I Feel Like Chicken Tonight: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Chicken Parmesan

This is another long-awaited recipe that makes short work of the PK plus serves as another midweek classic: Just don't tell my mom that we're eating chicken more than once a week in Springhill Manor.

INGREDIENTS 

Chicken breasts 

Parmesan cheese

Marinara sauce

Italian bread crumbs, can be toasted*

Fire and Smoke Society's Sweet Peeper rub

Italian seasoning of your choice

STEP ONE. If frozen, thaw out the chicken breasts per packaging instructions. For the rest of us, open the package of chicken from the grocery store and trim off the ugly bits such as excess fat and the jagged pieces that will dry out way before it finishes.  Give it some Sweet Peeper love and set aside while you grate your own Parmesan cheese. [Sidebar: In the quest of cooking dinner, you may bypass shredding a whole block of Parmesan cheese and pick up the already shredded bag from the dairy department. Not many people are going to notice the easy call for a random Tuesday night meal - and to take food to the next level, save the magic for date night.]

STEP TWO. Light the cooking vessel of your choice and do so in a two-zone fire fashion. Once ready, place the chicken on the grill first over the coals for that extra pop of char before moving each breast to the indirect side. Chicken breasts are ready at 160 degrees, but...at 150 degrees, go ahead and add both the marinara sauce and parmesan cheese atop the chicken to continue cooking until the cheese melts. Rest for about fifteen minutes, and in the time it takes for pasta noodles to be al dente, dinner is ready!

This is such a great twist on a comfort food classic that I might not do it any other way! For the vegetarians/vegans among us, substitute the chicken for eggplant and get that special vegan cheese from Whole Foods or wherever the vegan aisles exist in Kroger and other slightly finer grocers than Wally World. Remember the Italian bread crumbs? I forgot them. Next time, I'll toast them and add them along with the other seasoning for an additional pop.

Thanks for reading this post. Although I joked about not telling my mom that we are eating chicken multiple times in one week, she can have this the next time she and Dad come down. As always, y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Salmon Bites

For something so easy and so quick, there really is no need for a special title. In the name of brevity, the ingredients and pictures are below. 

INGREDIENTS 

2 lbs salmon filets, cubed into 1"x1" squares*

All Day barbecue rub

Dub Shack BBQ’s Get Honey barbecue sauce 

*Some recipes call for skin-on filets, but like this one, skin-off works as well

STEP ONE. Using your favorite knife, cube each filet into 1"x1" morsels and set aside to shake a liberal heaping of All Day onto them. Once that is finished, place them onto a wire rack for easy transport. Don't forget to spray the rack with something nonstick - I used EVOO  - and bring them outside.

STEP TWO. When I say this is a fast cook, it is just that: fast. This is a direct fire cook on any grill but do not get distracted! At three minutes, temp the bites; if they are around 125 degrees, give them a drizzle of Get Honey and turn the rack for even cooking. Once the salmon bites reach 140 degrees, pull the rack off the grill and bring the bites for a quick rest before serving.

Enjoy!

In five minutes, I just put down something a bit healthier and more unique for dinner or a charcuterie board if a seafood one is in the cards. As a meal, it can be served with rice, asparagus, and a little bit more of Get Honey drizzled on the bites. It also qualifies as a midweek meal that can also work for meal prep.

Thank you for reading this post. Go outside and cook something awesome this week! Grilling is not the same as barbecuing: Grilling doesn't take very long while barbecue requires time, a consistent fire (pellets or gas, if you get down like that), and a reliable citizen who can maintain a smoker at a lower temperature. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Here Come the Lemon Steppers: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

Here come the lemon pepper steppers.

Wanna become the star that kills it for the next cookout? One way to become that legend is by grilling lemon pepper chicken wings. With the way folks have gotten heated over drums and flats (I'm a flat kind of guy myself, but I'm not opposed to the drums), one way to be remembered as a backyard legend is throwing these dudes on a charcuterie board and yelling, "Mamba out!"

