Skip to content

Brisket with Bacon & Coffee/Beer Mop Sauce

— Via dirigible, Brandon
Monday, June 30, 2008

http://baconshow.blogspot.com/2007/06/757-smoked-brisket-and-bacon-with.html

1 lb. sliced bacon, preferably artisanal (optional)
1 (6- to 8-lb.) piece center cut brisket

For the rub:
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika
2 tbsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. garlic powder

For the Coffee Beer Mop Sauce:
1 cup beer
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup coffee
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
salt
4 to 6 cups hickory or apple chips or wood chunks, soaked in water to cover for one hour, then drained and an aluminum foil pan

Make the rub. Place the salt, brown sugar, paprika, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl and stir to mix. Place the brisket in a roasting pan and generously sprinkle both sides with rub, about three tablespoons per side. The excess rub will keep for several months in a jar. You can cook the brisket right away, but it will be better if you let it cure with the rub for several hours, or even a day in the refrigerator.

Make the mop sauce. Combine the beer, cider, cider vinegar, coffee, oil, Worcestershire sauce and salt in a bowl and whisk to mix.

Set up your grill for indirect grilling. If using a gas grill, place wood chips in a smoker pouch. Run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-low (300 degrees). If using a charcoal grill, preheat to medium-low. Just before putting the brisket on, toss 1/2 cup wood chips on each mound of coals.

Place the brisket on the grate in the center, over the drip pan, away from the heat. If using bacon, drape the slices over the top of the meat.

Indirect-grill the brisket until tender, five to six hours. If using a charcoal grill, add 12 fresh coals and 1/2 cup wood chips to each side every hour. (The total cooking time will depend on the size of the brisket and heat of the grill.) Generously baste or mop the meat on both sides with the Coffee Beer Mop Sauce once an hour for the first four hours.

Tightly wrap brisket in foil and continue cooking until very tender, one to two hours more.

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice across the grain, using an electric knife or sharp carving knife. Transfer the sliced meat to a platter.
Who’s with me on this?

Filed in Uncategorized | Comments (3)

Bitten

— From the desk of paul
Sunday, June 1, 2008

I know not everyone here subscribes to the Minimalist school of thought, but I thought I’d point it out anyway: Mark Bittman has a blog, and it’s pretty great.

Filed in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Bourbon Chicken

— A Realistic Simulacrum Of gabe
Thursday, May 29, 2008

So, last night I accidentally re-invented this recipe, then Googled it and found it’s pretty much a Chinese takeout standard. But this isn’t how you’ve had it at PF Chang’s. So forget what you think you know about bourbon chicken and free your mind, son.

You’re gonna need a chicken. I used some thigh quarters, but a whole roasting bird works or you could do this with wings and drumsticks or whatever. You might need to adjust the amount of marinade you make if you’re going to do up more than about a pound and a half of chicken.

Next, prepare the marinade:

  • 1/3 cup bourbon
  • 1/2 cup black strap molasses
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp paprika (smoked paprika if you can get it)
  • 1/4th tsp cayenne
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

Marinate that shit for a good while, you can stick it in the fridge overnight, or if you roll like a gangsta you just take your ziplock freezer bag of frozen chicken limbs, fill it with marinade, make sure there’s no air in the bag and stick that in a sink full of warm water and let it defrost so you don’t lose any natural juices and it marinates quicker and with less liquid. About two hours later you are ready to rock and/or roll. Salt and pepper the skin of your chicken liberally, and by liberally I mean take that pepper mill and make it snow.

I smoked mine in my homemade backyard smoker, but you can puss out and just stick it in a casserole dish and oven roast it if you want- remember to add a bit of leftover marinade to your baking dish. You can baste it with a bit of butter mixed with molasses to get that skin to crisp up and help keep it moist. Refer to my previous post about roasting chicken for cooking times, or get smart and buy a nice digital instant-read thermometer.

Filed in chicken | Comments (0)

Sweet Chili Pork Chops

— By royal decree, jake
Thursday, May 1, 2008

A recipe from Mom. The ingredients assume you’re making about 4-6 chops.

Ingredients:

  • Pork chops (the thicker the better)
  • 1 can (12 oz.) cola (I prefer coke, but I’m sure other varieties are fine, and I’ve even pulled this one off with Dr. Pepper before)
  • 1 small bottle (~12 oz. maybe) of chili sauce (Heinz will work; I like sweet Thai chili sauce - just make sure it’s not the hot kind. It’s a mistake your intestines will not thank you for, trust me).
  • Optional: Garlic, basil, or rosemary or whatever else sounds good

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix the coke and the chili sauce together. Then, brown the chops in some oil (if you have a cast iron dish you can use on the stove and then put directly in the oven, it would be ideal here) . Place the chops in the baking dish, cover them in the coke-chili gravy (and sprinkle with garlic, basil, etc. if using) and bake for 45 minutes (or less if the chops are thinner).

That’s it. I like to serve it with rice and steamed vegetables, but buttered egg noodles and mashed potatoes have also served me well in the past.

