I had an opportunity this year to secure a second turkey from a local turkey farm.It was a 16 pound, all natural range raised bird. I saw it as the perfect opportunity to do some smoking, and then to vacuum pack and freeze a number of cuts – especially a lot of sliced meat for sandwiches (see recipe below).

Ingredients

One range raised, natural turkey

For the Dry Brine

Put together a mixture of either dry or fresh herbs. Remember dry herbs will bring a more intense flavour. I used mostly fresh herbs.

Four sprigs of fresh rosemary (strip needles from stem);
Four sprigs of fresh sage;
10 – 12 sprigs of fresh common thyme
Four cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Two teaspoons of fennel seeds
One tablespoon of lemon zest
One teaspoon of red pepper flakes
One half of a cup of kosher salt
Two tablespoons of turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

Put all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a paste forms.

For the Smoke

Two apples, cut in half

One large onion cut in half, and three or four whole garlic cloves
Four sprigs of fresh rosemary
One cup of your favorite Bourbon
Whiskey Oak Bisquettes

Technique

Rub the Dry Brine mixture all over the turkey – top, bottom and inside the cavity.
Chill the turkey, uncovered, in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Thirty minutes before smoking, remove the turkey from the refrigerator and rinse the brine off – take your time with this and get the brine off of the bird.Use cold running water.

Dry the turkey well and put the apples, onion and garlic cloves into the cavity along with the rosemary sprigs.
Rub the Bourbon all over the exterior of the turkey.

Smoke

Smoke the turkey on the Whiskey Oak Bisquettes at 220 – 225 degrees for 6 – 8 hours
Baste with the Bourbon no more than three times during the entire smoking process.
Look for an internal temperature of 150 – 160 degrees.
When the Turkey has reached temperature and is done, remove it and let it rest on a cutting board for 15 – 20 minutes.
Remove the fruit and vegetables from the cavity.Carve, slice and enjoy!

Recipe for a Delicious Sandwich

This is a delicious sandwich – and one of the major reasons that I smoke turkey! While you can experiment with the type of cheese, it turns out better with a buttery, rich cheese.

Ingredients

One demi – baguette
Triple cream Brie Cheese
Hot pepper jelly
Arugula
Sliced smoked turkey

Technique

Slice the baguette open and spread the Brie on one side of the bread.
Spread the pepper jelly on the other side of the bread.
Layer slices of the smoked turkey on top of the cheese.
Lay the arugula over the turkey, close the sandwich and enjoy!

By the Philly Foodist

The post Bourbon and Herb Smoked Natural Range Raised Turkey appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

Perfect for a Saturday Afternoon

Spending another Saturday fixing the gutter, getting those logs off our property, picking the kids up from practice is not my idea of fun. Order myself a nice tall glass of beer in the bar was more appealing.

Well, let’s get real. Who am I trying to fool? Although option one would actually be more beneficial to people around me, drinking beer is way more fun than mowing the lawn. 

But then it hit me: Why not combine these chores with something I really LOVE to do: cook and eat (OK and drink).

So, instead of going to KFC, which is my usual Saturday noon routine before I start being useful, I followed this recipe:

Ingredients

Besides the two pounds of chicken thighs, that can be bone in or boneless and 0.25 pound of bacon, you’ll need two tbs chili, two tbs garlic salt, one spring onion chopped, one cup Panko Crumbs one egg and two tbs Bradley Maple Syrup.

Directions

Using maple wood, cold smoke the chicken thighs for one hour. In a bowl, mix the bacon, chili, spring onion and Panko crumbs in a blender, until the mix is consistent.
Mix the beaten egg with two tbs of Bradley Maple Syrup and dip the cold smoked chicken thighs into the mixture and coat it with the bacon Panko mix.
After the oven temperature reaches 400 F, cook for about 30 minutes or until done. Finally, smoke them for about 1.5 h.

What a great recipe to try out! It gives thighs an extra kick, and the smoky flavour makes it just perfect.
Serves 2

Enjoy!

