Thunder Thighs

14 years ago

I got DH a 4-rack smoker for his BD. We took time from flood clean-up today to fix something yummy for our Easter dinner. Frankly, I think it was beginner's dumb luck but it was stupid delicious. We smoked baby-back ribs from Whole Foods & homemade mac 'n cheese. Served with mango, honeydew, red onion, & basil salad and cast iron blue cornmeal muffins. We ate too much!

For the mac 'n cheese, used a mixture of evaporated milk, heavy cream, & regular milk in the roux. The cheeses were Cabot sharp cheddar, Monterrey Pepper Jack, 2 slices Velvetta, & a tub of marscapone. I made 4+ cups of sauce for a box of pasta. We used whole wheat pasta 'cause we just like it better. Smoked, this stuff was delicious. The color was beautiful after 90 minutes in the smoker.

Put a dry rub on the ribs last night...ancho, paprika, garlic & onion powder, S/P, a bit of sugar, red pepper flakes, & a couple other things I can't remember at the moment.

Here's the sauce...gosh, it's good.

THUNDER THIGH BBQ SAUCE

1/4 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Canola Oil

1 Large Onion, Minced

3/4 Cup Bourbon

2/3 Cup Ketchup

1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar

1/2 Cup Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

1/3 Cup Molasses

2 Tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce

1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon Salt

Heat butter & oil in large sauce pan (I used a 12" round LC cast iron casserole). Sautee the onions for about 5 minutes until they are just starting to turn golden. Add remainder of ingredients & blend well. Simmer for about 45-60 minutes. If it's still too thin, raise heat, bring to a boil, & reduce until the sauce is your desired consistency.

Oh, we used hickory chips. Smoked the ribs for 5 hours wrapped in foil the last 1-1/2 hours at 210 degrees & the mac 'n cheese for about 90 minutes.

This sauce will be great for chicken! We're going to have a lot of fun with this smoker.

/tricia

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Comments (15)

centralcacyclist
14 years ago
I can't resist:

COLONEL SANDERS THIGHS

by Rotunda
(Parody of "Bette Davis Eyes" by Donna Weiss and Jackie De Shannon)

Her eyes are Big Mac brown
Her hair's like golden fries
She's blown up like the clown
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs
She'll turn her Twinkies on you
You won't want to look twice
Her buns are Mrs. Beard's
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs

She likes Fritos, and burritos
And nachos on Doritos
She'll out-eat ya'
And she knows just what it takes to make a pizza
She's got super-sized
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs

She'll let you take her out
To where the deep fat fries
And all the waiters shout
"She's got Colonel Sanders thighs!"
She'll let you buy her ice cream
Sno Cones and Moon Pies
She's called the Dairy Queen
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs

She likes tacos, and tostados
And guacamole made from avocados
She'll out-eat ya'
And she knows just what it takes to make a pizza
All her dates go in disguise
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs

She likes Fritos, and burritos
And nachos on Doritos
She'll out-eat ya'
And she knows just what it takes to make a pizza
All her dates, they go in disguise
She's got Colonel Sanders thighs
claire_de_luna
14 years ago
Tricia, your meal sounds delicious.

Eileen, Thanks for the grin!
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lyndaluu2
14 years ago
Thanks for the recipe....we bought a smoker for our anniversary last Nov. Love,love it!!

Linda
craftyrn
14 years ago
That mac & cheese sounds so good-- hubby loves smoking hunks of cheese-- never thought of doing a mac & cheese-- thanks Triciae.
User
14 years ago
Oh man smoked mac and cheese! I never , ever would have thought of that. Did you smoke it uncovered? I'm assuming the mac was cooked.... but you know what they say about assume : )

Man that sounds to die for!
triciae
Original Author
14 years ago
chase,

I made the mac 'n' cheese with 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup flour for the roux. Then added one can non-fat evaporated milk, had a touch of heavy cream I wanted to use up so I added that, and then added whole milk to make a total of 4 cups. To the sauce, I added a 1 lb. block of cheddar (grated); 8 ounces pepper Jack (grated); 3 slices Velvetta; and a small tub of marscapone & a full teaspoon of black pepper.

