I am making some more frequent use of the BBQ grill. Safeway keeps having beef ribs marked down, and I keep buying them. I think this is going to be the fifth consecutive Sunday where I've had them on the grill. Thing of it is, is that the ribs have been previously frozen, so re-freezing them really isn't an option. So what do you do?
If you live in Tucson, you fire up the grill.
* * * * * * *
One advantage to living in southern Arizona is that you can fire up the grill at practically any time of year that you want to. I don't view barbecuing as a summer activity, so to speak. If I feel like firing it up on Christmas Day, then I'll fire it up on Christmas Day.
That must run in the family. I've seen my dad fire up the grill on Christmas Day. Hey, why not? Who says a Christmas dinner has to be turkey? Why can't it be ribs, or salmon, or tri-tip?
* * * * * * *
My beef ribs recipe evolved over several years, and I think it's still evolving. There was a period of time ten years ago when I was "done" with the recipe. I would season the things overnight with a rub recipe that I stole from the Weber website. They called it a Kansas City rub. I don't think it was a true Kansas City rub as that other KC rub mixes call for brown sugar and this one didn't.
However, the Weber KC rub was mighty tasty! A friend of mine from Texas who so much liked the way I did beef ribs once offered to buy them for me if I would just only cook them. That's a real compliment when you stop to think about it. I think when a Texas native compliments you on your BBQ skills, that's just as good as a manager in a Japanese company telling you in a written letter that the test procedure you sent his company was "completely correct and easy to follow". I still have that letter, and I should fish it out sometime and frame it.
* * * * * * *
Getting back to beef ribs, one change I made was in the cooking time. I used to slow-cook them for ninety minutes but I recently changed that to two hours. I have not noticed any change to them except that the meat is more tender.
Also, I've been using maple chips for smoking. I very much believe in the use of smoking chips whenever I'm slow-cooking something. In the past I've used hickory, mesquite, applewood, or a random combination of two woods. I've soaked them in cheap red wine for two hours, and every twenty minutes while the ribs were cooking I'd chuck some of those chips onto the coals and then put the lid to my Weber kettle back on.
Then a few moments later, that smoke starts coming out of the top vent. It smells good. It smells really good.
It's probably not legal for something to smell that good.
* * * * * * *
I recently discovered somewhere, and I can't remember where, some maple chips. Maple? Hey, what the hey. Maple's used for curing bacon. Why not ribs?
I didn't want to mask the flavor so I used water instead of wine for the maple chips. I was pleased with the results too. That was "recipe" for what I was soaking the chips in, but one week later that changed too.
I had had, for over twenty years, this 1.75 liter bottle of dark Bacardi rum. It had been taking up space for all this time, and the problem, or maybe it's not a problem, is that I wasn't drinking it. I mean, I might have a shot of tequila if it's a premium reposado, but Bacardi is not tequila and I don't think it was intended for shots in the first place.
So, what to do?
I started soaking my chips in a mixture of water and Bacardi. I liked the results! The smell that the Bacardi imparted to the chips while they were soaking is probably also not legal.
* * * * * * *
That bottle of Bacardi was finally emptied last week, and was carried off for recycling shortly thereafter.
Now I don't have any rum.
Should I now pick up a bottle of Myers spiced rum? Or should I pick up some Captain Morgan?
If I pick up the Captain Morgan, then I'm going to have to hold one of my legs at an angle If someone sees me doing that, they might think that I'm weird. I might be weird for all that I know, but I don't think I should go out in public and confirm that for anyone.
Well.....Todd knows about rum. He knows how to make some killer drinks. I think he's using some premium brand of rum that I never heard of before. Whatever it is, it's great stuff.
My problem is, is that I'm not one to consume rum on a regular basis. I might remember on New Year's Eve to make myself a Cuba Libre, but even then I don't always remember to make one on New Year's Eve.
I'll hold off on buying some rum for now.
I do know that I won't get a 1.75 liter bottle of it next time.
I might not live long enough to see it emptied, and I might get to the grave a little early if I do try to empty it quickly.
* * * * * * *
Getting this back to beef ribs, and to smoking chips, but not leaving the topic of spirits, did you know that Jack Daniels is in the smoking chip business too?
I have two bags of JD chips, from oak barrels that they used to age their whiskey in. Some barrels get shipped off to Scotland where one of the distilleries uses them to age their whiskey. (Or is that "whisky" in Scotland?). Other barrels get chopped up and sold to BBQ enthusiasts such as myself.
If you're going to use the JD chips, you absolutely postively should never soak them in wine. I don't think soaking them in wine is legal, and if it isn't illegal then it should be.
Soak them in water. You don't want to mask that smoky flavor that it will impart to the meat that you're cooking.
If you don't believe me, then use these JD chips on a tri-tip sometime. It'll be a tri-tip that you'll remmeber.
Ask Ken & Gillian and their children.
I'll bet that they remember that tri-tip I made for them a few years back when they were down here!
* * * * * * *
I forgot to mention that whenever you're slow-cooking ribs on the grill, you should have a drip pan underneath them. This drip pan should have some cheap beer poured into it. The beer will steam the meat, and impart some flavor to it. Try this sometime.
DO NOT USE a premium imported beer for this! Use some Budweiser instead.
The Budweiser folks will not be insulted by using Budweiser for cooking. They don't care what you use Bud for.
But if you're going to use Moosehead or some microbrew for cooking, then you've either got more money than you have sense. or you probably shouldn't be allowed to play with matches even if you're going to use those matches on charcoal briquets.
* * * * * * *
I just realized that I should point out that what I've told you about cooking beef ribs assumes that you're using charcoal like I do.
I have nothing against gas grills; you can get some good steaks or burgers off of those.
But me, I'm a purist when it comes to BBQ, and it ain't BBQ if you ain't using charcoal.
* * * * * * *
Is it legal for me to use the word "ain't"?
Dang if I know. Ain't like I'm going to care much about it anyway.
* * * * * * *
Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!
No comments:
Post a Comment