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Constant 250°F in the Smokey for 3 hours yields a perfectly moist bird, both breast and thighs

Thanksgiving is a holiday my family adopted when we moved from France to the U.S. in 1978. And eating turkey on that day meant that the bird would never be seen again at our Christmas table as tradition dictated in the past. Our new American holiday quickly became another excuse to get together with family and friends and eat all day until our stomachs would burst.  In that way, we were no different than other families joyfully eating their way through a 20-pound plus bird, side dishes, and desserts, except that…

Our first few Thanksgiving celebrations were French-style. A typical meal at the Trangs was composed of a pumpkin soup appetizer (we could never get used to spiced pumpkin pie), a generously buttered bird that

Lemongrass infused velvety pumpkin soup with a sauteed leek, red bell pepper, and sweet pear garnish

was salted, peppered, and roasted, the juices kept and served at the table somewhat grease-free. The Brussels sprouts were buttered and sautéed. The potatoes were buttered and sautéed and tossed with freshly minced garlic and parsley, a delicious mixture the French call “persillade.” The salad was tossed in a classic Dijon mustard and red wine vinaigrette, and was enjoyed after the main course and before the half a dozen cheeses. For dessert an apple tarte Tatin, and flan, an egg custard, and other pastries my brothers would gift us with over the years. The two American classics served at our Thanksgiving table were bread stuffing and a sweet and tart cranberry sauce, which Mom made from scratch, refusing to serve the one that jiggled out of the can (one can only be grateful for that!).

Cranberry sauce cooked with agave nectar, ginger, and cardamom...

Our Thanksgiving menu was the same year after year. My mother grew tired of it always trying to find ways to make it different. Then, one year I took over the kitchen and started messing around with the recipes. I wanted to enjoy the holiday from beginning to end, guilt-free. I wanted to walk away from the table light footed and comfortable, for I’d rolled out of the table toward the couch on too many occasions in previous years. And so the butter became sesame oil, the salt, soy sauce, and pepper, chili paste. Ginger, scallion, garlic, and cilantro became part of the mix. The cheeses were gone, the bread stuffing was soon replaced by rice, and the pumpkin soup now had a hint of coconut milk. The ginger and cardamom-spiced cranberry sauce was something to get used to, but after the first taste we knew that the ginger could only complement the richness of the turkey meat. I had been looking for balance in a holiday meal,

Shaved Brussel sprouts with red beans salad and pickled red onions...

one that would conjure memories of foods from my childhood spent with both my French and Chinese sides of the family. My new menu did and still does just that and goes something like this…(the only difference this year is that I’m firing up the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker to smoke rather than roast the bird. And, I’ve decided to break down the bird, carving it at the table is overrated in my opinion. Well, at least this year it is. I like extra thighs and the last time I checked, the bird only comes with 2 not 6! Another added benefit is that the bird has more flavor per square inch when smoked in pieces than whole Are you convinced yet?

ASIAN-STYLE CHICKEN STOCK
1/2 chicken or 1-1/2 pounds meaty chicken bones such as wings, necks, carcasses
6 scallions, trimmed
6 whole garlic cloves
2-inch piece ginger, sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
8 quarts filtered water

In a large stockpot, add the chicken, scallions, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, until the stock is reduced by half, about 3 hours. Strain, discard bones, and degrease stock. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

TURKEY SOY MARINADE

1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 scallions, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sriracha
1-1/2-inch piece ginger, finely grated

In a bowl, whisk together the soy, hoisin, agave, sesame oil, scallions, garlic, sriracha, and ginger. Rub over and under skin of turkey. let stand for 2 hours prior to loading up the cooker.

PUMPKIN COCONUT SOUP (appetizer)
1 kabocha pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 quart unsweetened coconut milk
1 quart filtered water
2 tablespoons palm sugar (or agave nectar)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons coconut butter or ghee
1 leek, trimmed, cleaned thoroughly and minced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and minced
1 Bosc pear, peeled, cored, and minced
Pinch of cayenne or chipotle pepper powder (optional)

1) In a medium pot, add the pumpkin pieces, coconut milk, water, and sugar, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and cook until the pumpkin pieces are tender, about 30 minutes. Let cool. Process pumpkin and cooking liquid in a blender until smooth, and pour back into the pot. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until ready to serve.

