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mrssavageangel

First time mother just trying to figure out where to go from here.

barbecue

Southern Style Slow Cooked BBQ – in your own back garden

09/05/2016 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

This last weekend was just superb weather. A bit of sunshine can make all the difference to how everything feels. And with the good weather should always come BBQ. I love barbecued food and would eat it every day if I could. Two years ago we bought a proper beast of a grill. None of this gas fired nonsense. A proper coal barbecue with (cos we’re fancy like that) an offset smoker. We loved the idea of getting a hunk of meat and slow cooking it the way they do in the Deep South, ’til it’s charred on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside.

I won’t lie, it’s not as simple to do as turning on a slow cooker and leaving it. It takes quite a bit of looking after, but both times we’ve done it it’s been simply amazing! When I posted the pictures of last night’s dinner so many people asked how we did it I thought I’d try and explain here.


So I’m sure there are a hundred different ways to slow BBQ but we use an offset smoker barbecue. The idea is that the coals sit in that little attachment at the side. There’s a vent through to the main body of the BBQ and the heat, and the smoke from the wood chips, is pushed through, keeping the BBQ at a constant temperature over an extended period.

Once the coals have heated the drum up to around 200 degrees F, we add a couple of handfuls of hickory wood chips (soaked in water for at least an hour beforehand), and the smoker is ready to start slow cooking.

You can smoke almost anything, but I’ve only ever done Beef, brisket to be precise, so that’s what I’ll explain here

Slow Barbecued Brisket

Get the meat out of the fridge to warm up to room temp at least an hour before cooking. You can flavour it however you like. I’ve tried premade rubs, but yesterday I used my own mixture and it was bloody lovely. I coated the meat generously just before putting it on the BBQ. I didn’t do it sooner as the rub had salt in it and I didn’t want it to draw out too much moisture. I used:

  • 1tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 or 1tsp smoked paprika (depending on the strength of your preferred brand)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds slightly bashed to release the flavour
  • Sea salt to taste


Once the meat is happily coated, place it on the grill, with any fat facing up. We coat the base of the drum in foil like this, as the meat drips as it cooks and it’d be a bugger to clean if we didn’t!

Then close the lid. And keep it closed! The hardest part is not opening it to check the meat, but seriously, every time you open it you’ll lose heat and slow barbecuing is all about consistent temperature (in our case of around 200 degrees F or 120 degrees C). To achieve this you need to top up the coals in the smoker every hour, or hour and a half, of cooking. And the first three times you do that you should also add another handful or so of the soaked wood chips. Then let it do its thing, while you relax in the garden!

How long it takes to cook will depend on the size of your piece of meat, but I reckon you’re looking at anything from four to eight hours. This size took about six hours and a smaller piece we did about five.

When you think it’s done, it needs to come off the grill and rest. Honestly, if you don’t let it rest you won’t get the melting texture inside. To keep it warm, we double wrapped ours in foil and then wrapped that in a tea towel. Again, resting time will depend, but we left it for at least half an hour and it was fine.


When it’s rested, slice it as you would a roast and tuck the hell in!

Last night’s dinner was BBQ brisket with balsamic dressed leaves and chilli swede chips. Yep you heard right; SWEDE chips. Someone suggested them at Slimming World last week, so I thought I’d give them a go and I can’t believe I’ve not done them before!

Chilli Swede Chips

Peel a raw swede, cut into thick slices and then cut into chips. Spray a oven tray with Frylight and add the chips. Spray again with Frylight, sprinkle with sea salt and dust with chilli powder (if you like chilli, omit if you don’t). Whack them in the oven at gas mark 9, 240 degrees C for 45 minutes, turning once or twice in the process. And voilà. Delicious, low carb (if you’re interested in that) chips. Perfect for an Extra Easy SP day.

So there you go. I’m not suggesting everyone run out and buy a smoker, but if you are interested in slow barbecuing with a standard BBQ a quick Google will come up with loads of suggestions of how to do it. I particularly liked this one. But if you’re in the market for a new BBQ, and fancy having a go at slow cooking, maybe consider one with a smoking function.

Can’t wait until the weather’s good enough to do it again. Hmmm, what to slow cook next do you reckon?

Filed Under: Food, Personal Tagged With: barbecue, BBQ, beef, healthy eating, low fat, Offset smoker, receipe, Slimming World, slow cooked, Southern style, swede chips

Our Favourite Five – July

05/08/2015 by MrsSavageAngel Leave a Comment

Its that time again and I’m joining in fellow Surrey mummy Suburban Mum‘s link up Our Favourite Five. The idea is to look back over your family’s month and pick out five things you’ve enjoyed. Here’s my five for July.

