TUK FXS game day

Waking the next day, the briskie was rubbed with some coarse grained spices and then placed onto the smoker....26 hours later, it would be done.....

With an even mix of mesquite and hickory, the smoke begins to rise with the excitement of the day....the game is still a day away but the smell of the wood reminds me of my first OU game so very long ago....

Closing the lid on the meat....my only interaction with it other than to add wood to the smoke is seen through these two little guys....their remotes always within earshot to wake me in the middle of the night in case of temp spikes.....

As the meat slowly rose in temp....I prepped the other foods for the next day....here my TUK FXS coleslaw has taken shape.....

Fire roasting poblanos and Anaheims which are added into the polenta along with Gruyère cheese which is then formed into wedges and grilled fresh the next day....

With all the food prep done....I had nothing to do with the rest of the day before the game....but plot the internal temp profile of the briskie on it's march to completion.....

At 9 the next day.....The ribs went on.....here they're done with their first 2 hrs in the smoke and are now being wrapped in foil and juices for another 2 hrs.....the 2-2-1 method being employed....

With folks arriving and the game going well....halftime afforded me the opportunity to spread things out....

Prior to serving....I set aside the point on the brisket.....to be used as burnt ends later.  Happy with yet another successful gastronomic execution and a win this year by OU....the memories of friends who helped me celebrate over some of the best bark on a briskie ever will keep me fueled until next year....

TUK FXS preparations

Simple words....simple food....complex logistics.....that's TUK FXS.  The 8th annual celebration has begun.....some pics from today's events.

16lb packer....cleaned and ready....as a point of reference.....that's a 12" blade folks......

 The Briskie is all rubbed up.......this is going into the cooler for a rest until tomorrow when it gets another dose of seasoning before its 24 hr sit in the smoke......

Rendering bacon for the original brisket sauce......Beer and Bacon......Dr. Sooner states "it can't get better than this".....it really can't......

The ribs have also been rubbed......16lbs of brisket....and 15lbs of ribs.......these guys sit until Saturday morning where they get the 2-2-1 treatment under mesquite smoke....

Having rendered a cup of bacon drippings.....the sauce takes hold with celery, tomato, onion, garlic, hickory chips and plenty of other good stuff......the sauce will be strained and the fibrous material along with the hickory chips will feed the smoke......

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Everyone wins with Brisket (or tofu)

This post is belated, mostly due to the time it took for me to get out of my self-pitty pool....but I've decided that everyone wins, regardless of the games outcome...as long as you have Pecan Pie, Beef and Beer.

Mrs. Maad and I started off early in the week by getting the baking out of the way, so this meant applying the finishing touches to my Pecan Pie....

And a new addition for this year....some longhorn cookies...with plenty of OU themed icing....all served upside down. I even ensured, in a kosher manner.....that all cookies were prepared, inserted into the oven and served upside down....

After picking up Mr. Adams from the airport Thursday night....Dr. Sooner came over and helped out with the prep of the largest piece of Bevo we had planned....a 15lb briskie.....

We had a good thing going...one man on foil...one man on the Tuck Fexas rub....and me...beating and pounding the hell out of Bevo with the rub....

Into the fridge this beast went for an overnight flirtation with the dry rub....only to be kicked out of bed early the next day (Friday) by me to apply a layer of good ole' mustard.......

and then some coarse grained spice to promote a nice thick bark....

Starting the smoke out with a mix of 1/4 mesquite, 3/4 hickory.....

The plan was for a 24 hr cook time at a dome temp of 220 F, cesation of smoke at the plateau somewhere around 165, and a pull at 190 F internal temp...or whenever a probe into the heart of this beast felt like soft butter.....

as you can see from the internal temp....it's got a way to go.....

Leaving this beast for a while with the flowers and smoke (if you're lookin', you aint cookin)....Mr. Adams and I took a quick spin around Hawes before commencing on the beer drinking proper out on the patio.

Since this was Mr. Adams first time out at Hawes....on a loner bike from me....and his first time on the bike in a while...I took it easy....by doing Mudflaps at the beginning of the ride....

At least the air was clear of dust and other inhibiting pollution....

