NYU chemistry professor Kent Kirshenbaum. Photo: Jeff Potter
Like many inquisitive scientists, Kent Kirshenbaum regularly scans the ingredient list of prepared foods to uncover the chemical composites lurking within. The substance that most recently piqued the New York University chemistry professor's curiosity is liquid smoke. "My immediate thought was that it was a horrible mix of chemicals," he told us.
After distilling the concentrated smoke and liquid mix (often sold at the grocery store by the bottle to enhance barbecue) down to its roots of water and more than 400 chemical compounds, the scientist (who in person comes across as one part Einstein, one part Malcolm Gladwell) learned that liquid smoke is actually "safer [for human ingestion] than untreated wood smoke."
Kirshenbaum discussed his discovery last week during a monthly gathering of the Experimental Cuisine Collective -- food nerds who love to make things like edible foam. We caught up with him to chat smoke, bongs and homemade liquid smoke. What is liquid smoke? Liquid smoke is very simply smoke in water. Smoke usually comes as a vapor, but there are ways to condense it and turn it into liquid and that liquid can then be carried in water.
As promised, we're beginning our recap of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party this past weekend, featuring 15 of the best pitmasters from around the USA. After you take a dip in the barbecue sauce fountain, courtesy of Mike Mills and Amy Mills of 17th Street Bar & Grill, click on the post to see our photos. "Peace, Love & Barbecue," everyone!
A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.
If your definition of summertime doesn't include barbecue, beer and baseball it's time make some serious corrections to your agenda -- like, with a bright red pen.
In Detroit, those properly schooled in brews amble on over to Slows Bar BQ a joint that caters to fans of all three types of fanatic. Just a mile or so down the road from Comerica Park and in the shadow of the old Tiger Stadium, Slows is a popular pre- and post-game stop for Tigers fans. Manager Terry Perrone notes that its primary appeal is the food: "We're a barbecue restaurant first and foremost." Terry isn't stopping suds snobs with a nose for microbrews from slipping through the door, too, though.
With renowned Michigan names like Bell's, Founders and New Holland, Slows has no shortage of local breweries to draw from and stocks as many as possible: of 20 taps Perrone says they try to keep "no less than 14 from Michigan or the region." Some, such as Great Lakes Grass Roots Ale and Dragonmead Corktown Red, aren't readily available anywhere else. So though Slows puts eats first, Peronne admits, "We see more and more [beer lovers] as the notoriety gets out that we are a great destination to find these local beers."
Check out yesterday's complete draft list after the jump. (Got a fave on the list? Let us know what we should be sipping this summer).
The distinctive smell of barbecued provolone topped with chili and oregano will forever remind me of a barbecue I went to in Buenos Aires. Before being served a series of different meats in a typical Argentinian asado, grilled provolone is often eaten with a savory chimichurri sauce that's made with parsley, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika with olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar.
In supermarkets thoughout Buenos Aires, you can find frozen provoleta that you can simply heat up in the oven or microwave. Sometimes you can even find it stuffed with ham, bacon, red peppers, and tomatoes. This incredibly rich and crispy treat makes me think of the salty Greek appetizer Saganaki - fried Greek cheese. I'm wondering if one can find these frozen provoletas in supermarkets in the United States. Although it's easy to make, the frozen ones I purchased in Argentina were absolutely delicious!
While both recipes seem identical, the first one also offers an excellent recipe for chimichurri sauce. When entertaining, I highly suggest you make this dish as an appetizer. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Perhaps its the lingering after-effects of my mother's Jewish heritage, but every winter I get an uncontrollable urge to make chicken soup. However, having been raised in the South, this seasonal instinct is channeled into the production of a thicker, richer, and generally more transcendent food: Brunswick stew.
Virginia and Georgia both lay claim to the ubiquitous stew; personally, I favor Virginia's claim, but that's only because I grew up there. In both areas, it is a standard accompaniment to barbecue, although it often finds its way to the table as a stand-alone meal.
Recipes for Brunswick stew tend to be somewhat idiosyncratic. For example, many chefs use potatoes, and others use barbecue sauce to increase the richness of the broth. By that standard, my Brunswick stew (recipe below) will strike some people as blasphemous. I go heavy on the tomatoes, keep out the potatoes, use light olive oil and skinned chicken to keep the fat down, and hold off on the barbecue. Still, regardless of your personal tastes, this should be a pretty good starting point for your own recipe!
I'll certainly admit to having one heck of a lot of 'cue country exploration left to do in my lifetime, but thus far I've yet to encounter any venue outside of North Carolina slinging BBQ slaw alongside their meat. It's an essential side for Lexington style, vinegar-kissed chopped pork, and gets its characteristic pink tint from a dollop of ketchup or barbecue sauce. Also -- it's pretty darned delicious, and provides a pleasantly crunchy textural contrast with the rich, soft strands of slow-cooked shoulder.
