Category: Meats

Smoked Corned Beef … A Twist on tradition

St. Patrick’s Day is a big holiday in my eyes. I always saw it as being the real Thanksgiving in my house growing up. Maybe it was the Irish music? Maybe the shamrock tablecloth? Maybe the smell of delicious meat and cabbage being cooked by my mom? Maybe it’s the fact that we extend the invitation to anyone to join us? I don’t know, but what I do know St. Patrick’s Day is one of the best holidays (right behind Halloween!) of the year.

So this year for St. Patrick’s Day, I convinced my parents to let me try smoking some corned beef in the smoker. While they said sure, they made sure to buy backup just in case what I was envisioning didn’t pan out as expected …

The corned beef didn’t come out as expected. It actually came out way better than anticipated! In fact, my parents have been talking to everyone about it and now I’ve been tasked with smoking more corned beef once the Coronavirus pandemic is over! A task I am willing and able to take on 🙂 Honestly, before St. Patrick’s Day, I didn’t think you could smoke corned beef, but you can!

Okay, Let’s get started with the ingredients:
– 3-4lb Corned Beef (I used a 3.6lb corned beef brisket)
– 1/2cup brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
– 1/2cup salt (not iodine table salt)
– the packet of pickling spice that comes with the corned beef
– 2 tbsp. of dried/ground mustard
– 8-10 cups of water
– 2 tbsp. of black pepper
– 3tsp of onion
– 3tsp of garlic powder
– 3tbsp. of paprika
– 3 tbsp. of ground mustard
– 2-3 tbsp. of brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
– one aluminum pan for the smoker (may depend on size of smoker)
– aluminum foil
– wood chips (I used apple wood chips instead of a heavier, bolder flavor)

Okay, now that we have our ingredients, let’s create some delicious magic, shall we?

1. First things first, we want to soak the corned beef in cold water for about 4-6hours to release the salts and preservatives that were added in. I used about 5 cups to soak it, but it’ll depend on your bowel choice and size of the meat. It could be more, could be less. (In the notes section, I will give you a timeline on what I did to maybe help illustrate steps 1 to the end.)

2. About 45 mins to 1 hour before the corned beef needs to be taken out of the water, start the brine (I actually made mine 3 hours earlier because I was doing other things). We will need to add the following in to a pot of water: 1/2c brown sugar (Sugar in the Raw), 1/2c salt (I used Mortons), pickling spice packet that came with the meat, 4-5 cups of water, and 2tbsp. of ground mustard. Let this simmer to a light boil for about 5 minutes then take it off the heat. (As this sits, the mixture is going to look absolutely disgusting and make you question yourself, but keep going. It will be okay!)

3. Once your time is up on soaking the corned beef in water, dump out the water and replace with the brine. I recommend giving the brine one last stir before adding to the meat, just to make sure everything is evenly dispersed. Let the sit over night (I left mine in for 7 hours).

4. Remove corned beef from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the (do not rub) the corned beef until it is dry. Make sure the corned beef is not dripping in brine.

5. In a bowl, mix all the spices (pepper, onion, garlic, paprika, brown sugar (sugar in the raw), salt (Morton’s), and ground mustard in a bowl. Once mixed, generously rub all over the corned beef. Place the corned beef in the aluminum tray and put in the refrigerator for about 4 1/2 -5 hours.

6. About 15-20 minutes before removing the corned beef from the refrigerator, fire up your smoker. Fill the water pan about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way with water (room temperature is fine), toss a handful of wood chips in its respective location, and set your smoker to 300F. I used apple smoked wood chips and thought it complimented the meat beautifully.

7. Once the smoker has reached the desire temperature of 300F, add the corned beef into the smoker. We put the corned beef with the aluminum tray in together and let it smoke for about 5 hours.

8. After 5 hours, take out the tray and cover the beef with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes to allow tinting and to let the meat rest.

9. Finally, slice the corned beef up and enjoy the delicious crisp edges, the light sweetness of the seasoning, and juicy dish you just created!

Here was my timeline to give you an idea of how I did this:
1. On 3/16/2020 at 8pm: added the corned beef to cold water to filter out the salts and preservatives.

2. At 8:30pm, I started making the brine since I was already in the kitchen supervising dessert time. Once the brine was ready, I set it off to the side to cool down.
3. 3/17/2020 at 12:00am, I dumped the water from the bowl the corned beef was in and added the brine. You can use the same bowl, no need to dirty a new bowl.

4. 3/17/202 at 7:30am, I dumped the brine, patted the corned beef down to dry it, and then added the spices/seasoning. Once that was done, I put the corned beef in the aluminum tray (uncovered) until 12:30pm.

5. At 12:15pm, the smoker was turned on and set to 300F.

6. At 12:30pm, the corned beef and tray were added to the smoker.

7. At 5pm, the corned beef and tray were removed from the smoker and covered with aluminum foil.

8. At 5:20pm, the corned beef was uncovered and the was being sliced.

So roughly, from beginning to end, took about 21 hours to do. It was not bad and the end result was delicious, well worth it, and mouthwatering.

