The Final Aporkalypse by Mike

Is coming!

Texas Beef Brisket by Mike

With the nice weather, the recent string of non-bbq related topics, and the Final Aporkalypse less than two months away it was time to get down to serious business and throw some meat on the smoker. This weekends project was a beef brisket and a side pork ribs just for the hell of it. I woke up Saturday morning and decided it was time to pick up a new Weber kettle grill just to be frivolous. The doinky grill that was already at my house just isn't going to cut it anymore.

Brisket
I've tried several times to smoke brisket with little to no luck as it always turned out dry. However, I saw some nice looking cuts at Earth Fair that had a nice layer of fat and also decided I'd try placing it in a shallow foil pan in an attempt to keep in the juices. On Friday afternoon I rubbed the brisket with 1 T kosher salt, 1 T ancho chili powder, 2 t cane sugar, 1 t fresh black pepper, 1 t cumin, 1/2 t onion powder, and 1/2 t garlic powder and refrigerated it in a big Ziploc bag overnight. At the same time I rubbed the rack of ribs with a mixture I had made for the Superbowl ribs. Saturday around 11 I fired up the smoker loaded with mesquite and put the brisket on at 12:30 pm. The smoker maintained pretty much dead on 215 degrees and I took the brisket off around 7:30 pm. This picture was taken around 6pm. I should have noted what the internal temp was but I got lazy.





This turned out much much better than previous attempts and I credit the properly cut brisket and the foil pan to some extent. Also, I basted with a 50/50 mixture of apple juice and bourbon about every hour.





Ribs
These didn't turn out as good as I would have liked so I'm not going to go into much detail. I tried out the Stubb's brand of charcoal I found at Lowe's and I think it burned much hotter than I anticipated. They were a wee bit overcooked and a wee bit is more than you would think :). These were cooked on the new Weber and I never bothered to check the cooking temperature. The asparagus I threw on at the last minute turned out well though.





Yum!
I mixed a standard bottled BBQ sauce with some NC style vinegar sauce and served my brisket over a slice of crusty French bread. Thanks to Marion for the amazing potato salad. I went for a subtle yet elegant garnish...can you see it?

Caldeirada: portuguese comfort food by Ben

So, following the Mike's lead here on non-bbq related things, I am posting this because 1) its one of the few things I am known for, 2) made it last night, and 3) BBQ is about to take over again, like this weekend.  I take no credit for this recipe. I learned it from Jaap Togtema's Portuguese wife when I was working in Holland, and wrote it in the back of "Zorba the Greek", and brought it here. After making it many many times, I wrote down the recipe I developed, since the original was only approximate. Also, most people I give the recipe to add something to it, such as a different fish/meat, sweet potatoes, or mushrooms, etc. though I make it like I do.

Ingredients

0.5 cup EVOO
0.5 cup White wine (I prefer a dry chardonay or pinot grigio)
lotsa garlic (i try to have around a table spoon of minced but the more the merrier)
1 medium/large onion (white, yellow, or vidalia work)
tomato (normally one but you can take out or add more based on desired final consitency)
3 bell peppers (I do 2 orange and 1 yellow but you can vary this as well)
bay leaves (equal to # of fish or chicken breast)
~1 lb meat (normally fish but can be chicken also)
smidgin of curry
salt and pepper
potato (yukon golds are my favorite but anything works, including sweet potato apparently)

In a decent size pot (like you would cook chili in) add EVOO, wine, garlic, onion (cut in half and slice), tomato (wedges), sliced bell peppers, bay leaves and curry. Mix. Salt and pepper this mixture to taste. Add fish or chicken cut in small (1 inch) cubes and stir. Thinly slice potato (the thickness will determine cooking time) slices and lay in a single layer on top of mixture. Bring to boil on medium heat then cover and heat at medium or medium low for 20 min. Check potato layer doneness, if not done, check meat. if meat is done and potatoes aren't, stir potatoes under and continue to cook. Normally I just stir under after 20 min and then cook for 10 more minutes. Serve in bowl. Will make enough for 3-4.

Top is after add potatoes, and the bottom is once it is done cooking.

Additional comments: If using fish, smaller pieces may be more prone to disintegrating when boiled so take into consideration. Also, if you want to increase recipe, just increase all accordingly, don't worry about having relatively less potatoes. You might have to cook longer as it takes longer to get to temperature.