INGREDIENTS 

2.5 lbs chicken party wings

AC BBQ's Lemon Stepper rub*

MARINADE

2 cloves of minced garlic

Juice of one lemon

1 tsp avocado or extra virgin olive oil 

AC BBQ's Lemon Stepper rub*

*AC BBQ is a joint project between Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer that reduces salt in barbecue rubs. For the first usage, I found Lemon Stepper to be pretty dope - and their other rubs are found at Walmart for $2.50 each. Clearly I cannot use my initials to move barbecue, but nevertheless, this is good stuff. -ACedA

STEP ONE. Pluck the feathers and trim the ugly bits of each wing part. We want people to eat chicken, not be chicken. After that, add them to a Ziploc bag along.with the marinade. For larger batches, upsize in proportion always being careful of the amount of lemon in the marinade; the objective is to have balanced wings, not lemon bombs. Place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours turning halfway to ensure even coverage on all of those wings.

STEP TWO. Once the marinade timeline is up, place each wing on a wire rack and add another shaking of Lemon Stepper to these party starters on all sides. They are on a wire rack not only to drip dry some of the excessive marinade but also make for easier transport to the grill. 

STEP THREE. Peep the important part: lighting the grill. Get it ready with the two-zone fire we have all come to love, and once that happens,  place the wings on the indirect side. If you own a vortex, simply pour the coals in it and allow the grill to come to temperature before laying each piece along the kettle's edges. Turn every four minutes to get the desired color and char, but remember that chicken wings are done at least 175 degrees. I actually took these guys up to 190 before pulling for a quick rest and faster building of the boneyard. 

There you have it, some dang good wings. 

Before I walk off with this flat, let me first thank you for reading this post. As Arkansas winter becomes less psychotic, go outside and cook something awesome for your party of one to one million. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Back To Work: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Chicken Cordon Bleu

The off-season just ended.

Like most everyone else, your friendly pitmaster needed to reset upon the new year and as usual, that reset included cleaning the grills and smoker before covering them for the January break. With the snow and ensuing ice, I wasn't going back outside to stand around in 8 degree weather cooking dinner as the dog whimpered to return inside from his bathroom breaks. Yet, I still needed a break from barbecue: I had cooked weekly since mid-August for not only Tailgating For Everyone but also multiple turkeys for Thanksgiving, the traditional Christmas ribs, pork loins for a catering job or two, rib tips to welcome 2024, a slew of pork butts, shoulders, and briskets, and the sauces.

(Come take some of these sauces off my hands - my wife wants a built pantry for our kitchen).

January was that break.

Once we turned the page to February, the off-season (for however brief it was) ended. It's time to get back to work.

The first official cook of 2024 is an easy one, and potentially a midweek classic for the repertoire: chicken cordon bleu. 

INGREDIENTS 

Chicken breasts

Sliced deli ham

Swiss cheese

Your favorite chicken rub (in this cook, I used Fire and Smoke Society's Sweet Peeper)

STEP ONE. After taking the chicken breasts out of the packaging, pat them dry and set aside. Begin to cut a slit in each piece deep enough to add the ham and Swiss cheese but try not to slice completely through the bird. Butterflying each breast leads to a pretty flat surface; pounding them down into an even state is your prerogative but I wanted to do a quick meal. 

STEP TWO. Roll the ham and Swiss cheese up before stuffing it into the chicken pocket you created with the cut from the previous step. To do this, get one slice of ham and one (or two) slices of cheese atop the ham and roll it up evenly and stuff it into the cavity. Repeat with as many slices and breasts as needed.

STEP THREE. Don't forget to season all sides of the chicken breasts. Following the Sweet Peeper love fest, insert toothpicks or skewers into each piece to hold the stuffing in there.

STEP FOUR. Light your grill. This is a direct over fire cook, so give the cooker time to get ready. My PK and bag of lump charcoal got today's assignment, so here we are - feel free to use whatever outdoor weapon you own. Once it gets to 350 degrees, bring on the chicken and place it directly over the coals turning once at fifteen minutes. Your chicken cordon bleu is ready when its internal temperature reaches 160. Give it about ten minutes to rest before diving in!

Going back to work never tasted so good!

As an obligatory dog pic, Rocky doesnt want anyone to eat the yellow snow

As always, thank you for reading this post. Throughout the year, new recipes will be worked into the rotation as well as a revision or two of the classics plus perhaps even a secret or two of how the neighborhood goes wild for great barbecue. If there is anything unique that you haven't seen, let me know and not only will I try it but also give appropriate credit when the recipe drops. Y'all be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!