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Smoking or Non?
One last comment and then I'm outta here. Dimi: I do NOT like it blackened and charred -- that is precisely NOT what you get at good southern smoker barbecue. Good southern barbecue is not blackened because it's cooked "low and slow" over indirect heat. But "blackened and charred" is precisely what I got at HOB.(And this was the first BBQ I've ever been to that didn't furnish free bread!) In an earlier post I passed along a couple of recipes (from two of my five published cookbooks) to, I dunno, maybe show how to do this sort of baked/grilled BBQ right, with a vibrant sauce that everybody who ever tasted it loved. (Dare I say, even HOB might benefit from the meat-cooking recipe, which is "low and slow" like Q but over water to tenderize the meat. That said, henceforth I'm leaving the comments section of this particular review to the great battle (Armageddon? Ragnarok? at the least, Agincourt?) between literate regular readers who are arguing above all for rational discourse and are shocked (shocked!) at the tone of these posts, and the vituperative new mis-spellers and hate-mailers, who are apparently following the mad rules of argument that our mass media have taught them -- I mean Limbaugh, Gingrich, Coulter, Fox News, et al, plus their fave semi-literate governor who nearly came to a heartbeat away from the red button, Sarah Palin. This reminds me of those of her rallies where shouts went out calling for Obama's assassination. This is not the way rational people debate, folks! Our country is actually owned and run by vast corporations, even with Obama titularly at the head of it. Tweets, twitters, texting are the latest toys to keep the people from actually expressing their helplessness and taking steps against it. In Karl Marx's day, he said, "religion is the opiate of the masses." Today, unfocused fury is the methedrine of the masses. And you can even find it in a plate of BBQ. And being rational as well as very pressed for time, I bid this string farewell. Next week is the "restaurant issue" with no reviews. SDaniels, Millerowski, let's meet the week after that in the comments section. (Or go back to Sab-E-Lee and see what I told Fred, in a post that ended with a reference to Gorgons.) Well, Adieu, adieu, adieu, as Jean-Paul Belmondo said in some French comedy or other.— June 14, 2009 11:14 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Yes, refriedgrinto, the ribs DO fall off the bones this way! That's why you cook them over water and at such really low heat. I was amazed when the recipe worked on some ultra-cheap on-sale big beef ribs from Vons. By the way, something I thought of just now -- if you're not gonna finish them over wood charcoal (e.g., on a Weber), I think a little liquid smoke in the rub would improve the faux-Q flavors. And -- I thank all of you who defended my viewpoint in these posts. I really appreciate the support under this sort of onslaught. (I'm used to it but doesn't mean I like the hate mail.) Funny -- y'all wrote with good grammar and spelling! So maybe the answer is, people choosing a BBQ should take a spelling test and choose their Q depending on their scores. Anyway, let me repeat St. Steve's message: Barnes is still the best of all.— June 13, 2009 10:48 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Oops, I forgot to address the issue of Lil' Piggy's liquor. As mentioned, I just got takeout there. First time I called to fact-check, it turned out to be Memorial Day (Mondays are the day before my deadline -- there's such a thing as a holiday on a Monday?, and the poor overwhelmed server who answered the phone was swamped with people -- and noise that I could hear right through the phone. I'd guess that with the ambient din at her end, she didn't hear the question clearly when I asked about beer and wine, and said no. When I called the next day and spoke to the manager with more detailed questions, didn't think to ask that one again. (By the way, I did see a small group of people lounging around with beers at the Ferry Landing, not inside a restaurant. Maybe they were criminals.) Rick: "I came to Casablanca for the waters." Official: "But, monsieur, this is the desert!" Rick: "I was misinformed."— June 13, 2009 10:36 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
