Home cookin'...what else can I stuff in the smoker?

Let's start with the uncooked...then move to the cooked.
Mike bought a smoker, and for some reason we decided that it would be a good idea to have three people make ribs and just have a big-old pork fest.
By coincidene, there was a bbq sauce contest in the post last week, so I decided to make two of the three top winners. Once was a rather standard mustard-based sauce. The other entailed smoking a bunch of veggies and pureeing them.6 beefsteak tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers...smoked skin side down for 2 hours.Puree in a blender in batches. Pour into a big saute pan. Add 1/2 a diced onion and 2 cleaned jalapenos. 3 tbsp cider vinegar, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 2 tsp tamarind concentrate, 1 head of roasted garlic, salt to taste, 1 tsp rendered bacon fat, cook for an hour over low heat. Puree again, strain, and you've got a killer bbq sauce. It starts savory/smoky, gets a little sweet, then finishes with heat. Awesome. Rub your meat...let it flavorize for 24 hours or so wrapped in the fridge. Then let it come to room temp before you smoke it. Low and slow, that is the tempo. 225 for 3 hours with smoke. Start spraying it with apple juice and cider vinegar about 2 hours in...spray at 3 hours as well, and wrap in foil. Keep it in the smoker at 225 for another two hours, then wrap all of that in a towel and stick it in a cooler for another hour to rest. When you're done, you have ribs so good it'll bring a tear to your eye. For anyone who has wondered where Smelly Salt comes from, this is it. I got 1-1/2 pounds of Malden Sea Salt and smoked it for 2 hours. The Aussies joined us for dinner

Palmer's ribs were the winner of the night. A slightly longer cook time and a saltier rub made the difference. They were kickin'.

My ribs were nothing to sneeze at, but just didn't hit it like his did.

Hillman brought a nice appetizer to the table....seared salt and pepper scallops over mango salsa. Very nice.

Hope you enjoyed reading. If you have any questions about the recipes feel free to ask.

Until next time....