Micah Parker

By Published On: June 14, 2017

Grilling and smoking meats are Micah Parker’s areas of expertise in the kitchen, and he got his education mostly watching You-Tube videos.
Micah said he had only been cooking for six or seven years, and while growing up, didn’t really pay attention to his mother, Robin, while she was cooking.
Pork chops, steaks and vegetables are his go-to grilling items.
He said he likes using a charcoal grill because it has more flavor, but a gas grill, he admits is quicker and easier.
When it comes to smoking, his favorites are Boston butt, brisket and ribs.

Micah Parker CookMicah said he enjoys sharing with family, friends and neighbors, sometimes to the point that he doesn’t keep any for himself.
A kitchen accident in mid-March sidelined Micah for a while when he was cooking shrimp in peanut oil and it caught on fire.
“I stepped away for just a second,” he said. “When I came back the pan was on fire, and I was just trying to get it out the back door. I didn’t realize until I got out there that my hand was burning, too.”
Micah stayed in a Memphis hospital for more than a week with third degree burns on two fingers on the top of his right hand. He had skin grafts, but is recovering. Part of the recovery process is returning to the burn center in Memphis every two weeks and wearing a glove on his hand for two years.

The accident caused Micah to relearn a lot of things, due to the numbness in his fingers.
“I had to learn to re-grip a knife,” he said.
His mother Robin goes to a lot of his doctor appointments with him which include mostly therapy now, and they enjoy trying new Memphis restaurants.
Micah shared two of his favorite recipes– Cowboy Chilli and Ribs.
He said he found the chili recipe somewhere and tweaked it to his taste.
Using the steaks rare really cause the juices to flow into the chili, he said. He won third place for the recipe in a chili contest in Memphis.
When he cooks the ribs, he uses pear preserves made by his grandmother, Helen Parker.

Cowboy Chili
(8 hour cooktime in CrockPot)
2-8 oz. steaks, rib-eye or sirloin
4 slices of bacon
1 lb. ground pork sausage
2 medium chopped onions
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 clove garlic, smashed
4 oz. can of diced green chilies
2-16 oz. cans kidney beans
(drained and rinsed)
1-16 oz. dark beer
1-16 oz. can corn
2-28 oz. cans chopped tomatoes
Grill steaks to medium rare, season with salt and pepper. Cut steak into bite size pieces. Combine all ingredients and put in CrockPot. Set on low for 8 hours.

Smoked Ribs
Ribs– spare or baby back
Dry Rub:
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1-1/2 Tbsp. paprika
1-1/2 Tbsp. salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. Chipotle pepper
Coat ribs with mustard and then dry rub. Spritz ribs with apple juice.
Set smoker at 230 degrees. Use peach wood. Smoke wood until internal temperature is 145 degrees.
In the last two hours of smoking, remove ribs, coat with pear preserves and wrap in foil for last two hours of cooking.

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