Sometimes It's Story Time

Ok, I know I promised a bean recipe this week, but it's been a strange one and I haven't had much energy for writing. But here is an odd story about a brisket.

This brisket. I made it with the usual oven method that I've been using since I got the cookbook it's in. But it never got tender. Ever. I cooked it for hours, it tasted great, but it was, well, hard. I wound up cutting it in cubes and braising it with some beans and bbq sauce but it never achieved that fork tender thing you want brisket to do. What's up with that? I am going to suggest that the brisket was a jerk and was trying to start with me. Fortunately, being a brisket it was without movement, so I won. Locomotion, ftw!

Homemade Spicy BBQ Deep Dish Pizza

Sorry I haven't been posting much, since I don't have any prep space right now most of the stuff I've been cooking really isn't very exciting. But I did make deep dish pizza recently with my 8" cake pan. Looks good, huh? It's the simplest one I make I think, it's pretty much my go-to pizza when I'm just cooking for me. It has bbq sauce, hot sauce and onion. Got a good crust on the bottom, too. I used store bought dough, but if I had had someplace to knead I would have made my own recipe. Man, I want one now. 8:30 in the morning isn't too early for spicy pizza, right? Heh.

Burnt End Pizza

Just a quickie, another pizza. This one was made with some burnt ends we got from a bbq place a while ago (that's the end bits of a smoked brisket, in case anyone doesn't know.).

I had thought when I ordered them it would just be chunks of burnt end but it was shredded and in sauce, which was kind of disappointing. So I took it home and made it into a pizza, which was awesome. Pizza is one of those things that can save so many less than thrilling situations. How many of you have used pizza to rescue something that turned out lackluster? C'mon, tell me a story.

A Quick Sandwich and an Announcement

First, the sandwich. This is my regular bbq pulled chicken with bacon, but I added about a third of a cup of orange juice to it at the end and let it reduce/absorb into the chicken. It was a great addition, added some nice brightness to what is otherwise a really rich dish. Plus that's an asiago bagel it's on, which makes it insane. That was a really good combo.

Now, my announcement. I am on Facebook. This is something I had actually been resisting for some time, but I figure that right now I have all this free time so it's the perfect time to do it. Heh.

Cheater BBQ Brisket and a Giveaway!

Cheater Basic Dry Rub
1/4 cup paprika
2 tbls kosher salt
2 tbls coarsely ground black pepper
1 tbl garlic powder
1 tbl dry mustard

Combine all ingredients.

Nashville Crossroads Cheater Q Sauce
1 small onion, grated
2 tbls vegetable oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls bottled smoke (optional, but awesome)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

Cook the onion in the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Simmer for a few minutes until thickened and smooth.

For the brisket:
Rub a 4-5 lb brisket with the rub, place it in a rimmed pan lined with enough foil to wrap the brisket tightly. Pour about 1 cup of sauce over it and wrap it up tight. Put it in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours or until ~190 degrees. Chill in the fridge for several hours before slicing, then reheat it, wrapped in foil (with a little more sauce, if you like) for 30 minutes at 350.

recipes are from Cheater BBQ by Mindy Merrell and RB Quinn

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I love free stuff. I admit it, it's part of the reason I started food blogging, I'm not ashamed. Heh. I also love BBQ, even though I keep living in places where I can't have a grill, let alone a smoker. So when I got an email asking if I wanted to try out a cookbook called "Cheater BBQ" which is about indoor barbecuing I was all over it.

See in my new apartment I can't have a grill. Even though I have a porch. When we asked our landlord about it his response was "grills burn down houses". I really wanted to argue with him, but I restrained myself since we wanted to get the apartment. Heh. So I have to make do with other methods. Now I've done indoor barbecue a few times before, I've made bbq pulled pork, pulled chicken, pulled beef and spare ribs, so I'm not really a stranger to these kinds of things. But I have had some issues making my own barbecue sauce and with, you know, details. Like time and temperature and little things like that. This book helped a lot with all that. But enough rambling, it's time for brisket.


