Homemade Pastrami, NYC style....

Started out with 2 corn beef flats and soaked them, for about 24 hours. The reason for this, is to remove some of the salt content. After they soaked, I patted them dry and rub them with black, pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, ground coriander and dried thyme. On the smoker, they went, looking for an internal temp., of 145 degrees. Used reg. Kingsford charcoal and a few chucks of soaked to fuel the smoker.
Once the desire internal temp. was achieved, I took them off the smoker and foiled the pastrami. Let the meat rest for about an hour, to let the juices redistribute. Hand sliced the pastrami, to finish it off in a pressure cooker, with beef broth, for 20 minutes. The pressure cooker, gives it that steam effect, you would find in many NYC Delicatessens.
And the final product served on rye bread, with Gulden's Spicy Mustard, swiss cheese, and pastrami. Toasted in the toaster oven to melt the cheese and heat up the meat. Treat yourself to a delicious and satisfying treat. Enjoy.

Chicken Sausage, Brats and Apples & Chardonnay

Wanted to try and make some chicken sausage, so we started out with 11 #'s of bone in thighs. Deboned and cut up the thighs, gave them a quick freeze for about 30 minutes to help with the grinding process. The two types of sausage we were making was Chicken Bratwurst and Chicken Sausage with Apple and Chardonnay. After separating the two batches of ground chicken, we seasoned each accordingly to the recipe and then proceeded to stuff them in to natural medium hog casings. But first, amde two tiny patties to taste the spices and see if it needed anything.
Here is a quick look at the stuffing process...
Making the links and braids.
This is the finish product, this is actually, the Chicken Bratwurst. It tasted very good and juicy. One of the best things, about homemade sausage, is that you know exactly, what is going into the sausage, and you can control the sodium, fat, or tweet the seasonings, to satisfied your taste.
Can't wait to try the Apple and Chardonnay links, next time. Thanks for viewing.

Beer Can Chicken and Spam

Started out with two whole chickens, marinaded in Ken's Teriyaki and Honey Marinade, for about 3-4 hours. Gave them a turn very 45 or so.
Dried them up with paper towels and put them on their holders, with half a can of "Bud". Sprinkled on a little California style garlic powder and a little onion powder. Placed it on the grill, with indirect heat. Used Regular Kingsford Charcoal and a couple of chunks of pecan wood, for smoke flavor. The chickens looked lonely, so I put on a chunk of Spam, rubbed with pecan rub.
The beer and the holders.
This what the finished birds look like. Approximately, about an hour on the grill, with the top vent half way opened. The marinade had honey in it, so that is the dark spot you see. The skin was crisp, the meat was moist and very juicy.
This is the Spam. It was perfect. The rub turned into a nice sweet crust. The family loved it. Nice quick meal, very low effort and prep. time...Great Results!!!

Starting the New Year with Turkey Breast

Happy 2010! Decided to make a whole turkey breast, to help stay on our health kick. Started out with a 8.5# turkey breast and brine it, in orange juice, Tender Quick, black pepper and oregano. Brine it over night for about 15 hours. When we were ready, we rinsed and pat dried the breast, let it come to room temperature and seasoned with garlic powder, black pepper, oregano, dried french poultry rub and melted butter.
Ready to go in a 325 degree oven, with an aluminum foil tent, for about 1 hour. Then basted, with the juices from the roasting pan and added a couple strips of center cut bacon, to keep the meat moist. Back in the oven, basting every 40 minutes. Looking for an internal temp. of 170 degrees.
After almost 2 hours and 45 mins., this is what you end up with.
It was so moist and flavorful! Who says turkey has to be dry? Eat healthy in he New Year!
Till next time!