For the pasta, I used Bionaturae organic 100% Whole Wheat Chiocciole. It's an Italian pasta that we love. I like the Chiocciole for mac 'n cheese because the large, ribbed macaroni-esque pieces hold a lot of cheesy sauce!

Poured the mixture into a regular stoneware baking dish & topped with about 1/4 cup extra grated cheddar. Then, into the smoker it went...uncovered. It was smoked at 210 degrees for 90 minutes. It developed a beautiful top color...scared me at first...I thought it was crunchy burned. It wasn't. Just smoked. OMG, this is by far the best mac 'n cheese I've ever eaten.

About the ribs...the dry rub was spicey hot from the ancho & red pepper flakes. The sauce was sorta sweet & sour. The first bite gave you the sweet/sour from the Thunder Thigh glaze then the heat kicked in...a beautiful combination with neither overpowering the other. That BBQ sauce is going to be a standard here. I'm going to make it by the cauldron!

This summer, I'm going to smoke tomatoes, mozzerella, & basil drizzled with olive oil.

We're going to have so much fun with the smoker!

/tricia
User
14 years ago
Thanks tricia, I know you are going to lover your smoker , we thoroughly enjoy ours. I have lots of plans this summer for smoked salmon, trout, going to try pastrami again, ribs, ribs and more ribs!

Please don't think me think...well OK I am a bit thick...but did you cook the pasta first? I'm guessing you did but I don't want to mess up!
triciae
Original Author
14 years ago
Yep, I cooked the pasta while I was making the cheese sauce. I used a 1 lb. bag of pasta. After I drained the pasta, tossed it into the cheese sauce & stirred it around well to get the sauce inside the chiocciole. Then, poured the whole mess into the baking pan.

Chase, this could be even better if I would have thought to top it with diced tomato & bacon after coming out of the smoker. Speaking of bacon, we've got 5 lbs. pork belly in the fridge curing & will smoke it off on Wednesday. Going with a maple & crushed black pepper corn coating. I can hardly wait...

/tricia
kathleenca
14 years ago
Talk about living high on the hog! :)
lakeguy35
14 years ago
I've smoked a lot of things over the years
but would have never thought of mac and cheese. I'll be trying that this year for sure. We love mac and cheese as a side with smoked whatever.

Curious if your smoker is charcoal or electric. I'm thinking about getting an electric one this year so I don't have to keep an eye on the fire.

Hope the flood clean up is going okay. Sorry to hear about all the damage and all on your other post.

David
triciae
Original Author
14 years ago
Ours is an electric, David. We wanted something where we could load it up early in the day, garden for a few hours, & have dinner waiting. The grill is good & we enjoy it but it's a lot of work to prepare an entire meal outside on the grill & side burner. The smoker is basically a set & forget type thing except for adding chips about every 1-1/4 hours.

Flood clean-up is going to take a long time...weeks. Road work repair is already underway & we've been declared a disaster area so we're getting FEMA assistance. It's a big help. We're a small place & don't have the manpower for the size of the task.

/tricia
lakeguy35
14 years ago
Thanks tricia. I'll report back on how my group like the mac and cheese once I've made it. I'm thinking I will love it. I do have a few picky ones in my group who probably will not even try it. LOL There loss.

Glad to hear you are getting some help from FEMA. I hope you get your home and gardens back to normal soon....not to forget the roads and bridges.

David
User
14 years ago
Tricia I am absolutely jonesing for the mac and cheese but it also got me thinking of baked beans in the smoker.....maybe too much, pulled pork, ribs, mac and cheese and beans all in the smoker......NAH!
lakeguy35
14 years ago
Sharon, beans are great too....you can add a little of the pulled pork(chopped up fine) to the beans too. Remember that from the BBQ Joint last year? Can't believe it's been almost a year.

David
triciae
Original Author
14 years ago
Yeah, I'm wondering about scalloped potatoes also???

/tricia

Thunder Thighs

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