This recipe, devised by Michael Goodwin (reprinted from Totally Hot by Michael Goodwin, Charles Perry, Naomi Wise, Doubleday, 1986) mingles flavors from Brady and Lil's in Memphis with Flint's in Oakland, and a touch of E&J's in Oakland, too. TENNESSEE-OAKLAND BARBECUE SAUCE 1/4 cup each butter and peanut oil 1/2 cup finely-minced onion 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 1 cup chicken or rich beef stock 1 1/2 cups catsup 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce 1/4 cup molasses 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 3/4 cup water 1 Tbs. EACH lemon juice and liquid smoke 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbs. brown sugar 2 bay leaves, broken in half 2 tsp. dry mustard 1/8 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. EACH paprika, cayenne, crushed red pepper, salt 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper 1. In large, heavy saucepan, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Add onion; saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, saute another 2 minutes. 2. Add all other ingredients, raise heat, and cook at a full boil for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 3. Reduce heat, partly cover, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce may be refrigerated (keeps for many weeks) and reheated when needed. Yield: 3 - 4 cups sauce.— June 13, 2009 10:18 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Funny, I've noticed over the years -- the worse the food, the worse the spelling, grammar, and diction in the protests against the reviews. Let's sweeten this pot: Here's an easy if sketchy recipe for making oven-baked ribs to be finished on a grill, so you can DIY what House of BBQ and Phil's do. For a more elaborate (7-hours) version, the NY Times Magazine on 5/24/09 featured a recipe for Weber-smoked, then oven-cooked beef ribs. adapted from a great bbq in -- NYC! This one isn't smoked -- starts in the oven, finishes on the grill. EASY OVEN-COOKED 'BBQ' RIBS Preheat oven to 250. Rub pork or beef ribs with your favorite packaged BBQ rub, or Paul Prudhomme's "Meat Magic" (adding some brown sugar), or just Kosher salt, cracked black pepper, brown sugar, and a little paprika and cayenne. Place a rack into a rimmed rectangular baking pan at least 1" deep. Add water nearly up to the rack. Place ribs on the rack. Cover the pan thoroughly with aluminum foil, sealing it around the edges, and place in the oven. Bake about 3 - 3 1/2 hours for pork ribs (depending on thickness), 4 hours for beef ribs. (Check for tenderness with a fork.) Remove from oven. Ribs may be refrigerated for a day or two before use. Fire up your charcoal grill or just use your stove's broiler. Reheat meat on the grill or broiler. When it's hot, brush with your favorite BBQ sauce and continue grilling until sauce is starting to char. Serve hot. (Next recipe: Tennessee-Oakland BBQ sauce)— June 13, 2009 10:06 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Well! First: Saint Steve -- this was a review of three brand-new Qs, and no older ones. Omitted, along with Barnes, were Abby's, Tyler's, West Coast, KC, and several others. To review them all would have taken at least 10,000 words, and I only have 2700 max. I did mention Barnes BBQ at the end of the review of Frankie the Bull's, parenthetically, comparing it favorably to Frankie's -- stating that it is actually my favorite. As for the rest -- I don't think BBQ is haute cuisine, but still I see nothing wrong with having pleasant music at a Q. I must say I'm a bit bewildered as to how people from the south who know their BBQ can prefer oven-cooked and grilled meat with ultra-sweet sauces (But I guess one man's meat...) And at least the night I ate at House of BBQ, the meats were NOT tender at all! The beef ribs were tough and stringy, and the pulled pork the toughest I've ever encountered. Does this make me an incompetent reviewer? I didn't cook them! As to the post about coming from NYC, that doesn't disqualify me from talking about Q -- not after numerous trips through Texas & Louisiana, and a few through other parts of the south -- including THE BEST, a fabulous spicy heap of ribs at the long-gone but never-forgotten Red Devil BBQ in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Plus 30-odd years of eating great smoky meat with vibrant, spicy sauces at Flint's and Everett & Jones in Oakland and at Brother in Law's BBQ and Memphis Minnie's in SF. So I won't recuse myself from talking about Q. (By the way is Niece the owner's niece? You, too, could use a refresher course in spelling and grammar, along with Scout. I didn't intend to say anything about that, but the issue came up in some of the other posts.)— June 13, 2009 8:33 p.m.
Letters
Downtown Charlie, feel free to dislike my writing. However, does it ever occur to you that many restaurants serve lunch on placemats, butcher paper, etc., and only break out the tablecloths at dinnertime? I don't know what time of day the photo was shot, but I would bet on lunchtime, as I'm sure our photog would have chosen happier looking patrons if he'd arrived during a busy dinner hour. As for Blue Waters and plastic plates, what's on those plates is some of the freshest fish in the city, however simply it's prepared. (In today's NY Times food section, fish expert Mark Bittman writes at length to advise buying fresh high quality fish and then cooking it AS SIMPLY AS POSSIBLE.) Quality, freshness, and skill in cooking are most of my rating, and I wouldn't care if they served their fish on yesterday's newspapers. Every time I pass Blue Waters, it's got a line of patrons. Must be doing something right.— June 10, 2009 8:24 p.m.
