BY ANN CIPPERY
A barbecue contest winner and judge, Jonathan Middleton of Auburn, enjoys grilling and smoking meats on four different kinds of cookers. He is sharing his tips and recipes for preparing flavorful, perfectly cooked meats for Memorial Day weekend, while his wife, Jacque, is sharing her family’s winning dessert recipes.
Jonathan moved from Eufaula to Auburn after high school to attend Auburn University. While a student, he met Jacque at church. Jonathan works at the business office of the inpatient pharmacy at East Alabama Health, and Jacque is the Instructional Coach at Auburn High School. Her team just won their second state champion. Jacque was recently in Dallas, Texas, with her students who qualified for the Robotics World Championship.
The Middletons have a daughter, Molly Cate, a 10th grader at Auburn High School who is in Show Choir. She also enjoys being involved at church like her parents, who are active in the community.
When Jonathan and Jacque married, her parents, Rheada and James Haynes, were living in Hernando, Miss., a suburb of Memphis, Tenn., and were involved in cooking barbecue and judging various barbecue contests. They encouraged Jonathan to attend classes to qualify for judging competitions. He decided to take the classes and began judging various contests.
Jonathan and the Haynes have judged the Memphis in May World Champion Barbecue Cooking Contest many times. He tries to attend the event most years and enjoys serving as a judge.
There are three major barbecue leagues, with two of them in Memphis and the other in Kansas City. Recently, a new league called the Steak Cookoff Association based out of Texas has begun hosting competitions. The Haynes and Jonathan are certified as judges for all four of those leagues.
The different training and certifications that Jonathan has in the grilling and barbecue world in addition to Memphis in May in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest are: Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS), Memphis Barbecue Network (MBN) and Steak Cookoff Association (SCA).
He began cooking barbecue and judging barbecue competitions around 2008-2009. “It has been fun,” Jonathan said, “and I have tasted a lot of good products over the years. It has also helped with my cooking barbecue and steaks.”
In 2010, he was on a team that won the amateur side of the Boda Getta Barbecue contest that was hosted at Ag Heritage Park on the Auburn University campus. This was a KCBS sanctioned barbecue cooking contest.
Jonathan volunteers for Boy Scout camps and cooks for church events. For one event they cooked 16 racks of ribs, five brisket flats and two Boston butts for a lunch. Most of his cooking is for family, friends, coworkers and church.
He enjoys cooking out with family, co-workers, friends at
church and Dean Rogers, who caters, that he cooks with for local Ducks Unlimited events. With all of his equipment, he will cook meats for friends when they need it for special occasions.
Jonathan is sharing his tips for cooking out. He prefers charcoal and uses it in all of his cookers. Whether he is grilling or smoking, it will be over charcoal, as he believes it provides a good flavor and helps with temperature control. Use good charcoal. He prefers B&B charcoal, Jealous Devil and some other good ones.
When cooking out, his first tip is to know your grill.
“All grills have hot spots,” he said. “You have to know about the settings. Practice enough to know the temperature, as controlling the temperature is key to know what you can do.”
He uses a temperature probe that gives the temperature on the cooking surface. He clips it on the rack along with a fan that blows on the charcoal that will heat the cooking chamber.
“A Green Egg has the thermometer at the top of the lid and is not reading the temperature at the cooking surface,” he said. “Knowing how to control the temperature is a big key to grilling.
“If smoking a Boston butt, rack of ribs or another meat, the smoke is only going to generate the meat for about four hours over a course of cooking. It is a problem for some people who leave the meat in the smoker for the entire time. It can dry out the meat, overcook or undercook it.
“After four hours, you want to cover the meat and turn the heat up a little to get it to cook,” he added. “I cook all the meats to internal temperature to be sure they are done and not overcooked.
“Turkey breasts, chicken and pork tenderloin dry out quickly if overcooked, but poultry has to be fully cooked to an internal temperature of 165. That is why the probe works, as you can test several places. I will pull poultry off the grill at 170.”
He lets meat rest before slicing, otherwise all of the juices will run out, drying the meat. With steaks and small cuts of meats such as pork tenderloins and ribs, he lets them sit for about 10 minutes. For Boston butts, he lets them rest for 30 to 45 minutes. “I want to be able to pull the bone out so I know it is done to my liking,” Jonathan said.
