Phil's BBQ - San Marcos, Our First Time

OK, so Phil's BBQ has been open in San Marcos for a number of months now. Finally had a chance to get in there and check it out a bit. Was returning home from running some errands with Jen, and decided it was time.

My standby, go-to meal at any new BBQ joint is the Pulled Pork Sandwich. It is what I judge a BBQ restaurant by. I have loved the BBQ Broham pulled pork from Phil's since the first time I've had it. That is one huge sandwhich. That being said, the last two times I've had it at the Sports Arena location I have been less that overwhelmed. Chucks of fat big enough that they should have been pulled once. And the other I think it was some just nasty hard edge meat that shouldn't have made it to a sandwich - it was pretty big.

So, today it was ribs. We decided to split a full rack of baby backs and get two sides. I wanted the beans and Jen wanted some french fries. We ordered the fried well-done, and were glad we did. Jen had seen someone's fried on the way in and she described them as "anemic". The 'well done' ones were just perfect!

The ribs. Cooked very well. Close to over cooked, but not quite. I jumped for the ones with little to no sauce on them. Why? Two reasons. I'm not a huge fan of vinegar based sauces - Phil's are. Also, I want to taste the meat and the Q, not just a bunch of sauce. So what's the verdict? Tasty ribs those are!

I motored through 3 then remembered the beans. I forgot that his bean has a bit-o-spice to them. Not much, but I don't do heat that well, so I noticed it. Good though. And we thoroughly enjoyed the fries.

Would I get them again - oh ya. Maybe I'll remember on of these days to ask for the sauce on the side...

It was also fun to try to remember the way the restaurant used to look. We had eaten there twice when it was an Italian place (can't recall the name). Was that area expanded? Etc. I can tell you for sure that I am much happier having that location be a Phil's!

Visit Phil's in San Marcos at 579 Grand Ave, San Marcos, CA 92078.
And if you are in the San Diego area hit the Sports Arena location at 3750 Sports Arena Blvd, San Diego, CA 92110.   Both are close on Monday's.
Be forewarned - there can be LONG lines at Phil's. I am looking at the Point Loma (Sports Arena) location live cam right now - it's packed! Check out the BBQueue Cam (cute play on words guys) if you are in a hurry.
It's hard to beat Phil's for BBQ - well, unless you come to my place...

Oh ya - here's a pic of the ribs plate. Totally sorry about the picture - I only thought to snap a quick one for Foursquare before I got lost in eating. Plus I didn't even realize we were sitting under a neon light - that's why the color is so odd!

Check this out too. First Time I've seen this - what a simple, but useful idea. Just hook your arm under this and pull - door opens and you don't loose the work you just put into cleaning your hands. Now then - go get them dirty again with Que!!

It Has Been WAY Too Long - Time to Smoke

Well, we are in the new house. Still have a bunch of boxes to empty. Still trying to figure out just where it makes the most sense to put things. Still trying to pick which painting/photo to put on which wall. Still trying to figure out the irrigation system and fix broken PVC pipes. Good thing we have many years left to figure this all out!

Have been doing a fair amount of grilling - mainly for dinners for the two of us. So a ribeye or two, burgers, more rirbeyes... We almost never grill any steak but a ribeye. Nothing else comes close, and with the good prices at Costco or Restaurant Depot why not really enjoy your steak!

But what has been missing? Smoking! I haven't put a darn thing in my lonely little smoker in forever.

Well the July 4th weekend is coming and that is all about to change! We have invited friends and family over to hang out, enjoy the pool, the company of other folks and a few adult beverages. And dinner of course. And what's the main course - pulled pork sandwiches!

I'll be making a quick run to RD this week to pick up a 2-pack of pork butt and will cook those up, pull um, and be ready to go for the next day. Jen is considering making the rolls herself. We shall see, I think we have enough to do between now and then that we don't need to worry about that.

It was great the other day when we were talking with a friend and asked her if she can join us for the 4th. She was hemming and hawing a bit - then Jen said - "and Tim will be smoking...". Our friend instantly said, "oh ya, I'll be there!".

