Smoked & Slow-Grilled Brisket

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There’s nothing like a good BBQ, be it pork ribs, a good steak, or a brisket.  But to get a great tasting, tender brisket, you need to cook it long and slow.  While you can certainly roast a brisket in an oven, the taste of smoked brisket just can’t be beat.

It takes time and attention to get it right, but when it’s done, you’ll be so happy you spent all those loving hours smoking then grilling the brisket.  In fact, you’d be surprised at how many neighbors you never knew you had–they’ll be coming out of the woodwork when their noses pick up the scents wafting from your grill.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Smoked Brisket

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Ingredients:

  • 1 6-pound brisket flat, trimmed
  • BBQ Rub (find my recipe here)
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 bottle beer
  • 1 can cola
  • 1/4 cup apple vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Prepare the brisket by trimming off some of the excess fat (leave some fat on–it’ll keep the meat moist during smoking-grilling).  Season the brisket on both sides with the BBQ Rub.  Let it sit (refrigerated) for several hours or overnight.

  

2.  Make the basting sauce: In a clean spray bottle, combine the beef broth, beer, and cola with the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.

    

3.  Arrange the brisket fat-sideup on the grill.  If you have a smoker-grill, smoke the brisket for 4 hours.  Spray the top of the brisket every hour with the basting sauce.  After smoking for 4 hours, set your grill’s temperature to 225 degrees.  Continue to cook the brisket for about 6 more hours, spraying occasionally with the basting sauce.

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4.  When the brisket is (finally) done, place in a pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Let the brisket rest for 30 minutes prior to slicing.  Slice with a sharp knife across the grain.  Serve with fina’denne’ and hot steamed (or red) rice.

ENJOY!

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Posted in Beef, MEAT

Chocolate Chip Scones

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I love scones.  My favorites are chocolate chip or blueberry scones.  They’re perfect for breakfast, along with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

You can buy really delicious scones at your neighborhood coffee shop, buy why waste your hard-earned money?  These scones take almost no time to make.  You can mix up a batch in just a few minutes and have them out of the oven in no time.

My recipe below turns out very moist and not-too-crumbly scones.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

 

Chocolate Chip Scones

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
2 tablespoons Saco brand (powdered) cultured buttermilk blend (see note below)
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup chocolate chips (I use bittersweet chocolate chips, semi-sweet works well too)
1 large egg
1/2 cup water (see note below)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons milk, for brushing the scones before baking

NOTE:

If you can’t find powdered buttermilk, you can use fresh (liquid) buttermilk in place of the buttermilk powder and water in my recipe.  Just add the buttermilk along with the eggs and extracts, as described in the directions below.

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the flour into a large mixing bowl.

 

 Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt to the mixing bowl.

Add the brown sugar to the bowl.

 

Add the powdered buttermilk.

 

 Stir the mixture to combine all of the ingredients.

 Add the pieces of butter to the flour mixture.  Using a pastry blender (the tool pictured at the top of the photo below), “cut” the butter into the flour.

 This is what the mixture looks like after cutting the butter into the flour.  You want to see small chunks of butter in the mixture.

 Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture.

 Stir to combine.  Set this aside for now.

 Crack the egg into a small mixing bowl.

 Lightly beat the egg with a fork.

 Mix the water, vanilla and almond extract with the beaten egg.

 Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture.

 Use a spatula to mix the ingredients together.  Gently fold the mixture until it comes together.

Using your impeccably clean hands, form the mixture into a large ball.  Do not knead or over mix.  You still want to see those little chunks of butter (see the photo below).

 Place the dough onto a large cookie sheet (I used a round baking stone).  Gently flatten the dough into a circle, about 10 inches in diameter, and about 1 1/2 inches thick.

 Use a knife or dough cutter to slice the dough into eight wedges.

 Brush the top of the dough with milk.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

 Let the scones cool on the pan for a couple of minutes then remove them to a wire rack to continue cooling.

