Category: Holiday

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Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

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Oven Roasted Turkey Breast

Thanksgiving is coming up soon and it’s time to talk turkey! When a full turkey is too much for your household, try a bone in turkey breast. These are usually around 8 pounds and serve at least 4 people. For this recipe we are going to soak the turkey overnight in a brine. Brining a turkey will help to flavor the turkey and keep it juicy. This is an optional step as many turkeys from the store are already injected with a basting solution to add flavor and juiciness. But if you have the time, give the brine a try. Another important step is to dry out the skin so that it gets nice and crispy. This recipe will go over several techniques for drying out the skin.

Ingredients

  • 7 – 8 pound bone in turkey breast
  • 12 sprigs thyme
  • 2 lemons
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1 gallon water

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Directions

If your turkey breast is frozen, let it thaw in the refrigerator for 2 days.


First create a brine by boiling 1 gallon of water along with kosher salt, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and sliced lemons. Bring this to a rolling boil for a few minutes then turn off the heat. You can add ice in a large zip seal bag to speed up the cooling process but do not add ice directly to the brine because this will dilute the solution. When the liquid cools down, place the brine solution into the refrigerator for 1 hour. Next, submerge the turkey breast into the brine and refrigerate it for 8 to 18 hours.


After brining, remove the turkey from the brine and wash it off to remove excess salt. Place the turkey on a cooling rack and pat the skin dry with paper towels. If you have a hair dryer, use it to blow dry the turkey skin for about 10 minutes. If you don’t have a hair drier, you can use a small fan to dry the skin for 10 minutes. Now, if you don’t have a fan or a hair dryer, you can salt the skin and place the turkey in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The idea here is to dry the skin to achieve crispy brown deliciousness. Next carefully remove the wishbone with a small knife. This will greatly improve the slicing of the breast meat.


Preheat the oven to 425 F. Rub down the turkey skin with vegetable oil or melted butter. Sprinkle on some powdered sage, kosher salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Place a few sprigs of thyme on the turkey. Move the turkey to a roasting pan and set it in the rack. When the oven is ready, place the turkey in the oven and cook it for 20 minutes. Cooking at this temperature will help dry out and crisp the skin. Next, lower the heat to 325 F and cook for 75 minutes or until the turkey reaches 165 F at the thickest part of the meat. If the skin is darkening too much before cooking is finished, cover the turkey with foil. For reference, turkey breast should cook 20 minutes per pound at about 350F. But we’ve complicated things by cooking first at 425 F and then at 325 F.


When the turkey is finished, cover it with foil and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Slice the turkey and serve it with the pan drippings. You can also use the drippings and the dark brown crispy goodness in the pan to make a gravy. But beware, depending on how much salt was used on the turkey, you may end up with a salty gravy.

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Grilled Onion Cheese Dip

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Grilled Onion Cheese Dip

Cheese, onions, and bacon… yes! bacon! Everyone needs a few go to cheese dip recipes and this is one of them. This has a very rich addicting cheese flavor that you won’t want to stop eating. And you can cook this dip on the grill if your oven is full with a holiday ham or turkey. You can also just cook this dip in the oven but that’s not as fun as standing outside by the grill with a beer.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz shredded gruyere cheese
  • 8 oz shredded gouda cheese
  • 1 8oz package of cream cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups sour cream
  • 1/2 pound of bacon
  • 2 large vidalia onions
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 French baguette
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 tablespoon herbes des provence

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Directions

First, slice 1/2 pound of bacon into bits, then cook the bacon on medium heat for 10 minutes or until done. Remove the bacon from the skillet and place it on paper towels to absorb the grease. Keep the grease in the pan.


While the bacon is cooking, thinly slice 2 vidalia onions. After removing the bacon, add the onions to the pan and cook it in the hot bacon grease for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove the onions and place them on paper towels to absorb the grease.


While cooking the onions, hand shred the gruyere and gouda cheese. Add softened cream cheese and sour cream to a mixing bowl. Add Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and dried thyme. Mix thoroughly with an electric mixer or a large spoon. While mixing, add the shredded cheese, bacon, and the onions. Transfer the mixture to a 13 inch cast iron skillet. If you want to prepare this dip a day before cooking, you can cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and store overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat your grill (or oven) to low (350F) and when it reaches temp, add the skillet directly over the fire. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes, or until brown on the surface.