The post Smoky Crispy Chicken Thighs appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

Though my smoking efforts generally center around a large chunk of meat, lately I’ve begun experimenting with components. For instance, the other week I was smoking a brisket, but knowing it wouldn’t be done in time for dinner, I had a prime rib steak set out for the grill. As it asked for some kind of mushroom sauce over it, I pawed through my refrigerator produce drawers and came up with a couple red bell peppers. That got the wheels spinning.

I ended up punting on the steak that night. It got late, the first gin and tonic morphed into a second, and I ended up with a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. However I did manage to get three pints of various mushrooms and those two gorgeous red peppers into the smoker. As a result I got a lovely dish and a very simple recipe. Here’s what you’ll need.

The Bacon Maven’s Chicken Thighs and Gnocchi with Smoked Mushrooms and Red Peppers

4 large chicken thighs
1 pint of shitake mushrooms
1 pint of sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 pint of whole oyster or button mushrooms
2 large red bell peppers
1 tablespoon of bacon fat
1 tablespoon of olive oil (preferably rosemary infused)
2 cups of chicken stock (more on hand)
1 16-ounce package of gnocchi (or between two and three cups if you like to hand make these)
10 ounces of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of crushed garlic
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste

Technique

Get the mushrooms and peppers smoked first. Leave all the mushrooms whole, except for the shitake stems, as they can become tough.

Then behead, remove the seeds and quarter the red peppers. Distribute them with all the mushrooms on one rack in the smoker set at 220 degrees over apple wood for about 90 minutes.

The peppers should have lost their vibrant red hue, and the skin should be a bit puckered. The mushrooms should look both a little dried and darker in color, but none of the tray should look like it’s been shrinky-dinked. After all, we’re not dehydrating, merely smoking.

Remove from the smoker when done and cool, and you can certainly refrigerate the entire batch for use later. Stash them in a sealed plastic container and keep in the fridge until you decide to prepare this dish.

.A Perfect Combination of Pasta, Mushrooms and Chicken

In a large sauté pan, melt the bacon fat, butter, or olive oil. Add one tablespoon of the crushed garlic and, when sizzling, lay in your chicken thighs.  A little bit of chicken stock will suffice, as we just want to keep a little moisture in the pan and keep it all from spattering around.

Make sure to unfold each thigh so that each one is as flat and as much in a single layer in the pan as possible. Salt and pepper the upside if you like, let the downside brown, flip, and repeat.

Once they’re done, distribute one of the sprigs of rosemary evenly over the top of the cluck, slap a lid on the pan. and move the pan off the heat.

Herbs that Make All the Difference

In a larger sauce pan or saucier, heat the rosemary olive oil and the other tablespoon of crushed garlic to barely sizzling. Add in your gnocchi and brown evenly over a medium burner. DeLallo is my favorite because they are just the right denseness and not to heavy,

Add the leaves from the other sprig of rosemary at about the halfway point, stirring occasionally to get the pillows to a nice color, not a solid brown. We want just a nice mix of toasty brown and creamy yellow potato.

Once the gnocchi are where you like them color-wise, add in the smoked mushrooms and peppers and about a cup of the chicken stock. Stir to combine and raise the heat a bit on the burner.

 Time for the Chicken

Take the chicken thighs and give them a good rough chop and add them to the sauce pan, too, along with all the liquid and scrapings in the bottom of the pan.

Stir again, adding a bit more chicken stock as necessary to keep the mixture in just a little bit of liquid, then add in the heavy cream.

Finally, lay the spinach on top – I used all of the big, 10-ounce plastic tub of baby spinach from Organic Girl – put the top on the pan, and let the spinach wilt down, maybe five minutes.

Ultimately, there should be just enough liquid in the pan to combine with the starch from the gnocchi. As a result, you should end up with a nicely sauced dish, not too loose, not too thick.

Ready to Go

Serve it up with some thick French bread and you’ve got a filling meal that’s not too heavy, not too light. One whose smoky highlights impart a richness to what would otherwise be an average casserole of sorts.

