When Don called and asked us if we’d cook at the first annual Cozy Fest in Mt. Airy, MD we did not hesitate to say yes. For several years we have raved about his ability to host a great eggfest. He has a knack for creating the perfect environment for eggheads to show off their recipes and allows them to interact with everyone that gets to taste the food. Cozy Fest was a hit for a first year eggfest and the venue has lots of room to grow for future events. As promised, we are posting all the recipes we used this weekend, enjoy!
Charring the salsa ingredients
Grilled Pineapple Salsa
1 head pineapple, cored
1 T finely diced red onion (or to taste)
1 bunch cilantro
2 fresh jalapeños
2 fresh poblano peppers
Dizzy Pig Jamaican Firewalk seasoning
Slice around pineapple core, then cut into slices or wedges. Liberally apply Dizzy Pig Jamaican Firewalk seasoning, and grill direct over high heat. Remove when grill marks form and pineapple softens a little. Add jalapeños and poblanos or any other pepper you prefer to the grate. Remove when charred all over. Let the peppers rest until they are cool enough to handle, then rub the charred, papery layer of skin until it is removed; finely dice. Dice the grilled pineapple into small cubes. Add diced pineapple, peppers, onion, and chopped cilantro in bowl, mixing until combined well. Add salt and pepper if needed, to taste.
Shown as a slider, also served as meatballs at Cozy Fest.
Curry-ish Meatballs
4 lbs hamburger meat (can substitute ground turkey or lamb)
4 T Dizzy Pig Curry-ish seasoning (to taste)
¼ C finely diced onion
¼ C crumbled feta cheese
1 small package frozen kale (thawed and liquid squeezed out)
Add all ingredients to large bowl and mix with hands until combined; be careful to not over-mix or the meat will become tough. Roll into 2” balls and add to hot grill. Cook direct over hot coals until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, or approximately 7-10 minutes. Move each ball to ensure even cooking as needed. Top with tzatziki, sriracha mayo, or condiment of choice. We used store-bought tzatziki from Costco, but it is very simple to make at home as well.
Tips: When making a recipe like this, we usually make a very small patty that we cook first to taste and make sure our seasonings are where we want them. If they are not, we can add more to taste. This recipe can also be used to make patties for burgers or sliders.
Dump Cake
1 package cake mix of choice
2 cans pie filling or canned fruit in heavy syrup
1 stick melted butter
Add fruit of choice to bottom of cake pan or dutch oven. Sprinkle cake mix on top of fruit, then pour melted butter on top of cake mix. Cook on grill or oven at 350-375 degrees until the top browns a little and the edges are bubbly. This can take 30-60 minutes, just keep an eye on it after the first 30 minutes, checking every 15 minutes after that.
For this Eggfest, we used confetti cake mix with strawberry pie filling for one cake, and canned peaches with about a cup of thawed blueberries and butter cake mix for the other.
Brian had many responsibilities during DizzyFest, including photobombing Chris Capell!
Hard to believe it’s already time for the first DizzyFest of 2013. We spent the first three weeks of May competing in KCBS BBQ competitions and with the help of our Dizzy Pig sponsorship we finished in the top ten in two of those three competitions. There’s no better way to relax after a grueling month than an eggest and Chris and the Dizzy Pig crew put on one of the best eggfests in the area! We had a great time, enjoyed some great weather, and yes, we’ve already signed up to cook for DizzyFest5! Thanks to the entire crew for putting on a great event.
We had many requests for our recipes and instead of handing out recipe cards, we promised to post the recipe and cooking instructions for the dishes we served up at DizzyFest. This way they can be accessed at any time, and if you use the recipe and find a way to improve it, you can interact with us and everyone else by posting what you’ve done! If you know Erin at all, recipes are all in her head and rarely are actually measured or portioned out. Because of this, we will mostly just list ingredients and when possible try to approximate a measurement. Keep in mind it’s all done to taste and you should be tasting as you go!
Smoked Salmon over Grilled Salad
Smoked Salmon over Smoked Romaine Salad
Take one salmon filet and marinade overnight in an asian style marinade (recipe below). Set up your egg to cook indirect at approximately 275 degrees. We use alder chips over the coals for a gentle smoke flavor. Dust the filet with a heavy coat of Dizzy Pig’s Raging River followed by a lighter coat of Dizzy Pig’s Pineapple Head rub. Let sit for 10 minutes before cooking. Place the salmon in the smoker and cook to an internal temperature of 138. If you like it more firm, cook to 145. This should take approximately 45 minutes.
Charred Romaine
For the salad, set up an egg for direct cooking at about 400 degrees. Cut romaine hearts in half lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and lightly dust with Dizzy Pig’s Shakin’ the Tree. Place on grate to char each side. This should only take a couple of minutes per side, just keep an eye on it. Slice zucchini and treat it the same as the romaine using the oil, same rub, and char for a few minutes on each side over direct heat. We like to throw a few green onions directly on the grate at the same time as the zucchini just to give it a little char as well. Chop grilled ingredients and toss with salad ingredients and toppings of your choice. We used Erin’s favorite green olive antipasto from Costco: Mezzetta Italian Olive Antipasto, crumbled gorgonzola, and our new favorite salad ingredient… roasted pistachios. The dressing we used was really just a mixture of a pre-made caesar dressing from Costco, mixed with the juice from the olive mixture and a little bit of walnut oil and jalepeno olive oil. You can use whichever ingredients and dressing you prefer. Have fun with it!
One-pot Curry-ish Chicken and Grains
Curry-Ish Chicken and Grains simmering in the paella pan
We us a true 12″ paella pan as it really does a good job of cooking evenly over direct heat. Set up your egg for a temperature of about 325 then put your pan on to pre-heat. The goal during this cooking process it to just keep things simmering and adding ingredients as you go.
