Americans used to call Cincinnati “Porkopolis,” but the nickname could have referred to the whole country. Pigs settled the land early, arriving with the first European colonists, and they remain grand dames among our domesticated animals. You can cook and eat them whole, from snout to tail, providing the ultimate in prodigality. Honor that heritage by cooking pork right and you’ll never go wrong.
Tender parts of the pig grill exceptionally well, welcoming a worldwide array of seasoning options. Other cuts, such as loins, roast perfectly, either on a spit or in a covered grill. Most memorably of all, pork barbecues in a smoker like it was born to be there. Whether you favor spicy ribs gnawed off the bone or meat so luscious that it pulls apart with your fingers, barbecued pork always awes. The humble pig, however you prepare it, is one of the outdoor cook’s very best friends.
Succulent spareribs, smoked low and slow, are hog heaven to most barbecue fans. In Kansas City in particular, you can smell them In the air everywhere, usually cooked in this style, oozing with a sweet, piquant sauce. The generous amount of sugar in the rub caramelizes at the low smoking temperature, getting the meat a bit charred in spots but not burning it as would happen on higher heat. If you don’t have a smoker, or just want something similar from the grill, skip to the recipe for Grilled Racks of Baby Backs, Kansas City Style (page 312).
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves 6 to 8
Kansas City Rib Rub
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sweet paprika
3 tablespoons Smoked Salt (page 34), commercial smoked salt, or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
1½ tablespoons granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne, optional
3 full slabs pork spareribs, “St. Louis cut” (trimmed of chine bone and brisket flap), preferably 5 pounds each or less
Simple Mop, optional
Several cups beer, cider, or vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, optional
Several cups Genuine Kansas City Barbecue Sauce (page 50), Kansas City Sweet Sauce (page 51), Serendipity Sauce (page 54), or other sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce
The night before you plan to barbecue, combine the rub ingredients in a bowl. Apply about one-third of the rub evenly to the ribs, reserving the rest of the spice mixture. Place the slabs in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate them overnight.
Before you begin to barbecue, take the ribs from the refrigerator. Sprinkle the ribs lightly with half of the remaining rub, reserving the rest of the mixture. Let the ribs sit uncovered at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.
Even for serious smoking, we avoid the largest of spareribs, which can be extra-tough. Like most barbecue fans, we look instead for those that are “three and down,” meaning under 3 pounds in pitmaster lingo. We also prefer that spareribs have both the brisket flap and chine (back) bone removed in advance, a cut known even in Kansas City as the “St. Louis cut.”
If you need more grate space for ribs for a group, you may want to invest in one or more rib racks that allow you to stack the ribs standing up on their sides. Or follow the lead of championship Kansas City pitmaster Paul Kirk, who simply rolls up each rack snugly, secures it with a skewer, and sets it on the grate on one of the rolled ends.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
Transfer the meat to the smoker. Cook the ribs for about 4 hours, turning and sprinkling them with the remaining dry rub about halfway through the time. If you plan to baste the meat, mop once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate in your style of smoker. Don’t mop during the last hour of cooking so that the surface can dry out before you begin to apply the sauce. Check after 3¼ to 3½ hours to see that the meat bends easily between the ribs and pulls apart cleanly without tugging. When the ribs reach that stage, slather them with sauce and continue cooking for 30 to 45 minutes, until quite tender, with sticky, gooey sauce.
Remove the ribs from the smoker. If you have time, wrap the slabs tightly in a double layer of foil, preferably nonstick, so that they develop additional tenderness. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Unwrap and arrange on a platter, slicing into individual ribs first if you wish. Serve with more sauce on top or on the side and plenty of napkins.
Mustard-Slathered, Brown Sugar-Coated Ribs Skip the dry rub and instead use Mustard Paste (page 34) to season the ribs overnight. Sprinkle with brown sugar lightly before and during smoking, as with the dry rub.
Texas-Style Spareribs At Texas barbecue joints, there’s often a sign that says barbecue, meaning brisket or other beef, and under that, ribs. They’re not an afterthought, just a different animal. To add bold Texas taste to your ribs, finish them with a Lone Star sauce such as Texas Dr P. ‘Cue Sauce (page 51) or Texas Ranch Barbecue Sauce (page 51).
South Louisiana Spareribs Use the same dry rub or switch to Cajun Zydeco Rub and Boil (page 29). Use white vinegar for the mop. Then apply a south Louisiana barbecue sauce made with ½ cup cane syrup, such as Steen’s, or dark corn syrup, ½ cup white vinegar, and 1 to 2 teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce, all stirred together.
Some prominent barbecue joints, particularly in Memphis and parts of Texas, specialize in “dry” ribs, served without sauce. If you love the meat but don’t like it sweet, try it this way. We cook these slabs a little longer than most ribs, making them leaner, crunchier, and crispier. We use a fairly classic Memphis rub here, but you can substitute others, perhaps Southwest Sizzler (page 26), Sweet Southern Pork Rub (page 25), or Wild Willy’s Number One-derful Rub (page 23).
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves 6 to S
Memphis Dry Rib Rub
¾ cup sweet paprika
¼ cup ground black pepper
¼ cup coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated garlic or garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
3 full slabs pork spareribs, “St. Louis cut” (trimmed of chine bone and brisket flap), preferably 3 pounds each or less
Old Faithful Beer Mop, optional
One 12-ounce bottle or can beer
½ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 to 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
½ medium onion, slivered, or 2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper, optional
The night before you plan to barbecue, combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside about half of the spice mixture and apply the rest evenly to the ribs. Place the slabs in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate them overnight.
Thirty to 40 minutes before you begin to barbecue, take the ribs from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
If you are going to baste the ribs, mix together the mop ingredients with 1 tablespoon of the remaining rub and ½ cup water in a large saucepan. Warm the mop liquid over low heat.
Transfer the ribs to the smoker. Cook the ribs for 5 to 6 hours, turning and basting them with the mop about once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate in your style of smoker. Don’t mop in the last hour of cooking so that the surface can crisp. Instead, pat the ribs down with the remaining dry rub. When ready, the meat should be well done and nearly falling off the bones.
Remove the ribs from the smoker. If you have time, wrap the slabs tightly in a double layer of foil, preferably nonstick, so that they develop additional tenderness. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Unwrap and arrange on platters, slicing into individual ribs first if you wish.
Baby back ribs don’t come from younger hogs. They’re cut from the section of the rib cage closest to the backbone, while spareribs come from the area nearest the belly. Both start out tough, with lots of connective tissue, and need a long cooking time to break down those fibers. This is why we bake baby backs before finishing them on an open grill, tenderizing them before we put them on a direct fire to crust the surface.
Many cooks roast baby back ribs in a covered grill, but we prepare ours a little differently. We coat the ribs first with a dry rub, wrap them in foil to keep the spice intact, and then bake them in an oven or covered grill to tenderize the meat. We finish the baby backs on the direct heat of an open grill, crisping and saucing the surface at the same time for a delectable Kansas City taste. Plan to start the cooking at least 3 hours before you intend to eat, or complete the baking step a day ahead, if you like, for an even deeper flavor.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 4 to 8
Four 1¾- to 2-pound slabs pork baby back ribs
Smoky Rib Rub
¼ cup smoked paprika
2 tablespoons Smoked Salt (page 34), commercial smoked salt, or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground dried chipotle chiles or, for a milder rub, additional smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
At least 2 cups Genuine Kansas City Barbecue Sauce (page 50), Kansas City Sweet Sauce (page 51), or other sweet tomato-based barbecue sauce
Strip off the thin membrane on the ribs’ lower side: Make a cut or two into the membrane at one end or the other of the rack, nudge the knife or your fingers under it, and then pull it off. (If you’re a real fan of ribs, dedicate a pair of clean needle-nose pliers to this task and keep them in the kitchen or near the grill.) It usually comes off pretty much in one piece. Discard the membrane.
Preheat the oven or covered grill to 275°F.
Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the rub. Coat the ribs liberally on all sides with the remaining spice mixture.
Wrap the ribs tightly in 2 layers of foil, place on baking sheets, and bake for 2 hours.
The meat should be beginning to shrink away from the ends of the bones, exposing them a bit, and if you tug a rib, it should pull apart with little resistance.
If you plan to grill the ribs immediately, fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test). If you want to delay grilling for more than an hour, cool the ribs, opening the foil to speed the process. Rewrap the ribs in the foil and refrigerate them until about 30 minutes before you plan to grill.
Sprinkle the top side of the racks of ribs evenly with the remaining rub.
Grill the ribs uncovered over medium heat for a total of about 20 minutes. Grill on each side for about 7 minutes to crisp. Brush the ribs generously with sauce and cook for about 6 minutes more, letting each side face the fire briefly. The ribs are done when very tender with a surface that’s crisp in some spots and gooey with sauce in others. If you have time, wrap the rib slabs tightly in foil again and let sit for 15 to 30 minutes, so that they develop additional tenderness. Unwrap and serve. Slice into individual ribs and pile high or give guests their own slab or portion of a slab to pull apart. Serve with more sauce and plenty of hand wipes.
Hot Pepper Jelly-Basted Baby Backs Instead of brushing the ribs with Kansas City Sauce, combine ¾ cup hot pepper jelly, cup fresh lime juice, 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil, and enough red or green Tabasco sauce (to match your jelly) to add a bit of pizzazz. Make a double batch of the sauce if you want to really layer it on.
Sweet and Spicy Thai-Style Baby Back Ribs Eliminate the chili powder from the rub. For the sauce, substitute a mixture of cup Thai sweet red chile dipping sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, and a splash or two of Asian fish sauce. Stir in Asian chile-garlic paste or sauce to taste. Brush with sauce as directed. Scatter with green scallion bits. Serve with Cucumber Relish (page 70).
Chinese Baby Backs Leave the chipotle powder and chili powder out of the rub. Use Plum-Hoisin Sauce (page 57) for saucing the ribs.
Guava-Sauced Baby Backs Skip the barbecue sauce and use instead Blazing-Hot Guava-Habanero Hot Sauce (page 58). Serve with black beans and yellow rice.
Grilled Baby Back Ribs with Mango-Mint vinaigrette These are less sugary than our other baby backs, complementing the pork without masking its flavor at all. Omit the chili powder from the rub. Eliminate the sauce. Instead, combine in a blender 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and chunked, cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, 2 tablespoons water, and a few shakes of Caribbean hot sauce. Taste, add salt, and adjust the seasonings as needed. Grill the ribs as directed. If you like, brush a little of the vinaigrette over both sides of the ribs in their last few minutes of cooking. Slice into individual ribs and pile high, drizzling the vinaigrette over the tower of ribs.
