Swine.

Leftover Easter ham (and some pulled pork) makes for hella nice makeshift Cubanos on the panini press.

Unofficial spring kickoff with smoked spares, rotisserie wings & roasted squash. #rectec #kettle

Had no dog in the fight but I’m glad the Chiefs remain as the only AFC team this decade to seal the deal.* Marinated a rack of lamb in cilantro chutney overnight and then seared it before the rotisserie. Finished the dbl chops with Maldon flakes and compound fennel butter. #kettle
*multiple times

Finally tried the doner-style kebab hack and I’m never going back. Rolled out this kifta/kofta (ground beef & lamb mixed w/ herbs, onion & spices) using parchment paper. Folded them up and baked them at 400 for 35 minutes. Made some jalapeño cilantro hummus for the samoon (Iraqi flatbread) base.

Alternative Cobb salad. Swapped out the avocado, bleu cheese and vinaigrette for cucumber, mozzarella and this great ginger dressing along with some homemade croutons. Brined the boneless chicken thighs in pickle juice overnight, seasoned them with Dan-O’s, and cooked ‘em up in the skillet.

Made a focaccia pizza tonight after splitting this heat & serve bread. EVO, Italian seasoning, Cascone’s, sliced red onion, fresh mozzarella, Spanish chorizo, mini pepperonis, roasted red peppers and Parmesan. Good stuff on a cold night.

Had fun making a green chile chicken cobbler with leftover rotisserie chicken. Finished it with jalapeño flakes and this nice chili crisp I picked up. Mixed cream cheese, sour cream, cream of chk soup, green enchilada sauce, green chiles and shredded chicken for the filling. 🇲🇽 #kettle

Potato, fennel, and leek soup with bacon & chives. Pro tip is cooking the bacon first and then sautéing the fennel, leeks & garlic in the bacon fat. Also used truffle salt to amp up the flavor.

Leftovers…don’t have to suck. Gonna carry this one into ‘26. That’s it. That’s the list.

H/T to the maestro Andrew Zimmern for the great Hanukkah brisket recipe. Braised and slowly cooked in oniony beef broth with red wine vinegar, tomato puree, garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves & fennel wedges at 300 for over six hours until crazy tender.

Celebrated a terrific, most improbable KU road win in OT tonight with smoked Korean beef flanken ribs (galbi), ginger lime rice & radish kimchi. Marinated the ribs overnight, smoked low for roughly three hours and glazed ‘em w/ this solid Korean bbq sauce. #kubball #melvincounciljr #rectec 🇰🇷

Post-Thanksgiving sandwich on steroids. Toasted King’s Hawaiian with herb mayo & cranberry relish. Turkey and ham topped with torched provolone, pickles, arugula, and balsamic glaze with a repeat of the mayo & relish up top. 🔥🔥🤌

Welp, at least the grub and family time were enjoyable this afternoon. Basted a 20 lb bird on the rotisserie with herb butter and landed my favorite batch of drip pan stuffing so far. Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours. 🦃 #kettle #turbotrusser

Made some chicken stock over the bye weekend which led to some smoked chicken noodle soup. #rectec

Breakfast bombs. Canned biscuits split & rolled out. Stuffed with scrambled egg, spicy breakfast sausage, bacon and habanero cheddar. Brushed w/ melted butter, dusted with everything bagel seasoning, & baked at 375 until golden brown. Used bacon grease to make some country gravy for proper dippin’.

Buffalo chicken tacos with basil crema. Light sauté & reseasoning for leftover diced smoked chicken and then I tossed it with Buffalo sauce and cilantro. Chihuahua cheese & filling in the tortillas with crema & cilantro to finish. Crema was fresh basil, Greek yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice & s/p.

Great chance for a statement win tomorrow plus Hawks win/Kstate dogwalking at home warranted a proper feast. Smoked beef babyback ribs seasoned w/ my Texas rub and finished w/ Japanese bbq sauce. Bird was seasoned w/ Buffalo lemon pepper and side was roasted creamer potatoes. #rectec #chiefs #hawks

Wild sockeye seasoned with leftover pastrami rub & kosher salt. Served w/ corn on the cob, creamer potatoes & horseradish cream sauce. Nice lil’ Sunday minus the games on tv today. #kettle

Tried out a recipe for breakfast croissant boats. Chorizo, diced bacon, red bell, Serrano, green onion, sharp white cheddar & habanero cheddar as the filling topped w/ eggs whisked w/ milk or cream and s/p. Baked at 350 for about 15 minutes. A lil’ truffle hot sauce for the finish.

Had fun making gyro flatbreads tonight. Seasoned the thinly sliced strip steak with hot mirchi (Indian chili powder mix) and sautéed it in beef tallow. Layered the slices on top of spinach hummus I made and added romaine, tomato, red onion, feta, & tzatziki I spiced up with jalapeño flakes.

Smoked some wings with a new Buffalo lemon pepper rub I picked up. Smoked wings for 30 minutes at 250 and then cranked it up to 425 for another 30.

Which dish?

White Castle-ish sliders. Mixed Wagyu ground beef w/ beef broth & s/p, rolled out thin and placed pan in freezer for a couple of hours. Steamed the beef in pan with more broth & sautéed onion in oven at 450. Used fat separator on the onion broth mixture for the au jus.

Shrimp salad on toasted hoagie rolls. Poached the shrimp with lemon, dill, & s/p. Diced celery, green onion, dill, chives, mayo, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Dijon, s/p, red pepper flakes mixed w/ the shrimp for the salad. Gave it an hour in the fridge so everyone could properly mingle.

One for the road. Pico burrito: flour tortilla, with beef, pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, spicy ranch, lettuce and hot salsa. Already targeting their super naan taco on my next visit: garlic naan bread with al pastor pork, super guac, lettuce, minced kale, cilantro, onion, feta, sour cream. 🇲🇽🌯🛫

UVA banger. Mustard-herb crusted rack of lamb with lemon-garlic roasted potatoes, Greek-style green beans, dill-yogurt, & roasted tomato lamb jus. Smoked chicken & shrimp gumbo and The Cavalier: Buffalo Trace, housemade mint simple syrup & bitters to start. #ivyinn

Blackened & smoked cedar plank stuffed coho salmon with smoked corn on the cob & sautéed mixed greens. Topped the salmon w/ a butter cream sauce, fresh lemon & dill. Filling was mix of lump crab, Dijon, Worcestershire, mayo, lemon juice & blackened seasoning.

My third annual go at the Italian grinder. Meats: prosciutto, peppered salami, hot calabrese, coppa, pepperoni & smoked ham. Grinder salad: iceberg lettuce, red onion, sliced pepperoncini & juice, red wine vinegar, mayo, chili flakes, oregano, & s/p.

This was my first al pastor rotisserie Sunday in a couple of years. One tip I’ve picked up is frying up the trimmings in a pan for a few minutes to add a lil’ texture and even cooking. Finished the tacos with onion, queso fresco, roasted pineapple salsa & cilantro. #kettle 🇲🇽🌮🐖