Smokin' Pete's BBQ

27 Oct 2010

Hickory Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage

by Peter Jautaikis | posted in: Beef | 1

First let me say that I love Corned Beef and Cabbage and have always simmered my Corned Beef for hours before preparing the cabbage, onions, carrots, and potatoes. I have never cooked a Corned Beef in the oven so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I chose to smoke my first Corned Beef.

Soaked the Corned Beef in water for 3 hours. Changed the water every hour. The Corned Beef had a pale appearance. Dusted a small amount of spices just for grins.

PID @ 250º / 2 hours of hickory / pulled when Internal Temperature reached 158º. It took 4 ¼ hours (it was 3.77 lbs). It sure looked and smelled great!! So far so good …

Here is the Corned Beef brisket after resting in foil for 20 minutes. Certainly had a great smoke infused flavor and was quite moist … BUT as I sampled a slice I found it to be very tough, leathery, to the point where I could have used it for stick of gum cause I chewed, chewed, and then chewed but it kept it’s consistency. Wasn’t anything like the boiled Corned Beef that I have enjoyed for so many years. But it sure smelled and looked great.

Popped it in the oven at 450º for 20 minutes to see if it would become chewable.
Here is the $$shot served with some boiled cabbage, onions, carrots and steamed potatoes.

Alas, it was still tough! Tried my best to chew a few pieces of Corned Beef but to no avail. Since I love vegetables I decided to turn this into a vegan meal. My thoughts are that I don’t think I did anything wrong since the Corned Beef was certainly cooked. For now I will just revert to simmering my Corned Beef for hours on the stove. Maybe those that have smoked a Corned Beef for immediate consumption might share their thoughts on the subject. Should I have smoked the Corned Beef and placed it in the fridge overnight and served it tomorrow? For clarification, I was not trying to make Corned Beef Pastrami.

25 Oct 2010

Pecan Smoked Pork Loin Roast

by Peter Jautaikis | posted in: Pork | 0

Snelly’s pork loin smoke inspired me to smoke one using my new Frog Mats. Even after doing a little research on the forum I was still a little reluctant to pull the loin at 150º – 155º. A few have suggested an IT of 140º – 145º Shocked Anyway, chose to follow everyone’s lead after reading some convincing data on the safety and pulled with an IT of 156º. Old habits are hard to break! Undecided

Swung down to WallyMart and found me a nice little Boneless Pork Loin and dusted it with a little of my favorite seasoning

Preheated OBS to 225º with my PID and applied 3 hours of smoke – 2 to 1 ratio with Pecan and Special Blend. Pulled with an IT of 156º after a total cooking time of 3 1/2 hours. The Loin was only 3.75 lbs. I was curious to see if the pop-up thermometer would blow it’s top signaling that it was done but it never did Sad

FTC for an hour and hacked off a few slices. Very moist and tender with a nice smoke flavor

The $$shot … served with some scalloped taters and steamed cauliflower/carrots/broccoli. Got to have those vegies!!

I believe I’m going to like these Frog Mats. Maybe it was just me but it appeared that cleanup was a lot smoother or maybe it was that the Loin didn’t drip as much as other meats.

23 Oct 2010

Smoked Chicken Tetrazzini

by Peter Jautaikis | posted in: Recipes | 1

Had me some smoked chicken laying around the fridge after running my skin up or skin down spatchcock chicken test so I decided to try using it with a Tetrazzini recipe from “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook” that I have been using for a couple of decades now when I have leftover turkey.

Figured what the heck … got nothing to lose. Here’s the chicken leftovers

The Smoked Chicken Tetrazzini casserole out of the oven

The $$shot …

It turned out to die for. The smoked chicken gave it that extra notch which we all can relate to. I prefer to use Angel Hair instead of Spaghetti and I use Knorr Caldo Con Sabor de Pollo (chicken flavor bouillon) for the stock in the sauce. If you’ve never had or made Tetrazzini it’s a great blend of flavors and a delicious option for leftover turkey or chicken.