Enjoy!

Attempt #1 at making Carnitas …

Hi, everyone! Last week, I made my first attempt at trying to make carnitas in the slowcooker. It had flavor, but I think next time I’m going to try a different meat cut. Try it out and let me know your thoughts! (Bonus: I’ve also include my first attempt at making guacamole!)

Ingredients!
– 2lbs of pork shoulder. We ended up getting half a shoulder, which was plenty for 3 people, with leftovers.
– 1 – 1 1/2 chopped white onion
– 1 large jalapeno or 2 medium size jalapenos
– 8 cloves of garlic
– 1 cup of orange juice. I used with pulp because that’s what we have in the house, but you can use anything: pulp, no pulp, freshly squeezed. You won’t taste the oranges in the meat, but the acidity helps the meat brown later.
– 1 1/2 TBL of oregano
– 1 TSP of dried cilantro
– 4 TSP of Cumin (you can decrease the amount, if cumin is not your thing)
– Salt and pepper to taste
– Olive oil

Steps!
1. Oil the slow cooker with either olive oil or butter to avoid the meat from sticking and burning!
2. Rub the pork should with the spices (oregano, cilantro, cumin, salt, pepper)!
3. Add the pork should to the slow cooker on HIGH for 4 hours.
4. While the pork is cooking, cut up the onion, mince the garlic, and jalapenos (make sure to remove the seeds!) and mix into the orange juice. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes then pour over the meat, and recover the meat for the remaining time.
5. After the 4 hours is complete, take the pork out and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then shred the pork. While the pork is sitting, put some olive oil in a pan and put on medium high. Once the pan is hot, take the shredded pork and brown it for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve on tacos, in a wrap, whatever you want, and enjoy!

Side note:
1. I was not a fan of the pork shoulder, I thought it was too tough/muscle, so I’m going to experiment with maybe a different cut for next time.
2. I made guacamole with this and that was fun! Here is what I put in it:
– 3 avocados
– 2 TBL of white truffle oil
– 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
– 1 jalapeno, no seed and chopped
– 1 red onion, chopped
– 1 TBL of lime juice (prevent browning in the refrigerator)
– salt and pepper to taste
1. mashed the avocados and mix with: onion, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno, white truffle oil, salt, and pepper.
2. Let sit in fridge until ready to use!

Chili … chili anyone?

One of my all-time favorite and easiest recipes to make in the slow cooker: chili! It’s great for the fall, winter, rainy day … really any day!

If possible, I recommend making the chili the night before and letting it sit in the refrigerator over night. Trust me, you’ll thank me because all of the flavors start to marinate and blend together.

Ingredients:
4-5 lb of ground beef (I try to stay around 85-93% lean beef)
2-12 ounce cans of tomato sauce
3-6 ounce cans of tomato paste
2 bell peppers, sliced into 1/4″ stripes (I usually try to get 1 red and 1 green or 1 yellow)
6-7 cloves of garlic, minced
2-15 ounce can of black beans, drained
1-15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1-2 jalapenos, sliced
1 poblano pepper, sliced
1-16 ounce container of slices mushrooms (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
6 tbl. of wing sauce (choose your favorite! I love using Syberg’s original wing sauce from St. Louis!)
2 tbl. of olive oil

Toppings:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream

Recipe:
1. Oil the slow cooker. Always, always, always use some base to protect the pot from food being burnt on or stuck (olive oil or butter do wonders!)

2. Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan with the minced garlic. Brown the meat (5 minutes) and drain the grease into a can.

3. Combine the tomato sauce, tomato paste, bell peppers, jalapenos, poblano, black beans, chickpeas, salt, pepper, wing sauce, and mushrooms into the slow-cooker.

4. Add in the meat and garlic to the slow-cooker and leave in the refrigerator overnight. If you are not making it ahead of time, skip the refrigerator and jump to the next step!

5. Put the slow-cooker on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours. Remember to stir occasionally, about once an hour, and remove the grease the rises to the top.

6. Serve in bowls and add your favorite toppings!

Notes:
1. I know adding chickpeas to chili is weird, but here me out! They add a different texture feel to the chili and take on a lot of flavor, surprisingly! The same with adding in mushrooms. I get it, it’s weird, but a definitely a weirdness worth trying.

2. As mentioned before, if possible, I like to make the chili a day ahead so that all the flavors mingle and add a little bit of kick to the chili itself. I also love adding in Syberg’s Wing Sauce (not an add, just really like them) because of the undertone kick it has.

3. In addition, to the tomato sauce, if the chili is too thick for your liken, fill each of the tomato paste cans with cold water and add them to the slow-cooker. It’ll thin out the paste, but adding water will dilute flavors so you will have to counteract and add more flavor, if needed!

4. This is super good on hotdogs.