2) In a skillet over high heat, melt the coconut butter or ghee and stir-fry the leek, pepper, and pear until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and if desired, add a light sprinkle of cayenne or chipotle pepper. Set the garnish aside for now.

Garlic-Ginger-Cilantro Rice, instead of bread stuffing!

GARLIC-GINGER-CILANTRO RICE
2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil
2 large whole garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
3 cups jasmine long grain brown rice
6 cups ASIAN-STYLE CHICKEN STOCK
1 large bunch cilantro, stems trimmed, but sprigs left intact

In a large pot, heat the oil over high heat and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the rice and continue to stir to toast it a bit. Add the stock and stir again to level the rice. Place the lid on top and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, scatter the cilantro sprigs on top of the rice, placing the lid on top, and cooking the rice until all the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. With a fork, fluff the rice and mix in the cilantro thoroughly.

ROASTED VEGETABLES WITH SWEET AND TART MISO SAUCE
(any number of roasted vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, your favorites!)
Olive oil
Curry powder
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon shiro-miso
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Dash honey or agave nectar
black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F for 20 minutes. Scatter the bok choy on baking sheet, and the eggplant on another. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables, and season with curry powder, salt, and pepper. Roast until the eggplant is golden, about 20 minutes, and the bok choy is just golden on the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bok choy to a serving platter, scattering the vegetables across the bottom evenly. Top with eggplant pieces and garnish with PICKLED RED ONION.

PICKLED RED ONION
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Kosher salt
1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

In a bowl whisk together the vinegar, sugar and salt until sugar and salt have dissolved completely. Add the onions and toss to coat evenly. Let stand for at least 2 hours, more is best.

DIJON-SAKE SALAD DRESSING (Great for the Brussels Sprouts and Red Bean Salad, see pic above)
(Create a salad with multiple textures and flavors. For example toss together two or more leafy greens such as oak leaf, romaine, endive, baby arugula, Swiss chard; then scatter two or more of the following including sprouts, avocado, apple or pear, cucumber, seeds, nuts, and dried fruit such as cranberries, cherries, or blueberries for example)

3 tablespoons rice, coconut, or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet sake
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper

In a bowl whisk together the vinegar, mustard, soy, sweet sake, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over salad. Let stand and serve (NOTE: serve the salad in a large shallow platter, so there is no need to toss. The dressing will trickle down to the bottom. There is no need to toss for the leaves would wilt.

So there you have Thanksgiving, My Way, Asian-inspired to spice things up. Happy Thanksgiving!

My Asian-inspired pulled pork sandwich...yes, I dared!

I finally did it. On Sunday July 4th, after a few weekends of barbecuing on my Weber Performer (the last time, smoking a chicken), I got up the courage to use their massive 22-inch Smokey Mountain Cooker. I must admit to have been a little overwhelmed by its appearance. Intimidating, it looks like no other BBQ equipment I’ve ever used before. The encouraging thing is that I’m in good hands when it comes to barbecuing, my pitmaster friends always ready to offer some good tips at a moment’s notice.

Taking the bull by the horns, I decide to tackle the task at hand on my own at first. Following the instructions in the manual, I study Smokey from the bottom up, building the fire in the pit, filling the water pan with equal parts water and 100% fruit juice, and placing the spice-rubbed pork butts (top part of the shoulder), fat side down on the grates directly above. There is nothing more simple, quite frankly. It’s maintaining the temperature at 250°F for 12 hours for each of the 9-pound butts that can be tricky.

Weber's 22-inch Smokey Mountain Cooker...inexpensive, efficient, and user-friendly!

An attractive, well-constructed cooker, the Smokey looks like something between a barrel and a bullet, standing vertically with 3 vents equidistant from each other at the bottom, and one on the lid at the top directly opposite the thermometer. Aside from refueling halfway through the low-and-slow cooking process, the vents are key in controlling the temperature at a steady 250°F. The more open the vents are, the more air feeds the fire. The more closed they are, the less air gets in, choking the fire and lowering the temperature. I’m amazed at how this relatively inexpensive cooker performs. The heat is steady, and I barely have to adjust the temperature using the vents; may be a half a dozen times throughout the duration of this 12 or so hour exercise.