He thinks letting the meat sit in a cooler just drags the time out. He suggests leaving it on the counter to rest if you are getting ready to serve it. If you are cooling the meat to serve later, it is fine to leave in the cooler.
To have flavorful meats, Jonathan suggests using a marinade, injected brines or a dry rub before grilling.
“If you add flavor on the front end, the end result is going to be better. In the old days people would cover steaks with A1 sauce, but good meat doesn’t need sauce. If I make a sauce, it will be red or white barbecue sauce.”
Some Memphis barbecue restaurants pan fry sausage and sprinkle their house rub over it. They serve the sausage with cubed cheese and a barbecue sauce for dipping. He is sharing a similar recipe that is made with Alabama Conecuh sausages and coleslaw.
His recipes include his ribs, pork tenderloin, burnt ends and coleslaw. Other recipes include desserts that Rheada entered in cooking contests and won.
“I cook because I enjoy it, and I like good food,” Jonathan said. “I think practice is key to cooking. I enjoy barbecuing, as it is having fellowship with others while the meats are cooking.”
On Memorial weekend, Jonathan, Jacque and Molly Cate will be relaxing with family and friends while the tantalizing aromas from the grill drift across the patio and backyard. Look over the Middletons’ recipes and plan a menu for preparing a special meal to serve your family this weekend.
Smoked Baby Back Ribs
Baby back ribs
Barbecue dry rub
Apple cider or apple juice
After removing ribs from packaging, remove membrane from bottom side of ribs. Liberally cover the top, side and ends of ribs with your choice of barbecue dry rub. A light covering on the bottom will be plenty.
Smoke at 250 degrees for three and a half hours. Spritz each hour with clear apple cider or apple juice.
Pull ribs from the smoker and wrap in aluminum foil, adding 1-2 oz of apple juice in foil wrap.
Return to the smoker for two hours, still at 250 degrees.
Pull from the smoker and remove the wrap. Serve hot.
Poor Man’s Burnt Ends
Beef chuck roast
Yellow mustard
Savory barbecue dry rub
Brown sugar
Sweet barbecue sauce
Using a beef chuck roast, coat all sides with yellow mustard. Then cover liberally with your choice of savory barbecue dry rub.
Smoke at 250 degrees for four hours. Pull from smoker and wrap in butcher paper, return to smoker, still running at 250 degrees.
Once internal temperature reaches 190 degrees, pull from the smoker. Cut up into 1-inch by 1-inch cubes. Place cubes in a metal pan and cover with brown sugar and your choice of a sweet barbecue sauce. Stir gently, but sufficiently until all cubes are covered with mixture.
Return, uncovered, to the smoker for about an hour. Pull and serve warm.
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Pork tenderloin
Duck fat spray
Boars Night Out White Lightning Double Garlic seasoning
All Que’d Up Big Red Beef seasoning
After removing tenderloin from packaging, pat dry with a paper towel.
Coat all sides with Duck Fat Spray. Cover all sides with Boars Night Out White Lightning Double Garlic seasoning. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Then cover all sides with All Que’d Up Big Red Beef seasoning. Let sit for another 10-15 minutes.
Grill on medium heat, flipping sides throughout cooking time, until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.
Pull from the grill, and let set for 15 or so minutes before slicing into medallions. Serve warm.
*Pro tip number 1: use King’s Hawaiian rolls and make these into sliders. Top with a touch of horseradish sauce or choice of barbecue sauce. Add pickle or Wickle slice for a little variation.
**Pro tip number 2: top sliders with a dab of pimento cheese.
Cole Slaw
1 lb. shredded cabbage or pre-made coleslaw mix
½ cup chopped onions
8 oz. mayonnaise
½ cup white vinegar
Black pepper to taste
Add half a cup of chopped onions to shredded cabbage or pre-made coleslaw mix.
Mix in mayonnaise and white vinegar. More of each can be added for taste. Then add in black pepper to taste.
Let it set up overnight and taste again. Then make any further minor adjustments. Serve cold.
*Note: This version of coleslaw is to be more vinegar-based than mayo-based. Flavor with final product should reflect this.
