This hearty Lentil Soup made with Smoked Sausage, Bacon, Red Wine, and Vegetables has deep smokey and savory flavors, is comforting, and completely soul-soothing. It’s the perfect soup for a cold and rainy afternoon. A Tried & True Soup Recipe To Feed A Crowd This soup is a winter staple with our catering company, Ember…
BBQ
Smoked Lamb Chops, Roasted Acorn Squash Salad, and Wine Pairing
Most wine pairings start with the food. We’re having X for dinner, what wine would pair best? But what if you have a fantastic wine and you want to create the perfect meal specifically to highlight that very wine? I’ve been haunted by one such wine for over a month now. Knudsen Vineyard Pinot Noir…
Semi-Smoked Apple Crisp (for four)
This Semi-Smoked Apple Crisp is a fantastic dessert cooked directly on your grill and perfect for a family of four! Have you ever wondered if you could cook an apple crisp on an outdoor smoker or grill? Or better yet, if you could attain smoke flavor without owning a smoker? The answer to both of…
Smoked Brisket Pizza
Brisket Pizza takes leftover brisket and gives it a fresh makeover! This is another fantastic use for leftover Beef Brisket. My husband’s weakness is pizza. Usually he prefers plain ol’ pepperoni pizza (which I find quite boring). But lately, with his never-ending obsession with trying to perfect his brisket (this is a real problem, people),…
Smoke Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Smoked Bacon
Smoke Roasted Butternut Squash Soup topped with smoked bacon is the perfect fall soup. Butternut squash is roasted in the smoker for this comforting dish, but can easily be roasted in the oven too. You’re going to absolutely love this smoked soup! I firmly believe that anything you can cook in the oven or on…
Big News & Introducing Ember and Vine
Ember and Vine is a wood-fired (grilling and BBQ) catering company based in the general Portland, Oregon, region, and Willamette Valley Wine Country. Also the sister company to Vindulge, Ember and Vine was recently featured in Oregon Wine Press. We are featured in this month’s Oregon Wine Press!!!!! If you’ve been following along here you…
Pulled Pork Breakfast Hash
Breakfast Hash is one of the most comforting brunch meals. And Pulled Pork Hash is a fantastic way to use leftover smoked pulled pork for the ultimate brunch! This is how people who are obsessed with smoking meats do brunch. Portland is pretty famous for its brunch scene. But with young twins at home we’re…
Smoked Pulled Pork Wontons
Delicious, crispy, Pulled Pork Wontons, made from leftover Smoked Pulled Pork. Sometimes some of the best meals are made from leftovers. And what could be better than pork shoulder, perfectly smoked, finely pulled, juicy and tender? Using the leftovers to make these Smoked Pulled Pork Wontons. Well, I suppose that statement is arguable. Freshly pulled…
Friday Favorites — BBQ, breakfast, and stellar sunsets
A weekly roundup of my favorite things from the week in the categories of wine, food, travel, and occasionally lifestyle. Since we took last Friday off, this covers the last two weeks of July. LIFESTYLE Favorite Moment — Cooking for Counter Culture! I’m still pinching myself that we even got invited to cook at such…
Cooking up Smoked Tomato Bisque and Brisket Sandwiches on AM Northwest
Mary and Sean were back on AM Northwest doing a TV cooking segment for Smoked Tomato Bisque and Brisket Grilled Cheese Sandwiches! We were so stoked to have been asked back on AM Northwest, this time to cook up something not usually associated with BBQ – Vegetables! But not just any vegetable. Smoked Tomatoes With…
Smoked Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Blackberry Bourbon Sauce
Smoked Pork Tenderloin is fantastic with a rich and flavorful Blackberry Bourbon Sauce drizzled over the top. Find out how to make this delicious meal! Pork tenderloin was one of those gateway meats that brought me back to the dark side — or rather, eased my transition from being a pseudo-vegetarian to a smoked-meat-loving carnivore….
