Spice Place Blog

Some of the most flavorful cuts of beef are also the most tough. With this recipe for Barbecued Beef Brisket, we’re going to take one of the toughest cuts of beef, apply some tenderizer, braise it, boil it, cook it in barbecue sauce, all done without a grill, and end up with a very tender meal. Be aware that this is a recipe that takes time. From start to finish is about 6 1/2 hours of preparation and cooking. The results are worth the investment in time.

We use a couple of what might be hard to find ingredients in this recipe which are Onion Juice and Garlic Juice. We feel that for this brisket roast that the Onion and Garlic Juices instead of sliced onion and minced soak garlic let the flavors soak more deeply into the food and impart a lighter flavor since the flavor is more dispersed. You can find these onion and garlic juices in Safeway Stores and we’re trying to find a supplier for our e-store.

Recipe for Stovetop Barbecued Beef Brisket

Step 1

• 5 pound beef brisket
• 2 tsp Adolphs Meat Tenderizer
• 1 tsp Onion Juice
• 3 tsp Garlic Juice
• 1/4 tsp Tabasco Sauce
• Ground Black Pepper

1. Evenly sprinkle the Adolphs Tenderizer over both sides of the brisket. Season with black pepper, and then brown the brisket on all sides in a large dutch oven that has been coated with canola oil.
2. Add water to the dutch oven to cover the brisket, and then add the onion juice, garlic juice, and Tabasco sauce.
3. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

Step 2

• 1 16oz bottle any quality barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup liquid smoke

1. Preheat oven to 250° F.
2. Remove the brisket from the dutch oven and discard the water.
3. Wash the dutch oven, dry and lightly oil with canola oil.
4. Place the brisket back into the dutch oven.
5. Place the following in a non-stick 2 quart saucepan: barbecue sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and liquid smoke. Heat, and stir until the brown sugar is dissolved, then pour over the brisket.
6. Cover the dutch oven, and place in oven
7. Cook for 4 hours, checking every 45 minutes, turning, and making sure the sauce stays moist.

We served our roast with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and used the barbecue sauce with cooked with over top of the sliced brisket.

Tip: When cutting the brisket, cut across the grain so that the tough fibers in the brisket are severed.

It’s still dead of winter here on the East Coast, and we haven’t barbecued in what seems like forever. With the deck covered by 6 inches of heavy frozen solid snow, we can’t even consider firing up our grill. So it’s times like these that making a barbecued pork on top of the stove come in handy. We guarantee that this is a great recipe and the hardest part is cutting up the pork. The rest of the time the pork is simply simmering on the stove, and when done cooking, the pork will shred with the touch of a fork.

5 pound boneless pork shoulder “Boston Butt” roast
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp (or more) Tabasco Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp celery seed
1 tsp garlic juice
1 tsp onion juice
2 cups water

You need about 5 pounds of meat for this recipe, and if the store only has bone-in pork shoulder, then purchase about an 8 pound roast. It’s not an easy task to cut the meat from a pork shoulder (or Boston Butt) roast, so I’d recommend finding a boneless roast.

Cut the roast into about 3/4 pound chunks. Lightly grease a large stock pot or dutch oven with olive oil. Toss in the pork, and cook on high, turning, until the pork browns on the outside, turn, and repeat a couple times. Don’t worry about cooking the pork through, there’s plenty of time for that coming up, what you want is to get some caramel color on the pork.

Once the pork butt is browned to your desire, add the water, vinegar, celery seed, garlic juice, onion juice, and Tabasco sauce. I like to use garlic and onion juice for this recipe because the flavor will blend into the pork and there are no pieces of onion or garlic in the barbecued pork. If you can’t find onion or garlic juice, substitute with 1/2 tsp chopped garlic, and 1/4 cup finely diced onion. Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Turn the meat over ever half hour so that the meat gets evenly flavored by the sauce. With a tight lid, and slow simmer, you shouldn’t need to add any water, but if you see the pan getting dry, add a little water.

When the pork is done, it will rip to shreds with no effort at all when touched with a fork. Drain the pot into a collander, rip up the pork, and serve with a good barbecue sauce such as Staubs. Heat the barbecue sauce, then mix 1 or 1/2 tbsp of BBQ sauce with 1 1/2 cups of pulled pork.

