the inside.  For this mean you can cut and serve with barbecue sauce or leave on the rack it's up to you.  You want to time out your sides just right. While your ribs are cooking and about 90% done, start your sides.  Both of these sides will only take 10-12 minutes max and you can do them both and have everything done at once!

Love=A Man and His Grill

Angus Macaroni and Cheese  Feeds 4 to 6

You will need:

• 2 Boxes of Mac and Cheese  ( which will call for butter, milk and water )
• Stockpot to cook the mac and cheese
• Cracked Peppercorn Mill or Coarse Pepper
• 1 lb ground Angus (lean)   *For lower fat substitute with ground turkey*
• Saute Pan for the Angus beef
• 1/2 lb provolone slices

I wish I could say I make this from scratch but for this meal I sure do cheat.  I use 2 boxes of Mac and Cheese making sure to use partial water and milk option in my stock pot.  Meanwhile, I'm browning 1 lb of ground angus in the frying pan. Make sure to add fresh cracked pepper from a grinder mill or coarse black pepper, as this really makes it tasty. For the pepper, I add directly to the beef.   I cut the provolone into tiny squares and mix into finished mac and cheese while I've drained grease off my beef and shovel that in too.  A few light tosses and voila!  Generally this whole side takes 12 minutes or less.

Summer Maple Squash  (Serves 4 to 6)

You will need:

• 2 Medium  (or 1 Large 1 Small) Yellow Crookneck Squash
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/3 cup water
• Dill
• Salt
• Maple Syrup 
• Saute' pan w cover

I use crookneck squash for this, cutting the rinds off and removing the seed channel. I have heard you can zap the crookneck after poking with a fork to get it a bit more pliable, but I really like the whole struggle with the rind as it makes me think I've accomplished something by not chopping my finger off.  I find that on a large it's about 40% waste between the ends, seed and rind and a lot harder to cut which is why I suggest mediums.  After the rind and channel is removed I cut into C-shaped pieces about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.

Now really a lot of folks I know could care less for squash. I really think you have to give it a taste and for this it's going to be maple. Melt butter in your saute' pan adding in squash and gently brown on both sides. Add small bits of water to keep from burning and cook on low covered until the squash is cooked, adding in dill and salt to taste. When squash is your preferred feel (some like it soggy, some like it Al dente....)  then coat with a light coat of maple syrup (for this we used homemade straight from the trees in Maine thanks to Mr. Donald Sanborn), flipping once and coating again. Turn saute' pan off and let syrup brown. 


Need some Green? Go with Fresh Fiddleheads!
Only if you are in Maine....fiddleheads rock!

If you like this, click on this picture to see my beef:

The Perfect Baby Back Ribs : Part One

I'm going to show you how to make the perfect baby back ribs.

I'm going to share my recipe for the perfect Baby Back ribs. This is going to be a two part picture instruction series, the second, giving a full meal recipe of my Baby Back Ribs.  You'll have to wait for part two to get the recipe for the sides of Summer Maple Squash, and Angus Mac-n-Cheese.  Yum.   I have to tell you, the key to perfect ribs is cooking them LOW and SLOW.  Sort of why I chose to cook them on my vacation, I'm not in a hurry. I have no where to go.  So let's get started.


Step One:  Marinate the Night Before.

For this project, I cut the ribs into small racks and marinated them overnight in one of those aluminum turkey pans you get in the grocery store. I find they are long and low and can fit a bunch of baby backs in your fridge for overnight marination. Be careful not to puncture it or you will have a bloody mess to say the least.  For this recipe, I marinated with a blend of:

• Dry Rub Seasoning  or throw your own dry spice together. (Make sure to include  Season Salt, Parsley, Garlic Salt, Paprika, Basil)
  
• Thin white onion slices
• Add Crushed Garlic to Suit

 
Step Two:  The Next Day: It's Cooking Time. Get in the Lo-N-Slow Cooking Zone.

Cooking the perfect ribs takes time, so you should get yourself into the mood where you have all the time in the world.

Step Three:  Choosing the Right Grill and Smoking Wood

For this project I am using a vintage Weber full size vintage grill. It's something my wife's family cooked on when she was a child. I think it's circa 1977. Whatever the case, it's in great shape even though it's been sitting outside all these years. For this I am using planked hickory wood. It has been split and dried out. I should add that I spritzed it down with apple juice repeatedly until the juice soaked into the wood and dried.  I also am using some charcoal, but the plank wood will give it a nice flavor. Covered, with hood vent 3/4 open.

Step Four:  Get 'em On.

This is what they look like when they first go on. Note I've cut them into six or eight bones,  my dry rub is spread out and the onions all over.  The plank wood is atop the slow burning charcoal to give a smoke. The key here is that your ribs should cook about five hours. Low and Slow, maybe temping the grill about 225 degrees.  Low and slow. 

Step Five:  Be Patient and Check Often. Flip Occasionally.

You are going to have to have some patience as it will take some time cooking this low and slow to really see things happen. I often temp my grill as this is an older model and I want to make sure I'm at least 225-250 degrees. Don't want any little critters getting in my intestines from undercooked pork !  While these were cooking I fed some ducks, broke out the four wheeler and drank some Natty Boh's.

Step Six:  Refurbishing Your Fire. Plank This.

It is important when cooking for such a long time that you have a way to remove the ribs, and stoke up your fire. If you can see, the planks will sometimes smother out the charcoal if not placed properly.  In addition, the charcoal itself isn't really designed to last a full five hours, so you will have to stir, stoke and add fresh about half way thorough. Oh yeah, love me some ribs.


