Archive for August, 2005
Barbecue under the hood
Ok guys, now who doesn’t want one of these bad boys…
Unfortunately, it’s still in the “concept” stage at this point, but I’m glad to see someone’s putting their brains to good use. I wonder if the grease could somehow be recycled back into the oil pan?
From: Gridiron Gadgets
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Beer can cure cancer?
Lately there has been a rash of reports about the carcinogens present in overcooked meat. The burning fat and char on well grilled meat may indeed pose some sort of health risk it appears.
But never fear, scientists have discovered a way to possibly neutralize these harmful effects — drinking beer! Now that’s a sign if I ever saw one. I know I always have a beer in hand while manning the grill, for “safety reasons”. (You know, in case there’s a fire.) But now I have a higher purpose, it’s for my health.
For more information you can read this article from Science News Online, which contains a whole mess of $2 words like “heterocyclic amines” and “epigallocatechin gallate” both of which sound like terrible names for beer or barbecue.
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Where there’s smoke… there’s firewood
On a recent trip to Lockhart, Texas (population 11,000) I had the pleasure of enjoying some brisket and sausage at Smitty’s Market. Smitty’s Market is one of the top 5 barbecue resturants in Texas, and deservedly so.
It’s a quaint old place, and as soon as you walk in the door you are drive back by the heat coming off their huge smoking pit, whose burning fires have been creating great barbecue for 50 plus years. I have no idea how much wood they use in a day, but just look at the stock piles of post oak logs behind the store.
This part of Texas is full of post oaks, and Lockhart is pretty much 30 miles from anywhere in any direction, so they’ve got plenty of trees around. In fact, they say it this seemingly endless supply of trees (and the cattle no doubt) that have made this area such a barbecue haven. Lockhart is home to several barbecue joints, in fact 3 out 5 of the top rated in Texas call it home.
Despite Smitty’s humble furnishings and down-home attitude (no utensils, just butcher paper) they bring in folks from all around the state for non stop business, so I’m sure they are doing allright financially. No doubt there’s plenty of woodchoppers that make a fine living as well.
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Road Trip: Blues & BBQ
The Lonely Planet series of travel books is known for its quirky and always interesting travel recommendations. Their book Lonely Planet Road Trip: Blues & BBQ is no exception.
Clear, concise, and honest — the guide offers a variety of day trips and longer excursions thorugh the heart of the American South where you can sample the best in BBQ along with it’s companion, Blues music.
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Spicy chocolate rub recipe
Chocolate’s good for more than just dessert. The cacao bean, the source of chocolate’s powers, has been used in savory dishes since its discovery. Mexican moles for example will often include unsweetened chocolate in their ingredients list. The earthy acidic flavor of unsweetened chocolate can add interest to many types of meat.
Here’s a recipe for a spicy rub made with unsweetened cocoa powder that goes great on pork, lamb, or chicken. Just give them a good coating of the rub before grilling. This rub works especially well with kabobs, which give you more surface area and thus more chance to enjoy the chocolate rub’s flavors. Simply combine the ingredients together in food processor or spice grinder until the red peppers have been ground fine. This will keep several months in an airtight container.
- 1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes, chopped fine
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
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Steak sauce showdown
What’s your favorit steak sauce? In a recent article in the Detroit news, six varieties of steak sauce were put to the test. A good steak sauce should compliment the meat, without overpowering it. That was the challenge.
Now I know that many a steak snob will scoff at the notion of putting anything on a perfectly grilled steak, but sometimes it can use a little extra something, especially on cheaper cuts of meat. Besides, steak sauce is also good on hamburgers.
The winner was a brand that we don’t see down here in Texas, “HP”. I can only assume it’s not the same dudes who make the printers, but then again maybe their’s steak sauce in those printer cartridges instead of ink. The complete list of winners, in order, were:
- HP New Improved Recipe Original Steak Sauce
- A-1 Steak Sauce (Tied for 2nd)
- Crosse & Blackwell Imported Steak Sauce (Tied for 2nd)
- Lea & Perrins Traditional Steak Sauce
- Lawry’s Steak Sauce
- Smith & Wollensky Steak Sauce
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Choosing the right wine for your BBQ
A wine expert I am not, let me assure you. I buy whatever’s on sale with the coolest looking label. (I’m hip enough to stay away from the box-o-wine). However, I often have guests attend my BBQ’s (which I do know a thing or two about) and I recently read an article in The Seattle Times that makes selecting an appropriate wine far less painful.
For beef and other richly favored BBQ dishes we’re talking red wine. Even I understand that much. But in this case we are looking for a really full flavored wine that can stand up to the strong flavors of grilled meat. The stronger the better.
The second factor to look for is that the wine be cheap. I’m down with that, it certainly fits into my criteria. Especially since I’ll probably be drinking a beer anyhow. However, there’s another reason that inexpensive red wines are the prefered option here. It again come back to that bold flavor we are looking for. One of the factors that makes one particular bottle of wine more expensive than the other is the length of aging and type of cask the wines are stored in. A longer aging process and more sophisticated types of wood casks means a more delicate flavor. Cheap wines are cheap because they ignore such luxeries, and thus retain a stronger more resilient flavor. My guess is that they make them in bath tubs.
