Smoking a Picnic Ham

While grocery shopping this past holiday season, we found ourselves unable to resist buying a lovely, and inexpensive, fresh pork picnic "ham". I say "ham" because it wasn't ham yet, but it was soon to be.

The picnic cut is the shank end of the pork shoulder (the other half of the shoulder is the pork "butt" - the cut often used for pulled pork). The meat on the picnic is a bit darker and tighter, and is perfect for turning into ham. The picnics we've used have been around ten pounds.



The process is actually quite simple. The first step is to put it in a salty brine in a cool place (we use a cooler in our beer-chest at about 45 degrees F).

The brine is 10 liters of water, 500g kosher salt, 100g pink salt (curing salt), 75g sugar, 75g brown sugar, 1 T black pepper corns, 2 t coriander seeds, 1 t yellow mustard seed.

We boil part of the solution for a few minutes to soften the spices, add water to reach 10 liters and cool to 40 degrees F before adding to the pork.



After six days in the brine, take it out, rinse it, dry it off well and put it into the refrigerator uncovered for two more days. This allows the skin and surface to dry a bit which allows it to take up the smoke more readily.



After brining and drying, it is time to smoke. We use our Weber Smokey Mountain with apple and pecan wood smoke for 7 to 8 hours. Keep the smoker at about 180 degrees F for the first couple hours, then up to 215-230 for the next four-five hours, finishing at 240-250 degrees the last hour or two until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Here is what it looks like when it comes off of the smoker:



Make sure you plan to feature the ham in a meal the same day you smoke it - it is super good hot off of the smoker.



No need to do anything fancy - just slice it and eat it. Yum!



The part of the ham under the skin has a nice fat layer that is reminiscent of pork belly:



We've  found that these fattier slices make a nice substitute for chashu in ramen:



Ham is now solidly in our list of things we make instead of buy. If you've got a smoker, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Ten recipes of ours that you should make right now

This blog is almost six (!!) years old now, and we've posted quite a few recipes along the way. Here are ten of our favorites.

Go make them right now!


Lamb Rogan Josh


While Chicken Pathia is the most popular of our reverse-engineered Indian takeaway recipes, Lamb Rogan Josh is probably the one we like the best.


Pancetta Tesa


Making your own Pancetta is super easy, and doesn't require any special equipment. The rolled version is a bit more involved, but still quite manageable. Using pretty much the same technique and then smoking it afterward will get you your own Homemade Bacon.


Taco Shop Hot Sauce


We use this hot sauce almost every day - particularly at breakfast. You should, too. The green stuff is pretty darn good as well.


Cream Cheese


Cream cheese is one of the easiest cheeses you can make. Infinitely better than the store-bought stuff.


Zesty Dill Pickles


We haven't bought a jar since we started making these simple refrigerator pickles. Our version is modeled after the taste of Vlasic Zesty Dills - twangy and spicy.


Smoked Almonds


Smoked almonds are quite possibly the perfect snack food. Once you start eating them it is very, very difficult to stop.


Chile-Lime Chicken


The salty earthiness of the soy-based marinade for this chicken works so well with the acidity and chile heat from the dipping sauce.


Fish with Spicy Lentils


"Spicy" here refers to complex, intense flavors, rather than heat. It is impossible to adequately describe how delicious the lentil base for this dish is.


Cochinita Pibil


Cochinita Pibil is pork with a complexly flavored achiote marinade, cooked in banana leaves. Pure Yucatán flavor.


Chori-Migas


We first had chori-migas on a trip to Austin, and they've been a breakfast favorite ever since.

So, there you go - ten of our favorite recipes. Go make them right now!

Some Dishes with Fishes - Round Five

Posting these fish-dish roundups is becoming a habit with us. Hopefully there will be many more editions to come!

This round opens with a Seafood Fritto Misto - an Italian-inspired dish of lightly-coated and fried fish (in this case squid and black gill). Squid tentacles always look cool, and they tasted great, but the star of the show was the black gill. While the chunks of fish weren't much to look at, they were moist and full of flavor.

