Here comes a long post for a long good day of cooking. I had already planned on most of this food but added the pickled peppers to the mix after finding a great deal at the local Amish produce stand.
First up today was the peppers. I got all of these hot Hungarian peppers for $9.50. These things are really hot and last year were hotter than most the jalapenos around here.
I learned my lesson last year and donned gloves to cut these babies up. Last year my hands were on fire for hours lol. I love the pepper coring tool I have. Makes this job a lot easier. Here they all are cut up ready to pickle.
Into the pickling brine. This is a sugar free take on bread and butter brine but I do add a lot of extra pickling for the allspice, cloves and bay leave flavors. General recipe follows but I always adjust to taste. This makes enough for probably three batches like this. I need to convert it to cups in many cases but put it off each time lol.
Here they are all packed up in pint jars. Some for us and some for friends, family and neighbors. These are pretty popular so I will end up making 3 or 4 more batches in the next couple weeks. I got 8 pints total , one is 1/3 empty already lol, lunch break.
Next up getting the chuck roast in the smoker. Grabbed this Black Angus chuck last week for $3.99 / lbs. Rubbed these three first with horseradish for a binder and then with SPOG , dusted with espresso and crusted with dehydrated onion flakes. Into the 270 using B&B hickory lump and chunks of local hickory wood.
I ran at 250F for awhile and then cruised up to 275F. Pulled them around 205F. The bark is very dark from the espresso and the onions caramelized on the bark.
Here is the beef pulled. It pulled pretty well but the thicker pieces were still a little tight. Flavor is good.
Next up I am trying out a new toy I bought on clearance at Menards. Kind of an impulse buy but ended up being pretty cool. It's a ceramic bacon cup mold. I was going to do these on my kamado but wheeling it out and a wheel broke off, luckily it didn't tumble and shatter!! Rolled with the punches and did these in the oven at 400F. Didn't get a finish pic as I had way to many things going at once.
I made some roasted mashed cauliflower and also some roasted brussel sprouts. The cauliflower was 3 heads of cauliflower cut up , tossed with olive oil and roasted in the oven at 400F until starting to brown and soften. Blended with 5 tbsp heavy cream, 3 tbsp butter, 3 oz. cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of sour cream. The brussel sprouts were roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper then finished in a pan with a touch of apple cider vinegar, Swerve sweetener and red pepper flakes. Didn't take pics of these but have them on the plated shot.
I have had the munchies for peanut butter pie so here it is, keto sugar free peanut butter pie.
Crust:
Filling:
Finally it's time to eat. I through together a quick simple salad. A whole boston lettuce head spread open and hollowed some with fresh tomato, green onion, Marzetti Ultimate blue cheese dressing and a healthy sprinkling of gorgonzola cheese.
Here is some of the pulled beef with my fresh pickled peppers, creamy cauliflower mash with sour cream and chives and the brussel sprouts served in a bacon bowl.
Here is the pie plated with a little extra chocolate sauce and a frozen sugar free peanut butter cup to dress it up a little.
That's it folks. The beef was tasty. I used some of my smokey au jus I saved from my last beef cook. I freeze it in containers and use as needed. The sides were good and the pie was MONEY!! No one could ID it as sugar free , I would be a fortune on that. Thanks for looking!!
First up today was the peppers. I got all of these hot Hungarian peppers for $9.50. These things are really hot and last year were hotter than most the jalapenos around here.
I learned my lesson last year and donned gloves to cut these babies up. Last year my hands were on fire for hours lol. I love the pepper coring tool I have. Makes this job a lot easier. Here they all are cut up ready to pickle.
Into the pickling brine. This is a sugar free take on bread and butter brine but I do add a lot of extra pickling for the allspice, cloves and bay leave flavors. General recipe follows but I always adjust to taste. This makes enough for probably three batches like this. I need to convert it to cups in many cases but put it off each time lol.
- 10 TBSP Kosher Salt
- 15 cups Splenda
- 3 cups Swerve Brown
- 5 cups white vinegar
- 15 cups apple cider vinegar
- 10 TBSP mustard seeds
- 3 1/2 TBSP celery seeds
- 3 tsp turmeric
- 4 TBSP onion flakes
- 1/2 lbs. of pickling spice mix
Here they are all packed up in pint jars. Some for us and some for friends, family and neighbors. These are pretty popular so I will end up making 3 or 4 more batches in the next couple weeks. I got 8 pints total , one is 1/3 empty already lol, lunch break.
Next up getting the chuck roast in the smoker. Grabbed this Black Angus chuck last week for $3.99 / lbs. Rubbed these three first with horseradish for a binder and then with SPOG , dusted with espresso and crusted with dehydrated onion flakes. Into the 270 using B&B hickory lump and chunks of local hickory wood.
I ran at 250F for awhile and then cruised up to 275F. Pulled them around 205F. The bark is very dark from the espresso and the onions caramelized on the bark.
Here is the beef pulled. It pulled pretty well but the thicker pieces were still a little tight. Flavor is good.
Next up I am trying out a new toy I bought on clearance at Menards. Kind of an impulse buy but ended up being pretty cool. It's a ceramic bacon cup mold. I was going to do these on my kamado but wheeling it out and a wheel broke off, luckily it didn't tumble and shatter!! Rolled with the punches and did these in the oven at 400F. Didn't get a finish pic as I had way to many things going at once.
I made some roasted mashed cauliflower and also some roasted brussel sprouts. The cauliflower was 3 heads of cauliflower cut up , tossed with olive oil and roasted in the oven at 400F until starting to brown and soften. Blended with 5 tbsp heavy cream, 3 tbsp butter, 3 oz. cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of sour cream. The brussel sprouts were roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper then finished in a pan with a touch of apple cider vinegar, Swerve sweetener and red pepper flakes. Didn't take pics of these but have them on the plated shot.
I have had the munchies for peanut butter pie so here it is, keto sugar free peanut butter pie.
Crust:
- 1 3/4 cups almond flour
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup sweetener ( I used Swerve)
- 6 tbsp melted butter
Filling:
- 8 oz. softened cream cheese
- 1 cup of no sugar added creamy peanut butter (no stir variety works best)
- 1/2 cup of powder Swerve
- 1 1/2 cups Heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Finally it's time to eat. I through together a quick simple salad. A whole boston lettuce head spread open and hollowed some with fresh tomato, green onion, Marzetti Ultimate blue cheese dressing and a healthy sprinkling of gorgonzola cheese.
Here is some of the pulled beef with my fresh pickled peppers, creamy cauliflower mash with sour cream and chives and the brussel sprouts served in a bacon bowl.
Here is the pie plated with a little extra chocolate sauce and a frozen sugar free peanut butter cup to dress it up a little.
That's it folks. The beef was tasty. I used some of my smokey au jus I saved from my last beef cook. I freeze it in containers and use as needed. The sides were good and the pie was MONEY!! No one could ID it as sugar free , I would be a fortune on that. Thanks for looking!!
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