Darin made this amazing Mac ‘n Cheese with a Southwest twist for our March 24th Ribs & Chicken Class, and of course everyone wanted the recipe. So here it is…a buttery, cheesy, spiced up side that will have guests licking the baking dish when it’s gone.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups Panko bread crumbs
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
5 tbsp flour
(3) 12 oz cans evaporated milk (36 oz total)
2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I prefer hand grated Parmagiano Regiano, yes there is a difference)
1 lb Cavatappi macaroni
2 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cups shredded American cheese
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
(1) 4 oz can diced green chiles

Instructions:
1. Heat smoker to 275-300°F

2. Melt 4 tbsp butter. Combine Panko bread crumbs, melted butter, and Parmesan in a bowl until you have coarse crumbs. Set aside.

3. In a medium sauce pan, melt remaining butter over medium heat until butter starts foaming. Add flour and stir constantly until light brown. Slowly whisk in evaporated milk, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, and mustard. Cook until mixture begins to simmer and is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in cheddar, American and Monterey Jack cheeses and chiles until cheese melts.

4. In large pot bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add 2 tbsp salt and the Cavatappi. Cook until al dente, or about 6 minutes. Drain and rinse Cavatappi in a colander under cold water. When thoroughly drained, stir in cheese mixture.

5. Put all in a 9 X 13 inch aluminum pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray. Top with bread crumb mixture. Bake until golden brown, 45-60 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving.

***Also adaptable to oven. 350°F 25-35 minutes***

Jay cooked chicken thighs, wings and drumsticks at the store last Saturday and people were so enthusiastic about the samples, we had to share his method. He cooked half of the chicken on the Traeger Lil’ Tex and the other half on a 26.75″ Weber Kettle.

1. First, Jay marinated the chicken in John Henry’s Pecan Marinade overnight.

2. Just before cooking, he seasoned half of the chicken with John Henry’s Apple Chipotle Rub and half with John Henry’s Cilantro Lime Rub.

3. He cooked it at about 275°F over indirect heat with cherry pellets in his Traeger and added some cherry wood to his charcoal grill for a nice sweet smoke.

4. Jay removed the chicken thighs from the grill when the internal temperature reached 185°F.

Make these succulent chicken legs with homemade barbecue sauce for your next backyard feast! Bacon, onion, garlic, molasses, and bourbon are just a few ingredients that give this barbecued chicken its incredible flavor.

Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus about 20 minutes for the sauce
Marinating Time: 8 to 24 hours
Grilling Time: 50 minutes to 1 hour

Sauce:
4 slices of bacon, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp Tobasco sauce

4 whole chicken legs, 10 – 12 ounces each, trimmed of excess fat and skin

2 handfuls of hickory wood chips. soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Instructions:
1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes. You should have about 2 cups of sauce. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2. Place the chicken in a large, resealable plastic bag and pour in 1 cup of the cooled sauce. Press the air out of the bag and seal tightly. Turn the bag to distribute the sauce. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.

3. Remove the chicken from the bag and let the sauce cling to the chicken. Discard the sauce in the bag.

4. Prepare the grill for indirect cooking over medium heat (350°-450°F).

5. Brush the cooking grates clean. Drain and scatter the wood chips over lit charcoal or put them in the smoker box of a gas grill, following manufacturer’s instructions. Grill the chicken legs, skin side down, over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, for 25 – 30 minutes. Then brush both sides with a thin layer of the sauce and continue cooking until the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink at the bone, 25-30 minutes, occasionally turning and brushing with the sauce. Remove from the grill and let rest for 3-5 minutes. Serve warm with the remaining sauce on the side.

Makes 4 servings.

Coleslaw Ingredients:
1 bag coleslaw mix
1 bunch green onions
½ bunch broccoli (cut up/diced into small pieces)
1 package ramen noodles (crunched)
1 cup sunflower kernels
1 cup almond slivers (toasted)

Dressing Ingredients:
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
½ cup cider vinegar
1 packet oriental ramen noodle seasoning

Directions:
Mix the salad together separately from the dressing. Combine just prior to serving.  Dressing is best refrigerated overnight. 

