Tag Archive for 'BBQ'

Green tea pulled pork with spicy asian bbq sauce

Published
by
marc
on June 23, 2008
in Asian, BBQ, Fusion, Pork and Roast
. 13 Comments

Still lingering on tasty memories of Michelle’s last BBQ, I was craving smokey pulled pork in a big way this weekend. So much so that I actually got my ass out of bed at 9 am on a Saturday to head over to Chinatown to pick up a big ole pork butt.

Pork butt for those initiated is another name for the “picnic” roast which in betrayal of its name comes from the other end of the pig (the shoulder). It’s a delightfully grisly fatty cut of meat that would make for a rubber doorstop if you cooked it any other way than slow and low.

At about 185 degrees F, the fat and connective tissue break down into that lovely moisturizing stuff that lotions purport will keep your skin wrinkle free and supple. This makes the meat incredibly moist and tender allowing you to enjoy the ample flavor that’s inherent in this cut of meat. The key is to slowly raise the temperature of the meat to 185 F then keep it there for at least an hour. In an ideal world, you’d put it in a heating vessel that holds a steady 185 degree temperature then leave it there for a day … But then again in an ideal world I’d be allowed to BBQ in my NYC apartment and not have to go to work either.

In an effort to make this more apartment friendly and time saving, I roast it in a dutch oven at 200 degree F. It will still take at least 5 hours mind you, so this isn’t a quick weeknight meal, but you could also put this into a crockpot on low and let it do it’s thing while you’re at work. I used smoked salt to give it a bit of that bbq flavour, but nothing beats putting it in a real charcoal smoker for hours on end.
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Lamb and Vegetable Kebabs

Published
by
marc
on May 30, 2008
in BBQ, Lamb, Mediterranaen and Summer
. 9 Comments

It’s really started heating up in NYC and I’ve been getting the itch to BBQ. Sadly, I’m not allowed to hang a BBQ out my 7th floor window, so I have to make due with my broiler. It’s not quite the same as a charcoal grill, but you can get results close to that of a gas grill with a bit of practice.

The key is to preheat a broiler pan or some kind of grill rack in the broiler so it gets nice and hot. Then you get some searing action on one side, while the other is exposed to the direct heat. You’ll want to experiment with times and positions to adjust for your particular oven, but it’s not rocket science.

When grilling it’s important to have a good basting brush. You want something that’s heat resistant and has a reasonably long handle so you don’t singe the hairs off your hand. These silicon ones do a pretty good job and have the added benefit of being able to go in the dishwasher for easy cleanup. The one drawback is that they don’t hold a ton of your basting liquid so you may need to dip more frequently that a regular brush, but I find the benefits outweigh this minor inconvenience.

I like using a simple Mediterranean marinade, but there are a lot of possible spices you can add. The thing that really makes this marinade for me is the pomegranate molasses. It’s made by reducing pomegranate juice until it has the consistency of molasses. I found a bottle at Wholefoods, but you should be able to find it in the “ethnic” aisle of a large supermarket, or at Middle Eastern grocery stores.

This marinade is nice and refreshing and does a great job of covering up that odor that lamb has. The pomegranate molasses adds a puckering tartness, honey-like sweetness and great floral aroma that works really well with lamb.

I like to serve these kebabs over a salad made with wheat berries and quinoa, but they’re great over saffron rice or tabbouleh.

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Roast olives with kumquats and almonds

Published
by
marc
on May 26, 2008
in Appetizer and Party
. 6 Comments

Huge thanks to Michelle and Brian over at Thursday Night Smackdown for inviting us over to their Memorial Day smoke-a-thon. I think I must have eaten half my body weight in pork and the other half in beer. I don’t want to steal her thunder, so I’ll let you mosey on over there to read about it, but I will say that if you’re ever lucky enough to get invited over for smoked meat and beer (or anything else for that matter) it’s an experience not to be missed.

These are some olives I roasted to take with me to the bbq. They’re relatively simple to make and the roasting gives them a unique flavor and texture more closely resembling oil-cured olives. The real stars of this dish in my opinion are the almonds and kumquats which both take taste great roasted on their own, but even better when roasted with olives.