We prepare these like the previous baby backs, even starting with the same dry spices. In this case, though, we boost everything from the rub to the sauce with bourbon. The spirit’s underlying tone of smooth smokiness complements both the fire and the spice. Here, too, you can bake the ribs a day ahead for deeper flavor.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 4 to 8
Four 1¾- to 2-pound slabs pork baby back ribs
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons bourbon
Smoky Rib Rub
¼ cup smoked paprika
2 tablespoons Smoked Salt (page 34), commercial smoked salt, or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar or 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground dried chipotle chiles or, for a milder rub, additional smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
2 tablespoons bacon drippings or butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bourbon
¼ cup canned chipotle chiles in adobo, any whole chiles minced
¼ cup orange juice
3 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
Strip off the thin membrane on the ribs’ lower side: Make a cut or two into the membrane at one end or the other of the rack, nudge the knife or your fingers under it, and then pull it off. (If you’re a real fan of ribs, dedicate a pair of clean needle-nose pliers to this task and keep them in the kitchen or near the grill.) It usually comes off pretty much in one piece. Discard the membrane.
Preheat the oven or covered grill to 275°F. Drizzle the bourbon over the ribs and rub it in thoroughly. Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the rub. Coat the ribs liberally on all sides with the remaining spice mixture.
Wrap the ribs tightly in two layers of foil, place on baking sheets, and bake for 2 hours. The meat should be beginning to shrink away from the ends of the bones, exposing them a bit, and if you tug a rib, it should pull apart with little resistance.
Prepare the sauce while the ribs bake. First melt the bacon drippings in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté it until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ketchup, 1 cup water, and 1 cup of the bourbon. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced to the consistency of thin ketchup. Just before removing the sauce from the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of the bourbon. Reserve the sauce at room temperature if you plan to grill the ribs within the hour or refrigerate it. (The sauce can be made several days in advance, covered, and refrigerated. Thin with a little water if it’s too thick to brush easily.)
If you plan to grill the ribs immediately after baking them, fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test). If you want to delay grilling for more than an hour, cool the ribs, opening the foil to speed the process. Rewrap the ribs in the foil and refrigerate them until about 30 minutes before you plan to grill.
Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Unwrap the ribs, discard the foil, and sprinkle the top side of the slabs equally with the remaining rub.
Serve ribs with a side of hand wipes. Make your own by wetting enough sturdy white paper towels for everyone to get one or two. Fold each towel in half, place a fresh herb sprig, like lavender or rosemary, at the top end, then roll up snugly with the herb sprig just peeking out. Arrange them standing up in a bowl or other container.
Grill the ribs uncovered over medium heat for a total of about 20 minutes. Grill on each side for about 7 minutes to crisp. Then baste the ribs generously with sauce and cook for about 6 minutes more, letting each side face the fire briefly. The ribs are done when very tender with a surface that’s crisp in some spots and gooey with sauce in others. Serve the ribs hot with more sauce and plenty of hand wipes.
Southern Comfort Baby Backs Replace the bourbon with Southern Comfort, spoonful for spoonful.
Dr Pepper-Glazed Baby Backs Substitute Dr Pepper for the bourbon for flavoring the uncooked ribs. For the glaze, use what else but Texas Dr P. ‘Cue Sauce (page 51).
Everyone loves the leanness, tenderness, and affordability of pork tenderloin. Even more important to us personally, tenderloin welcomes a wide range of flavoring, perhaps more than any other high-quality meat. It also grills beautifully and easily, and for entertaining, it can be stretched to serve a surprise guest in a way that many foods can’t. Like a fine steak, start tenderloins over a hot fire, sear their surfaces thoroughly, and then move them to medium heat to cook through. To keep them succulent, avoid cooking them beyond an internal temperature of 155°F, when the centers still have a hint of pink but the juices run clear.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Marinade/Glaze
½ cup bourbon
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 plump garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Two ¾- to 1-pound pieces pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
Stir the marinade/glaze ingredients together in a small bowl. Place the tenderloins in a large zippered plastic bag. Pour the marinade over them, seal, and toss back and forth to coat the tenderloins evenly. Let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Drain the tenderloins, reserving the marinade in a small saucepan. Leave any spices that cling to the surface in place. Sprinkle the tenderloins with the black pepper and let sit uncovered at room temperature. Add ½ cup water to the marinade and bring to a vigorous boil over high heat for several minutes.
Arrange the tenderloins on the grill over high heat, angling their thinner ends away from the hottest part of the fire. Grill uncovered for 5 minutes, rolling them on all sides. Move the tenderloins to medium heat and estimate the rest of the cooking time by the thickness of the meat. Skinny tenderloins (about 1 ½ inches in diameter) require an additional 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. Plump tenderloins (up to 2½ inches in diameter) may need twice that long. Continue rolling on all sides for even cooking, brushing with the boiled marinade/glaze in about the last 5 minutes of cooking. The pork is ready when its internal temperature reaches 155°F. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, tented with foil, before carving. We think very thin slices offer the best flavor, but cut it in whatever way pleases you.
* Pork is graded with a number system, but most of it that goes to supermarkets is USDA 1, so that’s not much of a help in selection.
* We avoid “enhanced” pork, a euphemism for pork injected with saltwater and other stuff to make it seem more plump and moist
* Personally, we never brine pork, often suggested for making the meat more succulent To us, it gives pork a ham flavor. We like the taste OK. but we choose a real ham when we want it
* Convincing the American public they would contract trichinosis by eating underdone pork was an overblown campaign. Trichina dies at 137°F, which means that no one needs to cook pork chops to a leathery 160°F, 165°F, or beyond.
* We like to take chops and tenderloin off a grill fire at about 150°F to 155°F, when there’s still a hint of pink at the center and the meat retains its internal juiciness. For serious barbecue, tough, fatty cuts like shoulder and butt can cook to 180°F or beyond and still stay remarkably moist Much of the fat drips away during the cooking or is discarded when the meat is pulled. Even chops can have their internal temperature taken with an instant-read thermometer, stuck in horizontally. With bone-in cuts, be sure the thermometer is touching meat, not bone, when you read it
Grilled Pepper-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Barbecue Vinaigrette Combining barbecue sauce with a light salad dressing makes a refined accompaniment to the pepper-crusted pork. To make the vinaigrette, start with 3 tablespoons of a tomato-based barbecue sauce that’s not overly sweet or too heavily flavored with liquid smoke. Whisk together with ½ cup tangerine or orange juice, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, a minced garlic clove, and ½ cup vegetable oil. Add salt or pepper as you wish. Brush over the tenderloins in the last few minutes of grilling. Spoon the rest over the plated tenderloin slices.
Grilled Pepper-Crusted Pork Tenderloin With Jezebel Sauce Accompany the tenderloin with a spicy Southern Jezebel sauce. Buy a commercial version or whip up your own by mixing together ½ cup apricot or peach preserves, 2 tablespoons Creole or Dijon mustard, and 2 to 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish. Stir in 1 tablespoon water if the sauce is too thick to brush or spoon easily. Serve over the sliced grilled tenderloin.
Smoked Pepper-Crusted Pork Tenderloin Before marinating, cut each tenderloin down one of its long sides, cutting to within about ½ inch of the other side. Fold each tenderloin open like a book and press down along the seam so that it will stay open. Lightly pound the tenderloins to ½-inch thickness. (Butterflying and pounding the pork lightly allows the pork to cook more quickly while providing more surface area to soak up the smoke.) Marinate, then boil and reserve the marinade as directed. Fire up your smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F. Warm a heavy skillet over high heat and add a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Sear each tenderloin well, about a minute per side. Transfer the tenderloins to the smoker. Cook for about 1 hour, brushing the tenderloins lightly with the reserved marinade/sauce during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
We initially designed Tropical Splash to be a barbecue mop, but then discovered it also made an excellent marinade and baste for grilled pork tenderloin. The rum or tequila in the splash adds another layer of flavor but isn’t essential. If you do use it, be cautious when brushing the meat with the liquid to avoid leaping flames from dripping alcohol. We marinate this a bit longer than in the previous recipe, because it takes a little longer for these flavors to be evident, but you can still get this on the table pretty quickly.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Tropical Splash
1½ cups mango, papaya, or pineapple juice or a combination
Juice of 2 large limes
2 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
3 to 4 tablespoons light or dark rum or tequila, optional
Caribbean habanero hot sauce, such as Melinda’s, optional
Two ¾- to 1-pound pieces pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons Wednesday Night Rub (page 26) or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the Tropical Splash ingredients in a bowl.
Place the tenderloins in a large zippered plastic bag. Pour half of the marinade over them, seal, and toss back and forth to coat the tenderloins evenly. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and add ¼ cup water.
Shortly before you plan to grill, take the pork from the refrigerator and drain it, discarding the marinade. Sprinkle lightly with the rub, then let sit uncovered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Arrange the tenderloins on the grill over high heat, angling their thinner ends away from the hottest part of the fire. Place the saucepan over medium heat to warm the remaining splash. Grill the tenderloins uncovered for 5 minutes, rolling them on all sides. Move the tenderloins to medium heat and estimate the rest of the cooking time by the thickness of the meat. Skinny tenderloins (about 1½ inches in diameter) require an additional 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. Plump tenderloins (up to 2½ inches in diameter) may need twice that long. Once over medium heat, drizzle with the splash several times so that some of the liquid coats all sides. Continue rolling on all sides for even cooking. Stop adding liquid in the last 4 to 5 minutes so that the surface has a chance to crisp. The pork is ready when its internal temperature reaches 155°F. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, tented with foil, before carving. We think very thin slices offer the best flavor, but cut it in whatever way pleases you.
Dry spice rubs mate beautifully with pork tenderloin, particularly mixes that have a hint of sugar to help caramelize and crust the surface. Most meat markets package tenderloins in pairs. Even if you don’t intend to finish both in one meal, consider cooking them together, because the cold pork tastes great the next day, simply sliced and plated or piled on a sandwich.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Fennel and Coriander Dry Rub
2 tablespoons ground fennel seeds
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons turbinado sugar or brown sugar
2 teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Two ¾- to 1-pound pieces pork tenderloin
Olive oil or vegetable oil spray
Stir the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Massage the mixture into the tenderloins and let sit covered at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
Fire up the grill for a two-level fire capable of cooking first on high heat (1 to 2 seconds with the hand test) and then on medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Spray the tenderloins generously with oil.
Arrange the tenderloins on the grill over high heat, angling their thinner ends away from the hottest part of the fire. Grill uncovered for 5 minutes, rolling them on all sides. Move the tenderloins to medium heat and estimate the rest of the cooking time by the thickness of the meat. Skinny tenderloins (about 1½ inches in diameter) require an additional 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. Plump tenderloins (up to 2½ inches in diameter) may need twice that long. Continue rolling on all sides for even cooking and a fully crusted surface. The pork is ready when its internal temperature reaches 155°F. Let it rest for 10 minutes, tented with foil, before carving. We think very thin slices offer the best flavor, but cut it in whatever way pleases you.
