Pastor Byron's Smoked Pork

This recipe is more of a "how-to" for smoking a pork shoulder. You can use this same method for smoking meats of all types.

Items needed:
1. Large pork shoulder or similar meat. This post uses a 8.9 lb Pork Shoulder Butt roast.
2. Dijon mustard
3. Rubbing spices such as: Tiger Seasoning, BBQ rubs, or you can use just salt and pepper.
4. Large mixing bowl
5. Grill or smoker. This post uses a BBQ grill/smoker.
6. Kingsford Charcoal briquettes.
7. Cowboy Hickory wood chunks.
8. Charcoal lighter cubes or starter fluid.
9. Charcoal starting canister.
10. Match or Lighter
11. Metal water container to use on the grill.
12. Spray bottle with some type of liquid. This post uses Lemon Lime Gatorade.

Directions:
Place several of the hickory wood chunks into a bucket of water to soak. Then prepare the grill. Clean the top grilling rack if needed. Pour a double layer of charcoal briquettes onto right side of grill. Pour charcoal into lighting canister. Place three lighter cubes on left side of grill and light. Place lighting canister over top of lighter cubes. Once charcoal in canister has turned white, pour it on top of the layer of charcoal that you already placed on the right side of the grill. Use a metal shovel or other such tool to spread the coals evenly. Remember to leave the left side of grill empty. Place 3 or 4 of the soaked hickory chunks on top of the coals, place the top grilling racks on grill and close the lid. Make sure to open the right side grill vent about half way and also open the top smoke stack. The grill should get up to 250 - 300 degrees.

Go inside house and prepare your pork. Pour good amount amount of Dijon mustard into large mixing bowl (enough to completely coat the pork. Wash your pork and place into the mixing bowl. Use gloved hands to rub mustard all over the pork. (don't worry, your pork will NOT taste like mustard). Next, apply your rubbing spices and thoroughly rub all over the pork until it is completely coated.

Take the pork to the grill and place it on the grilling rack on left side beneath the smoke stack. Place a metal can or pan of water on the right side of the grill above the hot coals. Close the lid.

After about an hour, go out and check the pork. Take your spray bottle of liquid with you and something to turn the pork over with. By this time the outer part of the pork should look nice and grilled. Spray the pork with the liquid and turn the pork over on the other side. Spray again and close lid. Keep checking every hour, spraying liquid and turning pork over every time.  Cooking time should be about an hour per 1.5 pound if you keep your temps between 220 - 300. Internal temperature of pork should be about 195 degrees when done.

NOTE: Sometimes I do not like to wait 9 or 10 hours for the pork to finish so I will let it smoke 4 or 5 hours then remove it from the grill and put it in the Instapot and finish it up. Or you can place it in the slow cooker and let it cook several hours. The delicious smell going throughout the house will drive you crazy though! :)

Below are pictures in the order of the above steps:

I buy all of my supplies at Lowe's. 

Soaking the hickory chunks.

Begin with good clean prepared grill.

Add double layer of charcoal on right side of grill.

These starter pellets are fantastic!

A charcoal canister is a great investment!

Allow the charcoal to get good and hot (will turn white)

Pour hot coals on top of the layered charcoal.

Add some soaked hickory chunks. I like to use a metal shovel.

Place cooking grates on grill.

Make sure to open the smoke stack.

Your cooking temperature should be 220-300 degrees

Close lid and go in house to prepare pork.

Squirt Dijon mustard into bowl.

Wash the pork.

My favorite kind of Pork Shoulder.

This is after an hour of cooking.

This is after 4 hours of cooking.

