Archive for the ‘barbecue’ Category

LAMBURGERS WITH FETA CHEESE DRESSING

Posted: September 18, 2014 in barbecue, burgers, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, lamb, Recipes
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Re-posting this on National Cheeseburger Day!

When it comes to grilling, lamb is often overlooked. Yet it’s a wonderful, flavorful meat that makes a great burger. The taste of lamb can be a bit strong, however, so I mix 1 lb of ground lamb with 1 lb of ground grass-fed beef.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground lamb
1 lb ground beef
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons extra Virgin olive oil
4 Tablespoons minced Spanish onion
2.5 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon each fresh parsley, mint, and dill, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
.5 teaspoon cumin
1 large clove garlic, squeezed through a garlic press
1 scallion, finely chopped, green part only
1 teaspoon salt
.5 teaspoon black pepper

Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add onions. Cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer onions to a plate. Let cool.
In a bowl, mix onions, lamb, pork, mustard, herbs, spices, garlic, scallions, salt and pepper.
Form meat into slider-sized patties. Place on baking sheet covered with non-stick foil, and place in fridge.
Prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire.

lamburger

To keep the Greek flavors going, I came up with this feta cheese dressing that works great with the lamburgers.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1  cup mayo
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce, like Franks Red Hot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4–5 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate. Best the next day.

Don’t let the lamburgers get too cold in the fridge…just enough to firm the meat up a bit. If it gets too cold, give it a few minutes at room temp to warm up again.  Grill burgers until cooked to medium. Place on slider buns with lettuce and tomato, and smear the bun with the feta cheese dressing.

CLAMS ON THE GRILL

Posted: August 17, 2014 in barbecue, CHARCOAL, Food, Recipes, seafood
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One of my favorite ways to enjoy clams…and without the clam knife! When you’ve got to feed a crowd, this is a delicious way to do it. Cooking clams on the grill is one of the tastiest ways to enjoy these awesome mollusks. I used sugar maple hardwood charcoal to get that true smokey flavor.

Although I live on the other side of the state, I love visiting my friends at American Mussel Harvesters in North Kingstown, RI. The quality of their seafood is second to none, which is why they supply so many area restaurants with their products. They feature “restaurant ready” mussels, meaning they’ve been cleaned and de-bearded. And their “restaurant-ready” clams mean they’ve been purged to perfection! (www.americanmussel.com) I use ’em whenever I can.

clams on the grill

Ingredients:

A couple of dozen (or more) little neck clams, washed and purged

1 stick (8 oz) of unsalted butter

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

 

Clams should be stored cold and dry in a fridge until ready to use…not in water, not on ice.

Because my clams have already been purged, I don’t have to do it at home. But here’s what to do if they haven’t been purged: Fill a large bowl with cold water, add sea salt and some corn meal to it, and mix it around. Add the clams to this bowl and let them purge in this liquid for at least an hour. They will suck up the corn meal and spit out sand and grit. After an hour, pour off the water/salt/meal/grit mix, and thoroughly wash the clams.

Start your hardwood charcoal grill and divide it in half: coals on one side, no coals on the other.

While the coals are heating up, grab a disposable aluminum foil tray and place it on a burner on your stove over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, parsley, oregano, basil, garlic and salt, and stir to combine. Once the butter has melted and everything has blended, bring the tray over to the charcoal grill and place on the side of the grill without coals. It will stay warm.

Once the coals are hot, just place the clams directly on the grill. (Use tongs, unless you want to remove all of your knuckle hair.) When they start to open, carefully flip them over, trying not to lose any of the precious juices inside the clam. Cook them for as long as you like, from raw, to more thoroughly cooked. As each one reaches its desired doneness, place it in the aluminum tray, making sure it gets swished around in the butter and herb mix.

When all the clams have been cooked and are in the tray, serve with a fresh baguette or even over pasta. A glass of great white wine is a must.

HONEY-BOURBON RIBS

Posted: July 11, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
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Since I’m busy tasting many bourbons these days, I’ve got some leftovers that may not make a great cocktail but would work great for a sauce. I had Maker’s Mark sitting around, so I came up with this sauce to use it up!

image

 Ingredients:

5 lbs St Louis style pork ribs

salt and pepper

 

For the sauce: 

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup bourbon

zest and juice of 1 lime

zest and juice of 1 lemon

zest and juice of 1 orange

2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I use Maille)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon chili oil

image

Season the ribs well with salt and pepper and cook in a smoker for 3 hours at 25o degrees, using hickory chips.

While ribs are smoking, combine sauce ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat and reduce the sauce by half until it thickens. Stir often, and don’t let the honey foam up and spill over the top.

