Chicken Buttermilk Brine ToTry

Posted on by January 25, 2017

Gary Wiviott’s buttermilk brine –

  • 1/2 gal buttermilk,
  • 1 cup warm water,
  • 2/3 cup kosher salt,
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar,
  • 1/4 cup Old Bay Hot (Gary recommends just regular Old Bay tho’)
  • OPs modifications:  Sometimes we toss in some cut-up onions, celery, carrots, and some rosemary and thyme.  The fancies are usually added for more special occasions and we find that they work best if we mix the brine up a day early to let it mature for a day before putting the chicken in.  We brine chickens for around 12 hours.  Works on Thanksgiving turkeys too, except we give them an extra day.

The above was in post by Brian who responded with more as pasted below.

Those down south know all about buttermilk brines.  I once tried plain buttermilk and it didn’t work nearly as well as the basic brine mixture above (1/2 gal buttermilk, 1 cup warm water, 2/3 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar).  Even though the plain buttermilk is acidic enough, it doesn’t soak in and do it’s magic without the salt, sugar, and water to thin it down a wee bit.  Note that this amount of brine is for TWO chickens (halved, pieces, whatever).  Make just a half batch for one chicken.  I just use gallon Ziploc bags, one chicken each, for brining.

The brine by itself doesn’t add flavor so much as it tenderizes the meat and lets the natural chicken flavor out.  The spice that’s added only seems to be detectable in the chicken if you let the spices leach into the brine for a day …and the same applies to the herbs and veggies.  Some people simmer the herbs in the water for 10-15 minutes to bring out their flavor.  Some people add cut up carrots too …but I don’t think they add much.  If you DO add these other ingredients and let them soak in the brine for a day, then the chicken for a half-day in the ‘matured’ brine mixture …then the good flavors of all the above go clear down to the bone AND the chicken is made super tender and has great mouth feel.  It’s my favorite brine…. suitable for all ways of cooking chicken.

I do recommend buying Gary Wiviott’s book …he’s got an “my way or no way” attitude and I think his instructions for using a plain Weber Kettle are way off in terms of heat management, but you can’t argue with his results when followed for a WSM or offset smoker.  His book was my intro to low and slow, and for the entire first year of cooking this way, I did it all in a Weber Kettle …and boy did that experience make me appreciate my WSM!

Myron Mason ….can’t recommend this guy.  High on ego, short on brainz (sorry if that offends), can’t quit referring to his hind quarters… I threw his book away.

Brian

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Posted on by October 24, 2016

By Ina Garten – Very good

Ingredients:

  • 3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 11/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup good mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk, shaken
  • 1 red onion, sliced

Directions:

Place the scallions, basil, lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree for 15 to 20 seconds to make a smooth mixture. Add the mayonnaise, yogurt, and buttermilk and blend until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a container, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour for the flavors to develop.

Tarter Sauce ToTry

Posted on by October 8, 2016

TARTER SAUCE INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon minced onion, or shallots
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped sweet pickles
  • 1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
  • 1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped

Directions: Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill in covered dish until ready to use. Serve with almost any fried fish.

From the eRecipe book at http://www.kronehouse.net/DeliciousCajunRecipes.pdf

Country Style Ribs, Smoked, Wrapper and Roasted

Posted on by March 7, 2017

Standard cook that turned out good as usual.

10/8/2016 – Mary bought a large package of six large CSRs on sale. We rubbed in Stubb’s Hot Pork Rub and let it rest for 6 hours or so. Prep’ed two 1/4 pans with grids to each hold four CSRs and put into the MES on the 2nd and 3rd rack.

11:00 AM – MES was set at 230 and the air probe in the left front area on the third rack down read in the 215-220 range. Smoke was from Trafelger’s Hickory Pellets in the Amazn tray with one slot filled. This was the second time I preheated the pellets in the microwave twice for two minutes to remove moisture. It lite and burned great.

4:00 PM – 5 hours of smoke – Moved to roasting pan, poured/painted on Stubbs BBQ Sauce then covered with foil and into convection oven set at 275. Checked them with a fork to see in tender.

~7:00 – The meat breaks open easily with a fork so pulled them to cool. Put them in a plastic container and poured in the liquid.

 

 

Spare Ribs with new twists plus thighs and legs

Posted on by October 24, 2016

Both turned out great.  Good lessons learned here.

10/2/2016 – Bought the 7.28 lb.of ribs at Kroger for $1.29/lb. Very meaty and only trimmed off the tip.

Preface – This turned out good and builds on developing our rib recipe. See tweaked sequence below.

