Boneless Short Ribs

Ingredients

4 english cut boneless beef short ribs, approximately 1 1/2 -2 inches thick
1 stalk celery
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon stalt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup flour
2 table spoons cooking oil
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup red wine, or red wine grape juice

Step One:
Rough chop the celery, carrots and onion. Place the vegetables in a slow cooker.

Step Two:
Rinse and dry the short ribs.  Place them on a cutting board and salt and pepper them.

Step Three:

Place the flour in a bowl or a zip top bag. Toss the short rib until the the short ribs are dusted with flour. There should be a light coating of flour not clumps. Tap the ribs to remove excess flour.

Step Four:
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, place the flour dusted short ribs in the skillet to brown. Brown the short ribs for about 1 minute per side including the short sides.

Step Five:
Place the short ribs in the short cooker, add the water and wine. Cook on low for 3 hours, or until the ribs are done, tender, and delicious. 

Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken

Jerk Chicken is a colloquial Caribbean favorite. Jerk Chicken is essentially a grilled, braised or stewed spiced chicken.   There are multiple variations of the spice mixture, but mace, nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, salt, chilies, and allspice are common.  Jerk Chicken like chili, gumbo and potato salad has many authoritative recipes asserting to be authentic. What was found to be common among the variations was a savory, deep flavored aromatic chicken dish.   What's been presented here is a basic recipe that can be successfully employed by home cooks.

  Step 1: The Chicken

Purchase a 3 to 4 pound cut up chicken. Cut the breasts in half to allow for even cooking. Remove the skin from all pieces. Place the chicken on a cutting board, or in a big container.  

Step 2: The Jerk

This is where the variation and, often the fear comes in.  The choices of spices can be overwhelming. McCormick makes a pre-maid Jerk Seasoning which is very good.  For the more adventurous a basic Jerk seasoning ensemble for four pounds of chicken would be  1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of allspice, 2 teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of thyme or poultry seasoning,  a teaspoon of black pepper,  a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of nutmeg,  a half teaspoon  of marjoram, and the amount of red pepper flakes deemed necessary.  Using your hands rub the chicken with the spice mixture.   Refrigerate it for 2 hours at a minimum and overnight at a maximum.  The more chicken you use the longer you should give the rub to work its magic.

Step 3: Slow Cooking

Assemble the chicken in a single layer in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for six to eight hours.  If you don't have a slow cooker, cook in the oven in a sealed dutch oven for the same amount of time for at 200 degrees F.  After 6-8 hours remove the chicken from the slow cooker or dutch oven and let it rest by placing the pieces on a sheet pan with a wire rack. If there isn't a wire rack available then simply place them on a sheet pan, or cookie sheet. The chicken will be moist, perhaps even soggy.

Step 4: Finishing

Place the cookie sheet in a 300 degree F oven for 30 - 45 minutes or until the chicken dries a little but not too much, you want it to be moist not dry. Remove it when the chicken is glossy, but still moist.  There will be a wonderful aroma. What's happening is the sugars on the outside are caramelizing to get that signature sticky gooey sweet savory goodness of Jerk Chicken. Plate it up and enjoy.







 

Braised Chicken with Garlic

This hearty and savory dish is both simple to prepare and sure to be a crowd pleaser. It's perfect for family dinners, it can be dressed up for formal affairs, and it reheats well so it's a great candidate to make in advance. 

Step One: Preparing the Chicken

Purchase a 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pound cut up whole chicken.  If you can not find one at your market a whole chicken can be cut up, and remember since you'll have to remove the back bone  aim more towards a 4 1/2 pounds bird.  Rinse the chicken parts and pat them dry with a paper towel.

The next step will be to remove the skin. Leaving it on results in it being mushy which isn't the aim here. In roasted chicken, BBQ'ed chicken, and fried chicken the skin can play a great role regarding texture and flavor, however all that would be lost after braising for several hours. As far as the wings go you can reserve them for another recipe. Cut the breasts so that you have roughly two equal pieces.

Step Two: Season, Flour and Brown

Place one cup of all-purpose flour in a zip top bag and set aside. In a large skillet heat  three tablespoons of vegetable oil until just before smoking. While the oil is heating up season the chicken pieces with about a half teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper and thyme.   If you can not find thyme, you can substitute a teaspoon of poultry seasoning because it's mostly thyme. Place the chicken pieces in the zip top bag a few pieces at a time, roughly three.  Coat evenly  then one by one tap each piece to remove excess flour.  Place the pieces in the skillet with the oil.

After about five minutes on each side, on until a golden crust develops on the down side, turn the chicken pieces over to brown the other side.  Remember to not crowd the skillet, it will result in steamed not browned chicken.  Once the pieces are fully browned then place them in  the slow cooker. Repeat this for all remaining pieces.  Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer in the slow cooker. Do not wash the skillet.


