Tag: beef
Homemade Corned Beef
Homemade Corned Beef
Corned beef is one of my favorites. But I’m sick of low quality corned beef that you get at the grocery store. It is very expensive; the way the briskets are cut are shitty; and they’re overly salty. I’m also sick of seeing people boil corned beef. I know that’s one way to prepare it, but it’s very underwhelming. So I decided to brine my own and smoke it.I purchased a whole untrimmed brisket that was about 15lbs. I trimmed it down to about 8lbs. The brine is simply salt, sugar, curing salts, and pickling spices. For a piece of meat this size, it will need to brine for 10 days to penetrate the center of the brisket. Once brined, the brisket will need to dry out in the refrigerator for a day.Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Allow the brisket to sit at room temp for an hour. Place the brisket in the smoker and wait…and wait…and some more waiting. Depending on the size of your brisket, it will take 8-12 hours to reach an internal temperature of 200 degrees. I started mine at 6AM and it was done at 6PM.
Equipment
- large bin for brining
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 flat cut beef brisket 5-10 lbs
- 1 gallon water
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp pink curing salt
- 8 garlic cloves smashed
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp allspice berries
- 1 tbsp whole cloves
- 4 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- hickory
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together.
- Put the brisket in a large bin. Pour the brine over the brisket. Weigh the brisket down with a plate to keep it completely submerged. Brine for 10 days.
- Take the brisket out of the brine. Pat dry and allow the brisket to dry out in the refrigerator on a rack for 1 day. When ready to smoke, allow the brisket to sit at room temperature for an hour.
- Preheat your smoker at 250 degrees. Place the brisket in the smoker.
- Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. This can take anywhere from 8-12 hours.
- Allow the corned beef to rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
Tajine Maadnous
Tajine Maadnous
Tajine maadnous is a baked Tunisian egg dish. With a heavy Italian influence, this egg bake is very similar to a frittata. Traditionally, the meat(either beef or lamb) is cooked until tender in an actual tajine. If you don’t own a tajine, you can speed up the cooking process by using an instant pot pressure cooker. The meat is then mixed with sautéed onions and herbs, cheese, breadcrumbs, and eggs. The mixture is baked in a glass dish for 30-40 minutes. This can be served as an appetizer or as a main course with couscous.
Equipment
- instant pot
- glass pie plate
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef chuck roast cut into 1” cubes
- 1 bunch parsley chopped
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 8 large eggs beaten
- 2/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 4 oz mozzarella grated
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up 1/4 cup of olive oil in your instant pot on the sauté function over medium high heat. Add in the beef. Brown for 8 minutes.
- Stir in the turmeric, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Pour in 1 cup of water. Turn on the pressure cook function over high heat for 15 minutes. Place on the cover and push start.
- When the 15 minutes are up, release the pressure. Turn the sauté function back on and simmer the beef on high.
- Cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Allow the meat to cool.
- While the beef is cooking, heat up the rest of the olive oil,in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions and parsley for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Once the beef has cooled, add them to a large bowl with the beaten eggs.
- Stir in the cheese, breadcrumbs, and the sautéed onions and parsley. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pour the egg mixture into a butter glass pie plate.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until the center is cooked all the way through.
Moroccan Offal Kebabs
Moroccan Offal Kebabs
Skewers of grilled organ meat are a common Moroccan street food. Typically you’ll see skewers of heart, kidney, and liver; beef or lamb; marinated with paprika, cumin, salt, and cayenne. Sometimes the each organ will be on it’s own skewer; sometimes they’re combined. Since the organ meats are fairly lean, pieces of fat trimmed from the kidneys are put in between each cube of meat on the skewer. This adds some flavor, adding to the richness of the offal.
Equipment
- metal skewers
Ingredients
- 2 lbs heart, kidney, and liver beef or lamb; trimmed; cut into cubes
- kidney fat
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Marinate the organ meat for an hour.
- Skewer the organs in this particular order: heart, fat, liver, fat, kidney, fat, heart, fat, liver, fat, kidney.
- Turn on your oven’s broiler. Place the kebabs on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Broil for 10-12 minutes in total; turning every 2-3 minutes to ensure even cooking. Alternatively, you can grill the kebabs the same way over grey charcoal.
