It’s been over two years since I went whole-hog kosher (hmm, maybe that should be ‘cold-turkey kosher’ instead…) and after buying a fair share of kosher meat during that span, I’d had enough with retail prices, especially on cuts of meat that are traditionally supposed to be cheap.

Thankfully, I was introduced to Specialty Provisions of Chelsea, MA, purveyor of quality wholesale kosher meats, when I first helped organize the annual BBQ at my shul last year. SP’s prices for our uncomplicated order of preformed burgers and Rubashkin franks were drastically lower than anyone else’s in town and helped us keep our event within budget.

Next, some months later, I made a personal order in advance of Passover. Delivered directly into my kitchen was:

• a 15 lb. whole beef rib eye
• 15 lbs. of beef short ribs
• a 26 lb. case of retail-packed Empire turkey legs
• a 50 lb. case of roasting chickens
• 40 lbs. of “Nature’s Best” boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• a 15 lb. whole brisket
• 4.5 lb. of hanging tenderloins (”hangers”)

All were lower than the retail prices at my preferred local butcher — see SP’s price list for yourself. A few key examples: I spent under $6/lb on brisket, which, around holiday time, is $11/lb or more at our Boston-area butchers; chicken breasts more than a dollar cheaper per pound than average Empire or Rubashkin prices; bigger roasting chickens at lower prices than retail… and the hanger steaks were just plain awesome.

Now, not everything was perfect. As I looked over my meat, I noticed an “off” odor coming from the wholesale box of fresh chicken breasts, and after discovery of some strange opaqueness on the surface of the chicken, I promptly spoke to Maier Cywiak, who runs Specialty Provisions, to rectify the situation. His handling of the matter was exemplary — no charge for the rotten Nature’s Best chicken (which I hastily tossed into the dumpster) and quick delivery of a pristine box of fresh Empire cutlets packed in ice.

Otherwise, quality was excellent. My in-laws thoroughly enjoyed their bounty of turkey thighs and rib eye steaks, my braised short ribs generated rave reviews, and the hangers have been great on the grill.

My latest order was similar, only this time I threw in several tasty skirt steaks (practically $10/lb cheaper than the butcher), some Texas ribs, and a case of Empire chicken thighs.

So, Maier and Specialty Provisions were keeping up their end of the bargain, and I had to prepare on my end. You see, buying wholesale is not for the uninitiated. First, how would I assure that a zillion pounds of delicious, kosher meat would last several months? Only some of the meat was vacuum-sealed in manageable quantities, so I sharpened my trusty chef’s knife and read the manual for my new FoodSaver vacuum sealer. As I sliced up my whole rib eye into individual steaks, each one went into a vacuum bag and got thoroughly sucked of air by the sealer. I first cut my 15 lb. brisket horizontally, along the fat, into two flat pieces, and then bisected the bigger slab into a 5 lb. brisket and a 3 lb. deckel (the triangular tip)… trimmed away some fat, and sealed those, too. More sealing ensued, with convenient numbers of chicken breasts or thighs in large and small bags.

Second, what to do with all this impermeably sealed food? Well, we reshuffled our extra bedroom and installed a 5-cubic-foot chest freezer (now we keep it in our laundry alcove). This sub-$200 bad boy keeps our food safely below freezing and ready for action as the months roll by.

There are a few other things to remember. There’s a $300 minimum order, which you can easily spread among family and friends, and a modest delivery charge. (Of course, with a freezer and some foresight, splitting the order may not even be necessary!) Next, most everything comes in wholesale sizes/quantities, so you can’t do onesy-twosy orders. My strategy is to try a particular brand or cut of meat from my butcher, and if I like it, order it in bulk. Lastly, wholesale cuts aren’t always nicely trimmed. Find a good knife and a big cutting board to trim fat from beef or cut off extra skin from chicken pieces… then, if you’re really savvy, render the chicken skin for shmaltz and save the beef scraps for homemade sausages.

Luckily, Maier is a mensch, and always tries to find what you’re looking for. Says Maier, “I hate to say ‘No’ or, ‘I’m sorry it’s not in stock’ to anyone.” To that end, after the holidays, he’ll be expanding his inventory to include different brands like Vineland Poultry and different shechitas like Debretzin/International Glatt, and adding freezer space to his warehouse.