Step Three:  Making the Braising Liquid

In a container with a lid that seals combine 1/2 cup dry white wine, 2  cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup of sherry.  If alcohol is not being used, then simply replace the it with another cup of broth. Lid and shake the mixture to completely combine.  A bowl and a whisk can be employed here, but  not everyone has a whisk plus the container can be used later to store single portions. Also, shaking is more fun.

Step Four:  Reducing and Adding the Garlic.

If it's not still hot reheat the skillet used earlier to brown the chicken pieces. Once the skillet is hot add the braising liquid and scrape the brown bits from the bottom to incorporate them into the broth mixture.   Heat the broth mixture on medium-high heat until it boils, and then reduce it to a simmer.  While the broth mixture is simmering remove the cloves from two heads of garlic. More garlic can be used, and for a wonderful extra savory experience  roasted garlic can be used.  Whack the cloves with the side of a knife or crush them using some other method, but do not employ a garlic press.  The goal is to slowly allow the garlic to release it's goodness during cooking.   Place the garlic in the simmering broth mixture and bring it back to a boil and then back to simmer.  Simmer for about ten minutes until it reduces by a cup.



Step Five:  The Assembly and Commencement

Pour the reduced broth mixture over the chicken.  Set the slow cooker to high for about 30 minutes. Then reduce to the low setting. At this point clean up the kitchen and then go to work, or sleep, or do anything for six to eight hours.   When you return to the slow cooker you'll find perfectly cooked chicken in a rich garlicky brown sauce.

At this point the dish can be plated up and served, or the chicken can be removed and the sauce can be reduced further on the stovetop or thickened with corn starch. That's an individual decision, left to your discretion. 

-R. A. Mann-Thompson, All Thing Eaten

Slower Cooker/Oven Smoked Turkey

Smoked fish, poultry, meat,  vegetables and meat alternatives are delicious hallmarks of summer and autumn. Known for their rich and complex flavors,  smoked goods are highly prized, and highly priced. Smoking requires equipment and supplies, skill, a bit of luck, and a good deal of patience.   Smoking essentially is infusing food with flavor by engulfing the food in aromatic smoke.  There are various good cookbooks and great resources online to learn about smoking and barbecuing.  In general there's a low heat sources in either a smoking appliance or a pit, soaked wood chips are added to the the heat source and smoke is born.  The low heat is maintained and the wood chips are replaced as needed to ensure a constant amount of smoke.  Food is cooked in the appliance, pit or in the process of cold smoke is cooled to flavor the food without or with little heat.

What if you  don't have a lot of time, a lot of gear,  or not even a place to smoke at all, would it be possible to achieve the smoking complexity using common kitchen appliances?

Step One:  Salting the Turkey


Turkey drums were selected because they have good favor and they are relatively cheap.

Place the turkey drums in a container and salt them with about two table spoons of kosher salt.  A brine could also be employed depending the cut of meat chosen.  Cover and place turkey in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to an hour.  Fluid will be noticeable in the bottom of the container. Safely discard the fluid off and continue to step two. 


Step Two:  Adding the Smoke Favor

Once the turkey is salted, season the turkey with seasonings of your choice. Here garlic an cracked pepper were chosen. There's nothing against using cumin, brown sugar, or mustard seed.

After seasoning the turkey, add liberal amounts of your favorite liquid smoke product to the turkey ensuring that all surfaces of the turkey are doused.  Return the turkey to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.





Step Three: Cooking Slow and Low

With the salting completed and smoke flavoring added it's now time to cook the turkey.  Traditional smoking and barbecuing requires food to be cooked slowly and at low temperatures.  To simulate that use a slow cooker. Transfer the turkey to the slow cooker.

Add about a 1/4 inch of water or broth to the slow cooker. At this time additional seasonings can be added to the fluid including additional liquid smoke.  Be sure not to add too much fluid.  Set the slow cooker to the low setting.  Cook for approx. 6-8 hours, or until your thermometer indicates the turkey is done.

At the conclusion of cooking the turkey will have a roasted golden brown look. At this point the turkey can be eaten. The side of the turkey partially immersed in the water or broth will be paler and the skin will not be taut.  This can be fixed by finishing the turkey in the oven.




Step Four:  Finishing

Remove the turkey from the slow cooker and place it in a baking pan with a rack pale side up.  Bake 350 degree  for about 30 minutes.  This will dry or cure the soft side achieving a uniform golden brown taut exterior.  Other variations could include adding barbecue sauce and then placing the turkey in the oven.







It is defiantly possible to accomplish the look, taste and aroma of smoked turkey  using a slow cooker, oven and liquid smoke flavoring.

There you have it Slower Cooker/Oven Smoked Turkey!

-All Things Eaten