Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons (33 page)

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Authors: Colleen Rush,Gary Wiviott

BOOK: Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons
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Place the potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a large stockpot, and add cold water to cover potatoes by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 10 minutes. A fork or toothpick should slide in easily.
Fry the bacon in batches in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a plate. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet. Add the onion to the skillet and sauté over medium heat, stirring, until golden-brown, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in sugar and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar and water to the skillet and simmer 5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the mustard and pepper.
Add the still-warm potatoes and parsley to the skillet. Crumble the bacon over the potatoes and gently fold to combine. Taste and reseason with salt and pepper.
The salad should be served warm. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate; then reheat the chilled potato salad at 350°F in a covered ovenproof casserole until it is warmed through. Store in the refrigerator for up to one day.
FUNERAL POTATOES
 
It’s a grim moniker for such a crowd-pleasing dish, but the name has more to do with its spur-of-the-moment simplicity: the dish can be thrown together quickly for any unexpected occasion. Based on a recipe from Chicago radio host Spike O’Dell, it’s the kind of dish that can be doubled or tripled—even quadrupled—to feed the masses. If you increase the recipe, bake the casserole for an additional 10 or 15 minutes per batch, but do not increase the oven temperature. (The top will scorch.) For quadruple batches, decrease the oven temperature to 325°F and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
 
SERVES 12
 
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1 (32-ounce) bag frozen Southern-style (diced)
hash brown potatoes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pint sour cream
½ cup chopped or grated onion
2 cups cornflakes, crushed
 
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper and stir. Add the soup, cheese, sour cream, and onion. Gently fold the potato mixture until the ingredients are mixed, but not mashed. Remove from the heat.
Pour the potatoes into a greased 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons margarine in a saucepan. Stir in the crushed cornflakes. Sprinkle on top of the potatoes. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Serve immediately, or cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat in a 350°F oven.
CRUNCHY CRUST MAC AND CHEESE
 
The toasty, crunchy bits on the top and edges of baked macaroni and cheese are really the whole point of the dish—much like crispy chicken skin. The dilemma? There’s usually not enough scrumptious browned surface to go around. This recipe, adapted from one that ran in the
New York Times
, offers a brilliant solution: baked in a shallow jelly-roll pan, the macaroni and cheese has more surface area exposed to the heat, and produces a higher ratio of cheesy, crusty to molten, cheesy interior. It’s the muffin top of macaroni and cheese. If you really want to gild the lily, sprinkle a teaspoon of truffle oil over the macaroni and cheese right when you take it out of the oven. (Careful: a little truffle oil goes a long way and can overpower the dish.)
 
SERVES 8
 
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked al dente in salted
boiling water and drained
12 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated,
1 cup reserved
12 ounces mild Cheddar cheese, grated,
1 cup reserved
2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
⅔ cup half-and-half
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon truffle oil (optional)
 
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Grease a 15½ x 10½ x 1-inch jelly-roll pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Toss the cooked, cooled pasta, grated cheese (reserving 1 cup of each type), salt, and cayenne in a large bowl until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Spread the pasta in an even layer in the greased jelly-roll pan. Pour the half-and-half over the pasta. Top with the reserved 2 cups of grated cheese and dot with the remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Increase the heat to 400°F and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the top is crunchy, crusty, and golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
TRIXIE P’S MAC AND CHEESE
 
When I get a yen for rich, fancy macaroni and cheese, the first recipe that comes to mind is this crowd-pleaser from friend Kristina Meyer (a.k.a. Trixie P). Her version starts with a classic béchamel sauce, but she’s added a few twists that push it over the top.
 
SERVES 8 TO 10
 
1 pound elbow macaroni, uncooked
1 stick unsalted butter
1 to 2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper flakes
3 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cube chicken bouillon or 1 tablespoon
powdered bouillon
4 cups whole milk
6 ounces grated Fontina cheese (about 2 cups)
6 ounces grated Gruyere cheese (about 2 cups,
¼ cup reserved)
6 ounces grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
(about 2 cups, ¼ cup reserved)
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups panko or regular dry breadcrumbs
Parcook the macaroni until very al dente, about 6 to 8 minutes, or 75 percent of the recommended cooking time. To test, bite through an elbow. It should be hard at the center. Rinse the pasta under cold water to cool and stop the cooking.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and sauté the red pepper and garlic cloves until fragrant and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and chicken bouillon and whisk until incorporated with the butter. Increase the heat to medium-high and gradually whisk in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue whisking until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 10 minutes.
Remove the sauce from the heat and fold in 1 cup of grated cheese at a time (reserving ¼ cup of each type), stirring until cheese is completely melted before adding more. Add the Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. Taste and reseason as needed.
In a large casserole dish, combine the cooked macaroni and the cheese sauce. Stir to blend. Mix the reserved grated cheese with the breadcrumbs, and sprinkle generously over the top. Bake until browned and bubbling, about 15 to 20 minutes.
INGREDIENT FINDER: PANKO
 
Panko [pahn-koh] are coarse, flaky Japanese breadcrumbs, and many supermarkets carry bags of them in the Asian section or near the regular breadcrumbs. Panko make a fantastic, crispy-crunchy—and yet
light
—coating or topping for just about any food you want to fry or bake. If you’ve ever ordered
tonkatsu
(fried pork cutlet) in a Japanese restaurant, you’ve had panko.
 