Grilled Tenderloin with Scandinavian Spice The colors in this are great. Replace the dry rub with Scandinavian Sugar and Spice (page 31). Serve the grilled tenderloin slices with a simple compote of cooked cranberries or lingonberries.
Grilled Tenderloin with Seven-Spice Seasoning and Ginger Sauce Replace the dry rub with Chinese Seven-Spice Seasoning (page 33). Make the sauce by heating 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a small saucepan, then add 2 to 3 tablespoons slivered peeled fresh ginger, 2 slivered garlic cloves, and a pinch of hot red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Pour in 1½ cups chicken stock and 2 teaspoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) or ½ teaspoon sugar, bring to a boil, and reduce the sauce by about one-third. Reserve and serve over the sliced grilled tenderloin.
Grilled Tenderloin with Anchovy and Rosemary Sauce Skip the heavier dry rubs and just use Serious Salt-and-Pepper Rub (page 22) or a light dusting of salt and pepper. Make a sauce in a food processor by pureeing 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves with 6 to 10 anchovy fillets. With the processor running, pour in 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil and continue processing until a thick sauce forms. Add a little more lemon juice if you think it will improve the sauce. Serve at room temperature over the sliced grilled tenderloin.
Dry rubs are also a terrific way to season pork chops. Select chops of close to an inch in thickness-nothing flimsy-then grill them over steady medium heat We opt for rib chops over the center-cut variety when cooking outdoors because their greater fat content helps keep them moist, and we always prefer bone-in chops for their juiciness. You might add a barbecue sauce on the side with these, but we relish their crispy surface unvarnished.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Pork Chop Willy’s Grilling Rub
3 tablespoons sweet paprika, preferably Spanish
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon chili powder
¾ teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
¾ teaspoon onion powder
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cayenne
Six to eight 10- to 11-ounce bone-in pork rib chops, ¾ to 1 inch thick
Vegetable oil spray
At least 1 and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill the pork chops, prepare the dry rub, combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Coat the chops with the spice mixture, place them in a large plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate.
Fire up the grill, bringing the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
a Spur-of-the-Moment Cookout
Red Bell Pepper Dip (page 97) or other dip you have on hand, with crackers, toasts, or chips
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops
Grilled Tomato Salad with Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing (page 439) or any other simply grilled vegetable with some greens and a favorite dressing
Ice cream sundaes
Remove the chops from the refrigerator and let them sit covered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Spray the chops with oil and transfer them to the grill. Grill for 18 to 20 minutes total. Turn onto each side twice, rotating the chops a half turn each time to get crisscross grill marks. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center. Serve hot.
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops with Worcestershire Pecan Butter Make the butter as on page 64. Rub and grill the pork chops as directed and drizzle with the melted butter before serving.
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops with Mustard Butter and Mustard Seeds Melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter in a small skillet. Add 2 teaspoons mustard seeds and cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat, just long enough for the seeds to sizzle around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 tablespoon Dijon or other mustard. Rub and grill the pork chops as directed and drizzle with the melted butter before serving.
Tamarind-Orange Grilled Pork Chops Sweet, sour, sticky, yummy. Before rubbing and grilling the chops as directed, prepare a tamarind-orange sauce. Combine in a saucepan ½ cup orange juice, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock, ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon chipotle ketchup or chipotle barbecue sauce (or the same amount of regular ketchup or barbecue sauce mixed with 1 to 2 minced canned chipotle chiles), ¼ cup orange marmalade, 1 tablespoon tamarind paste or concentrate, and 1 tablespoon butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a bare simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. The sauce can be made up to several days ahead, refrigerated, and then reheated. Brush the sauce over both sides of the chops in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Serve the chops with the remaining sauce.
Java-Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops Replace the dry rub with one made of 3 tablespoons coarsely ground coffee, 1½ tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper, and 1½ teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt. You’ll have much less of this mixture and should apply it more lightly. Topped with Grilled Pepper Relish (page 71), leftovers make a great sandwich. Java-laced Texas Ranch Barbecue Sauce (page 51) is good on the sandwich, too.
Dry-Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops with Gorgonzola Sauce Replace the dry rub with a light sprinkle of Serious Salt-and-Pepper Rub (page 22) and grill the chops as directed. For the sauce, melt 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 6 to 8 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and 1 cup mascarpone cheese until melted. Serve over or under the chops.
Sage-Rubbed Chops with Pear-Sage Chutney Replace the dry rub with a mixture of 2 tablespoons crumbled dried sage, 1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Before firing up the grill, make the chutney. Combine 2 cups chopped peeled Bartlett pears in a saucepan with ½ cup water, ½ cup chopped onion, ½ cup golden raisins, 6 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon crumbled dried sage. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pears have cooked down and the mixture is thick. Serve warm over or on the side of the grilled chops.
Smoked Pork Chops Pork chops don’t need long, low barbecuing for tenderness, but they can be enhanced by a kiss of smoke. Rub and prepare the chops as in the main recipe. Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F. If you plan to baste the chops, warm about ¾ cup cider or white vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat. Sear the dry-rubbed chops, after spraying them with oil, in a heavy skillet over high heat. Transfer to the smoker and cook for 45 to 55 minutes. Turn and baste the chops with the mop once or twice in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate in your style of smoker. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center, at 150°F to 155°F on an instant-read thermometer stuck into a chop horizontally.
In shopping for pork chops, look for ones that are at least ¾ inch thick and preferably a little fatter. If you have a choice between bone-in and boneless, opt for bone-in for increased juiciness and flavor. When we have a choice between loin chops and rib chops, we go for the latter because they are better marbled with fat.
While grilled pork chops are scrumptious with the crustiness of a dry spice coating, they are equally tasty with a moist seasoning method. Just be sure to blot the meat before placing it over the fire so that the surface has a chance to brown and crisp in the brief cooking time. The flavors of this Caribbean mojo marinade are tailor-made for pork, and the orange juice and oil in the mixture promote the bronzed look of a tropical sun worshipper. The cheese-laced potatoes make a smashing accompaniment.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 to 8
Mojo
½ cup flavorful olive oil
½ cup fresh orange juice, plus 1½ tablespoons minced orange zest
½ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
¾ teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Six to eight 10- to 11-ounce bone-in pork rib chops, about ¾ to 1 inch thick
Manchego Mashed Potatoes
3 pounds russet or other large baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2- to 3-inch chunks
1½ tablespoons salt, or more to taste
1½ cups whole milk 10 to 12 ounces Manchego cheese, grated and softened
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup flavorful olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
At least 2 and up to 8 hours before you plan to grill the pork chops, mix the mojo in a small bowl. Set aside one-third of the mojo in another small bowl. This will become a sauce.
Place the chops in a large zippered plastic bag and pour the remaining mojo over them. Refrigerate the chops, turning occasionally, until about 20 minutes before you plan to cook them.
Shortly before you plan to fire up the grill, prepare the mashed potatoes. Combine the potatoes in a large heavy pan with the salt and enough water to cover by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until quite tender, 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. When done, the exteriors of the potatoes should be crumbly, almost dissolving in spots. Drain the potatoes.
Pour 1¼ cups of the milk into the potato pan and heat to lukewarm. Then stir in the cheese, butter, and oil. Mash or rice the potatoes back into the milk mixture. Stir well and add the rest of the milk if you want the potatoes thinner. Season with pepper and, if you wish, more salt. Cover and keep warm.
Drain the chops, discarding the marinade, then blot moisture from the surface with paper towels. Let sit uncovered at room temperature.
Fire up the grill, bringing the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Grill the chops for about 18 to 20 minutes total. Turn onto each side twice, rotating the chops a half turn each time to get crisscross grill marks. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center, at 150°F to 155°F on an instant-read thermometer stuck into a chop horizontally. Serve the chops immediately with mashed potatoes and pass the reserved mojo to spoon over the chops.
A pint of Guinness is great, but that doesn’t mean you should down a dozen of them in one pub crawl. The same with beer marinades. A short soak is tasty, but the hops that give the beer its bitter edge become unpleasant if you get your meat soused.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Basil-Cured Smoked Salmon (page 91)
Guinness-Soaked Chops
Colcannon (mashed potatoes and cabbage)
Irish soda bread
Sticky toffee pudding or store-bought pound cake, ice cream, or fruit topped with Bailey’s Irish Cream
Serves 6 to 8
Six to eight 10- to 11-ounce bone-in pork rib chops, about ¾ to 1 inch thick
3 cups Guinness or other stout or dark beer
4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter, melted
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
About 1 hour before you plan to grill the pork chops, place them in a large zippered plastic bag. Pour the stout over them, seal, and toss back and forth to coat evenly. Refrigerate the chops, turning them once.
Fire up the grill, bringing the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Drain the chops, discarding the marinade. Let sit uncovered at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Just before cooking, blot moisture from the surface of the chops with paper towels. Brush them lightly with the butter on both sides, using about half of it, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Grill the chops for about 14 to 16 minutes total. Turn onto each side twice, rotating the chops a half turn each time to get crisscross grill marks. The chops are done when just a hint of pink remains at the center, at 150°F to 155°F on an instant-read thermometer stuck into a chop horizontally. Brush the remaining butter over the tops of the chops and serve immediately.
This primordial-looking dish features the increasingly common oversized bone-in chops. They resemble something Fred Flintstone took home to Wilma, but they’re a lot more tender and flavorful. A “caveman” chop might be a country-style rib with the rib chop still connected with a soaring rib bone, or it could be a pork “porterhouse,” a cross-cut “steak” including both loin and tenderloin. In general, one will easily feed two people or even more. Adjust the cooking time as necessary, depending on the thickness and weight of the cut you choose. We season them simply to accentuate the antediluvian appeal.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6 or more
3 oversized bone-in “caveman” chops, 1¼ to 2 inches thick and 1¼ to 1¾ pounds
About 1 tablespoon Serious Salt-and-Pepper Rub (page 22), Smoky Salt-and-Pepper Rub (page 22), or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper
About ⅓ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, optional
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Sprinkle the chops lightly with the rub, patting it into any crevices in the meat. Let them sit uncovered for at least 20 minutes at room temperature.
Plan on a total cooking time of up to 30 minutes. Grill the chops for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 to 7 minutes or more often if juice begins to pool on the surface. After each side has faced the fire once, brush a few times with Worcestershire sauce. After 20 minutes, check the pork’s temperature by inserting an instant-read thermometer horizontally into a chop. Judge the remainder of the grilling time based on your reading. We take the chops off when the internal temperature reaches 150°F, by which time the outside is nicely burnished and crisp but the interior still quite juicy. Serve like a good steak, topped with a pat of butter if you wish.
