Thu May 16, 2013
There's equal comfort in both smoking and grilling at home for me—whether it be a 16-hour slow smoked pork shoulder or quickly fired skirt steak, both are easily achievable. I often forget that the recipes I post for smoked ribs, brisket, and turkey may seem daunting or unachievable to the standard backyard chef with only one kettle grill. This isn't the case though, and nobody should be denied the satisfaction of taking a large, tough piece of meat and transforming it into something of sheer ecstasy by smoking it low-and-slow—and yes, this can be accomplished on the grill.
More after the jump >>
Tue Mar 12, 2013
When making pastrami for the first time, I pretty much hit the nail on the head on flavor—the meat was smoky and salty, with a highly seasoned peppercorn, coriander, and garlic crust that screams "pastrami." Still, that cured and smoked brisket flat didn't sit right with me, mainly because of one glaring omission, it was never steamed! Wanting to correct that and improve my pastrami texture and tenderness, I set off to try again, but once I had a brisket home, decided to do things a little differently and turn this chunk of beef into Montreal smoked meat.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Feb 12, 2013
What to do with hoisin barbecue sauce?
Hoisin ribs, of course!
I could think of nothing else more deserving to take the inaugural brushing of my hoisin sauce then some smokey St. Louis cut spare ribs. With a fair amount of thought going into the Asian influence of the sauce, I needed to appropriately match the rest of the rib to that flavor profile while keeping true to low-and-slow barbecue as well. The results spoke for themselves, but since I have yet to find a way to deliver barbecue through the tubes of the internet, here's how it all came together.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Feb 5, 2013
Last winter I spent a hell of a lot of time developing two barbecue sauces that I can call my own. My first, a cherry-chipotle sauce, has a fruity and earthy flavor with a nice kick of heat that seems to be a favorite of everyone who tries it. The second, a sweet and spicy sauce, has gone on to proudly adorn 1st place chicken wings and 4th place ribs, along with a few other well received entries in competitions last summer. So now that I'm pretty much done tweaking those two, I want throw a couple more into the mix this winter while I have the time to mess around in the kitchen. My first inclination was an Asian inspired sauce, and nothing says Asian barbecue sauce like hoisin—a thick, sweet and salty sauce built on a fermented bean paste base.
More and recipe after the jump >>
Tue Jan 29, 2013
So we've come to SuperBowl weekend. Usually I care about this mainly for the excuse to cook as much bad-for-you party food as possible, although last year I found myself oddly engaged with football through the postseason. I'm back to my old ways though, with food more top of mind than the game, which has given me time to consider how to make a good thing even better—barbecue meatballs. Sure a package of frozen meatballs thrown in a CrockPot with a bottle of barbecue sauce is satisfying, but how much better can it get if done from scratch and on the grill?
More and recipe after the jump >>
