Friday - September 13, 2013

going for it

I can not say that I’ve become the Grill Master yet, after only one season, and a very rainy one at that, of using my el-cheapo gas grill. I’m only on my third tank of propane. But I’ve learned to make a decent butterflied chicken without too much scorching, and at this point steak, dogs, and burgers come out just fine.

Huge packages of ribs were on sale yesterday at the grocery store. Vacuum packed in heavy plastic, each pack contains 2 full size slabs. The sign said they were on sale for 1.99/lb, so I figured I’d take a look ... and I noticed that the labels were marked .99/lb. Wow. That’s such a nice deal that I had to ask the butcher if there was a mistake. Nope, that’s the price; the sign was wrong. So I bought some ...  I bought several ... and right now the freezer looks like an abattoir.

Last night I prepared one slab. Peeling the membrane off the back was a bit persnickety until I got the hang of it. (lift one edge with a knife, then fold 1/4 paper towel into the little mitt and use that as a grabber, then pull the membrane off low across the ribs) After that I made up a batch of Rodger’s famous dry rub, adding a tablespoon of cayenne pepper and doubling the amount of dry mustard because we like more zing than his basic recipe gives. Rinse the ribs, pat them dry, pull the membrane, wet them with cider vinegar for half an hour, pat them dry, then slather on the dry rub and press it in with your fingers. Put the meat back in the fridge and wait for tomorrow.

Now I have to run up to the store to see if I can find some wood chips to make a smoke bomb, and to find a disposable aluminum pan to make a water tray. Then out come the ribs, slap a handful of brown mustard across them, and maybe some more rub. Then fire up the grill while I boil a gallon of water, turn one side off and put the smoke bomb on the running burner’s dissapator under the grate, grate back down, water pan over that, fill it with boiling water, put down the pork on the off burner side, and set the on side to medium low. Then wait ... forever. I’ve even got a little spray bottle full of apple juice so I spritz the ribs every half hour or so. By dinner time they ought to be ready.

It’s a slow process, but worth it. Maybe I’ll make up 2 smoke bombs, so I can lay the smoke on good for the first 2 to 3 hours.

OK fine, here’s the rub recipe as used. It’s a stronger South West flavor than Rodger’s, and has some minor heat. Most of the hot pepper heat cooks off.

1/4 cup paprika - half spanish smokey, half regular
1 tablespoon hot cayenne pepper powder
2 teaspoons ground chipolte
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons granulated onion
2 teaspoons peppercorns
2 teaspoon dry mustard (Coleman’s)
1 teaspoon powdered chili
2 tablespoons cumin seed, toasted
3 tablespoons coriander seed, toasted
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar

toast the seeds in a hot dry pan, let cool.
Add the peppercorns. Grind them all.
Mix everything in a medium bowl, then 10 seconds in the Magic Bullet large cup
Use ground ancho chili instead of store brand chili powder

option - 1 generous tablespoon finely ground coffee
option - 1 tablespoon ground ancho/guajillo mix, stemmed but not seeded
option to this option - use 1 whole ancho 2 whole guajillo
option - 1 teaspoon ground tumeric

As usual, I went with all the options ... and many hours later, when they’re all done ... you can cut the salt a bit. Probably by as much as half. They didn’t turn out too salty, but it could be less. Salt absorbs smoke, and since I couldn’t find any wood chips, I had to make mine sans smoke. So the salt isn’t really necessary.

Posted by Drew458     on 09/13/2013 at 09:11 AM   
Filed Under: • Fine-Dining •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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