Today we talk about Sliders, Brisket & Shawarma!
It’s been a minute since my last update, but that doesn’t mean I’ve not been cooking.
I have taken time off for various reasons, including judging, sickness, and currently due to Mrs SParky recovering from an operation where 1) she can’t eat anything hot for a couple of weeks (cold food and drink only) and 2) must avoid smoke and smokey areas, so we just figured no BBQ would be best.
I will be back to it again soon, with a spatchcock turkey!
There have been a few cooks though and a good number of images below too.
I had a mad idea to make sliders from 1 giant beef patty.
I took one of the trays I use to prepare the wings on, lined it with parchment paper, and filled it with beef mince to make the giant patty.
I took a second tray and filled it with dinner rolls, cut the tops off to make slider buns. To give the burgers a little something, I added Kewpie Mayo and then got to cooking the burger.
It all started off so well, I tipped it onto the flat top, it sizzled away nicely, and then it came to flipping it.
I hadn’t thought about that, and things didn’t work out well. The patty broke in 2.
It was still good though, being sliders it didn’t really matter much. The burger cooked, it was added to the buns, and then cut to grab the individual sliders.
They were a little overcooked, but I was happy with the first attempt at this. One to come back to again, different buns, and a bit less cooking time, and I think I’ll nail it.
In August, it was my dad’s 70th birthday. He wanted to have a BBQ for close friends. A few years back, and he would have cooked everything, but his health is not what it once was and needs a helping hand.
I cooked the brisket the day before the party. The cook was a delightful 6.5 hours.
When wrapped, I added a layer of beef dripping to the butcher paper before adding more on top of the brisket.
Taking off the wrap, I saved the juices from the paper….
Slicing was beautiful (see the video below). Once sliced, we put it into vacuum bags, added juice to each back, and vacuum sealed them, let them cool, and put them in the fridge for the party the next day.
The following day, we re-heated the brisket slowly, with the juices from the bag.
DAMN it was good brisket. Everyone commented on how good it was, even my mum who usually says my brisket is dry (juice is king).
Dad did also cook too. He cooked prawns, burgers, and some incredibly tasty chicken thighs. Yes, I was watching, mainly to make sure everything was at the right temperature, but he did really well.
My last cook in this little story is a Lamb Shawarma.
I took my 24 pulled pork idea and did the same thing with a lamb shoulder.
It cooked far quicker initially, so I lowered my cooking temp down to 190°F overnight and kept that temp for quite a while into the following day.
I did eventually raise it to 250°F to speed things up again, not wrapping made the bark dark and crispy.
After 24 hours, the blade bone pulled out clean, and the lamb shredded easily.
For dinner, we had the lamb with homemade flatbreads, rice, and yogurt.
Would I make it again like this though? No, although delicious, it can be done better.