Magnificent Stanley

I came across children’s clothing company Magnificent Stanley over a year ago. Becky specialises in handmade, customised items, using the most gorgeous Liberty fabric. I first bought from her last summer, when I ordered a tshirt and baby vest, in matching fabric, for Oscar’s friend Isabelle and her new baby sister Mollie. I loved them so such I knew I was going to have to get one for Oscar one day. It took me a while, but last month Becky introduced some new fabric. Coupled with the summer yellow tshirt, I just knew the time was right. And what a result! How gorgeous does he look in this Yellow T-shirt/JennyFan combo? He’s received so many compliments when wearing it . His teacher even told me it was her favourite tshirt! Praise indeed.

The shirt in its first outing, before it got covered in chocolate ice cream! FYI it's washed up brilliantly!
The shirt in its first outing, before it got covered in chocolate ice cream! FYI it’s washed up brilliantly!
My happy boy in his Magnificent Stanley original.
My happy boy in his Magnificent Stanley original.

MasterChef

While only the celeb version, I was still thrilled to have MC back on our screens. It’s the one thing we always make a point to watch on real TV these days (we sometimes even watch it while it’s being broadcast! I know right?!) I don’t know why we love it so much, but I think it’s something to do with the inner judge in me. Ben and I have become worse than Michelin Inspectors over the years and I can tell you now, I know whether a piece of meat is under or over just by looking at it! This series we both developed a grudging love of Rylan and were sad he didn’t win. You’ve got to hand it to Kimberly though. She started the programme with a 15 WEEK OLD BABY! When Oscar was that age I was still surviving on toast. Literally!

Kimberly Wyatt - Winner of Celebrity Masterchef 2015
Kimberly Wyatt – Winner of Celebrity Masterchef 2015

HappyBox

Towards the end of July, I really wasn’t very well. Nothing serious, I just felt rough. And down. It happens, but it’s not fun. My buddy Bethany came over to see me while I was feeling particularly rubbish. I thought I was holding it together pretty well, but I guess I wasn’t. Because the next day the most amazing gift arrived.

image

It was a Happy Box, from the company of the same name. I’d never heard of them, but boy, what a gift. A gorgeous box, filled with little trinkets to cheer the soul. In mine was a trio of body creams, a set of Beefayre candles and a bracelet I’ve worn every day since. Totally unexpected and totally adored. Thank you Bethany and thank you HappyBox for helping me out of the dumps!

I smell look and feel beautiful. What else could you need to make you Happy?
I smell, look and feel beautiful. What else could you need to make you Happy?

Barbecues

July has truly been the month of Barbecuing for us. We started the month we our very first July 4th cookout, held for our American buddy and her family. It was AWESOME. The food was great (you can read about my Layered Flag Dip here), we had some amazing American beer (Brooklyn Brewery Summer Ale was my favourite) and the weather couldn’t have been any kinder. We sat and talked and ate and drank all afternoon. Oh and the children had fun too (I assume 😉 ). I would happily do that every year!

All the food and the flags! U.S.A. U.S.A ;)
All the food and all the flags! U.S.A. U.S.A ???

As well as hosting our own BBQs, we also went to several hosted by other people. What is it about cooking outside that brings people together? We had an awesome time towards the end of July, when we went to a BBQ held in honour of some old friends who were visiting from the US, where they now live. It was great to catch up with everyone and particularly lovely to see Lou, Noel and Leia.

Super fun get together
Super fun get together
Ahhhh friends.
Ahhhh friends….
Bringing people together. With alcohol ?
…friends with alcohol ?

John Mayer

OK, this is mine alone. I don’t have a favourite kind of music. I’ll listen to a fairly eclectic mix and it mostly depends what mood I’m in. Thank god for Spotify right? Any who, I recently heard an old tune of John Mayer’s a couple of times in various places and ended up looking it up. And fell a little bit in love. I don’t know much about him, other than he seems to go through women like socks. But I can’t stop listening to his music. Does anyone else like him? Any recommendations of further listening gratefully received.

It's his music I love. Honestly!
It’s his music I love. Honestly!

What did you enjoy in July? I’d love to know.

 

I was not paid to endorse any of these brands. I paid for Oscar’s tshirt myself and the HappyBox was a gift from a friend. I just like sharing the things I love.

Wave to Mummy

Filed Under: Family, Linky, Personal Tagged With: barbecue, BBQ, friends, happybox, john mayer, magnificent stanley, masterchef, OurFavouriteFive, television

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