Cornflake-crusted White Sea Bass with Salsa Verde


This was our first time trying this take on a Rick Bayless recipe, and it was great - even though an initially too-hot pan caused the outside flakes to over-caramelize. The way the cornflakes went golden-orange was beautiful and also added structure and complexity of flavor to the fish. Combined with the salsa verde, it was very good indeed.

Middle Eastern Pargo Snapper with Bulgur and Garden Veg


We have a burgeoning love affair going on with Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food. It has spawned a number of great meals for us so far, including the fish marinade and flavor profile (lemon, garlic, cumin, paprika, marjoram, mint) for this dish.

Indonesian Fragrant Fish (Grouper) Stew


This dish, from James Oseland's Cradle of Flavor, is a rhizome-fest - using ginger, galangal and turmeric. We've used turmeric a lot as a dried spice, but this was our first use of fresh turmeric, and it made a big impact on us. Lovely flavor and color.

Smoked Scallop Savory Custard


This was a bit of a crazy idea, but it turned out really well. We've been loving the bay scallops we get from Catalina Offshore - particularly smoked. They went beautifully with the delicateness of the soft savory custard.

Some Dishes with Fishes - Round Four

We've been overdue for a "Dishes with Fishes" post for a while now, so here is a look at some of the fish and seafood we've been eating. Previous posts can be found here, here and here.

Pad Kra Praw with Mexican White Shrimp


Pad Kra Praw? Pad Kra Pao? Pad Krapow? However you spell it, this staple of American Thai restaurants is a big favorite of mine. I love the mingled intense flavors of chile, fish sauce and basil. We usually make it with chicken, but it this shrimp version was great. It is also really good with sea scallops...

Grilled Mako Shark with Black Kale and Black Beans


One day, with a bounty of Mako Shark from Catalina Offshore, we did it up two ways. This first one was grilled very simply.

Teriyaki Mako Shark with Shaved Brussels Sprouts


For the second dish, we used a teriyaki-style marinade, and served it with shaved brussels sprouts from our garden.

Pan-seared Cabrilla Grouper with "Pil-Pil" Potatoes and Green Beans


"Pil-Pil" potatoes have become a favorite of ours. We call them that because we first made them after we saw them as a side in a video about making salt cod in the Portuguese "Pil-Pil" style. They went very nicely with this Cabrilla Grouper.

Whole Cardinal Snapper with Chard and Black Beans


We have been really happy with the whole Cardinal Snappers we've been getting from Catalina Offshore and have been experimenting with different ways to cook and serve them.

Whole Roasted Cardinal Snapper Stuffed with Rosemary and Thyme


This version was super moist and flavorful, and the beautiful color of the skin still really came through after cooking.

Tacos Gobernadores with Mexican White Shrimp and Sea Scallops


Tacos Gobernadores, which I think of as shrimp tacos with peppers, onions and cheese, are a staple at local mariscos trucks. This was our take - with some sea scallop thrown in for good measure.

Smoked Bay Scallops and Assorted Fish


Smoked bay scallops are an awesome treat that we first started making this year. They definitely have an "I'll just eat one more" quality to them. Good stuff. This time we also smoked an assortment of fish - we often have pieces left over, and smoking is a great way to use them up.

The PPLT - Pulled Pork, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

We invented a new sandwich last night, and it is awesome! I proudly present the "PPLT" - a pulled pork, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

The PPLT has everything I love about a BLT - smokey pork goodness, fresh produce and crunchy toasted bread. This one was made with leftovers from our last batch of smoked pork butt, homemade sandwich bread, lettuce from the garden and farmers' market tomatoes (we have a bunch of seedlings planted, but it will be a while yet before we have our own tomatoes).

We crisped up some of the darker outside bits of pork and left other bits soft and succulent. The result was heaven between two slices of bread. This may just be my new favorite sandwich.

