Diego's Smoked Cabernet Brisket

Last September we enjoyed some brisket in Branson, MO., that just knocked us out! When we got home I tried twice to smoke some brisket on the charcoal grille we had at the time. If you've ever tried to smoke brisket on a charcoal grille you know exactlly what I mean when I say keeping a constant temperature was a challenge. Six hours of reading the thermometer, opening the lid, dumping more charcoal, adding more wood chips for flavoroing, etc., was a bigger six-hour job than what I wanted.

Day 1:

Now I'm feeling ready to try it again, this time on the new Traeger smoker. I found a recipe at the Walla Walla Village Winery site for a wine inspired smoked brisket, so today I bought a slab of brisket and put together the marinade. I had to modify the recipe some, therefore I gave it a new name, "Diego's Smoked Cabernet Brisket." (I'm a bit partial to the name Diego and like to use when I can, mostly "just in fun.")

The marinade contains the following ingredients: merlot-cabernet wine (Columbia Crest, 2005, merlot-cabernet blend); orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, water, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, crushed garlic cloves, and bay leaves. The meat will be marinated for about 16 hours in the 'fridge.

The BBQ sauce for this masterpiece also calls for merlot-cabernet wine, orange juice, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, minced ginger, dry mustard powder, red chili flakes, Salt, and Pepper.

More posting tomorrow when we go into full production.

Day 2:

Poured the marinade off the meat this morning, cut slits in the fat side and embedded the garlic, salted and peppered both side. The smoker was turned on a few minutes earlier to set the temperature at 200 to 220 degrees and when ready, placed the meat on the grille and started the timer. This cook should last 7 hours being ready at about 5:30-6:00 pm later today.

We called some friends to join us for brisket, corn on the cob, baked beans and some good red wine later today. Let's hope it all works out.

Here's a closer shot of the meat, fresh off the grille. You can clearly see the slits where the meat was cut about 1/2 inch deep and the garlic inserted.

Our friends, despite being fully informed that we needed them as guinea pigs for this meal, showed up right on time and brought a wonderful bottle of cabernet savignon to go with the brisket; and this beautiful bouquet of flowers...wow.

The wine was superb, smooth, with low acidity and it didn't have that strong oaky taste that so many cabs I've drank have. Of course, I pay bottom dollar for cab, so that may demystify this wonderful bottle they brought.

The brisket was a hit; even though I forgot to add the slices of provolone to the finished product for our guests. We tried the left overs on the next day with the cheese and agreed it didn't really seem to add much to the overall experience of a pretty damned good brisket.

Definitely a repeat recipe!

Salsa With True Mexican Flavor

Too many times when we purchase salsa in the grocery store, it tastes mostly like we think it should taste rather than what it really should taste like. I figured this out yesterday after doing some grocery shopping at a very large Mexican grocery called Fiesta Foods across the river. Going there brings back memories of Tijuana.

While casually walking the aisles and discovering the similarities and differences with what we find in our local groceries, I noticed a row of small bottles across the top of a produce bin full of tomatilloes; small bottles filled with what appeared to be some kind of rub. On closer inspection I found they were spices specifically developed for tacos, burritos, and other Mexican fare.

The one that caught my eye read, "Salsa Mix:" two tbs of the mix, 2 cups of chopped tomatoes, some fresh cilantro, and a bit of green pepper for color.

I tossed in some minced green onion, and a minced garlic clove, stirred it all together, laid a cilantro sprig across the top, and put in the fridge to cool for a while.

Later we had taco salad for dinner and placed copious amount of the salsa on top. It was delicious. Cilantro really helps make it Mexican, too!!

Grillin' Some Rib Eye Steak

We love rib-eye steak. Grilled up just right, it tastes wonderful; add some some creamed spinach, corn on the cob, maybe some fried okra, a crunchy salad with a tasty vinaigrette, and a bottle of some local red wine. Wow.

Steak can be grilled in a matter of minutes, so here's what I did to "dress it up." I put copious amounts of "Diego's Killer Rub" on both sides of the meat, put in the fridge for a couple of hours, then about half an hour before putting it on the grill, I put it in the freezer.

I start the charcoal in a charcoal chimney, it takes about a half an hour for the coals to be ready, then I spread the coals, put the grill on, let it heat about five minutes, then clean it with a wire brush. Spread a little cooking over the grill using a paper towel held with the tongs.

