Hickory Smoked Turkey

Might be the best turkey I’ve ever made. Sweet, smokey, juicy. Not sure if it’s the brine or the smoke or the heat. Probably all of the above, but it’s delicious.

TURKEY

• 14-16 pound turkey
• 4 chunks hickory wood
• 2 chunks apple wood
• 1 apple, quartered
• 1/2 yellow onion,
• 1 celery stalk
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 4 cups chicken stock or white wine

BRINE – (24-48 hours ahead of time)

• 2 quarts unsweetened apple juice
• 1 pound light brown sugar (2 cups packed)
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 3 quarts water
• 3 oranges, quartered
• 4 ounces fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 15 whole cloves
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 large garlic cloves, crushed

Brine Prep:

1. In a saucepan over high heat, combine the juice, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Cook for 1 minute, remove from the heat, and skim off the foam. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Put water, brining spices, turkey and cooled brine in brining bag. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours

Cooking Day:

1. Turkey will take about 12 minutes per pound (3 hours for a 15 pound turkey)
2. Bring smoker to 300 degrees.
3. Add wood chunks, indirect heat plate setter and grate about an hour before you need to start cooking.
4. While waiting for smoker to return to temp, wash brine off turkey. Pat dry, stuff with apple, onion, celery and rosemary. Tress and set in roasting pan. Brush turkey with olive oil for crispy skin.
5. Pour 2 cups of chicken stock/wine into roasting pan.
6. Put turkey in smoker.
7. Check the temp of the smoker every 30 min. Add more broth/wine about 2 hours.
8. Remove tukey when breast reaches 165 degrees.
9. Tent aluminum foil over turkey and rest for 30 min before carving.

Beer-Braised Pork Shoulder

Mmmmm beer braised pork shoulder

I’ve basically my whole life on the west coast save a small excursion to Nashville where I picked up my love for southern BBQ and bourbon. I’ve been privileged to do a moderate amount of travel, so when my wife asked if I wanted to take a weekend trip to Chicago to hangout with some of her college friends I was happy to tag along.

Not that was expecting to have a bad time, but I was genuinely surprised at how much fun I had there. I was legitimately upset that it had taken me into my 30s to visit this city – like someone should have told me about how great summer in Chicago is.

Well, I have the same relationship with braising meat. I didn’t discover braising until well into my cooking years. It is by far the best culinary technique to know if you are feeding a family. Why is braising awesome?

1. Low effort 30 min of prep or less

2. affordable basic meat and veggies – you need fattier cuts of meat with bones in them to hold up to the long temps which are the lower price/volume cuts

3. Super versatile – technique works the same with chicken, pork, beef, lamb, etc. so once you get it down you can play around with it easy so the fam doesn’t get bored

4. Perfect for fall/winter/spring – it’s three hours in the oven at 325 so you house will be warm and smell awesome!

Ok – on to the recipe…

Ingredients

Meat

• 4-5 pound pork shoulder (bone in preferred for flavor)

Rub

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Veggies

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled

Braising liquids

• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 12-ounce beer (a basic lager works well)

Directions

1. Clean and pat dry the pork
2. Mix the rub and apply to the pork and let sit for at least 30 min. (Even better if is sits for up to a day)
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the pork on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pot. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and beer. Bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to bring up any browned bits.
5. Return the pork to the pot. Cover and put in the oven for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, checking once or twice, until the meat is extremely tender (internal temp. 195-205 deg) and pulls away from the bone easily. Shred the pork in the pot, using tongs to separate the meat from the fat (see photos above). Discard the bone or set aside for another use.
6. Let rest in the pot for 30 min and Serve the meat with several spoonfuls of the vegetables and sauce. I like to put over a thick pasta like egg noodles or orzo.

Back Burner Sunday Chili

Adam Grossman’s Sunday Chili
Cook time: 3 hours on stove

Prep Time: 1 Hour
Ingredients

Base

• 2 oz. vegetable oil
• 1 large yellow onion (diced)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 lb ground turkey (1 inch chunks – optional)
• 3 bell peppers – yellow, red, green (strips)
• 26.5 oz. canned crushed tomatoes (or 5 vine ripe tomatoes diced)
• 16 oz. red kidney beans
• 12 oz. black beans
• 12 oz. Cannelloni beans
• 2 carrots (optional)
• 2 potatoes (optional)

• 2 Serrano chilies (diced, optional)
• 5 green chilies (diced, optional)

Seasoning 

• 1/2 cup Jim Beam bourbon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 beef bullion cubes
• 2 Tbs. chili powder
• 1 Tbs. chipotle powder
• 1 Tbs. cumin
• 2 california bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika 
• 1/4 tsp. all spice
• 1 tsp. Ketchup

Garnishs

• sour cream
• cheddar cheese
• cilantro

Cooking:

1. In a large pot, saute onions and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until translucent (5 min.)
2. Brown ground turkey for about (5-7 min.)
3. Add bourbon and brown sugar, and allow the alcohol burn off (5-7 min.)
4. Reduce heat to medium and add all peppers and cook until they begin to sweat (7-10 min.)
5. Stir in all seasoning except for ketchup
6. Stir in all tomatoes 
7. Drain and wash canned beans and add them to the pot
8. Cover and simmer on medium-low stirring occasionally to keep bottom from burning (~90 min.)
9. Add potatoes, carrots and ketchup and continue simmering (~75 min.)
10. Serve with cheese, sour cream and/or cilantro (and beer)