Pork Butt on the Smoker

Ahh, the first pulled pork of the season has arrived and all is well with the world!

The butt was rubbed and on the smoker first thing yesterday morning:



12 1/2 hours later, it was perfect:



For dinner, we feasted on pulled pork tacos:



Rub and cooking technique were pretty much what we've done before. You can find more info about that in our Smoked Pork Butt post from a few years back.

Hot-Smoked Chicken

While "Low and Slow" may be the rule when it comes to us using our smoker, every rule has its exceptions. We sometimes use it more like a standard barbecue, but with smoke as an added bonus.

Hot-smoking chicken is one of our favorite applications of this technique. The smoking takes less than a couple of hours, so as long as you've prepped your chicken ahead of time you can smoke it and eat it for dinner all in one evening.

We put a spice rub (see the recipe at the end of the post) on the bird either the night before or the morning of smoking. While it is better with more time, it still works fine even if you only do it a few hours before you want to start smoking the bird.



Fire up the smoker to about 300°F and place a foil covered empty water pan into the cooker as a drip tray. Put on smoke wood (pecan and mesquite are nice), and smoke the chicken at 300-330°F for 60-75 minutes or until the temperature of the breast meat is just over 160°F.



The result is tender and juicy, lightly smoky and packs a flavor punch and some heat from the spice rub.



Definitely a great way to enjoy a chicken. If you've been neglecting your smoker, this is an easy way to get yourself back into the groove.

Spicy Chicken Rub

You can make any quantity: if you use teaspoons you'll get about 1/3 cup (enough for about 2 chickens). Use tablespoons and you'll end up with a little less than 1 cup.

Ingredients:

3 parts New Mexican Red Chile Powder (substitute Ancho if needed)
3 parts Mexican Oregano
2 parts Paprika
2 parts Cumin
2 parts Dried Parsley
1 part Garlic Powder
1/2 part Cayenne
1 part Kosher Salt

Mix everything except the salt together. Grind in a spice grinder until the parsley and oregano are chopped very finely. Add the salt and mix thoroughly.

Hot Smoked Chicken

Season the bird either the night before or the morning of smoking. To butterfly your chicken, simply use some kitchen shears to cut down each side of the back bone and remove it. Then turn the bird over and press on the breast bone to flatten it.

Ingredients:

1 4-5 pound Chicken, butterflied
2-3 tablespoons Spicy Chicken Rub
Kosher salt
Smoke woods such as hickory, pecan, alder or mesquite

Sprinkle kosher salt evenly over the bird, on all sides (use about 1/2 teaspoon per pound). Lay the bird on a tray, skin side down and sprinkle with some of the spice rub. Turn the bird over, skin side up and sprinkle a generous portion of spice rub evenly on the skin. Store the chicken in the refrigerator, uncovered until ready to smoke.

Heat the smoker to about 300°F, add smoke wood to the fire, and place bird on the grill (use an empty water pan covered with foil as a drip tray). Smoke at 300-330°F for 60-75 minutes or until the internal temperature of the breast reaches about 160-163°F. Remove from smoker and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

Feast of the Seven Fishes 2010 - A Video

I finally got around to putting together a video from the footage I took during our Feast of the Seven Fishes this past Christmas Eve.

It was the first time I've done video editing like this - it was frustrating at first, but fun once I familiarized myself with the editing software (Sony Vegas).

Feast of the Seven Fishes 2010 - Locavore Edition

Update: Check out our video of this Feast of the Seven Fishes.

Another year, another crazy multi-course Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner for two on Christmas Eve. Since we've been eating so much great local fish and seafood this year, we decided to keep with that theme and source everything as locally as we could.

The produce came from our garden, the oysters were from Carlsbad Aqua Farm, and the rest is local fish (primarily Baja caught) from Catalina Offshore Products.