Pre-heat oven at 250 degrees.

Remove ribs from the smoker and place in a sheet pan that is lined with aluminum foil, with enough foil to wrap around the ribs. Brush the ribs on all sides with the sauce, stacking no more than 2 sets of ribs on top of each other, and then wrap with foil.

Cook in the foil for 2 more hours, until tender.

 

 

 

 

LAMB: GREAT ON THE GRILL!

Posted: June 21, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, grilling, lamb, marinade, Recipes
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Many people are turned off by lamb because somewhere in their past, they had a horribly cooked piece of meat that ruined it for the rest of their lives. I’m here to tell you: don’t be sheepish! “Man up” and try lamb again!

If you think lamb is too “gamey,” buy American lamb over New Zealand or Australian lamb. Although the animals are mostly pasture-raised, most American lamb is larger and grain finished, which results in a milder flavor. Unfortunately, like with non grass-fed American beef, this also results in a larger, fattier animal, and a less healthy cut of meat.

I prefer 100% grass-fed lamb. You can find it from the US, but most often it comes from New Zealand. Having been to the country, I can tell you that the quality is unmatched and the grasslands in New Zealand are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. New Zealand lamb is smaller and is slaughtered at a younger age than American lamb, making it very tender. In New Zealand, as well as many other countries, only an animal under 12 months of age and without incisors can be called “lamb.” No such labeling is required in the United States.

I love the baby lamb chops that look like miniature porterhouse steaks. You can find them in any supermarket. a good marinade will get rid of any of those flavors you don’t want. Here’s an easy recipe that I served at a party in my home for 40 people, many of whom claimed they didn’t like lamb or never had it before. By the end of dinner, the chops were gone!

lamb LTL

 

Ingredients:

 

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, through a garlic press

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper

 

Place lamb meat in a plastic bag. Combine all ingredients for marinade and pour over lamb. Seal the bag and squish it around so that the marinade reaches every part of the chops. Place in refrigerator for a few hours…overnight is better. Pre-heat your barbecue grill. Grill lamb until done. That means cooked no more than medium. Don’t cook it to death! If you can’t get to a grill, place the lamb in an oven-proof pan and sear on all sides. Then place in a 350-degree oven to cook all the way through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT YOUR FOODIE FATHER WANTS FOR FATHER’S DAY

Posted: June 10, 2014 in barbecue, CHARCOAL, Cocktails, Drinks, Food, grilling, MARTINI, mixology, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
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Skip the necktie. If your dad’s a foodie, he wants something cool this year! All of these ideas have been rigorously tested by our panel of experts (OK, just me), and get a big thumbs up.

Digital Smoker: I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to grilling. I refuse to use a gas grill because I think there’s no difference between that and my kitchen stove. I use real hardwood charcoal, with real smoke and real flavor. But when it comes to smoking meats, basic smokers require constant maintenance so that the temperatures don’t fluctuate. With a 7-year-old daughter to take care of, that’s something I don’t have time for, especially if I’m cooking something low and slow for about 12 hours. So I have a digital smoker. You plug it in, set the time and temperature, and then periodically add wood chips through a side drawer to smoke the meat. You can literally set it and forget it. I have it cook through the night, so I wake up to a beautifully smoked slab of meat in the morning. Masterbuilt Electric Digital Smokehouse.

Cognac! How can you go wrong with booze for Father’s Day? But if you’re looking for something really special to give Dad (or your favorite morning DJ with a food blog), may I suggest Kelt XO. What makes Kelt XO special is that before bottling, they place the barrels of cognac on board ships that sail the world for months at a time. During this time, the cognac gently rocks back and forth in the barrels, slowly acquiring a smoothness you can’t find in other spirits. Each bottle even comes with a tag that tells you exactly what ports around the world your cognac has been to. At most high-end liquor stores.

jack daniels

Jack Daniels smoking chips: Whether you have a smoker or not, these chips will make anything you cook taste better. Made from the old oak barrels that they use to age Jack Daniels, you get a serious hit of whiskey in every bag…and in your food. Simply toss a handful of chips you’ve soaked in water for about a half hour, and they will infuse the food on your grill with flavor. You can also use them dry, on charcoal or gas grills.

Cookbook favorites: “Jamie at Home,” by Jamie Oliver (a great combination gardening/cookbook), “Charcuterie,” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn (the best book on how to cure and smoke meats), “Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds,” by Jeanne Voltz (my absolute barbecue Bible!), and “Martin Yan’s Feast: The Best of Yan Can Cook” by Martin Yan (the authority on Asian cooking.)