View the photo guide for this recipe!

Growing up, my mom made Italian meatloaf in the oven stuffed with mozzarella cheese and smothered in marinara sauce. Not surprisingly, this delicious combination is still one of my favorites. But it hadn’t occurred to me until recently to try smoking the meatloaf prior to topping it with marinara. Jay and I did just that last Saturday at the store, with absolutely mouth-watering success. Try this Smoked (& Stuffed) Italian Meatloaf on your smoker for an entree that’s packed with flavor (& cheese!).

For those of you who are interested in making a slightly healthier, but just as tasty, version, I’ve also included a modified turkey version of the meatloaf below. I made the turkey version at the store last Saturday, as well, and received rave reviews from my husband and parents (and protests from Jay for ruining a perfectly good beef recipe)!

I derived the following recipes from my mom’s original recipe, Michael Chiarello’s Italian Meatloaf recipe, and advice I found on the internet for smoking meatloaf.

Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small red pepper, seeded, diced
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 teaspoons (about 3 cloves) chopped garlic
* 1 pound ground beef
* 2 eggs
* 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Gia Russa Whole Grain Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs)
* 1 cup grated Parmesan
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
* 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (or more or less, to your liking)
* 1 cup marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Heat smoker to 250 degrees.
2. Saute the pepper, onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Set aside to cool.
3. When sauteed vegetables are cool, add them to the ground beef in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients, except Italian cheese blend and marinara sauce. Combine ingredients in bowl, but forget using a spoon! Use your hands to knead the mixture together (fun, huh?).
4. Place this mixture on a large piece of waxed or parchment paper and flatten into a large rectangle about 1/2″ thick.
5. Sprinkle the Italian cheese blend evenly over the top of the meat mixture.
6. Pull up one side of the parchment or waxed paper and begin to roll the meatloaf, using the paper to guide the meat so that it doesn’t break apart.
7. When roll is complete, press the ends of the meat together smoothly, so the cheese is completely enclosed. Add smoking wood of your choice to your firebox (we used cherry) and put meatloaf directly on the smoker grate or in a shallow pan.
8. Smoke meatloaf for about 2.5 hours, or until the internal meat temperature reaches about 150 degrees. Do not add more smoking wood.
9. Move meatloaf to a foil pan and top with marinara sauce. Place pan back in smoker for 20 – 30 more minutes until internal temperature reaches 155 – 160 degrees. Prior to putting the marinara-topped meatloaf back in the smoker, let the smoke die out. If your smoker is still producing smoke, tent the foil pan with foil so the marinara sauce doesn’t absorb smoke.
10. Remove meatloaf from smoker, slice and enjoy! I like to heat any remaining marinara sauce and spoon it over the top.

Smoked (& Stuffed) Italian Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small red pepper, seeded, diced
* 1 onion, diced
* 2 teaspoons (about 3 cloves) chopped garlic
* 1 pound ground turkey (I used 99% lean turkey breast)
* 4 egg whites
* 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Gia Russa Whole Grain Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs)
* 1 cup grated Parmesan
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
* 1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (use less for a lower fat version)
* 1 cup marinara sauce

Directions:

1. Heat smoker to 250 degrees.
2. Saute the pepper, onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft. Set aside to cool.
3. When sauteed vegetables are cool, add them to the ground turkey in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients, except Italian cheese blend and marinara sauce. Combine ingredients in bowl, but forget using a spoon! Use your hands to knead the mixture together (fun, huh?).
4. Place this mixture on a large piece of waxed or parchment paper and flatten into a large rectangle about 1/2″ thick.
5. Sprinkle the Italian cheese blend evenly over the top of the meat mixture.
6. Pull up one side of the parchment or waxed paper and begin to roll the meatloaf, using the paper to guide the meat so that it doesn’t break apart.
7. When roll is complete, press the ends of the meat together smoothly, so the cheese is completely enclosed. Add smoking wood of your choice to your firebox (we used cherry) and put meatloaf directly on the smoker grate or in a shallow pan.
8. Smoke meatloaf for about 3 hours, or until the internal meat temperature reaches about 155- 160 degrees. Do not add more smoking wood.
9. Move meatloaf to a foil pan and top with marinara sauce. Place pan back in smoker for 20 – 30 more minutes until internal temperature reaches 160 – 165 degrees. Prior to putting the marinara-topped meatloaf back in the smoker, let the smoke die out. If your smoker is still producing smoke, tent the foil pan with foil so the marinara sauce doesn’t absorb smoke.
10. Remove meatloaf from smoker, slice and enjoy! I like to heat any remaining marinara sauce and spoon it over the top.