Homemade Smoked Butter
Homemade Smoked Butter is an outstanding and delicious topping for your breads, holiday rolls, or to serve over grilled steak. It’s a bit over the top, but it’s so worth it! Sometimes we get bizarre ideas about smoking various foods and the flavor profile it will impart, things that you probably might not ever think to…
Cooking Segment on AM Northwest
We were on TV! Sean and I were invited on AM Northwest to cook up our award-winning Smoked Beef Brisket Nachos. We had so much fun! If you’re new here, welcome! Let me give you a little background. My name is Mary and I’m a wine, food, and travel writer. I am a columnist for…
Traeger Pellet Grilled Chicken Thighs Recipe
Grilled Chicken Thighs are delicious cooked on a Pellet Grill. Find out how easy it is to cook perfect BBQ chicken on your Traeger grill or Pellet smoker. One of the recipes we practiced over, and over, and over again for our first BBQ competition was chicken thighs. We learned a ton about smoking thighs….
Our First BBQ Competition – McKinley Springs BBQ Showdown & Benefit
… The good, the bad, the ugly, and the emotional, from our First BBQ Competition at the McKinley Springs BBQ Showdown & Benefit. I don’t function at my best when I am severely sleep deprived. Really, who does? But I feel like I function less well than others and I easily turn into a moody…
Phelps Creek Vineyards Nachos and Syrah Party Recap
Thank you!!! What a whirlwind of a weekend! Thank you to everyone who came out for the Nachos and Syrah Party. And thank you to Phelps Creek Vineyards for so graciously hosting at your winery with some of the most spectacular views ever. We are overwhelmed with the love we are feeling from friends, family,…
Book Review — Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto
“You’ll be surprised that when we started we had absolutely nothing — no resources, no knowledge, no image of what we wanted to become. All I had were my own two hands, a work ethic, a positive attitude, a sense of humor, and a fine lady to help it all come together.” – Aaron Franklin….
Traeger Roasted Whole Chicken and Knudsen Vineyards Chardonnay
“Dad taught me about passion. I want to keep that alive and spread that passion that he had.” Passionate is how Page Knudsen Cowles, Partner and Managing Director of Knudsen Vineyards, describes her late father, Cal Knudsen, founder of Knudsen Vineyards — one of the Willamette Valley’s most known and treasured vineyards. Cal Knudsen was…
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Who’s ready to talk about the difference between smoking and grilling a BBQ Chicken Pizza? Grilling Pizza vs. Smoking Pizza Grilling the pizza is hot and fast, and requires constant attention. Smoking pizza takes longer and at a much lower heat….so you get a very different texture to the crust, but different flavors infused. It’s fun…
Smoked Pulled Pork Spring Rolls
Fresh Spring Rolls are an awesome way to use up any leftover Pulled Pork. These Smoked Pulled Pork Spring Rolls are so easy to make, even your kids can help! Fresh Spring Rolls (Summer Rolls) with Leftover Smoked Pulled Pork Spring rolls are a great way to use up leftover meat or vegetables. You can…
Smoked Cuban Sandwich (aka The Smoking Cubano)
What could be better than a Cuban sandwich – you know, the pressed sandwich made with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, served hot on Cuban bread — A smoked Cuban Sandwich made with smoked pork shoulder. Hubs has a never ending Cuban Sandwich kick, experimenting left and right with various pork recipes to…
Smoked Chicken Verde Soup
Take this smoked chicken, add some smoked chicken stock, and a few other goodies, and you have this amazing Smoked Chicken Verde Soup that comes together in under 30 minutes. I was first introduced to this brilliant Jalapeño Lime Chicken Soup from one of my favorite food blogs, Pinch of Yum. Their version however, calls…
Holiday Wine Gift Ideas – Stoller Family Estate
If you are looking to impress with a special bottle for the wine enthusiast on your holiday list, look no further than Stoller Family Estate. Wines to Impress for Holiday Wine Gift Ideas When I gift a wine to someone special — whether a loved one, a client, a teammate, a boss, whomever — I…
Celebrating Four Years of Parenthood with Berlucchi Cuvée 61 Rosé Brut
Something special happened over the weekend. The twins turned four! How did that happen?!? I know I sound like a cliché parent, but just yesterday (seriously, yesterday!) they were just infants. Now they’re little boys who like to remind me that they’re not babies. Let’s get one thing straight kids; even when you’re towering over…