I like to serve my pulled pork sandwiches on toasted kaiser rolls topped with a little bit of shredded Cheddar cheese, and 1 to 2 tbsp of fresh made coleslaw^*, and some coleslaw on the side. Exactly as pictured above.

^*Make a quick delicious coleslaw with a package of Fresh Express^TM Coleslaw Mix and Marie’s Original Coleslaw Dressing, which you can find in the salad dressing aisle of the grocer. Mix the coleslaw with the dressing right after the pork BBQ mixture is set to simmer and refrigerate. The coleslaw will be perfectly flavored at the same time the pork BBQ is done.

Breakfast time continues here in our Cooking Ideas sections with an Old Fashioned recipe for soft boiled eggs on toast cubes. Nowadays, you don’t hear or see soft boiled eggs around much. But they’re yet another way to add variety to your morning breakfast meal. You can buy special holders to place the soft boiled egg in and eat the cooked eggs right out of the shell along with toasted bread, or you can try this our way.

This is really an easy breakfast to make and it starts by heating a pot of water to boiling. Leave room in the pot to allow for the number of eggs you’re going to add. Allow 2 eggs per serving, and 2 slices of bread per serving. When the water reaches a roaring boil, add the eggs to the pan one at a time by placing the eggs on a tablespoon and lowering the egg into the water. When all of the eggs are in the pan, set a timer for 4 and 1/2 minutes. It won’t matter if any of the shells crack because the eggs will be peeled and chopped up.

While the eggs are cooking, make the toast, lightly butter and cut the toasted bread into about 1 inch cubes. You can cut two slices of bread at a time if you’re using a serrated bread knife. If you’re making more then 2 servings, you should start making the toast while you’re waiting for the water to boil. Place the cubed toast into a cereal sized boil.

When the timer rings, carry the pot of water to the sink, and add cold water from the faucet until the water is cool, then drain the water from the pan, leaving the eggs in the pan. Carefully remove the shells from the eggs, trying not to break the egg white or else the yolk will leak out. If the eggs are too hot to handle, cool them a little by placing the egg on a tablespoon and running cool tap water over the egg for 5 or 10 seconds. The way I peel the eggs is to use a small teaspoon to lightly tap on end of the egg until the shell cracks, and then carefully remove the cracked pieces of shell. If you’re lucky, when you have half of the shell peeled off the egg, the egg will pop out of the other half. If not, hold the half peeled egg over the bowl of toast cubes, and use a small teaspoon (one smaller then the egg shell) to scoop the egg out of the shell onto the toast. Repeat for the other egg, and then chop the eggs into about 3/8″ pieces and mix up the toast so that the yolk is distributed evenly. Sprinkle lightly with salt and serve immediately.

If you’ve never tried baked eggs before you might find the thought a little odd. While it takes a longer to make baked eggs, you’ll find that the texture of the baked eggs is much different then you get from fried eggs, almost like that of hard boiled eggs. It’s easy to make baked eggs, but you’ll need to have a couple if items to do so. First, you will need an oven safe ceramic bowl, such as a ramekin or a small Corning Corelle dish. Second, you’ll need an 12″ x 9″ x 2″ baking pan that you’ll fill halfway with water.

To make baked eggs, place a 12″ x 9″ x 2″ pan on the middle rack of your oven, and fill the pan half way with water. Preheat the oven to 350° F. While the oven is warming, lightly grease a ramekin or other oven safe small dish. You may add a round piece of ham or Canadian bacon to the bottom of the dish if you like. Then break 2 eggs into the ramekin, and place the ramekin into the pan of water. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until the eggs are set on top. Don’t try to rush the baking. Let them cook slowly in the water until the whites and yolk are firm. Then carefully remove the ramekin from the pan, leaving the pan of hot water on the rack in the oven (DON’T TRY TO CARRY THE PAN OF HOT WATER - LET IT COOL BEFORE REMOVING THE PAN). Immediately sprinkle the top of the eggs with grated white or yellow Cheddar cheese, and serve. Make one ramekin per serving, and you can fit 2 ramekins into the pan of water.