Filed in pork | Comments (0)

Quick, easy baked pasta and cheese stuff

— Posted by way of carrier pigeon, jeff
Thursday, April 10, 2008

Ingredients:
2+ cups of shredded cheese (I usually get Italian blend)
1lb box of short pasta
1 jar of sauce or make your own if you want to complicate things
optional ground assorted meats

process:
pre heat oven to 350
parboil past for half of its stated cook time
mix pasta with sauce(cook the meat first if you’re using it)
mix in half the cheese and pour into a baking dish and cover with remaining cheese
cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 15-20 mins.
remove the foil and continue baking until cheese begins to brown (this step isn’t totally necessary)

It’s just that simple folks.

Filed in pasta, cheese, Italian | Comments (0)

Turkey, Turkey and Potatoes.

— By royal decree, jeff
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I’ve had a bit of a domino effect week and it turned out really good so I figured I would post about it.

It all began last week when I was looking around for a recipe with barely so I could get rid of my extra. I found one, but it required turkey. Therein it began.

Sunday I purchased myself a 7 lbs bone-in turkey breast at the local Dominick’s (that’s a Chicago grocer if you’re not aware.)

Sunday’s menu was:
Herb roasted turkey breast and three cheese and garlic ogratin potatoes.

#1 Herb roasted turkey breast (ruthlessly stolen and modified from Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 (5 1/2 pound 7lbs) turkey breast, fresh or frozen, thawed
  • 4 teaspoons McCormick® Italian Seasoning (fuck that, just grab a bunch of herbs)
  • 2 teaspoons McCormick® Season-All® Seasoned Salt (all I had was generic seasoned salt, but it worked)
  • 3/4 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Black Pepper (I didn’t use McCromick and it fucked everything up)
  • Who doest put garlic and olive oil in everything? I added a couple cloves minced garlic and two fingers of oil
  • Some butter
  • 1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place turkey breast on rack in shallow roasting pan. Combine seasonings/butter/OO/garlic. Spread that shit under skin and over entire surface of turkey breast.
  2. Roast 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F. Loosely tent with foil for first hour. Remove foil; add water to pan. Baste occasionally with pan juices.
  3. Remove turkey breast from oven. Let stand, loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes. Transfer to platter or carving board.

This recipe produced a damn good roasted bird. Onto the side

#2 Three cheese and Garlic Ogratin Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, thinly sliced (I used russets, which could account for time/temp discrepancies)
  • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 pint heavy cream
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 4 slices provolone cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 1 1/2 quart or larger casserole dish with butter or nonstick spray.
  2. Layer half of the potato slices in the bottom of the casserole dish. Dot with half of the butter cut or pinched into small pieces. Arrange half of the garlic slices over the potatoes, then pour half of the heavy cream over. Sprinkle one cup of Cheddar cheese over the layer, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering of potatoes, garlic, cream and Cheddar cheese, then top with the slices of provolone cheese. Season again with salt and pepper.
  3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, then sprinkle the Parmesan or Romano cheese over the top. This will create a semi-hard cheese crust. Continue baking uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender when tested with a fork.

Stolen again from Allrecipes.com but the woman who wrote it must live in some sort of timewarp and/or slice her potatoes paper fuckin’ thin, because she says 325 for an hour which results in very undercooked potatoes. I’ve made the changes necessary and it’s closer to 350 for 1.5-2hrs.

Anyway, that dinner was excellent. Rave reviews, if I had a girlfriend I would probably have been repaid with fellatio.

Wake up Monday morning and what do I do? I make fuckin’ turkey stock that’s what I do.

See stock recipe from a few weeks ago, only use the bones/meat from the leftover roasted turkey. It made amazing stock.

Now the coup de gras

#3 Turkey Mushroom Barley Soup

5 T butter, divided
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c sliced carrots
1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
2   serrano or thai chilis, split lengthwise
2 qt turkey broth
1-1/2 c chunked cooked turkey
1/2 c pearled barley
    leaves from 1 medium sprig of thyme
3 T chopped fresh parsley
    Salt and pepper to taste
3 T flour
1 c whole milk or blend of whole milk and light cream (optional)

In a large pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Saute onion, celery, carrots, and mushrooms until tender. Add in split chiles, thyme and parsley and cook for a few more minutes. Pour in broth and add barley. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes; then add in cooked turkey. In a small saucepan, melt remaining butter (3 tablespoons). Add flour and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly to make a roux.. Whisk roux into soup if making a creamless version. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer 10 minutes.

To make a light cream version, slowly whisk milk into roux to blend; then add this to soup. Heat for 10 min but do not boil.

I just finished eating this and it was pretty fucking excellent. Best soup I’ve ever made, but it didn’t use all of my barley. So I guess I’ll have to find something else to use barley in.

At any rate, I certainly recommend all of these dishes and really encourage you to make turkey stock if you haven’t. It’s like chicken stock on crack.

I also made a simple salad, but that was mostly just to round out the meals. Nothing to show off on that one.