Love it. Guess I'd better make some good food!  =)

Some Game Day Tri-Tip

It's Super Bowl Sunday. I only state that because most of you will know what day it is, not because it has any bearing on anything. We didn't host a bowl game, we didn't go to a bowl game - heck - we didn't even watch the game!

But we did have two tri-tips in the refrigerator, and this was the day to cook them up.
Early in the day I skinned about 6 cloves of garlic, and cut them into somewhat uniform sizes. I then cut slits into the tri-tips and pushed a piece of garlic into each cut. Haven't done this since college.

I then liberally covered each piece with Santa Maria Style seasoning from Susie Q's. This is the brand we learned about in San Luis Obispo during college - where we also learned about the Tri-tip. Back in those days not many folks outside of the Central Coast knew about Tri-tip. After covering them I put each into a plastic ziplock bag and back into the refrigerator.

Hours later just as the sun was setting I pulled them out to toss on the grill. Opened up a bag - oh ya, that smelled good!

I'm not sure how the timing was during the game, but mine was cutting it close... Ran out of gas just as the larger cut was done. Perfect!

We had it with a nice side salad with fig & walnut dressing. Tasty.

We did decide that next time we put garlic in we are going to use roasted garlic. The raw garlic doesn't get cooked enough and is too strong. Nice flavor, but could use a little calming.

If you haven't tried it before, do get the Santa Maria Style seasoning. And do let it sit on the meat for 6+ hours - it gives it a great flavor!

Bacon Jam – the quest continues

OK – SO we are loving the Bacon Jam. Took some to a friends house and we all loved it on yams. Really good.

We are using it a lot on burgers – the original use always seems to be the best.

We are working on finding the best mix of ingredients. The first batch we made (in the post below) has been the best. But even the “bad” stuff is really good. For example – we made a batch and split the sugar into half brown and half white. Also drained off more of the liquid. Still good, but it came out too dry and not as flavorful.

So we promise to continue to play with the recipe and work towards making it the best it can be. I know, I know – it’s tough work but someone has to do it! Plus we have a lot of bacon right now – so it seems like a good time.

Have fun cooking/grilling/smoking! If you try Bacon Jam let me now what you think. And if you tweak the recipe a bit, let me know what you do and how it turns out!

Bacon Jam Burgers

So you know we made up this recipe from the show FoodCrafters on the Cooking Channel.

• Just over 1 pound Bacon (cut up – about finger width)
• 1 Large Onion (sent through food processor – about 3/8’s pound)
• 1 T Brown Sugar (Packed)
• 1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 T Jen’s Secret Sauce (sorry, can’t tell you what this is… – but it adds sweetness)

Cook bacon in large cast iron pan over medium- to high-heat. Cook till bacon starts to leak bacon juices.

While that is happening, cut up onion in food processor. Cut that puppy up good.

Add to pan with bacon. Cook for approx 2 minutes (until onion is translucent).

Add Brown Sugar, cook about 2 minutes.

Add Balsamic, cook till done. Done being when the grease has separated from the bacon. Cook till you feel it is done for your taste.

Pour off majority of the fat.

Add it all to the food processor and grind it up – not too fine, you want it to have some small chunks in it.

         

Spread on burger and enjoy!

The first time we made this we took a few bites, then went back and doubled the serving of the bacon jam – so be liberal with it. We also used Havarti cheese instead of Cheddar. Good stuff!

We also felt like we need to add more bacon. So next time we are going to up the amount of bacon and onions and see how that changes things. Will report back here on how that goes.

Tri-Tip on the Grill with Favorite Marinade from Our College Days

We happened upon some trimmed Tri-Tip at the local store, and Jen has been craving it since we had a tritip sandwich at the local Major Market (they do some food vending at the lunch hours in the parking lot). Package was about 4.3 pounds, two pieces, highly trimmed.

