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!

Makin' Bacon, Again...

Today I vacuum packed about 6 1/2 lbs of homemade bacon. Well actually, we started the process last week and as I labored through the process late last Saturday night, I had a few curious cats swarming the kitchen for late night snacks, checking out what I was doing.  

They had never seen anyone "make" bacon before... so I explained the process to my teenage skeptics who chuckled as they headed back upstairs with their popcorn and gummy worms, kinda used to the fact that I'm always doing something...

Last weekend we bought a 13 lb pork belly from Western Beef and cut it into quarters, skin on. 

I was feeling a bit creative and lately, I've been on a charcuterie kick, a bit fascinated by fermented meats. Most people don't realize that this is exactly what salami, salumi or prosciutto really is: lacto fermented meat. An age old practice of preserving meat that precedes refrigeration. 

I personally love charcuterie of all kinds and that is one of the many gifts my ex husband gave me... a love of what is mostly a European staple that is slowly making its way to the U.S. I see more and more farm to table chefs embracing this age old and timeless tradition, developing a deep appreciation for this art and introducing a new foodie meat culture into our American palette. 

One of the easiest ways to introduce yourself to an easy lesson in charcuterie is of course, bacon. The belly of the pork, which I find to be one of the many jewels of this creature.  I've made bacon before, which really opened my eyes and from there, I explored making fresh chorizo, which was truly fabulous. Longing for some of this culinary goodness, I decided to go a bit deeper. I am curing a lonzino, currently and intend to do a Spanish chorizo as well as a Brasseola as well, maybe a Cappocola since I love these cured meats. If you are going to try your hand, why not try your hand at something you love to eat?

This time I decided to do bacon 4 different ways. Here were my holiday flavor inspirations:

• Black peppercorn, Fennel and Cumin
• Espresso and brown sugar
• Sweet Mesquite from Costco
• Plain

First I cured it using this curing method, about 1/4 cup basic dry cure per piece of pork belly, which was freaking perfect:

Basic Dry Cure:

1 lb kosher salt

8 oz sugar

2 oz pink curing salt

Yields about 3 1/2 c of cure.  I weigh it all out using a kitchen scale, which I recommend. Pink curing salt is just that, it is a special nitrite salt that should not be mistaken for table salt. Its purpose is to consume the sugars in the meat, creating natural nitrates that preserve the meat, hence the actual fermentation process. It is NOT pink himalayan sea salt. Do your homework and research as it is a natural curing process and I won't cure anything again without it, now that I am enlightened. If it bugs you, research it and figure something else out if it still bugs you. For me, it works like a charm and I will always use it. A little goes far so it is affordable and easy to store when you need it.

Curing:

After applying the dry cure, you could see it start to weep immediately. I prepped all the other flavorings and did them one at a time, vacuum sealing each piece. I put the vacuum sealed packages in the fridge for a week, or 9 days actually. We took out the pieces, washed off the seasonings and then placed them on grated baking sheets to air dry before we smoked them.

Smoking:

Now, I should have checked my own freaking blog for the timing, but of course I didn’t and sometimes, what seems like a mistake turns out to be a masterpiece after all is said and done. I mistakenly took someone else’s blogging advice and we smoked it at 200 degrees on the egg for 3 hours 15 minutes. The erroneous blog said 4 hours which to his credit, my partner in kitchen crime balked about several times. This prompted me to finally check the temperature during the football game commercial period. 

Turns out he was right, of course, and so was I… on my own blog lol! In my first bacon post, I mentioned that we smoked our bacon for about an hour, which was probably right on the mark, without knowing what temperature we were at during the smoking phase. The charcuterie book I have also said check the internal temp after 1 1/2 hours,  at 200 degrees, which I should have done. Internal temp should be about 150 degrees. But having said that, the happy culinary "accident" that ensued was phenomenal. When we opened the egg, the site of the pork bellies was gorgeous and we both just knew... it was probably cooked. But we couldn't have cared less... the sight of them, the smell... We couldn't get it in the house fast enough.

