Tag: How to make
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.
Frozen Lemon Greek Yogurt
Frozen Lemon Greek Yogurt
Frozen yogurt is the slightly healthier alternative to ice cream. All you have to do is whisk the ingredients together and churn it in an ice cream machine. You can flavor the frozen yogurt with just about anything: fruit, chocolate, candy pieces, etc. I used lemon juice and a little vanilla, creating a tart and creamy frozen Greek yogurt.
Equipment
- ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups full fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Pour the batter into an ice cream machine. Churn for 25 minutes.
- Scoop out the frozen yogurt into a container and freeze for 2 hours before serving.
Homemade Turkey Stock
Homemade Turkey Stock
Wait a minute. Hold it right there. Are you really going to throw away that turkey carcass? That carcass still has much more to give. What you really should be doing is turning that carcass into a batch of turkey stock. I couldn’t be easier to make and is a great substitute for chicken stock. I honestly think that it has a lot more flavor than chicken. If you don’t have a carcass, you can make stock out of wings, drumsticks, necks, and backs.There are a couple of different approaches to making your turkey stock. The most basic way to make stock is to throw the carcass, your mirepoix(carrots, celery, and onion), garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves into a pot of water and simmer it for hours; which is this particular recipe. If you want really extract the flavor from the carcass, place your carcass on a baking pan and roast it at 400 degrees for 1 hour. While that is roasting, sauté the mirepoix and garlic in the stock pot. Doing both of these steps will result in a richer, darker turkey stock. Personally, I don’t like to add any salt to my stock. I adjust the saltiness when I’m cooking with it; just in case another ingredient happens to be salty.When you’ve finished reducing the stock to your likeness, strain through a colander. I like to nibble on any leftover meat that was attached to the carcass. If not using within a few days, freeze the stock down into ice cube trays and store in freezer bags.
Ingredients
- turkey carcass
- 3 carrots cut into sticks
- 3 ribs celery cut into sticks
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 gallon water
Instructions
- Place the turkey carcass in a large stock.
- Add in the vegetables, peppercorns, and bay leaves.
- Pour in a gallon of water. Turn on high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 6 hours.
- You will want to reduce the stock by at least half. I reduced a gallon down to 6 cups.
- Strain the stock of the carcass and other ingredients.