The name scrapple was derived from the the word scraps. Originally scrapple was created to make use of the scraps of hog left over after butchering and certainly it still is. It’s made by boiling neck bones in seasoned water along with other odd parts of the hog for a few hours until the meat falls off of the bones. The meat is chopped up, and then mixed with seasoned cornmeal mush, and baked until firm. Here’s a vintage recipe for scrapple. But nowadays most of us aren’t butchering our own hogs, so we will either buy some scrapple at the grocer, or order it along with breakfast at a restaurant.

The current use of scrapple here in the United States is as a breakfast meat. But in early days of settlement in the US it was also served as the main entry for Sunday and special dinners.

My favorite brand of scrapple is Rapa Brand Scrapple, and is made in the small town of Bridgeville, DE on the Delmarva Peninsula. The Delmarva is a rural agricultural and farming region for the most part and is bordered on the western side by the Chesapeake Bay and on the eastern side by the Atlantic Ocean. Bridgeville is located about dead center of the Delmarva and is in a strategic location for serving the farmers of the region. Rapa has a long history as a brand of scrapple. Ralph and Paul Adams incorporated RAPA Scrapple in 1926. In 1981 the RAPA Scrapple Company was purchased by Jones Dairy Farm, however RAPA Scrapple continues it’s operation in Bridgeville, DE. If you cannot find Rapa Scrapple in your area, the Rapa Scrapple company processes mail orders for scrapple in the winter months. The current price in 2007 is $38.00 for 12 one pound blocks (which works out to $3.17 a pound) plus UPS shipping costs. Scrapple freezes well so don’t worry about what you’d do with so much scrapple at one time. My favorite flavor of Rapa Scrapple is their original. Other flavors produced by Rapa are Beef Scrapple, Scrapple with Bacon, Hot & Spicy Scrapple, and Greensboro Brand. For mail orders from Rapa, you may mix and match any of these varieties to meet the 12 package requirement. Orders must be placed by mail as the company only accepts checks or money orders. Call Rapa 800-338-4727 to get the shipping costs before sending payment to them.

Another brand of scrapple that can be found in my local Maryland grocers is produced by the Kirby and Holloway Provision Company, which is also located in Delaware, in the small town of Harrington, DE just a couple towns and a few miles north of Rapa’s Bridgeville Locations, and is also on US Route 13. I have never had the Kirby and Holloway brand of scrapple so I cannot comment on it’s flavor. I can say I extremely enjoy all of the Kirby and Holloway brand sausages, which are flavorful and unlike many sausages are not loaded with fatty meat. So since they produce such quality breakfast and dinner sausages, I would have to say that the scrapple would be of high quality as well.

Some folks are turned off by thinking about what goes into scrapple, and consider it nasty food. But nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a tasty meat dish that makes for change of taste in your breakfast meals. The official ingredient list on the package of Rapa Scrapple lists: Pork Stock, Pork Livers, Pork Fat, Pork Snouts, Corn Meal, Pork Hearts, Wheat Flour, Salt and Spices. It is not a low fat food though and like sausages needs to be eaten in moderation. According to the Nutrition Facts, each serving of scrapple contains 8g or 12% daily value of fat. That’s not lean, but is only a fraction of the fat found in fat dogs (hot dogs) which many labels state the daily value of fat at 38% [and don't even look at the label on a package of bacon if you're concerned about the fat in scrapple].That said, I try to eat right, and so I may eat scrapple only once every 2 to 3 months.

To Cook Scrapple
Scrapple is a little tricky to cook. I’m not sure cook is the right term since it’s already cooked. It’s really being reheated and browned for serving. The basic cooking instructions are:

Slice the scrapple through the wrapper into 3/8″ slices. Fry in a non-stick skillet over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes then turn over and brown the other side. That sounds simple, right? Well it really is that simple except for one thing — knowing when to turn the scrapple over.

Scrapple can’t be rushed, nor cooked in the microwave. It needs to be pan fried until the bottom has browned, and turned only once, and cooked until the bottom on the other side has browned too. If you turn the scrapple too early, then the slice with fall apart (it is made with corn meal so will be a rather mushy mess in this case). If you cook scrapple too long, then the outside will be hard, and the inside will be mushy which makes it difficult to eat. Our picture here of the cooked scrapple shows the right level of browning. The outside is brown, and yet still soft enough to cut with a fork.

