Tropical Fruit Smoothie

By now you may have figured out that I love to make smoothies for my breakfast.  They are quick and easy and provide a nice source of fruits into my diet.  Today's smoothie is probably the easiest yet and may be my favorite of all the ones I have posted so far.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 ½ cup Trader Joe's Organic Tropical Fruit Blend
½ cup Apple Juice
½ cup milk

Directions
Mix fruit, apple juice and milk in blender and blend until smooth.


Note:  Since I was using all frozen fruit I did not have to add ice to my smoothie to get the desired consistency.

Crockpot Barbacoa

I must admit, I really like Chipotle's Barbacoa.  This is a simple crockpot recipe that produces great results.  You can adjust the heat by adding more or less Chipotle peppers in the adobo sauce.  You might want to start with a few and taste the sauce early in the process, then add more if needed.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3-4 lb. chuck roast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup chicken broth
3 bay leaves

For Adobe Sauce:
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (more if you like spicy)
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons lime juice
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cloves


Directions
To make the adobo sauce: combine vinegar, lime  juice, chipotles, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt and cloves in a blender or processor on high speed until smooth.

Trim fat from the roast and then cut roast into 6-8 large chunks.  Add oil to a frying pan and sear all sides of the meat over medium-high heat until browned. Place meat into Crockpot and pour adobo sauce on top.  Add chicken broth and bay leaves. Cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is very tender.  Shred meat with forks before serving.

I decided to fry some corn tortillas for homemade crispy tacos as a change of pace.  They turned out great with a little pico de gallo and guacamole on the side.

Pineapple Banana Smoothie

This is a nice, light tasting smoothie perfect in the morning or for a nice afternoon refreshment.  You can easily add your favorite mix-in (protein powder, ground flax, etc.) of an additional boost.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 Banana
¾ cup Pineapple chunks (I used frozen)
½ cup Milk
½ cup Orange Juice
Honey (optional, but add to taste)
⅓-½ cup crushed ice

Directions
Mix fruit, orange juice and milk in blender and blend until  smooth.  Add enough ice to bring to the desired consistency and blend once again until smooth.  Taste and add honey if needed and blend one final time.

Baked Apple Chips

These baked apple chips make a healthy snack and they are super easy to make.  The key is slicing the apples super thin so they can get crispy when baked.  I used a mandolin that made things really quick and easy.  I sprinkled my apple slices with cinnamon sugar before baking but you can leave that out and just bake the apples as directed.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 Apples (I used Granny Smith)
Ground cinnamon
Granulated sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 200F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper and set aside.

Wash and thinly slice the apples (using a mandolin if available). Spread the apple slices onto the baking pans making 1 single layer. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 1 1/2 hour, turn apples over (you may want to dry any moisture from the apples as you turn them), and bake for another 1 1/2 hours.  Check apples and continue to cook until desired crispiness is reached.  Store the apple chips in an airtight container.


** I used a pear when I made this batch just to see how it would work and it turned out just a good as the apples.

Easy Sloppy Joes

This is a quick and easy recipe that is perfect for busy weeknights. Everyone in the family loves it and we usually pair this with a quick side.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
¼ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup bell pepper, chopped
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted


Directions
In a large saucepan, cook beef, onion, and peppers over medium heat until no meat is longer pink and onions and peppers are soft; drain. Stir in the ketchup, water, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.  Serve on toasted hamburger buns.

Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken

Tonight I decided to try a new recipe for cilantro lime chicken.  I have others, but this one adds a new ingredient....heavy cream.  That is music to my Southern ears ;-)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp. olive oil
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
¼ cup finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Place chicken breast between pieces of plastic wrap and pound them until they are all equal in thickness. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large oven-proof skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 6-7 minutes, turning once. Chicken nice and browned on the outside. (It's does not have to be cooked through at this point).  Place chicken on a plate and cover tightly with foil.

Remove skillet from heat and add chicken broth, lime juice, onion, cilantro, and red pepper. Return to heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Gently boil uncovered for 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to around 1/4 cup. Reduce heat to low and add heavy cream and butter. Stir until butter has melted.

Return chicken to the skillet and place in the preheated oven. Bake until the chicken is completely cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on thickness.

Serve chicken with sauce spooned on top.

