Emily’s Chipotle Chili

Unfortunately I did not take any pics but this is the recipe I used in last weekends 2nd Annual Chili Cook-off. I did make one minor mistake though. I used the whole jar of chipotle peppers! I didn’t place in the top three but I DID win the chili with the most HEAT! LOL Everybody said if it weren’t for the amount of heat it easily would have placed high. It had great flavor...!
The only things I changed in the recipe were 1.5lbs sausage, 2.5lbs beef, 2/3 can pinto (instead of kidney) beans and almost 2 full large onions.


1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
2 pounds ground beef
5 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans (optional)
2 teaspoons minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

Directions

Cook sausage and ground beef in a large pot over medium-high heat until lightly browned and crumbly. When the meat has released its grease, and has begun to brown, drain off accumulated grease, and season with chili powder, cumin, and coriander. Cook and stir for 1 minute until fragrant, then stir in the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chipotle peppers, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then pour the chili into a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir in tomato paste an hour before the chili is done.

Beef Brisket Pt. 4 Final

Ok... from reading on several websites about the “done” temperature I came to the conclusion that 195-200 degrees would suffice.  Well, not exactly... The flat came out a bit over done and the deckle came out just right. In the future I will not be smoking the entire brisket as I haven’t perfected it yet. Here are some pics...

Beef Brisket Pt. 3.5

Half way through at the 12h mark. I’m basting the brisket every 45-60 minutes now with:

1 12oz bottle Hard Cider
1 1/2c Apple Juice
1/2c Cider Vinegar
1c Worcestershire Sauce

I’m using a baster instead of a brush since that’s all I have at the moment.

Pics of 12h on the smoker

It sure has shrunk! Guess I didn’t have to trim any after all...

Beef Brisket Pt. 3

These couple pics are straight out of the fridge after letting the rub work it’s way in to the meat for 15 hours.

I have good news and good news... Which do y’all want first?

First the good news...

The brisket is in the smoker! It juuuuust fits as you can tell...

I may decide to cut the tiny piece on the left side off to make it fit better.

And the good news is now I have 24ish hours till it’s done. What? That’s not good news...? Gimme a break, it’s my first time smokin’ a massive slab of meat and I’m exited about it! It’s not like I sleep normally anyway. lol 

So the meat sits in the smoker untouched for at least 4 hours and then I can mop it every hour or so if I so decide. 

I’ll keep the updates coming... Anybody that wants some they are welcome to a piece! Just lemme know... 

Beef Brisket Pt. 2

Tonight I prepped the massive 14lb beef brisket

 by mixing a BBQ rub:

2 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs coarse ground pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

All measurements were tripled due to the size of my brisket.

It’s now wrapped in cellophane and sitting in the fridge for approximately 12 hours. So anytime after 3pm Saturday I’ll have this baby in the smoker...! Cooking at 225 degrees for 1-1.5 hours per pound x 14lbs (you do the math).

Next up Pt. 3

Beef Brisket Pt. 1

Going to pick up the beef brisket in a few minutes! I will be prepping it today and smoking it tomorrow... Stay tuned for pics...

Saint Louis Style Ribs

I found this site today and thought I would put it here for future reference. I may try to do this recipe in the coming weekends with a few changes so it will work for my (wood) smoker.

http://www.5min.com/Video/Kansas-City-Style-Pork-Ribs-315860203

Smoked Salmon Pt.2

So... the salmon has been brined for 2 hours

rinsed and set in fridge for a couple hours
smoked for just under 2 hours

I’m not totally sure the probe temp is accurate so I took it to 150 degrees.

The whole salmon was absolutely WONDERFUL but I’m partial to the thinner pieces!

This will MOST definitely be done again in the NEAR future...!
Enjoy!
(Off to Sam’s for more Salmon... I can’t wait! lol)

Smoked Salmon Pt. 1

I’ve been thinking of smoking salmon as my first food to smoke in the ProQ. So tonight I went out to buy the required ingredients for a 3-3.5lb filet...
For the rub:
1/4 cup dried Dill
1/4 packed brown sugar
2 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
2tsp fresh cracked pepper

The directions were to butterfly the filet. At first I thought this was kinda off. I’ve never heard of butterflying a filet before but what do I know about fish? Nothing. I don’t have a filet knife so I used the sharpest knife I had. I didn’t turn out very well.

The next step was to rub the mixture into the butterflied fish, which I did. Place in a large bag and refrigerate over night. This also caught me off guard as Da’Smoker has told me many times the fish needs a pellet (sp?), a brine, basically a tackiness to it so the smoke has something to stick to. The recipe doesn’t mention anywhere to put the rub on the outside. So I call him and he says to leave the rub in the middle and mix together:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup coarse kosher/sea salt
1T Dill
3 tsp garlic


Apply this mix in the morning, put in the fridge for 2 hours, rinse thoroughly and back in the fridge for a couple hours until there is the tackiness to it it is suppose to have. That sounds more like it...

So the salmon is in the fridge till the morning...

Next Pt. 2

Starting out

Just starting out... I bought Harris’s old Pro Q smoker a week ago. The day Harris came to deliver the smoker he showed me how to make ABT’s. We made a small batch of 8. Basically it’s jalapeno peppers cut in half long way, de-seeded and stuffed with cream cheese and a mini dog wrapped in bacon, held together with toothpicks.
They came out absolutely delicious! 


Next I’m going to try either beef jerky (which I have made in an old water smoker to rave review’s) or a brisket! 


I’ll be sure to take pics of before, during and after...