use real butter

Having grown up in Virginia, the butt of our local jokes was usually West Virginia. When I headed to California for college, I began to hear a lot of jokes about Texas - especially after I met Jeremy, the native son of New Mexico. The one I heard most was:

Why is it so windy in New Mexico?
Because Texas sucks and Arizona blows.

I’m sure you can replace the states in that with any set of neighboring states, but it’s quite amusing to see how tickled folks from New Mexico are when they deliver the punch line… every time. The point is, it is not cool to love anything about Texas in the company I keep.

Well, I have to make an exception - two, in fact. I love Kathryn, who is a Texan transplanted to Norway, and I LOVE Texas-style barbecue beef brisket à la Dr. Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas Bar-B-Que (in Van Nuys, CA no less!). My former house president and good friend, Jack (oops! another Texan… make that three things I love about Texas), introduced me to The Doctor. It’s a hole-in-the-wall joint nestled between skanky billboards advertising gentlemen’s clubs and adult bookstores on Sepulveda Boulevard [8136 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA (818) 902-9046]. The waitresses are strapping ladies, not a single one under size 14 or shorter than 5 feet 10 inches, who can haul pounds of barbecue chicken, pork ribs, beef brisket, hot links, and the most delicious and decidedly non-vegetarian baked beans. Come to think of it, I don’t think a single thing on their menu is vegetarian… except possibly the lemonade and iced tea.

The Doctor is one of our favorite go-to eats when we visit So Cal, and their beef brisket is one of our favorite items on the menu. It sells out on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, you name it. F’ing Good Stuff. A couple of weeks ago, a magazine editor contacted me asking if I had a nice photo of barbecue beef brisket. Um, I didn’t have any good ones and I usually barbecue pork because I am from Virginia where Pork is King. Ever since that email exchange, I have had barbecue beef brisket on the brain.

4.5 pounds of brisket with a healthy slab of fat on the other side

None of my barbecue books (all two of them) have Texas-style recipes. Believe it or not, I settled for a recipe on the (Pittsburgh) Post-Gazette Food section website. But hold on! It’s a recipe for Texas Beef Brisket from Celebrating Barbecue by Dotty Griffith. I had to give it a go.

a simple rub: salt, paprika, pepper, garlic powder

coat that baby well

I’ve actually done quite a bit of grilling/barbecuing the past couple of days. It’s just that time of year, you know? Good thing too, because today - Memorial Day - is cold, foggy, and drizzling outside, but my fridge is full of leftover galbi and beef brisket, and I have some pulled pork finishing in the oven (to give to our neighbors).

charring the fatty side on the grill

set in a baking pan and cover with foil

I know barbecue purists will argue for charcoal and smoke, but I can’t do that here without risking the very real danger of burning down my entire town and then some. It’s dry, it’s windy, we have a bark beetle infestation killing our pine forests, and my house is made of wood. Luckily, this recipe has a fail-safe technique which I took liberties with in using my gas grill. After charring the fatty side, it goes into the oven for 4-5 hours. I’m including both techniques in the recipe below.

prep the lone-star barbecue sauce

At this point, I usually want to mess with the recipe or swap out a different sauce. I like the Mutha sauce from Dinosaur BBQ, but I also love a sweeter Kansas City barbecue sauce recipe I got from a (tall and handsome) business school student neighbor when we were in grad school. But I was good and I stuck with the sauce in this recipe. I like that it calls for 1/4 cup of pan drippings in the end.

trimming off the layer of fat

slice the brisket against the grain

That is some good brisket. It’s not quite the same as Dr. Hogly Wogly’s, but it’s close. The sauce at The Doctor’s is spicier and I think the beef is juicier. Perhaps I should have used the wet mop? Will require more research (i.e. trip to So Cal and to see The Doctor), but for now, this recipe works for me. I hope it works for you too.

carnivores rejoice!