Pretzel Bites

Whether you need an appetizer, tailgating food, or just a nice snack, these pretzel bites will fit the bill. They are soft and chewy and can be eaten alone or with your favorite dip.  Tonight they didn't last long enough to need a dip ;-)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups lukewarm water
1 packet instant yeast (2 ¼ teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
3 ¾- 4 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
Sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:
In bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl), dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir with a spoon until fairly mixed, about 1 minute. Add salt, sugar, and melted butter and stir until combined. Using stand mixer with dough hook attached (or by hand), slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is thick. Add 3/4 - 1 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for about 3 minutes and shape into a ball. Place dough ball in a large mixing bowl that has been lightly coated with nonstick spray, cover, and let rest in a warm area for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Line two large baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

Divide dough into 6 equal portions and roll each portion into a 20" long rope. Cut the rope into 1"-1 ½" pieces.

Bring 8 cups of water with the baking soda to a rolling boil. Drop 8-10 pretzel bites into water and let soak for 20-30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto the prepared baking sheets.

Space out bites and brush egg over each pretzel bite and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter if desired.  Store pretzel bites in an airtight container.

Crockpot Mississippi Roast

This crockpot recipe can be find on numerous blog and recipe sites for the simple fact that its very easy and very tasty.  I don't use as much butter and ranch dressing mix as many of the recipe sites, but it still turns out great!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3-4 lb. chuck roast
½  packet of Ranch Dressing mix
1 packet of Au Jus mix
½  stick of butter
5-6 pepperoncini peppers  (whole or rings)

Note: I'm not a huge fan of peppers so I use only a few to flavor the dish, as you will see in the picture below.  Also note that no water is needed for this recipe.  You can use the entire packet of Ranch Dressing mix, but it will be on the salty side.

Directions: 

Place roast in crockpot and sprinkle Ranch dressing packet and Au Jus mix packet over the top.  Add peppers and place butter on top on roast.

Cook on Low for 8 hours.  I like to stir this after the butter melts to ensure that the gravy incorporates all the wonderful flavors.

Mexican Casserole

This is a quick and easy dish that I love to make when things get a little crazy.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped

1 chopped onion

1 small can chopped mild green chilies

1 can cream of chicken soup

½  cup cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, shredded

½ tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 can diced tomatoes (drained)

4 flour tortillas
¼ -½ cup additional cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients.  Grease casserole dish.  Place 2 tortillas in the bottom of the dish.  Pour 1/2 of the chicken mixture over the tortillas.  Repeat with 2 more tortillas and the remainder of the chicken mixture.  Sprinkle the top with cheese and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

Baked Mac and Cheese

I love Southern mac and cheese.  Growing up, we never ate mac & cheese that was made from a box.  Honestly, I don't think I even knew you could make it from a box until I was in college.  This is the real thing.  It's loaded with cheese and butter so I don't make it often (mostly during the holidays) but it is worth the extra workouts you will need after eating it!

**You may choose to half this recipe for a weeknight family meal.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 lb Box Large Elbow Macaroni
2 large cans evaporated milk
1 lb Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
3 eggs
¾ lb Velveeta Cheese, shredded or chopped into small cubes
1 tsp salt (divided into to two ½ tsp)
1 stick butter
½ tsp black pepper

Directions
In a large pot, bring 2 qts water to a boil and add ½ tsp salt. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions. Add 2 cans milk and 3 eggs in bowl and beat well.

After macaroni is cooked, drain off all but ½ cup water. Add 2 sticks margarine, cheese (reserve about ¼ cup cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top). Add milk & egg mixture, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper. Place in 5 qt baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on top.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven approximately 45 minute or until slightly browned on top.

Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

This is a simple variation on Mike's BBQ sauce.  It results in a thinner, sweeter sauce.  If you don't have any of Mike's BBQ sauce on hand, you can use store brand such as Sweet Baby Ray's instead.

1 cup Mike's BBQ sauce  (or Sweet Baby Ray's)
½ cup Dr. Pepper
1 Tbsp. Honey

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to simmer for about 5 minutes. Allow sauce to cool a bit before serving.

Honey BBQ Smoked Ribs

This is our last week of summer break so I decided to start it off by making a nice slab of ribs for dinner.  These ribs are easy to make in the smoker and taste very good.  I would normally choose to top them with Mike's BBQ sauce but today I decided to change things a bit and make a different variation on that BBQ sauce, Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 rack ribs
4 Tbsps. Memphis Dust Rub
1 Squeeze Bottle Parkay Margarine
Honey in squeezable bottle
½  cup Apple juice (in a spray bottle)

Directions
Remove membrane from ribs and dust with Memphis  dust rub and let it sit out and soak in while smoker heats to 225°.  Once temp stabilizes, smoke ribs for 3 hrs.  Spritz with apple juice mix hourly.  Remove ribs from smoker.