For someone like me who is extremely tactile and curious, keeping the lid closed throughout the cooking is definitely challenging. I want to see what’s happening, but any pitmaster will tell you “if you’re looking, you’re not cooking!” That makes sense, because if I wanted to check out the butts, as often as I do, the meat would be raw after 12 hours of cooking, from opening the lid too often. I’m not used to not looking, but this time, I decide to be patient, which definitely pays off in absolutely delicious pork butts, buttery in consistency with meat falling off the bones effortlessly. Registering at 195°F internally, I pull the meat, chop it, and stack it on a bun, topped with my hoisin-based BBQ sauce and Asian coleslaw, for my version of the classic American pulled pork sandwich.

From L to R: raw, rubbed, and smoked!

CT’S ASIAN FIVE-SPICE DRY RUB
(enough for two 9 to 10 pound pork butts)

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
CT’s secret spice(s); every pitmaster has at least one!

Mix together well and sprinkle generously all over the pork butt or shoulder.

CT’s ASIAN BBQ SAUCE
(makes 2 cups; enough to moisten 24 pulled pork sandwiches)

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet sake)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons sriracha (smooth chili sauce)
1 ounce ginger, freshly grated
1 large garlic clove, freshly grated
1 scallion, minced
CT’s secret ingredient!

Whisk together well and drizzle over pulled pork sandwich

CT’s ASIAN COLESLAW
(makes a lot, enough for a small crowd!)

1/4 cup shiro-miso (white miso)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce
2 pounds shredded green cabbage
One 12-ounce bag shredded broccoli and carrot mix
1 small to medium onion, minced
1/2 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
CT’s secret ingredient

In a large bowl, stir together the miso, vinegar, mirin, chili-garlic sauce, oil, and honey. Add the cabbage, broccoli and carrots, onion, bell pepper, and toss well. Let macerate for 2 hours, tossing occasionally to redistribute the ingredients and dressing.

I can tell you that the recipes above are delicious even with a few ingredients missing. This wasn’t my idea, but I was told it is necessary and just the way it is in the BBQ world. You just never know when I might compete, and I wouldn’t want to come up against you with my recipes.

Beverage of choice…a cold beer!

Enjoy, as always!
CT

First BBQ Chicken with my Original Asian White Sauce!

As soon as it gets warm outside, the grills get fired up, and aromas waft through the air, from one neighbor’s backyard to the next. On this July 4^th weekend, I’m going to enjoy the fireworks, the company of friends, and parties with lots of food and wine. Indeed, on my side of the fence, I’m experimenting with barbecue flavored with Asian spices and condiments.

My goal this weekend is to cook low-and-slow over indirect heat and create a new kind of barbecue, one incorporating Asian ingredients, omitting the traditional ones, and all the while staying with the basic principle of balancing spices and herbs over a canvas of salt and sugar.

My Weber Performer definitely performed!

Last night I created my very own white sauce based on Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Original White Sauce in Decatur, Alabama, where it was invented and made popular.  While the original uses mayonnaise as its base, mine uses coconut milk, and the rest of the ingredients are just as different. The one basic rule still remains, however. It’s tangy, sweet, and salty and ever so slightly bitter and spicy. Otherwise said, it’s balanced!

CT’S ORIGINAL ASIAN WHITE SAUCE

coconut milk, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, shallot, curry, rice vinegar, oh my...

(about 2-1/4 cups and good for a 4-pound roaster!)

2 cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon curry powder (or garam masala)
1 ounce ginger, freshly grated
1 large garlic clove, freshly grated
1 large shallot, freshly grated
1 teaspoon chili paste (optional)

Marinate the chicken in the white sauce for 12 hours, refrigerated.

Preparing the Weber Performer for indirect heat cooking, I’m preheating the grill to 325°F for 20 minutes, the charcoal baskets filled halfway up with Kingsford briquettes.

