Braised Cabbage with Beer, Red Onion and Pork Belly

Nothing feels more like comfort food to me than braised cabbage.

I grew up with cabbage as a child and my mother, my grandmother braised it in bacon drippings and beef or chicken stock, which is one of my favorite ways of preparing it.

So simple, my puppy could make it:

• Cabbage wedges
• Sliced Red or Yellow Onions
• Bacon, Pork Belly or smoked hamhocks
• 1 bottle of your favorite beer or apple cider
• Salt, pepper to taste

No need to slice and dice... just cut big wedges of cabbage, slice some onions if you feel up to it and toss in either ham hocks, slices of pork belly or diced bacon. Drench the rest with some of your favorite beer and you are good to go.

Don't have beer on hand? How about some apple cider? No apple cider, try chicken stock or beef stock. We had a root beer but preferring a less sweet version, we opted for the half drunk bottles of Pilsners leftover from the night before. So what if it's flat? By the way, a root beer would be the perfect foil if we had a red cabbage but since we have the most monstrous head of green cabbage I've ever seen, we opted for a lighter liquid and chose to use the leftover beer we had on hand.

Bake:
Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes to an hour, adding more liquid at the half hour mark if it looks like it is cooking out too quickly. I use a large Creuset, uncovered, to bake this dish or one of my large stainless stockpots if doing it on the stove.

If baking, just pop it in the oven, set the time for 30 minutes just to check on it and keep baking for the full 45 minutes to an hour if you prefer your cabbage more or less tender. The flavors really develop the longer it braises so keep an eye on it so the liquid doesn't cook out and it begins to burn instead of caramelizing.

If braising it stove top, you can cover it and simmer on low for the first 30 minutes and uncover it the rest of the way to reduce down if you like more of the caramelized flavors like I do.  To me though, baking is the easiest way and if I bake it, I can usually get in my evening swim while it braises away!

Franklin-Style Brisket To Die For

Oh. Ma. Gah. Discussed this with my little bro who lives in Austin, Texas and he agreed that Franklin BBQ brisket is everything they say it is. More.

We've been on a grilling binge lately and I can't cry about it because boy, we've had some good eats up in this joint! You wouldn't know it, but we don't really feed an army... Just a few teenagers. But we don't really need any excuse to cook and we do the same thing whether they are here or not.

Our first Franklin-style brisket was just to die for... And I've never really done brisket. I considered doing a brisket for St. Patty's day but we instead opted for a corned beef pre-brined brisket that are readily available and pretty cheap to get during the season. Still... I did the research just in case we wanted to try it one day. I have no issues with curing a brisket for ten days...

Brisket on the brain. And then I saw an episode of Andrew Zimmern doing a spot on Franklin BBQ and we instantly set our sights on brisket once again.  Lucky for us, briskets were on sale just after Easter so we got a smoking deal on a large 8 lb brisket.

Couldn't wait. And surprise, surprise... it is as easy to make as prime rib! Go figure. All that matters really, with brisket is this:

1. Right cut. That means the "packer" cut. Just ask your butcher.
2. Simple and light seasoning. Equal parts salt, pepper. I used about a quarter cup of each and while I thought it was perfect, Tsunami said less is more next time. Mental note made.... I still thought it was delicious and only 2 days later, swear this is almost gone. But, he's a bit of a perfectionist so keep that in mind. You need to follow your palate preferences, for sure.
3. Post oak for smoking. Not too much smoke, just a little to flavor the meat but not overpower.
4. Far, far away from direct heat. NO flames. Ever.
5. Low and slow heat. 190-200 degrees for 8-10 hours was what we did and of course, I thought it was brilliant. Franklin uses this as a guide: 1 1/2 hours per pound of meat. 

That means that we were pretty much right on the money and I know this because he recommended that the internal temperature of the meat be at 190-200 F degrees when it is done. And guess what? We nailed it. Tsunami likes it rare so that explains his overly critical take on our meat doneness, but again, his prerogative.  He admits, regardless of his nitpicking, that it turned out extraordinarily delicious for our first brisket.

We did ours on the Egg. Got the chunk coals hot, put one soaked chunk of wood on for smoking and used the stacking grates to get the brisket as far from the meat as possible. 

Remember the ribs from our prime rib post? Well, just after Easter, not only do they have brisket on sale but a ridiculous sale on meaty beef ribs from taking them off the rib roasts! We picked up about 6 packages for a song. We placed a grate of seasoned, rubbed ribs on the grate below the brisket and placed the brisket all the way on top, fat side down. Whoa. Mighty mighty brisket fat basted ribs rocked my world!