I used some brine-cured olives I made last fall, but you could use just about any variety of store bought seed-in olives. My olives had meyer lemons, serrano chiles, garlic and celery that had been pickling along-side the olives so I threw those in as well. The olives straight out of the jar were a bit garlicy for my taste, but the roasting toned down the garlic while intensifying the flavour of the olive itself.

a few pounds of seed-in olives
3/4 C blanched almonds (Marcona almonds work well)
1 C kumquats (large ones sliced in half)
couple sprigs of thyme
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil
honey for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

In a non-reactive baking sheet, spread an single layer of olives, then scatter the almonds and kumquats. Strip the sprigs of thyme of their leaves and sprinkle on top along with some black pepper. Cover with a good layer of olive oil (I used about half a cup). Then cover the pan loosely with foil.

Roast for 30 minutes then take the foil off and roast uncovered for another 30-40 minutes stirring with a spatula every 10-15 minutes. Drizzle honey over everything about 10 minutes before they’re done. You’ll know they’re finished when the kumquats are nice and caramelized, the almonds are golden brown and the skin on the olives is starting to blister.

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Japanese marinade

Published
by
marc
on March 29, 2008
in Ingredients
. 0 Comments

This is a universal marinade used in Japanese cooking. Used fresh it’s great for marinating meats or fish and when cooked down, it makes a fabulous teriyaki sauce for grilled things (yaki-mono). I use this all the time and yet until today I never actually measured anything out. I tried to keep the proportions equal to make it easier to remember, it’s basically equal parts soy sauce, mirin and sake then half a part sugar and some garlic and ginger.

Depending on what you’re using it for (and your tastes) you can vary the proportions and of course I encourage you to experiment with different ingredients. Sometimes I’ll put some grated apple or honey for sweetness, other times I’ll use chilli powder or sauce to give it a bit more kick. You could also put other stuff like scallions, sesame seeds or sesame seed oil to take it in another direction.

1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
2 Tbs sake
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 tsp ginger grated

Whisk all the ingredients together and use.

You could probably make a lot of this in advance and keep it in the fridge as it’s got a fairly high salt content, though it’s so easy to make I’m not sure why you’d want to take up the room with another bottle of sauce.

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Lemony potato salad

Published
by
marc
on March 12, 2008
in Salad, Side and Vegetable
. 1 Comment

Lemony potato salad

If you’re not a big fan (or even if you are a fan) of the starchy mayonnaise that usually passes for potato salad, give this recipe a try. It’s much less creamy and if you’re totally anti-mayo, you can just omit it and replace it with an equal amount of olive oil. It’s lemony, with a little bite coming from the briny capers and a little crunch coming from the pickled onions and cucumber.

Try adding some different spices like basil, dill or caraway. A little whole grain mustard complements the capers nicely and adds another textural element as well.

2 russet potatos cut into 3/4″ cubes

1 Tsp kosher salt
1/4 small onion sliced as thin as possible
2″ length of hothouse cucumber seeded, quartered and thin

1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs good olive oil
1 Tbs mayonaise (optional, if omitting add another Tbs olive oil)
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbs drained capers

Boil the potatoes in ample water until soft enough to stick a fork through.

While the potatoes are cooking, put the sliced onions and cucumbers in a bowl with the salt and add some water. This pickles them, breaking down the cell walls of the veggies and releasing water making them more crunchy. Let them sit for about 10 minutes then squeeze out as much of the water as you can using your hands (the more water you get out, the crunchier they’ll be).

Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, mayo, and salt to make the dressing.

Drain the potatoes well and put into medium bowl and cover with the dressing while still warm. Gently combine the potatoes and dressing trying not to smash the potatoes too much. Add the onions, cucumber, and capers and mix until evenly distributed. Taste to make sure it’s okay, you can add more lemon, more salt, or even a pinch of sugar if you want to mellow it out a bit.

Serve it warm or let it come to room temperature.

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