MEAT
&
GAME
“A hotdog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.”
—Humphrey Bogart
A
wise man once said if God didn’t want us to eat animals, He wouldn’t have made them out of tasty meat. I agree. I wonder if that wise man was from Texas? Down there, they know that there’s nothing quite as satisfying as grilling or smoking a red meat feast on the grill.
The USDA defines “red meat” as “all meats obtained from mammals,” but we like to think bigger. Think big cuts of beef, lamb, and even wild game.
Meat plays a starring role in American barbecue. We eat about 25 billion pounds of beef a year in the United States. Believe it or not, per capita, Uruguay and even Argentina actually consume more. Now I see why the new Brazilian steakhouses are so popular. They have the meats!
When you’re cooking red meat, you will need plenty of smoke and spice. Think black pepper and mesquite. You’ll discover plenty of bold flavors to work with and fire up in the recipes that follow.