Brisket - two ways

Before I get into these two recipes, I want to say a few words about Deer Creek Beef. For some time, I've been reading about this big trend for local, sustainable food. And, although I'm not prone to sacrifice for the sake of fashion, a lot of the arguments I've read actually make sense. I'll still buy artichokes and avocados shipped from California, since I don't see any alternative. But around here, there are plenty of seafood and produce stands. So when it's in season, I buy my produce locally, and get my seafood locally. I was a bit bothered that I didn't know how to get meat locally. Especially considering that I drive by a LOT of farms every day. So I did some snooping around. From a fantastic website devoted to local food in my region; Edible Chesapeake, I discovered Deer Creek Beef. That was some months ago. Last month, I finally got around to dragging myself up to the Bel Air Farmers market, and bought a $50.00 sample pack. Over the next two weeks, I sampled their roasts, steaks, ground beef, etc... Every thing I tried was absolutely delicious. I wouldn't have thought there'd be much difference, you know? It all comes from cow. But the guys over at Deer Creek Beef take a great deal of care in their entire operation. All the beef is dry cured for 3 weeks, and I have to say, there must be something to their methods, because I haven't tasted better beef. And it ends up being less expensive than buying comparable cuts at the super market. For any of you who are local to Harford County, MD, I'll also mention that you can buy their meats at the Mill of Bel Air all year round, in case you don't get out to the farmer's market often. The Mill of Bel Air has a freezer case by the front door, and I also found out that if you call them a day ahead, -- they'll put together a sampler pack for you. So, Deer Creek Beef has made a local sustainable believer out of me. And both these recipes were made with a brisket I purchased from them this weekend. (Really, one brisket was enough for both of these).

Brisket, you may know, comes from the front of the cow. Not a forward area of the side, the actual front of the animal. You might think of it as a chest plate. So there's a fair amount of connective tissue, and it gets a fair amount of work. Both of these factors make this cut an excellent candidate for low / slow cooking methods. And on the weekends, those are usually my favorite methods. Something about slowing everything down and giving the food time to become really delicious, is appealing to me and offers a break from the mad dash of the weeknight dinners when I'm trying to get everything done in less than 40 minutes so I can get everything else done and things set for the morning, not to mention running the kids around to various practices, meetings and so forth.

My favorite treatment for a brisket is smoking. However, my Lovely Charming Bride waxes reminiscent of our favorite barbeque joint in Alpine, CA, Ramon's. Ramon served a delicious smoked brisket that was shredded. So, I decided to cut this brisket in half, and smoke half of it, and braise the other half. The braised half would get shredded. Next time, I think I'll smoke it for an hour or so, then braise it.

Following are both recipes. I should mention that whether smoking or braising, you'll get favorable results by starting with an overnight marinade, and a rub. Both of these started out this way.

The Rub:
2 parts seasoned salt
3 parts fresh ground black pepper
1 part paprika

The marinade:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce.

Mix the seasonings together and rub them into both sides of the brisket. Put the brisket in your favorite air-tight marinating container, and cover it with the marinade and refrigerate it. (if it doesn't cover, then turn the brisket halfway through the marinade process) This should soak for about 8 hours.

Before you start with the next steps, you'll want to take the brisket out of the refrigerator, and let it come to room temp. (about 30 minutes.)

Braised Brisket:
===========
1 Cup beef stock
1/2 cup burgundy
2 Tbsp worcestershire
1-2 tsp liquid smoke.

Preheat your oven to 275.
Get a cast iron pan fairly hot. (medium, to medium high)
Sear the brisket on both sides. (1-2 minutes per side.)
Place the brisket in a roasting pan.
Mix together: beef stock, burgundy, worcestershire, liquid smoke.
Pour the liquid over the brisket, and lift it a bit to make sure some gets underneath.
Cover the pan with foil, and put it in the oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
After that, remove the brisket from the pan, and let it rest a bit.
Cut it across the grain, in 1-2 inch widths.
shred each strip with two forks.
Take the liquid in the pan, and pour it into a sauce pan.
Put the shredded brisket in with it, and simmer until the liquid reduces and concentrates into the meat. This could take 30 minutes to an hour. You'll be baby-sitting the pot during this stage to ensure that it doesn't scorch. In other words, --stir it occasionally.