We started early in the afternoon and cooked and ate through the evening. Here are the dishes in the order we had them:

Halibut Clementine Ceviche


We picked clementines from the communal tree at our garden, and used the juice (along with some lime) to make a simple Halibut ceviche. Some finely chopped onion and fresh chiles (used to marinate, but not served) accentuated the delicate flavor of the fish.

Rock Cod and Potato Ravioli with Marjoram Tomato Sauce


Based on one of our favorite dishes from Mario Batali's Holiday Food - Ravioli alla Spigola, with Rock Cod replacing Sea Bass. The marjoram (picked fresh from our patio) tomato sauce is what really makes this dish. The freshly made pasta doesn't hurt, either...

Smoked Fish Duo - Quick-Pickled Breakfast Radish and Beet - Snap Peas


Each year there seems to be one dish where we spend way too much time messing with silly plating. Last year it was our Niçoise Tuna Skewers. This year it was this smoked fish dish. The fish is Opah (in front) and local Sea Bass (in back). Both fish were nice, but the Opah was particularly good.

Pacific Oysters


We kept the oysters simple this year. Pacific Oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farm that we slurped down with a little bit of classic mignonette.

Shrimp al Mojo de Ajo


I can't fathom why we've never done a mojo de ajo dish before. We'll certainly be doing it again, as this may have been my favorite dish of the meal. The Mexican White Shrimp from Catalina Offshore are so good that you don't need to do much to them. Soft, sweet garlic from the mojo, some cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Perfect.

Sculpin with Roasted Golden Beets and Beet Greens


Simply prepared with a little bit of vermouth-tinged pan sauce. The Sculpin was good, but the beets were even better. We love golden beets - all of that rich beet flavor without the crimson mess of a red beet.

So there you have it - this year's seven-fish feast. Six dishes, seven fishes, two very content diners.

Happy Holidays!

Smoked Almond Brittle

The issue of what to do with leftover home-smoked almonds doesn't come up often in our household - they are usually gone too fast. Recently, however, we smoked a big enough batch that they somehow managed to outlast the initial wave of gluttony.

Faced with these rarefied leftover almonds, we decided to try making them into a brittle. Neither one of us really has much of a sweet tooth, but if you add nuts to the equation we're all over it. We found an almond brittle recipe in Mario Batali's Holiday Food and went from there.



The recipe is pretty simple. Coarsely chop some smoked almonds, then toast them in the oven a few minutes to make sure they're nice and crunchy. Put plain, white sugar into a sauce pan along with a little water to moisten it and set over medium heat. Watch carefully - it will be clear and bubble vigorously as the water cooks off, but once it starts turning from straw to caramel colored you will need to move fast. Just before it hits the color you want, pull the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the nuts. Immediately spread the mixture out on a sheet pan lightly greased with butter or lined with a Silpat.

Once it's cool, the candy can easily be snapped into small, irregular pieces. You can adjust the flavor by varying the darkness of the caramel - cooked to just tan, it'll be rather toffee flavored, but cooked to a deep caramel color it will be more intense with a slight bitterness to it. Since the smoked almonds are already intense, we found that we prefer it on the lighter side of caramel.

Smoked Almond Brittle

This recipe can easily be doubled or even quadrupled.

1 cup Smoked Almonds
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water

Coarsely chop the smoked almonds and spread them out on a sheet pan. Toast them in a 400°F oven for about 5 minutes, then set aside to cool. Lightly grease another sheet pan with butter, or line it with a Silpat baking mat.

Put the sugar into a small, heavy-bottom sauce pan. Stir in 2 tablespoons of water and set over medium heat. Without stirring, let the sugar come to a boil and watch carefully until it starts turning a golden, caramel color (about 15 minutes). Just before it hits the color you want, pull the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the nuts. Immediately dump the mixture onto the prepared sheet pan and use a silcone spatula to spread it out into an even layer about a quarter-inch thick.

Let the candy cool completely and then break it into attractive, irregular pieces. Stored in an airtight container, the brittle will keep for several weeks.