Smoke ring; I've got it!

There is a big long explanation of why slow cooked smoked meats have this nice pink ring but I'm not going into that here. Just take it from me, it's delicious. This is my latest from the smoker, a whole brisket. I had a little more success with this try but I still have a difficult time keeping the smoker hot enough. I've found out it's because I have the cheap one and I'll deal with it for now. I've been watching Craig's List and hopefully one will surface.

I've been reading lots of bbq blogs lately and next time a smoke a brisket I will try wrapping it in foil mid-way through the cooking. I believe mine dried out a bit for my taste though everyone that had eaten it said it was great. I'm going for a moister texture to the meat. I'll get there. I do think the smoking takes place in the first four or five hours so there shouldn't be a problem with the foil wrap.

What I did come up with was a great rub and I not only used it for the brisket but a few steaks I threw on the grill the other night. Mix this up to have on hand much better than the rubs you buy at the store. Those seem to be too salty for my taste.

Moon Rub
2 tablespoons course cracked pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon powdered onion
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon powered ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Spanish Paprika
3 teaspoons powdered garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Mix this together and store in an airtight container. Rub this into your meat before you bbq. The longer it sets on the meat the better it is. If it's more than a few minutes, rub and wrap it in plastic and keep refrigerated until you are ready to cook it.

Now you can fuss with this to suit you tastes and though I didn't think I'd like the sugar on the steaks it really gave them a nice crust.

Pork ribs are next!

Comfort food for that cool weather

well cool weather that everyone else is having but where I am in South Florida.

All this talk about cold weather, soups and comfort food I decided to do a New England boiled dinner.

No recipe but here is my method:

about a five pound corned beef brisket, remove from packaging, rinse and pat dry. Usually when buying a piece of corned beef inside will be a packet of pickling spices. Along with the supplied spices I also added about a tsp of fresh thyme and about a tblsp of fresh ground pepper. Rub the spice mixture into the piece of meat. Line with foil an oven proof pot, I use a french over baker with a lid. place the desired amount of sliced onions, carrots, and celery around the meat. I put about a half a cup of water or chicken broth, use low sodium because the meat tends to be a bit salty. Fold the foil over to seal it, put the lid on and pop it into a 300 degree oven for about 5 hours.

When the meat is finished cooking, peel a few potatoes, wedge up some cabbage and add that to a pan with half chicken stock half water and several grinds of fresh black pepper.

Make sure you have some cornbread or cheesy biscuits to serve with the dish. And make a sauce of horseradish and sourcream for the meat.

This is a husband fav, and says I don't make it enough.