Smoked Brisket:
============
Braising is slow cooking with moist direct heat. Smoking is slow cooking with dry, indirect heat. (and smoke, of course) Smokers come in all shapes and sizes, and you'll want to follow the directions for your particular style of smoker. I'm partial to charcoal, and hickory. But you can do this with a propane grill, and a lot of folks prefer mesquite, apple, or pecan wood for smoking. Regardless of the type of wood you choose for flavoring, the process is largely the same.

Soak your wood chips for at least 30 minutes. While the wood is soaking, start your fire. My smoker has an off-set firebox, so I pile the charcoal on pretty heavily. When the flame dies, and the corners of the briquets are gray, put the brisket in the main part of the smoker, just under the smoke stack. (The vent is open on the firebox, and the lid to the smokestack is also open, which draws the smoke through. The brisket is about 18 - 24 inches from the fire.) Close the lid to the main chamber of the smoker, and add some wood chips to the charcoal. Then close the lid to the firebox, but leave the vent open. My smoker has a built in thermometer, making it easy to maintain the temperature. When the temp gets below 200, add more charcoal. Periodically, add some wood chips. I let this cook for about 4-6 hours, checking the temp, fire, and chips about every hour.
You can also do this with a propane grill, if that's what you have. The key is indirect heat, and smoke. They sell cast iron smoke boxes, that hold your chips. Fill it with wood chips and put it right down on the diffusers. Light the back and front burners, and keep the brisket in the center. Maintain the temp at about 275.
When it's done, take it inside, and slice it thinly across the grain.

Brisket cooked either of these ways can be served with your favorite bbq sauce, or simply as-is. The flavor is incredible. So before the weather cools down too much, carve out a weekend that isn't too packed with errands, and treat yourself to some slow food. And if you can do it, -- make the effort to find local beef. You'll be surprised at the difference.

Shrimp and Grits

One of the benefits of my job, is that I get to travel now and then. A couple years ago, I was at a conference in Florida. On the flight home, whoever had my seat on the previous flight, left the food section of the Atlanta Sunday paper in the seat pocket in front of me. (Thank you, whoever you were) They had an entire section on Shrimp and Grits. I had never heard of this combination before, but I love grits, and I love shrimp, so I read through the entire article, along with the 3-4 different recipes for it. The article mentioned that it was a dish originating from Charleston, S.C.
When I got home, I tried a very simple version of this dish, by sauteing some shrimp, and dumping them on top a bowl of grits. Somewhat anticlimatic.
Fast forward to a few months ago, -- I had a conference in Charleston, S.C. Let me tell you, Charleston is a foodie's Mecca! So I found a place that served Shrimp and Grits, and it was Amazing-good! I ate like I was at a trough! So when I got home, I attempted to put together what I'd had in Charleston, and at the risk of sounding prideful, I nailed it! This recipe will produce a version of the famed Shrimp-n-Grits that will satisfy a Charleston native, I promise you.
The key is in the shrimp stock. I'm somewhat fortunate in that most of the grocery stores in my area sell small tubs of steamed shrimp which I take home and snack on while watching TV. I always put the shells in a bowl, and on my way to bed, put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Whenever I need some shrimp stock, I pull a handful of shells and tails in some water, and boil it for about 5 minutes. At the end of that, -- I strain the stock and toss the shells. The resulting stock is already well seasoned, from the shrimp shells the grocery store steamed for me. If you're using shells and tails from raw shrimp, just toss some Old Bay in with them. The stock is used in the gravy, and as the liquid for the grits. So without a good shrimp stock, this recipe will be chancy at best. BUT, -- with a good stock, you can't miss. And the best part is, you get to enjoy the shrimp twice! First as a snack, then as the stock for this dish. Now, sans further adieu, -- my version of Shrimp and Grits.