 See how moist and flaky they look? Yum! 🙂

 Serve for breakfast, as a snack, or alongside your favorite warm beverage and ENJOY!

😀

Posted in Breakfast, DESSERTS, Other Desserts, Quick Breads, SNACKS

The Best Sashimi Ever

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I love sashimi!

If you don’t care to eat raw fish, then I’m sorry, but this recipe is not for you.  BUT, you can share it with someone who does! 🙂

In the words of my daughter, “I love, love, love this! It’s almost as good as your tuna poki!”  That’s my picky-eater daughter, mind you.  She even eats the shredded RAW RADISH in this dish! YES!

Radish, you ask?  In sashimi?  Don’t knock it ’till you try it.

My inspiration is from this fantastic sushi restaurant in Vegas (sorry, folks, I can’t name the restaurant here), but if you’ve lived in Vegas before, you’ve probably been to or heard of this place — look at the photo below, recognize it yet? 😉

This recipe is all about the sauce, I think.  It’s my version of ponzu sauce.

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it.

 

The Best Sashimi Ever!

Ingredients:

Good quality ahi tuna, thinly sliced

1 bunch green onions

1 long white radish (the one below is called an Icicle Radish)

Sashimi Sauce:

The juice of 3 lemons and 2 limes

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin

1 small piece of dried kelp, about a 4-inch piece will do.  You can find this and the other ingredients for this recipe at most Asian markets.

2 packets dried bonito flakes (0.17 oz. per packet).  The kind I buy comes in a package that contains 5 of these packets.

1-inch piece ginger, grated

Cayenne pepper, about 1/4 teaspoon, more or less to taste.  I like using Cayenne — it dissolves easily, and it’s not too spicy.  Even my “little” one eats it.  Well, she’s not so little anymore, but she’s sooooo picky!

Kewpie mayonnaise.  Don’t substitute with regular mayo.  The main difference between Kewpie and regular mayo is that kewpie is made with the egg yolks only, whereas some regular mayos are made with either only egg whites or whole eggs.  Kewpie is also creamier and just a tad bit sweeter that regular mayo.  Anyhow…look for and use kewpie mayo for this dish (no subs).

Directions:

Rinse, peel, and grate the radish. I used a box grater, grating the radish on the side with the second smallest holes. Set aside.

Place the lemon and lime juices into a mixing bowl. I picked out the seeds before squeezing the juice out of them (I like leaving the pulp in the sauce). You can use squeeze the juice into a small strainer if you want to strain out the pulp.  You need about 1 cup of juice.  If you have smaller fruits and get less than a cup of juice, squeeze more juice out of either a lemon or lime (your preference) to get about a cup of juice.

Pour in the rice vinegar.

Add the soy sauce.

Add the mirin.

Add the dried kelp. Leave the pieces big — you’re going to remove this later.

Add the bonito flakes.

Add the grated ginger. Use fresh ginger — the powdered stuff just won’t taste the same.

Sprinkle in as much cayenne pepper as you like. You can also add in chopped hot chili peppers.

Mix to combine. Set the mixture aside. Let it sit for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. Use a fork to pick out the pieces of kelp; discard the kelp. If you want a smooth sauce, pour it into another bowl with a strainer over the top.

After an hour, place about 2 tablespoons of kewpie mayo into a shallow dish. Pour in 1 cup of the sauce mixture. (Refrigerate any unused sauce.)

Use a whisk or a fork to mix the kewpie mayo into the sauce mixture. I know, it doesn’t look very appetizing right now, but trust me…it’s delicious…so delicious you might just want to drink the sauce! 🙂

Place the shredded radish into the center of the dish.

Place thin slices of ahi tuna on top of the shredded radish.

Squeeze more kewpie mayo on top of the fish. Sprinkle sliced green onions on top. Drizzle more sauce over the fish. Optional: sprinkle smelt roe on top of it all.

Serve immediately (it’s delicious with steamed white rice) and ENJOY!