Once you see white ash, push the charcoal baskets off to one side of the grill, leaving the other side void.

soak apple wood chunks in the water-juice concoction...why not?!

For extra flavor, soak some apple wood chunks for a couple of hours and throw them on the hot charcoal. Place an aluminum pan filled with equal parts water and 100% fruit juice (apple, white grape, or pineapple, for example) underneath the grill grate, with the chicken skin side up on the grate and directly above the pan. Cook, with lid down for about 1 hour. Baste with marinade and return bird, turning it 180° (so the legs are now closer to the heat source) to the pit covered with lid for another 45 minutes to 1 hour until done, which means when the joints are loose and you can twist them easily. If you prefer, stick a thermometer in the bird and when the temperature reaches 160°F in the breasts and 175°F in the thighs, pull it out, let it rest for 15 minutes, and enjoy this succulent bird with a big salad on the side.

partying and barbecuing for the next few days...tongs in one hand, wine in the other!

Now my friend, well-known pitmaster and best-selling author Chris Lilly, always says “if you’re opening the lid, you’re not cookin’.” Well that’s true, but considering how tactile and curious I am, barbecuing “the right way” is challenging for me. Patience is definitely a virtue and I’ve been put to the test.

…and now off to buy more meat and charcoal! Pork shoulder is in my (and your) near future. Firing up Smokey tonight around midnight for some pulled pork sandwich tomorrow for lunch. It comes with a little of this and that, and a bit of hoisin BBQ sauce on the side, please!

Happy 4^th of July, y’all y’all…

CT

flipping meat back and forth every few minutes will ensure even cooking throughout, a beautiful golden color, and no burning! (it's almost there, another 5 to 10 minutes and I'm digging in.)

It’s lunch time and a rack of lamb, trimmed French-style, seasoned with a sweet and savory Chinese five-spice rub, sounds really good served with a mixed green and fresh herb salad. This is a perfect meal that is neither too light nor too heavy but just right and satisfying.

Charcoal baskets filled and set inside my Weber Performer, I fire up the grill and let the flames settle. Like all cooking techniques, grilling  requires some imagination and close attention. I don’t just throw a good piece of meat on a hot grate and leave. Any good meat has a fair amount of fat, which will cause flare ups, and I’m not really looking for an amazing cut like a rack of lamb to be engulfed in flames and charred beyond recognition. When grilling over direct heat I like to doctor the meat, meaning keep a close watch while flipping it back and forth so as to distribute the heat evenly throughout while crisping it to a rich golden color. (The alternative is burnt meat, which tends to taste bitter and is considered a carcinogen, which I would imagine is undesirable!).

I love grilling lamb, more so than roasting or braising it. Gamy in flavor, it’s enhanced with a

a refreshing summer salad helps digest the heavier part of the meal, in this case a delicious rack of lamb!

subtle smokey flavor that pairs well with the spices used. I have to admit that this Chinese style spice rub is something I am still developing, which is why this weekend I’ve applied it to a small portion of meat cooked over direct heat in preparation for the big July 4th weekend when I’ll be doing brisket, pork shoulder, and ribs. I’m a bit nervous because so far it’s an experiment. I’m playing with Asian spices, which for the most part, tend to be more pronounced than those used in classic American BBQ dry rubs. Additionally, in Asia, herbal pastes are used in combination with dried spices to flavor meats such as the popular skewered meats known as satay. While I test the waters, I’ll be light handed to make sure that at the very least I’m going in the right direction. Here I’ve combined both wet and dry ingredients. Nothing fancy, but definitely delicious! Check out the recipes below:

CT’s Simple Asian Dry Rub

(makes about 1/4 cup)

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and five-spice powder thoroughly.

CT’s Five Spice Rack of Lamb
(serves 4, or less!)

2 racks of lamb
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated
1 ounce ginger, peeled and grated
CT’s Simple Asian Dry Rub (see above)

1) Preheat the Weber Performer for 15 minutes.

