Footprints...by Kevin Myers

Nolan reading

2011-11-06T21:43:00.000-05:00

i about lost it laughing so hard at this video....nolan was cracking us up....

First Brisket Cook

2011-09-26T20:38:00.001-04:00

Last Friday i started my first Brisket cook on the WSM. I have done brisket before, but with just average results that I have never been very excited about. Honestly, I can't say that I've ever had any brisket that I got really excited about, especially at BBQ restaurants. But I had a friend coming to town who loves brisket so I decided to give this a shot. I bought a whole packer from Sam's Club...who knew they have angus beef brisket!?!? Anyway, this was a 12.5 pound packer. I first applied a paste rub on the underside of the meat only, no need to put it on the fat side as it wouldn't penetrate the fat. The paste rub consisted of an onion, garlic, pickled jalapenos and their juice, worcestershire sauce, green peppercorns, salt, dijon mustard, and olive oil....after i applied the paste rub i then applied a dry rub over the whole brisket. The dry rub included: ground coffee, granulated garlic, cloves, coriander, cardamom, marjoram, thyme, ground ginger, onion powder, chili powder, white pepper, salt, and a bunch of black pepper. I smoked the brisket starting at 11:40pm and by 9:30am the flat portion was done, so I separated it from the point and wrapped it in foil and continued to smoke the point for an additional 2 hours or so in order to make burnt ends....below are the pics, no pics of burnt ends....forgot :-)

Anyway, this cook has taught me how awesome brisket can be if done properly. I will say, with confidence, that this brisket turned out better than any brisket i have ever had, including at any restaurant. I am now excited for my next brisket cook and really can't wait to do it again....

Gyros at Home!!

2011-09-15T21:24:00.001-04:00

I love food. I love cooking food....and i love eating food. I have prepared a lot of really good eats before, and tonight was no different. Inspired by the Sandwich King Jeff Mauro from the Next Food Network Star, I decided to make his recipe for homemade Greek Tacos, a play on a traditional Gyro sandwich that you can do from home.

I made a homemade Tzatziki Sauce, followed by a Cucumber Relish....cooked the Lamb in Onion, garlic, red wine, oregano, and salt and pepper. Grilled some pita bread and the results were out of this world. Really. I never thought i could get that original gyro sandwich flavor at home, but these were spot on. Even my kid was devouring the lamb. Epic stuff. Here are the photos....

Singin and Swingin

2011-08-16T22:33:00.001-04:00

Nolan got a swingset last weekend....he absolutely loves it and especially loves swingin and climbing. Sometimes when he swings, he also likes to sing. When i watch this video it just makes any hard days or stress just melt away. Pure joy:

A weekend of smoked food and fun

2011-08-07T20:55:00.001-04:00

This weekend i really got my money's worth from the new smoker. First on the agenda was smoked salmon, corn on the cob, and grilled potatoes with a homemade smoked red pepper and tomato aioli.
here is the salmon first hitting the smoker

finished salmon on serving tray

the saturday night spread...aioli was epic

After we enjoyed our meal on saturday i began getting the ribs ready. Here are all the herbs and spices i used in this rub along with regular salt and pepper.

Two slabs of spare ribs trimmed to St. Louis style cuts. Saved the trimmings for rib tips.

One of the slabs rubbed down.....the other looked the same

Ribs on the smoker

To go with the ribs i decided to go outside of the box and create something. I had heard of this somewhere else, but decided to give it a go. There is no name for these so I called them Habanero Goat Cheese Meat Bombs. Here are the peppers.

Peppers cored out and seeded

Stuffed with goat cheese

Wrapped in breakfast sausage

Wrapped in bacon

Hitting the smoker next to the ribs

Habanero Goat Cheese Meat Bombs

Grilled Potatoes

2 slabs dry rubbed ribs

Good bark.....loaded with flavor

Habanero Goat Cheese Meatball dissected....so so good

One of the many things I love about you....