Prepare large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and lay ribs on the foil.  Squeeze generous amount margarine on the first side, then squeeze 3-4 lines of honey onto ribs and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon dust rub.  Using gloved hands, rub mixture to combine and fully coat first side of ribs.  Turn ribs over and repeat this process. Wrap ribs tightly in the foil and return to smoker for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, remove the ribs from  foil.  Brush with BBQ sauce and place them back in the smoker. Cook ribs for another 30 minutes to 1 hour until done.

Dale's Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky has quickly become a treat in our house since we bought out new smoker, so this time I decided to try a new recipe.

 

Here is the recipe I used for this batch of jerky:

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
 2 ½ lbs. lean top round, sliced to about 1/8"
⅓  cup of Dale's marinade
⅓  cup Worcestershire sauce
⅓  cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
½ Tbsp. black pepper
 ½ tsp. garlic powder


Directions
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Place your meat strips in a ziplock bag, add the marinade, seal the bag, and knead with your hands to ensure all meat is covered. Refrigerate overnight, mixing the meat every once in a while.

The next morning, remove the meat  from the refrigerator and drain.  Allow the meat to slowly come to room temperature as you prepare the grill and jerky pans.  Heat smoker to 165°.

Place meat on racks set inside a sheet pan and cook at 165° for approximately 6 hours or until it reaches the desired consistency.

Poultry Rub

Here is a good all-purpose poultry rub that I have used for both chicken and turkey.  You can use this rub in a wet/dry combination by sprinkling 1 tablespoon of the dry rub into the body cavity of the Chicken/Turkey.  Mix the remaining dry rub with 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Rub the mixture under the skin and all over the outer surfaces of the chicken/turkey.  Cook the chicken/turkey using the method of your choosing.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 Tbsp.  onion powder
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tsp. garlic powder
2 Tsp. kosher salt
2 Tsp. white pepper
1 Tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 Tsp. powdered sage

Mix all of the dry ingredients together.

Au Gratin Potatoes

In my Smoked Chicken recipe, I included a picture of au gratin potatoes that prompted several people to ask for the recipe.  Here it is...

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 Tbsps. butter
3 Tbsps. all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
2 cups 2% milk
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup chopped onion

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add flour, salt & pepper until stir until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Once the cheese has melted, add potatoes and onion.

Pour into a greased 2-qt. casserole dish. Cover and bake 1 hour, then uncover and bake another 30-40 minutes (or until the potatoes are tender).

BBQ Center Cut Pork Chops

This is a quick and easy dish, perfect for weeknight grilling.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 boneless center cut pork chops
1 Tbsp. Memphis Dust rub
2 Tbsp. BBQ sauce

Directions
Season boneless pork chops on both sides with Memphis Dust rub.

After preheating the grill to 400°, I placed the pork chops on the grill and cooked for 5 minutes on the first side. After 5 minutes, I flipped the pork chops and applied Mike's BBQ sauce.  As the internal temperature approached 140° I flipped once again and applied sauce to the other side.

Once the internal temperature reached 145°, I removed the chops from the grill and allowed them to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Although I am a huge fan of cooking on my smoker, I am also an equally huge fan of my crockpot.  As the new school year approaches, I decided to dust off my crockpot and give my smoker a rest.  Here is one of my family's favorite crockpot recipes.  They are not fond of mushrooms so I leave those out but the recipe below includes them.

In the pictures below you will probably notice I use crockpot liner bags.  Although I am not a big fan, they do make cleanup a lot quicker.

In a large skillet, I brown 1 ½ lbs of cubed stew meat and some diced onions. I added that to my crockpot. 

I then added 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of beef broth, and 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce and stirred to blend.

I closed the lid and cooked on low for 6-8 hrs (you can cook on High 3-4 hrs if you are running short on time).  After 8 hrs, I added a small amount of corn starch mixed with water to thicken the sauce.  To finish things off, I turned off the crockpot, added 1 cup of sour cream, and stirred to blend.  

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds cubed stew meat
1 medium onion, diced
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 can beef broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and black pepper
1 cup sour cream
Cooked egg noodles

Directions
In a large skillet, brown the stew meat (seasoned with salt and pepper) on both sides using olive oil or cooking spray as needed. Remove the meat from the pan and place into crockpot. Add the onions and mushrooms (if using) to the pan drippings and sauté until tender. Place onions and mushrooms in crockpot along with the meat. Add the cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce to crockpot and stir to blend. Cook over low heat for 6-8 hrs. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.

