Iron Chef WAYCT - What Are You Cooking Today
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Started with some great bread. Rye is preferred, but in a pinch I had to use sourdough. Next, some homemade thousand island dressing and some fresh sauerkraut. Swiss cheese, homemade corned beef piled high, and into the pan. Cooked low and slow to make sure they're crispy and hot all the way through.
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Today I'm making BBQ spareribs. I trimmed the flap, removed the membrane from the back of the ribs, slathered in mustard, and rubbed with a spice rub that I made just for ribs.
The smoker is getting hot as we speak. I'll be cooking these ribs for about 6 hours with a combination of lump charcoal and pecan wood.
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Looks great! Ever tried the 3-2-1 method? It's pretty damn effective. 3 hours smoked, 2 hours wrapped in foil to get some tenderness, 1 hour to crust, optionally saucing with a half hour left.
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I have tried the 3-2-1 method. I honestly don't see the point. Ribs should have a little bit of bite to them, and every time I've done 3-2-1, the meat ends up falling off the bone. That's overcooked. I've even adjusted to 3-1-1 and still wasn't crazy about the results. I've tried foil, butcher paper, and different liquids inside.
I cooked them yesterday for about 5 hours at 225, and the last hour I spent basting them with sauce every 15 minutes. They came out very tender, and the meat was firm enough to take a bite out of, but came cleanly off the bone. YMMV with 3-2-1, but I'm sticking with the classic low and slow!
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Interesting, that's never been my experience with 321 at all. Maybe your foil was too loose and it over steamed the bones. That would certainly account for fall off the bone. I tend to sauce later than you do, as I've had sauce burn and become bitter instead of caramelized given too much time over a half hour at 225F. I love dry rub style so I do that as often as saucing, though I always make sauce as at least a condiment.
YMMV!
One cool thing to try is subbing Asian ingredients for an otherwise mid-south style BBQ sauce. Gochujang for ketchup, rice wine for apple cider vinegar, soy or tamari for worchestershire, etc. Gets you to a Korean BBQ vibe and is quite delicious if you're looking to change things up.
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@seawolf , Brandi shared her tomato pie recipe. Basically this:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/heirloom-tomato-pie-recipe-1973826But instead of chives she makes a tomato onion jam and layers that on the bottom. She says it's key to dab the moisture off the tomatoes as they cook down with a paper towel.
It's delicious!
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@mclaincausey I'm able to sauce so early because I'm cooking with indirect heat, and there's no chance of the sauce burning. It's essentially a really low oven with woodsmoke! Have you ever used a Big Green Egg?
LOVE the idea of the asian ingredients. I'm going to try that soon.
That tomato pie looks awesome. Totally not what I pictured but that's because I've never actually seen one. In my imagination I think it looked something like strawberry rhubarb pie!
The Tomato jam seems to be what really sets it off. Thanks for the tip! Once I get my hands on some real tomatoes, that pis is definitely happening. Thanks! -
Nice!
No, I've used a Weber kettle grill set up as a water smoker with a Smok-e-nator as well as offset smokers of various sizes, all the way up to 500 gallon propane tanks (also indirect) and now use a Pit Barrel, which gets surprisingly great results and is truly set and forget for up to 8 racks (I use large racks of spares) at a very low price point ($300). You'd think it would have an uneven temperature gradient, as you hang the racks vertically from rebar inside a drum with the small end just above the charcoal, but it works great. The fat drips down the meat and constantly bastes it, and when it drips onto the coals it steams and moisturizes the enclosure and affords the meat the flavor from the drippings, which isn't something any other smoker I've seen offers–kind of the hybrid benefits of indirect and direct cooking all in one, including a faster cook, though you'd never know it from the results. I don't 3-2-1 on that rig as I did from time to time on the others, just trim, season, heat, hang, and sauce.
I'm still shocked at how great that little barrel is for smoking meats.
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Filet
Double fried fries
Greek salad
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Smoked sausage (andouille and Chipotle Creole) and chicken gumbo from scratch.
Roux (I like mine dark) + mirepoix (or Holy Trinity as they say down in Louisiana). Also added some tomatoes since I'm adding okra later. Since "gumbo" comes from a word for okra from an African language, it doesn't seem like gumbo without it, even though there are rich traditions that skip it, sometimes using file as a replacement thickener.
Combine them.
Home made chicken stock and roux will combine with other ingredients throughout the cook.
Hit the okra with high heat to knock off the slime.
I like to "Maillard" one side of the sausage before adding it.
Do the same with bone in chicken thighs and add em, cook it down.
When the gumbo is ready, pull the chicken to debone, then re-add the torn meat.
