The Great American Smoked BBQ Experiment - Phase 1

This lovely Memorial Day weekend saw our very first attempt at smoking ribs the way they do down there. Or over there. Or up here. Wherever it is that adventurous souls are using tender smoke to make tender ribs. That was the challenge. And the challenge was accepted, met, hurdled and smashed to pieces, if I do say so myself.

There was a threat of rain showers all day long, but it wasn't going to deter us from our quest. I stopped at a local butcher to pick up two racks each of babyback ribs and St. Louis ribs. The babybacks have been our go-to rib when we go out for yummies, but I think we are turning the corner on the St. Louis ribs. More on that later.

A generous rub made from brown sugar, sea salt, cumin, red cayenne, garlic, chili powder and whatever else I had in the spice rack was applied to the bare ribs to make them oh-so pretty and ready for the smoker.

Aren't they pretty?

Now it was time to get the smoker into high gear. I'd never used an offset smoker before, nor any smoker for that matter. So I was hoping I could pull this off without fucking up, if you know what I mean. The charcoal goes in the small, lower box on the smoker and when they are nice and ready, you can add your wood or wood chips, however you roll. From the advice of a friend, I picked up a cast-iron smoke box that I put the water-soaked applewood and hickory chips in for smoking. That worked divine.

Here's a quick video of our offset smoker in action. Check it.

UPDATE: Well, uploading the video didn't work. Here's a screenshot instead.

Not a video...sadly

Using open vents on the side of the smaller box on the right and vents from that box into the bigger box, the smoke and heat moves through the larger area where you smoke your ribs. A water pan (I used apple juice, water and cider vinegar) is placed at the bottom of the larger area to maintain moisture along with the smoke. I was supposed to get the temp in the big box up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, but I could only coax it up to 165-170 or so. So I was supposed to smoke the ribs for 3 hours in that environment, but I added an extra hour due to the lower temp.

After the four hours, I wrapped them in heavy-duty foil with a bit of Srirachi sauce and a quick baste of apple juice and cider vinegar. Then I added some coals to the big box on the smoker and cooked them in the foil using indirect heat at around 275-300 for about an hour. The ribs were sooo juicy and tender at that point, I almost wanted to skip the final step. That final step was a quick 10 minutes on direct heat whilst I slabbed on some BBQ sauce. I used a store-bought sweet sauce as a base and added Srirachi and some Red Hot BBQ for a kick. Came out wonderful. Equally sweet and spicy.

St. Louis on the left, Babybacks on the right. Zoom in for BBQ porn.

Second helping. Babybacks, homemade slaw and mac & cheese.

The entire day was a huge success. The ribs were smoky, tender and juicy. Some of the best ribs I've ever had in my life, if I can brag for a moment. Maybe the day spent with my buddy drinking beers and bourbon and tending the smoker had something to do with it. Great company always is the best accompaniment to great food, I always say. I also made some homemade cole slaw and mac & cheese with cauliflower as side dishes. PBR and Bulleit bourbon were also on hand to get us through the meal.

This was our first foray into the art of smoking, but it certainly won't be our last. There smoked brisket, pork shoulder or butt, more ribs and just about anything else we can think of smoking coming our way in the near future.

After all, it is our Summer of BBQ.

Cheers!

The view from our patio - post BBQ.

Hash & Eggs

Did some more barbecuing last night. It's only May 21st and I've already barbecued more this year than I did last year. And it's not even really summer yet. This coming weekend I'm going to smoke some ribs for some friends of ours. I'll make macaroni and cheese and homemade coleslaw too, but we'll have more on that once the weekend comes.

Last night I grilled up some marinated steak tidbits over some coal. I've always been a gas grill kinda fella, but I'm going with coal this summer. Just for shits and giggles. And because we have a large smoker that I'm going to be using a lot this year. I also grilled a few ears of corn on the cob. Not exactly sure where this corn came from this early in the year, but it was super fresh and super tasty. I'm not complaining. No food porn from last night. It was all good, but not particularly photogenic, if ya know what I mean.