By the Bacon Maven

The post Chicken Thighs and Gnocchi with Smoked Mushrooms & Red Peppers appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

Smoked Armadillo Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 pound sausage meat (mild, spicy, breakfast, honey garlic, etc.)
• 5 jalapeno peppers
•  ½ brick cream cheese (4 oz)
•  ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

• Start up smoker and get it up to 250 F. Although you could use many different types of wood for this, hickory, pecan, or apple give the best results.
• To prepare the peppers, cut the top and core to remove seeds and membrane. Meanwhile, mix together the cream cheese and grated cheddar. Now, fill the cored peppers with the filling.
• Wrap some of the sausage around the pepper, making sure none of the pepper is visible. Then roll it so that it is in the shape of an egg.

When ready, place them on a smoker rack and into the smoker.

It takes about 2 hours, with temperature of the sausage meat at 160 F. When you notice cheese starting to bubble out of the eggs, it is likely done.

Serve and Enjoy!

By Steve Cylka

The post Have you ever had… Smoked Armadillo Eggs?? appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

For this recipe, which made a perfect Sunday dinner for two, with a decent amount of leftovers, I used a one pound Pork Tenderloin. Let me tell you that the Cucumber Salad was wonderful with the pork. However, it was even better on a sandwich of pork slices the next day! It’s so easy, delicious and a perfect foil for all of that smokey goodness.

The Asian Rub

For a one pound tenderloin

• One tablespoon of Five Spice powder
• Ground Ginger – 1 tablespoon 
• “Sugar in the Raw”, Demerara Sugar or light brown sugar – 1 tablespoon 
• Cracked Szechuan peppercorns – one teaspoon or more if you want more kick
• Granulated garlic – one tablespoon
• Half teaspoon of salt
• About 1/4 cup of bacon fat – this holds the rub together and, of course, imparts even more flavour
• Mix all of the above together very well and smear the mixture all over the tenderloin.
• Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.

Let the tenderloin sit outside of the refrigerator for at least one hour before putting it in the Smoker.

The Smoking Process

First, heat the Bradley Smoker to 220 degrees, then oil a rack well. For the one pound tenderloin, the smoking time to an internal temperature of 160 degrees was about two hours.

As always recommended, let it sit for a few minutes before slicing.

Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

• Half a cup of rice wine vinegar
• Asian sweet chili sauce – 2 tablespoons 
• Lemon zest – one teaspoon
• One medium cucumber, thinly sliced
• Medium carrot, julienned
• Half small red onion, thinly sliced
• About 1/2 cup of thinly sliced radishes
• Fresh cilantro chopped – 1/2 cup 
• Chopped, dry roasted peanuts 1/4 cup (Be mindful when adding salt when using salted peanuts)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Technique

In a bowl, whisk vinegar, chili sauce and lemon zest together. Next, add cucumber, carrot, radishes, onion and toss. After seasoning with salt and pepper, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
For service, drain the salad and top it with the cilantro and peanuts

Enjoy!

by The Philly Foodist

The post One Pound Pork Tenderloin with Asian Rub appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

Smoked Ribeye Strips and Sweet Pepper Fajitas

Most everyone who follows me on social media knows that my three-month-old, $3,000 refrigerator crapped out completely. Even after nearly a half-dozen repairs. And, thanks to the most discombobulated customer service system from LG Electronics, I am now in my fourth week without a working refrigerator and freezer.

It Couldn’t Get Worse!

After the fifth repair and the second meltdown that left only the water dispenser in the door working, I salvaged what little food that hadn’t gone the way of the dodo bird, and stashed it in the old refrigerator in the garage.

You’d think everything would be fine with that, but no. Due to Polar Vortex No. 972, my garage is just cold enough that the old refrigerator isn’t really functioning, especially the freezer compartment. Therefore, I’ve kept a close eye on the little food I had in there, trying to use it before it thawed for a third time.

And this brings me to this little recipe I concocted the other night.