Serve cooked scrapple as a breakfast meat dish along with eggs and potatoes. Scrapple can also be used as a meat on a scrambled egg sandwich on toasted wheat bread with cheese. Give scrapple a try with your breakfast. There are lots and lots of scrapple made so someone must be eating it. And it’s those of us adventurous enough to get past the ingredient list know how good it tastes.

We’re continuing to find delicious ways to use our newly found McCormick Greek Seasoning. This week we found that it has a wonderful affinity with lamb. While we’ve used Greek Seasoning with lamb chops, the flavor seems more pronounced to us when it was mixed in with the ground lamb meat. In this recipe for Lamb Sausages with Tomatoes, the flavor of the tomatoes adds a wonderful contrast to the lamb and seasoning resulting in a delight for the taste buds.

Recipe for Greek Seasoned Lamb Sausages with Tomato Sauce
1 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup Basmati Rice
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 tsp McCormick Greek Seasoning
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp grated orange peel

1/2 cup diced onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp McCormick Greek Seasoning

Combine the ground lamb, rice, diced onion, egg, and 1 1/2 tbsps orange peel in a small bowl. Mix well with hands to distribute rice and seasoning throughout the meat. Form into miniature sausage shapes about 3/4″ in diameter and 2 inches long. Heat 1 tbsp canola oil in a non-stick skillet, then add the sausages. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes, then turn and repeat until all sides are lightly browned.

When turning the last time, add 1/2 cup diced onion. Cook the onion for 3 or 4 minutes, then add canned diced tomatoes, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1/2 tsp Greek Seasoning. Gently mix to blend the tomatoes with the broth but not break up the lamb sausages. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes to boil off some of the liquid and thicken the sauce. Stir and cover sausages with the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes more. Use remaining orange peel as a garnish for each serving. Serve Greek Seasoned Lamb Sausages with a piece of toasted Italian roll to dip into and mop up the sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Try out these Greek seasoned meatballs if you want a change of taste in your daily meals. The flavor of the lamb and the citrus/mint/thyme seasoning of the McCormick Greek seasoning blend makes a delicious meatball. The hardest part we had in making this recipe was finding ground lamb. After going to 3 or 4 grocers that we thought would have ground lamb, we found it at a local Safeway store.

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 tbsp McCormick Greek Seasoning
• 1 tbsp dried Parsley Flakes

1. Prepare a place for setting meatballs on by placing wax paper on the plate.
2. Place the ground lamb in a large bowl.
3. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and chopped onions over top of the lamb.
4. Scramble egg and mix in the Greek seasoning and parsley flakes.
5. Pour the eggs over the lamb, and using your hands mix the lamb, bread crumbs, onion, and seasonings together for about a half a minute.
6. Take a bit of the lamb mixture, and form into 3/4 - 1″ meatballs by rubbing in the palms of your hands. Place formed meatballs on the plate. Repeat for all meatballs.
7. Place 1 tbsp canola oil in a 12″ skillet, and heat. Add meatballs.
8. Cover and cook meatballs for about five minutes, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Remove cover, and flip meatballs to another side and cook until brown.
10. Continue to flip and cook until meatballs are cooked though and are brown.

Makes about 20 Greek Seasoned Meatballs. Serve wits Couscous or Greek Tomato-Potatoes.

Where I grew up we had a couple chestnuts trees in our yard. You have to have at least 2 chestnut trees if you want to get chestnuts because the trees are self sterile. Our two trees were fantastic and and we always got lots of nuts from them. We ate the chestnuts in the typical methods of roasted and steamed, but my favorite way to eat chestnuts is in stuffing for turkey and chicken.

About Chestnuts
If you don’t have your own chestnut trees to gather the nuts from (before the squirrels do), then bare in mind that they are only briefly available in the grocery store from about Mid-October until just around Christmas. The chestnuts themselves are enclosed in a thin brown case with a furry inner lining. The nut of the chestnut is a soft, moist and woody tasting meat. They don’t keep well out of the shell, and should be kept in a moist part of your refrigerator until ready to use to keep them both from spoiling and drying out. If you gather fresh chestnuts, then you should wash the nuts, then treat them for worm eggs by placing them in a pot of water at 105° F for 10 minutes.