Gluten Free Beef Stew

Pastor Byron's Gluten Free Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 4lbs - Beef Stew (Sam's Club has the best)
• 1 1/2 Cups - Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour
• 1/2 Tbs - Black pepper
• 3 Tbs - Olive oil
• 3 Tbs - Tiger Seasoning
• 1 Tbs - Penzeys Spices Forward! Seasoning
• 4 Tsp - Gluten Free Beef Base (We use Tones from Sam's)
• 1 Pkg Gluten Free Brown Gravy Mix (We use McCormicks)
• 2 Cup - Water
• 5 Garlic cloves chopped
• 2 Celery stalks chopped
• 2  4oz cans of sliced mushrooms (We buy them at Sam's)
• 5 Large potatoes chopped
• 5 Large carrots chopped
• 1 Large onion chopped
• 1 Can - Peas Lesaur early party
• 2 Cups - chicken broth (we make it with Gluten Free Tones Chicken Base)

Directions

Pour olive oil in heavy skillet on top of stove, turn on medium/high heat. Pour flour, Tiger Seasoning, Forward! Seasoning, and black pepper into large bowl, add beef stew a little at a time and coat evenly. Add beef stew to skillet in batches and brown on all sides. Do this until all beef is browned. 

Add all the beef stew to pressure cooker pot.
In same hot skillet you browned the beef stew in, add the beef base, brown gravy mix, water, and the 2 cups of the water, bring to boil stirring constantly until everything is dissolved and you have a nice soup. Pour on top of the meat in the pressure cooker pot, seal lid and cook beef stew for 30-minutes.

While the beef stew is cooking chop up all of your remaining ingredients and when the beef is finished add all along with 2-cups of chicken broth to the pressure cooker pot on top of beef stew, seal and cook another hour. Release steam, check to make sure vegetables are tender, if so, go ahead and serve. If vegetables are still firm, cook for another 30-minutes, release steam and serve.

Crusted Tilapia & Sprouts Over Grits

Pastor Byron's Crusted Tilapia & Sprouts over grits:

Ingredients:
4 - Tbs. Olive Oil
5 - fresh garlic cloves, chopped
1 - large Vidalia or sweet onion, sliced
1 - large green bell pepper, sliced
10 - Brussels sprouts, sliced
1 - Tsp. salt
1 - Tsp. curry powder
2 - Tbs. Old Bay Seasoning
1 - Sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
6 - Pcs boneless Tilapia, chopped into cubes

Directions: 
Add olive oil to large non-stick skillet, heat on med heat. Add garlic cloves to skillet and cook while chopping up the other vegetables. Add the remaining vegetables to skillet, add salt and curry power, and saute on medium heat. Place lid on skillet and allow vegetables to continue cooking while preparing the fish.

Add the chopped fish to a large mixing bowl and then add the Old Bay Seasoning and crushed Ritz crackers, mix thoroughly together coating the fish well. Remove lid from skillet and push vegetables to the sides of the skillet making an opening in the middle. Add all of the fish to the skillet and replace lid. Allow to cook for 10 to 15 minutes, use a spatula to turn fish to get all sides cooked. Place lid back on and allow to cook for another 10 minutes or until fish if thoroughly cooked through. It should start flaking when it is ready.

Serve on a plate over cheesy grits (preferred) or rice, or add to burrito shells for fish tacos.
For a great cheesy grits recipe (the one that I use) go to this link: http://www.idratherbeachef.com/best-creamy-grits-cheese/

Enchilasagna (Mexican Lasagna)

Pastor Byron's Enchilasagna

Ingredients:

• 3-lb ground beef
• 2- 1 oz. pkg Taco Bell taco seasoning mix
• 1-tsp salt
• 1-tsp pepper
• 1 - 16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 - 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• 1- 16 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1- 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 1- 5 oz. water
• 18 - small corn tortillas

Directions:
In a large skillet, brown ground beef adding the salt and pepper. Drain grease from ground beef and leave ground beef in skillet. Add 1-pkg of the taco seasoning mix to the ground beef and stir it in well. In a mixing bowl stir in the tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, water, and the other pkg. of taco seasoning mix. Pour half of the mix into the ground beef and stir well. Add 1/4 of the cheddar cheese and let melt in.