Cheesesteak Sandwiches

This weekend my LG refrigerator took its permanent dive to become what is now a really big stainless steel knickknack sitting in my kitchen. But before I knew it was headed that way, I’d visited my butcher. That particular Saturday, he had some thin-sliced ribeye.

I immediately thought “Philly cheesesteak sandwiches” and bought two pounds of the meat, sliced about like thick-sliced bacon.

I managed to get it frozen when I discovered on Sunday that the fridge was toast again. However, the following Friday we made it up to 40 degrees, and the goods in the garage freezer started to come undone. I wasn’t about to waste nearly $20 worth of ribeye, so here’s what I came up with:

The Bacon Maven’s Smoked Ribeye and Sweet Pepper Fajitas

For the Smoke

Two pounds of thin-sliced ribeye
One stick of butter
Cumin – 2 teaspoons 
Chili powder – 2 teaspoons
Sea salt – one teaspoon 
One gallon-sized Ziploc plastic freezer bag
Mini sweet peppers – 4 cups 

For the Stove and Kitchen

Basmati or Jasmine rice – 2 cups uncooked 
Sea salt – one teaspoon 
Cumin – one teaspoon 
Chili powder – one teaspoon
¼ cup of light olive oil
Two  generous tablespoons of crushed garlic
Butter – ¾ stick 

Instructions 

Working with one pound of meat at a time, separate the slices, just like you would a pound of bacon and put them in a Ziploc bag.

Melt half the butter and pour it in the bag, along with half the spices.

Massage the bag so that the meat gets evenly coated with everything, spreading it out on one-half of your smoker’s jerky rack.

Repeat for the other pound and spread the treated meat on the other half of the rack.

Yes, you could organize these neatly in rows of flat strips, but you’ll likely need two racks for that. Consequently, your smoking time will be reduced.

My way: I use one rack and my rather un-neat methodology allows for a little more smoking time. The meat is still evenly smoked, but it’s got more character, if you will, all jumbled up like this.

Just make sure your layer of meat is evenly distributed and arranged so that all of the meat is getting some smoke. You don’t want a ball of meat covered up that’s never going to get a hit from the smoke.

Sweet Peppers Saved From the Accident

For the sweet peppers, well, they were another casualty of the great refrigerator debacle. As a result, the bag I had in the garage refrigerator had vacillated between just right cold and freezing just a little too often.

Most were still fresh and usable, but much longer and that majority was going to go the way of its frost-bit brethren. I didn’t do anything to them, but chop the stem heads off. 

After, I distributed them evenly across the ventilated bottom plate of a William-Sonoma beer can chicken cooker. It’s about the size of a medium sauté pan, and with small, rolly things like these mini peppers. It makes getting them in and out of the smoker trouble-free.

Rare or medium-well, the taste was excellent!

Meat and peppers went into the smoker with mesquite. I set it for 235, but the 20-degree day kept it at about 225. I doused a little more smoke at the hour mark, the meat coming along very nicely.

I let the smoker run for two hours, but I should have pulled the meat at 90 minutes. A little overdone for me.

If you prefer your meat medium to medium-well, you’d have been quite happy. I prefer mine more rare, but I didn’t sweat any of this because I wasn’t done putting the meal together.

Rare or medium-well, the taste was excellent, it’s just a matter of texture.

During the last half-hour the smoker was running, I got busy in the kitchen. Starting the rice in the rice cooker, adding the sea salt, cumin, and chili powder to the water in the cooker. My rice cooker works quite fast, but I took the 15 minutes it was working to caramelize the garlic.

Time to Caramelize Some Garlic

In a large All-Clad saucier, I heated the olive oil on medium low, adding the garlic, once the oil was warm. With an occasional stir, but no rise in the burner temperature, this low and slow approach absolutely transforms garlic from its almost bitter raw state to something nutty and sweet.

I’ve done it at very low temps and gone up to 30 minutes for just a couple tablespoons of garlic. With such a good result, you can spread it on a good slice of bread and never want for anything else.

Tortillas, Sour Cream, Green Onions and, of course, a Beer to Complement

Just before I pulled the meat and peppers out of the smoker, I took a large braising pan and melted the half-stick of butter on a medium temperature.

