BBQ Basics

CLFH  Barbecue Basics

The regional variations on barbecue that have grown up in different areas of the country were based on the meat and produce most commonly available during the early years of Q, and refined by the cultural influences of the region. The four best known styles areTexas,Carolina,MemphisandKansas City. Happily, you will find all of those and more as you follow your nose from one end of the state to the other.

And for the uninitiated, here's a simple glossary of common barbecue terms that might help you in your quest for your own favorite Q.

Baby back ribs: These are always pork; usually about 2 pounds per slab.

Barbecue (barbeque): Cooking it outdoors on a grill doesn't make it barbecue. True barbecue is meat cooked "low and slow," meaning cooked sloooowwwly over hardwood or charcoal at 200 to 375 degrees.

Bark: A crust that develops on the outside of the meat as a result of heat and seasoning.

Sauce: A spicy liquid, usually tomato-based, that is added to the meat toward the end of the cooking time. Sometimes served as a condiment rather than added to the meat.

Carolina BBQ: Traditional Carolina BBQ is pork, chopped or pulled. Western Carolina style has some tomato in the sauce, while the more common easternCarolina sauce is vinegar-based with proprietary blends of peppers, onion, garlic, brown sugar, whiskey and other spices. ASouth Carolina variation includes mustard in the sauce, the contribution of early German settlers.

Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue
Each year in October, teams arrive inLynchburg ready to smoke at "The Jack." Fifty American teams take on grand champions from around the world in eight categories. Music, distillery tours, crafts and games round out the fun.

Kansas City BBQ: Where south meets west, and pork meets beef, Kansas City style is a combination of generous seasoning with spices, rubs and sweet sauces and hours of careful cooking in a hickory pit.

Memphis BBQ: It's all about pork ribs inMemphis, usually marinated with a rub made of herbs and spices and basted during the cooking. Other pork cuts are cooked the same way. Rubs can be wet or dry, mild, spicy or sweet, with or without mopping sauces applied periodically.

Memphis' World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest
The "Granddaddy of Grilling" is part of the spectacularMemphis in May celebration. Hundreds of teams, more than $90,000 in prize money, and contests for beef, pork, chicken, three kinds of sauces, side dishes and more. It's enough to make a Q addict weep for joy. And since it'sMemphis, you can count on great music and hilarious booth competitions.

Pit: True barbecue is cooked in a "pit," which can be any closed cooking unit, from a brick container to a hole in the ground.

Rub: Sometimes called dry marinade, a rub represents the chef's own special mix of spices and herbs. Sprinkled on or rubbed in, the rub helps form a crust during cooking and enhances the natural flavor of the meat.

Sauce, or basting sauce: Sauce adds flavor and keeps the outside of the meat tender and moist while the inside cooks slowly. The best sauces are blended with seasoning and flavors to suit the meat. Oils are often added to meat with little or no fat, while pork requires no oils. Some sauces are meant for basting, while others are served as a condiment.

Smoke ring: A thin ribbon of pink that runs along the edge of the meat (or throughout a thin piece such as pork ribs). A smoke ring is a happy sign of well-smoked meat.

Smoking: This is the true essence of Q, the time-consuming process of cooking the meat slowly with indirect heat, using wood smoke for flavor, not grilled in direct contact with the flame.

SunDrop Country BBQ Cookoff
A state championship event sanctioned by the state legislature and the Kansas City BBQ Society, the SunDrop, in Pulaski, "pits" both professional and amateur teams from several states. Bring on the barbecue, and help some local charities while you're at it.

Sweet tea: It's what you drink with Q.

Tennessee State BBQ Cookoff Championship
Come to Lawrenceburg in June for the AT&T state championship and get the best of chicken, ribs, pork, brisket, sauce and dessert. It's sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society and sure to please even the pickiest palate.

Texas BBQ: Beef, beef brisket, beef ribs, cooked "naked" or with a tomato sauce thinned with Worcestershire or vinegar, the least sweet of the tomato-based sauces. Some rubs are just a blend of salt and pepper.

Wood, wood chips: Wood chips that have been soaked in water are used to add flavor to meat.Texas style beef BBQ is usually smoked in mesquite, hickory or post oak, while Carolina BBQ is usually smoked with hickory. Fruit woods are especially common with pork, adding a sweet flavor. Making sure the wood has dried reduces smoke and gives the pit master more control over the cooking process.

 

Support Your Local Farmer's

At Cooking Lessons from Home we joyously embrace the benefits of organic living by adopting it as a personal practice, and adhering to it as a professional one. I have a personal commitment to organic agriculture, because of my grandparents. My grandparents from both my mom and dads side were organic farmers. Grandma and Grandpa Walker farmed for a living, everything that was put on our family table came from my grandparents farm or the farmers down the road. To this day I remember the taste of my Grandma Walkers' Sour Cherry Pie, my grandfather said we were lucky to get those cherries because they let the cherries stay on the tree just until they are ready to burst with juice, but somehow the crows know that too, so they had to lay a net over the tree to keep the birds from eating the cherries, its challenging being an organic farmer.

