Briskets & Sausage on the Recteq

Posted on by June 15, 2023

4/16/2023 – Smoked a brisket and Connecuh Black Pepper Sausage for our Spring BBQ and Pot Luck lunch to celebrate Frank Knippenberg’s and Digger Creel’s birthdays. The brisket was smoked and then “finished” in the oven but after 10 hours was not fork-tender and a bit dry.

This smoke was done the same as the one last week with the Wagyu brisket Jeff and Maggie brought. That cook—not posted here—followed the advice here and is what was followed for this smoke. The Wagyu brisket was very good and more tender than the one today. It also costs 3X as much.

  1. 4/14/2023, mid-afternoon – Removed heavy surface fat from the Brisket. Salted to dry brine and also added fresh coarse ground black pepper. Put it on a baking sheet and double-wrapped it in plastic sheets. Put it in the outside refrigerator. (We did not dry brine the Wagyu brisket.)
  2. 4/16/2023, 3:30 AM – Removed from the refrigerator and let it sit wrapped on the island to begin warming up.
  3. 4:00 AM – Put the meat into the Recteq preheated to 225°. IT of one probe is 39° and the other is 41°.
  4. 8:00 AM – Probes read 139 and 142 with great color. Pulled, wrapped, and put into the oven set at 225° with the oven probe to stop at 200°. The oven’s probe initially showed the IT as 142° so that is a good correlation with the probes in the smoker.
  5. About noon the IT had only gotten up to 180° so increased the oven setting to 250°.
  6. At 1:00 PM the IT was only 185° so increased the oven setting to 275°.
  7. At 1:30 PM the IT was only ~187° so increased the oven setting to 300°.
  8. At 2:00 PM guests were arriving and we fork-tested it and it was just ok. IT with the handheld in the flat showed it was either side of 200°. Pulled it to rest on the stove. Carved the flat at about 2:30 and served.
  9. Good color with a nice smoke ring but is not fork tender.

Fired the smoker back up at 1 PM and put on the sausage. Pulled it at 2:30 PM when I remembered it was out there. The casing was a bit leathery as it should have been pulled at 2 pm.

Guests:

  • Digger and Carol Creel
  • Peggy and Frank
  • Cathy Downey
  • Frank and Jan Carter
  • Malita Ham
  • Ann Gaston

What would have made it better?

The morning after I began reading Raye Minor’s advice here that I should have read before the smoke. The things I want to do differently next time are:

  1. Wet age the brisket in the original cryovac for 45-60 days as recommended by Raye Minor and also David Somerville here.
  2. Leave ¼-inch of the fat cap.
  3. Time & Temp per Ray – When the bottom brisket [in Ray’s Bradley] hits 168°F internal temperature with the probe inserted in the flat, I monitor the smoker temperature and try to keep it about 225°F which is 250°F to 260°F on my oven setting. I want a slow rise to 190°F or 195°F internal temp in the middle of the flat. At 185°F, test the bottom brisket for fork tender on the end of the flat and continue to test every five degrees. The 195°F internal is as hot as I have ever gotten. Fork tender to me means inserting a long two-tined fork into the end of the flat and twisting. If the meat easily breaks apart, it is fork tender. I repeat on the deckle end but I rely on the flat. With experience, you will be able to judge if a brisket is ready to come out of the smoker by the resistance felt when inserting a temperature probe.
  4. Start the smoke with 12-15 hours allowed plus 2-4 hours resting wrapped in the foil and a towel and placed in a cooler before serving.

Our Russian Dressing

Posted on by April 16, 2023

3/17/2023 – Mary made this for Reuben Sandwiches we made with the Pastrami smoked for St. Patrick’s Day here. This prep was inspired by the recipe at Natasha’s Kitchen here but is much spicer. This is not our 1000 Island Dressing that can also be considered Russian Dressing.

  • ¼ cup Blue Plate mayonnaise
  • 1 ½ tsp chili sauce
  • ½ tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 heaping Tbsp creamy horseradish
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 Tbsp onion, finely grated
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

She bought a bottle of Chili Sauce in the ketchup section of the store. It tasted like a slightly kicked-up ketchup. Next time try regular ketchup with a little cayenne.

After it had melded for a day or so it was much better.

