birthday cake soda brisket & butternut squash noodles stir fried in butternut squash seed oil(thanksgiving 2016 special)

Normally I would put each recipe in its own blog post and video, but they were both served at Thanksgiving, so I combined all the footage into one video and blog post. It's more convenient. 

First, the Birthday Cake Soda Brisket: 

I needed to use my 12 pack of Jones Birthday Cake Soda and I've heard of people making brisket with Coca Cola, so I looked up Coca Cola Brisket recipes. But each recipe had its own cooking time so I picked the one with the shortest amount of time needed. However, that recipe was wrong in that it said to cook the brisket for 30 minutes per pound, when it really took twice as long, and even then, it could've used more time in the oven. But it was 8:30 at night by the time the 3-hour mark passed (I was tired by that point) and the internal temperature of the meat reached 178 degrees Fahrenheit, just two degrees short of the ideal 180-205 degree mark. However, brisket is safe to eat at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, though it may be tough to cut up and chew in some places. 

You might be wondering what the red sauce over the brisket in the picture above is- that is the sauce the brisket was cooked in. You don't have to do anything to it other than pour it on top of the cut up brisket. 

One of my aunts told me she cooked the turkey for the same amount of time I cooked the brisket- and that's when I knew how time-consuming it is to cook a brisket! 

Other notes: You need to put aluminum foil over the roasting pan or lasagna pan before you put it in the oven. Also, you need to trim the fat off the cooked brisket. 

For the Butternut Squash Noodles: 

Fun fact: Most highways in the US have pit stops where you can buy stuff, eat food, and/or use the facilities(you know what I mean!). Long Island didn't have such a pit stop until this summer. Once the Long Island Welcome Center was open, I knew I wanted to visit it because they only sold food made on Long Island and in New York State, along with dishes made exclusively with ingredients sourced from those areas. 

Once of the most interesting finds there was butternut squash seed oil for sale. I knew I had to buy a bottle to use in a Thanksgiving recipe! 

My original plan was to get pre-cut-up butternut squash chunks from my local supermarket to coat in flour and fry in the butternut squash seed oil, but all they had was pre-spiralized butternut squash noodles, so I used those instead. The supermarket didn't have whole butternut squash either. But I didn't want to boil them or bake them- I figured they'd be better in a stir-fry. Though not a traditional Asian stir-fry(save for the use of the soy sauce), I made a Thanksgiving-style stir fry, using raisins, pumpkin maple syrup, cinnamon, and cashews. 

My extended family loved both dishes, but I think their favorite was the noodles. Some people couldn't believe the noodles were actually vegetables! I had more leftover brisket than noodles at the end of Thanksgiving, and even then only enough to last one extra meal. 

HELPFUL LINKS: 

Birthday Cake Soda: https://www.jonessoda.com/collections/jones-beverages/products/limited-edition-birthday-cake-soda-12-pk

Butternut Squash Seed Oil: 
http://www.fioreoliveoils.com/products/butternut-squash-seed-oil-1

You will need: 

For the cooking equipment for the brisket: 

A roasting pan or lasagna pan
Nonstick cooking spray
A large bowl
Aluminum foil
A meat thermometer

For the Birthday Cake Soda Brisket: 

3 lbs. beef brisket, with visible fat trimmed off
1 cup ketchup 
1 packet Knorr vegetable recipe mix 
12 ounces Birthday Cake Soda(see HELPFUL LINKS)

For the cooking equipment for the noodles: 

A small bowl
A frying pan

For the Butternut Squash Noodles: 

12 ounces spiralized butternut squash noodles
2 tbsp. pumpkin maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
Butternut squash seed oil(see HELPFUL LINKS)
Raisins to taste
Honey roasted cashews to taste
​Cinnamon to taste

For the brisket: 

1. Spray a roasting pan or lasagna pan with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. Put the brisket into the pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix the remaining brisket ingredients together to make a sauce. Pour the sauce over the brisket. 
4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Roast the brisket in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for at least 4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit, but ideally between 180-205 degrees Fahrenheit. Check the temperature of the meat every hour. 
5. When the meat is done cooking, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. 
6. Cut the meat against the grain, into strips. Reserve the sauce the brisket was cooked in. This will be the sauce you pour over the strips. 
7. Bon appetit! 

For the noodles: 

1. In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin maple syrup and soy sauce together. 
2. Pour butternut squash seed oil into a frying pan and spread the oil around the pan. Turn the stove on to heat the oil up. 
3. Put 4 ounces of the noodles into the frying pan. Move the noodles around the pan to coat them in oil. 
4. Add the raisins, cashews, and cinnamon into the frying pan. Stir all the ingredients up in the pan. 
5. Pour a little bit of the pumpkin maple syrup-soy sauce mixture into the pan and mix it in with the rest of the ingredients. Cook the noodles until they are slightly crunchy. 
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for two more batches.
7. Bon appetit! 

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