Shrimp and Grits
============
1 lb. shrimp (51-60)
1 smoked boneless ham slice
2 links Spanish chorizo (or Andouille)
3-4 scallions, green part sliced thinly
1 Roma tomato (diced)
6-6.5 cups shrimp stock (divided)
1 cup grits
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Cut the chorizo links in half lengthwise, then crosswise into half moon slices
Dice the ham in about 1/2 inch cubes.
Peel and get the tails off the shrimp.
Slice the scallions, set aside
Dice the tomato, set aside
Put a saute pan on the front burner, med - med high heat. Put a sauce pan on the back burner, very low heat, covered.
Saute the chorizo slices, ham, and shrimp then transfer to the sauce pan. (the sausage will make it's own juice)
Melt the butter in the sauce pan, then whisk in the flour to make a roux. You'll want a very light roux.
A ladle at a time, ladle in some of the shrimp stock, until what you have is a nice gravy-like consistency. You may want to add another pat of butter, or some cream, (I added both).
When the gravy looks good, add salt and pepper to taste. (At this point, the gravy might resemble chipped beef gravy, without the chipped beef.)
Pour it into the sauce pan and stir everything together.
Now cover the sauce pan and let it keep simmering, stirring now and then. While the different meats have been in there getting acquainted, they've continued to release some of their juices, which will blend now with the gravy and make the whole concoction absolutely delightful.
Now you should have about 4 cups of shrimp stock left. If not, add water until it comes up to 4 cups, and bring it to a boil.
Whisk in your grits, let them boil a bit, then back them down to a simmer. Once they're at the right consistency, you're ready to plate everything.
Put a nice bed of grits down on the plate.
Top this with a ladleful of your shrimp-ham-chorizo gravy.
Now sprinkle some sliced scallions on top of that, and finish with a sprinkling of diced tomatoes, and some parsley if you have it.
You could put this down on any table in Charleston, and it would pass muster.

Lemon - Herb Chicken Breasts en Papillote

Last Wednesday, I forgot to take the chicken out to thaw. (Actually, I forgot to take it out on Tuesday, we were supposed to eat it on Wednesday.) But I did have some of those frozen chicken breasts in the freezer and those can be defrosted in the microwave without much fuss. So I tried to think of some way to fix them that we a) had the ingredients for, and b) haven't done a million times already.
Looking around the kitchen, we had some herbs, we always have onions and garlic lying about, and I happened to have a lemon that I meant to use for something or other but never got one or more of the ingredients for whatever it was. Now I love lemon-pepper chicken, or lemon-pepper fish, but the rest of the clan aren't quite the pepper-heads that I am. So I figured lemon-herb, and I've been meaning to try this en papillote method for a while.
En Papillote just means it's cooked in parchment paper. A couple sites I visited said you can also use foil, but I'm not crazy about the idea. Especially when you're using citrus, or any other acidic ingredient. Cooking the meat in paper's supposed to keep all the juices in, so the meat doesn't dry out, and what better to test that with than white-meat chicken?
Well, I want to tell you all, that was some of the juiciest chicken I've ever had. And the presentation is wonderful as well. Everyone gets their own little gift-wrapped dinner, and when you open the paper, the aromas waft up and fill the room with that lemony-herby smell. (mmmm)
I'm going to attempt to explain how I did this, but there's an excellent site that shows the procedure with pictures at e-how.

Mix together some rosemary, thyme, sage, and savory. (I used dried herbs)
Dice one onion, and toss some of those herbs in with it.
Mince 2-3 cloves of garlic, and toss them in with the onions and herbs.
Slice a lemon, so you can put 1-2 slices on each piece of chicken. (depending on the size)

Take an (approx.) 18 inch piece of parchment, and fold it in half. Cut a half a valentine shape, large enough to leave a one-inch margin around the chicken breast.
Open the paper, and brush it with olive oil, leaving about an inch margin all around.
Take one piece of chicken, and sprinkle some kosher salt on each side, and a little fresh ground pepper on each side, then sprinkle some of the herbs on each side.
Put a slice of lemon on top, and then a little of the onion-herb-garlic mixture.
Lay it on one side of the valentine. Bring the other side over, so the edges meet.
Starting at the not-pointy-end, roll the edges together, crimping them now and then to seal the package. When you get down to the pointy end, give it a little twist to finish off the seal. (be careful not to tear it)
These packages can go on a baking sheet, or a roasting pan, or whatever you have that they'll fit in, and go into a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
When they come out, use some tongs to carefully put one on each plate, and serve it in the paper.