The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest defines barbecue as pork meat (fresh or frozen and uncured) prepared only on a wood and/or charcoal fire, basted or not as the cook sees fit, with any consumable substances and sauces the cook believes necessary. Pork is judged in three categories: ribs, shoulder, and whole hog. For a whole hog entry, the dressed weight must be 85 pounds or more prior to removal of the head, feet, and skin, and it has to be cooked as one complete unit on one grate surface. No portion or portions of the whole hog may be separated or removed, and subsequently returned to the grate, prior to or during the cooking process. So now you know.
The ultimate challenge in American barbecue is a cooking a whole hog, and the ultimate place to do it is at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Contest We had the honor of cooking with the late Jim Quessenberry and his Arkansas Trav’lers barbecue team one year at the event, where we tried to absorb every bit of Jim’s valuable advice. To even consider the prospect, you need a large heavy-duty barbecue pit with a cooking grate at least five feet long, a good twenty-four hours, a decent sense of humor, and at least a couple of willing and brawny assistants. Next, of course, you’ve got to find a hog, a process you should start at least a couple of weeks in advance. A savvy butcher can identify a source and help further by gutting and skinning the hog, trimming the outside fat, and butterflying it. For wood, Jim preferred a combination of hickory and oak logs, but use any hardwood available, including chunks. Accompany with plenty of friends. Don’t forget to invite the butcher, or least save him or her a sample of your divine barbecue.
a Pig-Pickin’ Feast
You provide the pork, beer, and other beverages and let your friends bring the accolades and the rest of the fixings, perhaps:
Dips and salsas and chips
Lots of deviled eggs
Quarts of coleslaw
Cast-iron pots full of baked beans (stir in some of the crunchy pork bits for an extra treat)
Cakes and pies
If you’re barbecuing a whole hog, this is a pretty important party. Don’t let Mother Nature spoil your day, with rain in particular. Look into getting a tent for the event. It always seems expensive, but considering the rest of your investment in success, it may be worth it. Party supply stores will deliver and set them up, then come back and take them down and haul them away. Check with the store about the last chance to cancel, in case the weather report for several days ahead is looking perfect and you want to take a calculated risk in giving up the tent.
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves a hellacious party of at least 85
1 full-grown hog, 120 to 150 pounds, gutted, butterflied, skinned, and fat trimmed to ¼-inch thickness
10 to 14 cups Sweet Southern Pork Rub (page 25)
Hog Mop
3 to 4 quarts Southern Pig-Pickin’ Sauce (page 52)
2 apples, plus a couple of plump pimiento-stuffed green olives or dried apricots, optional
Several quarts 1 or more barbecue sauces such as Southern Pig-Pickin’ Sauce (page 52)
Fire up a large heavy-duty barbecue pit, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
Rub the hog thoroughly inside and out with at least 8 cups of the dry rub. With your helpers, lift the hog onto the pit, belly side down. If the pit has an offset firebox, position the head facing away from the fire. The front legs should be stretched out so that they run alongside the head and the back legs point the other way. Cover the hams, tail, snout, and ears loosely with aluminum foil. If you’re worried about your friends freaking out over a porker in a pit, you can make your meal look a little more festive with an apple in its mouth. Put one apple in the mouth before you begin. (You’ll replace it with the second fresh apple at the end of cooking.)
Combine the mop in a stockpot with 1½ quarts water and warm over low heat
Maintain a steady cooking temperature averaging 200°F for 18 to 20 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meat is at least 165°F to 170°F and up to 180°F, especially in the shoulder area. Make sure someone tends the fire and temperature the whole time. Every hour or so, sprinkle on more dry spices or mop the meat with the vinegar mixture, starting with the dry spices and then alternating between the two applications. If you run low on mop, extend the batch with more water and vinegar or simply mix up some more. Remove the foil in the last couple of hours of smoking so that the hams and other parts can brown nicely. It’s pretty hard to overcook the hog unless your fire is too hot. Check the internal temperature in several areas to make sure none of the meat is underdone.
Shut down the fire and let the hog sit in the pit for about 2 hours. Take a quick nap, shower, and finish your party preparations. Replace the browned and shriveled apple in the hog’s mouth with the fresh apple and arrange olives or dried apricots over the eyes if you like.
Serve the pork straight from the pit, simply picking at the tender meat with forks and fingers, covered if necessary with insulated washable mitts. (Use plastic bags over a pair of cloth oven mitts in a pinch.) Have a large cutting board and a cleaver and some large disposable foil pans or baking sheets nearby on a table with a washable surface. This will all be something of a mess, but if you’ve gotten this far, it sure won’t deter you. Mix together pulled meat and sauce in the foil pans. Serve with barbecue sauce on the side.
Headless Whole Pig Barbecue Don’t have the space, the budget, or the huge pit for a whole hog? Scale down the proceedings and don’t lose as much sleep over it You’ll still need a heavy-duty barbecue pit, but a 3-foot grate should do. Request a 50- to 60 pound pig from your butcher, an area farmer, or Niman Ranch (nimanranch.com, 866-808-0340). Ask for it to be butterflied, with the head removed, and this time have the skin left on. Massage initially with about 3 cups dry rub and plan on using 5 to 6 cups altogether. Expect a cooking time of 7 to 9 hours. Make the same amount of Southern Pig-Pickin’ Sauce for the mop, but use only 2 cups of water with it and add ½ cup vegetable oil. Mop heavily on the same schedule. Let sit in the shut-down pit for 30 to 60 minutes and serve from there.
Lechon Asado, or Cuban Pig in a Box Instead of barbecuing, roast a headless pig in a La Caja China, the portable Cuban-style roasting box. Unlike the directions for cooking that come with much outdoor cooking equipment, this manufacturer’s instructions actually work. They’re even stamped on the box itself, in English and Spanish. Once you have the equipment (available at laca-jachina.com), just follow Roberto Guerra’s directions for roasting a 70-pound pig, injected with mojo, to crispy, succulent perfection in 3 hours and 40 minutes. Serve with Nuevo Rice and Beans (page 492) or black beans and white rice. Don’t forget the rum and Coke and some rumba, mambo, or Afro-Cuban CDs.
You don’t have to barbecue a whole hog to get sublime pulled pork, the gold standard of traditional southern barbecue. You get the same result in less time using just the top half of the shoulder, oddly called the butt. Be sure to save some of this extraordinary meat for Pulled Pork Sandwiches (page 162). If we had a last meal request, we would probably die before dinner from the stress of choosing between this and barbecued brisket.
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves 8 to 10
The butt and the other shoulder section, called the picnic, each weigh 6 to 8 pounds on today’s average hog. The butt is in more demand because it has less bone and gristle, but is still sadly underutilized by cooks today. Hardly any other meat delivers so much flavor and pleasure for a modest price. Southern barbecued pork is cooked to an internal temperature of about 180°F-way beyond normal pork doneness-but remains moist because the shoulder starts out with so much natural fat Much of the fat melts away during the cooking process, and you eliminate more when you pull the meat into chunks.
Sweet Southern Pork Rub
½ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup coarsely ground black pepper
½ cup sweet paprika
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne
One 6- to 8-pound pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt), bone in or boned
Vinegar Mop, optional
2 cups cider vinegar
3 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar or molasses
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes or Tabasco sauce
Southern Pig-Pickin’ Sauce (page 52) or other vinegar-based barbecue sauce, optional
The night before you plan to barbecue, combine the rub ingredients in a small bowl. Massage the pork well with about half of the rub. Transfer the pork to a zippered plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate it overnight.
Before you begin to barbecue, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Pat the butt with another coating of rub. Let the pork sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
If you plan to baste the pork, stir any remaining rub together with the mop ingredients and 1 cup water in a saucepan and warm the mixture over low heat.
Transfer the pork to the smoker and cook it for about 1½ hours per pound (8 to 10 hours), until the internal temperature reaches 180°F and the meat shreds apart easily. Mop the pork about once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate for your style of smoker.
When cooked, double-wrap the meat in foil and let it sit and steam for about 30 minutes. Unwrap and, when cool enough to handle, pull off chunks of the meat. Discard the fat and any bones. Shred or chop the pork as you wish. Make sure each serving has some of the darker, chewier outer meat along with the lighter interior meat. If you wish, serve the pork with one or more sauces.
Barbecued Pork Shoulder Start with a 13- to 16-pound pork shoulder instead of a butt and double everything, including the cooking and final steaming time.
Pulled Pork Smoke-Roasted in a Covered Grill Unlike most classic barbecue meats, pork butt yields excellent results in a covered grill using wood chunks or chips for smoke flavoring. Start with a boneless butt of about 6 pounds and slice it lengthwise into two equal portions to cut the cooking time. When we’re using a charcoal grill, we build the fire around the edges of the grill and place a drip pan with water in the center on the lower grate (or otherwise below the meat). With a gas grill, you can put the meat and drip pan in the center if you have three burners or more or put them to one side with a two-burner configuration. In either case, for even cooking, turn the meat around at least once about halfway through. Maintain a temperature of 180°F to 220°F if feasible or, if not, the lowest temperature possible on the grill. Cook for about 1 ¼ hours per pound or a little less at a higher temperature. When done, wrap in foil as in the main recipe and let steam for 20 to 30 minutes before shredding and serving.
Smoked pork butt is one of our favorites for parties. It can be cooked a day or even two ahead, shredded while still warm, and then stashed in the fridge. When needed, heat it covered in a 250°F to 300°F oven with little loss of quality because of the meat’s natural fat. It also freezes well for up to a couple of months.
If you want to make even more of a production out of opening the leaf-wrapped pork-and why not?-lay rings of red onion, maybe some thin orange or lime slices, a few whole allspice, and several whole bay leaves over the top of the raw meat just before you enclose it in the banana leaves. They look wonderful mingling with the deep red marinade when you slice open the fragrant package.
Pork Burnt Ends Barbecue fanatics love burnt ends, whether beef or pork. These shards of extrasmoky, deeply charred meat exude intense barbecue flavor. Pull or slice off some of the darkest, crispest meat from the surface of the cooked butt. Dribble with enough Vinegar Mop, or slather with Mustard Paste (page 34), to moisten, wrap loosely in heavy-duty foil, and return to the smoker for an additional hour or two. The meat should be fairly dry but still shred easily. If you cook a brisket and a butt at the same time, combine burnt ends from both for the treat of a lifetime.