For normal inquiries, contact Specialty Provisions at spboston@hotmail.com. For rush orders, contact Maier directly at 617-966-1299. And tell him the Kosher Blog sent you.

Occasionally, I go through a phase during which I try to cook everything “from scratch,” with pure, fresh, natural ingredients. The first ingredient to be villianized during such phases is parve chicken soup mix, or, as Carmel calls it, “Tastes Like Chicken Soup.”

On my saner days, however, I tend to regard such mixes as valuable additions to the pantry. As long as they are not overused, phony chicken soup mixes can add a needed dimension of flavor to meatless soups and certain other recipes. Last Rosh HaShanah, I discovered that, with the right additions, they can even provide the base for a very tasty vegetarian matsa ball soup.

The broth can be prepared in tandem with real chicken soup, using the same vegetables, herbs, and spices. (For me, that means carrots, celery, onions, fresh dill and parsley, dried tarragon, and freshly ground pepper.) The key to a genuinely flavorful vegetarian broth is to caramelize the onions. This can be done by cooking the onions in margarine or vegetable oil over high heat for 10 minutes, and then over medium-low heat for an additional 30-45 minutes. The vegetables should be cut into spoon-sized pieces and sauteed, and the herbs should be finely chopped.

Sound like stone soup? Well, it’s not. The mix is vital. Don’t exceed the proportion of mix to water recommended on the package, though, at least at the outset. You can add more at any point if the soup seems to bland.

The Wednesday before Rosh HaShanah has special significance: it is the day when the New York Times Dining & Wine section and the Boston Globe Food section go Jewish. Today’s Times features an article on kugel and an exceprt from Marcie Cohen Ferris’ Matzo Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales From the Jewish South, along with a recipe for “Rosh Hashana Jam Cake.” The Globe features an article on the expanding role of hekhshers in American life as well as a brief column on Rosh HaShanah with accompanying recipes. There is also, curiously, an article on a kosher restauarant in Madrid.

As expected, the articles are not particularly interesting or informative, but it is sometimes worth having a look at how Judaism in general, and Kashrut in particular, are reperesented in the mainstream media. Joe Yonan’s article on hekhshers seems generally fair and accurate, although the phenomenon on which it focuses — the deliberate selection of kosher products by consumers who don’t keep kosher — continues to strike me as absurd. The article opens with the story of an Episcopalian with a dairy allergy who seeks out “kosher parve” labels, and goes on to mention others who buy hekhshered products in the belief that they are safer, healthier, or more “pure.” Somehow it continues to escape people that hekhshers are not indications of health or safety, only kashrut. Those with dairy allergies would do best to read the allergy information now available on most packaged foods, which account not only for dairy ingredients and equipment, but also for the potential presence of airborne particles. (Lactose intolerate individuals, on the other hand, are best off looking for “lactose free” labels, which may appear on some products that are halakhically dairy.) Consumers concerned about pesticides, antibiotics, or the humane treatment of livestock should look for organic produce or free-range poultry, respectively. People who are worried about their health should read nutritional information. Only those concerned about the kashrut of their food should be looking for hekhshers.

Joan Nathan’s New York Times article bears the tantalizing title “Kugel Unraveled,” but fails to address the underlying philosophical question: what makes a kugel a kugel? Nathan mentions that the word “kugel” comes from the German word for “ball,” but her statement that kugel is traditionally round doesn’t really explain its etymology — a circle is not a ball. (In his World of Jewish Cooking, Gil Marks presents a somewhat more compelling explanation, though I can’t vouch for its accuracy. Originally, he claims, a “kugel” was a round dumpling made from flour or stale bread and cooked inside a pot of cholent. Eventually, the term came to refer to any baked dish prepared without water and held together by eggs and fat.) The article does, however, address such topics as the mystical qualities of kugel, and the accompanying recipes for “killer kugel” (milchig), Jerusalem kugel (parve), and broccoli-potato kugel (parve) are probably fabulous, considering that they come to us by way of the eminent Joan Nathan.

None of this year’s Rosh HaShanah recipes are actually treyf, but a number of the side-dishes and desserts (including the Globe’s apple cake and noodle kugel and the Times’ “Rosh Hashana jam cake“) are dairy, and therefore incompatible with fleishig holiday meals. The Globe’s recipe for carrot tzimmis can be made parve, however, and its “braised brisket with wine and tomatoes” doesn’t look half bad.