The cookbook has a couple different methods, one for the oven and one for a crockpot. I don't have a crockpot that would fit a brisket, so I opted for the oven. It's wicked simple, but first you need a brisket. See this? That's the fat cap. You want that. I know, fat is bad, but the only reason a brisket without one would help you lose weight is because no one would want to eat the dried out, tasteless thing. So, if you're going to be spending 6-8 hours doing this, you might as well do it up. Right? Right. Now, all you have to do is take your rub and rub it in there. I picked the basic rub, it sounded good and was nice and simple. Plop the brisket down on enough foil to wrap it up in and pour on some of that sauce. Oh, you do have to make the sauce it first, but it's also really easy. You could use bottled, but this was really good, a great balance of tart, sweet and smoky. Good times. If this book has done nothing else, it showed me what was wrong with all the bbq sauces I was trying to make. Not enough anything. Good to know. Anyway, wrap it up and toss it in a 250 degree oven for 6-8 hours, until it's about 190 degrees inside. I had a 4.5 lb brisket and it took almost exactly 6 hours to cook. It was wicked, wicked good. Don't let the nice neat slices fool you (you get that by cutting it after chilling it for a while, makes it much easier), we cut this stuff with a fork it was so tender. The flavors of the rub mixed with the sauce was just awesome. I actually have half of it left in the freezer, waiting for a day when we need a little taste of summer.

Now, I've heard some people voice concerns about liquid smoke, but there is no need to be afraid of it. Allow me, if you will, to quote Cheater BBQ:

"Liquid smoke is exactly that- smoke from smoldering hardwoods or fruitwoods, condensed in water with impurities and carcinogens removed. It is not chemical or synthetic. It is safe, consistent, time saving, economical and environmentally friendly smoke in a bottle."

Embrace liquid smoke people. It's a good time.

Want to try this stuff for yourself? One of you lucky kids can get your own copy of Cheater BBQ! Just leave a comment and you're entered. Want another chance? Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment telling me you did. That's it, I'm keeping it simple. I'm going to give you guys until Friday. Good luck!

Barbecue Chicken Calzone

Here's a quickie, kids, since I'm wicked busy. It's just a little something that I tossed together with the rest of the pizza dough that was leftover from the other calzones I made. I made some barbecue bacon shredded chicken and wrapped it up, as I have a wont to do. It was awesome. A little cheese is in there, although you can't see it. Is it technically a calzone? I say yes, although others will say no. But definitions are a weird thing and I want to know what you think. What makes a calzone a calzone?

Barbecue Chicken Biscuit Cups

So. I've been on a bit of a hiatus, although it wasn't really by choice. Frankly, I've been wicked busy and haven't cooked much that's new. But I did make these barbecue chicken biscuit cup things. They're from a Pillsbury cookbook that I won from Kitchen Girl Jo (thanks Jo!) some time ago and are the second best thing you can make with canned biscuits. The best is, of course, monkey bread, but these little cup dealies are definitely next in line. The original recipe calls for ground beef, but I had some cooked chicken in the freezer that wanted using, so that's what I used. You could fill them with whatever you want though, meat or veggie, sweet or savory. I was thinking of doing a breakfast version, but I'm still working on it. I'm going to do another post with actual instructions after I make them next and get a full set of pictures.

That's another reason I haven't been posting, I haven't gotten a decent picture in a while and that makes me angry. I was supposed to take part in a Coast to Coast cooking event with my Bakespace buds, but the pictures came out so bad I'd be embarrassed to put them on the 'nets. I've started using GIMP for photo fixing and even that couldn't help them. But, I have a couple things lined up, my busy level has dropped dramatically and I should be back to posting relatively normally. Thanks to everyone who expressed concern over my absence, I assure you I'm fine. Heh.

Shredded Barbecue Brisket and Bacon Sandwich

I had some brisket leftover. I figured I could make another sandwich like the last or I could do something else. I went with something else. I didn't get many good pictures, but this is what I did.

I pulled the bacon off and put it aside. Then shredded the beef and simmered it over low heat in a little barbecue sauce till most of it had been absorbed. Then I pulled most of the fat off the bacon (otherwise it would be greasy) and mixed that in and let it simmer a bit more. That last simmer caramelizes stuff up a little, you get great flavor that way. Not to mention helping the bacon flavors get in there. It sucks a bit to clean though, it's a pot soaker. But that was that, barbecue shredded brisket sandwich. With bacon.