But today...ah, today was leftovers for lunch in the most amazing possible way. As I mentioned in my last post, I love me some leftover hash. So I chopped up the remaining grilled steak and some leftover fries that we had hanging around to make a hash. Added a few dashes of Tabasco and Pickapeppa to the mix and then topped it all off with a sunnyside up egg.

Yeah man...this should be what lunch is about every single freakin' day. Check it.

Everything is better with a fried egg on top. Everything.

BBQ Restaurant Review: Dixie's Smokehouse (King's Park, NY)

Hey there kids. It's been a looooong time. Too long. So long that I had even forgotten that this blog existed. Until last night when a Twitter buddy reminded me about it. I still love the idea of a collaborative blog about all things food and booze. What you ate and drank, where you ate and drank them. Stuff like that. And since I recently decided that 2014 will be my "Year of BBQ", I figured I would get back into the game with a review of the first new BBQ joint that we hit up this past weekend. Dixie's Smokehouse in King's Park, NY.

Situated, oddly, in a busy strip mall right off of the Long Island Rail Road, Dixie's is a actually a comfortable little spot amidst that kind of crazy. They offer attractive (for the setting) outside seating, but since it was just in the mid-60's we decided to head inside. We got there for a super-early Saturday dinner at 4:15PM, so we were pretty much the only people in the joint at that time. We were there so early, that old people just started showing up as we were leaving. They looked confused. Like they couldn't understand why anyone without an AARP card could possibly want to eat that early. Yeah...it's not normally our bag. But we had been researching local BBQ all day and we were starving because of it. So that's that.

The interior was clean and attractive, and had a great smoke aroma lingering in the air. So you know they actually smoked their meats right on premise. Something they reminded you of all over the walls and menus. Good. Be proud, on-premise smokers! We started with ordering some beverages, and herein lies my only real complaint with the joint. If you run something you call and "authentic BBQ" joint, try just a little bit to have a reasonable cocktail/beer list. They had zero in the way of craft beers and even less in the way of geographic appropriate offerings. This is a Texas-style BBQ, but no Lone Star or Shiner to be found, not even PBR in a can. Nada. Went with a plain old Budweiser because I had to have a beer with my BBQ. I'm not a fucking barbarian. For what it's worth, Gia went with a margarita and she said it was delicious. But I still feel that they could greatly improve the joint with just the smallest of efforts in the booze area. By the way, this is the same problem I have with many BBQ joints on Long Island. They put all their efforts into the food and nothing into the bar. It's like they don't even know who I am anymore...

For appetizers, we went with the Burnt Ends, burnt ends of smoked brisket over Texas Toast, and Over the Top Nachos with chili. When the food arrived, we immediately saw that we ordered too much. Our waitress realized it as well. She let us know halfway through our apps that she hadn't even put in our entree yet because it looked like we were going to take our time. We did...slow and steady. Still didn't finish either app because we wanted to save room for ribs. But both were delicious! The Burnt Ends were incredible flavorful and a great way to try a joint's brisket. The nachos truly were over the top. Biggest complaint with nachos is that the toppings sometime make the nachos a soggy mess. Not so with these. Crispy, delicious nachos and toppings all around. Well done.

Baby backs top left, St. Louis top right, Beef below

For our entree, we shared a Three Rib Combo platter. Half-racks of St. Louis and Baby Back ribs and one huge beef rib. We ordered it with steak fries and macaroni and cheese. Had the choice of ordering the ribs dry or glazed with their Texas sauce. We went with glazed. They were all delicious. Smoky, juicy, spicy and a little sweet. The surprise for both of us was the gigantic beef rib. It was really, really good. Again, we couldn't finish it all, so we took about half the platter home with us. Later that night, as a midnight snack, I chopped up the fries and the remaining beef rib to make a quick beef hash. That was really delicious as well. Except that I didn't listen to my gut and augment with a sunnyside egg on top. Sigh. You live...you learn.

Missing: sunnyside egg

Overall, a very positive experience and a restaurant that we would be willing to return to. Especially if they do a little something about their bar offerings.

