It really is all about the brine.

In keeping with this week's theme of cooking particularly long and involved recipes, let's take a look at the smoked turkey breast I prepared for our Christmas feast. 

If you have never smoked a meat or are fairly new to the process, I would very strongly suggest getting comfortable with the idea of brining meat.  Brining meat is actually quite an old process, and can be done with any whole muscle cut of meat.  Not to be confused with marinading, where the goal is to infuse flavor directly into the meat, the goal of brining is to increase the moisture content of the meat.  The addition of flavor can be a natural by-product of this process, but doesn't really have to be.

I actually started off with a whole turkey because pre-Thanksgiving turkey prices are amazing.  Since we were already having quite a bit of meat I decided to cut the wings, legs and thighs off the body, and save those for chicken and biscuits later on.  Now this beast looks like any other plain turkey breast you would purchase at the store.

Time to prepare the brine.

Just as it sounds this should be a salty solution.  Aside from the salt you can add any number of fresh or dried herbs to the liquid.  Just remember that unlike a marinade these herbs will not necessarily add a noticeable flavor to the meat.  So what will the brine do?  The salty water will create an increase in the osmotic pressure on the meat cells.  In English?  Sure.  Remember 10th grade biology?  Bodies are collection of microscopic cells.  In this case turkey breast meat, cells.  Salty water causes the cells to expand, and in order to expand they have to draw in water from their surroundings.  In this case that water is your brining solution.  So what the brine is doing is forcing the cells of the breast meat to hold more fluid than they naturally would.  Therefore, once you begin the cooking, or in this case the smoking process, the meat will take much longer to dry out.  Leaving you with a fully cooked meat product that is succulent and juicy.

I like to keep my brining solution simple.  Approximately 1/2 cup of salt into about 1/2 quart of water.  Heat to boiling in order to dissolve all of the salt.  Don't worry about that being too salty, because in order to brine a turkey of that size you'll be adding at least another gallon of water to the vessel.  This time around I also added about 3 tbsp of lemon juice, one branch of rosemary and a dozen peppercorns.  This all fit nicely into a 3 gallon ceramic crock I own, and Erie's weather cooperated with a cool 33 degree night, so the whole mix sat on the back porch for 12 hours.

After the 12 hour soak, I removed the bird, and allowed it to rest while I got the smoker up to temp.  275 degrees over pecan wood would make for a nice low and slow smoking process.  Still looking for an internal temp of 165 like any poultry product and this time the bird road in the smoker for about 5 hours.

The smoked meat then rested in the refrigerator for another 18 hours before I sliced it off the bone and ran it through my meat slicer.  As you can see from the results above I was left with a delicious deli style sliced turkey breast, perfect to eat alone, or in a sandwich.

Brining is an extra step, but it will pay enormous dividends at the end.  And don't stop at smoked meats.  Next time you are going to oven roast a turkey, brine that bird as well.  Your guests will love you for it.

Happy Cooking
Scott M

Hirschgulasch, and other Christmas adventures

It started simply enough.  My aunt was hosting Christmas dinner, and right on par for our family, there was a quickly growing list of proteins for the table.  I was already smoking a turkey and my second idea had fallen through when my PA antlerless tag went unfilled in the firearms season.  My aunt was already preparing two ducks, a brisket, and sausage with onions and peppers. So when her brother dropped off a venison roast, she was at a loss. 

I did some quick Internet searches, and with my recent infatuation with German cuisine I stumbled upon an obscure recipe for German style venison stew called, Hirschgulasch.  Once I located the formal name the real hunting began.  Everytime I searched the name, or some variation of the name, better than half of the Internet results were from German websites.  Now I was intrigued.  After running two of the recipes through Google Translate, to be sure I had a true approximation of the dish, I made my commitment. 

The venison roast itself was what my uncle calls the "rump" roast.  It's the very top of the hind leg.  After splitting the pelvis, and making the top cut leaving the venison ham, where he'll cut his steaks, he leaves the hip meat on the pelvis for roasting.  Since I was making a stew I decided to bone out the roast, collecting all the meat that would eventually be broken down to cubes. 

Prior to all that I reached back into my grandmother's bag of tricks.  Any whole muscle cut of venison, my grandmother would soak in salted water overnight.  This light brine works to draw the blood out, which can lead to the off taste some people experience from venison.

So after boning, and brining, I cubed the meat and followed the recipe I had gleaned from several Internet searches (see below).