7:30 AM – Pulled membrane, slathered with yellow mustard, rubbed with Stubb’s then plastic wrapped and into ice chest with ice below.20161002_114808

Noon – Put the ribs on in a half-sheet shallow alum pan with legs and thighs (pre-seasoned from HEB) in small shallow pans one each on the top and second down grate. Prepared CookinPellets’ Perfect Mix Smoking Pellets (first time to use them) by heating in the microwave to dry them out for 4 minutes. They lite easily.

12:45 – After temp stabilized based on the box probe, and it reheated at normal intervals, the air probe on the underside of the second grate had not gotten over 160. Raised set to 135. Good thin blue smoke.

1:15 pm – Air probe is now up to 180 but still too low so removed the half sheet from under the ribs20161002_145701.

2:00 – Air probe shows 200 so moved it to beside the ribs between them and the glass. Still thin blue smoke.

3:00 – Pulled legs and thighs with IT in the 160s. As they were on the wire rack inside the shallow pan the rack held them up and they were smoked evenly on both sides.  Mary had sprayed both with Pam so clean up was easy.

3:15 – Rib IT is 165-160. Made a baste of 1/4C ACV, 1/4C water, 1T Stubbs and 2T butter. Heated in Microwave 1 min and butter was melted. Wrapped ribs and poured on baste. Returned to MES.

4:00 – ChefAlarm in thick area was at 196 but moved to thin end and–based on feel of penetration of the probe so clearly in the meat (even though wrapped and cannot see it)– the temp was 168.20161002_170749

4:30 – IT in thin end is 201 and in thick end is in the mid 180s.

5:00 – IT in the thick end averaged in the 190s. Pulled it and set on counter in kitchen to rest while while we prepared the plates. There is a lot more liquid in the foil than what was added when it was wrapped.

5:30 – Ate dinner of ribs, potato salad and butter beans. The thin end of the ribs was perfect although the surface was a bit dry and stringy. Very moist internally. Some of the bones feel out and some were just right.

Conclusion – This turned out GREAT.

Reheated – 20161002_171113The thick end of the ribs needed to cook longer to render some of the fat and make the meat more tender.  The chicken was moist and good but the skin was like leather.

NEXT TIME

  1. Buy a rack that is not thicker on one end than the other.
  2. Of Course do not put it into a half sheet pan in the MES.
  3. Again put meat side down in the wrap as the bones then do not puncture the aluminum and drain out the juices.
  4. Maybe needed more heat in the rub and/or the baste. Could use 2T of the rub in the baste and ground chipotle.
  5. Process Next Time should be essentially the same, i.e.:
    1. Trim rack, slather with yellow mustard, rub in Stubb’s plus more heat, wrap to marinate for 4-6 hours.
    2. Smoke in MES set to 225 with ribs on the rack or maybe sliced into smaller pieces that could be on a wire grate in a small shallow alum pan.
    3. Smoke for 3 hours. While smoking prepare baste with: 1/4 C ACV; 1/4 C water; 1T Stubbs; and 2T butter. Heated in Microwave 1 min and butter was melted. Add ground chipotle to make it more flavorful. Let it sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld.
    4. Wrap in foil meat side down and pour on baste on both sides.
    5. Insert meat probe and smoke until in the mid 190s.

 

Tasso Recipes ToTry

Posted on by February 6, 2018

By Chef JJ here edited slightly by me.

Put half in with the cure/brine. Once cured rub the other half on the well-dried pork before smoking. This anticipates the cure/brine having a good salt level as there is none here. It also is for 5 lbs of pork shoulder cut into small strips.

4T Black Pepper
4T White Pepper
4T Paprika
4T Gran Garlic
4T Gran Onion
4T Mustard Pwd.
2tsp Dry Thyme
2tsp Dry Oregano
2tsp Cayenne Pepper

He added:  “BTW if you add 4T Kosher salt to that Recipe it makes a Killer Blackening Spice, Add 1 Cup Raw Sugar along with the salt and you got a great Pork and Poultry Rub. I left the Salt and Sugar out because it’s in Pop’s Brine already”

Someone else said they pound the seasoning in with a tenderizing hammer.

Nepas at SMF said the recipe at Nola Cuisine is good.

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/11/03/homemade-tasso-recipe/

Credit for all below goes to NolaCuisine.com

A few Tips:
“After seasoning it, I recommend keeping it in the fridge, at least 3 days to let it cure, look at how nice and pink the center is.”