I believe that when it comes to health and the well being of our communities, organics should be the first and only choice. The benefits of supporting the organic movement and incorporating an organic lifestyle are immeasurable and I have outlined what I believe to be the most crucial issues facing us today. For food, family, and future, I encourage you to be passionately organic and I guarantee it will make you feel good all over.

 

Farmer's Markets open across the USA in the month of May. Please support our Farmer's who support our Health.

 

Eat Beef Short Ribs Tonight!

Dear Andrew, Addison and Friends;

Since we have been talking about beef I want to share a recipe with you that we have had many times while you were growing up. But it requires searing the beef.  You can sear beef, chicken, pork or fish. To begin allow the meat to become close to room temperature, (this allows for  more controlled cooking throughout the meat) so let the meat sit on a plate for about 30-60 minutes prior to searing. Okay back to searing meat, basically what this means is to add oil to your pan, turn the pan on a high temperature then add the meat. You cannot walk away once you add the meat. It only takes seconds to “brown” the meat. Once one side is browned then you flip the meat and sear all sides. This produces a carmelized effect on the meat and seals in the juices. It is a step, that is well worth doing. Just a word of caution, the oil will splatter out of the pan, to avoid such a huge splatter, use your splatter guard.

I know we all have busy weekends, so this is a great weekend recipe , its one of my  favorite recipes of all times. Its great for guests and it makes plenty for leftovers. It is a hearty, full-flavored dish to be served with egg noodles, rice or best of all mashed potatoes. The unexpected touch of orange, cinnamon and chile adds character and warmth. You can serve this with a bottle of Russian River Valley Zinfandel or your favorite red wine.

Get a pan to sear the meat, a clean plate, (never put cooked meat back on to a plate that had raw meat) s small sauce pan

Bring out your slow-cooker too.

2Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 pounds of beef short ribs, English cut (about 2 inches long) ask the butcher at your gracery store.

1 large white onion

2 carrots pooled and cut into medium dice

2 cups of Zinfandel or a red wine

1 cinnamon stick, do not add cinnamon powder, it won’t taste the same.(you will find in the spice aisle at your market)

1 dried ancho chile, seeded and toasted in a hot dry pan (you will find in the spice aisle of your market)

2 cups of beef stock

zest from one orange, I only use about half the zest from an orange.

Fresh ground salt and pepper

Salt and pepper the ribs. Put vegetable oil in a large pot, enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Turn up the heat, within seconds you will see smoke then immediately add ribs in a single layer.  Sear meat on both sides. Remove to a clean plate and reserve. Finish the rest of the ribs.  Once all the ribs are done, throw onions in the pot and turn down the heat, watch the onions until they become limp then remove. Get your slow cooker out, and turn the dial to 4 hours or 8 hours depending on your day. Add carrots, onions wine, cinnamon stick, orange zest, beef stock and ribs.    Now go on with your day and when you are ready for dinner, prepare your starch, (rice, risotto, pasta or potato) Remove the meat from the pot and put in on a platter. Strain the sauce and place the strained vegetables in to your blender, make sure the blender is clean from your last margarita party. Pulse the vegetables so they look like mush.  In a small sauce pan boil the sauce, (wine and beef broth) and to reduce it, this will take about 5 minutes on medium high, remove the cinnamon stick and then add the the pureed vegetables back into the pan to reheat and pour over the ribs.

Just throw together a salad and you now have a “perfect meal”.

Have a great weekend,

Love Mom

Beef Gets A Grade

Dear Andrew, Addison and Friends;

I have received a lot of good feedback from my grass-fed beef so I would like to continue teaching you about beef.  I will tell you about pork and  poultry at a later date.  When you go to the meat department in your grocery store, read the labels. You will find that the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service operates a voluntary beef grading service to give  beef a grade. It is a pretty good system to use when selecting a type of beef.  Just like when you were in school, there are standards for grading. This grading system depends on the maturity of the beef, firmness, texture, color of lean, amount of marbling. Marbling is the intramuscular fat that you will find in beef. Beef can be from cows, bulls, heifers or steers, not horse. In very simple terms there are basically two types of meat, tough and tender. Both are good and have their purpose but it all depends on what part of the animal that particular cut came from.  The tough meats contains more muscle, you must braise or cook it for a longer period of time. The more tender cuts of meat have marbling and are for quick cooking. When you go to your grocery store, you may find three to five grades of meat, Prime, Choice and Select are the most desirable. There are other grades but they are  used for commercial purposes, believe me we wouldn’t want to eat these meats, they are for processors and canners.

US Prime: Is typically sold in butcher shops or sold to restaurants and hotels. You typically won’t find this in your grocery store. It is your more expensive meat, it is juicy and tender. This type of meat will be used for dry heat cooking, like grilling, oven or quick cook method on the stove top. When using this grade of beef all you need to do is to rub it with olive oil, salt and pepper.