Once the coals are gray, I drop the steak on and let it sizzle on each side for about 3 1/2 minutes. About two minutes into the sizzle, I turned the steak 45 degrees to give it that beautiful cross-hatch.

I use a digital thermometer and when the steak reaches about 115 degrees, I slather a layer of Oyster Sauce, yes, - Oyster Sauce - rather than bbq sauce over one side, let it cook a few minutes, turn it over and slather the other side. When the steak hits 120-125 I take it off the grill, then let it sit for about 10 minutes to give the juices time to reabsorb before plating.

I don't believe there is a steak house anywhere that can beat this for taste!

It is - simply, to die for!

Tuna Steak

We purchase most of our salmon at Costo because the prices are hard to beat. For some time now I've noticed their tuna steaks just down a few feet from the salmon. Now I've never been a great fan of tuna, having eaten it only as a sandwich staple; but these steaks look intriguing. They are the color of ... red wine?...and they are about an inch thick. But how do you cook them?

There are only two recipes in Smoke & Spice. I looked online and found it difficult and tiresome finding a "smoked tuna" recipe . . . nothing looked, good. Then I took another look at the Traeger cookbook and found "Dave's Great Tuna Steaks" recipe.

The marinade calls for olive oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic clove, a bit of dry oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. Marinade the steaks for 30 mins while the Traeger heats up to max temp . . . about 420 degrees. Cook for about 7 minutes until the fish turns white, the turn the fish over and cook a few more minutes. BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVERCOOK.

Well, I don't think I overcooked because the interior of the steaks were too rare.

Next time: Wait for the smoker to reach an even higher temp and wait until the fish is more white than it was this time. I noticed that it was white'r,' but it wasn't really "white." So just a few more minutes on a higher grill; that oughta work.

Bourbon-Glazed Ribs

The recipe is on page 69 of Smoke & Spice, the pre-mo smoken' cookbook of the age. Yesterday was my second attempt at this "smokin'" meal, and I think it came out like, "wow."

I didn't use the rub in the recipe, the one that calls for paprika and chili powder. I used Traeger's "Salmon Rub." Salmon rub on a slab of ribs? I licked my finger and touched it to the rub and rubbed it across my tongue. Yeah, it was good, real good. I checked out the Traeger site and found since they developed this rub, they have found it works on pork, beef, veggies and just about everything else. Next time I use this recipe, I'll use it again!

The mop is fun! 3/4 cup bourbon and 3/4 cup cider vinegar mopped on at 1 1/2 and 3 hours. What I like is the odor of the bourbon and way it sizzles when added to the meat.

In the past I have tried to use intuitive judgement as to how to manipulate the temps as Smoke & Spice always calls for 200 to 240 degrees, and Traeger recipes move from a few minutes on "smoke" (140 to 180 degrees), to starting on medium (225 to 300) or high (325 -450). I've decided to go with the Smoke & Spice temps until I know better.

What I really like about this recipe is the sauce: it calls for butter, vegetable oil, onions, bourbon, ketchup, cider vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. The recipe is created for 3 slabs of ribs and that's probably close enough. Yesterday, for some odd reason, I was thinking last time it wasn't enough. Well, the reason is because rather than cook on low for "about 40 minutes" to thicken the mix, I cook it on low for about 4 hours, stirring frequently and getting it thick; like those bbq sauces you buy in the store.

At about 3 hours and 15 mins of smoking at 220 - 240 (as called for in Smoke & Spice) you apply the sauce at least once, maybe two or three times, until 4 hours. It carmelizes beautifully. I brushed the sauce on three times.

At 4 hours, I took the ribs off the smoker and into the kitchen where I let the meat rest for about 10 minutes before cutting the individual ribs and stacking them in a plate. Once stacked, I brushed on more of the sauce and had plenty left over.

Was it good? My oh my...it was simply, to die for.

Apple City Baby Back Ribs

Ok, so I have a little experience under my belt with the new Traeger Smoker. I've done ribs a few times and received rave reviews from family and friends. A few weeks ago, using a recipe from the Smoke & Spice cookbook, I put together one fine bunch of ribs called, "Apple City Baby Back Ribs."

The soak is made up of 1 1/2 cups of apple juice; the Rub has brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and dry mustard; and the mop contains 1 1/2 cup of apple cider or juice and 1/2 cup of cider vinegar.

Apple pellets light the fire and the smoke was heavenly to smell.