One of the great fiesta dishes of Mexico, this Mayan pork specialty ranks among our personal favorites from anywhere in the world. Traditionally the dish involves a young or suckling pig (the cochinita) buried in an earthen pit lined with hot stones (the pibil). To replicate the flavor at home, we start with a pork butt. The ingredients may sound exotic, and certainly taste that way, but can be found readily in most communities today. Seek out banana leaves, brick-red achiote paste, key limes (limones), Mexican oregano, and habanero chiles or habanero hot sauce in the Mexican section of a well-stocked supermarket, from a specialty food store, or from a Latin market.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 12 or more
Achiote Paste Marinade
One 3.5-ounce package achiote paste
3 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate (half a 6-ounce can), thawed
Juice of 1 large orange
Juice of 6 to 8 key limes or 3 large limes
24 plump garlic cloves
3 tablespoons crumbled dried Mexican oregano or 2 tablespoons crumbled dried Mediterranean oregano
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon habanero hot sauce, such as Melinda’s
6 to 8 bay leaves
One 6- to 8-pound pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt), bone in or boned
Pickled Onions
1 large red onion, sliced into thin rings
½ cup cider vinegar
3 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate (half 6-ounce can), thawed
1 pound fresh or thawed frozen (about 1 package) banana leaves or collard greens, stems removed
About 3 dozen corn tortillas, warmed
Avocado slices (from at least 4 avocados) or your favorite guacamole
Lime wedges, cilantro leaves, radish slivers, habanero chile slivers (wear plastic gloves to cut these extremely fiery chiles, and warn your guests), or habanero hot sauce, optional
The night before you plan to cook, combine the marinade ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree. Place the pork in a large zippered plastic bag and pour the marinade over it Massage the marinade into the nooks and crannies of the pork butt. Seal and refrigerate overnight.
Prepare the pickled onions just after the pork butt so that they too can marinate overnight Place the onion slices in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit for about 10 minutes, then pour off the water. Stir in the remaining ingredients, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Before you begin to cook, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Tear 2 banana leaves into long strips and set them aside. Line a roasting pan or large cast-iron skillet with a layer of overlapping banana leaves. Remove the pork from the marinade, leaving what clings to it in place, and transfer the pork fattier side up to the pan. Pour about ½ cup of the marinade over the meat discarding the rest. Arrange more overlapping banana leaves over the pork and pull up the bottom leaves to overlap them. Once the pork butt is covered well, use the banana leaf strips, tied together if needed, to secure the package. Use kitchen twine if the pork is wrapped in collards.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 220°F to 250°F.
Transfer the pork in the pan to the smoker. Plan on a total cooking time of about 1¼ hours per pound, until the internal temperature reaches 175°F to 180°F. If your smoker burns logs for fuel, remove the pork and wrap the leaf-covered package in foil after 3 to 3½ hours of cooking and then return it to the smoker in the pan. If the smoker’s heat source is charcoal, gas, or electricity, stop adding wood after 3 to 3½ hours.
When fully cooked, remove the pork from the smoker and allow to cool and steam for about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rimmed platter if you wish. Slit open the leaves with scissors and let the steam escape briefly, then pull the leaves away. Pull off chunks of the meat and either shred or chop them as you wish. Discard the fat and any bones. Spoon pork shreds into the tortillas, top each with a few rings of pickled onion, a slice or two of avocado, and any of the other condiments that seem appealing. Eat; repeat.
Achiote-Marinated Pulled Pork Tortas Make Mexican sandwiches out of leftovers. Pile the pork on soft rolls such as bolillos, then add the pickled onions, mashed or sliced avocado, maybe some mashed pinto or black beans, and a good smear of Chipotle-Lime Mayonnaise (page 66).
Like Mayans, and many people in other lands, Hawaiians have their own spedai tradition of cooking a whole pig outdoors in an earthen pit They even invite the little porker to every luau, making it the celebrity guest as the centerpiece of the feast As with the previous faux cochinita, to create a manageable backyard rendition, we substitute a pork butt for the whole animal. We also like to add a nontraditional sauce prepared from some of the meat’s luscious trimmings, but that’s not essential for a grand experience.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
The idea of a backyard luau is just corny and charming enough to be great fun. To set the right tempo, get a couple of CDs of Hawaiian music. If the group’s all relatively young and spry and you have a lush shaded lawn, set up the dining area on tablecloths or straw mats on the grass. Otherwise tables and chairs are a better bet. For an edible centerpiece, decorate with tropical fruit. Tuck in a few exotic-looking flowers like birds of paradise or longer-lasting anthuriums. Consider getting a few tiki torches and maybe a potted palm from your local garden shop. Pick up cheap leis for everyone, male and female, from a party supply store or, for a special guest of honor, order a real floral lei through a local florist. Pull those Hawaiian shirts from the closet and have a seriously silly fine time.
a Backyard Luau
Sweet potato and taro root chips and macadamia nuts
Kalua Pig
Ember-Baked Sweet Potatoes (page 452) Asian Rice Salad (page 482)
Grand Fruit Salad (page 485)
Coconut pudding
Mai tais or Blue Hawaiians
Serves 8 to 10
Kalua Paste
2 thumb-sized chunks fresh ginger
6 plump garlic cloves
2 tablespoons coarse Hawaiian sea salt or other coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
One 6- to 8-pound pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt), bone in or boned
Kalua Mop, optional
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
About 3 banana leaves, thawed if frozen, or about 8 large collard greens, stems removed
Kalua Sauce, optional
½ pound fat and trimmings from the cooked pork
3 cups chicken stock
1 thumb-sized chunk fresh ginger, cut into several pieces
1 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons tomato-based barbecue sauce
1 to 3 teaspoons Worcestershire or soy sauce, optional
At least the night before you plan to cook, prepare the paste. With a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger and garlic together with the salt and Worcestershire sauce just until you have a rough puree, then mix in the soy sauce. Or combine the ingredients in a food processor. Place the pork over the opening of a large plastic bag. Massage the paste (it will be soupy) into the natural nooks and crannies of the pork butt, then stab a few deep knife cuts way into the center and shove more seasoning into the slits. Pull the bag up over the meat and seal. Refrigerate overnight or over 2 nights.
Before you begin to cook, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Let it sit covered at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 220°F to 250°F.
If you plan to mop the pork, combine the mop ingredients with 1 cup water in a saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
Preferably with washable heatproof mitts, transfer the pork to the smoker. Plan on a total cooking time of about 1¼ hours per pound (8 to 10 hours). Smoke the pork for 4 hours. Mop the pork about once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate for your style of smoker.
Meanwhile, prepare the banana leaves to wrap the pork. If they are fresh, hold them over a lit stove burner (gas or electric) for a few seconds until pliable. Tear 1 leaf into long strips. Lay out 2 of the leaves side by side, overlapping. Lay the partially cooked pork over the banana leaves. Drizzle the pork lightly with more of the mop, just enough to moisten it, without liquid running off it. Fold the leaves up over the pork and add the other leaves as needed to make a snug package. Using the strips of banana leaves or kitchen twine, secure the pork package, tying it up like a present.
Continue cooking the pork. If your smoker burns logs or charcoal for fuel, you can save fuel by finishing the cooking in your oven set to 250°F. Place the leaf-wrapped package in a roasting pan, loosely cover it, and transfer it to the oven. In either case, plan on cooking for at least 4 more hours, until the meat reaches 180°F on an instant-read thermometer stuck through the leaves and well into the pork butt.
After years of oinking about “the other white meat,” the pork industry has started paying greater attention to real pork flavor, which requires fat and marbling in the meat. You find the old-fashioned new pork under various names, including heritage, heirloom, and pure- or rare-breed.
Idaho’s Snake River Farms, a consortium of family farms, originally raised purebred Berkshire hogs for export to Japan, so the company uses the Japanese term kurobuta (black pig), to market the meat here in the U.S. California’s high-end meat purveyor, Niman Ranch, also offers pork with remarkable flavor and succulence. For details on retailers in your area or to mail-order products, check out snakeriverfarms.com or nimanranch.com. New York City meat-market extraordinaire, Lobel’s, also sells both Kurobuta and pork from other heritage breeds (lobels.com, 877-783-4512).
Expect to pay more, often a good bit more, but sometimes you do get what you pay for. We find It well worth the expense, especially when entertaining.
When cooked, let the pork sit in the leaves for about 30 minutes. Unwrap and, when cool enough to handle, pull off chunks of the meat. It will shred apart easily.
If you are going to serve the sauce, without hesitation plop ½ pound of the discarded fat and trimmings into a saucepan. Add the chicken stock and ginger and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced by one-third, then strain, discarding the fat and trimmings. Add the pineapple juice and barbecue sauce and heat through. Add Worcestershire sauce if desired for a contrasting tang. The sauce will be thin in a pan-juice style. Serve alongside or over the meat.
Make sure each serving has some of the darker, chewier outer meat along with the lighter interior meat.
For our last butt bounty, we go Italian, recapturing the vibrant flavors of a traditional porchetta. In the mother country, the pig is cooked in a wood-burning oven, but we adapt the preparation here for a backyard smoker. For the fullest flavor, you’ll need to start the seasoning process for the pork a night or two ahead of the day you plan to cook it.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 8 to 10
Herb and Spice Paste
1 large head of garlic, separated into cloves
¼ cup fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Porchetta Mop, optional
Juice of 2 large lemons
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons flavorful olive oil
One 6- to 8-pound pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt), bone in or boned
Salsa Verde
½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme or rosemary
¼ cup minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced drained capers
1 to 2 teaspoons minced anchovies or anchovy paste
½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
At least the night before you plan to cook, combine the paste ingredients with a mortar and pestle, pounding just until you have a rough-and-tumble crumbly paste. Place the pork over the opening of a large plastic bag. Massage the paste into the natural nooks and crannies of the pork butt, then stab a few deep knife cuts way into the center and shove more seasoning into the slits. Pull the bag up over the meat and seal. Refrigerate overnight or over 2 nights.
Before you begin to cook, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Let it sit covered at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 220°F to 250°F.
If you plan to mop the pork, combine the ingredients with 1 cup water in a saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
Preferably with washable heatproof mitts, transfer the pork to the smoker. Plan on a total cooking time of about 1¼ hours per pound (about 8 to 10 hours), until the internal temperature reaches 180°F. Mop the pork about once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate for your style of smoker. If your smoker burns logs for fuel, remove the pork and wrap it in foil after 3 to 3½ hours of smoking and then return it to the smoker to finish cooking. (Or finish it in a 250°F oven.) If the smoker’s heat source is charcoal, gas, or electricity, stop adding wood after 3 to 3½ hours and continue cooking until the meat reaches the appropriate temperature and shreds apart easily.
When cooked, let the pork steam for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the salsa verde, stirring the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Unwrap the pork and, when cool enough to handle, pull off chunks of the meat. Discard the fat and any bones. Shred or chop the pork as you wish. Make sure each serving has some of the darker, chewier outer meat along with the lighter interior meat and pass the sauce so it can be spooned over each portion.
A spit-roasted pork loin makes a beautiful presentation, both on the table and on the tongue. If you use a Kurobuta or other heritage loin, as we recommend for the ultimate flavor, you’ll rediscover how transcendent pork can be. This rosemary-scented preparation is vaguely Tuscan-but more so than many things labeled with that golden word today.