Filed in turkey, soup, potatoes | Comments (1)

Spicy Shrimp

— Via dirigible, jake
Sunday, February 24, 2008

A recipe recommended to me by Jeff. It’s in The Book, page 325, if you want to get it from there - although I personally recommend doubling the amount of paste that the recipe calls for, and that’s reflected here.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • 2 teaspoons coarse salt (I used sea salt for a while, and I’ve used plain old salt and it worked fine too - but the big cracked salt is the best)
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 teaspoons lemon juice (preferably fresh)
  • 1.5 to 2 lbs. shrimp, in the 20 to 30 per pound range, peeled, rinsed and dried
  • Lemon wedges

First, set your oven to broil and move the rack as close to the burner as it gets. Next, peel your shrimp if you haven’t already done so. Then, in a small bowl mix together the garlic with the salt. Then mix in the paprika and cayenne. Then make it into a paste with the olive oil and lemon juice.

Lay the shrimp out on a baking sheet or two and smear the paste evenly all over them (The pastry feather I stole from Paul is excellent for this task). Broil the shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once. Serve with lemon wedges. I recommend an accompaniment of rice, broccoli and cold lager or pale ale. Also, you can use this recipe over an open fire grill, and skewers can make turning less of a headache.

Filed in grill, shrimp, Garlic, seafood, summer | Comments (0)

The Long Road to Soup

— Posted via sticky note, jeff
Sunday, February 17, 2008

I’ve begun down a long road from which I might well never recover. The road of stock.

At present I have a chicken stock in the earliest of stages. I plan to turn it, eventually, into chicken noodle soup. Perhaps if I share the methods someone will follow.

*1 whole chicken 3-4 lbs.
*1 large onion
*1-2 cloves garlic
*some celery
*some carrots
*some thyme
*some parsley
*1 bay leaf
*some salt
*16 cups of water
*1 big ole fucking pot.

Cut everything up. Don’t worry about peeling the onion or garlic. Put it into a pot and bring it just about to a boil. Adjust the heat so it’s only putting up a few bubbles at a time. Partially cover and let it simmer until the meat falls off the bones and the bones begin to separate. 2+ hours.

Strain the stock, pressing on the meat to get all the juices out, refrigerate it. Once the fat has congealed on top skim it off, and you’re done. It keeps in the fridge for couple of days. Otherwise freeze it or take it out and boil it every few days.

See The Book, for more information.

This is my first stock, so I have no idea what to expect, but I’m expecting damn good soup.

Filed in chicken, soup | Comments (2)

How about some salad?

— From the desk of jeff
Saturday, January 12, 2008

This is really simple, but I’ve found it makes a great salad. Stolen from The Book, so if you’ve got it you can find it in there. I believe it is called Pear and Gorgonzola Salad.

It’s about as simple as the name implies.

*3-5 mixed greens
*any vinegarette
*gorgonzola or any other blue
*halved walnuts
*pears

Put the halved walnuts in a pan and heat gently until they become fragrant.

Mix the greens with the vinegarette and divide among serving dishes. Crumble the cheese over top, add sliced or cubed pear and the walnuts and you’re done. The soft sweetness of the pear matches amazingly well with the musty saltiness of the blue cheese. It’s an excellent and easy salad.

enjoy.

Filed in salad, fruit, vegetables | Comments (1)

Dates stuffed with Goat Cheese, wrapped with Basil and Proscuitto

— Via dirigible, Brandon
Saturday, January 12, 2008

Yes, that sounds delicious, and it is.

You’ll need:

  • 18-20 Pitted Dates (Medjool if you can, but others will work also. Just make sure they’re fresh!)
  • 4-6 slices of Prosciutto (sliced thin)
  • Soft herbed goat cheese (I like the Chavrie brand in the little pyramid shaped container)
  • Fresh Basil
  • Toothpicks (soaked in cold water for at least 20 minutes prior)

So here’s the plan of attack:

  1.  Trim your slices of prosciutto into vertical strips approx. the width of the dates
  2. Stuff the dates with the herbed goat cheese - I found this to be nearly impossible, so I simply sliced open the dates and spooned enough cheese in there to where it almost, but not quite, could close again
  3. Wrap your stuffed dates with a nice large basil leaf
  4. Wrap the basil/date combo with a trimming of the prosciutto
  5. Stabby time! Stab them with a toothpick to hold it together.
  6. Arrange the dates on a cookie tray
  7. Broil the stabbed dates for 2-3 minutes - just long enough for the proscuitto to lightly begin browning
  8. Pull from the oven, and let them cool for 3-5 minutes if you can wait that long.

Enjoy!

PS - you might be thinking “eww! I hate dates! Nasty little slimy things!” but I assure you - you’re wrong. Fix yourself a small batch of these beforehand if you’re unsure, but you will come out a changed individual - in love with the world, and with dates. And thinly sliced fatty ham products. And basil. And goat cheese. Maybe not so much with toothpicks.

Filed in appetizer, basil | Comments (2)