Thanksgiving Dinner Southern Style – Pies
Chris Lilly of world famous Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL is talking turkey, well actually pies – grilled pies. Chris is fresh off his appearance on Best in Smoke on the Food Network and winning Grand Champion at the 2011 Memphis in May but he was nice enough to chat with me about all things Thanksgiving Southern Style. He was also nice enough to give me a couple of recipes for his amazing grilled pies and one for grilled turkey. What a guy. The recipes are below the Q&A.
How has your appearance on Best in Smoke effected your business?
I never realized how many people watched Food Network until I did the series Best in Smoke. This show was different because you not only had barbecue enthusiasts watching it but people who just love food in general. We could instantly see a spike in sales both at our restaurant and on our website. The good thing is that most were new customers who were trying Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q for the first time.
What are your memories of Thanksgiving growing up?
Most of my Thanksgiving memories are traditional. Growing up in a large family meant an overflowing Thanksgiving dinner table with all of the traditional food such as; turkey, ham, dressing, cranberry salad, green beans, black eyed peas, cornbread, mashed potatoes and gravy. It was a relaxing time with nothing on the agenda but food!
What is Thanksgiving like at the Lilly household today?
Thanksgiving today is a little more hectic. With two kids in college and extended family spread out across Northern Alabama it takes a little holiday magic to get everyone together for the family dinner. Sometimes I even have to eat two Thanksgiving meals in one day to make sure we get to all the family dinner parties! Don’t feel sorry for me.
It seems that my charcoal grill is always hot around Thanksgiving, personally I like to fire up with Kingsford Charcoal. Now I’m the default turkey and ham cooker for the holiday. I always like to throw in an extra surprise for the meal like grilled cranberries to make a more flavorful sauce.
What is your favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner?
Without a doubt my favorite part about Thanksgivings past and future is family. The chance to spend the day catching up around the charcoal grill in the backyard and the dinner table is something I look forward to the most. Thanksgiving is a happy time for my family and what better way to enjoy it than cooking and eating.
Do you have any new recipes that you are making this year?
Whenever I have free time during the year you will often find me in my backyard around the grill trying out new recipes. This year one of my favorite experiments turned out to be grilled pies. I wanted to take the traditional Southern fried pie and give it an extra punch of flavor by cooking it over charcoal. This is easier said than done because most homemade crusts are not grill grate ready! I’m happy to report that I’ve put together the perfect grilled crust recipe. Now I can satisfy my sweet tooth with grilled peach, apple, or caramel pecan pie. You can take it a step further and make grilled breakfast pies or something savory such as a grilled tomato pie.
| Grilled Caramel Pecan Pie |
- Dough
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup flour for rolling out dough
- Pie
- 8 store bought caramels cut in half
- 1/2 cup pecan pieces
- 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon oil
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and refrigerate. Measure the water and refrigerate. In a small mixing bowl add flour and salt and mix well. Add in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Slowly add water, mixing continuously, until a dough ball is formed. Seal the dough ball in GLAD® ClingWrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Sprinkle countertop or cutting board generously with flour. Remove dough from the refrigerator and place onto the floured prep area, roll out to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut the dough into 5- to 6-inch diameter circles. Removing extra dough from the prep area to reroll and make more pie shells. Immediately peal, lift and flip the dough circles making sure they don’t stick. Yield should be 8 pie shells.
- Preheat the grill using Kingsford® charcoal, until the internal temperature reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place 2 caramel halves and 1 tablespoon of pecans onto the center of each dough circle.
- Combine corn syrup, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix until the ingredients are combined. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg once the mixture has cooled. Chill the filling for 15 minutes or until it has thickened slightly. Add 4 teaspoons of the cold filling mixture over the caramels and pecans onto the center of each dough circle.
- Lightly moisten the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough in half creating a half moon with peach filling. Gently press the pie edges together and crimp them with a fork.
- Prep the charcoal grill grate by using a grill brush and to brush on a light coat of oil. Transfer the pies to the grill and cook over direct heat, uncovered, for 3 minutes on each side or until the dough turns a crispy golden brown. Remove from the grill and serve.
Recipe created by world champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly on behalf of Kingsford® charcoal.
| Old-Fashioned Grilled Peach Pie |
- Dough
- 2 sticks butter
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup flour for rolling out dough
- Sugar Rub
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/16 teaspoon nutmeg
- Pies
- 2 pounds ripe peaches (3 large or 4 medium)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 tablespoon oil
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch cubes and refrigerate. Measure the water and refrigerate. In a small mixing bowl add flour and salt and mix well. Add in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Slowly add water, mixing continuously, until a dough ball is formed. Seal the dough ball in GLAD® ClingWrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Sprinkle countertop or cutting board generously with flour. Remove dough from the refrigerator and place onto the floured prep area, roll out to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut the dough into 5- to 6-inch diameter circles. Removing extra dough from the prep area to re-roll and make more pie shells. Immediately peal, lift and flip the dough circles making sure they don’t stick. Yield should be 8 pie shells.