BAKED BEANS
 
When it comes to barbecue, I do not have a sweet tooth. I like a vinegary tang or mouthful of heat in sauces, sides, or rubs, so I lean toward the tangier, hotter barbecue sauce in this recipe for baked beans. If I’m feeling lazy, Original Open Pit Barbecue Sauce (page 166) is my go-to. If you prefer a sweeter touch, use the Classic Barbecue Sauce (page 106) or your sauce of choice. (Read the label and avoid any sauce that contains liquid smoke in the ingredient list.)
 
SERVES 6 TO 8
 
6 ounces bacon (6 slices), coarsely chopped
2 small onions, finely diced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 pound dried white beans (about 2 cups), such as
navy beans, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water
1 cup espresso or strong black coffee
½ cup Tangy Seven-Pepper Sauce (page 137)
or your choice of barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
2 tablespoons mild molasses
1 teaspoon Louisiana-style or Mexican-style hot
sauce, such as Texas Pete, Louisiana, or Búfalo
1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
plus more to taste
 
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Cook the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until it starts to brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in all of the remaining ingredients, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Scrape down the sides of the Dutch oven and stir the browned, crusty fond into the beans.
Cover the Dutch oven and place in the oven. Bake, stirring every 30 minutes, until the beans are tender, about 4 hours.
Uncover and bake until the sauce has thickened, about 1½ hours. Taste and reseason the beans with hot sauce, salt and pepper, or 1 tablespoon of barbecue sauce until desired flavor is achieved.
Beans can be served immediately or cooled to room temperature, covered, and refrigerated for up to five days. To reheat, place the beans over low heat on the stove, stirring occasionally, until warmed through.
SPICY GRILLED GREEN BEANS
 
One of the things I appreciate most about barbecue—in addition to its all-around deliciousness—is its conviviality. It attracts like-minded and interesting people, like friend, food photographer, and
LTHForum.com
contributor Ron “ronnie_suburban” Kaplan, the creator of this recipe. I’ve enjoyed this dish at many of his backyard barbecues, and this book just wouldn’t be complete without it.
 
SERVES 6 TO 8
 
1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
1½ pounds green beans, trimmed
¼ cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons Sriracha (see Ingredient
Finder, page 164)
½ tablespoon
nam pla
(Thai fish sauce)
½ tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted
 
Add the salt to a large stockpot of water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Blanch the green beans in the boiling water until bright and crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the green beans and shock in the ice bath to stop cooking and set color. Strain the green beans and place inside a gallon zip-top bag.
Whisk together the oyster sauce, Sriracha, fish sauce, hoisin, and garlic. Pour the marinade over the green beans, seal the bag, and shake to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
Remove the green beans from the bag, reserving 2 tablespoons marinade. Place the green beans in a vegetable grilling basket. Grill over direct heat, turning several times, until green beans are browned and wrinkled, about 3 to 5 minutes. Allow green beans to cool. Toss with reserved marinade, garnish with sesame seeds, and serve. Store in the refrigerator for up to two days.
SKILLET CORN BREAD
 
Basic corn bread doesn’t get much easier than this. The only trick to it is pouring the batter into a sizzling-hot oiled skillet. This technique gives the corn bread a crispy, almost caramelized, browned crust.
 
MAKES 8 LARGE SLICES OR 16 SMALL WEDGES
 
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
 
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Swirl 1 tablespoon of the oil in a cast-iron skillet. Set the skillet in the preheating oven while you prepare the corn bread batter.
Whisk the cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a mixing bowl and make a small well in the center with the back of a spoon. In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add the buttermilk and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the beaten egg and whisk. Pour the egg mixture into the well in the cornmeal and stir to combine, but do not overmix.
Remove the skillet from the oven. Swirl the hot oil around the skillet to coat sides. Pour the batter into the hot skillet, circling the stream of batter from the outer edges of the pan toward the middle. Return the skillet to the oven and bake for 11 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the skillet from the oven and turn the corn bread out onto a cooling rack.
NANCY POWERS’ BAKED CORN PUDDING
 
I have had the honor of cooking with Chicago Salvation Army Captains Merrill and Nancy Powers at many holiday dinners, and this dish is a favorite at their meals. Nancy makes enough to feed hundreds of people, and this version of the recipe is easy to double, triple, or quadruple to feed a large crowd.

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