"In the central North Carolina Piedmont you will often find what locals there call "red coleslaw" on the plate next to your chopped pork barbecue. This tangy variation replaces the usual mayonnaise-based slaw dressing with a catsup-and-vinegar-based dressing. In fact, it is not unusual for Upcountry slaw all over Dixie to be spiked with a big splash of barbecue finishing sauce. Whether a sweet/sour tomato-based, spicy mix, either right from the store-bought jar or from some dusty bottle of secret brew, this spicy addition turns the coleslaw sauce either red or a rich brown color and creates what most Southerners called "barbecued coleslaw."
Surely food experts and gourmets all over the planet will ... most certainly suggest that this "barbecue on barbecue" presentation robs the meal of balance. ... Southerners will scoff at this suggestion. Everyone down here knows that if a little barbecue sauce it good, then a whole lot is even better."
If you happen by High Point, NC, do stop into Carter Brothers BBQ (from whence the above pictured platter of BBQ came on this most recent Christmas Eve) for some of the finest chopped (regular or coarse -- they're both good) pork BBQ you'll ever have the pleasure of eating.
BBQ Slaw is recipe after the jump. Got one of your own? Might you please be so kind as to kick back with a Cheerwine and share it in the comments?
"Who doesn't love Wii?" says the manager I spoke with at Wildwood BBQ, a restaurant on Park Avenue at 18th Street in Manhattan.
Every Tuesday night since August, Wildwood BBQ, a classy new ribs joint off Union Square, has hosted Wii Boxing with cheap beer and big prizes. There's a pre-tournament warm up at 8:00pm, when anyone can play, then signup for the tournament begins at 8:30. Sixteen guests can play for a chance to win $100 gift certificates good at any of BR Guest's restaurants.
Sign up at the 50-foot bar for a chance to play, and starting at 9:30 pick up a $12 pitcher of Cold Ass beer (pardon my English; that's really what it's called).
Rumor has it that some undisclosed celebrities may be stepping into the ring one of these weeks! Get there if you can.
The only thing better than coming home to a home cooked meal is having a home cooked meal that doesn't take two hours to prepare. Thai barbecued chicken is a refreshing meal that tastes like the last days of summer, but with a kick! This isn't your ordinary barbecued chicken. Don't be afraid of all the ingredients, you probably have many of them in your pantry. While the chicken only takes about 30 minutes to cook, it does need to marinate.
Make sure to prepare the marinade the night before, refrigerate and before leaving for work the next morning, add the chicken to the marinade and put back into the refrigerator.
Wine glass charms are one of those oft-forgotten saviors from long, drawn-out examinations of lip prints to figure out whose wine is whose. But I'm really surprised that it hasn't really moved beyond the long-stemmed glassware -- until now.
Did you know that you can buy Grill Charms to properly mark your steak before throwing it on the grill? The stainless steel charms are serrated, so you just pop one in and grill and flip like usual. The charm can plainly mark which is spicy, mild, bloody, or, egads, well-done. There are different charms for different uses, whether you get the collection for temperature, spices, or a group of miscellaneous charms for other important markings like health/allergy issues, or just the desire for a specific piece of meat.
Considering the number of times I've forgotten what goes to who, this seems like a pretty simple, but handy, grill accessory.
Julie Biuso is a well-known New Zealand chef, cooking teacher and food writer who is just starting to make a splash on the American food scene. However, if her new book, Sizzle, Sensational Barbecue Food, is any indication of what she has to offer, I imagine we'll be hearing more and more from her going forward.
When I first opened the book, I had my defensive hat on. I mean, come on, how many barbecue cookbooks can I look at before they all start to look the same? However, this book grabbed me from the start, as it has a well-written introduction that got me nice and excited for the book ahead. And the recipes? Well, they look lovely.
I haven't had an opportunity to try any of the recipes in the book yet (and I'm going to have to adapt most of them to my no-grill lifestyle), but here are some of the ones on my list: Eggplant Toasties (essentially a toasted cheese sandwich made out of grilled eggplant, mozzarella cheese and whole grain bread), Spicy Lamb on Sticks with Yogurt Sauce (flattened lamb meatballs on skewers) and Dried Fruits Cooked in Paper (apricots and prunes, marinated and seasoned, wrapped in parchment paper and slow cooked).
If want to expand your understanding of food cooked on a grill, this would be an excellent book to look at. It takes your backyard Weber and moves it out of the realm of special occasions and places it smackdab in the center of everyday meal prep. Which, judging from the recipes Biuso has written, isn't a bad thing at all.