BBQ timer: Even someone who has barbecued all their lives runs the risk of burning or undercooking a roast or a large bird. Opening the grill and jabbing the meat with a thermometer several times causes the juices from the meat to run out, leaving it dry…and every time you open the grill, you lose precious heat. This is the better solution: You stick the needle into the roast or bird and leave it in there the entire time it cooks, so no juices leak out. You plug it into the monitor which then calls you when the meat is ready (from as far as 100 feet away!) You set the time or temperature, and then get to join your guests for the party. Redi-Check Remote Cooking Thermometer.

Smoking Gun: This is a fun toy. There are times when you don’t need a full-on smoker. All you want to do is smoke a small piece of fish or a hunk of cheese.  You simply take some of the finely ground wood chip powder (comes with the gun) and place it in the pipe-like bowl. Light it, and the Smoking Gun will blow that smoke through a hose into the Ziploc bag where your piece of fish is waiting for its magical transformation to smoky deliciousness. (Thanks to chef Rizwan Ahmed of the Hourglass Brasserie in Bristol, RI, who introduced me to this very cool device.)

smoking gun

 

Mason jar cocktail shaker: A fun new way for Dad to make his martini. http://www.masonshaker.com

mason jar, baking steel

RIBS WITH ATTITUDE

Posted: June 5, 2014 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, grilling, pork, Recipes, smoking, Uncategorized
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Sometimes you take a couple of recipes you have in your file and you combine them to get delicious results. That’s what happened when I took my basic pork dry rub and then added my version of the Franklin barbecue sauce, as featured in a previous blog.

The ribs were intense, delicious, and did not require a smoker to reach fall-off-the-bone amazingness…

 

Intense ribs LTL

 

Alz Pork Rub

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

 

Combine ingredients and sprinkle liberally onto meat, rubbing it in well.

 

The Barbecue Sauce

 

Ingredients:

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

6 tablespoons white vinegar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

 

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.

 

To cook the ribs…

 

Rub the ribs with the dry rub on all sides and wrap in aluminum foil. If you have a lot of ribs, it’s okay to stack them on each other for now. Place the wrapped ribs on a sheet pan and cook in a 250-degree oven for about 4 hours.

After 4 hours, unwrap the ribs and pour off any fat. Lay the ribs flat in one layer, uncovered, on the sheet pan and brush on all sides with the barbecue sauce. Cook for 1 hour more.

 

TWO MOST EXCELLENT BARBECUE SAUCES

Posted: April 28, 2014 in barbecue, chicken, Food, Recipes, Uncategorized, wings
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Through years of tireless experimentation, I’ve come up with a barbecue sauce that I can be proud of. I prefer a slightly sweet and tangy barbecue sauce,  and it works really well with chicken.

What makes this sauce special is the citrus. I originally used lemon juice for this recipe and it was good. Lime juice was better. Adding lime zest: even better than that. I tried orange juice and zest: a little too sweet. Meyer lemon: very good. But the Big Daddy of ’em all: grapefruit. I was craving my barbecue sauce one day and only had a grapefruit in the fridge. I thought: how bad could this be? Turned out to be the perfect foil to the sweetness of the brown sugar and ketchup.

Try this sauce on your next batch of chicken wings or even a whole bird. Cook the bird almost all the way through, brushing the sauce on for the last 20 minutes so that the sugars don’t burn. Then just try to stop eating it!

Chix BBQ

 

ALZ GRAPEFRUIT BARBECUE SAUCE

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Juice and zest of 1 grapefruit

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup dried onion flakes

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper sauce, like Frank’s Red Hot

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

(no salt)

 

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes on low, or until slightly thickened.

saucey

How could a sauce that’s inspired by what most people claim to be the best barbecue joint in the USA, Franklin’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, be bad? If you’ve seen Chef Nobu standing in a long line, waiting for his barbecue in that American Express commercial, then you’ve seen Franklin’s. People line up early in the morning and wait as much as four hours for a slab of brisket from this place. I’ll get there one day. In the meantime, I have the sauce…

 

Ingredients:

 

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup water

6 tablespoons cider vinegar

6 tablespoons white vinegar

6 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

 

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temp. If you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it’ll stay good for a few months.

 

 

CORNED BEEF AND PASTRAMI BASICS

Posted: February 26, 2014 in barbecue, beef, brining, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, Recipes, salt, smoking, Uncategorized
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St. Patrick’s Day is about 3 weeks away…just in time to make your own corned beef!

It takes about 3 weeks to make corned beef, but it’s not difficult to do. Doing it yourself gives you a better quality product than that nasty slab from the supermarket that is full of chemicals and preservatives.

Corned beef has nothing to do with corn. ‘Corning’ is a technique for preserving raw meats for long periods by soaking it in salt brine. This method was used before the days of commercial refrigeration. Back then, the large salt kernels used in the brine were called “corns.”