Back in the old college days at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (around 1989-1995) we learned about Tri-Tip and Santa Maria BBQ and all the fun foods of the CA Central Coast. There a Tri-Tip is a big ole hunk of beef, about 10 pounds or so – with a big fat cap on on side. None of this trimmed up city stuff. =)

Our favorite way to prep the meat back in the day was to skin about 5 whole garlic gloves, cut small slices into the meat, and stuff them down in there. Then we would take a dry mix of Italian salad dressing mix, make it up without the water & about double the liquids (no fancy measuring cups needed). Then add a generous helping of soy sauce. Put this all in a tupperware container, and let sit in the refrigerator till the party/weekend/dinner. We also liked to poke the meat multiple times with a fork to create little passageways for the marinade to work in. Be sure to turn it each day as it won’t be fully covered in the marinade.

Back in the Cal Poly days we always cooked on a grill with charcoal – hopefully on a Weber kettle, but not always. Don’t put it directly over the coals. Most of the time cooking these big boys is with the fat down – which works well to protect the meet from the heat and help keep the meat moist.

Fast forward to 2010, the gas grill on the porch and the highly trimmed Tri-Tips. Same marinade, minus the garlic cloves. I know, what was I thinking…?? I also did not puncture the meat with a fork. We were going to cook this on Friday night, but ended up staying in San Diego for dinner and some family time. Oh darn, that meant the meat would just have to marinade another day. =)

We are about to move, so spent a hot day Saturday cleaning out the garage, dropping E-Waste at a local collection event (Thanks! didn’t know how I was going to get rid of that old washing machine!). Finally got rid of two old Macintosh computers from our college days – after I pulled the hard drives out.

So we were pretty burnt out by the end of the day. I picked up some loaf bread on my way home from the e-waste event for the planned Tri-Tip sandwiches for dinner.

Cooked them close to the flame, but not directly over it. Well, maybe a little over it to sear a bit and get some color, but mostly no. Flipped about 6 times, cooked for about 40 minutes. Jen decided it smelled too good and that she just wanted a hunk of beef – so sandwiches Sunday!

Oh ya, it was good (sorry, no pictures – out of practice). Tender, tasty. Would have been even better with the meat punctured – the outside is the best.

Jen requested that next time I cut the pieces up a bit so that there is more “outside” to hold the marinade and all its tasty goodness. For her I will try it, may not be as tender though…

All in all a very successful Tri-Tip cook. Good memories from college (that’s where Jen and I met). Leftovers for the week. Plans for doing it again soon (house warming party perhaps??).

Jen’s Sandwich

Tim’s Sandwich

Happy grilling!

Way Too Long…

It has been way too long since I have fired up the smoker, and even longer since I have posted anything to this blog! I will take care of the first issue this weekend – going to clean out the pit Saturday, prep some ribs and a big pork butt, smoke them on Sunday and feed them to family on Monday – the Memorial Day holiday.

Posting to the blog is something I want to be better about too. I visited a number of local (San Diego area) BBQ joints last year, took photos in preparation of a post about the good, the bad & the ugly – and just never got too it. Always so much going on – you know the drill. But that’s no excuse. I have a number of blogs and they have all been suffering. I’ll try to be better about that.

So I will still post some thoughts on those BBQ restaurants (well, one has since folded – wonder if it was just the local one…). Why? Because. I think one was great, one mediocre and one just darn bad. And I think you have a right to know about that – heck, if I was trying to pick a place to eat I’d like to get some recommendations.

So I will work on being better about doing the Que (heck – it is fun and tastes great – why not do it!!??!!) and on the blog too. Wish me luck!  =)

First Smoke of 2009 – Pork Butt / Pulled Pork

We finally got our entry cards for Restaurant Depot so just had to wander around a bit. Hit heaven when we walked into the cooler – that’s a lot of meat in there! Pork Butt was on sale, OK, force me – I’ll grab 14 pounds and see if the smoking gods let me make some smoke this weekend. As you see below, it all worked out.

Got the smoker and all out in the open and ready to go…

Did not get the butts rubbed and in the refrigerator overnight since I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. So they got about an hour or so rubbed and wrapped. I used Bad Byron’s Butt Rub over my secret base again. Need to try some other rubs next time. Or better yet, make my own.

