Brand X Recipes & Ideas from Dave
Enhance the Flavor
One of the reasons I created Brand X Original was to get a better tasting burger without having to fire up the grill. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against firing up the grill and doing some great tasting foods. But it's not always particularly convenient to do that, even with a gas grill. And let's face it, if you just toss something in a skillet on the stove, it's just a burger, steak, piece of chicken or whatever, unless you do something to enhance it! That's what Brand X is all about; enhancing your food! Helping it taste better! That is the "X" factor!
A little goes a long way
The basic premise behind using Brand X HOME STYLE seasoning blends is to sneak up on them. It's easy to add more Brand X if you need to but it's pretty hard to take it off! Treat Brand X like you would any other table seasoning such as salt or pepper. Put a little on, and if that's enough, stop. If you need more, it's very simple to add it.
Just a little smokey
Almost all of the Brand X HOME STYLE seasoning blends contain some level of smoke flavor, flavor just like you get when you grill or smoke your food. They also contain other flavor enhancers such as a whisper of garlic or a touch of black pepper. What makes the Brand X HOME STYLE seasoning blends truly unique and outstanding is the precise ratio of all the seasonings and spices. They are designed and refined to work together.
Personal Taste Disclaimer
As you read through these notes and recipes, keep in mind that these are MY suggestions and recipes that I like. Your taste buds are different from mine and taste is very subjective. As an example, various studies show that some people dislike cilantro because to them cilantro tastes like soap. From what I found on the web, studies indicate the percentage of people who taste soap instead of cilantro ranges from a low of 3% to a high of 21%. On occasion, I have heard the number was 30%, but have not found any studies to support that. The point is that all of our taste buds are different. What one thinks is absolutely revolting, another finds incredibly delicious. So when you are using Brand X HOME STYLE seasoning blends, experiment a bit. I'll share my suggestions and recipes, but put Brand X where your taste buds think it belongs.
Basic - Original
Simply sprinkle Brand X Original on whatever you are cooking. Outstanding on burgers or steaks. As with any new to you seasoning, "Sneak up on it!" Don't go all scorched earth on it!
Basic - Red
Add a bit of Brand X Red to coleslaw, potato salad, or baked beans to brighten the flavor. Red has a stuble heat to it that doesn't overpower your food or linger. It also works it's charm on cottage cheese. Unless you do something to stop it, that cottage cheese is just going to sit there and be, well, white! A dash of Red makes it look and taste much better!
Medium - Pink Alderwood
Here is the recipe for the absolutely best steak you will ever have! Now that's a challenging statement if I have ever heard one. But it's true. I've eaten steak at a number of fine restaurants and steak houses from coast to coast, and the recipe I'm giving you here beats any of them hands down!
Find the right cut of steak
There are several good cuts of beef available: T-bone, Porterhouse, Sirloin, Filet Mignon, and Ribeye are a few of the more popular ones. And the names vary between countries, regions within a given country and even between butchers in the same city or town. There are also several other cuts that can be used as steaks but they just don't possess the style or the panache these do.
Years ago, actually decades ago, I started grilling using these lower grade steaks to practice on and I made some incredible blunders initially. Finallly, everything started coming together and I graduated to using better cuts. I still made mistakes, but they generallly were not as disastrous. Eventually, I settled on the Boneless Ribeye as MY steak. There is nothing wrong with the other cuts, but my preference is for the Boneless Ribeye.
I usually buy multiple steaks when I find them with the marbling, fat, and thickness that I like. When I get them home, I season the steaks with Brand X Pink Alderwood seasoning, vacuum seal them in freezer bags and freeze them immediately. Well, except for the one I'm going to fix for dinner! It gets seasoned and vacuum sealed but not frozen. Anyway, on to actually cooking the steak . .
Sous Vide the Perfect Steak
Whether the steak I am preparing is frozen or fresh, I prepare it the same way. I use a Sous Vide precision cooker for all of my steaks now. As I said earlier, Boneless Ribeye is my choice of steaks and my preference is for a medium rare finish of 134 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to achieve this exact temperature, I preheat my Sous Vide precision cooker to 132 degrees. Once the cooker reaches the set temperature, the steak, still in the vacuum freezer bag, is placed in the water and left there for 4 hours. The time is not critical, 2 1/2 to 6 hours works fine, 3 to 4 hours is ideal for my taste. Since the steaks were pre-seasoned, the time in the Sous Vide cooker allows the salts and the spices to be absorbed into the meat, similar to brining. The result is a more flavorful and more tender steak.
During the Sous Vide cook time, I make up the salad, bake the potatoes, and get the garlic bread ready. I also preheat my cast iron skillet and add a tablespoon of canola oil. Other oils are fine, canola is simply my preferred oil. The skillet needs to be VERY HOT when you add the steak; a lightly smoking skillet is not a bad thing.
Searing the Perfect Steak
When everything else is ready; potatoes baked, salad dressed, garlic bread in the oven, skillet is VERY HOT; remove remove the steak from the Sous Vide cooker, take it out of the vacuum bag and place it in the VERY HOT skillet. I give my steak 1 1/2 minutes on the first side, turn it over, add a tablespoon of butter, give it 1 1/2 minutes on the second side and remove it from the skillet. During this short time, the steak gets a fantastic sear, the butter adds even more richness, the internal temperature comes up a few degrees and the steak is perfectly medium rare, 135 degrees, all the way through. There is no need to rest a steak cooked using this technique. Have the plates ready, add the steak and serve. I doubt you will ever order steak at a restaurant or steak house again.
Basic - A note on Dry Brining
For the meats I cook, I usually try to get an early enough start to dry brine them. The time required for dry brining depends on the meat. Chicken takes less than a thick steak and the steak is quicker than a roast.
Let's take bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for example. Start by rinsing them under cold running tap water, then pat them dry. Place them skin side down on a wire rack over a shallow pan. A quarter sheet pan generally works well, depending on how many thighs you are doing.
Kosher salt, sea salt, or Brand X Pink Cherry seasoning blend all work well as the brine salt. (Yes, I am biased towards the Brand X but any of these salt sources will work well). Please don't use regular table salt because it contains too many unneccessary chemicals.
I like to use a shaker with fairly large dispensing holes to season the meat. Season the chicken thoroughly and fairly heavily. Turn the thighs over with the skin side up and season them again like you did the first time, thoroughly and heavily. By now you're thinking you just ruined all of that chiken. Well, trust me, you didn't.
For a quick brine, cover the chicken and leave it on the counter for 30 to 45 minutes. Any longer than that and your taking your chances with bacteria.
If you have the time, slide the prepared chicken in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. A little longer is okay but don't stretch it too far.
When you're ready to cook, the frying pan's hot, or the grill is ready, take the chicken out and uncover. It should appear fairly dry on the surface and the salt should no longer be visible. Finish seasoning it your way, cook it up and enjoy some great tasting, tender, juicy chicken.
This brining method works wonders on boneless breasts as well. I know everyone tells you that you absolutely MUST cook chicken breasts to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, but that ain't exactly so. Yes, when the chicken hits 165 degrees ALL of the bacteria has been dispatched, along with the flavor and any sign of juice. You might as well be eating saw dust. By the time your chicken gets to 145 degrees, you should plate and serve it, all the potential bacteria that might have been there has been neutralized and it is perfectly safe. Oh, it also still has flavor and is still tender and juicy.
Dry brining other proteins follows the same basic process.
**Reference Serious Eats?
Beef Doneness Chart
