There are a number of foods that I absolutely love but rarely get the opportunity to cook. Two of those are chicken and seafood. My wife is deathly allergic to chicken and absolutely hates seafood so I tend to stick with things that she likes. I have gotten to do Tilapia fillets twice and a whole beer can chicken once when we had large parties but that's it. As fate would have it she went home to Kansas for a couple days over the weekend so I took advantage bf being a bachelor to cook both of those. I did chicken on Saturday and a seafood feast on Sunday. I also decided that a couple of Island Smokes were in order along with some top-shelf bourbon after all the chat we have had this past week. The term "Island Smoke" was coined due to the cigars origin being a small "Island" country about 90 miles off the coast of Florida :-) For Saturday I got four chicken breasts and did them according to Jeff's beer bbq glazed chicken recipe, with one small change. He was doing quarters which apparently have more skin on them than the split breasts. The recipe states to inject the sauce under the skin with a turkey baster. There wasn't much skin on the breasts so I just injected a llittle bit into the meat itself. Since it wasn't any sort of a grand cooking session I didn't bother taking pics of the prep but when the chicken came off the smoker I thought I had hit a home run...and I was correct :-)
The yard bird right off the smoker. It is gorgeous!!
Dinner is served!! A chicken breast and my three cheese tortellini & veggie salad.
So moist, tender, and juicy!! I couldn't be happier
Now for dessert :-) A double shot of Basil Hayden
To top off dessert, a Partagas Serie D #4. What a great cigar!! One of the best I have ever had
Sunday was a pound of Tilapia, brined, basted with butter, sprikled with garlic, then topped with rub
And a pound of jumbo Gulf shrimp marinated in a cajun spice rub and olive oil. They had a nice little kick to them!!
The Tilapia as it's coming off the smoker. WOW!! This stuff is amazing and done exactly to Jeff's recipe.
The shrimp all done. I will be doing these again!! They were absolutely fantastic
Sunday dinner. Shrimp, Tilapia, and more of my three cheese tortellini & veggie salad. I love that stuff :-)
Now for dessert. A double shot of the best bourbon I have ever had. Bookers...
And to top off dessert, a Monte Cristo #2. The benchmark cigar by which all others in the world are guaged. Mmm mmm good!!
Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pics. I guess it's time to get a newer phone with a better camera. All in all it was a great weekend. Excellent food, great cigars, and some top-shelf bourbon. I also enjoyed some pleasant conversation with BVBull Saturday as we were both doing some cooking, and it being his first time. That was a ton of funn as we swapped pics and commentary for several hours and he provided me with some company since I was by myself. I also achieved another of my objectives for the weekend...to stay home and let the drunken fools have the roads and the lake. I learned long ago that I'm better off staying out of that melee on holidays and just enjoying some down time on the patio.
Hope everybody had a great holiday and God bless!!
Robert
The yard bird right off the smoker. It is gorgeous!!
Dinner is served!! A chicken breast and my three cheese tortellini & veggie salad.
So moist, tender, and juicy!! I couldn't be happier
Now for dessert :-) A double shot of Basil Hayden
To top off dessert, a Partagas Serie D #4. What a great cigar!! One of the best I have ever had
Sunday was a pound of Tilapia, brined, basted with butter, sprikled with garlic, then topped with rub
And a pound of jumbo Gulf shrimp marinated in a cajun spice rub and olive oil. They had a nice little kick to them!!
The Tilapia as it's coming off the smoker. WOW!! This stuff is amazing and done exactly to Jeff's recipe.
The shrimp all done. I will be doing these again!! They were absolutely fantastic
Sunday dinner. Shrimp, Tilapia, and more of my three cheese tortellini & veggie salad. I love that stuff :-)
Now for dessert. A double shot of the best bourbon I have ever had. Bookers...
And to top off dessert, a Monte Cristo #2. The benchmark cigar by which all others in the world are guaged. Mmm mmm good!!
Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pics. I guess it's time to get a newer phone with a better camera. All in all it was a great weekend. Excellent food, great cigars, and some top-shelf bourbon. I also enjoyed some pleasant conversation with BVBull Saturday as we were both doing some cooking, and it being his first time. That was a ton of funn as we swapped pics and commentary for several hours and he provided me with some company since I was by myself. I also achieved another of my objectives for the weekend...to stay home and let the drunken fools have the roads and the lake. I learned long ago that I'm better off staying out of that melee on holidays and just enjoying some down time on the patio.
Hope everybody had a great holiday and God bless!!
Robert