The side dish was never really in question.  For me the simple yet hardy spaetzle was the only choice.  For the uninitiated spaetzle is an ultra simple noodle made from flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, eggs and milk (see below for full recipe).  After boiling to cook the pasta the noodles are pan fried in bacon grease with a touch more salt and pepper.

And to properly set the scene, remember, while all this was happening I was also brining and smoking a turkey, and my aunt worked a brisket, two ducks, and some spicy sausage with onions and peppers.  A crazy Christmas dinner, but undoubtedly one of the best.

Happy Cooking
Scott M

Hirschgulasch, German style venison stew
1 lb venison, trimmed and cubed
4 small onions cut to a large dice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp flour
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef broth
dash of paprika and cayenne
2 springs of fresh thyme, stemmed
1 spring of fresh rosemary, stemmed and chopped
8 juniper berries
8 peppercorns
2 bay leaves, crushed
1 tbsp of sour cherry jam (or ligonberry if available)
lard as needed

In a cast iron skillet, melt tbsp lard.  Sear venison on all sides in pan.  Small batches will keep the meat from steaming as it cooks.  Remove venison and add lard if necessary.  Saute onions until golden brown add garlic and saute for 1-2 more minutes.  Sprinkle flour and stir through pot to cook out flour flavor.  Deglaze the pan with the red wine stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to lift any browned bits that are sticking to the bottom.  Return meat to the pot, and add beef broth.  Stir in all remaining ingredients.  Transfer contents to a dutch oven with a tight fitting lid and place in oven at 350 for 1 hour.  Check for tenderness after the first hour, and allow additional time as necessary.  If the gravy hasn't thickened to your liking use a slurry of flour and water to thicken before serving.

Spaetzle
--As with any noodle or dough, this recipe relies as much on technique as it does on ingredients.--
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk

Sift flour and add dry ingredients.  Beat egg and add to milk.  Incorporate wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  This dough should be more stiff than a pancake batter, but not stiff enough to handle with your hands.  Depending on local humidity you may need more flour or milk to gain the correct consistency.  Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil.  If you have a colander with 1/8 - 1/4 inches holes you can pass the loose dough through the colander so that the dough drips into the boiling water.  I prefer a potato ricer.  The holes are a good size and the ricer has a handle to apply gentle pressure to the dough.  Cook in small batches until all the spaetzle float.  Remove from heat and immediately cool off with cold running water in another colander.  Melt some bacon fat in a pan and toss through the spaetzle, salt and pepper to taste.

Welcome Back!!!

Sorry for the break everyone, but I had a once in a lifetime opportunity last week to spend the week of Christmas at home with my boys, so the blog had to wait.  At 7 and 2 they are just two of the craziest people in my life right now.  Robert, the 7 year old, got video games and Legos, the latter of which were some of my favorite toys growing up.  Aiden, the 2 year old, got Thomas the train engines and tracks, plus several sock monkey themed gifts.  Both boys are still young enough that any kind of present is simply magical in their eyes.  So somehow in between making sure Aiden didn't lose any Lego pieces for Robert, and making sure Robert didn't break any Thomas gear for Aiden, I had my hands full.  Even still I found time for one of my passions in life:  Cooking.

On my mother's side of the family, the Christmas dinner has somehow managed to morph into a feast of nearly absurd proportions.  I'm not exaggerating now when I tell you we managed to have 7 different proteins on the buffet table before we sat down. 

For my contribution to this feast I smoked a turkey breast and made a German style Venison stew, called Hirschgulasch.  The recipe for the stew, is apparently so authentic, that half of the websites that contained the recipe were completely in German.  Thanks to Google translate, and some patient digging, I was able to re-create the recipe with amazing results.  Served with some scratch made Spaetzle the stew was phenomenal.

Stop back tomorrow for a complete breakdown of this recipe.

For the smoked turkey breast I chose a very straight forward process.  Whenever smoking meat I find myself lost in the process.  Since I had purchased a whole turkey at a pre-Thanksgiving discount price, I decided to remove the wings, legs and thighs, and save those for another meal.  After exercising my butchering skills I created a brine with salt, sugar, peppercorns, onion and garlic powder and lemon juice, then soaked the breast overnight in my 3 gal ceramic crock.  Thanks to Erie weather the crock stayed cold enough to be save, but never froze.  After drying the bird into the smoker he went over some lovely Pecan wood.  Five short hours later the bird was out, and rested, whole, in the fridge overnight.  My goal was to utilize my "new-used" meat slicer on the breast meat.  The results were outstanding.