2) Meanwhile rub each rack with grated garlic and ginger, then sprinkle the dry rub generously on both sides. Shake access rub off and place racks over direct heat, fat side down. Turn every 2 minutes to desired doneness and until golden crisp. Lamb is best when cooked medium rare, or medium.

CT’s Leafy Green Mix
(serves 4)

1 cup tatsoy
1 cup arugula
8 large red oak leaf, each torn into 3 to 4 pieces (don’t tear them too small or they will wilt quickly)
4 leaves curly endive, each torn into 6 to 8 pieces
8 fresh herb leaves (cilantro, parsley, mint, tarragon, etc…torn if leaves are too large
1 ripe avocado, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon or more dark honey
freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

In a large wooden shallow bowl, toss the leafy greens and herbs together. Drizzle with rice vinegar, followed by olive oil. Dip a fork into the honey jar, letting most of it drip back in. Guide the fork back and forth over the mixed greens so as to distribute the honey all over. Season with salt and pepper and let stand for 15 minutes. Do not toss or the leaves will wilt quickly. Instead let the vinegar and oil trickle down in between the leaves.

This is an easy, elegant, and satisfying meal that can be thrown together in 20 minutes or less. I made this for a friend of mine who walked away with a smile spanning from one ear to the other. I think it’ll make yours happy too!

bon appétit!
CT

Block party over, we all gathered at Hill Country on Sunday night for some down time and a beer!

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party 2010 has come and gone. For pitmasters the event started on Friday night, setting up their massive BBQ rigs, firing them up, and loading tons of meat from ribs, to brisket, sausage, pork shoulders, whole hogs, and more. It’s a huge event that takes place during the second weekend in June on both Saturday and Sunday, with over 100,000 visitors eating their way through just shy of twenty BBQ stations. The wait can be long, but rain or shine, they stand in line hoping pitmasters don’t run out of the food. The best is when they make it to the front of the line and get served. The worst is when they see a man standing in line with them but holding that blue flag, signaling that the pitmaster is about to run out of “Q”, as was the case with Big Bob Gibson’s award-winning pulled pork sandwich.

Big Bob Gibson’s Chris Lilly at the 2010 Big Apple BBQ Block Party from Anthony Quintano on Vimeo.

full of historical and personal anecdotes...Chris Lilly makes you want to "Q!"

Sunday looked like last year’s Sunday. Gray! And when it finally rained, umbrellas went up, and business went on as usual. I’d been working long hours with Chris Lilly and his crew since Friday night and right through Sunday evening. My body is glad it’s over because barbecuing in a serious way for thousands of people can be taxing. The hard part is knowing that it’ll be a year before I see my Alabama friends. Like Chris always says, barbecue is about so much more than the food. It’s about being in the company of  friends and having a great time, and so I may have worked about 15 hours a day, but I never felt them.

Chris Lilly’s Injection and Dry Rub recipe  for his award-winning Pork Shoulder, adapted from his best-selling book Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book (Clarkson Potter, 2009):

For the INJECTION:

3/4 cup apple juice

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 salt

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

For the DRY RUB:

1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2-1/4 teaspoons garlic salt

2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

***Both rub and injection liquid are enough for a 16-18 pound whole pork shoulder. Set your grill/cooker at 225°F. (The charcoal should be set to one side of the pit, leaving the other side void. While bringing cooker to temperature, inject the shoulder with the liquid using a syringe, then rub the shoulder with the spice mix all over. Place the shoulder, fat side down over the void side of the grill. Place lid, and cook shoulder for 14 to 16 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat has reached 195°F. Transfer meat to cutting board, let rest for 30 minutes, and using insulated rubber gloves, pull the bone from the meat and discard. Then press down the meat and watch it fall apart. Remove any visible fat, and start chopping.

I highly recommend getting a few bottles of Big Bob Gibson’s Championship BBQ Sauce. It’s to die for!

Next weekend…pork shoulder infused with my Asian-inspired injection and rub as well as a new kind of BBQ Sauce. Ingredients such as lychee juice, coconut water, hoisin, soy sauce, five-spice, and more will be used. I’ll be loading up “Smokey” for the first time and testing these new recipes in time for July 4th weekend. It’s going to be an all-nighter!