Here is my most recent recipe post for GrillingOutdoorRecipes.com:

Bacon Good: Smoky Bacon Wrapped Trout.  Pork and seafood are always a classic combo, but wrapping trout in bacon and grill it bring on all kinds of smoky goodness.

Now as is often the case, I am leftover with a bunch of food after I make test recipes.  I turned the leftovers into trout salad sandwiches with scallions, celery, fresh Fresno chilies, a little mayo, and some of the bacon chopped up on toasted whole grain bread…

Peace – j

Harissa comes in varying degrees of spiciness and this one comes in somewhere in between medium hot and spicy because I used the chilies that I had on hand.  Dried chilies, as you know, come in many levels of heat and for a spicy harissa use a blend of cayenne, chile de arbol, or cayenne and maybe cut it with a milder chile like ancho chilies or for a medium spicy harissa try a blend of New Mexico chilies, ancho and/or guajillo chilies.

Homemade Harissa Paste

makes about 1 cup

4 ounces guajillo or ancho chilies, stemmed and seeded
8 chile de arbol, stemmed and seeded
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon caraway seed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons olive oil, plus more for storing
2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Toast the chilies in a dry skillet until they brighten in color and soften. Place in a bowl and cover with very hot water for 15 minutes.

While chilies soak, place coriander, cumin, and caraway seeds in the skillet and toast until fragrant. Transfer to spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind to a powder; set aside.

Remove the chilies from water, reserve the water and roughly chop the chilies. Add the chilies, ground spices and the remaining ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until the mixture forms a paste. Use the water that the chilies were soaking in to thin the consistency to that of mustard.

Store in an airtight container or jar with a layer of olive oil poured over the top to help preserve and keep it from oxidizing. To use, drain off the oil and spoon out as much as you might need. Remember to re-cover with oil before storing. BTW – the oil would be a great addition to a saute or vinaigrette. Properly stored, the harissa will keep in the refrigerator for a couple months.

Peace – J

Check out Corned Beef with Mustard Plaster: St. Paddy Just Got Grilled! over at GrillingOutdoorRecipes.com.

To go along with it, I needed cabbage to go with my corned beef and cabbage un-boiled dinner.  Emerald City Slaw is a take on a parsley and scallion slaw that I had eaten when I lived in Seattle (Emerald City) and thought the green-ness of it all was just the right thing.  The extra little kick of horseradish is perfect with the scallions and really bumps this slaw up!

Emerald City Slaw

Serves eight

4 cups shredded green cabbage; about 1 pound
1 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions, green part only
1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons sour cream
2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish (not cream style)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the cabbage, parsley, and scallions. Stir together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Peace – J

Super Snackin’ for Super Bowl Sunday | Bull BBQ Blog.

• 7 Gudelines for Food Bloggers on Freebies - Will Write for Food
• Char-Grilled Yogurt - Ideas in Food
• It’s Time to Cut Back on Social Media - Harvard Business Review
• 6 Questions For A Professional Food Photographer - Food Republic
• Restaurants Turn Camera Shy - New York Times

Demo Recipes from the POOLCORP Retail Summit.

]]> http://jeffparkercooks.com/2013/01/17/demo-recipes-from-the-poolcorp-retail-summit/feed/ 0 JPCooks http://jeffparkercooks.com/2012/11/28/cranberry-balsamic-glaze-bull-bbq-blog/ http://jeffparkercooks.com/2012/11/28/cranberry-balsamic-glaze-bull-bbq-blog/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:21:51 +0000 Jeff Parker http://jeffparkercooks.com/?p=760 ]]> Cranberry Balsamic Glaze | Bull BBQ Blog.

I have been in the throws of of the holiday for a month now and I am currently grilling up an awesome Christmas menu for Bull BBQ.  I just wanted to keep you posted of what I have been up to.  I have had some great food styling gigs lately — a couple noteworthy are a national campaign for a Greek yogurt manufacturer and another one shooting out all the menu items for the online ordering menu for a major restaurant chain.  Plus Biggest Loser is back in production and in December I will be the culinary producer for a new cooking show.

While all this is going on, I am developing recipes for Bull BBQ’s blog, Grilling and Outdoor Recipes.  I just completed an insert recipe booklet that will be shipped with all Bull grills and have started Bull’s very first grilling cookbook which will be available toward the end of 2013 just in time for Christmas!

Sometime after the first of the year, my Food Crew website is getting a whole new look and this blog will be incorporated into it.

Please sign up to follow the posts by email or RSS feed on the Bull BBQ blog, GrillingOutdoorRecipes.com, to keep up with what I have been cooking up!  I promise after the first of the year, my irregular postings will resume.

Here is what’s been cooking at Bull for Thanksgiving:

Rolled Turkey Breast with Pear and Sage Stuffing
-or-
Bourbon and Molasses Brined Grilled Whole Turkey
with Giblet Gravy

Grilled Tri-Color Potatoes

Grill-Roasted Baby Root Vegetables

Corn Muffins with Cranberries and Jalapeños

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Turkey leftovers: Grilled Turkey and Asparagus Tartine with Apricot Curry Spread.

Here are a few turkey tips:

• Truss your turkey!  No need for complicated French trussing.  Just tuck the wings under the bird, use a couple toothpicks or a small skewer to close the skin over the opening to the cavity, and tie the legs together.  Trussing  keeps the wings and legs close to the  body and helps to prevent the meat from drying out and to ensure that your turkey will cook evenly.  Plus it makes for a better presentation!
• Remove the all of the meat in sections before carving, even if you are not serving it all.  Leaving it sit on the bone, will keep it cooking (carryover heat) and it will begin to dry out.  1- using a sharp knife, remove the leg (thigh and drumstick) in one piece;  2- starting at the breast bone, cut along the bone and rib cage to remove the breast and wing in one piece;  3- cut through the leg joint and separate the thigh and drumstick, cut the wing away from the breast, then slice the breast across the grain of the meat.  Repeat with the other side of the turkey.
• If you are brining your turkey, monitor the browning while it cooks.  Brined turkeys brown faster.
• Grill set up: indirect cooking over medium-low heat (300° to 350°F). Place the pan so it is not directly over any heat. Close the grill cover and cook until the skin is nicely browned and the juices at the thigh run clear.
• Timing: about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours (12 to 15 minutes per pound).
• To test for doneness, the temperature of the thigh, away from the bone, should be 170°F and the breast should be between 155° to 160°F. Remember – carryover cooking will continue to raise the temperature of the turkey another 5° to 10° after it comes off the grill.

A couple other links:

• Roasted Fresh Pumpkin Purée for your holiday baking
• Post-Thanksgiving Simple Turkey Stock

 Photo: Heather Winters

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace – j