Tasso Recipes

HAITIAN TASSO (STEAK BITES, FRIED BEEF TIPS, BEEF BITES)

Steps:

• Cute meat into cubes and wash the meat. Place the meat along with the seasoning base (epis), and lightly season with salt (if desired) and lemon juice in the instant pot. Allow the meat to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes, but best overnight. Cook the meat for 20 minutes in the instant pot by pressing meat/stew and adjust the time to 20. Seal and cook.
• When the meat has cooked, quick release. Heat 1 quart (about 4 cups) Vegetable oil in a deep fryer or large skillet. Then deep fry to golden brown at 350°F. This process take about 2-4 minutes per small batch.Place the meat in a large bowl and garnish. See notes below for adding finishing touches.
• Cut and wash the meat. Set aside. Place the meat in the pan in a single layer. It will sizzle loudly when it first touches the pan. Drain any excess fluid.
• Start turning the meat when it is brown on one side. Add all of the ingredients and stirring in between. Cook the meat until brown on all. Cook the steak to your liking. Should be at a minimum of 3 minutes per side, and a little more for well done.

TASSO HAM

Steps:

• To Make the Brine: In a medium bowl, combine curing mixture, sugar, pepper, 2 tablespoons onion powder, 2 tablespoons garlic powder and water. Mix until the salt and sugar are dissolved in the water.
• Pour brine over pork. Allow pork to soak in brine for one week in the refrigerator.
• Remove pork from brine, then discard brine. Rinse and pat dry the pork.
• Preheat an outdoor smoker for 200 to 225 degrees F (95 to 110 degrees C).
• To Make the Rub: In a medium bowl, mix together the mace, 2 tablespoons garlic powder, 2 tablespoons onion powder, paprika, sage, thyme and honey.
• Evenly coat the pork with the rub and work it in with your fingers. Place a roasting rack in a drip pan and lay the meat on the rack.
• Smoke at 200 to 225 degrees F (95 to 110 degrees C) for 12 hours.

TASSO

Steps:

• Mix the seasoning together well. Rub the seasoning into the meat, you want a lot on there, call it 1/8 inch, use it all. Place on a plate or tray, cover and refrigerate 3 - 7 days. Before smoking put the Tasso on an elevated rack so that air can circulate around it, then put a fan on it for about 2 hours to dry it out. I also don’t use a water pan when smoking Tasso, this is something that I actually want to dry out during the smoking process.I hot smoked this batch in an inexpensive upright barrel smoker using charcoal as the heat source (heated with a chimney starter, no lighter fluid or matchlight coals please.) I used Pecan chips that were soaked in water for 1 hour for the smoke. I smoked this a total of about 4 hours, the first 2 hours at about 150-160 degrees F. The second two hours at 180-190 degrees F. The object is to get as much smoke into the meat, before cooking it all the way through. I brought the internal temperature of the meat to 150 degrees F in the last 2 hours of smoking. When finished I again put the Tasso in front of a fan for about 1 hour. Refrigerate. When completely cold portion and store the Tasso in vacuum sealed packages. Freeze. Makes 5 lbs of Tasso

JOHN'S CAJUN TASSO

Steps:

• First, make "1st dry rub" mix by combining all the dry ingredients together in a bowl making sure to break up brown sugar lumps (9TB tender quick, 1/2c brown sugar, 1/4c cayenne, 1/3c black pepper, 1/4c white pepper, 1/4c paprika, 3TB onion pwdr, 1/4c granulated garlic, 2TB celery seed, 2TB mustard powder, 2TB cinnamon). Once that's done, make "wet cure mix" by combining 3 or 4 tbsp of dry rub mix with 1 cup cold water in separate small container with a lid. Cover and shake well to dissolve all dry rub mix in the water. This liquid will be the wet cure that is injected. Set wet cure and remaining dry rub mix aside for now.
• Cut up the meat into roughly 1 pound chunks. This will make it easier to inject the wet cure. After that, slice the meat into roughly 1 or 2 inch wide slices. Inject each piece with the wet-cure (as much as it can hold -- about a syringe-full each). After injection, slice up the chunks and set them into pans.
• Now liberally rub all sides of meat with remaining dry rub, make sure they are coated well. Then place meat in two, one-gallon Ziploc bags along with the left over dry rub mix. Put both bags into a 9x13 roasting pan and into the fridge.
• Now wait for the butt to cure into Tasso. During the next 5 days massage and turn them over every 12 hours. Then we will rinse and smoke our Tasso.
• O.K, it's day 5 and we are ready to smoke. But first we have a couple of steps. We need to make a new, final dry rub (1/4c celery seed, 1/4c sylvias secret seasoning, 1/2c black pepper, 1/4c white pepper, 1/2c brown sugar, 3TB cayenne, 3TB granulated garlic, 1/4c coarse kosher salt). If you are unable to find Sylvia's Secret Seasoning, here is the recipe: 1 Tablespoon of dried basil, 1 Teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 Teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/4 Teaspoon dried rosemary crumbled. Combine as needed to obtain 1/4 cup. Combine all above ingredients and mix well. Store in airtight container until ready to use.
• Pull the curing meat out of the refrigerator and open the bag. First up is to rinse the cure-rub off the meat. Once all meat is rinsed off, plug the sink and soak them in cold water for 1 hour. During the soaking, change the water 3 times.
• Now it's time for the final rub. Dry each piece on a few layers of paper towels, then rub, and then stack onto a single pan. Start the charcoal for the smoker. Stabilize smoker temp at 225°F The plan is to keep it between 200 degrees and 225 Fahrenheit during the smoke. We want to cook it of course, but also want the drying out effect of the lower temp's.
• After just a bit over 5 hours, the meat should be ready. pull temp's on the pieces, especially the thick ones and call it done once they reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit minimum.
• Transfer meat into three pans to cool down to room temperature maybe 30 minutes or so, then vacuum-sealer went to work. Got 5 bags of 5 pieces each, so I figure there was about a pound, maybe a few ounces less, per bag. This is plenty for a single recipe dish of whatever it is you want to make.

HOMEMADE TASSO HAM RECIPE

Steps:

• Slice the pork butt with the grain into steaks about 1-inch thick.
• Combine the sugar, salt, and curing salt in a bowl. Make sure everything is very evenly distributed.
• Dredge each piece of pork in the curing mixture on all sides.
• Place the cure-covered pork on a rimmed sheet tray and refrigerate to cure for 4-5 hours, uncovered.
• Using your preferred smoking wood and Billows BBQ Control Fan, preheat your smoker to 225°F (107°C).
• Take the pork from the fridge and rinse it under cool running water.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the seasoning ingredients. Do not add any salt, the meat has absorbed enough.
• Liberally coat the pork in the seasoning mixture.
• Place the pork in the smoker and insert a probe attached to your Smoke X2. Set the high-temp alarm on the meat channel for 150°F (66°C).
• Close the smoker and smoke the meat!
• When the high-temp alarm sounds, verify the temps with your Thermapen and remove the tasso from the smoker.
• You can cut the tasso up immediately and toss it into a pot of beans or gumbo, but with this much, you'll have plenty to store. Wrap it tightly or vacuum seal it and freeze it until needed.