Smoking your meat. Like the settlers did. Ok, we do not raise our own hogs anymore, and we outsourced the nasty butchering to the professional, but smoking brings us back in time. It's like when you drive a pick up truck, you immediately feel you need to do a project. Yes, you can call the smoking pit the ultimate man cave for cooking inclined males. Where boys learn the ropes from their fathers, and secret family rubs and barbeque sauces are passed down from generations. A fraternity with its own mores and rules.
Well not me. I grew up in a country where summer fell on a Tuesday and it only rains once a year: from January to December. Although I was born in July, my ultimate birth day gift was a barbeque outdoors, and I received it only once during my entire time at home.
Coming to the East Coast meant 6 months of grilling season; I am still catching up and I am not done grilling yet!!
This weekend was pork chops. Safely covered from the hash weather rest my friend the barbeque, Charcoal, mind you, not that propane nonsense. A real apparatus. And yes, I am very proud to have a barbeque. Also, no briquettes and heaven forbid gasoline soaked coals, just the real charcoal. I use a chimney, for Pete's sake. No lighter fluid, just a little vegetable oil on a piece of paper will do just fine: the chimney is a work of art. I prefer charcoal taste over petrol.
Anyway, for this smoking I use a combination of Apple wood and Mesquite wood chips, soaked for a couple of hours to generate an abundance of smoke. Why this combination? Dunno, I guess. The supermarket sold them both and it sounded intriguing... Lady Luck was on my side.
For good smoking stack the glowing coals on one side of the grill, cover them with the woodchips, open up all the vents and let in a draft. When it starts going, you can lay the food on the cold side of the grill. The hot smoke will do most of the cooking.
On with the food stuff. First up the barbeque sauce:
- Grate an onion. Chop two garlic cloves. De-skin and de-seed 3 roma tomatoes
- Sautee onions, garlic and tomatoes for a couple of minutes
- Add water, ketchup, vinegar, red wine, worchestershire sauce, fish sauce, oregano, smoked paprika and sugar. Blend with a stick blender or bar blender until all is smooth
- Cook over low flame until it is much reduced (about the consistency of ketchup)
It should be sweet, sour and salty. Like barbeque sauce :-)
This is my recipe. You can use it at will, or make your own. Does not bother me, I do not have a secret recipes.
On to the pork chops. Buy the bone-in pork chops, because bone equals flavor and when you smoke the pork chops bone side down, the juices stay in the meat making it less likely to dry out.
Season the chops with salt and skewer them together, with room in between the pork chops. This way they stand up better, and smoke can penetrate the chops from all sides.
Smoke the pork chops for 30 minutes until the ouside is smoky brown and the internal temperature is about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove from the grill, and slather on the barbeque sauce. On direct heat grill the pork chops a couple minutes until you have nice grill marks and the internal temperature is 140 degrees.
Remove and rest for at least 5 minutes.
Last tip, you Pit-boss: cook extra. They will ask for seconds...
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