largequantityBBQ
In August of 1969, The University of Nebraska Animal Sciences Department reissued this pamphlet titled “The Large Quantity Barbecue.” (Click on the link to see the whole thing–the photos are amazing!) The booklet contains step-by-step instructions for building the kind of old-fashioned barbecue pit in which the meat is buried under a covering of dirt. You dig the pit three and half feet deep and determine the length by how much meat you are cooking– six feet of pit for every 200 pounds of meat.
This was always the method used for the XIT Reunion Barbecue. The world’s largest free barbecue will be held on Saturday August 8 this year. If you go, please send me some photos.
Chef Randy Evans at Haven, the locavore restaurant on Algerian Way in Houston, served this simple salad of butter lettuce, wild brown shrimp and Texas red grapefruit that last time I was there. Since they don’t eat bold-flavored brown shrimp anywhere else in the country and we don’t produce enough supersweet red grapefruit to export, this is an only-in-Texas combination of flavors.
It’s also a very easy salad to make at home. Only you better hurry–the grapefruit season is over, but there are still a few left on the market.
Most people go to Gerardo’s for the awesome barbacoa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some swear by the crispy carnitas. I like the barbacoa de borrego and the chile rellenos too. But don’t ignore Gerardo’s sublime mollejas. You can buy them by the pound or by the taco.
Deep-fried sweetbread tacos are a lovely way to start the day. You’ll find them on the steam table buffet at Gerardo’s Drive In Grocery on Patton St. just east of I-45 in Houston.
Will our Tex-Mex joint serve fried eggs on cheese enchiladas?
This morning, the Sidedish Newsletter from My Table Magazine reported that I am a partner in a new Tex-Mex restaurant venture.
read more Tex-Mex Restaurant Rumors »
Aaron Franklin is serious about BBQ
Aaron Franklin grew up around barbecue and country music. His parents owned a barbecue joint in Bryan and his grandfather once played steel guitar for Bob Wills. After high school, Aaron headed to Austin and became the drummer in several rock and roll bands. After he got that out of his system, he settled down and started cooking barbecue. His barbecue trailer on I-35 near 32nd St in Austin has the Texas Q scene all abuzz.
read more The Best Brisket in the State? »
Dave Reilly unveils the new label
Dave Reilly, head of winery operations at Mandola Estate Winery in Driftwood, poured me a glass of the winery’s spectacular 2008 Montepulciano–and then he dropped a bomb. He told me that Damien Mandola was no longer involved in his namesake winery. Then he showed me the new label.
read more News Flash: Mandola Winery Sold »
Chef Ray
A smoking barbecue trailer was drawing a crowd to a convenience store parking lot in north Houston. It was Friday evening around six and people were ready to party. Some of the customers hung around and joked with the guys passing out the rib and sausage plates. One guy sipped a beer and joined in the conversation from the open driver’s side window without getting out of his car.
read more Chef Ray’s BBQ Stand »
Alan Lazarus in his garden
Alan Lazarus, the executive chef and co-owner of Vespaio and Enoteca Vespaio on South Congress Avenue in Austin, had 20-some pounds of tomatoes sitting on his kitchen table when I stopped by his house for breakfast. There were still more stacked on all the window sills. We had huevos in homemade ranchero sauce with sliced purple heirloom tomatoes and sliced giant beefsteak tomatoes on the side.
Alan and I have been friends for more than 20 years. I have always been amazed by the man’s gardening skills. Before I left his house, he filled up my cooler with 3 kinds of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cukes and baby ears of corn. I passed on the Mexican marigold mint, sorrel, squash, and beets he pulled out of the garden while I watched.
Alan said that this has been the best year for gardening he’s seen in many years, so enjoy it while you can!
The fried softshell crab and grits I had for lunch at Brennan’s of Houston the other day raises the bar in the seafood and grits competition. The softshell crab was extra crispy and very juicy, the stoneground grits were excellent and the pool of gravy surrounding the whole thing didn’t hurt any either. Wow! If they have his on the brunch menu this weekend, you better order it.
I thought I was being pretty damn clever last summer when lobster got cheap and I served lobster and saffron grits with Veuve Clicquot champagne at a dinner party. But I like softshell crab and grits even better.
There’s a recipe for softshell crab and jalapeño cheese grits in John Besh’s cookbook, My New Orleans, so I guess the combination has been around. It’s an evolution on shrimp and grits and catfish and grits–old Southern combos traditionally eaten for breakfast with crispy bacon.
Thank the lord that underwater oil gusher has been at least partially capped. Next week we’ll do a Gulf seafood appreciation thing and I’ll share a couple of recipes for shrimp grits, so stay tuned.
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