I wanted to try smoking at a bit higher heat this time to see if I could get the cook time down a bit while still keeping the end product moist and tasty. Ended up with about 8 hours for the bigger piece (smoked closer to the fire box) and 8 1/2 hours for the smaller part.

Here’s a peek after about two hours. This is my first time with boneless (I meant to grab the on sale bone-in, but didn’t read the label carefully!). Things look like they are progressing well.

After four hours things are really coming along. The bark is starting to firm up well. Looking pretty tasty.

The Five hour mark is where the bark really sets in. Man it was dark. Still chugging along with the Best of the West lump (a ton of shake in this bag – is that common?). First time with Best of the West – not sure how I feel about it. I know a lot of folks use it, so I think I’ll try it again and see if I feel better about it next time. Got it on sale at Smart & Final – so that was a bonus! OK, back to the meat – here we are at five hours…

I pulled the larger piece at 190* (foiled at 170*) and let rest for 15-20 minutes.

Then got pulling. Moist. Bark was a bit strong for my wife’s taste, but she loved the meat. It was nice to catch her sneaking some meat when I was in the other room. She really did like it!

The smaller piece was further from the fire box and went to about 193* in 8 1/2 hours (I also foiled this one at about 170*). Let it rest for about 20-25 minutes and started pulling.

Good results here too. Very moist. Nice and dark.

Got it bagged up and in the refrigerator. I think I know what’s for lunch today!

Need to spend some time with the vacuum packer today. Like many out there, I like to freeze it in single or double serving sizes and then reheat by boiling for 20 minutes or so before dropping on some bread for lunch.

I added some oak and a little avocado wood along the way on this cook. Need to resupply the cooking wood pile.

I was thinking about doing an apple juice injection, but since I got a late start on things I was just scrambling to get it going. Even had to fun to Smart & Final to get the charcoal since I was out and my oak supply has dwindled.

This should keep me set for pulled pork sammies for a bit! If I’m not careful my wife will start eating them too – I guess that’s OK. Just means I’ll have do cook more!

Two Pork Loin – 8 and 6.5 Pounders

We stopped by a Vons on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll tell you what – this is a good time to shop for meats, right after Thanksgiving. We picked up a 22 pound turkey for under $7 and about $100 worth of pork loin for about $30. Good prices!

The turkey is for a dog club holiday party in a few weeks. The pork loin for a Loin’s Club Christmas Party a week after Thanksgiving. The ‘best by’ dates were still far off, so the loin stayed in the refrigerator. There isn’t enough room for the bird, so it went into the freezer.

Jen asked to have one loin with a Chinese BBQ marinade that we have used before and really liked. Wasn’t sure how it would smoke up, but I said “sure!”. It was being smoked the day after her birthday after all… The other one I wasn’t quite sure what to do with. That is until I opened the cabinet to check out some rubs and saw the apple rub. For some reason that jumped out at me as a perfect flavor for the pork. It was D-Dog’s Apple rub.

Started off by marking the Chinese BBQ marinade. I multiplied the recipe by eight since the loin I was going to use was an 8 pound giant. After making it I knew it still wouldn’t cover it, but just couldn’t bring myself to make even more. So I figured I’d turn it as few times before bed and again in the AM.

Here is the finished marinade…

Here is the loin after sitting all night and being turned. It looked like it took on the marinade pretty well. There wasn’t enough room in the refrigerator for a pot or bowl big enough to fit the loin and marinade, so I coolered it on ice with a thermometer over night.

I’ll include the full recipe for the Chinese BBQ marinade at the end of this post. And yes – it does work well in the smoker.

The 6.5 pound loin got a mix of my secret sauce and a liberal rub down of the D-Dog’s Apple rub. It was plastic wrapped and put back in the refrigerator for the night. Sorry, I failed to get a photo here.

In the morning Mojo (one of “the” Big Dog’s) helped by testing out some of the oak I was going to use…

After the wood was declared ready for use I got a full chimney of lump charcoal going and got ready to go.

