Grilled Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon

中文菜谱：

烤培根芦笋卷

If you love to shop at local farmers’ markets like I do, you would agree with me that asparagus is a messenger for spring.  It is earliest vegetable coming out of the ground.

 When I was living back in Michigan, winter was really cold and long.  We had to wait until May when it finally warmed up.  And asparagus is always the first seasonal vegetable appearing at farmers’ markets, followed by strawberries in June. 

Asparagus can be cooked in so many ways that I can never get tired of it.  One of my favorite ways is to grill with bacon.  Oh, yes, bacon makes everything so much better! O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 bunch asparagus
1 package of bacon (1 lb)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions：

Try to pick the asparagus that is short and thick with tender and juicy texture.

Remove the tough bottom by bending each asparagus near its bottom until it snaps. Discard the tough bottom parts.    

Wrap each asparagus with one slice of bacon.  Secure both ends with bamboo toothpicks. 

I also wrap the bacon slices around some enokitake mushrooms and garlic chives. 

Preheat grill to 400F/ 204C

Quickly brush the griddle with some oil.  Add bacon-wrapped vegetables.

Excessive dripping fat from bacons may cause the grill to flare up.  Keep a close eye on the grill.  Flip them frequently if necessary to prevent burning or over cooking. 

Sprinkle salt and black pepper on top while grilling.

Bacon turns amazingly golden brown.  The vegetables are ready.

You can also bake asparagus in the oven with bacon.  But I think grilling is a better way because it adds extra smoky flavors that cannot be produced in a regular oven.

Grilled Scallops with Pork Belly

中文菜谱：

烤五花肉带子卷

Summer is in the air.  Let’s start grilling! O(∩_∩)O~

When we were living back in Michigan, we did a lot of camping.  And one of our favorite camping foods is grilled scallops wrapped in bacon.  Oh, trust me when I tell you that nothing tastes better than grilled scallops by the camping fire you built yourself.  (I posted it here before: Interlochen camping 5:  https://www.yankitchen.com/english-blog/camping5 )

After we moved to Texas, we haven’t a chance to go camping here yet.  But I still grill a lot of scallops and bacon in the backyard.

Ingredients：

1 pound scallops (12 to 14 pieces)
1 pound pork belly/ or bacon
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon rice cooking wine
salt to taste

Directions：

I usually grill scallops with bacon.  This time, I decide to try regular pork belly.  Asian people love to cook with pork belly, so that you can always find some awesome good quality pork belly from Asian grocery stores.  

Freeze the pork belly until firm.  Use a meat slicer to thinly slice it.

I am using ChefChoice 610.  The thickness can be adjusted by a notch on the top.

Drizzle a teaspoon of rice cooking wine on top.

Scallops in Texas are one of the best I have ever had so far.  They are fresh, tender with a buttery creamy texture.

Sprinkle both scallops and pork belly slices with salt and pepper.  Wrap each scallop with one slice of pork belly.  Secure with bamboo skewers.

Preheat grill to 400F/ 204C

Quickly brush the griddle with some oil.  Add scallops.

 There are 2 fishes in the background.  Grilled fish is another of my favorite. O(∩_∩)O~

Soon pork belly turns color.

Excessive dripping fat from bacons may cause the grill to flare up.  Keep a close eye on the grill.  Flip them frequently if necessary to prevent burning or over cooking. 

Shorter bamboo skewers might work better.  Long ones get burnt anyway despite the fact I soak them in the water prior grilling.

Ok, they are getting gorgeous!

When pork belly turns amazingly golden brown and the scallops are kind of firm to touch.  They are ready.

Sprinkle with chili pepper flakes and ground cumin.  This is optional.  I just love them on grilled meat.

Bon Appetitte！O(∩_∩)O~

Bacon Wrapped Shrimps and Skewed Lamb

中文菜谱：

培根烤大虾和烤羊肉串

Summer is coming.  It is gradually getting hot outside these days, which means grill season already starts!

Our favorite grills are shrimps, scallops, skewed lamb/ beef and steak. 

Texas is famous for its seafood, thanks to its long coast line and location right next to Mexican gulf.  The shrimps and scallops here are one of the best I have ever had so far.  I used to live in Virginia and Michigan.  I thought I had some good seafood there before.  After I moved to Texas, my eyes are open to more and better quality seafood here. 

Ingredients：

10 jumbo shrimps
10 slices of bacon
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

Directions：

Thaw the shrimps in fridge.  Sprinkle with black pepper and salt.