Texas Beef Brisket Barbecue
Celebrating Barbecue by Dotty Griffith

8-10 lbs beef brisket, untrimmed (thick layer of fat on one side) (I used a 4.5 lb slab)
Texas Dry Rub, or salt and black pepper to taste
Texas Wet Mop, optional
Lone Star Barbecue Sauce

texas dry rub
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp garlic powder

In an airtight container with a lid, combine the salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Shake to mix well. Sprinkle over the entire surface of the meat, concentrating on the fat layer. Rub or press into the fat and meat. Makes 1/2 cup.

texas wet mop
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsps paprika
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large (or 2 small) bay leaf
1 tsp red pepper sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 1/4 cups beef stock

In a medium saucepan, combine the salt, dry mustard, chili powder, paprika and vegetable oil. Stir to make a paste. Add the remaining ingredients slowly, stirring all the while. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate until ready to use. Brush the mop on beef or ribs while barbecuing over dry (no water pan), indirect heat. Makes 1 quart.

lone star barbecue sauce
1 1/4 cups ketchup
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 cup water
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or pan drippings from barbecue

Combine the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, mustard, water and garlic in a medium saucepan. Place over very low heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. For really smoky flavor, place on the grill away from the heat source during the last hour of smoking. Stir in the butter or drippings and cook 15 minutes longer. Pour into a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate to store, up to 2 weeks. Makes about 3 cups.

Note: To obtain pan drippings, place a drip pan under the brisket during cooking or save the juices that collect while the meat rests during slicing. You can also heat some of the fat trimmings to obtain some fat drippings. If using the fail-safe technique of barbecuing brisket, as described with the accompanying recipe, the meat drippings collect in the foil and can easily be spooned up and added to the sauce.

Beef Brisket Long Technique: Generously coat all sides of the brisket, particularly the fat layer, with the rub or salt and pepper. Cover and let the meat come to room temperature, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare a fire by lighting wood or a combination of wood and charcoal in the firebox of a cooker or at the end of a barrel smoker opposite the end with the vent or chimney. Or light the coals in a water smoker. Or preheat a gas smoker/grill. When the fire has burned down to glowing embers or the coals are covered with gray ash, place the brisket on the grate but not directly over the coals. Or place a full pan of water over the coals or hot lava rocks, then add the grate and brisket. The fire should be low, 225 to 250 degrees. Cover the cooker and smoke the brisket, turning every hour or so, until it is tender and the internal temperature reaches 180 to 190 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 8 to 10 hours. Tend the fire by adding wood (or wood embers from a separate fire) or coals to keep it from going out and to keep the temperature inside the cooker between 225 and 300 degrees. If using a mop (basting is advisable only when cooking without a water pan), brush it on when turning the brisket or after tending the fire. When the brisket is charred and tender (a fork should insert easily), remove it from the cooker and allow to rest about 20 minutes. Trim off the fat layer and cut brisket in thin slices across the grain. Serve with warm barbecue sauce, if desired. Or stack several slices in a sandwich bun spread lightly with sauce. Add more sauce, as desired. Serves 10-12.

Beef Brisket Fail-Safe Technique: The following technique produces smoky, tender brisket and cuts the time almost in half. Generously coat all sides of the brisket, particularly the fat layer, with the rub or salt and pepper. Cover and let the meat come to room temperature, about 1 hour. Light a fire in a charcoal grill that is big enough to hold the brisket. Allow the coals to burn until covered with gray ash. Place the brisket on the grill, fat side down. Grill the brisket about 45 minutes or until the fat is charred, turning when necessary to stop fat from dripping into the fire. Squirt flare-ups with water to douse the flames. Remove the brisket from the grill. *Jen’s Note: I grilled over gas flame (medium) directly for 20 minutes until the fat side was charred then indirect heat for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place the brisket on a double thickness of aluminum foil in a shallow roasting pan. Wrap it tightly and bake for 4 to 5 hours or until the meat is very tender. Remove the brisket from the oven and peel back the foil. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Return the brisket to the oven and roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes to crisp the top layer of fat. Allow the meat to rest for 20 minutes. Trim off the fat layer and cut across the grain into thin slices. Serve with barbecue sauce.

