Braised Teriyaki Beef Short Ribs [Zack]

Many of my latest posts have been teriyaki-obsessed. I can’t help it. It makes everything tasty!

Here is an adaption to a previous recipe for Sous Vide Teriyaki Short Ribs. If you don’t have a sous vide machine (understandably), you can braise the short ribs and get similarly great results.

Process:

Start by prepping the teriyaki sauce that you’ll use for the braise. Mince ginger, garlic, and the chiles.  Saute them in a sauce pot over medium heat in sesame oil, until the onion is translucent. Add in the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar, and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Taste and adjust as needed.

Slice onions, red/green peppers, and a few jalapenos. Layer the bottom of a roasting pan with them.

Brown all sides of the short ribs in a pan in small batches. You don’t need to salt them – the teriyaki will handle that. When finished, de-glaze the pan with the teriyaki sauce.

Place the short ribs on the bed of onions and peppers, and pour the teriyaki sauce over top.

Cover the pan with foil or a lid, and braise at 300F until tender. It took me about 3.5 hours, but it depends on the thickness of the short ribs.

Remove the short ribs and veggies from the roasting pan and spoon the fat off the top of the remaining teriyaki sauce.  If you put the sauce in the fridge, the fat in the sauce will solidify and you can more easily dispose of it.

Add the teriyaki sauce to a small sauce pot and set over medium heat.  Scoop out about 1/2 cup of sauce into a separate bowl and whisk in 2-3T of corn starch to thicken the sauce.  This will ensure you don't end up with lumps of starch in your sauce.  When the slurry is smooth, add it back into the sauce pot.

Glaze the ribs with the sauce and serve!  I placed the short rib on top of roasted yams pureed with ginger, and topped with pickled jalapenos.

Ingredients:
8 short ribs
1 sliced large onion
1 sliced red pepper
2 sliced jalapenos

~2T of corn starch to add to the teriyaki sauce after braising

Teriyaki Braise Sauce
2T sesame oil
5 few garlic cloves
2 inchs ginger, diced
2 birdseye chiles
2 cups soy sauce
dash of rice wine vinegar
1.5 cups brown sugar (to taste)
a few T of sriracha if desired

Song:  Dizzle Beatz - Frankie Krupnik

Smoked Beef Brisket Sandwich - Leftovers [Zack]

A brisket is a huge hunk of meat to smoke.  Therefore, you'll probably end up with some leftovers.  Instead of just chucking it into your next batch of smoked beans, why not make a nice sandwich?

Ingredients:
Sliced smoked beef brisket
Slaw (shredded cabbage, greek yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, other veggies)
Dijon mustard
Swiss Cheese
Toasted bread

Song: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Funky Monks

Smoked Beef Brisket Texas Style [Zack]

Aaron Franklin is a BBQ God.  People wait outside of his restaurant for 4+ hours, sitting in lawn chairs and tailgating the line.  He has his own PBS show and youtube channel.  I love how he keeps things simple, with both the recipe and the explanations of "why".  He's not one to do things the easy way, but if you own a smoker, I doubt you like shortcuts either.

This was the first time I've smoked a brisket and it turned out amazingly.  I used Aaron's recipe and it was great.  I'm a new user of the Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5" and I must say they've designed these smokers perfectly.  The heat source, water bowl, and meat are vertically aligned so everything cooks evenly and doesn't dry out easily.  I didn't have to wrap or spray this badboy with anything.  And it's super easy to maintain a constant temperature with a low amount of fuel.  I got by with 1/3 a bag of Kingsford and a few hickory wood chunks in the 10.5 hours of smoking.

Process:

Really, it's best to just watch Aaron Franklin on youtube, but I'll give you the high-level.



Pre-heat your smoker to 225F.  I lugged myself out of bed at 5am to do so.  Organize your coals using the "minion method".  This means pour unlit coals into the smoker, organize some wood chunks around the outside, and make a volcano cavity.  Pour about 12 light briquettes into the center.  The coals will slowly light from top to bottom over time, and will therefore keep the temperature constant.

Rub a brisket with a 50/50 mix of salt and freshly crack black peppercorns.  Season liberally so you have a nice bark in the end.  Place the brisket on the smoker once hits an even 225F, making sure you have a water pan to keep everything moist.

Smoke the brisket for about 10.5 hours (for 8.5lbs, times will vary).  Pull the brisket once the internal temperature reaches 190F.  Note, the temperature will "stall" at around 170F for multiple hours.  I hit 170F at around 2.5 hours and it didn't exceed 174F until about 9 hours into the smoke.

Keep that temperature constant and check the meat as infrequently as possible.  I added some home-cured bacon and homemade BBQ beans on the top rack to keep things interesting.

 

Once the beef reaches 190F, pull it off the smoker and wrap it in foil.  Let it rest for around 1 hour.

Slice it against the grain.  The grain switches about halfway through.  Again, just watch Aaron explain it.

Fend off everyone until you are finished with your presentation.  They will be dying for scraps.

Ingredients:
8.5lb of beef brisket (trimmed)
salt
black pepercorns, cracked with a mortar and pestle
however many beers you may need to stare at a smoker for ~10.5 hours

Song: Maya Payne - If Only