It's darned hot outside these days, so I'm a big fan of any recipe that leaves the heat outside. Above you can see a really simple but delicious-looking recipe for a barbecued rosemary and garlic potato pocket, courtesy of summerkitchen.tv. It's a collection of rosemary, garlic, potatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper mixed together and wrapped up in foil, and then cooked on the barbecue. What's particularly great about this recipe is how easy it is to change it up a little and whip up your favorite flavors -- maybe some chopped green onion, or creole spices, or some cherry tomatoes, or even a little bit of cheese. (This is also something that can be made easily over a campfire -- just get small potatoes that you don't need to dice.)
What's your favorite flavor combination for BBQ potatoes?
Do you make amazing grilled lamb chops with gremolada? Out-of-this-world ribs with tamarind-Jack Daniels sauce? Burgers so good your friends say you should open a concession at the football stadium? Submit your grilling recipe with a short video demonstration (three minutes max) to Mario Batali's Ultimate Grilling Challenge for a chance to win a ton of great (and some just plain weird) prizes.
Submissions are due July 30 and the contest winner will be announced in October on The Rachel Ray Show. The grand prize winner will receive a VIP weekend at Texas Motor Speedway including a pre-race tailgate party with Mario Batali and Rachael Ray at the Dickies 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Semi-finalists will console themselves with $500 worth of Mario Batali The Italian Kitchen products and a year's supply of VIVA paper towels (though apparently two rolls a month is a lifetime supply). Quarter-finalists receive a bunch more Mario swag, including - get this - His n' Hers Mario Crocs (AKA, the only thing more embarrassing than riding a tandem bike). $1.00 will be donated to The Food Bank For New York City for every entry received.
The contest is intended to promote the portly redhead's new Italian Grill cookbook. The book goes universes beyond burgers and hot dogs, with recipes for grilled flatbreads, vegetables and pizzas as well as meat. Think grilled Guinea hen breasts with rosemary and pesto, grilled baby octopus with olive-orange vinaigrette. Italian grilling, as Mario explains, never involves thick, sweet barbecue sauces or salty, soy- or Tabasco-based marinades. It rarely involves more than olive oil, wine, citrus juice and herbs and spices. Though, as he admits, the recipes in the book are not pure Italian, they are somewhat influenced by America's grand grilling culture. We are, after all, the country that invented the backyard barbecue.
The Grand Rapids Press has a list of several dozen beef, chicken vegetable and fish tips for your Independence Day bash. Try wrapping fish in prosciutto or bacon to prevent drying. And cook snapper and other delicate fish in foil or on a plank so it doesn't fall apart.
Hawaii's KGMB has a video of Tyler Florence making a grilled pork tenderloin for a big 4th of July cookout. He suggests stocking up at a wholesale club like Sam's to save when feeding a crowd.
BBQ.about.com has chicken, pork and beef brisket recipes, with ideas for kebabs, potato salads, ice tea, sangria, and something called 'flag fudge.'
Nashville's WSMV teaches you how to build a top notch grilling station, from grills to spatulas to thermometers to lighter fluid.
Kalyn's Kitchen has some cool 'think outside the burger' ideas special for the 4th: grilled shish kabobs with whole wheat pita and tzatziki, grilled salmon with maple syrup glaze, grilled chicken with tarragon mustard marinade, grilled tri-tip with salsa.
Epicurious has a bunch of burger ideas: Feta burgers with grilled red onions, jalapeno burgers, open face lamb burgers with mint yogurt sauce, buffalo burgers with pickled onions and smoky pepper sauce, sun-dried tomato burgers with balsamic-glazed onions, porcini-Gorgonzola burgers with veal demi-glace, tamarind-glazed turkey burgers, sesame tuna burgers....
Also on Epicurious: A complete guide to grilling. Rubs and marinade recipes, technique tips, how to test for doneness, where to taste the best regional barbecue. With input from grill guru Steve Raichlen.
Martha Stewart has a very tasteful (naturally) Fourth of July menu. Check out the ribs.
Global Gourmet has another grilling guide. Check out its rundown of recipes from their favorite grilling cookbooks. Whoopi Goldberg's Big Bad Ass Beef Ribs, anyone?
Even vegetarians get in on the grilling action, at Vegetarians in Paradise, with recipes for Independence Day grilled tempeh steak, grilled veggie skewers, grilled red onions and grilled corn on the cob.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
.jpg)
Julie Biuso
Do you make amazing grilled lamb chops with gremolada? Out-of-this-world ribs with tamarind-Jack Daniels sauce? Burgers so good your friends say you should open a concession at the football stadium? Submit your grilling recipe with a short video demonstration (three minutes max) to 
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