I didn't get pictures of this, because honestly, it's been a crazy week, and besides, I really need to work on my photography. I meant to post a bit on my chicken gumbo, but the picture turned out so bad, you wouldn't have known what it was! I need to spend some time over at Food Blog S'cool.

Beef Heart and Burgundy Chili

Chili is one of those things that most people love, and nobody makes it the same way. This is my favorite chili recipe. I'll try to get some pictures taken next time I make it. This time, it didn't hang around long enough!

1 lb. Ground meat. (beef or turkey)
1 1/4 lbs. cubed beef heart
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, freshly minced
1 can Kidney Beans
1 8 0z. can Tomato Sauce
16 oz. Burgundy
1/3 cup Masa Flour
1/3 cup chili powder
1/8 tsp cayenne (more or less to taste)
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste


Brown the ground meat and heart along with the onion and garlic in a stock pot. While you're browning the meat, put some worcestershire sauce in with it. I usually go 3-4 turns around the pot with it. This is also where I add about a good pinch of coarse salt, and a few turns of fresh ground pepper.
When the meat's cooked through, drain it, and return it to the stock pot. Add:
chili powder, cayenne, tomato sauce, burgundy, and Kidney Beans. Stir all of this together, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, mix the masa flour with some warm water until it makes a thin paste. (It should kinda glob off a fork) Mix this paste in with the chili to thicken it up some. Then let everything simmer about 5 more minutes. After I add the masa, I usually have a bowl, and let the rest of it simmer for the rest of the day.

Artichoke and Olive Frittata with Gruyere

I love frittatas. They're one of those "clean out the fridge & pantry" dishes. The other day I happened to spy a couple cans of artichoke hearts, and thought they'd be good in a frittata with some olives. I didn't have any whole or sliced olives around, so I used the olive relish I made for the muffuletta, and it worked out pretty good. Next time I might use a different cheese, something with a bit more flavor, like gorgonzola. I love gruyere, but it didn't add much to this experiment, and basically got lost in the other ingredients.

4 Eggs
1/4 cup chopped Artichoke Hearts
1/4 cup crumbled Gruyere
1 Tbsp muffaletta spread

Scramble the eggs in a bowl, along with the Muffaletta spread.
Melt a Tablespoon of margarine in an 8" cast-iron skillet.
When the skillet is hot, pour the eggs in and cook until they begin to firm up.
Add the artichoke hearts and gruyere.
Move the skillet from the stovetop and put it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.
Once the eggs are well-cooked, pull the pan out, (using a good hot pad or oven mitt) and transfer it to the plate. A Frittata this size should serve 2 people. (Assuming they both have appetites like mine.)

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Friday was my daughter's 16th birthday. So naturally, she got to choose what she wanted for dinner. Ever the California girl that she is, she wanted Chicken Enchiladas and Artichokes. I told her the enchiladas we could do, for sure. The artichokes were a bit iffy. But she did spot some nice-looking artichokes at the grocery, so she had her California birthday dinner after all. In this post, however, I thought I'd cover the Enchiladas.
Enchiladas are amazingly easy to make, and very versatile. They do take some time, but you can make them ahead, and just pop them in the oven when you're ready. The filling can be whatever you like. Chicken, beef, pork, and cheese are all common, and I've seen shrimp and fish enchiladas too. Various places serve enchiladas with a red or a green sauce. My daughter likes the red sauce, which you can make yourself, or make from a seasoning blend, or simply pour from a can. (her favorite is the canned sauce.) And it's the sauce that provides almost all the flavor. We don't season the chicken at all, (although you certainly could) we just let the sauce season everything.
Another thing about enchiladas, you have to cook the tortillas. I've seen some folks try to make them without frying the tortillas first, and it's not a pretty result.
Now my daughter just likes chicken and cheese in her enchiladas, but if I were making these for myself, there would also be some diced chiles and sliced black olives mixed in with the chicken. Maybe some onions too. But following is how we did it for my eldest's sweet sixteenth.

