Smoked Turkey Recipe

I wrote this recipe up to share and thought I should archive it here as I'm sure I'll use this recipe in the future.  Let me know if you have any questions on the recipe.

Smoked Turkey

Brine

The day before, I did a dry brine. Add various seasonings to a base of sea salt. I took about 1/2 cup of sea salt, and added thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, pepper, and some chicken grill seasoning I had nearby.

Apply brine - Loosen up the skin and rub under the skin, in the cavity and all around the outer skin of the turkey. Wrap it up in plastic and let it sit for a full 24 hours if possible.

Spatchcock

This isn’t necessary, but they say if you’re able to cook the turkey a little flatter, it cooks more evenly. You basically flip the turkey over, breast side down and cut the backbone out of the turkey. I used scissors but had to use a knife on some of it. Here's the video I watched to learn how to do it.

After the backbone is out you flip over and pretend you’re doing CPR on the turkey and crush the breast bone in. Brutal.

Room temp

Take the turkey out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you cook it and let it get to room temp. This really helps get the turkey cooking faster.

Optional butter infuse

A little trick I did just before putting the turkey in the smoker - I melted a stick of butter and injected it into the turkey using one of those turkey syringe.

Wood chips

I used dry Apple wood chips and I continued adding them a little at a time for the first 2 hours. I've read that Apple or Cherry work the best with poultry. Some say hickory can give poultry a strong smoke taste, but I'm sure it would taste just fine.

Done temperature

Watch the internal temp of the breast like a hawk. I have a wireless digital thermometer (link) that I keep a close eye on. When it starts to get to around 160, take the temp in different areas of the breasts to make sure you’re on target. 

Rest for 20 min.

Before you do anything, rest the turkey for 20 minutes.

 Carve and eat!

Keto Scotch Eggs

I’ve been on a low carb/keto kick for the past few years. This year I’ve been more strict with cutting out carbs/sugar and seeing great results.

I tried a couple different recipes for Scotch Eggs and decided this version is the best. I had made this crust for chicken a week before, and thought it would be good to try on the scotch eggs. It turned out perfect!

Ingredients: 

1 tube of ground pork sausage (any flavor will do)
1 dozen eggs (7-9 eggs should do it)
1/2 bag of pork rinds
Fine grated parmasan cheese
1 (non boiled) egg

Breading recipe:

Dump a half of a bag of regular flavored pork rinds into a large freezer zip lock bag. Close up bag and roll out with a rolling pin crushing the pork rinds to a fine powder. Add 1 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese. Mix.

Boil eggs, shell. One tube of sausage should cover at least 7-9 eggs. Roll sausage into small balls to use to cover the eggs. The sausage should just barely cover the eggs without the egg showing. Doesn’t need to be a thick coating of sausage.

Once the eggs are all covered:

• Preheat the oven to 400º
• Spray a pan with non stick spray
• Get a bowl out and scramble 1 egg in the bowl
• Dump some of the breading onto a paper plate
• Roll the sausage/egg in the egg to coat the outside of it, then roll around in the breading on the plate.  • Place the sausage/egg onto the pan. Repeat!
• Place the sausage/eggs into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. The Scotch Eggs are done when they appear brown and firm.

Roast leg of lamb recipe

First time making lamb over the holidays and it turned out great. Saving the recipe for future reference.

Make lamb room temp 1-2 hours out 

Use meat thermometer 

In a small bowl, combine garlic, rosemary, and pepper. Add olive oil and lemon juice. Mix until all ingredients are combine

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Sear the lamb roast for 15 minutes at the higher oven temperature (450 degrees F.), then turn the oven to the lower temperature (325 degrees F.) for the rest of the cooking time. Do Not Cover the roast.

Insert meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of lamb (not resting in fat). Cook until the lamb roast reaches an internal temperature of 120 degrees F. Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit approximately 15 to 20  minutes.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Lamb/Roast_Boneless-LegLamb.htm

One year #RunStreak - Day 365

Today marks one year of stepping outside every day to go for a run. 365 days of running!

While it sounds crazy, try searching (hashtag) #runstreak on Twitter.  You'll find runners that have over 1,000 days of running under their belt.

What is a run streak?  Basically, running every single day.  Everyone creates their own rules.  My rules were pretty simple.  Run every morning, 7 days a week, 30-40 miles.  Saturdays were reserved for long runs, 10 miles plus.

Most weeks, the day after my long run was my 3 mile short run.  Once or twice a month I did a 2 miler, mainly the day after a long run.