If you do what we did, just mind the ribs. They didn't take as long to cook of course, but still, at 190 F, took about 5-6 hours and they were perfect. Divine, even.

Also, a clean, well circulating smoker is key. Our smoker was squeaky clean and it allowed us to keep a perfect temperature for almost 10 hours without any fussing. Granted, we still fussed... not quite trusting the Egg as we should, but now we know the secret. A clean grill and plenty of time.

Don't plan on housework or a movie. We did work in the yard and garden, played with the puppy in the pool, got some sun. It was an awesome grilling weekend and boy, were we well rewarded.  Can't wait to do it again!

Zestify! - Zesty Goat Cheese Stuffed Campari Tomatoes

Love these zesty little tomato bombs. I've made this for years and they have been an easy go-to starter for many holiday gatherings, special occasion get togethers and evening dinner parties with friends.

This was one of the appetizers we served on Easter Sunday although, tucked away in a bottom corner of the fridge, they were forgotten until we went to clean up! Oh well, not as if they will go to waste as it was hard enough to keep them from being devoured before our guests arrived.

The kids love tomatoes and of course, they also love the pink Argentinian shrimp that goes on sale around holiday time here in Florida.

Even though we cooked up about 2 of the 4 lbs of these beautiful pink shrimp for a shrimp platter before dinner, it was definitely not enough.

We should have cooked all 4 lbs because we had just set out the shrimp and cheese platter when in the blink of an eye, literally, the dining room got very quiet and the next minute, where once there was an entire tray of perfectly poached pink shrimp, one lonely little shrimp remained...

I mean... hello, shrimp ghost nation?? I got quite a giggle out of it, so thoroughly impressed with the stealthy quiet threat that comes with 3 starving teenage boys who normally, are about as quiet as a heard of buffalo. And I laugh because, well, they are always starving and I have no idea where they put it or how they could quietly coordinate such a thorough shrimp attack.

Tsunami, on the other hand, was thoroughly unimpressed, more annoyed than I've ever seen him and imposed an instantaneous lock down on everything until the rest of our company arrived. I could see them trying very hard to contain their mischievous grins, knowing full well that they just destroyed that plate in about 3 minutes flat. Sulking, the youngest starts to make some excuses like, "Well, Dad, we're STARVING..." And so I scoot in with some bread and butter just out of the oven. Better to sacrifice something willingly than to wait for another stealth Easter table attack.

And that is likely how these little lovelies got left behind and forgotten in the shuffle. Almost as soon as the shrimp were gone, the doorbell rings and Easter Dinner is officially on.

Super duper easy to make ahead. I prep the goat cheese filling and wait until the day of to finish the stuffed tomatoes, which ironically, was exactly what I was doing when the shrimp left the building...

This is really an herbed cheese filling and the ingredients I use are for guidance only. As always, use whatever herbs and seasonings you prefer. But the lemon zest is so bright and refreshing, you should try it that way at least once.

Here's what you need:

• 8 oz of goat cheese
• 1 lb of Campari or large cherry tomatoes
• Fresh chives
• Zest of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of Rustic Tuscan Italian seasoning from Costco
• Thinly sliced red onion or parsley, for garnish, optional (we love red onion so it's a must)

1. Make the cheese filling by letting the goat cheese come to room temperature in a mixing bowl. You will refrigerate it later but it makes mixing the other ingredients a tad easier.
2. Add about 1/4 c of chopped chives, the zest of one lemon, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and mix thoroughly.
3. Cover the cheese mixture with saran wrap or a silicone bowl cover and refrigerate until you are ready to stuff the tomatoes.
4. Prep the tomatoes by gently slicing off the tops or slicing them in half. Scoop out the seeds using a small teaspoon and reserve for another use. (I make a marinara/pizza sauce or a tomato vinaigrette with the innards.) 
5. Using two small spoons, I gently stuff the hollowed out tomatoes with a spoonful of cheese filling, using one spoon to help push the cheese off the other spoon into the tomatoes.
6. Garnish with chives and red onions or parsley or whatever you like.

As I mentioned, we forgot them in all of the goofy shrimp chaos so I know they will keep for a day or so if you cover them with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated. You can also make a day ahead if you like, but I like to prep the cheese and stuff them on serving day. Either way, they will keep a couple of days before the tomatoes begin to get a bit soft.