Note: The raw turkey version will be a bit stickier and less firm than the beef version. But don’t worry! Once you’ve rolled it, made your loaf and transferred it to the smoker, it will hold together just fine.

I can’t resist a good cup of coffee. The aroma alone is enough to make me veer off course in the supermarket to grab a bag of freshly roasted beans. And when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is turn on my coffee pot.

So when Backyard Bash got a couple of coffee-infused products for barbecuing, I was curious about how the flavor of coffee could work with grilled and smoked meats. While coffee-flavored desserts are familiar to me and can be found on most any restaurant menu (and because my morning coffee may taste something like a dessert due to a liberal pour of flavored half and half), it had never occurred to me to use coffee grounds like any other spice on my rack for savory meats.

But according to gourmands the world over, it has just as much a place among the coriander, thyme, paprika and ground ginger bottles in your cabinet as do basil and oregano. In fact, ground coffee might just be the most versatile spice you own. Experts have identified over 900 unique flavors in coffee. Compare this to another favorite beverage/cooking additive, wine, which has around 600 identifiable flavors and you’ve got a veritable goldmine of flavors for cooking.

Roasted nuts, ripe dark berries, bittersweet chocolate and fruit-like undertones are just a few of the flavors found in many coffees that are naturally complimentary to meats. But cooks should take into account the strong flavor of coffee when using it in a spice blend. Coffee should enhance the flavor of your meat, not overwhelm it. So experts suggest balancing it with other robust spices to keep it from dominating.

So what spices pair well with coffee? Try a light-roast coffee, like an Ethiopian blend, mixed with lemon peel, orange peel, kosher salt and dried basil for chicken or fish. Or, for ribs or beef, try your favorite ground French roast or espresso with chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, kosher salt and pepper. Other flavors that mix well with freshly-ground black coffee are citrus, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt, garlic, ginger and pepper.

Besides contributing an incredible variety of flavors that compliment barbecued meats, coffee also helps to seal in juices and tenderize. Meats seasoned with coffee will be succulent and develop a beautifully caramelized exterior bark. But don’t limit yourself to using coffee in dry rubs for your savory cooking. For instance, a bit of coffee will intensify chili essence when cooking with peppers. Brewed coffee can also be partially substituted for stock or water in stews, sauces and baked beans.

At Backyard Bash, we carry two coffee-infused products: Dizzy Pig Red Eye Express and Roasterie Coffee Barbecue Sauce. Try these or make your own! I’ve included a list of links to recipes below so you can start experimenting in your own kitchen.

Millionaire Brisket with Coffee and Beer Mop Sauce
Ribeye Steaks Marinated in Coffee
Chipotle Java Rubbed Tenderloin
Black Coffee Barbecue Sauce
Chili Rubbed Baby Back Ribs W/ Dark Roast Coffee Barbecue Sauce
Slow-Smoked Turkey with Cane Syrup-Coffee Glaze
Dry-Rubbed Salmon Tacos with Tomatillo-Avocado Slaw

Ingredients:
(1) 4 lb bag of frozen hash browns
4 cans cream of chicken soup
1 onion, chopped
16 oz sour cream
1 can of Rotel
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
2 tsp Obie cues double strength garlic pepper
Salt to taste
2-3 cups of corn flakes
1 stick butter

Instructions:

1. Spray a large casserole or full size foil pan with non stick spray.

2. Mix together all ingredients except corn flakes and butter and put into a pan.

3. Finely crush corn flakes. Melt and add butter. Sprinkle corn flakes evenly over the casserole.

4. Bake in a preheated, 350 degree oven for 1 hour uncovered.

From the recipe box of Robert Frazier of Pyro Pig BBQ, this savory corn and cilantro tart is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table! Imagine a buttery cornmeal crust with a hint of brown sugar filled with a delightful combination of cilantro, corn, ham, eggs, Asiago cheese and other veggies. Robert developed this recipe to enter into the veggie category at BBQ contests like the American Royal. You’ll be able to taste the time he put into perfecting flavors in this beautiful side dish.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp. Brown sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
2 cups fresh (or frozen) corn kernels, about 3 ears
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
½ cup Asiago cheese
½ cup finely diced ham
2 tbls finely diced jalapeno
1 tsp. salt, divided
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ teaspoon lime juice
¼ cup onion
¼ cup red bell pepper

Instructions:

For cornmeal crust:
1. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
2. Beat in one egg until combined.
3. Add cornmeal, flour, and ½ tsp. salt and mix until a ball forms.
4. Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic. Chill 30 to 60 minutes.
5. Pre-heat oven to 350ºF.
6. Pat dough onto bottom and sides of a 9 inch tart pan. Press out dough evenly with a small glass.
7. Line pastry with a double thickness of foil and bake for 10 minutes.
8. Remove foil. Bake 4 to 6 minute more.

Filling:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and the half-and-half.
2. Stir in corn, diced ham, cilantro, Asiago cheese, diced jalapeno, ½ tsp salt, pepper, lime juice, onion and red bell pepper.
3. Pour into pastry shell. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until set.
4. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove sides of pan to serve.

When you sink your teeth through the crispy bacon and into the soft potatoey goodness of these flavorful appetizers, you’ll have renewed confidence that your team will trounce the competition. Darin’s delicious grilled Bacon-Wrapped New Potatoes are a combination of thinly sliced bacon, tender new potatoes and savory seasoning that can be cooked on your tailgating grill.

Ingredients:
15 small new potatoes (a little smaller than a ping pong ball)
Olive oil
5-6 slices bacon
BBQ rub of your choice
15 toothpicks

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for offset heat.
2. Coat potatoes lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with seasoning.(Darin used Dizzy Pig Shakin’ the Tree seasoning.)
3. Wrap each potato with a piece of bacon big enough to go around potato and overlap a little, then secure with a toothpick.
4. Place the wrapped potatoes on the grill, turning the potatoes several times to allow the bacon to cook on all sides.

The potatoes will be done when the bacon is nice and crispy, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with a spicy ranch dressing as a dipping sauce and enjoy!

Your regular old cheeseburger will never be as satisfying after you’ve had one of these cheese-filled sliders seasoned to perfection with Obie-Cue’s Double Strength Garlic Pepper. BYB employee and BBQ afficionado Darin Cram modified an Alton Brown slider recipe to give us hearty beef burger perfection. You’ll be well-fed and ready to cheer for your favorite team!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chuck
Obie-Cue’s Double Strength Garlic Pepper
4 slices of Sharp cheddar
8 (3-inch) slider buns or rolls, split in half
Mayo and Mustard

Directions:
1. Preheat Grill for direct grilling.
2. Line a jellyroll or sheet pan with parchment paper, and place the ground chuck in the middle of the pan.
3. Cover the meat with a large sheet of plastic wrap.
4. Roll meat with a rolling pin until it covers the surface of the pan; it should be very thin.
5. Remove the plastic wrap, and sprinkle the meat with the Obie Ques Double Garlic Pepper.
6. Divide half the pan in the shape of 8 sliders.
7. Place ½ slice of cheese, folded, in each square.
8. Fold the uncut meat over on top of the sliced half of the pan using the parchment paper.
9. Use a pizza wheel to cut the meat into 8 even squares.
10. Wrap the buns in foil and place on grill for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place the burgers on the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side.
11. Remove the buns from the grill. Spread a small amount of mayonnaise and mustard on each bun and top with the burger and any other condiments, as desired. Serve immediately.