Could also try adding more mayo, the grated onion, and minced garlic to our 1000 Island Dressing which is actually a Russian Dressing. The ratio above computes to 6.67:1 mayo to ketchup (chili sauce) as opposed to our 1000 island dressing which is 3:1.

Pastrami from Store-bought Corn Beef

Posted on by March 18, 2023

3/17/2023 – On this St. Patrick’s Day, we seasoned and smoked a 3.5 lb. corned beef brisket flat with a first-time-ever seasoning/rub. The fat was removed from the vac packing and rinsed. This turned out very good and was an easy way to make pastrami for Mary’s favorite sandwich—the homemade Ruben.

The seasoning was:

  • 6POGS not heavy
  • ~3 Tbsp whole coriander that was partially cracked in a cast iron skillet with the meat mallet
  • ~1 Tbsp per side of Brown mustard seed
  • ~1.5 tsp per side of Ground Allspice
  1. Put it cold in the Recteq at 225° loaded with the Recteq Original pellets.
  2. at about hour 4, the surface was drying out so made a baste of EVO and ACV at very roughly 1:5.
  3. at hour 5 it was moist so wrap it in foil—without our usual puddle in the bottom of the foil of ACV—and finished in the oven.
  4. pulled at 155° as they had been in the smoke for 5 hours.

The image shows Mary shaking on the whole brown mustard onto the flat with the partially cracked coriander.

This was the day after Ranger died and at the end of the first week we had Daisy the cat.

Hester’s & Mary’s Taco Soup

Posted on by June 15, 2023

The ingredients listed below is what they put into the Taco Soup Mary grew up on as well as did Kelley and Tim. True to the way grandmothers record recipes there are no measurements nor directions. Too bad they said, you should have paid attention those hundreds of times they made it.

  • ground beef
  • onions
  • bell peppers
  • celery
  • garlic
  • whole steamed tomatoes
  • pinto beans
  • hominy
  • package ranch dressing
  • taco seasoning

Mary’s 1997 Creamy Roasted Potato Salad

Posted on by March 10, 2023

This handwritten recipe is dated July 1997 and inspired by one in Southern Living.

Ingredients

  • 3 lb. small red potatoes cut into 8ths
  • 2 onions cut into 4ths
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Toss to coat all with the oil and put into a pan to bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes.

While that is baking combine:

  • ½ cup mayo
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • 3 Tbsp chives
  • 2 Tbsp capers
  • 1 tsp each of salt and pepper

Mix, cover, and chill.

Wassail

Posted on by March 10, 2023

The recipe below was published in the Houston Chronicle by Ann Criswell as what the Heritage Society made and served at the Candlelight Tours of historic homes in Sam Houston Park.

Ingredients

  • 2 qts of Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 quart of orange juice
  • 3 Tbls lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp lemon rind

Directions

  1. Bring ACV and cinnamon to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. NEVER boil again.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes uncovered.
  3. Cool and refrigerate.
  4. Reheat as needed
  5. Makes 3 quarts and serves 18-20.

Mary’s Salad Dressings

Posted on by February 27, 2023

2/27/2023 – Mary has been making her own cole slaw and potato salad dressings for the past 3+ years and today I found that neither is on this site…or anywhere else. She does not measure anything and so the measurements below are approximations.

Cole Slaw Dressing

  • Mayonnaise – Blue Plate
  • Dijon mustard
  • Cayenne pepper ground
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Pecan Oil
  • Salt & Pepper here or on the chopped cabbage

Potato Salad Dressing

  • Mayonnaise – Blue Plate
  • Dijon mustard
  • Cayenne pepper ground
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper

The potato salad includes fried bacon and drizzle the bacon grease over the salad when the dressing is stirred in.

Mushroom-Broccoli-Onion-Bacon dish

Posted on by February 22, 2023

First made 2/21/2023 – This was an easy side dish with fresh components and good flavor. It was inspired by the recipe here.

Ingredients

6 bacon strips, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sliced fresh portabello mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green onions from the greenhouse
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups fresh broccoli florets

Directions

    1. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. Saute mushrooms and onions in the drippings for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Add broth, salt if desired and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes.
    2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring broccoli and 1 in. of water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Add broccoli and bacon to the mushroom mixture; toss to coat.