Homemade Chestnut Turkey Stuffing

Each year at Thanksgiving and Christmas we make our favorite Chestnut Stuffing for Turkey. We prefer to make this stuffing in a pan or casserole dish outside the bird but you could stuff the bird if you like.

Ingredients in Chestnut Turkey Stuffing

• 12 ounce bag unseasoned bread cubes for stuffing (one 1/2 24 ounce loaf of stale bread cut into cubes)
• 1 pound mild pork sausage
• 12 chestnuts
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup celery pieces
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 tsp Poultry Seasoning

To make Chestnut Turkey Stuffing

1. Make an x in the tops of the chestnuts, and bake in an oven at 350° F for 15 minutes. Then remove from oven, let cook, peel the chestnuts, and chop finely.
2. Melt butter in a 3 quart non-stick saucepan.
3. Add onion, celery, sausage and cook until sausage has cooked through ans is lightly browned, about 10 - 12 minutes.
4. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. Mix in the chopped chestnuts, onion, celery and sausage. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning and mix well.
5. Add milk, a little at a time, mixing with additions, until bread cubes are moist.
6. Put the stuffing in a non-stick pan or casserole.
7. Bake in a 350° F. oven covered for 1/2 hour. Remove cover and cook another 8 - 10 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Want something that’s quick to make on a weeknight, and yet has great flavor and nutrition; then try this recipe for Cajun Seasoned Pork Chops. In only takes about 20 minutes to cook the chops, and meanwhile you’re making the pasta salad, which is a jiffy when made with Salad Supreme®.

Recipe for Cajun Seasoned Pork Chops
This recipe is so easy, I’m not sure if it really should be called a recipe!

• 1 - 2 Center Cut Pork Chops [per serving], all visible fat removed
• Cajun Seasoning

1. Place 1 tbsp of olive or canola oil in a non-stick skillet, and heat over medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Reduce heat to low. Add the pork chops, and sprinkle with Cajun Seasoning.
3. Cover pan, and cook 8 - 10 minutes, depending on thickness of the chops, until lightly browned. Thin chops made need less time. Turn, season other side with Cajun Seasoning and cook other side about 5 - 7 minutes.
4. Serve with Pasta Salad (recipe below).

• 1/2 pound spaghetti noodles
• 1 tbsp McCormick Salad Supreme
• 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing
• Cherry tomatoes
• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced baby carrots
• Sliced bell pepper

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Mix 1/2 cup Italian Salad Dressing with the Salad Supreme.
3. When pasta is cooked to your desired liking, cool it under cold running water and place in a serving bowl large enough for the pasta, and vegetables.
4. Add the vegetables to the pasta and mix.
5. Pour the Salad Supreme/Italian Dressing seasoning over top of the pasta and toss gently to season pasta and vegetables.
6. Sprinkle each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Salad Supreme® is a registered trademark of McCormick & Co Inc, Hunt Valley, Md 21031

There is something to be said about enjoying fresh citrus fruit on a cold winter’s morning. When I look outside, and see the bare trees and the leaves all over the ground, the tropical grapefruit sections on the kitchen table brings thoughts of warm summer days, and bring flowers. We slice our grapefruit in half cutting across the fruit perpendicular to the stem end. Then we use a sharp paring knife to cut the grapefruit sections along each side of the membrane the separates the sections. Next, we use the same paring knife to free the sections by cutting the grapefruit along the rind. To serve, place the grapefruit sections in a cereal bowl, sprinkle the tops of the fruit with a little sugar or non-sugar sweetener, and serve with a small spoon. Use the spoon to dig out the grapefruit sections. When all of the sections have been eaten, grab the grapefruit in one hand, and squeeze the remaining juice out, catching in on the spoon. Repeat until no more grapefruit juice can be squeezed out.

1. Cut Grapefruit along each side of membrane.

2. Then cut along each section along rind and sprinkle with sugar.

3. After eating the sections there will be lots of juice left over. Simply squeeze the grapefruit in half, and catch the juice on a spoon to enjoy.