Slice the French baguette in 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices on cooling racks to make things easier for moving the bread in and out of the grill. Melt the butter and brush it on both sides of the bread. Season both sides of the bread with herbes des provence. Place the cooling racks with bread in the grill and cook for 10 minutes.


Remove the cheese dip and bread from the grill, then allow the dip to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Apple Butter Smoked Ham

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Apple Butter Smoked Ham

The next time you buy a ham from the grocery store, forget about warming it up in the oven! Why not use your smoker to add more smoke flavor? So you may be asking, why do this when most hams are already smoked? Answer: more better smoke! Will it be too much smoke? NO!! And to top things off, add a layer of apple butter and upgrade that grocery store ham into a delicious masterpiece.

Ingredients

  • 8 – 10 pound ham (butt portion)
  • 9.5oz apple butter

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Directions

Start your smoker at 250F using cherry or hickory wood. Remove the ham from the packaging and place it face down on a cooling rack. When the smoker reaches temp, place the ham on the smoker for at least 2 hours.


At around 1 and a half hours, add the apple butter to a cast iron sauce pan and then warm it up on the smoker for 30 minutes.


At 2 hours, brush the apple butter onto the ham until it is all applied. Increase the smoker temperature to 275, then cook the ham for 1 hour. At this point, remove the ham and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice, eat, and enjoy!

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Pellet Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage

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Pellet Smoked Corned Beef and Cabbage

Are you ready to step up your usual St Patricks day meal? Why not try corned beef and cabbage on your pellet smoker? Nothing beats the delicious flavor of smoked brisket and you get even more flavor with a corned beef brisket! Add to that a smoked cabbage stuffed with bacon, onion, and jalapeño and you have a winning meal!

Ingredients

  • 3 pound corned beef brisket
  • 1 large cabbage
  • 1 pound bacon
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 jalapeño pepper
  • 2 tablespoons BBQ rub
  • 2 tablespoons coarse black pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 corned beef seasoning packet
  • 4 tablespoons butter

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Directions

First, remove the corned beef from the packaging and wash off the red liquid. Save the seasoning packet for later. Place the corned beef in a container and submerge it in water. Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to soak overnight. This will draw out the salt from the beef. On the next day, remove the corned beef from the water and pat it dry with paper towels. Place the beef on a sheet of cellophane, then apply the garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Grind up the seasoning packet into a powder, then apply it to the corned beef. Finally apply the dried thyme. Flip the beef over and apply the same seasonings in order. Next tightly wrap the beef in the cellophane and place it back in the refrigerator for 1 more night.


On the third day, get your pellet smoker started at 275 F with cherry wood pellets. Remove the corned beef from the refrigerator and unwrap it from the cellophane. If you like, you can dust on more of the seasoning. When the smoker reaches temp, place the beef on the smoker fat side up. You should expect a 4 – 6 hour cook time and the beef should reach a finishing temp of 185 F. When the beef reaches around 150 F – 160 F you should wrap it in butcher paper or aluminum foil. This will help to make the beef tender. When the beef reaches 185 F, place it in a cooler and close the lid. Let it rest for 1 hour before unwrapping and slicing.


To prepare the cabbage, first remove the tough leaves on the outer layer. Next cut the core out of the center of the cabbage using a chefs knife. You want to get a nice sized cavity carved out, roughly the size of a can of soup. Next, place the cabbage in a foil pan, then roll up a sheet of foil to create a ring to hold the cabbage in place. Apply BBQ rub or salt and pepper to the cavity. Next add 1 tablespoon of butter to the cavity. Slice the bacon into bits then fry the bacon in a pan. Remove the bacon when it starts to foam. Remove most of the bacon grease leaving behind about 1/4 inch. Next dice the onion and jalapeños and fry them in the bacon grease until the onions begin to turn translucent. Stuff the cabbage cavity with bacon onion and jalapeño. Add the remaining to the foil pan. Add more seasoning and butter to the top of the cabbage stuffing. Place the foil pan in the smoker and cook for 2 hours. Next wrap the cabbage and extra bacon onion and jalapeño mixture in two sheets of aluminum foil. Cook for another hour then remove it from the smoker. Let the cabbage rest for 10 minutes to cool down, then open the foil and shred the cabbage.

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