NOTE: Since this review, GrandmasChickenSoup.com has dropped their kosher options. Their remaining products are not kosher.

After a rough day at the office last week, and feeling subtle symptoms of an oncoming cold, imagine my delight to find waiting for me at my doorstop half a gallon of authentic kosher chicken soup and a golden challah!

It wasn’t from a kindly clairvoyant neighbor; it was the handiwork of “Grandma’s tried and true classic, combined with today’s dot-com technology”: Woburn, MA-based GrandmasChickenSoup.com. And at the risk of offending my mother — who’s coming over Sunday to help me make, among other things, chicken soup — it was actually very good. The broth was very clear and had just a touch of sweetness, the vegetables and pasta were an ideal consistency (firm, not mushy), the matzo balls were tasty (not leaden like the canned Manischewitz ones), and there were nice chunks of white-meat chicken.

Of course, it didn’t suprise me at all that this high-quality product was prepared for GrandmasChickenSoup by none other than Catering By Andrew of Brookline, MA, and that the delectable challah came from Cheryl Ann’s Bakery (also of Brookline).

So, here’s a personal voucher for the quality of GrandmasChickenSoup.com. The price, though, is something of a different story: half a gallon of soup (4-6 servings) and the requisite thermal packaging will run you $36.50, plus 2nd-day or overnight shipping charges (unavoidable due to perishability), which range from $10 overnight around New England to $54 overnight to the Southwest and Pacific. Their gift boxes do, however, make for innovative business gifts, at times when spending in that range may be justified.

Or, look at it another way: how else can you ship delicious kosher soup nationwide, to ailing friends, family, and business associates? Get your orders in before the holidays, through their website or 1-87-SEND-SOUP (1-877-363-7687).

In the process of fixing a layout bug present in Internet Explorer, I seem to have created a similar one Mozilla Firefox. Not until after the category and archive listings can links within the blog postings be clicked. I apologize for the annoyance, and rest assured I’m working on a fix, which may involve migration to WordPress from b2evolution.

UPDATE: I’ve implemented a fix and tested it on Firefox, IE 6, and Safari with good results all around. Please use the “contact us” link to let me know if you experience any problems.

For the past couple years, when we’ve had family for Rosh Hashana and Passover, I’ve kept it relatively traditional, so I’m thinking about making a few culinary innovations this time around.

The most interesting of which I’ve pondered so far is to begin both RH dinners with a honey tasting. After years of unhappily stomaching clover honey, I forced myself to find an alternative, and have been quite pleased with all the variety available in finer stores and on the Internet. Plus, the Star-K’s Rabbi Dovid Heber recommends all 100% pure honey — that means no flavors added — as kosher without a heksher. I’m thinking of trying a New England cranberry honey (bees feed on cranberry flowers), another exotic domestic variety, and maybe one of the intriguing Italian varieties I’ve found online. Some are even of a spreadable consistency, which should work well served on challah.

One website I’ve found, beeraw.com, provides food and beverage suggestions for pairing with their honey varieties, so it’s possible to take this honey tasting concept to truly ‘gourmet’ levels. igourmet.com also has a wide selection of honeys, and includes food/cheese pairings in their product descriptions.

UPDATE: Turns out that epicurious.com has an article about doing a Rosh Hashana honey tasting, include a ‘honey primer’ describing honey varieties.

As in many Jewish households, pot roast is a “special occasion” food for us, which pretty much means Rosh Ha-Shanah. This recipe comes from my mother-in-law, and is a real treat.

3-3.5 lbs. first cut or top-of-rib brisket
3 cloves garlic
4 tbs. olive oil
1 lb. onions, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup canned tomatoes, drained
1 tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste

Thinly slice garlic. Pierce meat in many places with the point of a knife and insert the garlic slivers into the holes.

Heat 2 tbs. of the oil in a 3-4 quart casserole. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until moderately brown.

Remove the vegetables and add remaining olive oil. Add the meat and brown well.

In a food processor, puree the onions, carrots, and celery, along with the wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, and basil. Add the sauce to the meat and season with salt and pepper.

Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for at least three hours, until the meat is very tender, turning every twenty minutes.

Remove from heat, cool, and refrigirate overnight. Before serving, skim any congealed fat from the sauce and reheat on stovetop or in oven.

This delicious is a major feature of Rosh Ha-Shanah dinners in my parent’s home, as it now is in mine. My mother originally found the recipe in the New York Times, which attributed it to Chabad, so it may be from Spice and Spirit. If you recognize it, please let me know.

This dish is best made at least a day ahead. Also good for Passover.

6 sweet potatoes
3 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into rounds or wedges
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup orange juice
grated zest of one orange

Peel and boil sweet potatoes 20-25 minutes or until tender when pricked with fork. Drain and let sit until cool enough to handle. Slice into rounds.

Combine with remaining ingredients in a 9×13 inch baking pan. Mix well.

Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until apples are soft.

UPDATE: I checked Spice and Spirit, and the recipe isn’t there.

Rosh Hashanah is on its way, and I think I’ve got the menu for night 2 just about finalized. (We’ll be guests of friends for night 1.) Here it is (recipes will follow in upcoming posts):

Round raisin challah
Symbolic foods (apples & honey, carrots, beets)
Capon matsah ball soup and vegetarian alternative
Gefilte fish
Green salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Italian style pot roast
Sweet potato-apple tsmimmis
Marinated vegetables with tofu
Honey cake (from mother-in-law)
Cardamom rice pudding (parve, of course)

Now, to choose the wine. We’ll need 3 or 4 bottles, and it will have to be mevushal, unfortunately. I’m thinking that we may be able to get away with a Herzog Selection Chateneuf on account of the soup and fish, but we will also need some robust reds to go with the pot roast. Barkan Cabernet is one strong possibility. Any other suggestions?

With Rosh Hashana not a month away, it’s time to break out the apple recipes. This one will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Jewish Advocate. It’s nothing terribly complex, just our tried-and-true formulation for apple pie. (Apple pie plays such a prominent role in my in-laws’ family celebrations that we served a giant apple pie at our wedding rather than cake.)

A few notes: we used to make apple pie with vegetable shortening, but this crust recipe which calls for margarine is easier to work with. Fleischmann’s pareve unsalted margarine works well, but use Earth Balance sticks to avoid hydrogenated nastiness. If you measure correctly and work quickly, the dough should come together perfectly in the food processor every time. As for apples, we always use a sweet apple that holds its shape, like a Cortland — you won’t find Granny Smiths in our pies.

KAHAN FAMILY APPLE PIE (pareve)

Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. cold, unsalted margarine, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
8 apples, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon (or more to taste)
1 egg, separated

Add dry ingredients to food processor and mix a moment to combine. Add the cold margarine pieces and pulse several times until the mixture has a texture of coarse meal.

With the machine running, gradually add the ice water through the feed tube just until the dough gathers together into a ball. Remove dough from processor, divide ball in half, flatten each half into a thick disk, and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove one dough disk from the refrigerator and unwrap it. Working quickly, roll it out on a floured work surface or between two sheets of wax paper. Dough sheet should be 1/8″ thick and a couple inches wider than your 8″ or 9″ pie plate. Lightly fold dough in half, then in quarters; transfer into your pie plate and unwrap. Trim the dough to allow a one-inch overhang.

Roll out the other dough disk as the first and set aside.

Combine sliced apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Brush bottom dough with egg white and pour in apple mixture to form mound. Place dough sheet over apple mound and seal (rustically) with fingers. Cut a few vents on the top of the crust, then brush lightly with egg yolk.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until crust is golden and juices are visible at edges. Cool, serve, and enjoy.

My wife and I went to a Sheva Brochos the other night, and as we often do, we brought dessert. Our contribution was a Death-by-Chocolate Trifle - a sinfully rich and pareve dessert, comprised of layers of chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. It gets rave reviews every time.

Since there is no standard size for a trifle-bowl, you may have to experiment to figure out if you need more or less of these recipes. The trifle bowl to the left is 10 inches tall and the completed recipe weighed in at 20 pounds (ok, the bowl is heavy - see the 2 Kitchenaid 5 1/2 quart bowls dwarfed behind it?) I’m sure you can handle the leftovers, if your bowl is too small. The cake or the mousse make a fine dessert all by themselves.

