Recipes that are simple and delicious.
If you do not know by now, I am a fan of Nueske’s applewood smoked meats. They have some of the best products around and once you get a bite of any of their products you will know why. They offer everything from bacon, to […]
Chex Mix is a staple in my household. It is one of those snacks that everyone enjoys during the week. With that said, whenever I see the Chex Mix opened, I watch as everyone eats the mixture. As the bag gets tossed around, yes, forget […]
I often find it funny that someone you don’t know wants to give you food. What I mean by that is I have a friend in the family whose brother loves to hunt and fish. With that said he often times asks his brother if Dax would like some pheasant, or in this other case last week, some turkey breast from a recent kill. You know what my answer is going to be right? Right. Me too. I always agree not only because I might not have ever cooked pheasant or really had a fresh turkey breast, but I will never pass up that generosity.
When I first hear turkey breast I immediately thought of jerky. I’m not sure why, but I did. Probably because I wanted to smoke some food, and more importantly my kids love jerky. While I have made beef jerky in the past, I knew that turkey could take on some of those same flavors, but was probably a bit more delicate of a meat, so I decided to adjust my marinade a bit to accommodate for that.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
Begin by cleaning your turkey breast. Remove any silver skin and any strange stuff. Cut the breast into your desired thickness. I went with about 1/2 inch slices.
To a mixing bowl, add everything but the sliced turkey breast. Mix well. Add in the sliced turkey breasts, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
The following day, prepare your smoker. I chose the smoker because I wanted a smoke flavor. Please keep this in mind that you can use your oven as well. I actually went both ways on this one. I used my smoker to blast the smoke and dry it out a bit, then set the jerky in the oven, on the oven rack, on 170 degrees for the remaining time.
Once your coals are all set (yes, you can use a gas grill with your smoker tin), add in the the soaked mesquite. Drain the turkey marinade, and then set the strips onto your grates on the smoker.
The chips will begin to heat up and begin pillowing up within your smoker. Let this smoke for about 1 hour. Remove from the smoker and onto your oven rack at 170 degrees for another 3 to 4 hours.
Check on the jerky from time to time to make sure it does not overcook.
When the jerky is fully cooked, remove it from the oven, and let it cool on a plate.
You can store this jerky in an airtight container for a week or so, but my guess is that it will not last that long. My kids loved it, I loved it, and my coworkers thought it was some of the best turkey jerky they have had in quiet some time. They are all critics, so it was probably great.
I vacuum sealed the rest of the turkey jerky and had that package sent back to the proud owner and contributor. Hopefully he enjoys it just the same.
I am a big fan of Asian cuisine. Whether it be Thai, Chinese, or Vietnamese, just count me in. There are plenty of dishes that I could rattle off that I simply love, but there is one dish that I love that is consists of […]
I am a big fan of attending a potluck, especially one that is held outdoors. Potlucks are a great opportunity not only for the general get together, but it a wonderful time to try a lot of new dishes. Now sure, you will often see […]
My dad was in charge of the grill while growing up. I’m not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing. I only bring that up as I recall all of the times he would make barbecue chicken and basically burn the heck out of it, every time. I always recall the look on my mom’s face when he would bring in the plate full of burnt chicken pieces, all slathered in the burnt barbecue sauce. It was never a good thing, but hey, maybe he liked it that way, I have no idea. With the exception of the burnt chicken, my dad was pretty good with the grill, and smoker for that matter. There is one thing I remember watching him make and it was a cored out onion, loaded with a bit of butter, and brandy. Yes, brandy. Folks, if you have not been to Wisconsin, let’s just say people here love brandy.
So as I always have an abundance of onions, I decided to create my take on the onion and instead of using brandy, I decided to use whiskey.
Lets get started.
Ingredients:
Begin by carefully removing the outer skin from the onion. You want the whole onion, so no need to slice it in half like you normally would. With your knife, remove the inner core of the onion. Work your knife around about three rings of the onion, working your way down, being careful not to go all of the way through. Remove the core and reserve it for later use.
Set the onion on enough aluminum foil to completely cover and seal the onion. Next, add the butter into the hole, add the whiskey to the hole, and season with salt and pepper. Cover the onion with foil, and feel free to cover with another piece of aluminum foil over that.
Place on your preheated grill over indirect heat and cook for about 35 minutes.
When you are ready to serve, remove the onion from the grill and carefully remove the foil. Key word, careful. Place on your serving plate, and cut into it. Slice it in quarter and eat all of the petals.
The end result is an onion like no other. It has this great sweetness with a hint of salt that is perfectly balanced within the whiskey. So regardless if my dad was burning chicken, he definitely made up for it with his booze soaked onions.
Give these a shot the next time you have the grill going, and heck, if you don’t have whiskey, or brandy, try rum, or any other type of booze. Hope you enjoy.
