I know what you’re thinking.  But it was a challenge I just couldn’t pass up.  You’ve see some of my BBQ Brethren Throwdowns before but this one might just take the cake as the oddest to date.  The challenge was to take Chicken, “dough in a tube,” and limes and come up with something.  The added option was to pick a fourth ingredient, I chose pecans.  Now, I was supposed to use peanuts but my reading skills appeared to be a little off.  Here’s my entry before I fixed it with a peanut topping.

I opened my mouth and said I was going to make a dessert out of the ingredients.  The problem was how do you turn chicken into a dessert.

For some reason the thought came to mind that I should use gizzards.  From my youth I remembered that gizzards had a chewy consistency.  I figured if I grilled them up nice and “done” I could get some crunch out of them to go along with the pecans.

Gizzards are secondary stomachs used by birds to grind their food before digestion. Because birds don’t have teeth, they must fill their gizzards with small stones to achieve the same goal. Gizzards contain a very tough inner membrane, surrounded by a muscular pouch which provides the grinding action. Gizzards are part of the group of foods called offal, which also includes beef tripe, chitlins (pork intestines), and hearts. –WiseGeek

I seasoned the gizzards with “Chili-Lime Rub” thinking a little heat along with all the brown sugar that was going to end up in this dessert would be a nice complement.  I could have used twice as much rub as I did.  It almost got lost in all the sweetness.

I grilled up the gizzards on my RED gasser.  After grilling them I let them cool a minute or two and then cut them into small “pecan bit” sizes.  I was careful to try and remove as much fat and other “parts” as I could.  I was looking for all gizzard meat here.

Once I cut the pieces I realized they weren’t nearly as crunchy as I wanted so I pan fried them a little to try and get more crispness.  Next time I’m going to deep fry them (if there actually is a next time).

I mixed up the chopped pecans and gizzards with brown sugar and butter.  The canned biscuits were cut into quaters and sprinkled with a little cinnamon.  Since cinnamon is a great flavor to go with chili I figured this would be a nice addition.  The dough and brown sugar mixture was layered in a small springform pan and placed in the smoker for about 35 minutes. 

After removing from the smoker I let it cool a couple of minutes, removed the springform and poured the remaining brown sugar/pecan/gizzard mixture over the top.  Then the creation was drizzled with a glaze made from powdered sugar and lime juice.

Yes I ate some!  It was tasty.  The gizzards a little to chewy still, but the flavor was nice.

Would I make this again?  Not likely, but it was fun to play.

Here it is in all it’s glory…

started with ground chuck, and added bread crumbs, dried onion, garlic powder, chipotle paste, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. The meat was rolled into balls, wrapped in store-bought bacon and dusted with Dizzy Pig rub. It was a beautiful day for cooking - rainy and 44*.

The MOINKs cooked at 275* over heavy hickory smoke for an hour and a half. 30 minutes before the end I gave them a dunk in some BBQ sauce.

Here's the final product.

For my next act, I got a sub roll and filled it to the brim with MOINKS and a little extra sauce. I topped it with pepper jack cheese and popped it back on my now 450* grill to get all crispy and melty.

For my final act, I topped it with cold slaw and partnered it with some lightly smoked-roasted tots that were dusted with Cajun seasoning. Behold...the MOINKwich! It was a mighty beast. It took 4 of us to eat it all.

Apple/Olive Spatchcocked Turkey

Check out Clint’s blog entry.

Check out the submission by fellow BBQ Brethren member Smoke In Da Eye. If you love his video leave him a comment.

Clint! Hope you make it on the show!

Smoke In Da Eye

Here is a link to his special election page: Vote For Phil

In my original search for the Grail I stumbled upon this group as a Yahoo Group called the Bandera Brothers. I learned a great deal about BBQ in those early years. In 2003 the group migrated to a Forum known as the BBQ Brethren. It was shortly after this that for personal reasons I had to postpone my search for the Grail.

I’ve been back with group about six months now and with each day it makes me want to step up my game. I’ve developed friends, a couple of which I have now met in person, that I feel I can turn to for a variety of things.

It’s the Brethren that have caused me to renew my search for the BBQ Grail.

Thanks guys and gals!

(And thanks Bill, for keepin’ it real)

There are many thoughts about what the Grail actually is. For me, after reading countless books about the Grail stories, the Grail is more about the search than it is about what the Grail is. After years of just wanting to learn about BBQ I have decided this will be my quest. This blog will document my search for the BBQ Grail. What is the BBQ Grail? It doesn’t really matter what it is, because I’m looking forward to the search.

Join me as I experiment with different cookers, sauces, rubs and such. There will be detours along the way. It won’t always be about BBQ. Just like those searching for the Holy Grail we will get side tracked, but always the goal will be to find the BBQ Grail, no matter what it is!

I hope I never find it!