Memphis-Inspired Sausage and Cheese Platter
1 lb. Conecuh smoked sausage
Sweet dry rub of choice
Cheddar cheese
Colby Jack cheese
Slice sausage into small disks (no more than ¼-inch thick). Pan fry until golden brown.
Pull and drain grease. Liberally cover with a sweet dry rub of choice. I’m a fan of All Que’d Up’s Big Red Beef.
Cube or slice medium cheddar cheese and Colby Jack cheese. Moderately sprinkle the same sweet dry rub over the cheese as with the sausage.
Can also add baby kosher dill pickles or pickled okra for another option. Sprinkle these with the same sweet dry rub.
Serve all items with a side of barbecue sauce of choice for dipping.
Pecan Pie Cheesecake
Rheada Haynes
10-inch springform pan
Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
4 Tbsp. sugar
Mix and press in to bottom and sides of the 10-inch springform pan. Set aside.
Pie:
I cheat and buy a frozen pecan pie. Corky’s is the best or you can make your own. Cut off the crust around the top of the pie, cut into cubes. Homemade of course would be better but for time and taste not a significant difference.
Put small cubes of the pie in the bottom of the springform with the crust. Leave gaps between pie cubes, you will want cheesecake to go between them.
Cheesecake:
4 pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ Tbsp. cornstarch (This is a must as there will not be any cracking and no water bath when you use it.)
4 eggs
Caramel sauce (caramel ice cream topping or make your own)
Praline pecans for garnish
Beat cream cheese and sugar until very smooth. Add vanilla and cornstarch. Mix well. Add eggs one at a time, do not over mix, just blend well.
Pour cheesecake over the pecan pie, filling in spaces and even off. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes, until it is almost set in center.
Let the cheesecake cool. Place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight. Place on a serving plate, unhook springform pan, lift out of ring and replace on serving plate.
Pour caramel sauce over top. My recipe calls for caramel ice cream topping or make your own. I did a firmer caramel and it did not work well, but did not look pretty. You could do Eagle Brand, but I used the caramel topping in the pint jar by Hershey.
Then chop some nuts to put on top. We used Kroger brand praline pecans. Then some whole ones were scattered around on the bottom of the plate.
Award Winning White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce
Rheada Haynes
1 loaf French bread (I use a baguette- the long skinny loaf.)
1 qt. plus 1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 or 4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla
2 pkg. white chocolate morsels, divided
Tear bread into small bits. I like tiny rather than chunks. Pour the quart of whipping cream over bread pieces. Let it set at least 30 minutes or longer. Make sure all pieces are covered in cream.
Beat 3 or 4 eggs, depending on how many you can beat with a mixer or a whisk. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat well; stir in one package white chocolate morsels.
After bread has soaked, add egg mixture; mix together well. Pour into a buttered 9 by 13-inch dish. I use a glass one if taking it to a party where people would be seeing it. Bake at roughly 375 for 30 to 45 minutes until lightly golden. Do not burn.
While that is cooking, in a double boiler or microwave, warm the 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until just short of boiling. Stir the other package of morsels until smooth. This is the sauce.
I do not usually pour the sauce over pudding, some do, but I personally think it gets a little overly rich. I serve the sauce in a nice gravy/sauce boat.
Any leftover sauce (and there is always leftover sauce) is great as a coffee creamer.
Mississippi Confetti
2 cans French fried onions
17 oz. can mixed nuts
1 cup pecans
1 ½ cups pretzel sticks
1 ½ cups Corn Chex cereal
1 pkg .dry taco seasoning
1/2 cup melted margarine or butter
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Combine onions, pretzels, nuts, pecans, and cereal in a 9 by 13-inch pan. Sprinkle with taco seasoning mix well to cover on everything. Drizzle with butter. Mix well.
Bake for 55 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool.
Memphis-Inspired Barbecue Nachos
On a cookie sheet, create a bed of tortilla chips.
Liberally cover with your choice of protein, such as pulled pork or shredded chicken.
Top with a white cheese dip and choice of shredded cheese.
Place the sheet pan in the oven at 300 for 10 minutes or until chips are crisp and shredded cheese melts.
Pull from oven and cover with choice of barbecue sauce.
Add diced onions and sliced jalapenos to taste.
Serve hot.
