We had a great weekend – very productive! Tony and I picked up our new dishwasher and Tony was able to install it, which saved us $150 in installation fees! š He jokes and calls himself the maintenance man because he fixes everything around the house – I am really blessed to have such a handy husband. But did you know before this weekend, I didn’t even know where the shut off valve for the water was?
The best thing about our new dishwasher, is not only are the dishes coming out cleaner, but its so quiet. If you aren’t standing in the kitchen you would have no idea it was running. š
Before I put the groceries away, I cleaned out the refrigerator – I had some smoke gouda cheese that really needed to be used up, and decided to make drop biscuits for dinner on Saturday night.
Smoked Gouda Drop Biscuits
- 5 PointsPlus each (and totally worth it I might add!)
Ingredients:
- 1 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold skim milk
- 1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese (or any cheese would work)
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, divided
Heat oven to 475. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and parsley in a large bowl. Combine milk and 5 tablespoons of melted butter in medium bowl. Add milk and stir just until combined. Fold in cheese. I used my 1/4 cup measure to get 12 biscuits. With remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, brush over the top of each biscuit and sprinkle with a bit of garlic salt if desired. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Have you ever smoked? By that I mean, have you ever smoked meat? Tony and I have been wanting to get a smoker for a while, and when we saw this one on sale decided to try it out – with a coupon it was under $40 at Mendard’s. Thanks again to Tony’s handiwork, he put it together – too many parts for me to even try to figure out how to do it myself.
Tony has notices some design flaws – there is no grate to put the coals on top of, so the oxygen doesn’t radiate all around the coals and it took a while for the coals to actually get going. We really had no idea how long it was going to take, all we knew is that we wanted to try to keep the temperature at around 200 degrees, and take the meat off at 130 degrees.
With the aid of some apple wood chips, we were able to get the coals going. All told I think the meat smoked for about 3 1/2 hours.
We bought a beef rump roast – this one was about 3.5 pounds and cost $8.26 on sale – nice!
While I normally make my own dry rub, we decided to use a bottled one my brother gave us – Tony and I have seen this restaurant on Man v. Food, their barbecue looks amazing. I know my brother and Mom have been there, as well as my step-son. Jealous!
The coals started going – the foil packet is filled with soaked apple wood chips – about half way through the cooking, Tony just poured dried chips on top of the coals.
The smoker has a built in thermometer, but to be on the safe side, we probed the meat with a remote thermometer.
Here is how it looked once it hit 130 degrees. The extra layer of flavor from the wood chips was so good!
Here it is sliced . . .we like our meat medium rare š
And my plate with a 4 ounce baked potato and sauteed zucchini – a perfect Sunday dinner.
So what’s on my menu this week? Remember, breakfast and lunch is just for me š
Breakfast:
- breakfast nachos
- smoked gouda egg sammie with sauteed apples
- Bagel Wednesday egg sammie
- twice baked potato with eggs and ham
- zucchini and goat cheese omlet with hash browns
Lunch:
- tomato soup with ham sandwich
- thai basil chicken in wonton wrappers
- zucchini boats
- buffalo chicken salad
- roast beef wrap with tzatziki sauce
Dinners:
- tuna steaks with roasted red pepper sauce and fried rice
- sausage and pepperoni pizza (using a new overnight pizza dough)
- homemade gnocchi with braised short rib ragu
- grilled chicken sandwiches with home fries
- not sure for Friday yet š
Check out the BSI recap of broth! Thanks for hosting last week Dana! We are still looking for a host this week – I have an email out and will let you know later on today. Update: Jacky of Jax House will be this weeks host – she’ll post the secret ingredient by the end of today. Thanks Jacky!
Off to put my food together and get to work – have a great Monday!
p.s. Thanks for all your work around the house this weekend Tony – the lawn looks great – I love you! š
I may have smoked but I didn’t inhale š
Love love love that photo. Could you two get any cuter??
Looks delicious! I’ve never used a smoker. I don’t even have a grill, but I’d love one.