Smokehouse Burgers

I decided to grill some burgers on my Green Mountain (GMG) pellet grill.  I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but let me assure you, the results were very tasty!  I made 4 burgers total, (3) ⅓ lb patties and (1)  ¼ lb kid-sized patty.  Just adjust the recipe as needed for your family/crowd.  I cooked my burgers to medium well so you may want to adjust the timing as needed for your burger thickness.

Printable Recipe
 

Ingredients

4 Hamburger buns

1 ¼  lb 80/20 Ground Chuck

Salt/Pepper

Worcestershire sauce

4 slices cheese

Lettuce, Tomato, onion, and other toppings

Directions
Heat grill to 425° and wait for temperature to stabilize.  While you wait, form patties and sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce and gently rub into patties.  Season patties with salt and pepper patties as desired.  

When the grill is ready, cook the patties for approximately 10 minutes on the first side, then flip patties over and cook for an additional 8 minutes.  I took the opportunity to add some bacon to the grill and cook it along with the burgers.  During the last two minutes of grilling I added hamburger buns that had been buttered to the grill and put cheese slices on each patty.  Once the burgers reached the desired internal temperature (165° in my case) I removed them from the grill.

Place one patty on each bun and add your favorite toppings and side dishes.  I paired our burgers with my traditional potato salad.  Enjoy!

Banana Berry Smoothie

Since it's Monday morning, I figured I'd start the day off with a Banana Berry Smoothie.  This recipe reminds me of living in San Diego and making my morning trek over to the sandwich shop next to our office building.  They made the best smoothies I have ever had and before I moved away I got a few hints from the owner.  Here is my take on her Banana Berry Smoothie.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
½ cup (about 6)  whole strawberries (fresh or frozen)
⅓ cup blueberries  (fresh or frozen)
1 banana
½ cup Apple Juice
½ cup milk
⅓-½ cup crushed ice
1 tsp sugar or honey, if needed

Directions
Mix fruit, apple juice and milk in blender and blend until  smooth.  Add enough ice to bring to the desired consistency and blend once again until smooth.  Taste and add sugar or honey if needed and blend one final time.

Tri-Tip Sandwiches

For this recipe, I turned to the Internet to find a good use for our leftover Smoked Tri-Tip.  I stumbled across a delicious looking blog post and decided to give it a try.  I must admit, it made a really good sandwich so I decided to share the recipe here.  Here is a link to the original recipe.

This recipe starts with toasting the buns after spreading with garlic herb butter.  This step adds wonderful flavor and I might have to do this for hamburgers moving forward.

 

When I removed the buns from the oven, I layered on a slice of provolone cheese, the leftover smoked tri-tip which I sliced as thinly as possible, lettuce, and tomato. My husband love's BBQ sauce, so I added some of Mike's BBQ Sauce to his sandwich.

I paired the sandwiches with pasta salad and this made a quick and easy dinner and used all our remaining tri-tip ;-)

 

Here is the final recipe:

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 Kaiser rolls
1 pound thinly sliced Tri Tip
Herb Garlic Butter
4 slices provolone cheese
Lettuce, tomato, onion, BBQ sauce or other toppings

Directions
Slice rolls in half and butter each side with Herb Garlic butter. Place rolls on a baking sheet and broil until golden brown.

Place one slice of cheese on the bottom portion of each roll. Pile beef on top and return to oven and broil until cheese is melted.

Spread barbecue sauce over beef and add other toppings as desired.

Traditional Potato Salad

Recently my mom and I worked on a cookbook for our hometown of Pelzer, SC.  This recipe is one of the many wonderful recipes featured in that cookbook (although I must admit I added bacon to it on my own).  The book is currently being printed and should be available very soon.  In the meantime, enjoy this wonderful potato salad.

Chop potatoes into small cubes, leaving the skin on.  Place potatoes in saucepan, cover with salted water and boil until fork tender.

While potatoes are cooking, finely chop onion, celery, peppers (if using), egg, bacon, and pickles and place into a bowl.  Drain potatoes, cool slightly, and add to chopped ingredients.  

In a separate bowl, mix mustard, mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Gently mix dressing with potatoes and chopped ingredients.  