Some cheese would have been great with it and a nice cold IPA. You could do this with leftover brisket or if you make one and it comes out tough for one reason or another. It adds flavor and moisture to dry stuff or reintroduces it to overcooked meat. Instead of a sandwich you could also use it in casseroles, calzones, or on pizza (I would put it under the cheese). I'm going to put the chunk I have in the freezer in tomato sauce I think. I'm guessing that will be a good time.

Sunday Cats and a Burger

Just a quickie today folks. First, the burger. This burger was grilled at my brothers, with barbecue sauce added halfway through and a couple extra flips. That gave me some nice caramelization. And some grilled onions are on there too. AND some killer potato wedges. I'll post the recipe for those later in the week, they are very simple and wicked good.

Now, the cats. Noodles likes to sit in my lap, especially when I'm on the computer. That's because I sit with my ankle on my knee and it makes a little seat for her. Of course, Noodles isn't a "color inside the lines" kind of girl. She had to sit on my knee like this. She thought it was great, she just sat there, purring, head resting on the space bar, while putting far more pressure on my knee than I care for. Needless to say it didn't last long. Now Bob, as I've mentioned before, likes to cuddle with my girlfriend when she is on the couch. If you put your hand under his chin he will hold onto your arm. See?It's like a hug for your arm. Sometimes he'll even rub his face against your hand. How are these two pictures related? Well, they aren't. And now I've got to go. Hope you had a great weekend.

Experiment: Barbecue Bacon Turkey Balls

1.3 lbs ground turkey
1/3 lb bacon, browned and crumbled
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
1 clove of garlic
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbl cilantro
black pepper
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce

Combine all ingredients well. Form into balls and bake at 425 till browned and mostly cooked through. Heat the barbecue sauce in a pan big enough to hold all the meatballs (preferably the pan you cooked the bacon in, with the bacon fond still in it). Add the meatballs and toss to coat. Let cook till the meatballs are completely cooked and the sauce has caramelized.

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The name really says it all, Barbecue Bacon Turkey Balls. I had some ground turkey and bacon that wanted to be used and a bunch of seasonings. So I made these. They were wicked good. Looking back on them, I should have put some onion in. That would have made sense and added more deliciousness. But for some reason I didn't. Anyway, the cilantro is that frozen fresh stuff that I reviewed the other day. It worked quite well, I was very pleased. Sorry, no interesting back story to this one. It was something that I just kinda put together. So, here's what I did.

Basic meatball method here, take everything. Mix it together. Don't forget the bacon! Never forget the bacon. Form them into balls and cook them. I like to do it in the oven, it's quicker than frying them in a pan (at least in my tiny pans) and I run less of a risk of some sticking and making me angry. When they were almost done browning I tossed some barbecue sauce into the pan I cooked the bacon in, for extra bacon flavor, and turned the heat on medium low. Then out came the meatballs from the oven and into the barbecue sauce. Stir to coat, let cook till done, caramelized and delicious. You can turn the heat up to make it faster if you like, but I don't think I've ever had an overcooked meatball and if you let it take it's time the flavor is much better. Now you could just eat these as is, they are definitely good on their own. But I tossed mine in a roll with some cheese and it was unreal.Well, even though these are made with turkey they still aren't exactly healthy. Because of the bacon. But they are wicked good and the more mild taste of the turkey lets the seasonings (and bacon) really come through. I'll be making these again.

Barbecue Pulled Beef

3.5 lbs chuck roast
2 tsps liquid smoke

1 tbl brown sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsps salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
pinch of cayenne
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

1/2 cup ketchup

Rub the roast with the liquid smoke. Combine all the other ingredients except ketchup, reserving 1.5 tsps, and rub them evenly over the roast. Wrap the roast loosely (but tightly sealed to keep in the juices) in foil and cook at 275 for 3-4 hours. Remove the beef from the foil, reserving the juices. Pour the juices into a gravy separator and separate out the fat. If there aren't enough juices to come over the spout of the separator, add some water. Pour the juices into a sauce pot that's big enough to hold all the beef. Add the ketchup and reserved spice rub, then reduce the sauce till it's quite thick and the flavors have mingled, stirring occasionally. While the sauce is reducing shred the beef, discarding any fat. Add the shredded beef and mix it to combine. Let it cook over medium-low heat for a couple minutes to heat it through and let the sauce caramelize a bit. Serve hot.

