Joel Jenkins, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Joel Jenkins has tested.

Joel Jenkins

Joel began his career in the service industry at 16 and found ways to continue his culinary interests throughout his 30-year Army healthcare career. Taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by his military assignments and deployments, he was able to expand his understanding of cultures and food.

This segued perfectly into a second career as the Chief of Protocol and Executive Services for the Defense Health Agency-Hawaii and Tripler Army Medical Center. The position allows Joel to combine his full-time job with his love for cooking, catering events for both foreign and domestic senior government officials. His “hobby business,” Events on the Run, began more than a decade ago, when he shared food with other six-day ultra-marathon-running friends and resulted in his pursuit of a certificate in Gourmet Cooking and Catering and membership in the American Personal and Private Chef Association.

Joel and his wife call Hawaii home and share their home with a menagerie of rescued cats.

Chicken tinga in a bowl, flanked by bowls of toppings, crema, and cabbage slaw.

Chicken Tinga

Chicken tinga tacos are pretty great but when you add a dash of umami-filled fish sauce, you hit another level of flavor. Served with onions, avocado, salsa and more–they’re exceptional.

Two beet and carrot fritters, garnished with dill, on a white plate with a fork and a dollop of dill yogurt

Beet and Carrot Fritters

Shame we didn’t have these little lovelies on our plates when we were being admonished by our parents to “eat your veggies!”

A chocolate pecan pie in a ceramic pie plate with one slice missing on a linen napkin.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pecans. Chocolate. Bourbon. Dunno about you, but that’s sufficient to make us forget all about that other traditional Thanksgiving dessert. Pumpkin who?

Dry brine turkey on a large white platter, garnished with fresh sage leaves.

Dry Brine Turkey

All the juicy, tender perks of brining. None of the fuss of finding a container large enough to contain a turkey and cramming it in your already overstuffed fridge.

Pibil-style pork ribs on sheets of parchment paper with a bowl of habanero salsa next to it.

Pibil-Style Pork Ribs

Here’s a sweet little recipe for Pibil-style ribs–less work than a traditional full pig but with all of the taste. Roll up your sleeves and pass the napkins!

Seven dirt bombs on a wire rack over a baking sheet and a bowl of cinnamon sugar with one dirt bomb in it.

Dirt Bombs

These wonders of wonders are irresistible cakey donuts baked in muffin tins that are spiked with nutmeg and cardamom and rolled in melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

A blue enamel roast pan with a maple roast chicken, trussed and stuffed with lemon halves, sitting on a bed of fingerling potatoes.

Maple Roast Chicken

Pancakes are swell, but breakfast doesn’t have an exclusive on maple syrup. Especially not when this maple roast chicken is in the house.

A slab of barbecued beef back ribs cut into individual ribs.

Barbecued Beef Back Ribs

These barbecued beef back ribs are robustly meaty, modestly spicy, knee-wobblingly tender, and ridiculously easy. And a rub that’s so good you might not want any sauce.

A sheet pan with 9 chicken thighs covered in a deep reddish sauce, blackened in spots.

Pomegranate Sumac Chicken

A sticky, sweet, and lightly spiced platter of roasted chicken thighs sounds pretty fantastic, doesn’t it? Let us assure you, it really is.

A wooden cutting board topped with two rack of smoked pork ribs.

Smoked Pork Ribs

Our latest obsession? These beauties pretty much became our fave reason to fire up the smoker the instant we first tasted them. No lie.

Big fat juicy burger with caramelized onions, melted cheese, and a toasted hard roll

Best Burger

Brisket, short ribs, and chuck. When melded in just the right proportions, as here, they turn out the most luxe made-from-scratch burger we’ve ever experienced.

A cardboard food container filled with barbecue beans surrounded by ribs, pickles, and shredded meat.

Barbecue Beans

Made from scratch yet quick and easy, these beans just may alter the way you think about barbecue beans forever.

A brown dish filled with paprika mayonnaise with a spoon on the side.

Paprika Mayonnaise

When you’re in the mood for something with more vigor than regular mayo, give this a try. All the good stuff in it will make you want to slather it on everything.

Two white bowls of Tuscan bean soup on a white surface.

Tuscan Bean Soup

A classic Italian vegetable soup that just happens to be loaded with so-called super foods such as kale. Seems Nonna’s known what’s best all along.