Pastrami!

Okay, going to try something new this BBQ season, home made pastrami. For this experiment (I will be updating this post for the next couple of days with the progress), I am going to use a flat cut,red, corned beef brisket (trimmed). A little research (and a failed experiment last week that left me with 4lbs of inedible hyper-salty brisket) suggests that on this, day one, I should soak the meat in cold water, 2 hours per pound, changing the water at the end of each 2 hour cycle. So for today, I have done just that.

Next, in preperation for tomorrows smoking, I have prepared a pastrami rub. It is as follows.

4 tbls of freshly ground black pepper

2 tbls of freshly ground coriander seed
1 tbls of brown sugar
1 tspn of garlic powder
1 tspn of paprika

mixed thoroughly and stored in a dry, dark space (light can kill the flavor of dried spices).

Check back in with me tomorrow,for pictures of the smoking!

Three day weekend!!!!

And most of the staff at my firm are out today, which (finally) gives me some time to hop on the blog and update some. Anyone doing any of this, this weekend???!!??



And some BBQ porn....



That was a few weeks back, but you can bet I'll be cooking up a rack this weekend for sure.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend my Homies!

Hi erstwhile readers, sorry for the lite posting as of late, but parenting and work have kept me hella busy for the last few weeks, and I've had trouble finding spare time to oblige.

That being said, they let us out of work at 4 today to get an early start to the weekend and start it I have. Just picked up a six pack of Guinness, and two racks of St. Louis cut pork ribs for bbq'ing on sunday (six pack is for now, yah!), so I am ready to start the weekend right!

Tomorrow I will upload some photo's to the blog of The Little Guy for your viewing pleasure, and also to make room on my camera for the festivities on Sunday (nothing big, just a few freinds over for ribs, beer, and playing Nintendo Wii, my latest video game obsession). Do you have plans? If not, stop by the attic and enjoy a slow smoked rib or two, and I'll even spot you a beer, cuz I'm cool like that!

Longing for warmer months

I called in sick today, I just feel very blah, and with the rain coming down torrentially, I just didn't have it in my heart to get out of bed and go to work. I wish the winter was over, so I could drag out the old BBQ smoke up some ribs and tilt back some beers. Ah well, as my Nana used to say "if wishes were horses, the beggars would ride".

Mukasey Applies for the Position

President Bush eagerly accepts the 'application' from now Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Aaaaaaaaand speaking of turkey my friends and I got together this Saturday and celebrated a beautiful holiday we refer to as Friends Thanksgiving.

Many friends of mine don't have family who live close enough by that they can go home and have their prospective mothers fix them up a holiday turkey, and some of us that do have that luxury, kind of dread it because our families are crazy. It's a lose lose situation.

I happen to love thanksgiving (despite my crazy family), so I invented the holiday 'Friends Thanksgiving', a holiday so nice, I do it twice.

So the gang came over on Sunday and I barbecued a whole turkey (it came out amazing, slow smoked, dark mahogany color, deep rich flavor...unbelievable), brewed up some gravy, and made enough stuffing to feed all of Boston. We had a great time, I might have even had TOO good a time, as I had to work on Monday, but was still doing whiskey shots at 10 at night. That was a tactical error.

Riding into work on the train I bumped into two girls I worked with, and had to confess that I was still a little tipsy from the night before. Which as you professionals know, it just means the hangover is coming a little later on, as opposed to right when you wake up.

In the end, I recommend a day like Friends Thanksgiving, a lot less stressful than the real thing, and the holidays are far more fun when spent with the loved ones you chose, as opposed to those thrust on you (not that I don't love my fam, I do, it's just trying at times is all).

A hat tip to Whiskeymarie and her Mac & Cheese Recipe!

Just prepped this up for my son's first birthday barbecue, and I must say it's delicious. I took some liberties with the dish (I always do), however, the thing that I took to heart was the American cheese part. It's absolutely necessary, in the past I would use only cheddars, and they melt grainy (especially sharp cheddars) so today I used a mix of American and cheddar (mild as well, we have kids coming over) and it came out lovely. Thanks Whiskeymarie! Your a whiz in the kitchen!

Corporate Bastards!

Check out this video, I swear it's barbecue related!

Carolina Style Barbecue Sauce. You can eat this on ANYTHING

Ingredients

3/4 cup (175 ml) yellow mustard
3/4 cup (175 ml) red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (60 ml) sugar
1-1/2 tbsp (20 ml) butter
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
1/2 tsp (2 ml) Worcestershire
1-1/4 tsp (6 ml) black pepper
1/2 tsp (2 ml) Tabasco

Preparation

combine ingredients in saucepan.
simmer 30 minutes over low heat.
Let stand 1 hour before using.
Refrigerate unused sauce.

I never thought that yellow mustard had much use in the world (except on a straight up classic hot dog, we will discuss on a later date), but since I have delved into the world of barbecue, this condiments usefulness has grown exponentially. My good friend Bryon thinks this is the best thing I make period. I think he's weird.

UPDATE: Hey, this is for Dr. Monkey von Monkerstein, or anyone else who might be watching there diet. The butter part in this recipe? I have almost always left out, in fact, it keeps much better if you do leave it out. if your inclined to have it in, mount the butter on the day of usage as opposed to making it a part of the original mix. but to be perfectly honest, I think the tartness is best served without the roundness of butter, and plays better off my pork rubs as such.

Everybodys working for the weekend

Nice, Friday at last. A young mans mind turns to barbecue. I am lucky that I live in a part of Boston known as Roslindale. Roslindale is one of those places that in the 80's and 90's was in pretty rough shape (the area adjacent to it, where my mother grew up, Hyde Park still is sadly), it had a run down feel to it, the parks were neglected, and small businesses had moved on to more lucrative locations. In the late 90's our democratic mayor (I mention this because I find it hard to believe a republican mayor would take this approach to stimulate business, i.e., spend some money) started a program called Boston's Main Streets. This was sort of a take on the 'broken window' theory of urban development, that is, clean up the area, take care of the parks, fix the 'broken windows', and give low interest loans to the existing storefronts targeted specifically at upgrading their facades and show windows. The results? Roslindale square (a scant two blocks from my house) is now the jewel of the Main Streets program, the square is a lovely triangle shaped park, surrounded by funky cool little businesses and restaurants. There are no less than five bakeries in the square, one at the end of my street even, and one of the best Italian restaurants outside of Boston's north end (our Italian American neighborhood). Why am I telling you this, well, it all goes back to barbecue don't it? In the square is a small butcher shop, Tony's Italian Market. The fellow who runs it, Tony, looks to be in his late 60's and is still going strong. One of the most amazing things about this place is when you order hamburger, Tony will grind it for you on the spot from hand cut choice sirloin. You have not lived until you have had a burger made with this stuff, it's texture when cooked is smooth and soft, yet still with enough tooth to feel like your eating a burger, and the flavor is so...so...meaty and good that you feel criminal spoiling it with condiments. He handmakes his own italian sausage, which admittadly most supermarkets will do as well, but let me tell you, his recipe has been perfected, he is at the apex of his career, this is not supermarket sausage. In fact, if you don't make it there by 10am, well, no sausage for you. I intend to be there at 7am. Wish me luck.

Roast Suckling Pig!!!