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Crap, I'm running out of stuff to make this way! I've already done chicken and pork, now beef. I'm going to have to start doing exotic things soon, like emu or bison. Mmmm, barbecue pulled bison.

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Sorry, I was somewhere else for a minute there. Ok, it's no secret that I love barbecue pulled stuff (it's also no secret that I have no interest in quibbling over the definition of barbecue, so consider this the mandatory "don't waste your breath telling me this isn't REAL barbecue, because I don't give a s#!t" disclaimer.). This particular version isn't that different from my pulled pork, except that it's beef and I rubbed the roast with liquid smoke before the spice rub. And the spice rub is ever so slightly different too, but not that much. No cumin, added onion powder, changed some measurements. That's it really. But the flavor is very different, especially since I used a chuck roast. You could also use a brisket if you wanted, but I had a chuck roast in the freezer. And it worked out really well, so I would probably do it with the chuck again. The strong, beefy flavor wasn't overpowered by all the spices and the big vein of fat kept it nice and moist during the long, slow cooking. Plus all that fat helped it come apart really easily in the end. So, here's what I did.

First I took a big chunk of chuck. Don't worry, most of that fat is going to be tossed out in the end. Well, what doesn't melt and soak into the meat that is. Which is why it's so damn good. Next I rubbed it with some liquid smoke. I didn't really measure it, I just used enough to give it a light coating. It gave it a nice, smoky flavor. Then, the spice rub. I liked this rub for beef, but I don't think I'd use it on chicken. Leaving out the cumin lets the meat's flavor come through a lot more (cumin being so powerful), which is good when the meat has lots of flavor. When I make pulled chicken it's with boneless, skinless breasts, so all the flavor is coming from the rub. Anyway, rub the rub, but keep one and a half teaspoons of it aside for the sauce. Don't be shy with it, there's a lot of meat there.Then wrap it loosely in foil (but seal it tightly, you don't want the juices escaping), put it in a rimmed baking dish, just in case (I used a jelly roll pan), and into the oven for three or four hours. I think I had it in for three and a half. You'd think after all this time I'd start paying more attention to times, since I almost always say something like "I wasn't paying attention, so I don't know how long it was in for" with recipes like this. But I don't. Ah well. When it's done, take it out and plop it into a large bowl. It's not very pretty, but man does it smell good. Let it cool a bit before you shred it. This gives you time to deal with the juices. Mmmm, beefy. There's a lot of fat in there. You want that gone. I use a gravy separator, but I didn't get a good picture of it. I also added some water to bring the juices above the little spout hole thingy. The water didn't affect the flavor since I reduced it a lot. Which is the next thing, pour the juices into a sauce pot and reduce them a bit. Then add the reserved spice rub and the ketchup. You could easily use pureed tomatoes or canned plain tomato sauce in this, but I didn't feel like opening up a can to use half of it. Now let it simmer to reduce to a thick sauce and to let the flavors mingle. I've always been amused by that phrase "let the flavors mingle". I picture tiny cocktail parties, jars of spices in wee dresses and suits, drinking little martinis, spreading gossip.

"Did you hear? Cilantro and Cumin are breaking up!"
"Oh no! What will happen to their baby, Adobo?"
"I hear she's going to live with her Uncle Coriander down in Arizona."

Am I the only one? I am? Ok, well, we'll pretend that never happened then. So, while the sauce is reducing, shred the beef. Discard any big pieces of fat (and there will be some big pieces of fat). Also stir the sauce occasionally, you don't want it to burn. When the sauce has reduced, toss the meat in and stir it up. Let it cook for a bit so the meat absorbs some of the sauce and it caramelizes just a bit. Then that's it. Except for taking blurry pictures.Toss it on a roll (or some fresh french bread, if you happen to have some) and mow. This is a seriously beefy, tasty, filling sandwich.