In addition to both of these great dishes I utilized my new cookbook:  The German Cookbook by Mimi Sheraton to make 2 more fantastic dishes I'll be sharing with you over the next several days. I discovered this book while reading Hank Shaw's blog: Hunter Angler Gardner Cook. And after making just 2 of the recipes I'll say that I'm thrilled with the results.

Happy Cooking!
Scott M

Family and Friends

Maybe it's the holidays. Maybe we all have to go through this from time to time, but does anything bring out as much emotion as gathering together with family and friends?  I'm reminded though, that this is the point of holidays.  We gather those around us that we want a connection with. 

We gather around old friends, over drinks or sport.  We ask questions of each other to fill in what we do not know.  In reality we just want their company.  We gather them to us, to remind us of where we have been.  We gather among them for hope of future adventures together.

We gather around family, over dinner in familiar homes.  We look to the aged for wisdom, and to remind us of times we gathered the knowledge we will use in our lives, from them.  We look to the young, to remind us that our time is fleeting.  As quickly as our generation's time will come upon this earth, it will be removed. 

And that's the cycle of it all. 

This isn't something I find troublesome.  This is something I use to remind me that I am human.  An animal no different than those that make their homes in the woods.  My time is fleeting, and should not be wasted on petty things. 

My time should be used to raise my boys to be great  men.  My time should be used to take in Mother Nature, because that is the true magic of being human.  Our consciousness.  Perhaps other animals have conscious thought, but that is nothing more than conjecture.  Reality is we know that we have conscious thought, so it is an assault against nature to not use that conscious thought.  We should know that our time is fleeting.  We should use that to our benefit.  Soak in what Mother Nature has to offer.  Be happy when you are freezing cold, because some day you will not be. 

The holidays remind us of time passing.  An endless cycle of nature all around us.  The holidays are a reminder to love those you gather around, and those that chose to gather around you.

Happy Holidays
Scott M

Holiday Gift Ideas

December 7th. 

Mathematically 18 days until Christmas.  Plenty of time. Right?  What's your calendar look like for the remainder of the month?  Work Christmas party.  Spouse's Work Christmas party.  Family coming into town early. Your leaving to be out of town for Christmas.  Now what do those 18 days look like? 

They probably look mighty thin, especially if there's an outdoorsman (or woman) on your list.  As outdoors-people go we rank among the hardest to shop for when Christmas roles around.  Why?  Not everyone is into the outdoors, so they don't have any idea of what we use or need out there in the field.  Even if they have an idea, outdoorsman are notorious for just buying what we need when we need it. 

So here's a trick:  Don't try to buy something he doesn't have.  Replace something he already uses.

Let's talk optics.

What most of us know about optics, binoculars specifically, could fit in the palm of our hand.  Hunters included in this discussion.  So let's go with a basic primer on optics and look at some options that won't break your Christmas budge and the outdoorsman in your life won't be scared to lose in the woods.

Unless you're heading out west for a Elk or Antelope hunt you really don't need a big over-powered set of binoculars.

All binoculars have two statistics that you should worry about:  Weight and Objective lens size.

Weight is easy.  Lighter is better.  If it's hanging around my neck, or weighing down my pocket, the lighter the binoculars are the more likely I am to carry them.  Save the full size binoculars for bird watching when you are heading afield with a book and a good pair of binoculars.  Look at the compact models for packing in with the rest of your hunting gear.  The typical hunter is probably carrying between 10-15lbs of gear including the layers of clothes, and whatever lands in their pockets and packs.

Objective lens size.  Okay this is honestly a tougher choice, but in my opinion, boils right down to usability.  When you see a binocular and it's called a "10x25" or "8x42" the second measurement is called the "objective lens."  The objective lens is not the lens near your eye, it's the lens that let's in light.  Therefore the bigger the objective lens the more light that enters the binoculars.  More light, more detail.  However that objective lens can contribute a lot to the overall weight of the binoculars. 

The reality for most hunters east of the Mississippi is we hunt small thick woodlots.  So in this case if you hunt in areas common to Northwest PA you simply don't need a bigger objective lens.  It's not going to help you to see through the thick brush, so unless you really like being able to pick out individual thorns on the brier bushes 50yds away, save the weight and go with a 10x25.

So before you head off to the local sporting goods store, write down these two things:
Compact binoculars, 10x25

I'll let you decide between black and camo!

For more gift ideas check out my gear article in this Sunday's Erie Times-News www.goerie.com on the NWPA Outdoors page.

Happy Hunting
Scott M