However as we rode on and the temp began to climb......my mind drifted to the sweet smell of mesquite smoke and thoughts of the meat....so we pedaled on...

After getting home, cleaning up, eating some burritos....we went to pick up the keg and prepare the second round of life....Longhorn ribs....

By this time....I was running a fever with chills and cold sweats...I had clearly been coming down with something all afternoon....but I'd be crazy to sit this one out....so chugging down some more beer(which was soooooo good for me)....I weathered on with the able help from the meat crew once more to make a meat train.....

which then transitioned into the Tuck Fexas dry rub train.....

Which were then foiled up for a rest overnight in the fridge just like the briskie which was now at an internal temp of 150....getting close to that heat plateau and stall point....Dr Sooner and Mr. Adams continued to drink and shoot some fuzzy pictures while I collapsed on the couch with a raging fever, passing out with the meat probe alarm next to my ear....

Beep-Beep.....Beep-Beep.....Beep-Beep.....I rubbed the crust off my eyes, looked at the clock which read 2:12am...I had only been sleeping for an hour and 45 minutes...but saw this.....

190 F internal temp achieved over the course of 18 hours, I grabbed my headlamp and headed outside to probe the meat...felt like soft butter...so I grabbed it and brought it inside to be foiled and placed into a cooler stuffed with blankets to continue to heat up and rest unassisted for the next 9 hours.....I was quite pleased with the look of this bark.......

Passing out in my bed this time, still with a fever...I set my alarm for 0500 so that I could get the smoke started again for the ribs....targeting a serving time of 1100. Waking up in the early dawn, my fever broke...I felt like a crisp 10 dollar bill as I lit the fire to keep me and the ribs company....

The rest of the day went as planned (except winning the game and seeing Sam Bradford's last collegiate snap). Folks came and went...no more pics were taken...except for the pic of the spread prior to eating. I was very pleased with the outcome of the briskie....it came out so tender...it was falling apart. I managed to dry the ribs out a bit though...trusting the 2-2-1 formula above my common sense. Lesson Learned....Next year they'll be as good as the briskie....and OU will beat texas! Many thanks to all who came and brought good cheer....and special thanks to the folks who showed up early to help drink some beer, prep food and hang out. I'm not sure how I would have managed through the fever without your help.

Sickness = Rambling post

I'm heading to Wolf Creek this weekend for a week of skiing and a week of not working. As usual, I get sick right before I go on vacation. Massive head cold, sinus congestion, swollen lymph nodes in my neck, lethargy. To top it off....Mrs. MaadJurguer will not be able to come because her boss has some sort of walking Pneumonia and she has to step it up for a few weeks. The hit's keep on rollin'! Hopefully I can muster my strength and get it together before skiing.....oh yeah, I'm still going on vacation, just without my wife. Saturday night is not going to be much help either, what with the Big-12 championship going down. Guess I'm gonna have to buck up. If I can manage, I'll blog some during the trip via the blackberry.

Because of this funk, I have not ridden two days in a row. Not counting trips out of town, I have not been off my bike two days in a row in.....I can't remember. If abstinence gets me better for Wolf Creek....I'm all for it. I've had my stomach set on some Nacho's from Bear Creek Saloon in Pagosa Springs since last year....they are the best Nacho's this side of the Kuiper Belt.

Speeking of food; I've been experimenting with my own energy bar recipe since this summer. I finally got a mix which is pretty darn good. I've been shooting for a blend of slow release carbs and instant carb boost via natural ingredients. My most recent blend starts with irish oats, buckwheat flour, ground flax, cinnamon, blackstrap molasses, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, whole almonds, dried cherries, dried currants, dried apricots, dried dates, golden raisins, dried strawberries, dried blueberries and white chocolate chunks. I bake them up on a 9x13 pan in the oven for 20 minutes, cool, cut into bars, flip and cook for another 10 minutes. The result this time came out crunchy and chewy.....in other words, perfect. I'll be carrying a bunch with me when skiing and riding, so holler if you want one.

