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Tasso Ham is a classic New Orleans ingredient, and Chef Tom takes us step-by-step through the preparation process.

How to Make Tasso Ham

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Ingredients

• 5 lb Boston butt pork shoulder (preferably boneless)


• 8 oz kosher salt


• 4 oz white sugar


• 1/2 oz (15 g) LEM Backwoods Cure (pink curing salt)


• 1/4 cup white pepper


• 1/4 cup cayenne pepper


• 2 tbsp dried marjoram


• 2 tbsp ground allspice


• 2 tbsp granulated garlic


• 2 tbsp dried thyme

Instructions

Slice the pork butt into 1” thick steaks.

Combine the kosher salt, white sugar, and LEM Cure in a large flat container. Mix well. Dredge the pork steaks in the dry cure, pressing the pork into the cure to coat all surfaces. Shake excess cure off the pork and place in a clean container. Cure the pork in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Rinse the cure off of the pork with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the remaining seasonings in a bowl and mix well. Season all surfaces of the pork steak with the seasoning mixture.

Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 Pellet Grill to 225ºF, set up for indirect grilling/smoking.

Place the pork steaks on the second shelf of the grill and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150ºF, about 2 hours. Remove from the grill.

The pork can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks, and in the freezer for up to three months.

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You might think turkey stock is limited in uses, made only as a base for gravy, or saved for the traditional Thanksgiving leftovers “go-to” meal – turkey noodle soup.



Contrary to popular belief, turkey stock can add the perfect punch of savory flavor to your stuffing, rice dishes, gumbo, even turkey salad sandwiches. Make this stock in advance and freeze it for when you need it. Use an ice cube tray and freezer bags to make “flavor bombs” to drop in any dish needing a boost. The possibilities are plenty for this hearty stock recipe.

Turkey Stock from Scratch

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Ingredients

• 1 turkey neck


• 1 turkey back bone


• 1 large yellow onion, diced


• 2 carrots, diced


• 2 stalks celery, diced


• 1 bunch parsley stems


• 4 sprigs thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• 2 tbsp black peppercorns

Instructions

Cut the backbone into three pieces. Preheat a stock pot over high heat. Put a couple of tablespoons of oil in the stockpot. Sear the neck and backbone pieces in the hot oil, turning until browned on all sides. Remove from the pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery.

Cook until all the fond, browned bits on the bottom of the pot are released from the pot. Add the neck and backbone back to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients. Cover with one gallon of cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer.

Cook until reduced by half. On a low enough heat setting, this can be done overnight.

Strain the stock with a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a bowl or other container.

Discard the solids. Let the stock cool then remove the fat from the surface.

Do this the night before your dinner and it will make your house smell wonderful.

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The Thanksgiving meal isn’t complete without a sweet treat, and the dessert that always gets the holiday nod is pie.



Whether your pie flavor of choice is the fall favorite pumpkin or the traditional apple, you’ll want a pie crust with just the right amount of flake.  And the best base comes from crusts made from scratch. Don’t fret - we take the guesswork out of crafting pie crusts with this hearty dough recipe.

Pie Crust Dough

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Ingredients

• 18 oz (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, frozen


• 28 oz pastry flour


• 4 1/2 oz sugar


• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt


• 4 eggs


• 1 1/2 oz (3 tbsp) cold water


• 1 egg white, beaten

Instructions

To make the pie crust dough, combine the dry ingredients in a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the butter. Mix on low until the butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces.

Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until each egg is incorporated before adding the next.

After the eggs are incorporated, add the cold water. Mix just until the dough comes together.

Turn out onto a floured work surface. Press into a one-inch thick rectangle, without working the dough much.

Wrap in plastic. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Divide in half. Freeze half for later use. Roll out the other half to 12” diameter.

Place flattened dough in a greased pie dish by gently lifting the edges of the dough and pressing it down into the plate corners. Trim off excess and fold under 1” border under to form a hearty crust. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

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There are many ways to prepare and cook a turkey for the holidays from roasting whole to cutting into quarters and cooking separately.

In the end, most methods work well enough. In our journey to find the best way to prepare a turkey, we have tried it all. We always come back to the method that produces great results every time – spatchcock the turkey and smoke it. This is the method we recommend over any other when cooking a bird.



By removing the backbone and cooking the bird flat in “butterfly” form (spatchcock), it allows the breasts and thighs/legs to cook at the most even rate. It also allows you to brown twice as much surface area. Browning adds flavor, and flavor is good. You’ll see and taste why we recommend this spatchcock method over any other. Here’s the run-down:

1. Pull the giblets and the turkey neck from the inside of the bird. Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat it dry (both on top of and under the skin) with paper towels. This will make the turkey easier to grip. Placing a dry towel on a cutting board will prevent the bird from slipping as you cut out the backbone while collecting any juices that would otherwise spill onto your table.


