Barbecue!

Summer's on us in full swing!

To me, that means barbecue. And I don't mean throw some chicken on the grill and slather it in BBQ sauce. I mean slow, dry cooking over an open flame. There really is no better way to cook meat. It's kind of like roasting but add the open burning charcoal taste.

Last week I did pork, and today I'm doing lamb. Same cut of meat, but different preparations. For both I selected a shoulder cut. You want to select a cut of meat that has a lot of tough connective tissue and some fat. This is not the same as grilling. This is not the proper cooking method for a tenderloin, for example. What you ultimately want to do is cook the meat slowly and at a low temperature, and give the tough connective tissue plenty of time to melt away. The end product is much more succulent and tender than what you started with. You also want to make sure there is some fat on the meat. As the meat cooks the fat melts (or renders) and keeps the meat moist and tender. If you cooked meat this way without any fat it would just dry out.

For the pork last week I used a dry rub of cajun-type spices (salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder). Rub it all over the meat before putting in the BBQ. For today's lamb I blended a marinade of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley) with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and black pepper. I poured it over the lamb, rubbed it in, and let it marinate for a few hours.

Both meats were cooked enclosed in the barbecue vessel for a few hours. The heat source was smoldering real-wood charcoal. I let the meat cook for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Both cuts of meat were in about the 3 pound range. If they were larger, I would have cooked them longer. You want to cook it until it almost falls apart when you poke it with a paring knife.

Feel free to play with this cooking method. It's fun. Marinate or rub as you want, and change the flavor by tossing a few smoking chips on the fire. Hickory, maple or cedar are great suggestions!

The Magic of Brining

This past week I introduced myself to the wonderful world of brining, and as a result made some wonderful stuff!

Like bacon. Yes, I made my own bacon. It's surprisingly easy. Pork belly soaked in a brine for about 2-3 days, then smoked. For a brine I used water, salt, brown sugar and black peppercorns. What I do is mix about 2.5 oz by weight of salt for each quart of water. Then I just sprinkle in a liberal amount of brown sugar and a small handful of whole black peppercorns. Bring the solution up to barely a boil and whisk to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from heat. Let it cool down some, and while still warm, pour it into the plastic container you placed the pork belly in. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Remove it from the brine and smoke. Ideally you want to cold smoke bacon, but most folks have warm smokers at home. Usually in the form of some modified barbecue equipment. This is okay. Smoke the bacon for about an hour. Cool it, slice it, cook it and enjoy!

You can use this brining technique for anything. Meat, poultry, fish. Smaller pieces only need to brine for a few hours. I did pork chops this way and boy were they good! Tender and juicy off the grill. And that's what brining does. Not only does it add flavor but it keeps meats that may usually dry out while cooking tender and juicy.

Give it a try next time you're looking for something different. You can also add different herbs and spices to the mix to change the flavor profile.