The BBQ Grail

Favorite sandwich: Pastrami with jalapeno pepper jack cheese.

Favorite bbq appetizer: ABTs (Atomic Buffalo Turds)

I was sitting around last week trying to come up with a new appetizer for a church dinner next weekend when I had the thought of combining a pastrami and pepper jack cheese sammie with an ABT. This is what I came up with!

Started with some fresh jalapenos that I halfed, cored and removed membranes and seeds. I soaked the peppers in Sprite over night. I had heard that soaking them in Sprite would remove some of the heat and leave the flavor.

(The Sprite soak worked just as advertised. And the by product is a super spicy hot Sprite that can be used as a spritz on something else. Probably Super Bowl ribs)

Each half of pepper received a hunk of plain pepper jack cheese. I then took a partially froze, raw corned beef brisket flat and sliced it thin. Like bacon! The pastrami slices got a good hour long soak in cold water to remove excess salt. Each pepper and cheese combo was wrapped in a pastrami slice or two and sprinkled with a pepper blend.

They got a two hour smoke at 250 degrees with hickory wood. They came out amazing! It’s a winner for sure. I’ll be making these for all my bbq parties from now on.

One change for the future. Next time I’ll pre-smoke or roast the peppers a little. Because the pastrami is so lean it won’t take cooking long enough to get the peppers all the way done. If I’d cooked them until the peppers were soft the pastrami would have been jerky.

I’m not sure if my new PBTs helps me find that bbq grail but it sure makes the journey more enjoyable!

I just finished the last of the New Year’s Day Cornbread. And I got to thinking about just how good it was.

One of my favorite restaurants is Bandera in Sacramento. They make the most amazing cornbread. It isn’t often that I’ll go to a restaurant because of a side dish, but in the case of Bandera’s cornbread I am willing to make an exception.

I’ve been searching for a cornbread recipe that is close to Bandera’s for quite some time. I’ve tried many “scratch” recipes that just don’t cut it. I was amazed when I came across a recipe on the BBQ Brethren’s website that came closer than most. And it uses plain old, ordinary Jiffy corn muffin mix.

All I had to do was mix two boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix with a large can of creamed corn. Toss in a little sugar, a can of diced chilies and mix it all up.

Heat a cast iron skillet in the oven until hot. Add a couple tablespoons of butter and heat it until it just starts to smoke. Dump in the cornbread mix and bake it until a knife, inserted in the middle, comes out clean.

It doesn’t get much easier than that. Does it?