2011-07-17T08:03:00.000-04:00

I lay here in my bed, baby monitor on, and I just listen. Listen to the sweet sound of your voice. Creating a symphony of sounds only you understand...mostly. Every once in a while i hear "mommy" or "daddy" or "la-la" (the name you gave your stuffed penguin), or something like "foot" as you are recalling various body parts. Your sentences for the most part don't make any sense to me, but your jibber-jabbering sounds like precious gold to me. It's in these moments I have time to just sit and reflect. Thinking of the changes and growth you have made in your short time with us. We have these moments every day. To sit and listen to you tell what I am sure are amazing stories. Thanks for being my son.

My Newest Love

2011-07-17T00:18:00.000-04:00

I love a lot of things. First and foremost I love God, I love my wife, I love my son, I love my family and friends, I love the Chicago Bears, I love Dave Matthews Band, and I love my new smoker.

Yes, this post is about my new smoker and my first time using it, which happened today. I bought the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker 22.5 model a week ago and it arrived monday. Today was the day i fired it up for the first time. As a kid, growing up in Northern Indiana, I always loved port-a-pit chicken. It seems that this chicken is pretty unique to northern indiana as most people around indianapolis don't have a clue as to what i'm talking about. Well i have done some research, collaborated with one of my friends who is a chef and also a northern indiana guy, and decided to make my second attempt at port-a-pit as my first smoke on the new cooker. Here's how it went down:

I marinaded the chicken overnight in the butter basting mixture. Took the chicken out of the mixture about an hour before putting it on the cooker. I then re-boiled the mixture and put it in an aluminum tray. From what I have read, Nelson's continually bastes their chicken in that butter mixture during smoking, so i used the aluminum tray to replicate that process. I fired up my chimney with kingsford charcoal and used the minion method once the chimney was ready. I also used 5 chunks of mesquite wood for smoke. I put 2 half chickens and 6 drumsticks on the smoker and gave them a bath every 10-15 minutes in the butter mixture. The drumsticks were done in about an hour and a half and the half chickens were done after about 3 hours. Obviously, opening the lid during cooking extended the cook time, but this was a necessary step to ensure the chicken was continually basted which results in that skin that we northern indiana peeps so clearly desire with our port-a-pit chicken. Here are some photos from the cook today:

My Little Boy

2011-06-08T23:35:00.000-04:00

Growing Boy....

2011-04-17T08:37:00.001-04:00

The child continues to grow and grow....and as he grows we see more and more of his personality. Nolan is definitely an independant little guy. He can often be heard saying "Mine" and "No" when we try to help him do something. He will often push our helping hands away to try things on his own. He continues to be into just about everything he can get into and I am amazed at his creativity. His hair has been out of control for a couple months, but I think his first haircut will take place towards the end of the month.

Next weekend we are going to Goshen to welcome jen's brother, Jeff, back from Korea. The following weekend my sister, Lori, is flying in from Colorado to spend time with us, and then the weekend after that we run the mini-marathon and then the next day fly to England for vacation. I am quite nervous about how Nolan will travel....we chose the option of taking like 3 flights each way and are hoping this decision was the right one. Regardless, the whole trip will be awesome and we can't wait.

Enjoy some photos....

2011-04-17T08:36:00.000-04:00

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2011-04-17T08:31:00.000-04:00

A Rare Opportunity

2011-03-29T16:27:00.001-04:00

We never get to see Nolan sleeping in his crib, so this morning we were especially surprised that he slept in and when we went into the room he remained asleep. So I snapped a couple photos before Jen woke him up and whisked him off to daycare....

Fun Weekend.....

2011-03-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

2011-03-20T21:14:00.000-04:00

Oven Mitts and Rain Boots

2011-03-18T23:09:00.000-04:00

I mean, don't we all walk around the house wearing our oven mitts and rain boots from time to time? This kid is always doing silly cute stuff. He continues to be a curious little boy, into everything and now loving being outside. Here are some recent photos....

2011-03-18T23:07:00.000-04:00

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2011-03-18T23:03:00.000-04:00

2011-03-18T23:02:00.000-04:00

18 Months

2011-03-04T22:14:00.000-05:00

I absolutely refuse to believe that Nolan is 18 months old already.....the doctor today told us that his next appointment will be when he is 2....i told jen, "we just brought him home from the hospital the other day".....here are some more shots of Nolans February, just before he turned 18 months.....

2011-03-04T22:11:00.000-05:00

2011-03-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

2011-03-04T22:09:00.000-05:00