Smoked Turkey, Cold, Short Dry Brine

Posted on by January 10, 2023

1/9/2023 – Smoked an off-brand 12.7 lb. turkey that claimed it was seasoned and bought from Greers when on sale. Thawed it in the sink for about 6 hours and there was still ice inside and hard-to-remove giblets. Spatchcocked it and seasoned it to smoke today. Sitting on the island it thawed more and even the breasts did not feel frozen but were still cold. The smoked meat was very good and the skin was crispy in most places.

Generally followed the advice in the Meat Church video here and our smoke on 11/23/2022.

  1. Spatchcocked but only cut one side of the backbone leaving it on the other side so the backbone is smoked when making broth for the turkey gumbo. Removed the wing tips and all loose skin and fat.
  2. Dry brined it and seasoned with our Creole Poultry Seasoning (not heavy) to all sides and under the skin of the breasts and thighs. Let “marinate” and thaw more for about 2 hours.
  3. Preheated the Recteq to 325° with Recteq master blend pellets.
  4. At 9:30 AM put the bird in the smoker. At 9:50 inserted the probes and the breast was 29° and the thigh was 89°. Surprised there was that much difference.
  5. At 9:15 am put the bird in the center with a probe in the deepest part of the breast and one in the thigh near the bone. IT of the thigh was 46° and the breast was 38°.
  6. Pulled it at 2 hrs 20 minutes when the IT of the thigh was 186° and the breast was 169°. 

Pulled off the meat and put the carcass on to boil for gumbo and turkey tetrazzini.

Smoked Salmon Spread Like Ina Garten

Posted on by December 30, 2022

“This is nice with cocktails and is actually tastes better if made a few days in advance. Recipe from Barefoot Contessa Family Style.” Makes 1.5 pints.

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 ounces of cream cheese or Greek Yogurt, at room temperature
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon freshly minced fresh dill
  • 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, drained
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ lb smoked salmon, minced

DIRECTIONS

  • Cream the cheese in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until just smooth.
  • Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill, horseradish, salt, and pepper, and mix.
  • Add the smoked salmon and mix well.
  • Chill and serve with crudites or crackers.

Comments to the post included:

I make this recipe several times per year. I have a traeger smoker so I prepare my own salmon. I tend to use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I always add extra lemon zest and lemon pepper-sometimes some green onions

I don’t have smoked salmon nor fresh dill laying around the house so I had to substitute. I used a 5oz can of skinless boneless salmon. I drained it well and flaked it into a bowl. I added a few drops of liquid smoke and let it set for about an hour. I used 1/2 tsp of dill weed in place of the fresh dill. I added 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and a few drops of Frank’s hot sauce to add a little bite. The horseradish is a nice touch.

Tuscan Potato Soup

Posted on by December 24, 2022

12/24/2022 – This soup turned out great and we liked it a little bit better than the potato soup made yesterday. This seemed heartier. It was inspired by the recipe here.

Ingredients

1 pound bulk Spicy sausage from Alabama Specialty Meats
Pinch red pepper flakes from the garden
4 slices bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
4 smallish garlic finger chopped
2 16 oz. boxes of chicken broth
4 medium and 2 large red potatoes, large eyes and blemishes removed then thinly sliced
1 cup sour creme
Garnish with fresh sliced _______________

Directions

  1. Cook the crumbled sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven with olive oil over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  2. Cook bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes and simmer until fork tender, about 20 minutes.
  4. Reduce heat to medium; stir in cream, cooked sausage, and spinach. Cook and stir until ______ has wilted and sausage is warmed through;
  5. Serve with green onions as the garnish.

Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon

Posted on by December 24, 2022

12/23/2022 – This was a very good soup. The ingredients were inspired by the recipe here but the directions came from a recipe here. Note we made a different potato soup recipe—a Tuscan version—the next day and it was also great.

Ingredients

1 bunch scallions
1 (12-oz.) pkg. bacon, roughly chopped
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1?4-inch pieces (7 to 8 cups)
2 cups chopped yellow onion (from 1 large onion)
3 tablespoons butter
3 small garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 cups chicken broth
8 ounces white Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 ounces yellow Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1?2 cup), for topping

Directions

  1. Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat; add onions, bacon, and bay leaf. Cook and stir until onions are nearly transparent, 5 to 7 minutes.
  2. Pour chicken broth into the pot; add potatoes, flour, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
  3. Stir sour cream into soup; cook another 1 to 2 minutes.