I run quite a bit, so this was kind of a natural transition.  I already ran 6 days a week most of the time, I just basically eliminated the rest day.

I planned on writing up stories of the 1,500 + miles I ran this past year, like the various elements I ran through, the time a city snow plow driver told me to go home as it was the biggest snow storm of the year (thank you sir, but I had 7 miles to run, besides, I was on the sidewalk), the time I fell flat on my back on snow covered ice, the time I fought off two dogs with a stick, the amazing scenery I saw, the roadkill I jumped over, the one time of the streak I was sick with a fever/sinus infection and ran 15 miles, etc.  But, having time to sit down to write these days is tough, so I'll keep this brief.

Sappy motivational speech:  People ask what has kept me motivated me to run every day.  I thought about it this week, and it's not really motivation, it's the elimination of excuses.  Once I decided nothing was going to keep me from running daily, I had no reason to not go out and run.  Weather, sickness, soreness, tiredness, etc., I set it all aside.

What's next?  I plan to keep the streak going.  500 would be a nice number to strive for next!

Old dudes party

Yep. I'm a goofball and GW has some sweet dance moves.

Google motion photo

Yet another reason I love Google products.  They continue to make basic utilities even better. I've been wanting to try this out for a while, so yesterday at the Lagrange St. Polish Festival in Toledo, OH, I had the good camera.  You'll notice I strategically shot a series of photos of a girl walking into a porta-potty.  Oh yeah, the kids on the ride too..  :)  

New bike, 32 miles

I've been wanting to dabble in bike riding for a while now.  I rode bikes all growing up, and thinking back, we didn't just peddle around the neighborhood, we rode for miles and miles daily.  We didn't think much of it, we were kids and had endless amounts of energy.

While I don't have endless amounts of energy these days, I do try and keep active.  I run daily, and chase after a couple kids, which I think sometimes can be harder than running a few miles.  :)
For my 38th birthday, I bought a bike.  I went back and forth for a while, considering a cheap bike, but I know how I like to overdue every activity I dive into, and figured I might as well go big.

I went to Jack's Bicycle Shop in Monroe, MI.  After explaining to the salesman what I intended to use the bike for, he showed me a few models.  I really liked the Specialized Sirrus.  I took it for a ride and was in love.  I couldn't believe how incredibly light the bike was, how smooth it rode and shifted.   I gave it a few days, but knew right away that was it.
The first real ride I did was out to a local restaurant about 8 miles away.  A friend and I biked down to the Sand Bar in LaSalle, MI.  We took a different route back, and ended up riding a total of 18-19 miles.
I decided earlier this week I wanted to go for a little longer ride to see what it was like.   I shortened my normal Saturday morning long run to 3 miles.  I grabbed my new water bottle a couple granola bars and headed out.
I initially planned on just riding for an hour south, and seeing how far I ended up.  The wind was at my back so I was feeling pretty good.  I was keeping a 15-16 mph avg. pace.  I pulled out my phone and saw on Google Maps that I wasn't far from Ohio, so I went for it.
Around the 14 mile mark I hit something on the side of the road.  It sounded like a piece of steel or something.  I figured if my tire went flat, my bike would come to a stop, so I just kept riding, hoping they would stay inflated.
I made it to Ohio in just over an hour.  I took a 10 minute break, ate my granola bars, drank some water, hopped back on the bike and headed north.
I noticed right away the wind was against me.  I realized then how I rode so fast for 16 miles.
The ride home was rough.  It was difficult to hold a fast pace with the wind against me.  A few times the road was curvy, I was able to pick up speed but other than that, I slowed down quite a bit.
On the final mile home, I glanced down and noticed my rear tire looked low.  The bike was riding fine though, at least it seemed like it was.
I made it home. I was pretty exhausted, and despite drinking water the whole time, I felt dehydrated.
The first thing I did was hop off the bike and check the the rear tire.  It was completely flat.  I was puzzled, because the bike was riding pretty solid, I had no clue it was flat.  I am hoping I didn't ride on it for too long flat like that, but everything seems to be ok, just a flat rear tire.

Anyhow, for my first long ride it was decent.  Cars were good to me, I saw quite a few other bikers out, tons of stinky road kill and I think I got a little sun.   Before my next long solo trip, I'm going to purchase some more gear ...  a tire kit and pump is next on the list!

Total ride: 32.87 miles

Here's a map of the route:


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