Some of you may wonder if I cook as often as I post (well, lately I haven’t posted as frequently and there is a good reason for that). Um… yes and no. My cooking and baking tend to cluster in that I will make 3-5 recipes in one sitting and shoot them all to blog about eventually. It’s an OCD dream come true really - keeping all of that straight in your head. I suppose it’s very good practice for those times I entertain guests for dinner. In any case, I have days where I whip something up and the little voice (me) in the back of my head says, “Oh, you oughta shoot this” and the other voice (me) in the front of my head says, “Yeah - you can go shoot it…” and those are the days I don’t record what I make.

I have recipes in queue for times when I feel unmotivated or times like tomorrow, when I’ll be out of commission for a day or more and unable to cook or bake anything. I just find it funny that I decided to post about barbecue pork ribs on a day when we finally, we finally got a decent dump of snow here. I’ve been waiting for it all season and of course, leave it to the storm track to arrive right before I can’t take advantage. Ah well…

spice things up with a nice rub

You can use whatever rack of ribs you like. I prefer pork and I like the cut that my local butcher refers to as Saint Louis cut. It has the spare ribs and the flank of extra cartilage and meat below that. I personally don’t dig on baby back ribs. Not as much bang for the buck in my opinion.

it’s called a rub because you rub it in and all over

When you make these ribs, you need to plan ahead. I know - for OCDs and people who are generally on top of things, this is a no brainer. Right. But for those whose idea of a plan is not to plan, give yourself a day and half for this recipe. After getting rubbed, the ribs sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours. I know the recipe says 4-24 hours, but 24 will do ya right.

see ya tomorrow

Don’t get too excited when it’s time to take the ribs out of the fridge, because they go into a slow oven for 8 more hours. Patience, young padawan.

into the oven she goes

That low and slow oven renders the ribs to the falling-off-the-bone stage. I swear I love me my barbecue pork, but this is most certainly my favorite of them all. Something really appealing about how cleanly it comes off the bone. That is also the tricky part.

careful not to eat them out of the oven - there’s one more step

Because the rack is now falling-off-the-bone tender, you need to exercise some care when transferring it to the grill. Yes, there is one more step, but it’s definitely worth it. I usually have two large spatulas, two sets of tongs, and my ever-faithful companion, Jeremy, to help me move the rack onto the grill without having it fall apart. I am sure that one day we’ll be grilling for guests and the whole thing will fall on the deck and then the dog will come running…

brush on some good barbecue sauce

Flipping the rack is just as nerve-racking (get it?). Try to keep the entire slab in one rotating plane - that is, no torquing or other application of differential stress on the slab unless you want the above nightmare scenario to play out (and my dog will most certainly come running to your house to eat the fallen ribs - her nose is *that* good). It’s not so bad once you get the hang of obeying those basic principles of mechanics. And when it’s all said and done, you will definitely feel it was worth it. I always do.

you’ll be left with nothing but a plate of clean bones

Slow Barbecue Ribs

4-5 lb. rack of ribs (I suggest St. Louis style, pork ribs)
1 cup dry rub
2/3 cup Mutha sauce
2/3 cup random store-brand BBQ sauce like Masterpiece or Bullseye (something with molasses in it - a sweeter type)

dry rub
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne powder
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper, ground
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic

Mix together.

Mutha Sauce
from Dinosaur Bar-B-Cue: An American Roadhouse

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 onion, puréed
2 tbsp garlic, minced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
28 oz. tomato sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce (yiha!)
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp allspice, ground

Mutha Sauce: Sauté onions and garlic in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for ten minutes and let the sauce cool. This makes a ridiculous amount of sauce - something like 10-12 cups.

Dry off the rack of ribs. Rub spices over all of the rack. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, but at least 4 hours. Preheat oven to 225F. Place the rack in a large roasting pan (I line mine with foil for ease of clean up) and cover with foil. Bake the ribs for 8 hours. Remove from oven and set the ribs on a rack to let the excess fat drip off (to reduce the grease fire on the grill). Mix the Mutha sauce and random store sauce together. Heat the grill on high for ten minutes, then reduce heat to medium. Place the ribs on the grill for 5 minutes, covered. Flip the ribs and grill for another 5 minutes. Flip again and brush the top side of the ribs with barbecue sauce and allow grilling for 5 minutes. Flip one last time and brush the top side with more sauce. Serve.