HOORAY!!!! That is the exact smoker I started with eons ago… It works great, but it will help to know a few tricks. This was a small smoke session, so more forgiving. When you get into bigger cuts (Smoked pulled pork is a MUST now for you), you will need to add moisture. Easiest way for me is to cook a pot of beans while you smoke. Add a bottle of beer to the beans and the steam from the beans will keep the meat moist during the long sessions.
Ribs… you must smoke ribs
Oh, and one more tip… Foiling. It’s also called the Texas Cheat. ALL of the professional smokers do it now. When your meat is about 3-5 degrees from finished, remove from the smoker, wrap in a double layer of aluminum foil (heavy duty) and put it in a ice chest (no ice) for an hour. The meat will relax slowly, even out temperatures and the juices are absorbed (that puddle of juices made a beautiful photo, but the juices staying in the meat is much better). If you leave in a remote temperature prob, you will see the temperature rise that last 5 degrees in the first 1/2 hour and then drop about 10 degrees in the last 1/2 hours… still plenty warm enough to serve.
And it also frees up your smoker to cook Mushroom buttons stuffed with cheese… or peppers stuffed with cream cheese. these only take that last hour and make great appetizers.
HAVE A GREAT SMOKING SUMMER!!!
Wow! Tony looks fantastic! So happy to see him healthy and smiling!
My dad used to smoke seafood and occasional meats and sausage when we were growing up. I haven’t had it in forever, though. But to answer the normal smoke question I have NEVER ever taken a puff of a cigarette or recreational smoked drugs. I have had a few puffs here and there of my dad’s or J’s cigars, though.
We were just looking at smokers over the weekend. My brothers make ribs on their smokers that are out of this world! Smoked turkey is also amazing. I wish you two would open up a restaurant!
Those gouda biscuits sound AMAZING! I need to try them NOW! I can’t wait to hear about your buffalo chicken salad. BCS is my absolute favorite and isn’t always very figure friendly. 54th Street has the best one but you have to get it grilled, which is suprisingly more tasty!
Looks great! We’ve never smoked meat before, but I’ve eaten it many times! Your menu sounds amazing this week! Can’t wait to see all of your creations and you and Tony are so cute! š
Those biscuits with smoked gouda sound terrific, and the smoked meat is awesome, I’ve never done it, wish I had a smoker!
eww…lol…I like my meat WELL done…but those biscuits….AWESOME
yay! for a new dishwasher! My hubby is handy too…blessing and a curse. New things don’t come by me that easy, when he can fix almost anything! lol
Never smoked meat before….roast looks absolutely awesome! how fun!
gouda biscuits, YUMMY! i love gouda cheese. i also love that smoked meat. we’ve talked about getting a smoker, but we need a yard first.
adorable picture!
You two are so cute, I love that picture š
You should take a look at Alton Brown’s clay pot smoker. I haven’t smoked meat, but I have done slow roasting for hours and it is sooooo good!
That roast looks excellent!
Cutest couple ever š I love that Tony allows photos of himself on your blog – Mark is so private and shy…the exact opposite of me!!
I have never smoked my own meat, nope. I do love it, though. Makes me miss Oklahoma just thinking about it. We lived down the road from a great BBQ joint that had melt-in-your-mouth smoked brisket. YUM!
Those biscuits are what I feel like having now. I am craving bread and rolls and biscuits and waffles. You get the idea.
Thanks Biz for stopping by and saying, “hello.”
Bizzy
Awwww you and Tony sure are cute together. Tony looks like if anybody tried to get near his woman he’d take them down! So actually Tony, you look fierce!
Never smoked. Not that kind at least š
Shh… I never smoked that kind either š Hopefully my Mom won’t read this!
I love the picture of you and Tony š
I’ve never smoked meat before- in fact, I’ve never cooked meat before! As a vegetarian, I don’t think that’s going to change soon š My dad just bought a smoker though, and he really loves it!
Ooh that all looks fantastic. Meat + biscuits = yum and 5 points, that sounds like a bargain. I’ll have to make those sometime. They remind me of the biscuits they have at Red Lobster, which I heartly enjoyed as a kid.