There were 8 in the plate, and I added 2 more after I took the photo.

Peel the shrimps.  Wrap each shrimp with a slice of bacon, secured with a bamboo skewer

Meanwhile, I prepared some skewed lamb too.

We always use lamb shoulder for grill.  It is juicier and tenderer than lamb leg or stew.  They are not available in regular American grocery store.  I buy mine from H-mart.  Some Middle East grocery stores may sell lamb shoulder too. 

Cut lamb shoulder into 1/2 inch cubes.  Add salt, chopped onion, ground chili pepper, ground cumin, soy sauce, sesame seeds.  Mix well.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Skew the lamb with stainless skewers

Preheat the grill to 400F.

Brush the griddle with oil.  Add bacon wrapped shrimps and skewed lamb.

Excessive dripping fat from bacons may cause the grill to flare up.  Keep a close eye on the grill.  Flip them frequently if necessary to prevent burning or over cooking. 

Skewed lamb is becoming golden brown.

When bacon wrapped outside the scallops is golden brown and the scallops are kind of firm to touch, they are ready.

Lamb is ready too.

How good does that look? O(∩_∩)O~

Bon Appetite! O(∩_∩)O~

Smoked Duck with Rudy’s BBQ Dry Rub

中文版菜谱：

熏鸭 （Rudy’s BBQ dry rub）

I brought back a bottle of dry rub from Rudy’s BBQ during our last visit. Their brisket and chicken BBQ tasted pretty awesome so i decided to buy their dry rub to try BBQ duck with it. Although duck is not on the menu of most BBQ restaurant, I started my experiment with it anyway because both my husband and I love duck meat so much more than chicken.  Guess what?  It turned out so great and tasty!  If you find it hard to believe, just take a look at the photos.  They would convince you how good it is (￣▽￣)”

Ingredients：

1 whole duck (about 5 to 6 pounds)
1/2 bottle of Rudy’s dry rub or your favorite brand (about 5 to 6 oz)
oak smoking chips

Directions：

Clean and rinse the duck under running water.  Pat dry with paper tower

When I was checking out in the BBQ store, I asked the cashier how much I should use for a brisket or a chicken.  She went to the person who was in charge of smoking who by the way was a very nice guy.  He told me that usually they use about 2 bottles’ amount dry rub on a whole large brisket. 

So I decide to use half bottle on my duck.

Sprinkle on duck

Massage the dry rub all over the duck, inside and out

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

Rudy’s dry rub ingredients

The next day, preheat smoker to 225F/107C

Rudy’s use exclusively oak wood, so I go with oak wood chips too.  I always buy variety pack of smoking wood chips to go with different kinds of meat.

This tiny chicken roaster is such a great help in smoking chicken and ducks.  With it, the duck can stay vertical in the smoker so very part of duck is perfectly smoked.

Skew the duck with chicken roaster.  It works the same with chicken.

Smoke for about 5 hours or until the duck is golden brown.

Smoke coming out of the door and smoker

Make a quick inspect 3 hours into the smoking process.  If all the smoking wood chips have burnt down, refill the smoke box.

5 hours later

How good does that look?

Allow the duck to cool down and cut into small pieces with a sharp cleaver.

Smoked duck pairs better with beers.  But all I have in fridge is red wine.  That will do too.

Smoked Cornish Hen with Five-spice Powder

中文：五香熏鸡

Since the day we got the new Masterbuilt smoker earlier this year,  we've become obsessed trying different recipes smoking a variety kinds of meat O(∩_∩)O~ I did a smoked Cornish hen this time with a little bit of Asian twist in it.  It turns out gorgeous and quite tasty.  It might just  be our new favorite!

Ingredients：

1 Cornish hen
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 to 2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups of water
salt to taste

Directions：

Add ground white pepper, rice cooking wine, sugar, soy sauce and salt to a medium bowl.  Whisk while slowly adding water to the bowl. 

Add Cornish hen.  Massage for a few seconds.  Cover with plastic wrap.

 Refrigerate overnight.  Flip the hen once or twice in between to marinate more evenly.

Preheat the smoker to 225 F/107 C

Add Cornish hen.  Smoke for about 3 hours or until it is golden brown.

I have to tell you this is one of most beautiful smoked chickens I have ever seen O(∩_∩)O~

A duck has been smoked before adding the Cornish hen to smoker.   Here is how to smoke a duck with sea salt and Sichuan peppercorns.