Busy weekend

It’s shaping up to be a fun, jam packed weekend….so, in other words; normal. For starters, my computer has been buggy lately; sending me in a panic, forcing me to consider upgrading my new video card. After spending a few hours during the middle of the night troubleshooting, I’ve been able to isolate the problem to one of my video cards which is causing some rendering problems. It never ceases to get me drooling when considering the advances in technology in just 2 years time. I can basically buy a single video card right now which will equal or exceed the performance of my dual-video card set up which was top-o-the-line 2 years ago. I probably paid 700 bucks for my two 7800GT’s back then….I can now get a single 8800GT for $159 and it will pretty much give me the same performance as my dual-card set-up…..disgusting when I consider getting two of the 8800’s running in SLI. Ahh….priorities!

Secondly, I need to go buy an iPod for the anticipated delivery of the new maadjurguer mobile. I’m perhaps one of the last folks in the industrial world under the age of 35 who has yet to purchase a .mp3 player. Until solid-state HD’s come down in price, I’m forced to use the next best thing for compact car audio storage…hence the iPod. I’ll probably pick up the biggest one they make since I intend on packing it with as many moe. and Widespread Panic shows as possible. The iPod Classic 120GB should do nicely until I can get that 500GB solid-state HD installed in the glove box.

On the food front, I’ll be cooking up some good grub this Saturday night based upon one of my favorite chefs travels to the Yucatan, Rick Bayless. I'll be cooking up some Ha Si Kil Pak con tortilla de maize, Queso Rellano con Picadillo Estilo Yucateco y Pierna de Cordero. Translation: an Aztec recipe for mole made with pumpkin seed and Habanero, a round of Mexican cheese stuffed with a Yucatecan pork stuffing and a Oaxacan style pit cooked leg of lamb which is marinated in adobo and cooked in banana leaf. I’ve done the lamb in this style many times…but have been holding off on the Ha Si Kil Pak and the Queso Rellano.

Lastly, I’ll be kicking things off on Friday by an early morning round of golf with Dr. Sooner, happy hour with our favorite Iowans and catching STS9 later that night in Tempe. I don’t think I need to mention two obvious items which I’ll be partaking of this weekend, but will highlight them nonetheless. Sooner Football with beer and riding my bike. That always comes first….at least, until ski season. Good thing college football season winds down just as the snow begins to fly, otherwise I don't know what I'd do with myself.

It has begun

0530 AZ time.....woke without the alarm, everyone is sleeping off the night before....I'm amped.....fire is started, oatmeal is eaten......it's game time......................it's now 1810 AZ time......all I can say is don't talk to me for a week.





























Alright...now that I've had some time to sulk, here are some pics of how we rolled, before, during and waaaaaay after. This is what happens when you fill a bull shaped pinata with mini-bottles of booze.

A little corn syrup is the least of your worries

Cooked last night. When I asked my wife if using Dark Karo Corn Syrup for the glue for the letters was too much, her reply came quick and scalpel like: "Dude...we just cooked a whole pecan pie, a little corn syrup is the least of your worries." Easily the quote of the day.

Meat woes

I'm actually losing sleep over the BBQ logistics.....vacillating over cooking day of the game, or a pre-cook the day before. Both have their merits, but both have their downsides as well. Generally low and slow the day of is the old school method...but the times vary wildly as to how long a piece of meat will take. It can take anywhere from 1hr/lb to 2hr/lb depending on the quality of the cut. That's a lot of variability when you're trying to target a serving time. In addition, the low and slow methods offer a few temperature plateau's which make things interesting....the meat will actually stop raising its internal temp given a constant 220 degree environment and in some cases, will fall in internal temp; only to rebound, climb and stall once more. It's enough to make your hairfall out. The upside is that this is the method which produces the tenderest piece of brisket possible with that smoke ring of mesquite-ey goodness that everyone likes to see and the dark bark found on the outside with the carmalized sugars from the dry rub. So....If I go this route, it's either gamble on a 1.5 hrs/lb average time and wake up at 0400 to start the process for a 1200 serving time....or cook the day prior and just let the chips fall where they may with the reheat the day of the game. I've heard that the reheat does not translate into much lost in the way of flavor and texture...still, the style points here irk me. If it's not ready at 1200....it's going to be tough.....the one piece of meat that the longer you cook it....the more tender it gets...as long as you keep it between 220 and 250 dome temp.