Step Seven:  The Debate.

Now at this point the ribs are temping well over 165 degrees.  Most people would take 'em off at this point and chow down,  and that is just fine if you want to do this.  If you'll notice the plank wood has well been burnt up into smithereens, and the charcoal is down to only a low heat. 

 If you break into them, you will see the meat is fully cooked, there is a bit of a pink smoke ring around the outside (that's flavor folks!)I like to keep them on a bit longer, until when I touch the with my tongs, they want to fall apart. To me ribs should melt in your mouth and you shouldn't have to pull them apart.  It has been five hours in.  I stoked up the coals and let 'em ride another 20 minutes, but that's just me.

Step Eight: The Lather Up and Throwdown. 

Do I really have to explain this? I smother mine in BBQ sauce right before eating, and throw them down with some great smokin' sides. In Part Two I will show you my actual meal and give you my top secret recipe.   For now I have to go suck some sauce off my fingers.  For this meal, I used Sweet Baby Ray's.  Even though I have my own sauce I use for everything, I still love eating everyone else's. 

GO TO PART TWO


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Sweet Apple Wood Spare Ribs Recipe for Perfection

Get in ma belly!

My friend Don in Baltimore (shout out to Artist DoLoBo) told me he chopped down his apple tree. (Actually, it fell on his house.)  So all spring he's been chopping me apple wood ! I decided perfect for use in my smoker and do some Apple Wood ribs.

Here's what I did:

• Marinated full size pork spare ribs for 24-48 hours with dry rub seasoning (coating both sides).
• Filled a foil pan with 3.5 cups of Apple Juice. 
• Filled my pit with apple wood.
• Put the ribs in the foil pan and cooked them low and slow, about 225 degrees for five and a half hours adding more wood as needed and turning them changing positions into the mixture of apple juice.  Some of the juice will evaporate, but that's what you want, more apple flavor. Apple wood +Apple juice = Apple Heaven.

Now when I say smoking, I use a barrel smoker and the smoke flavor is what you want in your meat--gives it that mesquite flavor from the apple wood. So if you are using a large piped smoker, make sure your vents are adjusted or at half closed.

My ribs were very photogenic.

• At the five and a half hour mark I caramelized them by taking the pan away for good, and searing each right on the grate over top the sweet apple wood with lid open. 

•  During this step, I was finishing my rips with a maple powder and sugar blend on both sides until the ribs were browned, cooking about 25 minutes more on each side, or until done.  *If you don't have access to maple powder, cheat and use maple syrup but this will burn the outside a bit. 

 These were full size spare ribs, but because they were so tender from smoking for so long, I was able to easily cut the rib tips off and save those for another meal.  (Under normal circumstances, you would need a machete to do this, but not if you cook low and slow, the bones turn into budda!!) 

Here are more photos of  me and the rib (you will be taken to other sites as they are on my twitter):

Me in the kitchen with the ribs. 
The unaltered photo of my ribs.
The perfect compliment for 21 and up:  Here.
Beware: After eating the ribs and having the beverage.






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Pitmaster in Action Beef Ribs Pork : Barbeque in the Making

Here is Wayne with cousin Dale smoking some meat on his barbecue pit. Wayne uses a five step grilling process wherein most meats must go through the smoking process. This time Wayne has come prepared, he's pulled out his second pit (right backside) to prevent running out of food before lunchtime! On the main front grill (left to right) you'll see to right he's got smoked turkey legs, pork ribs, and cooked beef (you think it's brisket but he is famous for using bottom round).

The beef will be removed soon and thinly sliced, for Famous Texas Beef Subs, BBQ Beef Subs, and our version of the Philly (let's say Texas) Cheesesteaks!  Now the ribs will have ample grill space to cook.  In the back right of the photo, you'll see Wayne's custom smoker is working on the pork hunks over top hardwoods. He uses boneless pork butt and cuts it small, to sear in the flavor. It will then be shredded fresh onsite for the famous Big Fat Daddy's hickory smoked pork bbq. Can you just smell the flavor?  Now I'm hungry.

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Fully Cooked Barbeque Grill Jumble Ribs PORK Galore Big Fat Daddy's Style

Big Fat Daddy's Open Flame Hickory Smoked Grill

What you see is fully cooked ribs pigs, pigs and more pigs. The ribs are actually not really done yet although they are at internal temperature of 165 degrees. This is because I subject them to special tender-i-zation techniques which is part of my FIVE STEP GRILLING PROCESS. As you can see on the second shank from the left, a small sample has been quality tested for assurance and they are just grand ♥

Big Fat Daddy's Riblets : Big Fat Taste in a Little Popper Package

These are Riblets.  

They break all my rules.  You see, here at Big Fat Daddy's it's all about Big Fat sandwiches or subs, but in this case, these wee little poppers make a sweet exception. They are gourmet mini pork rib poppers with a great big ass taste. Grilled to perfection on my hickory smoke pit while basking in my dry rub seasoning, then add my top secret BBQ sauce blend, when you stick these little puppies in your mouth they melt like butter. 

Four95 Blog shows pork in it's entirety.

All that's left is tiny little bone, which makes for less waste if you ask me.   I serve these with fries, and they are a special item. If you are on the East Coast, go to your fair board and ask if Big Fat Daddy's is at your fair.  If so, come over to my stand to see if I have these succulent items.  If not, shouldn't I be?