Mornin' all:
First, have to give props to Red and his smoked meatloaf that he'd posted a couple of weeks ago, as this was the inspiration for part of this creation. We've always loved a Cajun meatloaf recipe, and I thought we could make it even better by smoking it. Started with the holy trinity, green onions, spices, garlic, Crystal, and L&P.
Then everyone went into the pot to saute until the trinity was tender, added evap milk and ketchup, and removed from heat to cool.
Using a blend of ground round and ground pork, I added the veggie mix to the meat with eggs and bread crumbs. Mixed by hand and made the loaf on a well-oiled vegetable grill grate, and ready for the flame. There's no need for any glaze or sauce: the liquids that are mixed in keep the whole thing moist throughout without having to coat it.
While I was at it, thought of a spin for some good ol' fashioned Italian meatballs to go with a marinara sauce recipe we picked up from Buca's. Using a blend of veal and pork, I mixed in eggs, spices, Italian parsley, grated Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and formed flattened discs. Put shredded mozzerella in the center, pulled up the edges, and rounded them to just bigger than golf balls.
Couldn't get to the NBBD (thanks, Old Man Winter), so used the cheap Royal Oak 30" that's served well over the years. Started the fire on the left side with KBB, a chunk of hickory, some maple limbs pruned from my tree last year, and hickory nut shells. Let it burn down, then everyone went into the TBS bath.
TBS is coming off the right side with a wide open exhaust vent: coals are on the left side, meat on the right, thus why I have the left upper exhaust choked off
Balls were done obviously more quickly than the loaf, and pulled them first: they were way better than I'd even imagined. I didn't need to sauce them, they were good enough to stand alone. The veal soaked up the smoke more than I'd even hoped for, yet wasn't overpowering at all--much better than using beef. And at $5.99/lb, much more reasonable than I thought it might be.
Money. Melted cheesy goodness inside.
More money with Buca's sauce.
Then pulled the meatloaf after about 3 hours at about 250, flashed it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes to give it a slight crust, and...oh my goodness.
Great little smoke ring--and plated it up with Truluck's garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and some Shiner Bock borracho beans, and it was more money.
Red, thanks again for the meatloaf idea. This experiment was absolutely a success: I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. Thanks for the look!
First, have to give props to Red and his smoked meatloaf that he'd posted a couple of weeks ago, as this was the inspiration for part of this creation. We've always loved a Cajun meatloaf recipe, and I thought we could make it even better by smoking it. Started with the holy trinity, green onions, spices, garlic, Crystal, and L&P.
Then everyone went into the pot to saute until the trinity was tender, added evap milk and ketchup, and removed from heat to cool.
Using a blend of ground round and ground pork, I added the veggie mix to the meat with eggs and bread crumbs. Mixed by hand and made the loaf on a well-oiled vegetable grill grate, and ready for the flame. There's no need for any glaze or sauce: the liquids that are mixed in keep the whole thing moist throughout without having to coat it.
While I was at it, thought of a spin for some good ol' fashioned Italian meatballs to go with a marinara sauce recipe we picked up from Buca's. Using a blend of veal and pork, I mixed in eggs, spices, Italian parsley, grated Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and formed flattened discs. Put shredded mozzerella in the center, pulled up the edges, and rounded them to just bigger than golf balls.
Couldn't get to the NBBD (thanks, Old Man Winter), so used the cheap Royal Oak 30" that's served well over the years. Started the fire on the left side with KBB, a chunk of hickory, some maple limbs pruned from my tree last year, and hickory nut shells. Let it burn down, then everyone went into the TBS bath.
TBS is coming off the right side with a wide open exhaust vent: coals are on the left side, meat on the right, thus why I have the left upper exhaust choked off
Balls were done obviously more quickly than the loaf, and pulled them first: they were way better than I'd even imagined. I didn't need to sauce them, they were good enough to stand alone. The veal soaked up the smoke more than I'd even hoped for, yet wasn't overpowering at all--much better than using beef. And at $5.99/lb, much more reasonable than I thought it might be.
Money. Melted cheesy goodness inside.
More money with Buca's sauce.
Then pulled the meatloaf after about 3 hours at about 250, flashed it in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes to give it a slight crust, and...oh my goodness.
Great little smoke ring--and plated it up with Truluck's garlic parmesan mashed potatoes and some Shiner Bock borracho beans, and it was more money.
Red, thanks again for the meatloaf idea. This experiment was absolutely a success: I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. Thanks for the look!