Compounding this, I'm also simultaneously planning to cook the ribs low and slow utilizing the 3-2-1 technique. This is the easy part since ribs are not as nearly as fickle as the brisket. So...my tentative itinerary is as follows:

Friday Morning:
-Coat ribs and brisket in Tuck Fexas rub. Then coat brisket in yellow mustard and apply more Tuck Fexas rub. Saran wrap each and fridge.

Saturday Morning:
-0400 - Put brisket on rack on grill, fat side down with drip pan below filled with a beer for the BBQ gods. Keep active smoke going on Bevo with a temp range of 220-250. Drink a beer.
-0600 - Put Ribs on rack over second drip pan filled with more beer for the BBQ gods. Drink more beer and wake the Sooner masses with an extremely loud Pride of Oklahoma version of Boomer Sooner.
-0700 - Gameday in Dallas begins...men drink their Arrogant Bastard, ladies drink their Bloody Mack "Mary" Browns.
-0855 - Curse Scooter for picking Texas to win the game...then cheer because when Scooter picks Texas, OU usually wins.
-0859 - Foil ribs with some mop sauce thrown in, put back on the grill
-0900 - Watch the game, trying not to spill beer on freshly cleaned carpets....why did I clean the carpet BEFORE the game....guess I'm a dumbass.
-1000 - Hope to the BBQ gods that OU is kicking ass and the brisket is close to an internal temp of 160. If so....put the briske in an extra duty foil wrap, stuff in a preheated igloo cooler with blankets to take up air volume and let it coast to an internal temp of 190 via our old pal Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot.
-1100 - Make my way to the grill while diligently trying not to fall into the pool on the way....un-foil the ribs and put back on the grill for the last hour. Watch as Auston English and DeMarcus Granger snap Colt "Oppie" McCoy in half....literally snap him in half. Half of the stadium in Dallas is vomiting and crying, the other half cheering and throwing empty wild turkey ass pocket flasks at bevo.
-1200 - Unwrap all the meat while celebrating total dominance over texas and chow down on some bevo....Soy Bevo for the holdout vegan in the audience.

Ohh yeah....I rode today before work:







9.4 miles, 1103ft elevation gained

Stay thirsty my friends

The cut is healing up on my hand thanks to some medical super glue. I was able to take my first ride in 10 days today and it felt pretty good. I took it easy though since I've noticed it takes my knees (IT band) a while to get back into the groove. Plenty of stretching and low-angle rides for me until I get things springy again. Hopefully I will be ready to hammer down on a long day this Friday since it is my off-day. Taking a week off due to an injury sometimes does more damage than good. I'm also looking forward to getting back to the weights since I was unable to do anything to include a simple push up as long as the gash kept splitting.

On the OU-texas front, Bevo shipped today and is arriving on Wednesday. I ordered one extra rack for use during some preliminary tests based upon two different theories as to how to tenderize this tough cut of meat with a marinade. The back ribs are generally lean and tough on a corn-fed cow...so the Longhorn being extremely lean will provide for an even tougher back rib. I'll give a full after-action report this weekend, but I will say one marinade we will test with is a live-culture yogurt and buttermilk marinade, the other will use Dr. Pepper. Obviously one approach is the bio approach utilizing enzymes to break down the meat; the other is the chem approach to use the acidity to break down the meat. The rest of the preparation will be the same (Tuck Fexas rub, slow and low with mesquite smoke). I also have the Oklahoma grown pecans arriving on Thursday as well as a gallon of Jakes Rib sauce from none other than.....Jakes Rib in Chickasha, OK. Lastly, Dr. Sooner down the street has generously paid for and ordered a keg which we will be picking up early the morning of Friday the 10th. I guess I could also mention that OU is now in the #1 spot thanks to some horrible performances by USC, Florida, Georgia and a bunch of other teams which should not have lost...but it's all moot until we send Bevo packin.

And last but not least: Not to be outdone by himself, Dr. Sooner is not only providing the beer, he has also arranged for a special guest appearance by Billy Sims. Stay thirsty my friends.