We’ve been playing around with a lot of different pizza recipes and with some leftover pulled pork in the freezer, what’s better than to make a pizza with it?
Summer can come anytime! Simple yet tasty, kettle smoked trout.
With a snow advisory of 15-20 cm of the white fluffy stuff, all I can do is pull a Clark Griswold and stare out the window and dream of warmer days filled with green grass, campfires and of course real kettle BBQ.
I don’t have as much as a recipe today but inspiration. That inspiration starts with a simple idea, fish. When discussing dinners and menu planning around the house we often pick a protein and build around that.
This dinner, in particular, was based on what was on sale for fresh fish at the grocery store after picking that as our protein. Being at camp, it was an easy decision to roll out the Weber Kettle charcoal BBQ. My wife gave me the BBQ about 5 years ago for our wedding anniversary. I used it once or twice and put it in the shed. It is now a daily staple at camp and I don’t think we used 1 tank of propane on the gas BBQ this summer. Rather, we used over 6 20lb bags of charcoal and enjoyed the whole process.
Getting the kettle BBQ ready. The charcoal chimney; a DEFINITE recommend!
Setup is pretty easy with a bed of coals on one side of the grill, some soaked smoker chips, a layer or parchment paper so the fish doesn’t stick, fresh trout, salt and pepper and a little bit of patience. Once the chips started to smoke, the lid goes on and check it every 10-15 minutes. Typically I add a few more smoker chips 15 minutes in and depending on size and thickness of the filets you should be enjoying in 30 minutes.
Just in case you’re stuck in 10 feet of snow like me, here is a visual reminder that greener days are just around the corner.
Mrs. Canuck and Granny Canuck enjoying the sunset from our seasonal campsite.
So a cow, a pig, and a chicken walk into a bar and the bartender phones his chef friend to make him some amazing sliders.
We’ve all made burgers before, pulled pork sandwiches and no one could agree on what one to make. We did the next best thing, make three sliders! A smoked pulled pork slider with homemade BBQ sauce, a Buffalo Wing slider and a Beef Burger with homemade bacon jam to finish it off.
Big shout out to Mrs. Canuck for making the slider buns homemade! Apparently, you can’t find slider buns in the middle of winter in Northern Ontario.
Read below for all the details you need to pull off your own slider party.
Pulled Pork Slider
Even at -20, the Bradley Smoke ran like a champ.
Step 1 – Make the pulled pork or beg for some pulled pork.
large pork butt or shoulder
your favorite pork rub
smoker
Bring pork to room temperature and rub seasoning over pork
Follow smoker instructions and smoke pork for 6-8 hours
Put pork in oven tightly covered at 300 for 3-4 hours until it pulls apart tender with a fork.
Step 2 – Coleslaw
package coleslaw mix
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp of celery seed
1 tbsp of sugar, we like our coleslaw very tart, adjust to taste
dash or salt and pepper
Put vinegar, celery seed, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small pot and bring to a boil.
Pour hot over the coleslaw mix and stir.
Place in fridge for 2-3 hours to soak up all the flavor.
Step 3 – BBQ Sauce
There is only one BBQ sauce we use in the house when it comes to ribs, chicken and pulled pork. It’s one I’ve been using for 10+ years and here is the recipe.
1 onion, diced fine
2 cups ketchup
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 cup apple juice or apple sauce
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp mustard powder
Cook onion with a little bit of oil till it’s soft, about 5 mins.
Add all other ingredients and simmer on low for 20-30 minutes stirring every so often as not to burn.
Step 4 – Assembly
Split your slider bun and toast with a little bit of butter on a hot pan.
Add pulled pork and drizzle some sauce on the top.
Top with coleslaw.
Enjoy!
Bacon Jam & Smoked Cheddar Burger Slider
Step 1 – Bacon Jam
1 lbs bacon
2 large sweet onions, sliced thick or thin, you choose; we like thick.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup strong coffee
2 – 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Cook the bacon in a large skillet until cooked but not crispy, it needs to have some give to it.
Take out the bacon and drain most of the bacon fat, leave 1 tbsp to start the onions.
Return pan that the bacon was cooked in and set to medium heat and cook onions for 8-10 minutes
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar and cook for 20 minutes until onions are caramelized.
Add coffee, vinegar, and cooked bacon to pan and cook until it resembles a thick jam, stir every 5 minutes. This should take 10-15 minutes.
The “bacon” shot.
Step 2 – Burger
I typically don’t do anything to my ground beef when making burgers. I believe you need to let the meat speak for itself, no eggs, no bread crumbs, just beef and good old fat.
1/2 lbs ground beef for 6 slider burgers
smoked cheddar cheese
bacon jam from above
6 slider buns
Take medium ground beef and form into a patty.
Heat a frying pan medium-high heat, season burgers with salt and pepper and place in pan.
Fry burgers until the juices run clear, living in Canada we cook our burgers to well done, just don’t go WELL done and turn them into hockey pucks, eh!
Sprinkle the cheese on the burgers to get melted and gooey.
Step 3 – Assembly
I’m pretty sure you know how this goes, but just in case you don’t.
Split bun and toast with a little butter in a hot pan.
Put cooked burger and cheese on the bun.
Put bacon jam on the burger.
Put the top on bun, burger, jam and squash down.
Eat.
Buffalo Chicken Slider
The chicken just out of the oven and ready to get pulled apart.
Step 1 – Shredded Buffalo Chicken Breast
4 chicken breasts
1/2 onion
1 cup Franks Buffalo Wing sauce, 1/2 cup to cook and 1/2 cup once shredded.
Ranch or Blue Cheese dressing.
Slider buns.
Add chicken, onions and 1/2 cup Frank’s Buffalo Wing sauce to a slow cooker or heavy dutch oven.
Cook for 4 hours if using a slow cooker on low or 300 in the oven for 2 hours.
Take chicken out and shred using two forks.
Put chicken back in the pot and add the other 1/2 cup Frank’s to the shredded chicken, keep warm until you are ready to plate.
Step 2 – Assembly
Same as above sliders, toast the buns with a bit of butter in frying pan.
Pile on a good serving of chicken to the slider bun.