barbecue in NYC.

Real Barbecue in New York City

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Barbecue, Cast Iron Pan, Drinkin' and Dronin', John T. Edge, Southern Foodways Alliance, warren bobrow, wild river review, Wild Table, WRR, www.wildriverreview.com — jstocke @ 11:39 pm

Ribs

John T. Edge, cultural raconteur, historian and potlikker drinker is on the road again.  This time he is in town, if only for a short while to show a few of his home movies, Southern Foodways Alliance style.  Edge holds a master’s degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. He is also a director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, where he documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South. The SFA has completed more than 450 oral histories and 20 films, focusing on the likes of fried chicken cooks, row crop farmers, oystermen, and bartenders. John has been featured in Saveur Magazine, writes a monthly column for the New York Times and is an editor of Garden and Gun Magazine (which is sort of the Martha Stewart Living magazine of the NEW South, pumped up on buckets of barbecue fueled steroids)  He writes about food, culture and bourbon fueled dreams.  Each year, for the past eight years, JT makes his way up to NYC to participate in the Barbecue Block Party.   The Barbecue Block party is a raucous affair.  Fifteen Pit Masters from all over the South gather together to share their pecan wood fired dreams of perfect barbecue with several thousand, very hungry and grateful New Yorkers.

Ole' Smoky

Barbecue Block Party Scene

The Barbecue Circus comes to NYC!  What is barbecue?  Well for one thing, it’s all about that darned wood.  The right tree makes the right charcoal.  Ah, what kind of trees make good charcoal?  I’ll tell you that Hickory makes darned fine barbecue charcoal, as does Pecan and of course good ole’ American Oak.  That tree must be old.  Standing dead is what I was taught.  I heat partially by wood, so I know what that means.  Standing dead means dry fire wood.  Good wood for burning.  Soft wood like pine makes your barbecue taste like the insides of an old pine box, if you were to lick it.  I wouldn’t, nor should you, splinters y’all know come from wood.  Good barbecue is all about the wood. You can’t make barbecue over gas heat.  Low and slow is what the pit masters call it.  I call this food love in a cast iron kettle.  Call it what you will- you must cook it long, and cook it at low temperatures. Do not use a gasoline based starter either or your barbecue will taste like a can of gas.

Ribs!!!

The best barbecue is?  Well that’s up to you.  Some people like beef brisket, others like my friend Eddie O. in Vancouver, BC loves barbecued salmon.  I demand the skin of the Wild Alaskan Salmon, grilled until crunchy and crispy, napped in a touch of vinegar and mustard. It’s the Pacific Northwest meets the old South.
I always have enjoyed barbecue in Columbia, South Carolina.  Mustard and vinegar makes a fine barbecue sauce for grilled salmon or a rack of ribs, your choice, beef or pork.
Recipe:  Mustard Vinegar Barbecue Sauce
1 cup of French’s Yellow Mustard
3 Tablespoons of Brown or Cane Sugar
1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon each of Black Pepper, Salt and Cayenne Pepper
Mix together and let sit a while at room temp.  Use on pork or chicken.
Always when using this sauce cook off the direct flame.  The sugar will burn up faster than a fox finding some plump chickens in the hen house.

John T. Edge, always the gentleman.

John T. Edge wrote me a short note thanking me for sending him this photograph.  He called me Sir.  Not in a presumptuous way, but in the quiet way of a real gentleman.  A Southern Gentleman.
Thank you John for infusing my writing with your wisps of hickory smoke.
John: I promise you a glass of 1950’s era Bourbon should our paths cross this way again… Up here in Yankee-land there still is fine Bourbon to share amongst friends.  Especially those who share interests of Potlikker.  Estelle Ellis taught me to make potlikker.  She used real Country ham from Smithfield.  This was the base of the concoction.  Some use potlikker to stave off a cold or heal a sour stomach.  Whatever your use is, potlikker is a great way to start your day with the taste of collard greens, earth and pig.
Potlikker

4 pounds turnip or collard greens ground black pepper, a bunch of it. 1/4 pound Smithfield Ham or Fatback Sugar, just to taste- Now some Southerners will rue the day that I add a bit of sugar, but really- it just balances the greens and the vinegar that is usually poured over the top to finish. Preparation: Rinse those greens at least 5 times if not six times or more if gritty. Put them in a large pot of boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Drain, tossing out  the water to remove the bitter taste. Fill the pot again with fresh sweet spring water and bring to a slow boil. Place the greens back in the pot. Add some Country Ham to the pot. Cover, turn down to a simmer, and cook 3 – 4 hours. Taste and add sugar and pepper as desired. Adjust seasoning with a bit of cayenne pepper. Serve greens with their juices or serve “pot likker” separately as an inexpensive meal with freshly made cornbread. Our first cocktail of the night at the Potlikker Film Festival was a shot glass full of potlikker!

Pig Ears

Pig ears used to cost 5 bucks a box.  Now they cost 50 bucks.  Why?  The pet food industry buys them all up for dog treats.  Damn, those country dawgs sure love pigs ears, as do I.  Cooked long and slow in a Dutch Oven, pig’s ears are certainly not for the meek.  Slivered into threads and quickly pan seared then fried- this is true Head to Tail cooking.
Pig’s Ears

Ingredients

A few pig’s ears
1 onion, cut up and skinned
1 carrot, washed well
1 Bunch of Celery
Some garden herbs like thyme and oregano or whatever you’ve got.
Approximately 1 tablespoon salt and a scant tablespoon of hot pepper flakes
Freshly cracked pepper to taste

Fixin’ to enjoy some pig’s ears

1. Bring bunch of water to boil. Place the pig’s ears in the water and par-boil for a few minutes to remove any dirt.  Throw out that water, it’s nasty looking and tasting.
2. Remove the pig’s ears from the water and add them to a medium cast iron Dutch Oven.  Add enough water to cover. Add the onion, carrot, and aromatics, and bring the Dutch Oven to a boil. Add salt and pepper. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 3 hours, occasionally checking to see that the ears are immersed in the water. The ears will be very soft–a fork should easily pierce through the skin. This is not pretty to look at, nor will they win you any awards right now.  But be patient, one bite and you’ll never eat pork belly again!
3. Let the ears cool for a while.  Save some of this stock and freeze it for another use.  It’s full of Piggy goodness.
Heat a Cast Iron Griddle to smokin’ hot.
4. Sear that ear, turn and sear it again.  It will smoke mightily, make sure the hood fan is on BEFORE you start cooking.
5. Serve immediately, like steak, for the diners to cut and eat on the plate. Serve with the Columbia, South Carolina Barbecue Sauce.
Hungry for ears?  This is so easy to make.  Serve with some Firefly Sweet Tea.  (Vodka and Sweet Tea mixed together, after a few, you’ll swear you see Fireflies!)

This one over here is the Mutton Barbecue

Baker's Ribs