Shepherd's Pie is a tasty and very easy dish to put together. It is very rich and fits perfectly on cold winter evenings. ​In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top. And that is exactly how we will make it in this recipe using leftover Smoked brisket. You can easily switch out the brisket with ground beef, tri-tip or even turkey.

Start by cutting the onion and the carrots in to same sized cubes. The smaller you make them, the better they will mix in the pie. Try to make them the same size as the peas.

Chop the brisket into small cubes as well. If the brisket has good texture when you smoked it, it will come apart very easily during the cook. If the brisket is tough, you might want to pre-cook it until it is tender. Slice the chives and set aside for use later.

​Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2-inch dice. Place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Mix the grated cheese and horseradish and set aside. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Place the butter into a microwave-safe container and heat in the microwave until warmed through, about 35 seconds. Drain the potatoes and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the butter, salt and pepper, cheddar/horseradish mix  and continue to mash until smooth. 

​While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into a pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the BBQ Sauce and the Beef gravy and stir to combine. Add the brisket, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 4-5 minutes. Finally, add the green peas and cook until hot.

Butter an over-proof baking dish and ​spread the brisket mix evenly on the bottom. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Set in oven on broil. 

Broil on high until browned. Sprinkle chives on top. Serve immediately. Like I said, a very easy but very tasty dish to put together. If you like, you can also add some garlic, corn, or bell peppers. Start experimenting - soon you will have your own favorite mix. Until then, enjoy mine!! Bon Appetit!!  

Winter time is chili time. When the tempretaure are creeping downwards, few things are as rewarding as enjoying a rich, flavorful, chili with some bite. I like chili without beans and my favorite recipe is one, cooked using smoked brisket. For a good smoked brisket recipe, check out my recipe on this site, you will find it in the beef section of this blog.

Start by finely chop the onion and the garlic and set aside. De-seed and finely chop the green peppers as well and then set aside for later use. Cut these Brunoise which is a fine dice measuring 4mm x 4mm x 4mm, or 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8 inches.If you use fresh tomatoes, remove skin and seeds and chop thoroughly as well.

Next step is roasting the chilis. You have flexibility in the recipe for this step, add more jalapenos and less habaneros for a less spicy version. Roast the chilis over high heat for a couple of minutes, until the exterior is getting charred. Drop chilis in icewater - remove the skin and carefully remove the seeds. I recommend wearing rubber gloves when doing this, especially when you wear contacts. Some of you will know what I mean. Cut the chili into bruniose as well.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, preferably a cast-iron pan, and quickly brown garlic, onions and garlic. Dont overdo it, you just want them slighly browned. Mix in the crushed tomatoes and heat up. Add roasted chilis and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add the porter and let the pan simmer for 30 minutes. While it simmers, finely chop the brisket. This is worth doing thoroughly, the finer the dice, the better texture in the final chili. Take your time. When done, pour into the chili and stir.

Add some salt, pepper and other spices but don't overdo it. It is better to add some gradually for when you are getting a better sense of the flavor of the chili. The chili will now simmer for 5-6 hours and during this timeperiod the chili will get richer, and more flavorful so add spices in moderation. You will also see the it will slighly darken during the cook as well (see pictures above).
​When you feel that you have the right depth, flavor and texture, remove from the stove and serve. Chili is one of those dishes that tastes even better the day after, so dont be afraid to cook a day or two in advance, and heat up when time to serve. Serve with crackers and if you like some added texture, finely choppped oinions, shredded cheese and soem sour cream.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
Turkey
Butter 2 lbs
​Chicken Broth 1 Litre
​Oakridge Gamechanger All Purpose Brine
​Favorite Poultry rub -  Butt Kick'n Chicken BBQ Seasoning
​Cheesecloths

A smoked turkey is delicios and a wonderful way of celebrating thanksgiving. Normally I am not fond of turkey, it doesnt have a lot of flavors and you have to serve it with some great gravy or stuffing to make it come alive flavorwise. However, when you smoke it - magic happens. Suddenly, the bird transforms and the rich, juicy white meat has a smoky texture that really elevates the flavor. So how do you reach that smoky flavor without drying out the meat? I have found that you can achieve greatness in two ways. Either spatchcock and cook fast - or wrap the bird in cheesecloth and butter baste throughout the cook (which we will do in this recipe). 

For the best smoked turkey, start with one that’s fresh and minimally processed. Freezing causes cells in the flesh to rupture. When thawed, some of the juices drain out and are lost.
​Start preparing the turkey first. Remove the giblets and the neck from the body cavity and the neck cavity of the bird. Rinse the turkey in cold, running water, making sure to clean the body cavity as well as the outside surfaces. You also want to make sure that remove any excess fat from the edges of the skin but still leave as much of the skin on the bird as possible. It protects the meat from drying as it smokes.  You can also separate the skin from the breast. Doing this allows the brine to reach the breast meat. Next start preparing the brine. I use Oakridge Gamechanger, and you just mix the brine with water.

​MAke sure that the brine is completely dissolved in the water. Place the turkey into the brine. I place it into the brine "head first". If it goes in "feet first", air may become trapped in the body cavity. The brine has to contact every part of the turkey, inside and out. Depending on the size of the turkey, brining can take from 8-24 hours. A ten pound turkey needs about 8 hours in the brine. A fourteen pound bird will need about 12 hours. I just left the bird in the brine overnight. You can overbrine a turkey but if you go a couple of hours over time , it is not an issue. When you have finished brining the turkey, make sure that you wash the bird thoroughly. You want to make sure that all the brine is gone from the cavities.  Next step is optional. For the perfect texture and flavor, let the turkey rest uncovered in the refrigerator for another twelve to twenty four hours. This gives the salt and brine flavorings time to distribute evenly throughout the turkey.

Next we season the turkey. I use Butt Kick'n Chicken BBQ Seasoning, but any of your favorite poultry seasoning will do,
The trick to seasoning a brined turkey is to get the flavors under the skin. Carefully lift the skin and coat the meat with some of the wet rub. Try to completely cover the exposed flesh. Pull the skin back into place after you've seasoned the bird.
Season the outer surface of the turkey with the remaining wet rub. Get into all the nooks and crannies…under the wings and legs. Next, flavor up the inside of the turkey with dry spices. It is now ready for the next step - the cheese cloth wrap.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and when melted add chicken broth. Next, wrap the turkey in cheesecloth. Make sure that you have two layers of cloth covering the whole turkey. It will help keeping the butter on the bird but also prevents burning. Before you add the turkey to the smoker, make sure you baste it all over. Prepare the smoker at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. I use cherry and apple when smoking turkey. The apple gives great flavor and cherry adds a nice color to the bird.Use two or three fist sized chunks, spaced throughout the session…you don't want it to be overpowered with smoke flavor.

Baste the turkey every 30 minutes or so, make sure that you really drench it in butter. The length of the smoke is dependent on the size of the turkey, and normally, it will need to smoke from 30 to 40 minutes per pound. I would, however, rather trust the interior tempretaure measured through the breast - not the length of the cook. 

When the turkey reaches around 140 degrees Fahrenheit, I recommend taking it out, rmove the cheesecloth and sprinkle a second layer of rub. During the smoke so far the butter basting and the cheesecloth will have removed the majority of the rub and I personally thinks the turkey looks too "naked" without another sprinkle of rub. Continue cooking until interior temperature in the breast reaches 160 degrees, remove the turkey from the smoker and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. After the rest, slice and serve!!