2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless Chicken breasts
20-25 corn tortillas
1 - 2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar & monterey jack works well)
1 19 oz can of enchilada sauce. (Better to have too much than too little of this)
Vegetable oil.

We start by boiling the chicken breasts until they're cooked through. Then put them in a bowl and run some cold water over them. When they're cool enough to handle, shred the chicken by hand. (As an alternative, we've been known to put them in chunks in the KitchenAid with the paddle, and let it mangle the chicken.)

When your chicken is shredded, set it close to your workspace. We tend to set up an assembly line. From left to right: a stack of corn tortillas on the left side of the stove, Oil on the left front burner, enchilada sauce on the right front burner, casserole pan next to the stove, chicken and cheese next to the casserole pan.
Get your oil and enchilada sauce heating in a deep skillet. About 1 1/2 inches of oil, and however much enchilada sauce you're using, the whole can for sure, more if you choose.







When the oil's hot, take one tortilla, and put it in the oil, as soon as it floats, turn it over, then transfer it to the enchilada sauce, turn it over so both sides are coated, then transfer it to the casserole pan. Put your chicken and cheese down the middle of the tortilla, and fold one side over, then fold the other side over that. I should mention, I suppose, that the best way I've found of transferring the tortillas from oil to sauce to pan, is by using two forks. The tortillas get pretty soft by the time you get them to the pan, and sometimes tear. So if you end up throwing 2-4 of them away, don't be discouraged. We always allow for some of them to be tossed.
Once the pan is full, set it aside, and if you have more, start over with a new pan. We usually get 18-20 enchiladas, so I usually use two pans. Once they're all made, pour whatever remaining sauce you have down the middle of the enchiladas, and sprinkle some more cheese on top, along with some sliced black olives, or whatever you like for garnish. Then put them in the oven at about 375 long enough to let the cheese melt. If you made them ahead, you'll want to go a little longer in order to let everything get up to temperature, probably 10-15 minutes should do it.

Lumpia

When we lived in San Diego, I worked with a lot of Filipino folks. Occasionally, there'd be an event of some sort, and everyone would bring a dish in. My Filipino friends often would bring in lumpia (LOOM-pee-uh), which is a kind of egg roll. Unlike other egg rolls I've had, these were much narrower (about the diameter of your index finger) and longer, about 6 inches or so. They also had a lot more meat than veggies. I'm always a bit disappointed when I bite into an egg roll and find it's mostly cabbage, with a speck or two of meat.
Since we moved to Maryland, I know one Filipino person. Actually, I don't really know her, my daughters know her daughters. But we've met. Anyways, -- I can't find lumpia around here, so I figured I'd have to learn to make it. The recipe I found for lumpia is from Allrecipes.com, and it's pretty good. The filling is amazingly good. I just can't seem to get the wrapping quite right. It's not bad, but it's not the way those folks in San Diego made it. My egg roll wrappers come out of the oil all blistered, whereas theirs were never blistered. And the color on theirs was a perfect, even, golden color. Like a perfectly toasted marshmallow. But even if I haven't perfected the technique yet, I think the end product is enough to satiate my cravings from time to time. I'll let you all click over to the recipe, and I'll describe the wrapping. These aren't hard to make, but they do take some prep time. If any of you have any pointers, I'd be delighted to hear them.


The filling - pork, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, salt & pepper.

I usually start by arranging the wrappers in a star pattern, so they're easier for me to pick up. The first time I tried this, I kept getting double wrappers and not realizing it. So now I separate them first, and alternate them.


You'll put a wrapper in front of you, then put 2 Tbsps of the filling on it, making a line that goes from corner to corner. The recipe calls for 3 Tbsps, but that makes them real thick. Of course, you might prefer them that way, I dunno.



Then you'll take the corner closest to you, and fold it over the meat filling, kinda inching the meat up tight against the back of the wrapper. Fold those corners in, and roll it the rest of the way. Before you get to the end, put a drop of water on the tag end, then roll it up. That water will help the wrap stay closed.