Printable Recipe

Traditional Potato Salad 

Ingredients
8-12 new potatoes, cubed, with skin left on
2 ribs of celery, diced
½ of a green pepper, diced  (optional)
¼ cup cubed salad pickles
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon prepared mustard, preferably Dijon
1 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
2-3 strips of cooked bacon, chopped (optional)

Directions
Cook potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain. Place potatoes, celery, green pepper (if desired), pickles, chopped eggs, and bacon in a bowl. Add mixture to potatoes and gently combine.  In a separate bowl, combine salt, pepper, mustard, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Toss dressing with potato mixture. Serve immediately, or chill before serving.

Pepper Stout Beef

This has become one of my go to smoker dishes.  Thanks to Kevin and Jayme for bringing this recipe to my attention.  Note: The original recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 lb chuck roast
2 bell peppers (sliced)
1 red onion (sliced)
3 jalapenos (sliced.  Remove seeds for a milder heat)
6 garlic cloves (minced)
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 - 12oz bottle Guinness Extra Stout
kosher salt and black pepper

Directions
Heavily season Chuck Roast with Kosher Salt and black pepper and smoke at a temperature of about 225º-250º until the internal temperature reaches 165º.  I like to put the peppers on the smoker before slicing them to add a little extra flavor.

Here is a picture of the roast after the initial smoke.

Once the roast hits 165º, place into pan directly on top of vegetable, stout mixture and cover tightly with foil. Continue to cook roast in a smoker or oven at 350º for 2.5-3 hours or until it is fork tender.

Once the meat is tender, shred all of the meat and continue to cook uncovered until the liquid is reduced by half.

**I don't have great pictures of this recipe but I will try to take some additional shots the next time I prepare it!

Indoor/Outdoor Brisket

I had a request for a brisket recipe and since I have tried several ways to smoke a brisket, I decided to start with this one.  You can cook this recipe in a smoker or in the oven and the result is a nice, juicy brisket.  The smoker will obviously produce a more flavorful end results but I realize some people might not have a smoker available to them.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 brisket (not a corned beef brisket)
1 bottle of Claude's brisket marinade
1 12 oz bottle of beer (can substitute beef broth or other braising liquid)

Directions
Marinade the brisket overnight using Claude's brisket marinade.  Depending on the size of the brisket, you may choose to use a turkey roasting bag to hold the brisket and marinade.  If you don't have access to Claude's brisket marinade you can use my dry rub recipe instead.

The next morning, drain the brisket and bring to room temperature.  Heat smoker/oven to 225° and smoke brisket for 3-4 hrs., depending on how much smoke you want.  Remove brisket and place in a roasting pan.  Add beer to the pan and cover tightly with foil.  Return brisket to smoker/oven and continue to cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 203°.  Note: If you are using the oven, you can boost the temperature up to between 250°-275° and cook it a little faster.  If desired you can also mop some of the braising liquid over the brisket from time to time during the cooking process.

Once the brisket reaches and internal temperature of 203°, remove from the smoker/oven, wrap in foil and let rest for 20-30 minutes.  Slice brisket against the grain and serve.  Mike's BBQ Sauce goes very well with this brisket if you like a sweet BBQ sauce.

Smoked Tri-Tip

Today I decided to smoke a tri-tip using my GMG Daniel Boone smoker.  I also tried out Salt Lick BBQ Original Dry Rub for the first time.  For the record, the rub contains a lot of cayenne pepper and I will definitely offset that with other spices next time.

I started with a 3lb Tri-Tip and covered it with a good coating of the Salt Lick Rub.

I set the smoker to 165° and smoked the tri-tip until it reached an internal temperature of 125°.

I then removed tri-tip and set temp smoker to 480°. Once the smoker reached that temperature, I seared the tri-tip for 5 minutes on each side.

After the searing, I wrapped the tri-tip in foil and let rest for 30 minutes.  The end result was a perfectly cooked medium tri-tip.  I paired the tri-tip with Garlic Parmesan Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Asparagus with Lemon Butter for a wonderful dinner.

 

 

 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 Tri-tip roast
Salt Lick BBQ Original Dry Rub or similar rub*

Directions
Heat smoker 165° and allow to temperature to stabilize.  Apply rub to tri-tip.  Place tri-tip in smoker and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 125°. Remove the tri-tip and set temp smoker to 480°. Once the smoker reaches that temperature, Sear the tri-tip for 5 minutes on each side. Check internal temperature and remove once desired temperature is reached. Remove tri-tip from smoker and wrap in foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 

*Note: This Salt Lick Rub contains a large quantity of cayenne pepper so you may want to use an alternate if you don't like spicy rubs