Ingredients: Large Beef Brisket Prime Beef Stock Soy Sauce Worcestershire sauce Yellow mustard BBQ Rubs Butcher BBQ Prime Brisket Injection BBQ Sauce Start with mixing the BBQ injection. Mix together a couple of cups of a good beef stock with a tablespoon of Soy Sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add 1 cup of the Butcher BBQ Prime Brisket injection and a 2 tablespoons of your favorite BBQ beef rub. Heat and stir until completely dissolved. Taste and add more injection if needed. It should be quite salty but very flavorful. Start trimming the brisket. I like to start with separating the flat and the point. The flat is the leaner part that I slice and the point if the much fattier one and it is great for burnt ends. Keep trimming by removing any excess of fat on the flat and the point. Rub both pieces with yellow mustard and start sprinkle the BBQ Rub of your choice. When cooking at home I use two layers: The first layer is Peppered Cow by Simply Marvelous (light) and the second layer is Beef Rub by The Slabs (generous). I like to gently massage the rub into the meat. Last step of the preparation process before the meat marinates over night is to inject the brisket. Inject the brisket throughout, (one injection per inch of brisket). Wrap in Cling Wrap and keep refrigerated over night. Fire up the smoker, I like to keep the temperature around 235 F (113 C). I prefer to use oak lump charcoal and then add apple and hickory wood chunks to the pit. If you want to more of a smoke flavor, feel free to use mesquite. BBQ is all about personal preference. Make sure that you have an aluminum pan underneath the meat when you start cooking to collect all the drippings. These drippings will be used later for flavoring the brisket slices and the burnt ends. Place the brisket on the smoker and smoke for 6 hours. Turn the brisket over - apply a light dust of BBQ rub and cook for another 2 hours or until the meats internal temperature hits 170 F. During the first two hours, add wood chunks for smoke flavor. Remove brisket from smoker. Lay the brisket (flat and point separately) on some heavy duty aluminum foil. Pour some of the drippings on the brisket and wrap tight. Return brisket to smoker and cook until internal temperature hits 200. The remaining drippings should be put in a fridge. It will cause the fat to rise and harden. After 40 minutes you should be able to easily scrape all the fat from the drippings. Filter through a sieve. What you have left is liquid gold - the au jus will be packed with flavors and we will use it to enhance both the sliced brisket and the burnt ends. When the temperature hits 200, remove brisket from foil and pour accumulated juices into a cup. Put in fridge or cooler to separate fat (see above). Allow the meat to release its steam, otherwise the brisket might overcook during its resting phase. Wrap the flat again in heavy duty foil, place the meat in an empty cooler and let it rest for another two hours or so. While we wait for the flat to rest, use the point to make burnt ends. Slice the point into 3/4 inch cubes and place into another aluminum pan. Toss with some more more BBQ spices, a BBQ sauce of liking and your separated drippings. Put back in smoker for another hours so and stir every 15 minutes (cover with foil). When the flat is done resting, quickly heat some au jus (separated from the fat).
Slice the brisket perpendicular to the grain. Brush or dip each slice in the hot au jus. Fan slices on a platter and place some burnt ends around the edges. Serve and enjoy. This is a simple recipe but the flavors are rich, bold and extremely satisfying. If you want to be popular with the neighbors, try this recipe the next time you have a BBQ at home. And experiment with the flavors, use different kinds of wood, different sauces and different rubs. That is what is so fun with BBQ, it is easy to make this recipe your own. And don't forget, serve with a cold beer!!
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Seared Foie Gras is one of the easiest things to make, the flavors are divine and still, surprisingly few has tried making it at home. Here is a wonderful recipe adapted from Michael Ginor's book Foie Gras - A Passion. The original recipe calls for an Almond Phyllo Pastry, but I simplified it by using toasted Raisin and nut bread instead.