 

Posted in Japanese, Kelaguen, SEAFOOD

Kicked-Up Brown Rice

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I was never a huge fan of brown rice, but in my quest to create healthier meals for my family, we’ve switched from our favorite white rice to the healthier brown.

I wanted to create a tasty version, and not the tough, seemingly undercooked variety you get at most restaurants that kind of tastes like cardboard.

Equipped with only a rice cooker and four ingredients, you’ll have a delicious and healthy side dish for your next meal.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Kicked-Up Brown Rice

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups brown rice
  • 6 1/2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons Dashida beef seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons garlic-flavored olive oil
(Thanks to my friend, Yvonne M., for the delicious olive oil!)

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice then place in your rice cooker pot. Add the water to the pot — it may seem like way too much water, but brown rice needs a LOT of water to cook properly.

2. Add the Dashida and olive oil; stir until the Dashida is dissolved.

3. Set your rice cooker to the “cook” mode then let it do its magic.

4. When the rice cooker switch turns from “cook” to “warm” (or the equivalent for your rice cooker model), gently fluff the rice with a fork, then let it sit (covered) for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve with your favorite meat dish and ENJOY!

 

Posted in Healthy Alternatives ~ Recipes, SIDES

Raw Honey — the Miracle Nectar

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I’ve read many different articles about the health benefits of honey over white, granulated sugar. Honey is high in calories, as is sugar (a teaspoon of honey contains 22 calories; there are 16 calories in a teaspoon of sugar).

So, the question is, IS honey better for you than sugar?

In reading up on the differences between honey and sugar, I learned that both contain fructose and glucose.  The difference is that the fructose and glucose in sugar are “hooked” together, whereas the fructose and glucose in honey are “unhooked” or independent units. Why is that important, you ask?  Well, I found through my readings is that this is important if you have digestion issues.  During digestion, the “unhooked” independent fructose and glucose units in honey get absorbed in our intestinal tracts, while the “hooked” fructose-glucose units in sugar have to first be broken down (into separate units like in honey) before it gets absorbed.  The enzymes in our bodies do a good job of breaking down sugar (sucrose) molecules, but not all of them are absorbed.  This is where it could cause an issue for some people.  (If you have a sensitive stomach, stop reading.  I’m going to talk about bacteria in our intestines now.)  The sugar molecules that don’t get digested or absorbed in our intestinal tracts feeds the bad bacteria in our intestines.  Where this is not so good is when there is an over-population of bad bacteria that feeds off the undigested sugar, which in turn causes some by-products, one of which is the production of different gasses, methane gas among them.  Again, putting it simply, you end up farting a lot. 😉

It stands to reason that if you substitute honey for sugar in most of your foods, you will be less gassy (your significant other will thank you for this). 😀

Another interesting bit of information I found through my readings is fructose is sweeter than glucose, which is one of the reasons fructose is used in so many food products today. However, fructose does not convert to energy as efficiently as glucose. As a result, processed foods containing granulated sugar high in fructose convert to fat more easily than honey.  Hmmm…less fat production by using honey in foods?  I’m sold!

Actually, I like using honey because it is plain and simply DELICIOUS.  Not to mention that I buy my honey from local Colorado bee farmers, and anything I can do to help our local economy, I’m all over it.

Oh, as an added bonus, honey doesn’t spoil!  I don’t worry about honey going to waste in my house…we use it up pretty quickly.  Luckily for us the Busy Bee Farm in Larkspur, CO is not too far from where we live that we can get a resupply when we need it.

honey

 

So, whether you add honey to your diet instead of sugar for it’s pure deliciousness or supposed health benefits is up to you.  I recommend buying raw honey (honey that is unheated, unpasteurized and unprocessed) if you can find it.

What can you make with honey?

I use honey in my marinades, to sweeten our Cream of Wheat (or oatmeal), and in baking (I make some mean Honey Wheat Rolls).  Check out some of my recipes at the links below.

 

 

Honey Wheat Bread

honey wheat bread

Hannah’s BBQ Marinade

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Posted in HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES, Nutrition Information
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