2. To take the backbone out, place the bird breast side down. Cut along both sides of the backbone with good poultry shears, from one opening of the cavity to the other. Start at the back of the turkey and work your way up one side of the backbone. Cut until you reach the neck. Take the time now to try and remove all the rib bones from the turkey. This will ensure easier carving and make serving much easier once the bird is cooked. Repeat this for the left side, again making sure you remove rib bones and other loose bones as you go. Save the backbone for making turkey stock or flavoring gravy.


3. Turn the turkey over, place both hands on the breast and push down to crack part of the keel bone and portions of the shoulder joints and ribs. This may take some muscle, but it is an extremely important step as this will allow the bird to lay flat, giving you a more even area to prepare and cook.


4. Use a brine or injection before cooking. This will help keep the meat moist and flavorful. Injecting is a quick way to get flavor distributed throughout your meat. It can be used with any of the cooking/preparation methods discussed above. Simply use a marinade injector, such as the Broil King Marinade Injector, to inject your desired marinade. We recommend John Henry’s Pecan Marinade Injection for his technique. It adds a wonderful nutty sweetness to the flavor profile.


5. Use a rub to add flavor. Be sure to pull the skin away from the meat, but leave it attached. Season the meat under the skin for maximum flavor absorption, then return the skin and add additional rub. If you’re going for a more classic savory flavor profile, use a rub like Cattleman's Grill Ranchero or Oakridge BBQ Santa Maria. If you’re looking for a sweeter rub, say to pair with John Henry’s Pecan Injection, look no further than John Henry’s Pecan Rub. Finally our staff favorite for holiday turkey year in and year out continues to be Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub. This rub continues to impress all who taste it with its balance of sweet and savory.


6. Lay the bird flat on a foil lined sheet pan. Cooking it on a pan will allow you to keep all the delicious juices, which you can later incorporate back into the meat, or use in gravy.


7. At 325ºF, a 15-pound turkey will take about 2-2.5 hours to cook. The smaller the bird, the less time. If you wish to smoke the bird, you can cook at a much lower temperature, say 225ºF. Just remember, the lower the temperature, the longer the cook time. Poultry takes on smoke quicker and easier than other meats, therefore cooking at 325ºF will impart plenty of smoky flavor. Cook the turkey until all the meat has reached an internal temperature of 165ºF. This is your magic number. It is likely that the legs will cook a bit faster than the breasts. That is fine. However, do NOT cook the breasts past 165ºF. A thermometer will make or break your Thanksgiving turkey. We recommend using an instant read thermometer like the Maverick PT-75


8. The thighs will separate from the rest of the body very easily. No hunting for the thigh joint, like with a whole cooked turkey. This meat should pull away from the bones with ease, as well. Look out for bones and tendons hiding in the leg meat. The breasts can either be sliced intact or removed from the breast bone, separated from wings, and sliced to serve. For the wings, remove the skin and pull that meat, like you did with the legs/thighs.


9. Until you’re ready to serve, store the pulled and sliced meat in a pan with the rendered juices while cooking.

Brining is the process of submerging meat in a salt solution, often in combination with other flavoring agents (herbs, chili, aromatics), to give your meat its best shot at staying moist while cooking. With brines, you'll want to marinate the whole bird/spatchcocked bird at least a couple of hours, but for more flavor leave it in the brine solution overnight.

Each brine product will recommend different brining times. There are powder based brines that require you to mix them with water such as Oakridge BBQ Game Changer. This balanced brine is not as salty as most brines and gives you that perfect infusion of both flavor and moisture. Mad Hunky’s Poultry Brine is a more savory choice. Accented with herbs, spices and honey, this brine will give your turkey the moisture it needs and the classic holiday turkey flavor you love. Another great powder based brine is The Briner Classic Brine. The name says it all. It’s classic, like the Mad Hunky’s, with a touch more sweetness. With all powdered brines, be sure to whisk well until brine is dissolved.

In addition to powder-based brines we also have brine concentrates. That is, liquid based, just add water and you’re ready to go. Sweetwater Spice makes a pair of great products in this category, Classic Holiday,  Lemon Thyme Turkey Bath. brings a citrusy element to your brining process, much like a marinade would.

You may be wondering what sort of container you might use to submerge a 15-pound bird. You’re looking for The Briner brining bucket. Its 22-quart capacity is enough to drown a good sized turkey, and it comes equipped with an adjustable plate to keep the meat fully submerged.