Beer Bread and New Orleans Style Shrimp on the UDS

I've definately made this before....it's one of my favorite "finger foods". :)

 I fried up a few cubes of bacon.

Made a batch of beer bread
3 cups self rising flour
1/4 cup of sugar (more or less to suit taste)
a pinch of salt
and 1 beer

Brushed the bread with bacon drippngs and smoked on high heat in the UDS until the top sounded hollow when tapped.

While the bread baked I made my spicy shrimp sauce using the bacon drippings... (recipe in link above)

Added the shrimp and stirred to coat before placing in the drum...

These didn't take long at all... I gave the shrimp a couple more stirs for even cooking.

Served with plenty of napkins and cold beer.....

I loved the shrimp... but my favorite part was the beer bread dipped in the spicy shrimp sauce.  :)

Hope to make this again soon! 

Catfish on the Campfire :)

I did manage to catch a few fish while camping a couple of weeks ago. Brought some home for later and cooked up a few while there.

Built a good fire to heat the pot of oil...

seasoned the catfish nuggets with a mixture of cornmeal, flour, salt, lemon pepper and cayenne...

I thought about making hush puppies but went for fried tatoes, they were quicker and I was hungry. :) I coated some of the sliced tatoes with the catfish seasoning.

It was a nice evening...

I ate so many catfish nuggets hot off the fire that I was full by the time they were all fried. (one of the benefits of being the cook :))

After supper I set the hot pot to the side and threw a few more logs onto the fire...

The "Quacky" Family came by with two little ones...

They were soooooo cute! :)

The evenings by the fire were so relaxing. One of my favorite things about camping.... Good food, good friends and a lot of laughter.

Rolf's Greek Pork Braid on the Drum

I found out about this dish from talented friend Rolf in Germany. Rolf mentioned that he was making a the dish and gave me the link to pictures of another pork braid so I could see what they look like. Thank you again Rolf!

 I did some checking around and found the rub ingredients, not the exact amounts so I guessed. :) Rolf said to use pork neck meat but I could not find it. I used pork tenderloin instead.


 I cut two loins into strips...

The spice rub...
 Oregano
 granulated onion
 minced garlic
 papkika
 coarse salt
 cummin
 rosemary
 peppercorns
 coriander
 celery salt
 I used about one teaspoon of each.

I used pics to hold the strips while I braided them...

This was my first cook on my new Myer Metal Works Custom UDS Grate ... I didn't want to get it dirty but I had to. lol

I added twice baked potatoes to the drum...

The whole cook took about 45 minutes...

I loved the pork braid. Not sure what it is called but the flavors were wonderful. I'll be making this again.  :)

Thank you again Rolf! I know you are busy...sending thoughts and prayers your way.

Meyer Metal Works and My New UDS Custom Grate

I've mentioned talented friend Matt of Meyer Metal Works in the past. A few weeks ago Matt made a custom grate for my drum and I couldn't be happier with it!  I've been too busy to take pics and "show off" the new grate but finally.... here it is! :)

 My drum...(How I built it if anyone is interested)

The new custom grate, inspired by my Sittin' by the campfire in my favorite chair pic

                           

The grate is heavy duty, made from 3/16" thick steel. The handles on this sucker are heavy duty too. It should last me a lifetime!  I know it will outlast the drum, and when this drum wears out I'll just use the grate in a  new one. :)

Not sure if you will see this but if you do, Thanks Matt!! Can't say enough about how much I love this grate. You do excellent work!!