Cook Like a Chef — but Fast
STOP THE PRESSES -- TJ'S FROZEN GORGONZOLA-SAUCED GNOCCHI NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL! I nuked the first half of the package, following package directions, and they turned to rubber bands as they cooled -- BUT I reheated the second half stovetop in a skillet (the alternate directions, same amount of time as nuking -- 7 minutes) and they were perfectly fine. The sauce is pretty goopy and monotone, so I chopped some skinny spears of asparagus into it at the start, and they cooked crisp-tender right along with everything else, and added some different taste and texture to the dish. Maybe the bit of added moisture from the asparagus in some way helped the gorgonzola stay soft.— June 10, 2009 7:46 p.m.
Cook Like a Chef — but Fast
More Bacon Grease 4.Wilted spinach salad. (Treat like the oil in a vinaigrette -- quickly stir in ample vinegar or lemon juice or the fat will congeal disgustingly as it cools.) Also: Tomato salad. 5. Southern-style braised greens, if you don't have any ham hocks or other smoky thing in the house. Throw a dab into the braising liquid, it'll help lots. Great with kale (which takes less cooking than collards or turnip greens.) Also fine for sauteeing ribbon-chopped kale, Brazilian-style, especially if you don't have a whole feijoada on hand to compensate for the plainness of the authentic Brazilian version. 6. A cooking magazine recently offered a recipe for "bacon cornbread" using bacon grease in place of oil and chopped cooked bacon and scallions mixed into the batter. 7. Mousses, terrines, pates. Most French recipes for these items call for a top-coat of thinly-sliced pork backfat, which is not exactly easy to get in SD. Using bacon slices, I've found, adds way too much oozy fat, salt, and bacon-flavor. A thin coating of melted bacon fat smoothed over the top just to seal the surface works better. Particularly good with chicken liver creations, bringing to mind New York City's great "My Grandparents Were Kosher, Not Me!" sandwich of chopped chicken liver and bacon on rye. (With butter, not mayo on the bread.)— June 4, 2009 9:01 p.m.
Cook Like a Chef — but Fast
A Few Uses For Yummy Bacon Grease (Latest word from the food police is that fat from well-raised, slow-growing heritage hogs like Berkshires and Durocs is fairly low in "bad" cholesterol and quite high in "good" cholesterol. This "bad" food may actually be "good," kickle kickle. I'm not talking about supermarket bacon. Remember to taste before salting, since bacon fat often has all the salt you need for the dish.) 1.As fat for frying or scrambling eggs. Nice for eggs scrambled with cream cheese and scallions or chives. Great in a scramble with Egg-Beaters, health-conscious but so boring. Add some nice melty cheese, too, maybe a minced jalapeno. That'll show em! (Oops, too spicy? Try a little sour cream on top, heh heh.) 2. As the fat for "country-fried steak," a tough-ish, lean steak (e.g. round or chuck) rubbed with seasonings and a little flour (not wet-battered like chicken-fried), pounded a little to tenderize it and bash the seasonings into the surface. It's sauteed slowly for an hour or so, and finished off with a roux-thickened milk gravy (remove steak, stir the grease with a little flour until golden, add milk and simmer until thickened) or a cream gravy (add cream, bring to a boil, stir until thickened.) This is NOT a task for canola oil. You want FLAVOR-grease for this gravy. (Bacon fat is also good for making "biscuits and gravy" if the sausage you're using is finky, e.g., pre-cooked nuker links that yield no fat.) 3. Instead of icky canned refried beans, there's a shortcut to making a decent version. Take a can of pinto beans (like Ranch-Style), drain excess liquid, heat 'em up in a skillet with a big fat pat of bacon grease, mashing as you go with a potato-masher or fork. Also good with canned black beans (serve with lamb or goat, scattered with bits of queso fresco.— June 4, 2009 8:54 p.m.