If you ever doubted that barbecue’s popularity stretches across social classes and into every region of our society, just scan the list of barbecue and grilling cookbooks published to celebrate the opening of this year’s outdoor season.
Television weatherman Al Roker predicts fair weather if you reproduce his marinades. Barbecue authority Steven Raichlen offers 74 “offbeat” recipes plus his title preparation, “Beer-Can Chicken.”
But these three very well-executed books from less visible authors caught our fancy.
Celebrating Barbecue by Dotty Griffith
(Simon & Schuster, $24)
Dotty Griffith, a Dallas restaurant critic and food editor, doesn’t lack courage. The very first sentence of her book reveals she knows exactly what she is getting into by daring to elevate four regional styles to the pinnacle of American barbecue. “Writing a book about barbecue is almost guaranteed to garner more death threats than dinner invitations,” she acknowledges.
Her choices are rational and sane, not that rationality or sanity is necessarily appreciated when barbecue cooks come together. From east to west, the styles are hot-sour Carolina; sweet, hot and smoky Memphis; savory, smoky Texas; and sweet-sour and hot Kansas City.
Griffith dissects each style, provides the names of time-honored barbecue restaurants in each region and provides delightfully uncomplicated recipes for preparing barbecue and fixin’s (including salads and desserts) at home.
The recipes and text are so concise that some folks may fear they are being dealt an undersize portion. These are the same people who end up with fatty ribs at a barbecue. There’s fine eating to be had from these pages, for novices and veteran grillers alike.
Western North Carolina (Piedmont) style barbecue sauce
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Yield: About 3 cups
This is a thin, peppery sauce, far removed in texture and taste (vinegar and black pepper) from viscous, sweet supermarket barbecue sauces. From “Celebrating Barbecue,” by Dotty Griffith.
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
3/4 cup tomato juice, tomato sauce or ketchup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon red pepper sauce
2 teaspoons black pepper or to taste
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Shake to combine. Store in the refrigerator up to 2 months.
Nutrition information per tablespoon (calculated by the Tribune):
20 calories, 1% calories from fat, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 120 mg sodium, 4.9 g carbohydrate, 0 g protein, 0 g fiber
Legends of Texas Barbecue Cook Book by Robb Walsh
(Chronicle paperback, $18.95)
This book is for the committed, the grown-up boys (and girls) who ogle barbecue rigs at cookoffs as though they were antique cars and swap lies about recipes and appetites.
Like Griffith, Walsh is a Texas journalist, but instead of looking at the national scene, he stays home and picks at ribs and things with accomplished barbecuers as disparate as the late Dallas pit master Sonny Bryan and Lady Bird Johnson.
His legends comment on various aspects of cooking and consuming brisket, ribs, sausage and chicken. They talk about preparing pits and smokers, regional barbecue specialties within the state and give recipes for side dishes.
Nor is anyone pulling punches. “It’s not hard to tell when meat has been oversmoked,” Walsh writes, “it tastes like tar.”
It’s fun to read their commentary and a joy to look through the vintage photographs Walsh has collected. You’ll need two copies of his book, one pristine to read in bed and another–soon to become grease-stained–to cook with.
Drexler’s ribs
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 3 to 3 1/2 hours
Yield: 2 to 4 servings
From “Legends of Texas Barbecue Cook Book,” by Robb Walsh.
1 rack pork spareribs (under 3 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1. Rinse the ribs, then dry them. Sprinkle the seasonings on both sides and rub them in.
2. Set up your smoker for indirect heat with a water pan. Use wood chips, chunks or logs and keep up a good level of smoke. Maintain a temperature between 250 and 300 degrees. Place the ribs on the smoker, bone-side down, as far away from the fire as possible. Cook for 3 to 31/2 hours, or until a toothpick goes through easily when inserted between the bones.
3. Sit back, drink a beer, and don’t be in a rush. They’ll get very tender if you give them enough time.
Tribune test kitchen note: For the paprika, use 2 tablespoons each hot and sweet.
Nutrition information per serving (based on 4; calculated by the Tribune):
770 calories, 68% calories from fat, 57 g fat, 21 g saturated fat, 225 mg cholesterol, 1,920 mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrate, 55 g protein, 0.8 g fiber
Asian Grilling by Su-Mei Yu
(William Morrow, $24.95)
Of the books discussed here, this is the most demanding of a cook’s time and attention. Asian dishes, especially those of Thailand, Vietnam and China, tend to call for numerous ingredients, and it seems that most of them need to be sliced or chopped. Furthermore, the author is a purist. She prefers pastes prepared in a mortar and pestle to a blender because of the more even texture obtained. She cooks with lump hardwood charcoal.
But it is just these long lists of seasonings and fairly complex procedures that produce grilled foods of fabulous textures and flavors. Grilling over an open fire offers the possibility of preparing kebabs, satay and skewered vegetables of all sorts. Foods wrapped in leaves (or foil wrap) come off the heat moist, soft and attractively perfumed. Actual cooking time is short for most dishes, so, with advanced preparation, several may be presented at the same time.
Su-Mei Yu divides this book into seven chapters on technique with titles such as “Wrapped and Grilled” and “Grilled Salads.”
Grilled pineapple with white pepper and palm sugar
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
From “Asian Grilling,” by Su-Mei Yu.
1/2 cup palm sugar or brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut cream, canned or fresh
1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into
1/2-inch slices
1. Heat the grill.
2. While waiting for the grill to get hot, combine the palm sugar and coconut cream in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. Sprinkle the white pepper over the pineapples and generously spray with vegetable oil. Place on the grill over medium heat and grill, turning frequently to prevent burning, until slightly charred and softened, about 7 minutes. Add to the bowl with the sauce and mix well. Cover and let sit for at least 15 minutes or longer, or refrigerate for up to a day, before serving.
Tribune test kitchen note: For a less sweet taste, use coconut milk, not coconut cream.
Nutrition information per serving (calculated by the Tribune):
235 calories, 26% calories from fat, 7 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodium, 45 g carbohydrate, 1.5 g protein, 2.4 g fiber
