Decided to host a game day for the Cowboys vs. Iggles game, and it felt like a good excuse to crank up the Blaz'n Gridiron. While other folks brought take out wings, pizza, and snacks, I figured I could raise the bar a bit. One friend brought over a Holiday Stout Sampler from Southern Star Brewing (Conroe, TX) ... but more on this later.
Decided to break into my little trove of pork belly for some pork belly burnt ends, and wanted to supplement it with some moink balls. Prepped the pork belly into 1.5" cubes and seasoned them with my standard pork rub. After twelve hours in the fridge, they went on the smoker at 175° for an hour to pickup some smoke, then bumped the temp to 250° for another hour.
Decided to sauce the pork belly with a mix of my homemade "Georgia Gold" BBQ Sauce, some hot honey, some Splenda Brown Sugar, cracked pepper, a bit of extra rub, and 3/4 of a stick of salted butter.
They went back into the smoker at 300° covered, and the moinks joined them for the last bit. The moinks got a new ancho rub I've been toying with and some decent applewood smoked bacon.
After 60 minutes, I uncovered the belly and let them roll for another 20 to help set the sauce. One of my friends who claims to have OCD about getting stick things on his hands limited us to unsauced moinks (I'm fairly certain he's also a card carrying member of the Communist party).
All in all, the pork belly burnt ends were a winner ... much like the Cowboys yesterday as they sent Philly packing with a loss. The moinks, lacking their normal sauce, were a bit dry but perked up when drizzled in the leftover sauce from the belly.
What was not a winner was that godawful beer. I'm not a stout guy usually, but if I'd known that the "holiday theme" was "dessert" ... including flavors like S'mores, Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Orange, and Irish Creme .... well, let's just say the guest list would have been one man less. Southern Star makes some decent craft brews, but this effort is not among them.
All in all, a great day in Texas ... the Cowboys won, barbecue was eaten, and good times were had.