Acidity is the final factor. The acid in a good barbecue red cuts through the fat in the meat while providing lift to the smoke and spices and flavorings in the sauce. Fortunately this is another trait easy to find in inexpensive wines.
Yea, yea. So what do I buy. The author’s top pick? Carchelo 2004 Monastrell ($8) a Spanish red which according to the article “offers big, chunky fruits laced with spice, clove, mint and smoked ham… with an extraordinary finish”. More picks and details on selecting the perfect wine for your next BBQ can be found in the article.
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BBQ Grilled Pizza
If you have ever been tempted to try your hand at creating your own pizza masterpiece, there’s a great article over at BBQJunkie to show the way. Using your grill as a makeshift brick oven really creates an authentic wood fired pizza wth a delicious taste.
You may be tempted to use one of those precooked pizza breads, but don’t! As the article recommends, you can certainly use a premade dough to save time but cooking the dough on the grill is the essence of this dish. Otherwise you’re just using the grill to melt cheese!
Making your own pizza means you get to pick the toppings too. Get creative! If you want to stick with the BBQ theme, try pulled pork and apple or BBQ brisket and red onion. BBQ chicken also makes a tasty topping.
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Tips for Buying Steak Online
The perfect grilled T bone steak begins with great steak. You could head down to your local grocery store and ponder over the rows of steaks – but a better bet would be to order your beef online. You can’t beat the choice of a prime cut of beef that is 100 percent guaranteed? Online stores offer you more high quality choices and assure you that your steak arrives fresh at your door. They often provide great recipes that bring out the best of the beef.
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A HEMI Powered BBQ
You just can’t get more manly than a 5.7 liter V-8 HEMI powered, stainless steel barbecue grill can you? Tim Kowalec recently fired up this baby while announcing the five finalists in the Chrysler Group’s “What Can You HEMI?” contents.
It used to be that the Chrysler HEMI was used only for mundane tasks such as powering Dodge trucks, but now that power has been put to better use as a grilling furnace. Mmm, extra transmission fluid on my hot dog please!
The contest included such HEMI powered beasts as a paper shredder and snow blower, but the winner was a souped up tricycle with a 4 foot front wheel.
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Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon
I’ve been wanting to try grilling salmon on cedar planks for a long time, but never got around to it until last night. It’s actually pretty easy, impressive looking and — thanks to some thrifty shopping — quite inexpensive. If you are not familiar with this technique, it involves grilling salmon directly on cedar planks, allowing the smoke from the cedar to flavor the fish.
First off let me explain that I don’t even really like salmon. Let’s face it, here in Texas we just don’t see a lot of salmon swimming up the Rio Grande. Likewise for salmon’s puny cousin the trout. When we eat fish here it’s bass, or catfish, or crappie, not salmon. And it’s not baked, or grilled, or broiled, or poached. It’s fried. Fried in corn meal or onion ring batter. Period. That’s fish. The smell of salmon on the other hand, just reminds me of canned cat food.
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Build Your Own Barbecue
If your grilling desires lean toward something more substantial than a Weber kettle or your basic Charbroil gas grill, but you’re not a dot.com millionaire, try building your own barbecue pit. According to an article at Mother Earth News, it’s not as hard as you might think.
Built of dry-stacked concrete blocks, masonry cement, and firebrick, this grill can hang with the big boys but costs only about $100. Less if you can pilfer from a local construction yard.
This article gives complete plans, a materials list, and a helpful cut-away diagram of how the whole things comes together.
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Britain’s Biggest BBQ Blunders
Burnt bums, bungled bungee barbis, bursting Bollinger, melted bikini top straps and a python in a barbi are among the top 10 BBQ bloopers reported by respondant’s to Britain’s National BBQ News poll for the biggest grilling blunders of the year.
“Fortunately almost all had a happy ending,” says Brian George of the National BBQ Association who has collected these gems of BBQ blunders from barbi fans this year. So here the official list of Britain’s top ten biggest barbi blunders so far in 2005…
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Recipe: Beer and Pretzel Burgers
This interesting hamburger recipe combines two old barstool favorites, beer and pretzels, for a unique flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1/3 cup crushed pretzels
- 3 Tbsp. chopped onion
- 2 Tbsp. pickle relish
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 lb. ground beef
Mix beer, pretzels, onion, relish, and salt together, and mix into the ground beef. You’ll want to mix until the ingredients are evently distributed, but be careful not to overwork the ground beef.
Grill the burgers till done, about 15 minutes, turning once. Serve with beer and pretzels naturally!
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The Naked Whiz’s Charcoal Database
Yes, as unlikely as you might think it to be, there is a website dedicated to reviewing the merits and faults of various brands of charcoal. Equally unlikely is the name, The Naked Whiz’s Lump Charcoal Database.
I’ll hand it to, uhm Mr. Whiz, he know’s his charcoal. On his site you can pull up the ratings and reviews for dozens of brands of charcoal, as well as learn how it is made, the history of charcoal, and just about everything else you can imagine on the topic.
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