The recipe I use is from the 1973 Edition of “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook”. The year after SWMBO and I got married Grin Grin

I use it as a guide for my leftover Turkey (will also use it for Smoked Turkey), Rotisserie Chicken, and now Smoked Chicken Tetrazzini. I modify the recipe to fit our personal tastes. First let me say that years ago I used to cook my own broiler-fryers like the recipe calls for but over the years I have just used leftover turkey or it’s a lot easier and flavorful to just get a couple of rotisserie chickens from Costco or a local supermarket.

Here is the original recipe (before my personal modifications) – Note: omit steps 1 and 2 when using leftovers

Smoked Chicken Tetrazzini à la Smoker Pete

Cook spaghetti or your favorite noodle. SWMBO believes spaghetti is best but I like Angle Hair. The updated recipe STC found calls for linguine
While spaghetti is cooking:
Saute a large onion, 1/2 to 1 pound of sliced fresh mushroom, and squirt some lemon juice. Set aside for sauce – I often substitute a couple small cans of drained mushrooms
Make 4 cups of chicken broth using bouillon or canned broth. Make 3 1/2 cups of broth if using 1/2 cup dry sherry (optional)
Tetrazzini Sauce:
I use a large pot to to make the sauce cause I think it’s better to mix everything together rather than spooning the sauce over the noodles
In large pot, melt 1/2 cup of butter or margarine on high
Stir 1/2 cup all-purpose flour to create a roux
If desired, add salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp paprika, and/or 1/2 cup of sherry to roux
Stir in 4 cups of hot chicken broth using a whisk until smooth and slightly thickened
Remove from stove and whisk in 1 cup of half-and-half (I use fat-free half-in-half – gotta watch my weight)
Add sauted onions and mushrooms to sauce
Add 5 cups or more of large pieces of Smoked Chicken to complete the sauce
Add spaghetti, angel hair, or your favorite noodle to the sauce and mix well
Use a 13″ by 9″ baking dish – Greased or sprayed with PAM
Pour Tetrazzini mixture in the baking dish
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and cover
Place Tetrazzini in a preheated 350º oven
Bake Tetrazzini for an hour. Recipe calls for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly
Serve with your favorite vegetable or salad and garlic bread
Makes 8 servings

22 Oct 2010

Apple Smoked Spatchcock Chicken

by Peter Jautaikis | posted in: Chicken | 0

Is it Saturday yet? Is it Saturday yet Huh Close enough Grin … As I type I am smoking 2 spatchcock chickens – 1 w/skin Up and 1 w/skin Down.
Here they were after I rubbed them with Roasted Garlic EVOO and some Fagundes seasoning from my local butcher.

The verdict is in … It’s “INCONCLUSIVE” … I now believe it boils down to personal preference. Although when doing more than one spatchcock chicken I think I will be placing the skin side UP so that drippings from anything above it will not collect in the cavity.

Here are the spatchcock chickens after 4.5 hours with 3 hours of 2 to 1 Apple/Special Blend smoke. PID @ 250º with vent wide open

You can see that both chickens are equally done and I could not find any difference in flavor or moisture. For me it boils down to presentation and I would not hesitate to sever either chicken

And now for the $$$hot Grin Grin

Thanks to all those that participated in the poll. Course, like any other poll, this one has a + or – error margin of 50% Undecided Tongue

18 Oct 2010

Alder Smoked Kenai River Silver Salmond

by Peter Jautaikis | posted in: Fish | 0

Got down to a few servings of Kenai River Silver Salmon I caught this summer at Centennial Park, Soldatna, Alaska so I decided to smoke them

Naturally I opted to use Kummok’s Smoked Alaskan Salmon recipe for the task. Kummok is from Homer, AK. Here is a photo overlooking the famous Spit in Homer. Imagine having to live with this kind of scenery!!