COOKING METHOD | ROTISSERIE ROASTING
Serves 6
One 3-pound boneless pork loin roast, Kurobuta or other well-marbled heritage pork if available, any surface fat left on
1 average bunch of fresh rosemary, about 8 branches at least 4 inches long
About 1 tablespoon chopped roasted garlic
2 teaspoons Smoked Salt (page 34), commercial smoked salt, or coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 medium fennel bulb, stalks trimmed off and bulb cut into 1-inch dice
1 medium to large onion, cut into 1-inch dice
About 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound orzo pasta
At least 1½ hours and up to a day before you plan to roast the pork loin, season it. Pull a few little sprigs of the rosemary off the branches. Poke the branches through the pork loin from end to end, spacing them somewhat evenly. Into the holes, or any natural small pockets in the meat, push in the remaining rosemary sprigs. Rub down the pork with the garlic and salt, again poking it into any crevices or cavities in the meat.
Place the pork loin in a large zippered plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before you plan to cook. Let it sit at room temperature before proceeding.
Fire up the rotisserie, removing the spit first if it’s in place, and heat the grill with the lid closed. Use the set rotisserie temperature, if your grill functions that way, or bring the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Slide one of the prongs onto the far end of the spit, facing the center. Next slide on the pork loin, using the spit’s tip to begin running the roast onto the spit. Try to thread it on with the spit going directly through the center. Secure the end of the loin to the first prong. Now slide on the second prong and attach it to the other end of the pork.
Position the roast in the center of the spit and tighten the bolts on the prongs. If your rotisserie has a counterweight that fits in the spit or its handle, secure it in place. Attach the spit to the motor.
Place a shallow drip pan under the roast to catch the drippings. (If your rotisserie sits directly over the fire, keep the pan as small as possible to avoid blocking much of the heat. This may increase the projected cooking time by a few minutes.) Place the fennel and onion in the drip pan, toss with the oil, and place under the pork loin. Turn on the power.
Close the grill cover unless the manufacturer’s instructions say not to. Cook for about 1¼ to 1½ hours depending on the rotisserie and thickness and density of the meat. About halfway through the cooking, baste once with the pan drippings. (If there are hardly any, use a few tablespoons of melted butter or olive oil instead, then baste a second time about 15 minutes later.) Roast until an instant-read thermometer, inserted deep into the loin, reads 150°F to 155°F.
Meanwhile, cook the orzo according to the package directions. When done, toss it with the cooked onion and fennel and pan drippings. Spread the orzo mixture out on a platter. When the pork is ready, place it on the orzo. Cover loosely and let sit for 10 minutes before carving. Degrease the warm pan drippings to serve along with the meat if you wish.
Serve everyone some of the orzo and vegetables topped with thin slices of the pork roast. If you degreased the drippings, drizzle them over each portion. If the hole the spit leaves in the slices bothers you, disguise it with some of the rosemary sprigs.
Cubano Sandwiches Use any leftover pork to make an improvised Cuban sandwich. Use Cuban bread, a big soft-crusted roll, or a split chunk of Italian bread. Smear with yellow mustard, mayonnaise, and a big spoonful of black beans, then pile on pork slices, thinly sliced ham, Swiss cheese, and lots of thin dill pickle slices. Toast in a sandwich press, in a skillet, or on a griddle until golden brown with melted cheese.
Italian Pork Hoagies Another scrumptious sandwich for leftovers. Use split chunks of Italian bread, something soft in the center and crusty outside, like the nationally available LaBrea bread. Make a relish out of about 1 cup chopped steamed broccolini, broccoli raab, or broccoli (or instead use about 1½ cups arugula) mixed with enough chopped peperoncini to give some tang, then mix in some of the vinegar from the jar and add a few splashes of olive oil. Use 2 provolone cheese slices per sandwich. Arrange one slice on a section of bread. Top with lots of thin pork slices and as much of the relish as the sandwich will hold. Add the second cheese slice and the top section of bread. Toast in a sandwich press, in a skillet, or on a griddle until golden-brown with melted cheese.
a New Mexico Matanza
Spit-Roasted Pork Loin, Sangre de Cristo Style
Posole (hominy) with red chile sauce
Calabacitas Skewers with Cumin Butter (page 437) Pintos with Black Pepper and Beer (page 494)
Flour tortillas
Flan (page 520)
In the mountains of New Mexico, traditional celebration fare during winter hog-butchering season was a spit-roasted leg of pork. On a contemporary grill rotisserie, a pork loin is much easier to manage and still feeds a group, if a smaller one. Sage, marjoram, garlic, and chile were and still are popular seasonings in the area.
COOKING METHOD | ROTISSERIE ROASTING
Serves 6
Herb and Garlic Paste
½ cup tightly packed fresh sage or marjoram leaves or a combination
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons ground dried mild to medium red chile, such as New Mexican or ancho
One 3-pound boneless pork loin roast, Kurobuta or other well-marbled heritage pork if available, any surface fat left on
At least 1½ hours and up to a day before you plan to roast the pork loin, season it. Prepare the paste, combining the sage and garlic in a blender. When finely chopped, add the salt and chile and process until combined into a thick puree. Smear the paste heavily over the loin and into any natural small pockets in the meat.
Place the pork loin in a large zippered plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before you plan to cook. Let it sit at room temperature before proceeding.
Fire up the rotisserie, removing the spit first if it’s in place, and heat the grill with the lid closed. Use the set rotisserie temperature, if your grill functions that way, or bring the heat to medium (4 to 5 seconds with the hand test).
Slide one of the prongs onto the far end of the spit, facing the center. Next slide on the pork loin, using the spit’s tip to begin running the roast onto the spit. Try to thread it on with the spit going directly through the center. Secure the end of the loin to the first prong. Now slide on the second prong and attach it to the other end of the pork.
Position the roast in the center of the spit and tighten the bolts on the prongs. If your rotisserie has a counterweight that fits in the spit or its handle, secure it in place. Attach the spit to the motor.
Place a shallow drip pan under the roast to catch the drippings. (If your rotisserie sits directly over the fire, keep the pan as small as possible to avoid blocking much of the heat. This may increase the projected cooking time by a few minutes.) Turn on the power.
Close the grill cover unless the manufacturer’s instructions say not to. Cook for about 1¼ to 1½ hours, depending on the rotisserie and the thickness and density of the meat. About halfway through the cooking, baste once with the pan drippings. (If there are hardly any, use a few tablespoons of melted butter instead, then baste a second time about 15 minutes later.) Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted deep into the loin reads 150°F to 155°F. Let the pork sit for about 10 minutes.
Before the twentieth century, Americans all across the country butchered hogs in the winter, relying on the cold to help keep the meat from spoiling as it was processed. In Spanish colonial New Mexico, families and friends gathered for a matanza, a traditional party that accompanied the work. While preparing much of the pork to eat later in preserved forms, they also feasted on some of the meat. Los Lunas resident Steve Otero, president of the Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce, keeps the tradition alive today as a charitable fund-raising activity. When we met up with Steve, he was supervising the cooking of five hogs that had been butchered a day earlier. He and his friends cooked small cubes of meat, or carnitas, in ancient metal discadas, which resemble woks on legs. The skin went into boiling cauldrons to cook down to chicharonnes, and in other vats red chile sauce and whole pinto beans simmered slowly. Hundreds of people joined the festivities and had a grand time pigging out.
Degrease the warm pan drippings to drizzle over the pork if you wish. Slice the meat thinly and serve.
If you don’t have a rotisserie, this pork loin is a better option for covered grill roasting than the previous loins. Without the continually turning spit to move around the internal juices, we compensate by filling the loin with a spiral of exuberant ingredients that add extra moisture and flavor. You first cut the roast so that it is reduced to a flat even rectangle. The filling of herbs, bell peppers, olives, capers, and greens makes a pinwheel once the loin is sliced. For additional or substitute fillings, consider soft dried plums or apricots, chopped prosciutto, crumbled cooked sausage or pancetta, or butter-sautéed apple or persimmon slices.
COOKING METHOD | COVERED GRILL ROASTING
Serves 6 or more
One 3-pound boneless pork loin roast, Kurobuta or other well-marbled heritage pork if available, any surface fat left on
2 teaspoons fruity olive oil
Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
About ¾ cup blanched and drained spinach or chard leaves
⅓ cup packed grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon drained and rinsed capers, or pitted briny green olives, coarsely chopped
1 roasted or grilled red bell pepper, peeled, seeded, and cut into julienne strips
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme, marjoram, or summer savory leaves
Lay the pork on a work surface. You will be cutting it so that you end up with a flat rectangle. With a large slim knife, slice into the loin about ½ inch from one of the long sides. Make the cut the length of the roast, ½ inch deep. Take your time, continuing to hold the knife so that you are cutting the meat ½ inch thick and unrolling it as you go. You will end up with a flat even rectangle ½ inch thick. Rub the top side with 1 teaspoon of the oil, then sprinkle lightly with salt
Prepare the grill for grill roasting, making a hot fire in about half of the grill and leaving the other half unheated. In case you’re working with a gas grill with 3 burners, turn 2 burners to high and leave the third off. If your gas grill has 2 burners, one in front, one in back, make the fire in the back portion of the grill. In a charcoal grill, build a hot fire under one side of the grate and leave the other half unheated.
Place a portable oven thermometer (available from any kitchen supply store) on the unheated portion of the cooking grate, close enough to the front that you will be able to read it Don’t rely on your grill’s built-in ther-mometer, because you want to measure the temperature only on the unheated side. Close the grill and bring the temperature to approximately 450°F. (Some low-powered gas grills won’t reach the ideal 450°F starting temperature. If you have waited what you consider an appropriate amount of time for your grill to heat fully, and the temperature has stopped climbing, note the temperature. For every 10 degrees under 450°F, plan to add at least 5 minutes to the overall cooking time of 60 to 75 minutes.)
Position the pork rectangle so that it is running lengthwise. The fillings will run in vertical rows. Start with the spinach, beginning the row about 1 inch from one of the rectangle’s short sides. Make the row of spinach about 2 inches wide. Then make a row right beside it of the cheese, then the parsley and capers together, followed by the bell pepper, arranged to within about 1 inch of the other short side. Scatter the thyme over the whole filling. Begin to roll up the pork from the side with the bell pepper, rolling it up snugly without squeezing it together. Secure it with kitchen string tied around it in several places. Pat with the remaining oil and sprinkle with salt.
In Jamaica, jerk foods are traditionally cooked over the local pimento wood. To replicate that flavor, Candace Weaver of BBQers Delight (bbqrsdelight.com, 877-275-9591) suggests using a combination of the company’s cherry and hickory wood pellets. You can also add to your wood a handful of allspice berries, soaked in water for at least 20 minutes, to create a more aromatic smoke.
Preferably wearing heatproof washable mitts, place the stuffed roast directly on the cooking grate behind the thermometer, seam side down.
After 15 minutes, rotate the roast a half turn for even cooking. Adjust the heat down to 325°F. (On a gas grill, simply lower the heat; on a charcoal grill, close vents and spread out the charcoal as necessary.) Cook for 45 to 60 minutes longer, until the pork is crisp and well browned and an instant-read thermometer stuck deep into the meat reads 150°F to 155°F.