Start by cooking chicken in a little olive oil until cooked through. Add chopped cauliflower and a generous amount (about a palm full) of Dizzy Pig Curry-ish seasoning. Add rice or grain mixture of your choice, we used a Mediterranean grain blend, again from Costco, with enough water or chicken stock to cover all the ingredients. Let simmer and add liquid if it begins to become to dry before your rice or grains are cooked. Stir as needed to keep the bottom from getting overdone. This process is similar to cooking a risotto. Once your grains are close to finished, add 1/2 can of garbanzo beans and continue simmering. Once the grains are finished and most of the liquid has been absorbed, add 1/2 can of coconut milk and continue cooking approximately 3 more minutes until the coconut milk has mixed in and had chance to be absorbed. Taste as you go and add season salt and/or Curry-ish if you think it needs it. A quick zest of lemon would be great right at the end. Hmmm… we’ll have to try that!
Again, this is approximate. Be sure to taste as you go and make changes if necessary.
Salmon Marinade:
1 C Soy Sauce
2 T Brown Sugar
1/4 C Mirin (you can substitute maple syrup for both the brown sugar and/or mirin)
1/4 C rice wine vinegar
Generous squeeze of Sriracha
2 T Sesame Oil
Generous amount of freshly grated ginger
1 t Five Spice Powder
2 chopped scallions
A few people asked us about our PepperMonkey Lamb meatballs that we had cooked at other EggFests. We were fortunate this year to have the recipe published in Paul Kirks newest book, “America’s Best BBQ – Homestyle: What the Champions Cook in Their Backyards.” After the book was published, Epicurious selected our recipe as their recipe of the day. Click here if you’d like to view this wonderful lamb recipe!
And Finally, we had many inquiries about the necklaces we make to include the butcher block cow, pig and the “Egghead” necklace. As promised, here is a link to our Etsy site, OlivebyMC. We have set up a discount code for all you eggheads so when checking out, make sure you put in the discount code: dizzyfest
Egghead Necklace by OlivebyMC
Eggfests are alway fun. Big Green Egg owners, otherwise known as Eggheads, gather to show off their food and recipes with each other and with the general public. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see the unlimited potential that cooking on a BGE offers. Good food, spending time with old friends, meeting new friends … and more good food … makes every Eggfest a good time. When Bay Stoves of Annapolis host an eggfest, they take it to another level. Don, Lani and crew go out of their way to take care of all the cooks. They have worked hard to create an intimate atmosphere that we have never seen at other Eggfests and I think it is safe to say this event is permanently marked on our calendar every year.
Another Annapolis Eggfest!
After saying hello to our Egghead friends, we quickly fired up a BGE and started the day with Erin’s tator tot breakfast casserole. This was something so simple and delicious and showed off Erin’s unique ability to take anything she can find in the refrigerator and make it a delicious meal. Next we cooked a salmon filet smoked over alder wood. Just before we pulled it off the egg we toppped it with a habanero pineapple glaze.
Our final cook was one of our favorites, our version of a lamb kofta meatball. Freshly ground lamb mixed with toasted and ground cumin seed, coriander seed, cardamom, allspice, star anise. Salt, pepper and turmeric were added along with onion, mint, garlic, ginger, spinach and feta. We formed these into meatballs and grilled them direct until the outside caramelized. These were a huge hit and people lingered around our egg in hopes of getting a taste.
Lamb Meatballs on the BGE
Unbeknownst to us, as people wandered around and tasted all of the food, they could vote for their favorite of the day. We were surprised when Lani informed us we had won people’s choice and provided us with a wonderful gift bag full of prizes donated by local restaurants!
Thanks again to the Bay Stoves crew for hosting such a wonderful Eggfest. We are looking forward to 2013!
- The line forms in Pittsburgh as the air is filled with the smell of grilling!
We attended the 3rd annual Pittsburgh Eggfest last weekend and as always with an Eggfest, we had a blast! Nice weather, great hosts and wonderful food made for a perfect environment to cook and make new friends. We arrived early to set up and althought the sun was beating down on us, it was far better than rain. We got to work preparing our menu: St. Louis style spare ribs, lamb and shrimp meatballs with Afghan green sauce, and blueberry/basil/goat cheese tartlets for dessert. The ribs went well and we were able to show people you can cook a perfectly moist and tender rack of ribs in less than three hours on a big green egg. A crowd gathered asking for recipes and cooking techniques. A friend from Canada didn’t get into the line in time to get a rib from the four racks we cooked, so he kindly asked for a couple of meat scraps from the cutting board which we gladly provided! Next we served a meat ball made of ground lamb and cut up shrimp. Seasoned to perfection and served on top of the Afghan green sauce. The crowd made quick work of the meatballs and an entire boneless leg of lamb was gone within 10 minutes, one meatball at a time! Our kind cooking neighbors voted Erin’s dessert tartlets their ‘fest favorite’ because it had flavors that were unexpected, yet well balanced. A mix of blueberries, goat cheese, cream cheese and basil were stuffed into a crispy shell and lightly smoked on the Big Green Egg just until they were warmed through. The result was a sweet and savory fruit tartlet that had people coming back for seconds and thirds. Individual recipes will be posted on our recipe page in the near future.
Pittsburgh Eggfest was truly a success. I think everyone did a great job showing the public just how versatile the Big Green Egg can be. A whole lot of delicious food was given out and most importantly, new friendships were made. Thanks again to all involved in making this a successful event, hopefully we’ll be able to return next year!
St. Louis style spare ribs ready to be cut and served.
Lamb and shrimp meat balls on the Big Green Egg
Lamb and shrimp meat balls served over Afghan green sauce.