Once you have all your lumpia put together, just deep fry them in whatever kind of oil you prefer, until they're nice and golden brown. Drain them on paper towels, and serve. You'll like these.

Gi-Gi's Oysters

Hi everyone. Thought I'd start this off with one of my favorites. When I was a kid, our maternal grandmother was called Gi-Gi. Her name was Georgia, and that's what our grandfather called her, but my older sister couldn't say it that way, and it came out gi-gi. So it stuck.
They lived right behind us in a gorgeous fieldstone house, and every Thanksgiving and Christmas we'd go over for dinner. It was quite the event. Gi-Gi would roast a terrific turkey, complete with all the sides. My favorite side dish was the oysters.
Being from Maryland, I grew up to love oysters. We had blue crabs in the summer, and oysters in the winter. I'd have fried oysters, scalloped oysters, oyster stew, and sometimes you could buy some oysters from a guy selling them out of the back of a pick-up, and take them home, shuck them over the sink, and slurp them off the shell. Winter in Maryland has some horrid weather, but it's pretty much off-set by the fact that you can get fresh oysters in any month that has an 'r' in it.
Anyways, back to Gi-Gi's. Sometimes I'd try to forego the turkey and just fill up on oysters. They were that good. Gi-Gi never looked at a recipe the entire time I knew her. (that I know of) And she surely didn't write anything down. So I asked my sister one time if she knew how to make some of Gi-Gi's dishes. Of course she didn't. Gi-Gi didn't like much help in the kitchen. So we were left to try to figure it out on our own. It took me a while, but this past Christmas I finally figured it out. It's incredibly simple, and I thought I'd use it for my first contribution to this site, as it's a quintessential Chesapeake dish.
For this dish, you'll want to get good oysters. What I mean is, don't try it with those cans of smoked oysters, or other canned oysters that they sell next to the anchovies and sardines. Hoof it over to the fish counter, and look for pint jars of oysters, probably on ice. These oysters are in a briny, viscous liquid, which is called the "liquor". I don't know where it comes from or why it's there. I don't really care. (there are some things it's best not to know) But you're going to need that, so don't get rid of it. When you get ready to put it all together, pour the oysters into a strainer or collander, and collect that liquor in a bowl or measuring cup under the strainer. The directions I'm going to give you will make enough of Gi-Gi's oysters to fill an 8x8 or 9x9 casserole dish. If you have a 9 x 13 dish, you'll probably want to double up. OK, here it is:

1 - 2 pints of good oysters (enough to cover the bottom of your casserole dish)
2 cups of milk
2 sticks of margarine
Saltine crackers.

Preheat your oven to about 350.
Drain the oysters in a collander, and reserve the liquor. Then put the oysters in the casserole dish. In a saucepan, heat up the milk and margarine until the margarine is melted. Once the margarine has melted, pour in some of the liquor, but not too much. Probably about 1/4 cup. You'll want to taste it as you're adding it. It should have a definite oystery taste, but not overpowering. (I made that mistake). Add some salt and pepper to taste. Once this broth suits you, pour it over the oysters, until they're just covered. You'll probably have some left over. Now, take out a sleave of the Saltines, put about 4-5 in each hand, and crush them over the oysters. Do that until the crushed crackers cover the oysters about 1/4 inch thick. The cracker bits should be about dime-sized, not crumbs. Now put them in the oven for about 5-10 minutes. All you want to do here is heat up the oysters. If you cook them too long, they'll shrivel up to itty-bitty things like you see in those cans. (I made that mistake, too) The crackers on the bottom will have soaked up some of the broth, and taste kind of like oystery dumplings. The crackers on top will be crisp, and the oysters -- oh man, the oysters will be like a taste of heaven itself.

Eventually, I'll post some pictures of this. Eventually, I hope this will be a proper food blog. But for now, I just wanted to get things going, and this was always one of my faves. I was so excited when I finally got it right, I had to phone my sister and tell her. You'd have thought I won the lottery.

So that's my first contribution from the Chesapeake, where we currently live. Next I'll post one of my favorites from the West Coast.