Centex gettin' weird with the pig parts

trying to break my old forum habits and post here a little more. Love the diversity here but don't contribute as much as I would like too. I'll try to get on board a little more.

So this T-Day we we traveled to my sister's farm/ranch/lake house and were given the responsibility of breakfast and a few desserts for the big day. Our traditional holiday breakfast is ham and jalapeno cheese grits............... @#!*% skippy.

Since we weren't doing the main event this year, we decided to get nuts with the breakfast foods and blow some minds in the process.

TFJ (The Fabulous Janell) and I cured a 15lb fresh ham for 7 days then smoked it 7 hours over apple on the LGBE with a maple/mustard/garlic glaze. Absolutely unreal. It blew everything else away for the day (except for the grits- always the best thing on the table for me)

We also cured and smoked 8lbs of belly into some ethereal bacon in sweet and savory profiles (maple for the sweet and garlic/bay leaf for the savory).

Then my niece shot a nice 8 point so I chicken fried the back strap and served it up with some eggs and the bacon on Friday.

so here's the evidence:

Harbormaster said:

My mouth watered at the thought of chicken-fried back strap. I bet that kicked a$$.

Everything else sounds outrageously good too!

Click to expand...

It was great. The meat was super fresh and not gamey at all. They have been eating very well out of all the feeders so the meat was awesome.

My neice thought it was cool to share her deer with the family. Pretty cool.

Yendor said:

Chicken fried venison!!! Yes, I forgot all about that. My auntie in Dallas had made me some years ago. My FIL just handed over some venison steaks and now I know what I am doing with them. Everything looks delicious there.

Click to expand...

Thanks. These were just salt and pepper then dipped in egg/flour/egg/flour (double dipped). It was really easy and tasted great.

Wampus said:

SCHWEET!


Tell me more about this ham.....I have a big fresh ham I plan to cure and smoke for Christmas. Is there a specific recipe you used for yours?

Click to expand...

Yeah. I'll post it for you. It was amazing. I got it from the book "Charcuterie: The craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Awesome book. That's where the bacon came from too. Everything I've done out of that book has been the best thing I've ever had. Highly recommend the book.

Here is the ham:

American Style Brown Sugar Glazed Holiday Ham

The Brine:

1 gallon water
1-1/2 cups Kosher Salt
2 Packed cups dark brown sugar
1-1/2 ounces of pink salt (Sodium Nitrite)
One 12-15lb with skin and Aitch Bone removed

The Glaze:

1-1/2 cups of dark brown sugar
3/4 cups dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of mince Garlic

Recipe:

Combine all the brine ingredients in a container large enough to hold the ham. Stir to dissolve all the salt and sugar.
Submerge ham in the brine. Weight it down if necessary to keep it fully submerged for 6-8 days (half a day per lb)
Remove ham and rinse thoroughly under cool water. pat dry and place on rack and refrigerate for 12-24 hours to dry.
Smoke the ham at 200 for 2 hours (I used apple and it was awesome)
Meanwhile, mix the brown sugar, Dijon, and garlic in a bowl until smooth. Brush the ham and reserve the remainder.
Continue to smoke the ham at 200 until it reaches internal temp of 155 (4-5 more hours for me)
remove the ham and brush with remaining glaze.
Refrigerate or eat warm right off the pit. We reheated ours and it was unreal. best ham I've ever had and all 20 people that had it agreed. It was destroyed in minutes.

Enjoy