US Choice: Less expensive than Prime and is quality cut of meat. You will find this grade of meat in the grocery store or at your butcher. It is juicy and tender and may be cooked with dry heat or by adding just a little liquid. The difference between US Choice and US Prime is the amount of marbling.

US Select: Is the most popular grade of meat, sold in grocery stores. It is economical. It is still juicy and lean. This type of meat needs marinating or cooking, like in your slow cooker for a longer period of time.

US Standard: You may find this grade of meat in the grocery store. It may be sold under the store brands name. It has very little marbling, it lacks juiciness and flavor. So this grade of meat needs marinating and cooked for a longer period of time to become tender.

You may see packaging in the meat department that will tell you what type of cattle the beef came from, like Black Angus, which is known for its flavor and tenderness.

Tip for the day:

When you buy US Select, take it out of the packaging place the meat in a zip lock baggie and pour your favorite marinade like a terriyaki, ginger and garlic sauce into the bag. Now you can freeze this meat up to one month or save it in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. When you ready to prepare, just remove meat from marinade and grill or pan fry.   The marinade will have made the meat more tender and flavorful. I use this recipe when I buy London Broil. After I grill the London Broil, I slice the meat cross grain into thin strips this will make it more tender. Serve with some roasted vegetables and a salad and you”re in for a healthy and tasty meal. Good for leftovers too, try using the extra beef in a Panini sandwich.

Love Mom

Grass-Fed Beef

Dear Andrew, Addison and Friends;

Well its been a week since my last post, but I have a good excuse my son Addison was visiting from Montreal and we were so busy I didn’t have a chance to write.  But I am always thinking of my two blog sites, this one and Loveyourworkout. wordpress.com While my son was here I prepared as many of his favorite meals as I could. Some of them are, Shrimp Creole, (the last recipe I shared), homemade bread, homemade cinnamon rolls, meatloaf, mashed goat cheese potatoes, lots of grilled vegetables a variety of salads and homemade tomato soup. If you read my posts you know my husband and I try to eat only in season, (organic when possible )fresh produce.

I am always searching for a healthy version all types of food. Last week I discovered a local farmer, who sells only grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, chicken and goat.  A growing number of ranchers have stopped sending their animals to the feedlots to be fattened on grain, soy and other supplements. Instead they opt to keep their animals at home grazing on the local grasses and native diets with no hormones or growth-promoting additives. The animals grow at a more natural pace, with less stress so they are healthier and don’t need antibiotics. I was so excited to find this connection so I called him up and we met and I bought a little bit of everything including farm-fresh eggs.(Believe me there is a big difference in fresh farm eggs, that will be another blog later).

For dinner that night  we opened up a Cakebread Cellars Cabernet, took the rib eyes out of the refrigerator one hour prior to grilling and massaged extra virgin olive oil, (evoo), freshly ground pepper and sea salt in each steak.  Jonathan prepared a wonderful tomato and onion salad with a aged balsamic vinegar and evoo and I made a mushroom risotto. Jonathan grilled the steaks on high heat to about medium rare. I couldn’t wait for my first bite of this grass-fed beef.  I carefully sliced my first bite and wow, it had a flavor I was unprepared for.

I can honestly say I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first. Matter of fact, I’m still not sure.  Grass-fed beef tastes gamier than most beef you buy from a butcher or market. It was lean, moist and I could taste that this beef was raised on grass, you can taste the flavor of the grass.  But wait this is meat is  supposed to taste like!  We have been raised on meat that is not raised naturally, and so it has less of an organic or earthy flavoring. So my brain is convinced that this type of farm raised cattle is better for me, now  I have to convince my taste buds.

How to prepare Your Steak like a Grill Master

If you buy the best quality of beef, there is not much you have to do except for a little TLC.

Remove your steak from the refrigerator one hour prior to grilling time. This will the beef to cook more evenly throughout the grilling process.

Massage olive oil, freshly ground pepper and freshly ground salt onto all sides of the beef.

Prepare your grill to high heat and depending on the thickness, cut and personal preference of how well you like your steak cooked, that’s all there is!

Enjoy and tomorrow I will tell you how to shop for the best quality of meats.

Love Mom

Beef Stroganoff Dinner

Dear Andrew, Addison and Friends,

Here is a great meal to put into your slow cooker in the morning and when you come home, just make egg noodles according to the package, rice or potatoes.

Beef Stroganoff

Sirloin steak either in strips or chunks,buy about 1lb. to 1.5lb.

1 can French Onion soup

1 can Golden Cream of Mushroom

1 cup Red wine or Marsala Wine,

5 peppercorns, or just add a few shakes from your pepper mill.

You can add carrots, onions and potatoes too.

Put all of the ingredients into your slow cooker, set the timer.

When its finished you can thicken the sauce by adding Wondra (Like a cornstarch or flour mixture, you find in the grocery store) You don’t have to, only if you want the sauce to be not so runny.

Serve on egg noodles, pasta or rice!

This is wonderful as a leftover as well.

Love from Mom.