smoked brisket

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a great Memorial Day!  We decided to smoke a brisket at my house.  This is my first attempt at smoking a brisket and just my second time using a smoker. 

to get started you will need: 

a brisket

dry rub seasoning

clear plastic wrap

I also used some salt, pepper and garlic powder

after removing the plastic from the brisket I decided to use mustard to help the seasonings stay on the meat better..

.....

all over on both sides.

I bought McCormick's Grill Mates dry rub for this brisket.  I ended up using the Smokin' Texas flavored packs over the Memphis Pit.  It just tasted better to me.  I used two packages on the brisket.

cover both sides with the seasoning

after you've seasoned the brisket to your liking, wrap it up in clear plastic wrap and set it into your refrigerator to chill.  I chilled this one for 6 hours and let it set out at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.

you could use whatever wood chips you like, we chose hickory.  you will need to soak these at least one hour prior to cooking.. this is a smaller bag of wood chips and we used them all.

just put them into a large bowl and fill with water, I put a heavy plate on top of these to make sure they were properly soaked.

while the wood chips are soaking and the meat is resting at room temperature now is a good time to get the smoker coals going.. we used about 18lbs of charcoal throughout the entire process.

place coals in bottom of smoker pan and use charcoal starter and light them.. let them rest until they become an even gray color and are glowing hot.. have patience!

we decided to use Mott's apple juice during the first hours of smoking the brisket for the moisture pan.  You can use water here or whatever you want.

This is the unwrapped brisket that has set for about 6-7 hours in the dry rub

after you've got your coals hot and wood chips onto the fire and smoker assembled, its time to put the meat on the grill.. let cook for 6 hours without taking the lid off.

6 hours in..  I flipped the brisket at this point and continued to add apple juice or water into the moisture pan as well as new charcoal to keep the fire going.  

Finally done.. we took it off of the smoker after about 14 hours of slow and low cooking.

time to let it rest..  wrap the brisket tightly in aluminum foil..

.....

and then into a towel.. place in cooler or refrigerator for at least an hour.  I think I left mine in about 3-4 hours.

looks great!  slice against the grain and your brisket should be tender and flavorful.

yum.   happy memorial day <3

tater tot casserole

Tater Tot Casserole.    

This is a versatile dish that is easy to make and is quite tasty.  I've made it many times and have made it many different ways.  I think the way I am about to show you is the best.

I used:

1 bag Ore Ida tater tots

2.25 pounds of ground chuck beef [you dont have to use exactly 2.25 pounds, that's just how its sold at the store I shop at]

some Kraft sharp cheddar cheese [I didn't measure.  See pictures.]

 1 onion

1 can Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup

about 3 tablespoons of Daisy sour cream

First of all, I like to cook the tater tots in the oven before cooking them again in the dish.  This saves time and trouble.  Cook them about 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

begin to brown your hamburger while the tater tots bake..

 when it begins to brown, stir it up some making sure it cooks evenly.

dice 1 onion by slicing this way

turn it around and slice it this way again

 turn it over and slice again

 yay, diced onion!

add the onion to the meat and let them cook together for a while

add some garlic powder..

and soul food seasoning, i love this stuff!   You can use whatever spices and seasonings you prefer though.

After the meat has finished cooking you should drain it...

for this I just put a plate under my colander 

............

Return the meat and onions to the skillet and turn the heat down to low.  Add the Cream of Mushroom soup...

and about 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream

stir.

let it cook together for a little bit..

tater tots should be golden brown and fully cooked by now...

line some in a baking dish.  

After you've placed the tots, begin to put the meat mixture on top of them..

even it out..

add some cheese!  add however much looks right to you

arrange the remaining tots on top and bake for about 20-30 minutes on around 350. 

after you've baked the casserole for a while and its heated throughout you should add some ketchup on top.  It makes it even better.  I always use Heinz.

ketchupppp.

After you finish putting ketchup on it, turn your oven on broil and put the casserole back in.  Let the ketchup cook a little bit, I usually take it out after the ketchup isn't shiny but isn't burnt.  Up to you, I just like the ketchup cooked.

done!  :D

spinach stuff

I don't know why I buy the bagged fresh spinach.  I like it instead of lettuce in salads but for cooking reasons I should probably buy frozen or canned.  The bag they put this stuff in is ridiculous.  It is so thin, crackly and loud.  It rips so easily too.  That is why I made spinach stuff tonight.  The bag had ripped and so the spinach needed to be cooked asap before it got all weird. 

I usually just make regular Popeye spinach with some old school pepper sauce.  But this was different and turned out pretty good.

I used:

1 10-ounce bag of fresh spinach leaf

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

fresh grated parmesan cheese

ricotta cheese

1 jar of mushrooms

some garlic powder

After getting the spinach out of the already ripped annoying spinach bag, I put it all on a plate.  Which was way too small for all of it but whatever, it worked. :P

 Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet and tear the spinach leaf up in bunches

add the mushrooms, make sure you drain all the nasty mushroom juice off of them first though.

some garlic powder..

now, let the spinach and mushrooms cook down...

this looks about right to me.

add 2-3 tablespoons of ricotta cheese.  

stir..

its going to look a little weird

add the fresh Parmesan cheese to the top

stir the cheese into the spinach mixture

be careful not to burn the cheese up.

<3