In a 10 x 14 pan or casserole dish, pour in enough of the sauce mix just to cover the bottom of the pan. Put down a layer of the tortillas (6 of them). Spoon half of the ground beef mixture over the top of the tortillas and then add a layer of cheddar cheese. Put down another layer of the tortillas (6 of them) and add the rest of the ground beef mixture and a layer of the cheddar cheese. Add the remaining 6 tortilla shells on top. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top and the remaining cheddar and all of the mozzarella cheese.

Place in 350 degree oven and bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, turn oven on broil and lightly brown the top of the cheese. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes and then serve.

Loui's Style Spaghetti Sauce

Pastor Byron's Loui's Style Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 Tsp rosemary
• 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
• 1/4 Tsp. of sage
• 3 pounds ground round beef crumbled finely
• 1 pound of sausage
• 1 Tbs basil
• 2 Tbs garlic salt
• 2 Tbs oregano
• 1 Tsp black pepper
• 4 dashes Tabasco sauce
• 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp Red Pepper flakes
• 1 (12-ounce) or 2 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
• 2 (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1 (15 oz.) can water
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 jar (14 oz.) Mama Mary's Pizza sauce (optional)
• 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

Directions:
In large cooking pot, heat olive oil, and saute' the garlic, and onions. Add the ground beef, sausage, rosemary, Italian seasoning and sage and brown the meat until thoroughly cooked through. Make sure to finely chop up or crumble the meat. Stir in all remaining ingredients, place lid on cooking pot and simmer on low heat for at least an hour, more if possible. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to bottom of pot..

Pastor Byron's Ham Bone Soup

Byron’s Ham Bone Soup

Ingredients:

• 1- Large leftover ham bone with some ham still hanging on it

• 6 - Chicken Bouillon cubes

• 1 - large chopped onion

• 1 - Tbs minced garlic

• 1 - chopped green pepper

• 2 - tsp of Bavarian seasoning

• 1 - small bag of baby carrots

• 6-8 - quarts of water

• 1 - can tomato paste

• 1 - can pinto beans

• 1 - can Rotel

• 1  - 8 oz. package of barley, lentils, and split peas grains

• 1 - tbs Worcestershire sauce

• 1  - 4oz. pkg of Nissin chow Mein teriyaki beef flavor noodles

• ½ - Tbs of Tiger Seasoning

• 1 - tsp of black pepper

Directions:

In a large stock pot add the ham, bouillon cubes, onion, green pepper, minced garlic, Bavarian seasoning, and carrots. Pour in water until it reaches just over the top of the Ham bone. Boil on stove for 3 hours.

Remove the bone from the pot pulling off any ham that is still on bone and leaving in pot. Add all other ingredients to pot bring to boil then cook on low to medium heat for 2 hours. 

Pastor Byron's Mexican Roast

Byron's Mexican Roast

Ingredients

• 3 to 5 lb Cooked pork shoulder roast shredded
• 1 – onion chopped
• ½ - green pepper chopped
• 1 – can rotel
• 1 – tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ - cup siracha sauce
• 1 – tbs minced garlic
• 1 – juice from one orange
• 1 – jalepeno pepper chopped
• ¼ - cup salsa verde
• 1 – tsp smoked paprika
• 1 – tsp ground cumin
• 1 – tsp oregano

Directions:

Start by pan frying the shredded pork to give it a crusty texture, add the onions and green peppers while frying. When pork is hot through and through and onions and peppers are soft, pour all into the crockpot. Add all of the other ingredients, cook covered on high heat for 4-hours. Serve on burrito shells or over rice.