Serving

  1. Add a dollop of sour creme to the center of the bowl of soup.
  2. Sprinkle grated cheese around the sour creme.
  3. Sprinkly green onion bits on to of the sour creme.

Mary’s Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

Posted on by December 22, 2022

12/21/2022 – Mary made up this casserole on her birthday to take to the UBC Wednesday Night Supper this evening and it was great. The dish was moist and chunky with no sauce as in a typical casserole. Each bite tasted like baked potato improved by the slightly brown surface of the potato chunks. We will make this again for potluck dinners and, if I am lucky, just for us.

Ingredients

  • 3.5 lbs. Red Potatoes cut into bite-size pieces and sprayed with olive oil.
  • Approximately 1 cup of green onions from the grow boxes
  • 12 oz. of thick slice bacon
  • 1 cup Sour creme
  • 1 cup Blue Plate Mayo
  • Sharp cheddar cheese grated in the bag from the store
  • Salt and pepper

Assembly

  1. Brown the bacon in a 400° oven on wire racks. Save maybe ¼ cup of bacon grease to drizzle on the baked potato pieces. (Put the rest in the bacon fat keeper…of course.)
  2. Season the potato pieces with kosher salt and fresh coarse ground black pepper. Bake at 350° until browned and tender but firm. After they were done drizzle with the saved bacon grease
  3. Blend the sour creme and mayo while the above is in the oven
  4. Mixed the sour creme and mayo with the baked potato pieces
  5. Blend in a handful of bacon pieces and some green onions
  6. Pour all into the 9×13 Pyrex baking dish. It will be about half full
  7. Sprinkle remaining bacon pieces and green onions
  8. Sprinkle on the grated sharp cheddar cheese
  9. Let it rest until time to bake it so it is hot when it arrives at the Church supper

Next time:

  • Could add some spicy cajun sausage and cayenne pepper left out as it is for the Alabama church folks most of who do not like any kick.
  • Coat the potato pieces with olive oil before baking rather than spraying the tops of them in the hot sheet pan as done above. This could be a good time to sprinkle on some cayenne pepper to be carried in the oil with the black pepper. Could then go full “Prudhomme” and add some white pepper.
  • There was room in the pan to hold the 5 lb. bag of potatoes and all the other ingredients could have been increased by maybe 25-30%. But, it might have been less firm when cooked in the approximate 1.5-inch relatively thin layer in the 9×13.

Two Butts on the Recteq

Posted on by November 28, 2022

11/27/2022 – Bought a 21 lb. two-pack of butts at Rouses on sale keeping them in the outside refrigerator until this morning at 4:30 AM. Rinsed and cut off fat cap and loose ends. Sprinkled with salt and a good “rub” of 6POGS. All that while the Recteq preheated to 250°. Planned to smoke them until they get into the stall at 165 then move them into the inside oven. But, they never seemed to stall.

  1. 5:20 AM – both butts put into the preheated Recteq set at 250°.
  2. At about 2:30 the IT on both was over 190 so lowered the set to 225°.
  3. About 3:15 one had reached 210 and was pulled and wrapped in foil to rest.
  4. About 4 PM the other reached 205 and was pulled and wrapped in foil to rest.

They seemed to cook differently than usual and the only thing I did differently was that they were not opened up like for a competition smoke. This smoke was begun before Church and continued while we were there early and left last as this was the Sunday Jason Newell was called. I watched the IT via the telephone app and did not notice a stall.

Smoked Salmon on the Recteq

Posted on by September 25, 2024

11/25/2022 – This was the best smoked salmon I have made and the easiest. The method is presented here by a cook who caters events and this is her most often requested dish.

Instructions

  • Preheat the smoker to 225 degrees using Recteq Master Blend pellets.
  • Seasoned the flesh side and edges of the salmon filets with Dijon mustard, kosher salt, and coarse ground pepper.
  • Placed salmon skin-side down on a mat in the smoker and cooked a little more than an hour until the internal temperature of the salmon reached 135° (F).