After the butter melted, I quickly added the smoked meat, stirring quickly. After reducing the heat, I put the lid on it.

The next steps:

Combine the smoked sweet mini peppers and the caramelized garlic, stirring quickly to coat, then stirring in most of the cooked rice.

I left the burner a bit less than medium, slapped the lid on this pan, too, and let both the peppers and the meat kind of settle in for a bit, about 15 minutes or so with a stir every now and again.

Finally, I added the rice and peppers to the meat, stirred to combine, then a lid again for another 10 minutes, as the flavours married.

A pile of warm tortillas, a little sour cream with some sliced green onions, and a beer I’d made cold by sticking it in the snow in the backyard – all that I needed to put the finishing touches on this highly flavourful dinner.

In the end, I patted myself on the back and said to myself, “Refrigerator? I don’t need no stinkin’ refrigerator!”

By The Bacon Maven

The post Smoked Ribeye Strips and Sweet Pepper Fajitas appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

My Bradley Hard at Work,

As another one of the new Bloggers for Bradley, I am very excited to be joining some really talented cooks and writers in exploring all of the wonderful things that can be done with Bradley Smokers.

It is very motivating to be part of helping people to get the most out of these wonderful smokers. I am not going to sugar coat it:I am a novice smoker!

Some Bad Past Experiences Led me to a Bradley Smoker

Oh, I have used my big Weber Kettle from time to time with a tray of wood chips for a so-so smoking experience. Quite a long time ago, I purchased a very inadequate, poorly constructed smoker which got very limited use.So my experiences with my Bradley will be like many readers’: a new direction and an adventure!

We have access to good, drug free, pasture raised poultry here in Philadelphia through many local producers and farmers markets.

Quite some time ago, one of those producers introduced me to Turkey London Broil.The cut is really one whole side of the bird, from breast to thigh. Very versatile, it responds wonderfully to marinades, and is usually large enough to feed a crowd!

A New Cut: Turkey London Broil

I came across a recipe for “turkey pastrami” in one of my grilling cook books at  the time there was a temporary thaw in our brutal Winter. The snow melted enough so that I could get to my outside cooking area! 

Finally, I purchased the turkey and set out on the maiden voyage of my new Bradley.

As you will see, (I hope) the final product was awesome! For this recipe, it really is all about the marinade and the smoker! Both did an extraordinary job.

Please do try this easy and delicious recipe with your Bradley.

Smoked Turkey Pastrami

Ingredients

1 three to four pound Turkey London Broil
4 teaspoons cracked Peppercorns (I used a mix of black and white peppercorns)
2 tablespoons Coriander
4 teaspoons brown sugar
6 garlic cloves, minced
8 teaspoons of sea salt
4 teaspoons of sweet paprika (Hungarian Paprika works very well)
3 teaspoons of mustard seeds
2 teaspoons of ground ginger

Keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours. 

Technique

– Mix and pound all of the spices together – I used a large, stone mortar and pestle.
– Rub the spice mixture all over both sides of the turkey London broil.
– Place the turkey in a glass casserole or large plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

Only Smoke it the Next Day 

The next day, remove the turkey from the refrigerator, uncover it and let it stand for 2 hours
– Rub the smoker rack with oil – I used canola
– Preheat the smoker to 210 degrees F (I used apple wood pellets for this recipe)
– Place the turkey on the oiled rack and smoke it for three hours for a 3 pound turkey London broil, or until an instant thermometer reads 140 F. 
– Remove the turkey from the smoker and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
– For an authentic, “pastrami” appearance, slice very thinly in long pieces.

The Turkey London Broil Resting

Serving Suggestion

This makes a delicious sandwich on rye bread, with a bit of butter and some good mustard, and perhaps some coleslaw. Enjoy!

