10 chicken legs 2 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp BBQ seasoning 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 bottle BBQ sauce 1 stick of butter
Note: With the BBQ sauce any kind will do, I lean toward the sweeter variety, and about 8 oz is what you need. BBQ seasoning I recommend to be sweet and not salty.
Begin by taking the chicken legs and cut about 3/4 down the leg toward the end of the bone, cutting all tendons. If you wish, scissors can be used to trim unwanted tendons. Scrape any skin or tendons toward the small end of the leg and cut off the tip of the bone. You want the leg to be fairly clean where it’s bare.
Sprinkle evenly with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and BBQ seasoning. Place in a cooking pan with five tablespoons of butter.
Place in a pre-heated 300 degree smoker and cook for one hour.
While chicken is cooking, in a small boiler, add apple cider vinegar, BBQ sauce, and rest of butter. To make thicker, if desired, add, 1/3 cup ketchup. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until thick.
After one hour with the chicken, dip each leg in the BBQ sauce mixture and place on an elevated wire rack and cook for 15 minutes. Repeat process with sauce 2 more times. This should be a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes of total cook time. Remove from grill and let rest for about 5 to 10 minutes.
1 package alligator fillets 1 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup water 2 egg whites 1 cup cornstarch salt pepper vegetable oil
For this recipe, I used the 16 oz bag of alligator fillets, of which I found at Wal-Mart:
When you thaw and take these fillets out of the package you will notice the pieces have “silver skin” and white string looking items that run in some of the meat. Try to as best as possible to remove the white skin from the fillets.
Cut the fillets in to long strips. Now this is a requirement but a recommendation: I used a Jiccard meat tenderizer to soften the meat.
Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
Prepare a pot with vegetable oil. The oil needs to be deep enough that the fillets will submerge when they enter the grease. Heat the oil to around 350 degrees.
As the oil is heating, dredge the alligator strips in cornstarch and shake off access.
For the tempura batter, mix flour, water, and egg whites together. Dredge the alligator strips in the batter.
Cook the strips for 5 to 7 minutes or until the tempura begins to brown. Remove from grease and place on a paper towel layered plate.
Serve as is with dipping sauce or make with sushi! Try it sometime!
6 chicken thighs 2 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 3 tsp Kingsford all purpose seasoning aluminum cake pan 9×9 4 cups barbecue sauce wire cooking rack (elevated)
Chefs note: You can use any type of BBQ sauce you want. You can make this recipe your own with any tweaks you would like to do.
First, begin by removing the skin from each thigh. With a knife, trim any remaining fat on the thigh until it has almost a square shape. You will notice on the bone side there is a big cartilage end on the bone. Slightly scrape any meat away from this end. With a butcher knife or kitchen shears, remove the tip of this piece.
Now you should have removed skin and a slightly square thigh. One last step before seasoning and putting back together: Take the skin and place it top down (top down meaning the side facing up when cooking should be face down). With a knife, scrape any fat that may be on the underskin. This will remove the thicker fat and stretch the skin to wrap the thigh well.
Season both sides of the thigh evenly with salt, pepper, garlic powder and Kingsford all purpose seasoning. Also season the underskin of the skin.
Place the thigh bone side up and begin to wrap the thigh. Turn over and trim the skin, or tuck any remaining skin under the bottom. Do this for all six pieces.
Place thighs gently into aluminum pan. Sprinkle one more time with all purpose seasoning.
Place in a grill or smoker preheated at 300 degrees. Cook uncovered for one hour. After one hour, take aluminum foil and wrap the top of the foil pan. Cook for another 30 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking the last 30 minutes take the BBQ sauce of your choice and put in a small boiler. Heat to low.
Remove thighs from pan and dip into BBQ sauce. Place each thigh on wire race and place back on the grill or smoker and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the sauce has set and has caramelized.
I really enjoyed my first try on this style of thighs. I will continue to tweak and get it perfect!
-The Pastor Chef
P.S.-If you are having trouble visualizing the process, take a look at this YouTube video that goes through the process:
When we first got into the city we were discussing where we could go quickly and have dinner, Pineapple Willy’s was right next to the condo. We have heard about the famous Pineapple Willy’s so we decided to try it out. Here is my over all view of the restaurant.
1 . The atmosphere: The atmosphere is mostly an open outside dining area. There are many windows and picnic table-like seats (they became uncomfortable after about 20 minutes). We stood in line for a while just to get to the hostess, who said it was about an hour wait. We had nowhere to be, so we waited. The area around the restaurant is very congested due to condos being all around it so we had two things: A lot of people and it was very loud (both people and music). They gave us an electronic device that buzzes when our table is ready. After standing for about 20 minutes, a place to sit opened up and we were able to sit for the remainder of our wait. It took right at an hour. This is by no means a place to have a date. It is a place if you want to have the experience.
2. The service: Being as busy as it was, the service was surprisingly above par. Our waitress was quick and got our order correct. She made sure to top off our sprites throughout the night. The food was delivered pretty quick, surprising it being so busy.
3. The food: The food was the highlight of the experience. I didn’t know what to expect, but everything we ate was very tasty. We decided on smoked tuna dip for an appetizer. It came with tortilla chips. While the dip was great, I would prefer cracker or some type of bread instead of tortilla chips. Still very good, however
We then had a Mahi-Mahi BLT and shrimp and grits. Both of these entrees were excellent. The shrimp and grits were probably in the top 5 of best shrimp and grits I’ve had. The Mahi-Mahi BLT came with very sweet and thick bread and the Mahi was not overdone.
Smoked Tuna Dip
Shrimp and Grits
Mahi-Mahi BLT
4. The price: The price for the food is higher than what you would pay at normal food chain restaurants. I believe there are a few reasons for this: Location, experience, and quite frankly: they are in the money making business. I believe for the three items we purchased paid near the $40-50 range. We tipped our waitress well so it was moderately expensive but not a deal breaker.
5. Overall: If you are looking for a place that is loud, fun, and has really good food, then Pineapple Willy’s is a good place for you. However, don’t expect to get in quickly or expect it to be romantic.
I would recommend if you come to Panama City you try it at least once, to have the experience to say, “I ate at Pinapple Willy’s”! If you are a teenage or someone in your 20’s this would be a good place to have fun and throw a party.
Kelly was out of town for a few days with my mother, so my wife and I decided to do one of our first date nights since this pandemic began. We decided to pick up some Japananese from this food truck called Hiro’s (Delicous by the way) and go to Fayette Public park and look at the lake and the blooms. It was a great date night! We had our Hiro’s, had some sonic drinks, all while watching the water. Boy I missed this! Check out a view of the lake below:
We had a great time and I hope we can do more in the future!
A long couple of days! We are heading back to North Alabama and we are hopeful from some of the procedures that the BioDentist is going to do toward the end of the month.
While we were heading back we found a place in the middle of nowhere called Jim’s Barbecue. This apparently is a very famous BBQ joint in the Southeast here the woods. We decided to try their Big Jim BBQ sandwich and some onion rings. It was delicious!
We are almost home! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!
The Pastor Chef 