- Preheat the grill using Kingsford® charcoal, until the internal temperature reaches 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a small bowl add the sugar rub ingredients and mix well.
- Remove the pit from the peaches and cut each peach into 8 wedges and remove skin. Generously coat the peach wedges with the sugar rub mix. Immediately place the peaches on the grill grate for 2 minutes on each side, or until they caramelize. Remove the peaches from the grill and dice them into 1/2 inch pieces. Place the peaches and butter into a medium mixing bowl. When the butter melts, add the brown sugar and flour and mix well. Stir in orange juice.
- Place 2 heaping tablespoons of peach filling onto the center of each circle of dough. Lightly moisten the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough in half creating a half moon with peach filling. Gently press the pie edges together and crimp them with a fork.
- Prep the charcoal grill grate by using a grill brush and to brush on a light coat of oil. Transfer the pies to the grill and cook over direct heat, uncovered, for 3 minutes on each side or until the dough turns a crispy golden brown. Remove from the grill and serve.
Recipe created by world champion pitmaster, Chris Lilly on behalf of Kingsford® charcoal.
| Charcoal-Grilled Turkey with Fresh Herb Butter |
- Bird
- 1 whole turkey (12 pounds)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Coarse ground black pepper
- Fresh Herb Butter
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- cup chopped Italian parsley
- cup chopped green onion tops
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1½ teaspoon celery salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Gravy
- 2 cups turkey stock (as directed)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- Place the whole turkey breast side down on a cutting board. Remove the neck and giblets and set aside to make the turkey stock. With a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen shears, cut the turkey down each side of the backbone, removing it completely. Open the turkey and press it flat on the cutting board. Using a sharp knife, loosen the breast bone from between the turkey breasts and remove it with your fingers. This will enable the turkey to open completely flat. Apply a light coat of olive oil to the turkey skin and liberally season the skin with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Build a charcoal fire for direct grilling. The heat over the coals should be hot, (approximately 450 to 500 degrees F).
- Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan. Add the remaining fresh herb butter ingredients, mix well, and keep warm until needed.
- To make turkey stock, add 3½ cups water, 1 ¾ teaspoons salt, turkey neck and giblets to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1½ hours.
- Place the butterflied turkey directly over the coals, skin side down, and baste with the fresh herb butter. Grill the turkey for 5 to 7 minutes or until the skin starts to turn golden brown and begins to crisp. Transfer the turkey to a 10”x10” baking dish skin side up, place it back on the grill, and baste with fresh herb butter. Cover the grill and close the air dampers reducing the cooking temperature to 350 degrees F. Cook for 2½ hours basting every hour with the remaining fresh herb butter. The internal temperature of turkey thigh should reach 175 to 180 degrees F while the breast meat should reach 160 to 165 degrees F. Remove the turkey from the grill, cover it with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes prior to carving.
- To make the gravy, scrape all of the drippings and liquid from the bottom of the roasting pan into a small bowl. Skim the grease from the top of the liquid. Pour the seasoned liquid, about ¾ cup, into a small sauce pan. In a small bowl, whisk the two tablespoons water with the cornstarch until smooth. Add the cornstarch slurry and two cups of the pre-made turkey broth to the sauce pan and heat. Serve drizzled over the turkey or on the side as table gravy.
ICA: Flay/Symon vs. Garces/Forgione
There are few things better than a Iron Chef on Iron Chef show down. Tonight on a special Iron Chef was the annual Battle: Thanksgiving with Bobby Flay and Michael Symon teaming up to take on the last two Next Iron Chef winners Jose Garces and Marc Forgione.
These types of battles are always fun. There’s no mystery – you know in advance who the competitors are, what the theme is and all that is left is to make some of the best Thanksgiving food ever. Ever.
The judges for tonight’s Battle: Thanksgiving were Karine Bakhoum, Henry Winkler and Cady Huffman. This was the first time in Kitchen Stadium for the Fonz.
Check below for the outcome.
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Flay/Symon Garces/Forgione
Taste: 29 Taste: 25
Plating: 15 Plating: 14
Originality: 15 Originality: 15
Total: 59* Total: 54
*One point shy of a perfect score.
Holiday Desserts From the Nation’s Top Chefs
Gobble, gobble is just a few weeks away. Now is the time to finalize your plans for cooking your Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the country’s best chefs go together at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival and literally talked turkey. Check it out:
GAIL SIMMONS
MARK MURPHY
MARIO BATALI