This is only my second time using this smoker. I know that it leaks air like crazy – need to work on that. I was also working with a new thermometer today. The temps were all over the place and finally settled down after nearly an hour.

One of these days I need to spend some time working on sealing up the doors on this smoker. Don’t really need to open the chimney much with all the leaks this guy has!

I figured what I would do is put on the larger loin for 60-90 minutes before putting on the smaller one. Hoping that they would finish about the same time. So I got some fresh oak on the fire to get the smoke going, and dropped in the Apple rubbed loin. If you caught my error here you were faster than I was. It wasn’t until I went to get the Chinese BBQ loin about an hour later that I realized I did them backwards! I dropped the 6.5 pound loin first! Oh well – that’s how it goes…

So the Apple rub went on first…

Temps were a little high for the first hour too – on top of my mistake! So it was crusin’ to temp a lot faster than I had expected. Maybe because for the first hour the temp was 25* higher on the grill than I thought it was! That could have just a little to do with it.

I pulled and foiled the Apple rub loin at about 145* F. Then I added the Chinese BBQ loin…

I worked to keep the temp in the middle of the smoker at grate level around 120* – 130*. My target of 125* was fairly steady. After the Chinese BBQ loin went in I added another little piece of oak to get some fresh smoke going. Also added a little fresh lump first to keep the temps going.

I used a lot less charcoal than on my last smoke (Pork Butt). I think there was less wind, and the lump burns a bit hotter, and I was using some whole oak wood too. I think it was a lot to do with the wind. Looking back at the photos for that last smoke I recall how windy it was – we had to wrap the smoker to keep the heat up!

The smaller loin came off the pit when it hit 160*. It would have to sit for a bit since it went on too early and cooked faster than I had expected. I decided then to not cut these till just before leaving – in the hope of keeping them as moist as possible.

I foiled the 8 pounder when it hit 150*. It came off at about 160*. It would have to sit a little over 90 minutes before I would be ready to cut.

Here’s the Chinese BBQ loin sliced and ready for the pan. This one was really nice when served. I foiled it and pulled it earlier than the smaller one. So it was REALLY juicy. Which was nice because it held up better to sitting in the oven for a bit – it was still nice and juicy when served.

And here’s the Apple rub loin all sliced up. This one turned out to be just a little dry, but not too bad. I cooked it a little too far, especially since it ended up sitting in the oven for awhile before being served.

Something must have gone right – I got lots of compliments on the pork throughout the night.

I would certainly do pork loin again. I think the key is to foil early, and cook to medium doneness (150*) and pull. It will continue to cook more, so if you go any further than that it will start to dry out.

OK – I promised to include the Chinese BBQ pork marinade at the end, and here we are…

Chinese BBQ Pork – from the “Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook” put out by the Editors of Consumer Guide back in 1980. This cookbook is dirty because we use it a lot, there are some good recipes in there.

[ Note: this recipe is really for an appetizer dish (for 2 pork tenderloins at 12 oz each) – so it doesn’t make a ton – but do the math and make what you need, it is an easy one. I made 8 times what it calls for and wasn’t able to submerge my 8 pound pork loin, but it was OK since I turned it and had it marinating for 10 hours. ]

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry red wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon we opened for cooking a few weeks ago]
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons red food coloring, if desired (I did not do this)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 clove garlic, crushed (I cut it up a little too)
1 green onion, cut in half (I cut it into about 4-inch pieces)

 

What is your favorite method or trick for pork loin in the smoker?

.

Hard to go wrong with a Ribeye on the grill

We usually get the nice, big, think ribeyes at Costco - and have always really enjoyed them. But, we weren't going to Costco and we wanted beef, and these ribeye's at the grocery looked pretty good. So...

Some kosher salt, a little pepper...

Put some oak chips on the grill and...

Time for dinner!

As you would expect from ribeye's - nice and juicy and flavorful!

This is our favorite cut of meat to grill. But I have to say, we did a porterhouse recently (really recently - just the day before these!) that was fantastic!

It has been a good week, with a lot of beef on the grill. Need to get the smoker fired up though!