The ribs were, what can I say, marvelous. The apple brought out a flavor not many have tasted and it was worth all the effort.

All that being said, we agree the Bourbon-Glazed Spare Ribs are the BOMB!! Check the next post to find out more about them.

To Smoke, or Not to Smoke

That question in the title of this post became moot as soon as I tasted my buddy's ribs which he had smoked on his Big Green Egg. As soon as I got home and ordered the cookbook, I started my search for smokers here where we live. It didn't take long. I found the Green Egg and looked the multiple styles and sizes over; then I went home and let that information slosh around in my head for a week or two. Once it began to settle like so much sediment in a dirty, slow moving, river, I asked my wife if she would like to go look at them.

So here we are, checking out the Green Eggs. These smokers originated in China. They have thick porcelain walls that act as perfect insulators so that temperatures can be held at almost perfect settings for hours and hours, by utilizing small amounts of charcoal. They are expensive, but now that I have tasted the milk and honey, I am convinced they would be worth that price and more. I have a model picked out, my wife likes it too.

"Are you guys going to buy a Green Egg?" the tall man said as he approached us.

I looked at him and replied, "Certainly thinking about it."

"Have you seen the Traegers?"

And that's where our plan went askew; and to make a long story short, this guy, who was a customer like ourselves, "sold" us a Traeger smoker. Though I have lamented in earlier posting that I was interested in going back to charcoal, the thing that fascinated me about the Traeger is that it uses no charcoal. It uses wood pellets: pellets made of apple, maple, cherry, hickory, mesquite, etc., trees - all the smoke, none of the potentially harmful chemicals found in briquets.

I have fired it up four and five times now and we have had some delightful ribs, steaks, and chicken.

In future posts I'll be telling you about some of them!!

Grillin', Barbecuein', and Smokin'

Way back when we were first married, we started purchasing the cheapest barbecue sets we could find. Back then we couldn't afford much; but even before that, in college I once set up a barbecue using the lid off an aluminum garbage can, some briquets, and a rack out of the oven. The chicken I burned on that set-up was delicious!

My dad started barbecueing in probably 1955/56. I was in the second, maybe, third grade. He was a plumber-pipefitter and had access to more than anyone's share of 55 gallon drums. He laid one on its side, cut it in half, put a couple hinges on the backside, added some flattened iron around the edges, put in a couple of shelf holders to hold the rack, inserted an exhaust pipe (about 2 1/2 inch diameter that was elbowed about the same distance from the edge of the barrel and pointing upward to a point just above the top of the barrel), put a small hinged door on the side so he could add and remove charcoal as needed, put the whole thing on a stainless steel stand with two wheels and brought it home. We ate off that ol' boy until I was well past college and married. In fact, not long after the unit finally gave up the ghost, so did my dad.

One year for Christmas, my sister and her husband and my wife and I all went together and bought him a gas grille. He never put it together. I remember checking his face for some degree of acceptance of the gift when he learned what it was. All I remember is a look that said, "What the hell is this for?" It was almost like we had offended him and his old black barbecue. I guess it was just that gas grilles had become all the rage and we thought he would want to be up with the times, like we were. Ha.

So, now, my wife and I have purchased the cheapest units we could find, for over thirty years. Back before gas grilles we had a few charcoal burners. The one I remember most was the small one. It had probably a 20 inch diameter and was about 3 inches deep. I had one of those funky electric starters that you put in the bowl, poured the briquets over and hoped for the best. Our front porch had a long overhand and I would set the unit up out there and run a cord out the front door and burn the hell outa chickens, steaks, and hamburgers. Man, it was good.

But a couple years ago I began hungerin' for the old charcoal briquet way of cooking food. So last year I spent a couple hundred bucks on a nice unit. It had a large bowl and I did some research and learned about indirect grilling and how to put hickory, maple, and mesquite chips into the embers. Something my dad had done 50 years ago. We began eating some pretty good food. I learned it is quite difficult to burn meat when it is cooked indirectly. I watched the food network, read a couple books and began to get excited about this type of cooking; then I went to visit an old high school buddy that I hadn't seen in 24 years.

He taught me the difference between grilling and true barbecueing (smoking). He showed me his Big Green Egg and he smoked up some of the finest ribs I had ever eaten; and he showed me the cookbook he uses. When I got home, I bought the cookbook off Amazon for an amazingy low price (check out the "new and used" section); then I started looking at smokers.