Start with making the blueberry sauce. In a small bowl combine blueberries and Armagnac and let sit for 15 minutes. Heat the duckfat in a small pan over medium heat . Dice the onion finely. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onions are just beginning to brown. Add blueberries and Armagnac. Let simmer for a couple of minutes and then add stock, salt an pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer until liquid has reduced to a cup, about 25-30 minutes. Add rice vinegar and honey. Puree mixture and strain through a fine sieve, Put aside and keep warm. Slice the pineapple into thin slices and cut into even rounds. Vacuum seal at high to compress the pineapple and change the texture. Place the pineapple slices on a heatproof pan. Sprinkle each slice with sugar and caramelize using a propane torch. Sprinkle additional sugar while torching the slices to ensure an even coating. Trim bread and cut into triangle. Toast over medium heat. Set aside. In a saute pan set to medium, heat the butter. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring constantly for 10-15 minutes, until the onions become dark brown but not burnt. Set aside and keep warm. Season the foie gras slices with salt. Heat a grill pan or saute pan until very hot. Sear the foie gras about 30-40 seconds on each side, making sure the livers remains pink in the middle. Put the bread at the bottom, and place pineapple brulee slices on top of the bread. Carefully place the seared foie gras on top of the pineapple and finish with some caramelized onions on top of the foie gras. Drizzle the blueberry sauce around the plate. This is a great appetizer, most of the ingredients can be prepared in advance and when it is time to serve the dish the foie gras only takes 2 minutes to get done. It is rich, bold and very flavorful. Foie gras with Sauternes is considered to be the classic pairing. You probably can’t go wrong with this pair no matter how the foie gras has been prepared but the sweetness of the Sauternes works really well with this dish.
A great Italian ragu has depth of flavors, is rich and complex, and would not need a ton of parmigiano cheese to compliment its lack of taste. I have been trying to find a great recipe to meet all these criteria. And finally I found one... Massimo Bottura, of Osteria Francescana wasn't the source I was expecting to get it from though. Well known for revolutionizing Italian cuisine and putting a very modern touch in his creations, I wasn't expecting to find such a traditional recipe. Yes, it is using Sous Vide as a cooking method, but it is still very old school - and it is very delicious. Here is my adaptation from the book "Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef".
Start with making the cherry tomato confit. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Place tomatoes in baking dish and pour oil over the tomatoes, crush the garlic and add the cloves, and finally add the 4 sprigs of rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Let it bake for 3 hours. After three hours take out the tomatoes and let it cool. Discard garlic and rosemary. Chop tomatoes and set aside for later. The room will be filled by a divine aroma that hints of Italy. Make a classic soffritto by cooking the onions, carrots and celery very gently in olive oil. Add rosemary and bay leaves. When done, discard herbs and set aside. Prepare the meats. Trim beef or veal tongue and dice meat into large chunks. Remove all the gray outer parts of the tongue. Trim fat of the oxtail and veal shanks. Chop the pancetta into small chunks. Blanch the bone marrow in salted boiling water and drain it on kitchen paper to absorb excess liquid. Sweat pancetta in a large sauce pan. Add sausage meat and cook until browned. Add the wine and cook until liquid has evaporated. Add cherry tomato config and cook another 2 minutes. Set aside. Brown the oxtail, tongue and veal shanks in separate batches. Heat the chicken stock. Put the oxtail, tongue and shanks in three different sous vide bags. Add a third of the bone marrow, chicken stock, soffritto and sausage meat/pancetta/ cherry tomato confit mix to each bag. Cook for 24 hours at 145 F (63 C). Open the bags and separate the liquid. Place liquid in pan and reduce by half over low heat. Skim off excess fat. Chop the meat with a sharp knife and mix in a large sauce pan. Add the reduced liquid and let is simmer for 10 minutes. While the ragu is simmering, cook the tagliatelle in some chicken stock. Rinse carefully, making sure that the pasta is dry. Finish cooking the tagliatelle in the ragu until it has absorbed all the liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Serve without parmigiano cheese. This dish is best as a stand-alone, no additions needed. The different meats gives this dish a culinary layering which is both rich and rewarding. It has a hint of the fat from the marrow, the cherry tomato confit gives it a sweetness and sharpness that balances very well with the boldness of the tongue, oxtail and shanks. It is a great dish for early spring or late fall when you want something rich and filling, after a long walk in the cold. Enjoy with a glass of Toscany wine - in my case, Tre from Brancaia.
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Cooking at home
In this section you will find recipes and food experiments that I have tried at home. Some successfully. Archives
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