K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Since it is now pouring rain here there is no sense a) getting the brush cutter going to trim around the house and tortoise pens, b) cleaning out the inside of my truck), c) filling the holes the black lab has recently dug in the yard, d) rehanging a different gate at the road gate. I could be cleaning/organizing the spice shelves but... I did get two chickens into marinate: one, in a buttermilk-based and the other in a modded mojo. Those I'll cook tomorrow. Tonight is an all-app night I think.
Instead, now, I'll post last night's dinner cook.
An orginally 12.13-lb packer that was fatted differently than usual. So I did what I nearly never do--I trimmed.
The packer, as originally out of the cryo:
The hunk of fat at left, on the side and inside of the point, had to go so I got rid of it.
A little minor additional trimming, nothing from the fatcap side, and here:
I made a paste--
of a hefty quantity of pickled jalapeños (about a heaping half-cup, plus a couple of the pickled carrot slices from the same jar), a good dose of pomegranate molasses (about 1/3 c), 5 whole garlic cloves, a wedge of a Vidalia (would be about 3 T chopped), puréeing till very smooth. After salting both sides of the brisket, i smeared the paste on the lean side:
I mixed a rub of
(from the top, clockwise, the outermost ingredients) Aleppo (about 2 T), granulated garlic, ground clove, marjoram, rubbed sage, Mediterranean thyme, black peppercorns, onion, (inside) green peppercorns, whole allspice, white peppercorns, and (scattered black specks) the seeds of a dozen Iraqi cardamom pods (thanks Lance!). I ground it all an applied over the paste, fairly heavily.
I fired using the MM with 24 lit. (Out of lump. I used K.) I used hickory for wood.
The lit was well-lit when added and I assembled and loaded in the meat. It was about 30 min in when I broke 250 (all temps lid) and I cracked the door open (door flipped, knob on bottom), propping it with a grill brush about 1/2-inch open. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the cooker but was 375 at one point pre-foiling (about 2 hours in), mad a door adjustment, and 350 at the 2.5-hour mark when I foiled. (I never temp but stuck one it at foiling in case anyone asked or was interested: 156.)
On a sheet of foil:
Topped with another sheet of foil, sealed, crimped edges pulled up so that exuded juices won't leak:
The brisket cooked, foiled, between 335 and 350. I checked at the 3.5-mark just to get a sense of the feel. Checked just about 20 min later and it felt great to me.
Done, foil opened:
I pulled most of the juices out of the foil (about 2 c) and separated the fat out while I made the side. I wanted a side with flavor enough to go with the paste-rub combo so I made whole wheat linguine in a simple sauce of plenty of garlic sweated with onion, minced jals, fresh ripe tomato tossed in at the last moment, a just a little grated Parm-Reg for umami.
For give the lack of plating attention, we were on our third bottle of Chard...:
Salad of frisée, oak leaf, mizuna, Vidalia, ripe tomato, avocado, tossed with a simple vinaigrette (white balsamic, a tiny splash of red balsamic, Dijon, Morea evoo, 1/2 clove of garlic, pepper, salt), on butter lettuce:
And the brisket-pasta plate (pre-minced chive garnish):
The brisket was very moist and the rub combo worked out well. Very clear cardamom flavors (which I was shooting for), lots of background base and good spice/heat, as you'd imagine with the jals, Aleppo and the three peppercorns. I only sprinkled the sides of the slices with a little salt before plating.
The point and a bit of the flat will become chili in a day or two, likely with mango as the rub flavors would be very good with it. The rest of the flat I've frozen.
Instead, now, I'll post last night's dinner cook.
An orginally 12.13-lb packer that was fatted differently than usual. So I did what I nearly never do--I trimmed.
The packer, as originally out of the cryo:
The hunk of fat at left, on the side and inside of the point, had to go so I got rid of it.
A little minor additional trimming, nothing from the fatcap side, and here:
I made a paste--
of a hefty quantity of pickled jalapeños (about a heaping half-cup, plus a couple of the pickled carrot slices from the same jar), a good dose of pomegranate molasses (about 1/3 c), 5 whole garlic cloves, a wedge of a Vidalia (would be about 3 T chopped), puréeing till very smooth. After salting both sides of the brisket, i smeared the paste on the lean side:
I mixed a rub of
(from the top, clockwise, the outermost ingredients) Aleppo (about 2 T), granulated garlic, ground clove, marjoram, rubbed sage, Mediterranean thyme, black peppercorns, onion, (inside) green peppercorns, whole allspice, white peppercorns, and (scattered black specks) the seeds of a dozen Iraqi cardamom pods (thanks Lance!). I ground it all an applied over the paste, fairly heavily.
I fired using the MM with 24 lit. (Out of lump. I used K.) I used hickory for wood.
The lit was well-lit when added and I assembled and loaded in the meat. It was about 30 min in when I broke 250 (all temps lid) and I cracked the door open (door flipped, knob on bottom), propping it with a grill brush about 1/2-inch open. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the cooker but was 375 at one point pre-foiling (about 2 hours in), mad a door adjustment, and 350 at the 2.5-hour mark when I foiled. (I never temp but stuck one it at foiling in case anyone asked or was interested: 156.)
On a sheet of foil:
Topped with another sheet of foil, sealed, crimped edges pulled up so that exuded juices won't leak:
The brisket cooked, foiled, between 335 and 350. I checked at the 3.5-mark just to get a sense of the feel. Checked just about 20 min later and it felt great to me.
Done, foil opened:
I pulled most of the juices out of the foil (about 2 c) and separated the fat out while I made the side. I wanted a side with flavor enough to go with the paste-rub combo so I made whole wheat linguine in a simple sauce of plenty of garlic sweated with onion, minced jals, fresh ripe tomato tossed in at the last moment, a just a little grated Parm-Reg for umami.
For give the lack of plating attention, we were on our third bottle of Chard...:
Salad of frisée, oak leaf, mizuna, Vidalia, ripe tomato, avocado, tossed with a simple vinaigrette (white balsamic, a tiny splash of red balsamic, Dijon, Morea evoo, 1/2 clove of garlic, pepper, salt), on butter lettuce:
And the brisket-pasta plate (pre-minced chive garnish):
The brisket was very moist and the rub combo worked out well. Very clear cardamom flavors (which I was shooting for), lots of background base and good spice/heat, as you'd imagine with the jals, Aleppo and the three peppercorns. I only sprinkled the sides of the slices with a little salt before plating.
The point and a bit of the flat will become chili in a day or two, likely with mango as the rub flavors would be very good with it. The rest of the flat I've frozen.