Cover loosely with foil and let sit for 10 minutes, then carve and serve.
We’ve tried this lively Jamaican specialty with just about every cut of pork, with all manner of cooking methods, and with dry seasonings and wet This approach gives us the closest approximation to the taste we’ve found on the island, where the meat is often cooked on box springs covered with a piece of metal sheeting over a lazy pit fire.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 6 to 8
Jamaican Jerk Paste
1 bunch of scallions, both white and light green parts, roughly chopped
1 thumb-sized chunk fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 to 3 fresh Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, seeded
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup dried onion flakes or 3 tablespoons onion powder
1½ tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
One 3½- to 4-pound boneless pork loin roast, Kurobuta or other well-marbled heritage pork if available, any surface fat left on
Juice of 2 to 4 limes
One 12-ounce bottle or can beer (Jamaican Red Stripe if available, to keep with the theme), optional
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
The night before you plan to cook, combine the paste ingredients in a food processor and process until a paste forms. Avoid standing right over the processor or the Scotch bonnet fumes may overwhelm you.
With a small narrow knife, cut small holes at least an inch into the pork at approximately 2-inch intervals. Keep the cuts small on the surface, about the width of the knife itself. Wearing rubber gloves, massage the pork well with the paste, poking the mixture down into the knife cuts. Transfer the pork to a large zippered plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate it overnight.
Before you begin to cook, take the pork from the refrigerator. Let the pork sit uncovered at room temperature for about 45 minutes.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
If you plan to baste the pork, mix the lime juice with the beer.
Warm the oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Add the pork and sear well on all sides.
Transfer the pork (minus the skillet) to the smoker and cook it for about 1½ hours per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F to 165°F (a little higher than for most pork loin recipes). Mop the meat with the beer and lime every 50 to 60 minutes in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate for your style of smoker.
Remove the pork from the smoker and let it sit for about 15 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Slice the pork or pull off chunks of the meat, then either shred or chop them as you like. If you didn’t use the lime juice to mop the meat, pour some or all of it over the pork now.
The crown roast is a ring of juicy pork chops, formed by tying two rib sections from the loin into a round after making a cut through the chine bone between the ribs. Nothing beats it for an elegant twist on outdoor entertaining. Many butchers stock the roasts during the holiday season, but at other times call ahead a couple of days to order one.
COOKING METHOD | COVERED GRILL ROASTING
Serves 12
Serious Salt-and-Pepper Rub
2 tablespoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper, preferably Tellicherry
One 8- to 9-pound crown pork roast (12 to 14 chops)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil spray
Wild Rice Dressing (page 487)
The night before you plan to cook the roast, stir together the spices in a small bowl.
Massage the roast well with the Worcestershire sauce and then with the rub. Take the time to rub both in the nooks between the chops. Transfer the roast to a large zippered plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate it overnight.
Before you begin to cook, remove the roast from the refrigerator, place it in a baking dish not much larger than it, and spray with oil. Let the roast sit uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes.
Prepare the grill for covered grill roasting, creating a hot fire in about half of the grill and leaving the other half unheated. In case you’re working with a gas grill with 3 burners, turn 2 burners to high and leave the third off. If your gas grill has 2 burners, one in front, one in back, make the fire in the back portion of the grill. In a charcoal grill, build a hot fire under one side of the grate and leave the other half unheated.
Place an inexpensive portable oven thermometer (available from any kitchen supply store) on the unheated portion of the cooking grate, close enough to the front that you will be able to read it. Don’t rely on your grill’s built-in lid thermometer, because you want to measure the temperature only on the unheated side. Close the grill and bring the temperature to approximately 450°F. (Some low-powered gas grills won’t reach the ideal 450°F starting temperature. If you have waited what you consider an appropriate amount of time for your grill to heat fully, and the temperature has stopped climbing, note the temperature. For every 10 degrees under 450°F, plan to add at least 5 minutes to the overall cooking time of 80 to 90 minutes.)
a Christmas Dinner from the Great Outdoors
Store-bought cold-smoked salmon on endive spears with Crème fraîche and dill
Grill-Roasted Oysters (page 250)
Grill-Roasted Crown Pork Roast
Wild Rice Dressing (page 487)
Grilled Glazed Mushrooms (page 440)
Saule of Brussels sprouts and chestnuts
Bakery-made bûche de Noël (Yule log)
Preferably wearing heatproof washable mitts, place the pan with the roast just behind the thermometer. Close the cover. After 25 minutes, check to see whether the surface, in and around the crown, is well seared. If not, continue cooking for several more minutes at 450°F. Rotate the pan a half turn for even cooking.
Reduce the heat to 325°F. (On a gas grill, simply turn down the heat; on a charcoal grill, close the vents and spread out the charcoal as necessary.) Continue cooking for about 50 to 60 minutes more. Open the grill only briefly, as needed to check the oven thermometer, because it could add considerably to the cooking time. If the top bones are getting really dark, wrap a small circle of foil just around them. (Don’t do this at the start, though, or the foil may interfere with the meat’s browning.)
With a premium cut of meat such as this, we strongly recommend cooking it to an internal temperature of no more than 150°F (we prefer 147°F ourselves), as checked with an instant-read thermometer sunk deep into the meaty portion of the roast. (Be sure to avoid hitting a bone with the thermometer probe.) The temperature will still rise about 5 degrees after you remove it from the heat. Remove the roast from the grill and set the meat on a carving board or platter for serving. Cover the roast loosely with foil and let it rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes for the juices to redistribute throughout the meat.
Pour off any collected drippings from the pan into the wild rice dressing. Spoon as much of the wild rice into the center cavity as you can mound up easily and present the roast at the table for all to admire. Carving the roast is a breeze; simply slice downward between the bones to cut into individual chops. You’ll still have a hint of pink at the very center. Serve some of the wild rice dressing with each portion of meat, using what was left in the pan as well as what you have used to fill the center.
Grill-Roasted Pork Crown Roast with Herbes de Grillade Replace the Worcestershire sauce with olive oil and substitute Herbes de Grillade (page 30) for the dry rub. Instead of serving wild rice stuffing, offer this with a rich potato gratin or other potato dish on the side.
Take one fully cooked, standard wet-cured store-bought ham, a pretty bland hunk of meat. Add some alchemy by plunking the ham into a smoker for a few hours, not only intensifying the original smoke tang but eliminating much of the water and significantly boosting the ham flavor. Doneness isn’t an issue, since the ham is already fully cooked, so smoke it as long as you like. We suggest a minimum of 3 hours for a light smoke taste and up to a day for a much heavier, drier dose. If you like, stud the ham before smoking with doves or stuff with slivered garlic doves or assertive fresh herbs like rosemary or sage. Perfect for any buffet, holiday or otherwise.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Serves 10 to 12 with leftovers
One 12-pound bone-in fully cooked unsliced ready-to-eat ham
Mustard Paste
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard
¼ cup yellow mustard
1 tablespoon cracked mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cracked black peppercorns 1 teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
Ham Mop, optional
1½ cups chicken stock
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup Dijon, spicy brown, or yellow mustard
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
The night before you plan to smoke the ham, score the top fatty side of the meat in wide crisscross cuts through the fat layer, about ¼ to ½ inch deep. Set the ham on a large plastic bag, one big enough to pull up easily around the ham. Combine the paste ingredients in a medium bowl. Using clean hands, smear the paste all over the ham. Pull the bag up and around the ham and stash it in the refrigerator overnight.
Before you begin to smoke, take the ham from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 45 to 60 minutes.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
If you plan to baste the ham, mix the mop ingredients with 1 cup water in a saucepan. Warm the mop over low heat.
Transfer the ham to the smoker. We put it straight into the smoker on its own, but you can place it in a heavy-duty foil pan or other smokeproof pan for a little easier maneuvering and cleanup. Cook for 5½ to 6 hours, basting the meat with the mop about once an hour in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate in your style of smoker. The ham is ready when thoroughly heated through and infused with smoke flavor. It the ham isn’t in a pan, be sure to use mitts you can wash easily to remove it from the smoker.
a Summer Patio Breakfast
Sizzling Ham Steaks with Apple-Chipotle Glaze
Soft-boiled eggs in egg cups
Biscuits hot from the oven with unsalted butter
Melon or Pencil Slushes (page 84)
Let the ham sit for at least 20 minutes before carving it into thin slices. People will love the ham any way and at any temperature. Personally, we prefer this ham cooled to room temperature, wrapped and refrigerated for one day, then served cool in very thin slices.
Double-Smoked Apricot-Glazed Ham Instead of rubbing with the mustard paste, flavor with either Chile-Spiced Masala (page 31) or Sweet Southern Pork Rub (page 25). For the glaze, combine ¾ cup apricot jam or preserves, 1 tablespoon cider or white vinegar, and ½ teaspoon dry mustard. Brush on the ham twice during the hour before you plan to remove it from the smoker. Should you want to use a mop while cooking, mix one 12 ounce can apricot nectar, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, and 2 teaspoons dry mustard with 1 cup water and warm it over low heat.
* Add slivers of ham to mashed sweet potatoes or scalloped potatoes.
* Put cubes or bite-sized chunks of ham in any bean soup or other bean or lentil dish.
* Use minced leftover meat to make a ham butter. Mix about ½ cup ham into 1 cup softened butter and use as a spread on crackers, toast, or split biscuits, served as an appetizer.
* Fix a ham dip. Mix together 1 cup chopped ham, 8 ounces softened cream cheese, 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato-based barbecue sauce, a minced garlic clove or two, and, depending on your mood, maybe a little onion, scallion, or pickled or fresh jalapeño or serrano chile. Bake at 375°F until bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with crackers or cucumber rounds.
We grill these hearty ham steaks for a breakfast cookout when we have overnight guests or just want something special for ourselves in the morning. Quick and simple, they also work fine for other meals.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6
Glaze
½ cup apple jelly, warmed
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 canned chipotle chile, minced, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons liquid from the can
Three 1-pound fully cooked bone-in ham steaks, about ½ inch thick
Fire up the grill, bringing the temperature to medium (3 seconds with the hand test). Stir together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. If too thick to stir very easily, add a bit of warm water.
Grill the ham steaks uncovered over medium-high heat for 7 to 9 minutes total. Turn to face the fire twice on each side. Brush each side heavily with glaze when you turn it up for the first time. Each time the ham steaks are flipped, rotate a half turn to get crisscross grill marks. Slice thinly and serve right away.
Pork and mango make a scrumptious pair skewered together for the grill. We enliven the mix a little more here with onions and a dusting of earthy cumin.