Next Time

The original recipe suggests of their favorite side dishes for salmon or check out all of our side recipes.

  • Garnish – We love adding freshly chopped parsley and a squeeze of grilled lemon over the top.
  • Roasted Potatoes – Crispy exterior and soft interior these potatoes are our number one side dish for salmon.
  • Grilled Vegetables – We love grilling a platter of vegetables when we do a whole filet as a great option for a family style layout.
  • Coleslaw – Since salmon is a richer flavor we like to offset that with an acidic side dish like our no-mayo coleslaw.

Note in the linked recipe how she cuts the fillets into serving-size blocks leaving them attached to the skin. Then seasons and smokes. The finished fillet is served whole on a platter so the guests can pick off blocks of the meat.

Photo Credit Vindulge.com

Turkey/Sausage Gumbo with Rouse’s Roux

Posted on by November 27, 2022

11/25/2022 – This cook referred to the cook in Thanksgiving 2021 that is here and that one referred to the one in Christmas 2017 that is here. The one in 2017 was inspired by Chef Robert Barker’s recipe on page 41 of Kit Whol’s book New Orleans Classic Gumbos and Soups. The following is a simpler process than those and it turned out great. This cook used Rouse’s dark roux from a jar and Kit’s Creole Seasoning.

Continue reading →

Smoked Turkey, Dry Brined

Posted on by November 24, 2022

11/23/2022 – Bought an off-brand, on-sale, 12 lb. bird at the new Publix on Cottage Hill for $0.49 per lb. Smoking it on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we have leftovers as this year we are going to Becky’s in Pensacola for the family meal.

It turned out good given how easy and quick it was. The skin was crispy to the point of having to use some force to slice it. It had a good flavor from the seasoning and the smoke. Drying it overnight open in the refrigerator while it dry brined worked well.

Pulled off the meat and put the carcass on to boil for gumbo.

Generally followed the advice in the Meat Church video here.

  1. Spatchcocked but only cut one side of the backbone leaving it on the other side so the backbone is smoked and adds to the broth for the turkey gumbo.
  2. Dry brined it for about 16 hours with table salt generously applied to both sides. Put it uncovered in the outside refrigerator so the skin would dry out.
  3. The next day, an hour before the smoke, added our Creole Poultry Seasoning (not heavy) to all sides and under the skin of the breasts and thighs.
  4. Preheated the Recteq to 325° with Recteq master blend pellets.
  5. At 9:15 am put the bird in the center with a probe in the deepest part of the breast and one in the thigh near the bone. IT of the thigh was 46° and the breast was 38°.
  6. Pulled it at 2 hrs 20 minutes when the IT of the thigh was 186° and the breast was 169°. Let it rest for maybe 20 minutes when I pulled a leg quarter and cut up a thigh for Mary as she was hungry.

Smoked, Shrimp-Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers, Bacon Wrapped

Posted on by November 12, 2022

Made these the afternoon we were smoking butts for the UBC Reunion. They turned out great and well worth making again. The tasso next to the shrimp slices inside the large thick pepper wrapped in bacon was a beautiful when cross cut.

  • Made with fresh, milder Everman Jalapenos grown in our garden. I used large green and red ones.
  • Removed the stems, sliced the large meaty peppers in half, and removed seeds and pith.
  • Stuffed them high with
    • A sliver of our tasso smoked today with butts
    • Creme Cheese
    • Cabot’s extra sharp white cheese chunks
    • half a large shrimp
  • Wrapped them in Zeigler’s average-sliced bacon and seasoned with Creole Seasoning. Started the wrap on the stem end with the large end of the bacon strip. Used a toothpick to secure the loose end of the bacon.
  • Smoked at 250° for about 1.25 hours until the bacon was crispy. Some of the stuffing had melted and run out of the jalapenos.
  • Put them on a small baking sheet, covered with foil, and put them into the warm oven for about an hour.
  • Pulled them to cool for about 30-45 minutes before serving so the cheese would not be runny.
  • Sliced them into 3/4 to 1inch lengths and served on the wooded cutting board with toothpicks.