“Here is my recipe for Tasso. I used a Boneless Pork Roast cut into about 4-5 inch long, 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices. This is seasoning for about 5 lbs of pork:”

Homemade Tasso Recipe

5 lbs Pork cut as described above
Seasoning:

3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
2 Tsp Cayenne or To Taste (see above)
4 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Coarsely Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp White Pepper
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

“Mix the seasoning together well. Rub the seasoning into the meat, you want a lot on there, call it 1/8 inch, use it all. Place on a plate or tray, cover and refrigerate 3 days.”

“Before smoking put the Tasso on an elevated rack so that air can circulate around it, then put a fan on it for about 2 hours to dry it out. I also don’t use a water pan when smoking Tasso, this is something that I actually want to dry out during the smoking process.”

“I hot smoked this batch in an inexpensive upright barrel smoker using charcoal as the heat source (heated with a chimney starter, no lighter fluid or matchlight coals please.) I used Pecan chips that were soaked in water for 1 hour for the smoke. I smoked this a total of about 4 hours, the first 2 hours at about 150-160 degrees F. The second two hours at 180-190 degrees F. The object is to get as much smoke into the meat, before cooking it all the way through. I brought the internal temperature of the meat to 150 degrees F in the last 2 hours of smoking. When finished I again put the Tasso in front of a fan for about 1 hour. Refrigerate. When completely cold portion and store the Tasso in vacuum sealed packages. Freeze.”

Makes 5 lbs of Tasso

PAUL PRUDHOMME`S TASSO SEASONING

Five pounds tasso
Standing time: 3 days
Smoking time: 4 to 12 hours

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt = 18.1 + 6.03 = 24 gm
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons sugar = 15.9 + 2 x 5.3 = 26 gm
4 tablespoons black pepper = 4 x 7.62 = 30 gm
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon white pepper = 2 x 7.36 + 2.45 = 17 gm
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 teaspoons ground red pepper (preferably cayenne) = 2 x 7.6 + 1.25  x 2.53 = 18 gm
3 tablespoons garlic powder = 3 x 8.34 = 25 gm
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon onion powder 2 x 8.19 + 1 x 2.73 = 22  gm
2 tablespoons plus 1 3/4 teaspoons cumin = 2 x 5.88 + 1 x 1.96 = 14 gm
2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons paprika = 2x 6.78 + 2.5 x 2.26 = 19 gm
1 tablespoon plus 2 1/4 teaspoons gumbo file powder (optional) = 1 x 5.8 + 2.25 x 1.93 = 10 gm
5 pounds boneless pickled pork butt, see text above

1. Mix all ingredients, except pork butt, together.

2. Dry the pork butt off with a paper towel. Roll the pork in the seasoning mix, coating the meat completely, and pat it in well. Let the seasoned meat sit in the refrigerator covered for 3 days.

3. After the 3 days, smoke it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. I smoked two pieces in my smoker with hickory chips for about 12 hours. Another two pieces I smoked in the oven of my electric range, using liquid smoke. They came out great both ways.

From Turning Pork Butt Into Tasso Is An Old Cajun Trick, May 16, 1985, by Merle Ellis.

Romeo Nadeau, Tasso Maker

Pat Baldridge, a great cook and food editor of the State Times-Morning Advocate in Baton Rouge, put me in touch with Romeo Nadeau, who, she says, “makes one of the best tassos in Louisiana.” I called him:

“There are about as many recipes for tasso in this part of the country as there are Cajuns, but I’ll be happy to tell you how I make mine,” he said. “I use Boston butts, pork shoulder butts, cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches thick. I put the meat down in a pickle made of 2-1/2 gallons of ice water, 2-1/2 pounds of salt, 1/2 pound of sugar and 1/2 pound of cure for every 50 pounds of meat. Let it set in that cure in the cooler for a couple of days. It won’t need to cure any longer because you’ve cut the meat in strips and the cure penetrates pretty fast.

“When you take the meat out of the pickle, rinse it good, let it dry a bit, then sprinkle it good with granulated garlic and rub that in. Then cover that sucker with cayenne pepper till it won’t take no more. Don’t rub the pepper in–just pat it on real heavy. When it won’t take no more, let it stand for about an hour at room temperature till it gets kind of tacky to the touch.

“Put the meat in the smokehouse and let it set for an hour at 135 degrees with the damper open. Then close the damper down to 1/4 open, kick the temperature up to 175 degrees and pour the smoke to it till the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150 degrees. That’s all there is to tasso.”

Found at http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-23/food/fo-8336_1_pork by Merle Ellis. That was the same text as published in the Chicago Tribune linked on this page.

For Lynn Poli’s cajun tasso recipe click here.