I wrote about pulled pork earlier this year during my Summer of Barbecue, but I never gave a recipe for it. Barbecue is regional in the US. Heck, my MIL just told me last weekend that barbecue in Memphis differs from barbecue in the rest of Tennessee! The varieties could make your head spin and your colon tremble: sweet, spicy, vinegar-base, tomato-base, thick, thin, beef, pork, ribs, pulled, sliced, smoked, and don’t forget the hot-links. I like them all, really. But in southern Virginia, we get a heavy influence from North Carolina and so tonight I paid homage to Carolina pulled pork for dinner.

One of my favorite acts in cooking is the Magic Act, where you take cheap cut of meat and cook it forever, whether by dry or moist heat, and render it a tender heap of Culinary Nirvana. Since we’re talking Carolina barbecue, you automatically know it is 1) pork and 2) vinegar-based sauce. And if you didn’t know, it’s about time you learned. An excellent part of the beloved piggy (besides the belly and the leg) is the shoulder, aka butt, Boston butt, Boston roast, shoulder blade roast. It is a favorite for barbecue (and also of Chinese cooking!) for its wonderful flavor, marbling, tenderness, moistness, and low cost. The trick is low and slow heat.

I tend to believe that authentic barbecue is smoked over coals for hours on end. I could do that where I live, but then I might burn down the entire National Forest, so I slow cook in the oven. It’s a more practical approach.

the components of the dry rub

seeing red isn’t always bad

After mixing up the dry rub, rub it over the pork butt. Be sure to get it in those cracks and crevices too. Coat that baby well. Your hands should be a veritable mess when you are done.

rubbed and ready to go - don’t wipe your hands on that white shirt…

Did I mention you’ll want to start this at least a day ahead of time? Well, you will. This is all about flaaaaaavor. Pop the pork into the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, overnight is preferable. Meanwhile, the sauce should also be prepared on the first day since the flavors benefits tremendously from sitting for a day. There really isn’t much to the recipe, just some patience and planning.

seared

The following day, pull the pork out of the refrigerator to sit for an hour. Sear it up on all sides and then into the oven for four hours on low heat. I covered my baking pan with aluminum foil. After I took it out of the oven, I realized it might have been a good idea to line the pan with aluminum too. Well, Jeremy was a love and scrubbed that baking dish clean, but I don’t loan him out, so definitely line with foil unless you like scrubbing dishes (in which case, maybe you should come visit?)

tender

pulling the pork should be easy

The pork should be falling-apart tender after four hours. I like to remove the fat and connective tissue while it is still hot and then shred the meat with two forks.

pour the barbecue sauce

Add as much sauce as you like and serve. I love to eat this with a nice soft and slightly sweet bread, which is also perfect for sopping up the extra sauce. And despite my love of non-mayo coleslaw, I do find a (not too) creamy coleslaw is awesome with this pulled pork. Obviously this barbecue is vinegar-intensive, so people who are looking for a sweet tomato-base sauce will have to wait for my next installment on barbecue. I like all kinds, really.

get in touch with your inner southerner

Carolina Pulled Pork

3-5 lbs. pork butt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups dry rub
Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce

dry rub
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne powder
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper, ground
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic

Mix together.

carolina vinegar barbecue sauce
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper, ground

Mix together and heat until sugar dissolves (don’t breathe the fumes). Let cool and store for 24 hours.

To make the pulled pork: Day 1. Rub pork with dry rub. Place in a baking dish and cover with plastic. Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours. Make the Carolina vinegar barbecue sauce. Day 2. Remove the pork from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for an hour. Preheat oven to 325F. Heat oil in a large frying pan and sear the pork on high heat on all sides (a few minutes each side). Place pork in a baking dish lined with foil. Cover with foil and bake for four hours. Remove from oven and remove fat and connective tissue and any bone. Shred the meat with forks. Pour desired amount of sauce over the pork and serve hot.