Brining is a time-honored way of preserving and it prevents bacteria from growing. Both pastrami and corned beef are made by this method. Both corned beef and pastrami usually start with a brisket of beef. Corned beef is then cooked–usually boiled–and served. Pastrami is made when the brined meat is rubbed  with more spices and smoked to add extra flavor. So corned beef and pastrami are the same meat, just treated differently.

Saltpeter is an ingredient that has been used in brining beef for years. It adds the traditional red coloring to the corned beef and pastrami meat. But since saltpeter can also contain carcinogens, I leave it out. The meat may not be the usual bright red color, but the flavor and texture of the meat will not be affected.

Brining the beef brisket

Brining the beef brisket

Step one: corned beef…

Ingredients:
beef brisket (about 8-10 pounds)
2 tsp. paprika
1/4 cup warm water
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices
3/4 cup salt
2 quarts water

Place the brisket in a large container made of non-reactive material, like glass or plastic.

In the 1/4 cup of warm water, dissolve the sugar, minced cloves, paprika and pickling spices.

Dissolve the 3/4 cup of salt in the 2 quarts of water. Pour in the sugar/garlic/paprika/pickling spices mix and stir everything together. Pour the mixture over the meat in the container. Make sure the meat is totally beneath the surface of the liquid. (You may need to weigh it down to do this.) Cover the container.

Refrigerate the container and contents for 3 weeks, turning the meat once or twice per week. At the end of the third week, remove the container from the refrigerator and take out the meat. Soak the meat in several changes of fresh cold water over a period of 24 hours to remove the excess salt.

At this point, if you want corned beef, prepare and cook it using your favorite recipe. But I’m all about the pastrami!

Step two: making Pastrami…

pastrami

Ingredients:

Brined and rinsed corned beef brisket from above recipe, patted dry with paper towels

1/4 cup Kosher salt

1/4 cup paprika

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

1 tablespoon white peppercorns

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

Combine coriander seeds, black and white peppercorns and mustard seeds in a spice grinder and grind coarsely. Place in a bowl. Add salt, paprika, brown sugar and granulated garlic. Mix well.

Rub the mix into the brisket well, covering all sides.

Heat smoker to 225 degrees and smoke for several hours using a less intense wood, like oak. When the internal temperature of the meat has reached 165 degrees, it’s done. It isn’t necessary to smoke pastrami as long as you would a regular brisket because the long brining time makes the meat tender.

It is very important that absolutely everything that comes in contact with the meat is very clean. (This includes your hands.) Also, make very sure that every inch of the meat reaches the 165 degrees before it is removed from the smoker. The corned beef is now pastrami.

AWESOMESAUCE

Posted: February 19, 2014 in barbecue, beef, burgers, crab, Food, grilling, New York City, Recipes, seafood, shrimp, Uncategorized
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The inspiration for this sauce was my attempt to replicate the “Shack Sauce” they use at Shake Shack , a high-end burger joint owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer. Since it opened in New York City’s Madison Square Park in 2004, Shake Shack has expanded to many other locations around the world.

I don’t know if I captured the Shack Sauce secret. But I do know that my Awesomesauce makes every cheeseburger I grill taste amazing. It’s also fantastic for shrimp, crab or lobster salad…a dip for veggies or boiled shrimp…a dressing for tacos…and great on salads.

Awesomesauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon ketchup

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard

1 tablespoon dill pickle relish

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate covered for a few hours to blend flavors.

PORK CHOPS WITH CRISPY FENNEL

Posted: December 12, 2013 in barbecue, Carnivore!, CHARCOAL, Food, garden, grilling, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Inspired by a garden full of fennel and my fanatical love for all things pork, this recipe just happened this past fall. I use Berkshire heritage pork when possible, a far tastier and healthier choice over standard pork you find in a supermarket. I get it at: http://www.heritagepork.com.

pork chop fennel

 

Ingredients:

 

4 Berkshire pork chops

4 tablespoons finely chopped fennel bulb

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage

4 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

extra fennel bulb and fennel fronds

extra olive oil, salt and pepper for sauteing

 

Combine the chopped fennel, sage, garlic salt, black pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Mix well and spread it all over the pork chops. Let them stand for an hour at room temperature.

Light a hot grill. Grill pork chops until done…with quality pork, that does not mean cook it to death!

Chop extra fennel bulb into thin strips about an inch long. Remove fennel fronds from their stems. Saute bulb strips in olive oil, salt and pepper until they are almost crisp. Toss in fennel fronds and cook until fronds and bulb strips are crisp.

Serve pork chops with crispy fennel and fronds on top.

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