Official Rating: 3.5 gnawed rib bones out of 5

Restaurant Review - Mara's Homemade, Syosset NY

A few weeks back, a buddy of mine texted me asking if I had been to Mara's Homemade yet. Not only had I never been there, but I had never even heard of it.  A former NYC hotspot that moved out to the Island, serving New Orleans-style grub and Arkansas Barbecue?  Sign me up!

We stopped by there two weekends ago for a drink at the bar and to have a couple of appetizers. We settled on a Bloody Maria made with jalepeno-infused tequila, something called a Crawfish Cheese Cake and some fried pickles.  The Crawfish Cheese Cake was like a souffle with cheese, crawfish tails and Andouille sausage.  Everything was delish!

Crawfish Cheesecake, fried pickles and a Bloody Maria

That experience was so satisfying, we knew we had to go back for a full meal.  Something we did this past weekend.  And it didn't disappoint. We started off with another Bloody Maria (it was sooooo good the first time around) and a Cajun martini made with tobasco and gin. Both were excellent. The spice on the rim of the Cajun martini, something I usually don't go for, was a nice addition.

Bloody Maria and Cajun Martini

For our round of appetizers, we settled on something called Crawfish Stuffed Bread, some fried green tomatoes and a 1/4 rack of their dry-rub ribs.  The Crawfish Bread was a hollowed out piece of crusty French Bread filled with a delicious mixture of cheese, crawfish tails and spices.  It was so good, I'm thinking it would've made a fine meal all in itself.  The fried green tomatoes were some of the very best I've ever had, and I'm obsessed with finding the best fried green tomatoes.  You didn't even need any of the Remoulade sauce they served with it. And we were dying to try the barbecue, so we had a little taste with the dry-rub smoked ribs, which were moist and excellent. Fell right off the bone. All the appetizers were outstanding!

Crawfish Stuffed Bread

Fried Green Tomatoes

Smoked dry-rub ribs...Arkansas-style!

For our entrees, Gia went with one of the specials...fried catfish served with a cheese sauce smothered in crawfish tails and shrimp and a side of collared greens.  I went with a serving of Crawfish Etoufee (actually a large side dish) with a side of Smoked Levi Beans.  Both were big hits with us. The cheese sauce on the catfish was actually much lighter than we expected but full of flavor, and the collared greens were cooked just right.  The Crawfish Etoufee was hot, spicy and wonderful, as were the smoked beans.

Fried catfish in a cheese sauce with crawfish and shrimp and collared greens

Crawfish Etoufee (foreground) and smoked Levi beans

We were pretty damn full at this point, but we had to try some dessert as well as some after-dinner drinks.  We went with the Chocolate Pecan Cake, a Bulleit bourbon on the rocks for Gia and a Sazarac made with absinthe and apricot-infused bourbon for me. Perfect ending for the meal.  I also accidentally ordered some beignets, but I was too full to eat them so we had them bagged to take home.  I didn't get a picture of them, but they were delicious!

Sazarac (foreground), Bulleit on the rocks, Chocolate Pecan Cake

All in all, it was a wonderful meal.  And the wait-staff and owners were all really nice people.  If there were any negatives it was that the food was so rich we didn't feel like eating for the rest of the weekend.  That and the menu has too many choices.  You find yourself wanted to order one of everything.  Then they add the specials on top of that and it's appetite overload. 

Next time we go, we are going to orders strictly from the Arkansas BBQ menu.  The link on their site calls it a cross between Texas and Memphis-style barbecue.  If the smoked ribs were any indication, then we can't go wrong.

If you are ever in Syosset, NY area you should check it out.  Highest possible recommendation!

Congo Bars

You need to make these.  Right now.  I'm serious.  They will change your life.  I didn't have time to take a photo of how my turned out, they were gobbled down in seconds!


Here's the link.