The Sliced Turkey “Pastrami”

The post TURKEY PASTRAMI BY THE PHILLY FOODIST appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

There is nothing, I mean nothing, more glorious than the smell of pork smoking. This recipe for smoked pull pork is sure to be your new favorite. It’s such a salivating smell and almost gives off hints of unami in the air that force you to take big whiffs of it. Although smoking anything is a… Read more of the article and the recipe here.

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It was the 4 Rack Digital smoker and, wow, did it ever open up cooking options for me. Although loving the classic BBQ, getting creative and trying new things to smoke seduces me. I am looking forward to sharing some of those creations with you!

As Simple as That: Everything is Better with Bacon

Boneless, skinless, chicken thighs are perfect for stuffing. They create delicious little bundles that are already portion-sized! Better yet if you wrap them with bacon because, well, its bacon, and everything is better with bacon.

Seriously though, the bacon provides some needed fat to help keep the chicken thigh nice and moist. Although there are many different stuffing options to choose from, here you will find three stuffing recipes that work great, while providing flavours.

Try any of these, or get creative and make your own stuffing. The possibilities are endless. 

Smoked Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Ingredients are: eight boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, four thick slices or eight thin slices of bacon, BBQ sauce and string, In addition, just choose one of the stuffing suggestions below. 

Instructions

1. Heat Bradley Smoker to 250 F, using wood bisquettes of choice (hickory, apple, Jim Beam, all work well with this recipe).
2. If you are using thick bacon, cut each slice in half. Otherwise, If using thin/normal slices, then leave them whole.
3. On a cutting board, place a strip of bacon and a chicken thigh on it. Just a modest amount of stuffing on the middle of the chicken thigh will be enough. Finally, wrap the chicken thigh and bacon around the stuffing tying with some string.
4. Smoke, using wood of choice (hickory), at 250 F for 2 to 2½ hours. Internal temperature of the meat should be 165 F.
5. Brush with BBQ sauce before serving.

Mushroom Stuffing

To prepare this stuffing, you’ll need two tbsp of butter, 8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped, one onion and two garlic cloves, minced,  ½ cup chopped parsley
and salt and pepper to taste.

Instructions

Prepare the stuffing by melting the butter in a saucepan. Then, add onions, mushrooms and garlic. Cook until the onions are tender. After that, add parsley, salt and pepper and cook another few minutes. Remove the mushroom stuffing from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

Chorizo and Monterey Jack Stuffing

This other option of stuffing, will take one tbsp olive oil, ½ pound chorizo meat, one jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced,  ¼ red onion and one garlic clove, diced, and one cup of Monterey jack cheese, grated.

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet, then add the garlic, chorizo, onion and jalapeno. Cook  until vegetables are tender and chorizo is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
2. Bring to room temperature.and stir in the Monterey jack cheese.

Sun Dried Tomato and Mozzarella Stuffing

Ingredients are four to six sun-dried tomatoes, minced, two tbsp parsley, one garlic clove and three shallots, minced, 1/2 tsp salt and one cup of mozzarella cheese, grated

Instructions

Just mix all ingredients together until well combined.

Enjoy!!!

The post Smoked Stuffed Chicken Thighs, a perfect snack for those cold days.. appeared first on Bradley Smokers North America.

• Score skin on 4 boneless breasts and marinate overnight in refrigerator. Use oriental orange sauce of your choice. If injected you can marinate for one hour, using 2-3 oz for injected meat. Otherwise, use 5-8 for overnight marination.
• Smoke using Bradley Pacific Blend  Bisquttes in a Bradley Smoker for 30-35 minutes or less.
• Then move to preheated saute pan ( Medium Heat) sear marinated duck breasts beginning with Skin side down, until flesh is firm.  Place saute pan in 400 degree oven for 4-5 minutes, until duck’s flesh is is medium rare.  Serve with fried rice

Fried Rice

• Prepared 1 box of Uncle Ben’s fried rice side dish, according to instructions on the box.  Add 1/2 bag of frozen peas, one cup diced or cubed carrots and 3 scrambled eggs to taste.

Don’t have any wood duck?  This recipe works great with rabbit, pork, turkey or chicken. Enjoy!

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