BBQ pizza and Smoked Turkey

So first off let me apologize for not having pictures of any of the food I made last weekend. Both Stacy and I forgot to take pictures. Saturday was a busy grilling day for me. I smoked a turkey breast for most of the day and also made a BBQ pizza for dinner.
  On Friday night I had seasoned the turkey.  I started out by salt and peppering the skin, then rubbed in some Pampered Chef Smoky Barbecue Rub. I then covered it and let it sit over night. On Saturday around noon I lit the charcoal and let it get warm. I used a mix of Kingsford Hickory and Mesquite Charcoal. The charcoal was put in a chimney starter, where I had put some newspaper in the bottom and lit it on fire. When the coals were glowing I poured them into the charcoal side of my grill. I then put my smoker box filled with wet apple wood chips on top of the coals. If you don't have a smoker box you can put the wood chips in foil and poke holes in the foil. I then put an aluminum foil pan filled with water on the opposite side of the grill away from the coals and put the turkey on the grate above the water. The only thing left to do is close the lid and let it smoke making sure the temp inside the bbq doesn't get below 200 degrees. I had to heat up more coals later on because the turkey wasn't up to proper temp yet. I smoked the turkey until it got to 160 internal temp and the juices ran clear. This process took seven hours. I then removed it from the grill, covered it with foil, and let it rest for 20 minutes before slicing. It tasted very good and we had turkey sandwiches for dinner with some of it.
     For dinner on Saturday night while the turkey was smoking on the charcoal side of the grill, I made Hawaiian Luau Pizza on the propane side in the Pampered Chef BBQ Pizza pan.
Item number 2716

We use a refrigerated pizza crust and stretched it to fit on the pan. For the sauce you mix ketchup and Pampered Chef Smoky Apple wood  rub together with fresh minced garlic. Then you mix diced ham and green onions in the sauce and spread on the crust. Then top with pineapple tidbits and cheese. For our cheese we used grated cheddar, mozzarella, and parmigiana. To prepare the grill turn on all the burners and let it heat up, then turn off just the center one and turn the other 2 to medium after you put the pizza on. Rotate the pan a quarter of a turn ever 5 minutes until the crust is done till your liking. It should take about 20 minutes or so. The pizza came out really good, it is too bad we forgot a picture. Even Isabella like it.
      This weekend I'll be making a pizza in my cast iron skillet on the grill. I'll let you know how it goes. I've made on before, but not since starting this blog. Have a good week.

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Dutch baby

We were having a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner on Saturday night, so I made a dutch baby.  A dutch baby is another name for German pancake. We like having them and growing up they were a family favorite. Since getting a cast iron skillet for Christmas, I usually make it in that now. You can cook it in any oven safe container that you want though.

The recipe that I use is the one that my family used for years, except with a few tweaks of my own I got from a cooking show.
Start out by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Add 1/3 cup of butter to your pan and put in oven to melt the butter. While the butter is melting add 4 eggs to a blender and blend on high for about a minute. Next with the blender going on low add a cup of milk. (I used Lactose free whole milk because Isabella was having some.)  After the milk add 1 cup of flour. I also add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla or other extract. Blend on high for at least 30 seconds more, I usually leave the blender on till the butter is melted. Remove the pan from the oven and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 21 to 25 minutes.
As you can see by the pictures, it puffs way up. I actually had to pull it out and flop part of it back into the pan because it was escaping. Make sure you turn the oven light on and let the kids watch it rise.
Once it is cooked you can top it how ever you want. We usually put powdered sugar and syrup on it. Peanut butter or fruit are also good choices.





While I was in Oregon visiting my family recently, I got this aircraft carrier picture that had hung on my Grandma Oma's wall for years. My grandfather had helped build the carrier at the shipyard in Portland, Oregon during World War Two. It was a smaller carrier to be used for escort. My grandma died last year and this picture meant a lot to me. I hung it up this weekend in our living room.















For fun this weekend I put one of Isabella's sweatshirts on our cat Chloe. She sat on the coffee table for a few minutes before getting it off.



I hope everyone has a great week.

Matt

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Welcome!

Hi everybody!
I decided it might be fun to start a blog. This is going to be a blog about 4 of the loves of my life; airplanes, BBQ, my wife Stacy, and my daughter Isabella. Let me introduce myself a little before I get into my first post. I am 32 years old and live in the great state of Alaska. I am married to an awesome wife, Stacy and we have a 14 month old daughter Isabella. I am an aircraft mechanic and have loved airplanes since I was a little kid.

 I started barbecuing more often in the last few years and it has become a passion of mine. I mainly cook on gas and charcoal, but would use wood or other means if I had the setups and grills for it. I have a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to bbq that I have developed by learning from the masters.

My philosophy is this:
1. Never ever use lighter fluid when cooking with charcoal. Always use a chimney starter to heat the charcoal.
2. Clean the grill with a wire brush or grill brush before and after cooking.
3. Lube the grill grates with a paper towel dipped in vegetable oil and held in tongs right before you put the food on the grill.
4. You can cook almost anything on the grill.

Here is a picture of what my grill looks like. It is a Brinkmann Dual fuel, which means it has both a propane side and a charcoal side.

So I made some really good grilled vegetables the other day. I cut up carrots into about an inch to two inch long pieces and cut them in half. I then cut a red onion up into wedges. I also cut up some broccoli and even used the stems. After that I tossed the vegetables in a bowl with some olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and minced garlic. I then cover it and let it all marinate in the fridge for half an hour or more.
To cook the vegetables I used the new Pampered Chef BBQ Roasting Pan and Can Holder. My wife Stacy is a Pampered Chef Independent Consultant.

I let the roasting pan heat up on medium heat for about 5 minutes before adding the vegetables. I cooked the vegetables for about 15 to 20 minutes stirring them every 3 to 5 minutes. I cooked them till they were a nice doneness. I then put them in a bowl and topped with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. We forgot to take a picture. They were very good. Isabella like them. Stacy liked them even though she had never liked grilled broccoli before I made it that way.

Well I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at blogging. 

Matt

PS. If you want to get more info about Pampered Chef or want to order, Stacy's website is:  www.pamperedchef.biz/stacyschneider  

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