COOKING METHOD | GRILLING
Serves 6
Salt and Cumin Rub
2 tablespoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1½ teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted in a dry skillet and ground
1½ to 1¾ pounds boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch cubes
Mango Vinaigrette, optional
½ cup mango juice, fresh, bottled, or thawed frozen
½ cup fruity olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, or more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 medium white or yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 medium red onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 to 3 large mangoes, ripe but not mushy, cut into ¾-inch cubes
Long metal skewers
Vegetable oil spray
Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle the pork with the dry rub, using about half of it. Let the pork sit covered at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
If you plan to use the vinaigrette, whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Divide the pork cubes, onions, and mangoes into 6 portions and thread them on the skewers. Arrange several onion and mango pieces together on the skewers, preferably in alternating colors, and push them together tightly so that they don’t dry out before the pork is cooked through. Sprinkle the kebabs with the remaining dry rub, then spray them with oil.
Grill the kebabs uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 14 minutes, until the meat is barely white at its center with clear juices. Turn the kebabs every few minutes to cook evenly on all sides.
Serve the kebabs immediately. Give the vinaigrette another stir, then pass to serve over the kebabs.
Cumin-Rubbed Pork Kebabs with Corn and Onions Replace the mangoes with 2 large ears corn, fresh or frozen, husked and cut into 12 to 16 rounds. If you like, brush with Texas Ranch Barbecue Sauce (page 51) in the last few minutes of cooking or serve it alongside the kebabs. You won’t need the mango vinaigrette.
With their heady mix of spices-which can include coriander, caraway, nutmeg, black pepper, and ginger-bratwursts barbecue great. Serve them with a couple of pots of pungent mustard, making at least one a coarse-ground variety. If you would really rather have grilled brats, see the instructions with the Brew-Marinated Brats on Kaiser Rolls (page 182).
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves 6
Twelve 4- to 6-ounce fresh bratwursts
Vegetable oil
1 to 2 teaspoons Oktoberfest Wurst Rub (page 29), optional
2 or more kinds of mustard
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
Barbecued and grilled sausages make flexible party fare. For starters, nibbles, and snacks, cut into chunks and serve with an array of mustards or barbecue sauce and maybe a few grilled scallions. Wrapped in a tortilla, flatbread, or bun, they’ll keep a hungry pitmaster or feisty grandchild sustained. Also consider cooking a half dozen varieties for a party entree and let every one experiment with various breads and condiments to find their favorite. The numerous styles of sausages on the market today give you an extensive range of possibilities.
Rub the brats lightly with oil and sprinkle them with rub if you wish. Let the brats sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Transfer the brats to the smoker and cook for 1¼ to 1½ hours, depending on size, or until the skin of the sausage looks ready to pop. Serve hot, with mustards.
Barbecued Brats ‘n’ Kraut Sauté a couple of cups of drained sauerkraut with a chopped small onion and a chopped small unpeeled tart apple in 2 tablespoons butter until the onion and apple are tender. A couple of teaspoons of brown mustard, ½ cup beer, or a sprinkling of caraway seeds is a good addition, too. Serve as a bed for the brats.
Barbecued Italian Sausage Spicy Italian links find their way into our smoker about as often as brats. Coat with oil, but skip the dry rub. Cook in the same fashion, then serve plated with a little marinara sauce or on split Italian rolls with thin slices of provolone.
In Texas Bar-B-Q joints, “hot links” are as popular as brisket-a legacy of the German-American butchers in central Texas who played a leading role in developing barbecue in the state. To replicate the sausages at home, you’ll need hog casings and a meat grinder, a meat-grinding attachment for a mixer, or a sympathetic butcher. Nothing’s better with a warm German-style potato salad.
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Makes about twenty-four 4-ounce sausages, serving about 12
Southwest Sizzler
3 tablespoons ground dried mild to medium New Mexican red chile
1½tablespoons ground dried chipotle chile
1½tablespoons ground ancho chile
2½ teaspoons ground cumin
2½ teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
4 pounds boneless pork butt, with fat
2 pounds boneless beef chuck, with fat
1 large onion, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon crumbled dried sage
About 4 yards hog sausage casings, soaked in several changes of cool water
Vegetable oil
At least the evening before you plan to barbecue the sausages, combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl.
a Texas Hill Country Hoedown
Smoky Hot Links or Smoky Venison Hot Links
Lone Star Barbecued Brisket (page 382)
Chile Rellenos (page 411)
Pico de Callo Rice (page 492)
Corn Muffins (page 500)
Praline Bars (page 521)
Sausage casings are the intestines of various animals. For our link sausage recipes, you’ll need hog casings, which make a sausage of ¾ to 1 inch in diameter. Any butcher should have them or at least be able to get them easily. They’re typically brined or salted. Soak the casing in several changes of water for over an hour or so. Run some water through each casing as well to eliminate the remaining salt from the inside.
Grind the pork and beef together, using the coarse-grind blade of a meat grinder, or ask your butcher to do this. Add the onion, garlic, dry rub, and sage and mix with clean hands. If you wish, grind the mixture again for a finer texture. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
With the stuffing attachment of a meat grinder, stuff the cold (this is important) sausage mixture into the casings, making links about 1 inch thick and 5 inches long. Work quickly to keep the fat from softening, which makes the mixture harder to stuff evenly. With your fingers, twist the casing and, if you’re the fastidious type, tie off the individual sausages with kitchen string. Cut between the links. If you end up with any air bubbles, prick the casing in those spots with a needle. The sausage is ready to barbecue, but it can be refrigerated for several days or frozen for at least a month.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
Rub the sausages lightly with the oil. Transfer the links to the smoker and cook for 2 to 2¼ hours, until the skin of the sausage looks ready to pop. Cut one of the sausages open to check for doneness. Serve hot.
Smoky Venison Hot Links Another central Texas favorite. Replace the beef with venison and add 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter to the sausage mixture.
South Louisiana produces some of the country’s best charcuterie. Among the varied specialties, the most unusual may be boudin blanc, a Cajun pork and rice masterpiece eaten at all hours of the day as a snack or a meal. Our version, which involves several steps that can be spread over a couple of days, isn’t exactly traditional, but the scrumptious result will transport you directly to Cajun country.
COOKING METHOD | SMOKING
Makes about 36 links, serving 12 or more
a Cajun Country Dinner
South Louisiana Boudin
Cane-Charred South Louisiana Shrimp (page 259)
Sautéed greens with pepper vinegar
Bread pudding
Steaming cups of chicory coffee
Rice
2 cups raw long-grain rice
1 quart chicken stock
⅓ cup minced celery
⅓ cup minced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons butter, preferably unsalted
Coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, to taste
2 plump garlic cloves, minced 1 cup finely chopped scallion, tops included
1 tablespoon coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt, or more to taste
1 tablespoon ground black pepper, preferably not freshly ground, or more to taste
1 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
½ cup whipping cream or half-and-half
About 4 yards hog sausage casings, soaked in several changes of cool water
Vegetable oil for panfrying
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 200°F to 250°F.
Cut the pork into 4 or 5 roughly equal chunks. Leave the fat on the meat. Place the onions in the bottom of a medium smokeproof dish and spray their surface with oil. Place the pork chunks over the onions, sprinkle the salt over the pork, and pour 1 cup warm water over the onions. Smoke until the pork chunks are very tender, about 1¾ to 2 hours.
While the pork is smoking, prepare the rice for the filling. Combine the ingredients in a medium to large saucepan and bring just to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 13 to 15 minutes, until no more steam escapes from the pan. Set the covered pot aside to steam undisturbed for 15 minutes more. Fluff the rice with a fork, then let it sit uncovered to cool.
When the pork butt chunks are ready, remove them from the cooking liquid. Strain the liquid and add water if needed to make 2 cups.
Working in batches, use a meat grinder (with a medium disk) or a food processor to grind or finely chop the pork (still with the fat), cooked onions, and garlic. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the prepared rice, scallion, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Pour in the cream and 1 cup of the pork-cooking liquid and mix it in well. You want the filling to be moist but not runny.
Add more or all of the cooking liquid as needed to get the proper consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning if you wish. The final flavors will meld further, but now is the time to add more salt, pepper, or cayenne. Chill the filling for at least 1 hour and up to a day. (You can speed up the process by using the freezer to chill the filling if you wish. Just don’t let it actually freeze.)
Leave the boudin filling in the refrigerator until just before you plan to stuff it into the casings. Using the stuffing attachment of a meat grinder or stand mixer, stuff the fillings into the casings. Work quickly to keep the fat from softening, which makes the mixture harder to stuff evenly. You should be able to make 30 to 36 sausages about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long. With your fingers, twist the casings and, if you’re the fastidious type, tie off the individual sausages with kitchen string. Cut between the links. Prick any air bubbles with a needle. (You can proceed to the next step, poaching the boudin, at this point or cover and refrigerate for up to another day.)
Poach the boudin. Bring a large pot of hot water to a simmer and add the boudin. Adjust the heat to keep the water at just a bare simmer, showing only an occasional breaking bubble. Cook for about 15 minutes. (Some or all of the boudin can be cooled briefly, then wrapped and refrigerated for later use.)
Shortly before you plan to serve the boudin, sauté as much of it as you wish to eat. Warm about ¼ inch of oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Brown the boudin lightly on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Serve the boudin warm. Some people eat the boudin with the casing on. Most folks, however, squeeze the soft filling from the casing into their mouths-a casual, messy method that’s perfectly effective. Enjoy.
One of the world’s most vibrant sausages, south-of-the-border chorizo is a personal favorite of ours for smoking. The meat mixture holds together well as patties before and after smoking, so you don’t need to turn this into links. If you prefer sausage mild rather than spicy, cut some of the chile.
COOKING METHOD | BARBECUE SMOKING
Serves 6 or more
2 pounds pork butt, with fat, plus ½ pound additional pork fat (fatback), ground by your butcher or with a meat grinder at home
3 tablespoons ground dried mild to medium red chile, such as ancho
1½ tablespoons coarsely ground dried mild to medium red chile, such as molido, or more of the same chile used above
Juice of 1 medium orange
¼ cup cider vinegar
8 plump garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt
1½ teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons ground Mexican cinnamon (canela) or other ground cinnamon
Chorizo Mop, optional
Juice of 1 medium orange
¼ cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
At least the evening before you plan to smoke the chorizo, start the preparations. In a large bowl, mix together the sausage ingredients. To check the seasonings, fry up a small portion of the chorizo. The flavors will mingle and mellow more, but if it tastes unbalanced now, adjust it. Refrigerate, covered, overnight or for a couple of days.
Fire up the smoker, bringing the temperature to 180°F to 220°F.
Form the sausage mixture into 12 patties, about 3 ounces each. Let the patties sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
If you plan to baste the sausage patties, mix together the mop ingredients in a small saucepan and warm over low heat.
Transfer the patties to the smoker. Cook for about 1 hour, mopping once or twice in a wood-burning pit or as appropriate in your style of smoker. The patties are ready when they are richly browned and cooked through. Check with a small knife cut. Serve hot.