Satayday Night Fever

And once you've tasted it you're gonna want to rock the disco!  It's an amazing satay chicken recipe from a couple of crazy canucks!  Janet and Greta Podleski from their new book The Looneyspoons Collection.  I have their other 3 books (which are now out of print) and they are FANTASTIC.  I got the new one, The Looneyspoons Collection for Christmas.  I've tried several recipes from it already and they've all been excellent.  Kinda wanted to do the whole Julie & Julia thing and cook a recipe a day and blog about it but really where am I gonna find that much time?  If anyone wants to volunteer to pay me to do it I will quit my day job to accommodate you...    Anyway you should buy this book, the recipes are healthy, the ladies give great health tips along side the recipes, the recipes are fun and yummy AND they all have silly names like Satayday Night Fever.  Next on my list to try are the Jerry Springer Rolls.

So check it out for yourself:

Marinade:
4 chicken breasts (they say cut into cubes, but that's too much work, later you're supposed to put them on skewers, I don't have time for that, so I just cut them into strips, chicken finger style.)
2 Tbs. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. grated ginger root
1 tsp. minced garlic

Marinate chicken strips in above concoction for at least 2 hours or over night.  Over night is best!

Grill for about ten minutes, turning often to cook all sides.  Or you can cook under the broiler, 4" from heat for 8 minutes total, turning often.  I broiled mine and they were delicious!  I would have liked to grill them on the BBQ, however today in Saskatchewan it was -52 Celsius with the wind and so venturing outside was not an option!  Global warming my ass!  While the chicken is grilling or broiling you gotta make the sauce...

Peanut Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbs. light peanut butter (I used the crunchy kind, cuz I love the texture of the extra nuts.)
3 Tbs. grape jelly (I know it sounds weird and you're already thinking it's gonna be gross, but just TRY IT!)
1 Tbs. reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes  (I put in a bit extra cuz I like it spicy!)

Combine these items in a small saucepan.  Heat over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and has thickened.

Serve hot skewers or "fingers" with dipping sauce.

And sorry, no photos, once we tasted them there was no time to get the camera!

Aces of Bases

Lately, a lot of the recipes I've been making use a cup of two of some kind of broth.  Beef broth, chicken broth, vegetable broth.  And I'm not really one for making my own broth. It's something that I just don't do.

Not that I'm overwhelmed by the taste of store-bought broth. And I'm not lazy in the kitchen, but I draw the line at making my own broth.  So it's to the store I go.  I've been avoiding the canned and packaged carton broths lately.  I just don't think they have enough flavor.  So I've been investigating various alternatives.


Pastes
 

Better Than Bouillon

I like this one. It comes in a concentrated paste in a glass jar.  They have a whole line of organic and vegeterian soup bases.  I've found that it makes a flavorful, rich and hearty soup base even if I use slightly less paste/water ratio.  Most of these pastes/cubes/packets could use a little more water than they suggest.

Knorr Homestyle Stock

Comes in a four-pack of little tubs of paste/gel.  Each tub makes around 4 cups of broth.  This one is also good to use as a flavor boost for skillet dishes and the like.  Tasty and hearty.  Much more so than the canned stuff.  Very convenient to store in the pantry as well.

Bouillon Cubes

Has anyone else noticed that bouillon cubes look a lot different than they used to?  And not just the packaging. The cubes themselves are a bit moist.  Not nearly as dry as I remember from my youth.  Even so bouillon cubes have usually been my last resort when it comes to broth.  But I've found a few that have changed my mind.

Rapunzel Vegetable Bouillon 

They makes a Vegan Vegetable Bouillon that is damned good.  I would assume that all vegetable stock is vegan, but what do I know.  100% organic, as that is there gig.  I bought the batch with sea salt and herbs added, but you can buy it without that as well.  Made a nice veggie broth.

Knorr Caldo de Tomate

That's a tomato bouillon with chicken flavoring.  Yeah, the "chicken flavoring" kind of scares me too.  But it makes a really interesting and different broth.  Tomato based, yet you can still tell it's a chicken broth.  This one is non-organic and it has some MSG in it.  But it will do in a pinch.  Especially for Spanish or Mexican food recipes.  I make a chicken tortilla soup that I could see using this as the base. 

So what do you use as a stock/broth/soup base when you don't feel like making it yourself?