Pastor Byron's Taco Bake

 


Pastor Byron's Taco Bake

Ingredients

• 1 - lb ground beef
• 1 - lb sausage
• 1 - 15 oz Jar Salsa
• 2 - cups pinto beans
• 1 - pkg Taco Bell Taco Powder Mix
• 1 - cup rice
• 2 - tbs Habanero sauce
• 1 - Pkg of Old El Paso Bold Nacho Cheese Taco Shells (broken in pieces)
• 3 - cups shredded Mozzarella/Monterrey/Cheddar cheese
• 15-20 - Tortilla chips

Directions

Brown ground beef and sausage in large non-stick skillet (do not drain unless there is an excessive amount of grease). Sprinkle the taco seasoning mix on top of meat mixture and stir in thoroughly. Add the salsa, beans, rice, and habanero sauce to mixture and cook in skillet until all is mixed well and heated throughout.

Evenly layer the broken taco shell pieces into the bottom of a large casserole or baking dish. Add the contents from the skillet to the dish spreading it evenly. Spread the shredded cheeses over the top of entire dish. Wedge the tortilla chips into the sides of the pan all the way around pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes then turn on broil and brown the top of the cheese slightly. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with choice of toppings such as sour cream or salsa.

Pastor Byron's Mexican Stoup

Pastor Byron's Mexican Stoup

Ingredients

• 3 - Cups leftover pork roast (shredded)
• 1 - Large Onion (chopped)
• 2 - Cups Pinto Beans
• 1 - Can Hunts Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
• 1 - Can Ro-Tel Tomatoes and Green Chilies (10 oz.)
• 1 - Jar of Salsa (15 oz)
• 3 - 5.5 Oz. cans of V8 Juice
• 1 - Pint of water
• 2 - Tbs of Habanero sauce
• Salt to taste

Toppings

• Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese
• Sour Cream

Directions

Add leftover pork roast and chopped onion to a large cooking pot and cook on medium to high heat until onions become soft. Add all other ingredients, bring to a boil for approximately 2 minutes. Turn heat down to low and let slowly cook or simmer for 3 hours.

Serve in bowls, add your favorite toppings (Monterrey Jack Cheese and Sour Cream' are excellent toppings).

Pastor Byron's Crab Casserole

Pastor Byron's Crab Casserole

Ingredients

• 4 - 5 cups imitation crab meat
• 1 cup Mayonnaise
• 1 cup Sour Crème
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 small can evaporated milk
• 1/2 pan of crumbled cornbread
• 1 tbs Old Bay Seasoning
• 1 tsp Cayenne Powder
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

Topping

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 stick of melted butter
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed

Directions
Combine all ingredients except topping ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.
Pour mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish and spread out evenly. Spread the parmesan and mozzarella cheese across top. Mix the crushed Ritz crackers and melted butter together in a bowl and pour over top of mixture, spreading evenly. Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for 30-minutes. After 30-minutes turn oven to broil and brown top of casserole. Remove from oven and serve.

Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie

By: Mary Chesney

2 pounds ground beef

salt and pepper to taste

4 cups hot mashed potatoes*

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

4 cloves minced garlic or 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic

4 cups vegetables of your choice**

2 cups beef gravy***

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season ground beef with salt and pepper while browning it in a large skillet; drain. Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1 cup of the shredded cheddar, and garlic until well blended. Stir vegetables and gravy into meat. Spoon into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with potato mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through. This can be put together the night before, just add extra baking time,

*The mashed potatoes need to be warm enough to melt the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. You can warm them up in the microwave.

**I get out my measuring dish and just start adding ingredients until I reach 4 cups. The pie in the above pic had onion, green pepper, leftover green beans, leftover peas, and leftover broccoli. Although it would be good with any combination, I would recommend adding chopped onions for sure. It really adds to the flavor. My favorite combination is 2 cups cooked green beans, 1 1/2 cups chopped onions, and 1/2 cup green pepper.

***I use Pioneer Brand Brown Gravy Mix. It is one of the few mixes that makes 2 cups of gravy. You just mix 1/2 cup cold water with the mix while you are bringing 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat, add the mix, and stir until slightly thickened. Set aside until ready to mix with the vegetables and meat.