Tag: main course
Smoked Boneless Ham
Smoked Boneless Ham
Brining and smoking hams is fairly easy if you have the patience. You get to control what goes into the ham without them being overly processed. It will cost you a fraction of the price while delivering better results than any store bought ham you can find. The brine for the hams is straight forward. 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tbsp of pink curing salts, plus a few other seasonings. The brine is enough for 2 sirloins. The pink curing salts are very necessary in the ham making process. Without them, you will have a smoked pork sirloin and not ham. A good rule for curing hams: cure the pork 1 day per pound to ensure that the meat is penetrated by the brine all the way through.As far as what cut of pork to use; ham is always made from the leg. Pork sirloin is your best option if you’re looking to make small boneless hams that aren’t spiral cut. You can find pork sirloins at just about every grocery store for $3/lbs or less. They all average around 3lbs for a whole one. You can definitely buy a pork leg and bone it out, but that will require a lot more work. The pork sirloins I cured brined for 3 days. Place them on a rack in the refrigerator to dry out for 1 day. Plain, basic hams can really be smoked with any type of wood; depending on the flavor that you are looking for. I smoked my hams with maple and applewood. You will need to preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the pork sirloins for 2 hours, maintaining a smoking temp between 225-250 degrees. At the 2 hour point, take the temp of the hams with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke the hams until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Mine took an additional 30 minutes. Let them rest for a day before slicing.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- whole pork sirloins
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp pink curing salt
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 5 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- maple wood chips
- applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the pork sirloins in a gallon sized storage bags along with all of the brine. Brine the pork for 1 day per pound. These sirloins were 3lbs each.
- Let the pork dry out on a rack in the refrigerator for a day. Let rest for an hour at room temp before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your sirloins in the smoker.
- Smoke the pork for 2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, take the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. You want the internal temp to read 150 degrees. Both of my sirloins took an additional 30 minutes to smoke.
- Let the hams cool completely before slicing.
Pan Fried Noodles with Bacon
Pan Fried Noodles with Bacon
This is a quick and easy noodle stir fry dish utilizing basic ingredients that you can find at any grocery store. You can substitute any protein of your liking if bacon isn’t your thing, or add tofu or more vegetables and make this dish vegetarian. I ate the leftovers the next morning with 2 fried eggs on top of the noodles…good at all times of the day.
Ingredients
- 8 oz Chinese egg noodles prepared according to package directions
- 1/4 lb thick cut bacon diced
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 medium white onion thinly sliced
- 2 cup green cabbage chopped
Sauce
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.
- Cook the bacon in a large sauté pan or wok over medium heat until crispy and the fat has rendered out. Pour the bacon and it’s grease in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat up 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 tbsp of the bacon grease in the same pan over medium high heat. Place the noodles in the pan in a single layer. Fry for 3 minutes.
- Flip the noodles. Fry for 2 minutes on the other side and move to a plate.
- Heat up the last 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat. Sauté the cabbage and onions for 3 minutes.
- Add the bacon back in. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the noodles back in; tossing with bacon and vegetables.
- Pour in the sauce and sauté for 3 minutes, making sure that the noodles are evenly coated.
Mustard Green Pork Rice
Mustard Green Pork Rice
While this dish doesn’t look like anything fancy, I would go as far to say that this is now one of my top 10 favorite recipes on this site. It is seriously that good, with many complex flavors and textures in this simple dish. It is even better the next day. Mustard green pork rice has it’s influences from Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. Pork is sautéed with dried shrimp, black fungus, garlic, and ginger. Uncooked rice and mustard greens are stirred in. At this point, the rice is traditionally transferred to a rice cooker, then cooked according to the manufacturer’s directions. I used an Instant Pot since I’m able to sauté and pressure cook the rice all in the same pot, limiting dishes, which is my ultimate goal when cooking. It also takes a fraction of the time to cook.
Equipment
- instant pot or rice cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 head garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1/4 cup dried shrimp soaked in warm water
- 1/4 cup dried black mushrooms soaked in warm water; drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 lbs pork belly or pork sirloin cut into cubes
- 2 1/2 cups jasmine rice uncooked
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 bunches mustard greens washed; chopped into 1” strips
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Using the sauté function on high on your Instant Pot, heat up the cooking oil. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes.
- Add in the dried shrimp. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the black mushrooms. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the pork. Sauté until it is cooked 50% through; about 4 minutes.
- Stir in the rice. Sauté for 2 minutes. Pour in the soy sauce. Give it a stir.
- Add in the mustard greens. Stir them in with the rice. Pour in the water. Set your Instant Pot setting to pressure cooker on high for 4 minutes. Put on the cover and press start.
- Once finished, release the pressure. Give the pork rice a stir. Drizzle with sesame oil.
Smoked Turkey Breast
Tips For Smoking A Bone-In Turkey Breast Brine bone in turkey breasts for 12 hours. Pat dry and let rest at room temp for at least an hour before smoking. If you want to add anymore seasonings to the outside of the breast such as …