Enjoy.

Death By Chocolate
Chocolate Cake
3 cups flour
3/4 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 c margarine
2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla extract
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 heaping tsp. instant coffee
2 c boiling water

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the margarine and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and cocoa and mix well. Combine the dry mixture and the wet mixture and mix well. Add the instant coffee to the boiling water and with the electric mixer on slow, add to the mix. Pour into 9×13 inch pan and bake at 350°F for 1 1/4 hours. Allow cake to cool.

Chocolate Mousse
12 oz. bag pareve, semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 sticks margarine
8 eggs separated
1 1/3 cups sugar

Beat the egg whites with half of the sugar. On a stove-top (or in the microwave), melt the margarine. Add the chocolate chips to the melted margarine and stir until melted. Put the margarine/chips mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer. With the mixer on slow, add in the rest of sugar. Add egg yolks one at a time and allow each one to mix in. Carefully fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate mixture with a spatula. Keep mousse at room temperature for trifle assembly.

Whipped Cream
2 small cartons non-dairy whipped topping
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

In a electric mixer, whip the whipped topping with the vanilla and the sugar until stiff peaks form. Do not over whip.

To Assemble
Cut chocolate cake into serving-size pieces and press some of them down into the bottom of your trifle bowl. Pour in some of the mousse, covering the cake. Add a layer of whipped cream, covering the mousse. Repeat as needed. Garnish with piped whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Visit Kosher.com through tomorrow, September 8, and use coupon code GL66K to get 20% off purchases in the Grocery Department. (I’ve just tried the coupon, and it looks like to only applies to non-perishables.)

To keep up with the big trends in kosher food that somehow slip by me and my worldwide network of culinary spies, I subscribe to an online news service that alerts me to articles with kashrut-related words in them. Most of them are pointlessly unrelated, a bunch are about prisoners petitioning for kosher food, but every now and then, an article really gets me hot and bothered.

The latest?

A prominent Jewish family in Washington, D.C. plans a wedding for their daughter, who is to be married to a fellow whose family keeps kosher. Several other guests also observe the dietary laws. The caterer (which has a ‘kosher division’), however, decides to serve shrimp, eel, and octopus in the sushi spread, cream cheese in the salmon canapes, and butter with the dinner rolls — at a meat affair — and all in violation of their contract which listed non-shellfish sushi, non-dairy hors d’oeuvres, and margarine for the rolls!

Naturally (it’s D.C., after all), the family filed suit in U.S. District Court — Siegel et al vs. Ridgewell’s, Inc (PDF, 732K) for violations of a consumer protection act, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, and, unusually, battery. Apparently, “subjecting [kosher] persons to the consumption of shrimp, octopus, or eel produces an ‘offensive contact’ with those persons” and, thus, “all such persons were victims of battery committed by the Defendant.” (Who knew?)

The complaint includes two exhibits. The first is the complete catering agreement, listing full menu. While the menu is kosher in spirit, I found it peculiar that nowhere in the agreement is it stated that the affair is kosher and would be performed by the caterer’s kosher division.

Additionally, while the complaint mentions that one of the “event designers” employed by the caterer had been a mashgiach at a nearby Conservative synagogue and was thus “fully familiar with the Jewish religious dietary rules,” there’s seems to have been no other assurances that the food production and service would be under religious supervision.

So, it makes you wonder: what exactly does this caterer do for its “kosher” events? When they don’t screw up, are they just using kosher meat, and avoiding dairy? Do they have separate kitchens, or do they kasher their treyf ones? Is there a reputable outside organization supervising the operation? Or, is everything really just ‘kosher style’?

Legally, this family probably has a case. But if they had asked the right critical kashrut questions, or chosen a caterer that was only kosher, I doubt they’d be in this unfortunate situation.

UPDATE: The Washington Jewish Week has also covered the issue, and their article provides some interesting details. The family “specifically declined” a fully kosher affair, preferring to avoid the substantial price difference. Additionally:

The plaintiffs say that they had contracted with Ridgewells’ kosher catering division to serve only kosher meat at the reception and to not serve any dairy products or nonkosher fish. They did not believe it was necessary to have a mashgiach on the premises to supervise the operation or serve the meal on kosher dishes.