Don't fall in love with me pulled pork, eat your heart out!! lol! If we EVER want to do a pulled pork again that is upscale and restaurant worthy, it will indeed be done with a pork belly, no lie.

When we took it off the grill, oh boy, it looked and smelled amazing. And it also looked… Cooked.   No worries. It was so freaking delicious we really didn’t care because it meant we could taste it without having to first cook it!  Remember, that even though bacon is technically "cured", it is one of those meats that must be cooked first before you eat it. However, our lucky little mishap was the exception...

Only problem was it was so freaking delicious, we practically devoured half of the plain piece (which happened to be the smallest quarter) in a matter of minutes. We had just eaten, but it was so dang good, we both kept wandering into the kitchen picking at the bark, pulling at bits and pieces...

Refrigerating and Slicing:

We left it to cool (and yes, it was hard to step away from the bacon) and then placed wax paper on the bottom of the refrigerator meat drawer to refrigerate over night. As you might have experienced, cold bacon is much easier to slice and cut and homemade bacon is no different. The colder the better and freezing for an hour or two is even better.  

Today, we took them out of the refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper and popped them into the freezer for about an hour just before we put them through the meat slicer. My cohort sliced it perfectly and layered the pieces in wax paper while I vacuum sealed it all and labeled it. We ate the plain one the first night, leaving about a half pound of it. lol! It was that good but the bits left over, we diced and put in a ziplock bag in the freezer for later this week. 

We took the skin off for cracklings before slicing it though, which I highly recommend. I refuse to even consider how bad this might be for you, but being that I grew up on pork rinds and cracklings, I just rationalize it by saying I'm preserving my heritage. lol! Turned out beautifully and really, the bacon looks perfect. We both decided that while we cooked the bacon accidentally, it will still make beautiful bacon, it just won’t take that long to cook. And the real discovery is that smoked and grilled pork belly is a true delicacy to die for, a worthy meal in and of itself.

Now that’s looking at the silver lining... any way you slice it.

Chicken Barbecued in Foil

Nothing says "I love you" like good home cooking.  I have been in need of spoken and unspoken I love you's lately... and because I am blessed with an abundance of loving people in my life, I have come out like a bandit in recent weeks!

Hubs and I have been going through some tough times. To be honest, all I really want is to make this dish for him but when life gives you lemons, make this dish. :) I know he would love it.

Recently my father's lovely girlfriend and life partner made this for me to patch the holes in my heart and feed my hungry soul.

What a beautiful and well balanced dish this turned out to be. Don't forget the mashed potatoes, because that was the perfect side dish for soaking up the gorgeous, savory sauce.

The following recipe serves 2-4 but we made a doubled the recipe for 4 gigantic Texas chicken breasts that weighed about 1 lb each:

Ingredients:
3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 c. chopped onion
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/4 c. lemon juice or juice of 4-5 small lemons
1/2 c. ketchup
1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb) broiler-fryer, cut in half or (2) 1 lb chicken breasts

Prep:
Combine all ingredients except the chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub chicken with salt and pepper. Place each broiler half or chicken breast on a piece of heavy aluminum foil, large enough to tent-wrap each piece securely.  Put half of the sauce on each piece of chicken. Tent and fold tightly.

Bake:
Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees F) 1 hour, or on a very slow oven (200 degrees F) for 2 hours. Carefully open packages to avoid burns from escaping steam; turning back the foil slowly.

Broil chicken until browned. Serve the foil package as is or you can serve the chicken and sauce separately. We didn't bother removing the foil, we just put the foil packages on plates, opened and served them as is with awesome mashed potatoes.

**Of course, you can grill these for about 45 minutes but everyone's grilling experience is different so I won't cover any grilling instructions here except to say that heavy foil works best and a meat thermometer is always a good idea if you have a hard time controlling your grill temperature.  But baking is easiest when trying this recipe for the first time, so do give that a whirl.