Siegel said that the decision was based on the “level of kashrut everyone was comfortable with” in the bride and groom’s families.

So, while the Siegels may be able to argue their contract was violated, they’re just as guilty of misrepresentation as the caterer. “Kosher” isn’t just foodstuffs and utensils, it’s a system of trust. Operating outside that system, the wedding simply was not kosher, and to inform guests that the wedding was kosher was grossly irresponsible. Though the Siegels and Barons were comfortable with halachically unkosher food, was it reasonable for them to expect that other folks, like their rabbi, would also be okay eating off of treyf plates, etc.? Did they even bother to explain the complexities of their pseudo-kosher arrangement to their guests?

But the head of the kashrut authority that works with Ridgewells’ kosher catering division said that using a mashgiach is the only way one can ensure a kosher meal.

“You’re either kosher or you’re treif,” said Rabbi Zev Schechter, director of the Metropolitan Rabbinical Kashrut Association, or Metro-K.

Schechter said he has not had any problems working with Ridgewells on kosher events in the past. He had no involvement in the Siegel affair.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

When I got my review copy of this book, I wasn’t expecting much. To be honest, I didn’t expect to learn anything new. Why? Probably ego. I mean C’mon! I’ve got all of Steven Raichlen’s books, the Jamisons’ Smoke and Spice, Sublime Smoke and Born to Grill, Cook’s Illustrated The Best Recipe: Grilling and Barbecue - and half a dozen more. I look at barbecue books on the shelf all the time, and I’m rarely impressed. By the time I had gotten through Dr. BBQ’s (Ray Lampe) Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook, I had discovered a new favorite. (BTW, this being kosherblog, I feel obligated to point out that Steven Raichlen is Jewish and has written a Jewish Cookbook. Why does every review of a new Jewish cookbook express surprise that Jewish Cookery can be healthy? You’d think we were a nation of unhealthy slobs!)

There are 5 main sections in the book, dedicated to rubs, marinades and sauces, smoking, grilling, side dishes and recipes with leftovers. The leftovers section was a new one on me. I guess I don’t cook enough barbecue if I never had enough leftovers to make into something like Thai Brisket Salad or Spicy Smoked Chicken Frittata. (I guess I’m going to have to cook more barbecue.)

The smoking and grilling sections were filled with delicious sounding recipes - below you’ll find one I tried, and enjoyed greatly. I never heard of Alabama White Barbecue Sauce, but it turned out to be a great accompaniment to smoked turkey. If you’re afraid (like I was) of the combination of mayonnaise and meat - don’t be! I don’t think that White Barbecue Sauce would pair well with red meat, but it does wonders for poultry. $1000 Maple Bean Pie, in the side-dishes section scared me a little bit - but the other side-dishes sounded much better.

What separates this book from many others is the attitude. What comes across clearly in this book is the good doctor’s desire to promote good eating. While he does have suggestions and preferences, he stresses that there is no “one true way”, and encourages the reader to try their own variations. Ray Lampe is also a barbecuing champion, and his experience comes through in his writing. There may never be a kosher barbecue competition, but if there were, I’d be prepared.

Here’s Dr. BBQ’s recipe for Smoked Turkey Breast with Alabama White Barbecue Sauce. This turned out to be some of the juiciest smoked turkey I have ever had. Enjoy.

Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoons salt

- Combine all ingredients.

Big Time Barbecue Rub
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (I used demerara sugar)
1/4 granulated brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 tablespoon granulated onion or onion powder
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne ppowder
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried cayenne
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- Combine all ingredients.

Smoked Turkey Breast

1 boneless turkey breast (3-4 pounds), skin on
1 double batch Alabama White Barbecue Sauce
1 batch Big Time Barbecue Rub

1) Place the turkey breast in a zipper-lock bag. Pour half the sauce on it and seal. Refrigerate for a whole day, turning occasionally.
2) Prepare your cooker for indirect cooking at 275°.
3) Remove turkey breast from the bag and sprinkle liberally with rub. Put in in the cooker and cook to an nternal temperature of 160°. This should take about 2 to 3 hours.
4) Remove the breast from the cooker and wrap it in foil with another cup of the sauce. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
5) Slice and serve with the remaining sauce.