It's Pigmeat That I Crave - Thanks Vinni!

[r_a_smith3530]

Well, today, thanks in part to a comment that Vinni Smith made, and also the fact that the wife had found Baby Backs to be on sale at Dominick's (Von's or Safeway to all you non-Chicago types), I fired up the old grill for the first time this season.

Slow cooking at a balmy 45 degrees, under what the National Weather Service called a "Light Rain" (not quite a drizzle), were two slabs of the best meat ever devised by God!

Cooking ribs is truly an art form (at least it is for us Chicago boys). First, you must remove that layer of "silverskin" off the inside of the slab. If you don't do that, your ribs 'r gonna be tough! Next, you drop them in a big pot of water, and heat them just until the pink goes away. I like to add a little Gahlic and a pinch or two of onion powder to this part. It just makes the meat taste all that much better.

The next part is almost the best. Well, eatin' 'ems the best, but this is close, and it's what makes the eatin' so much fun! You get out your favorite rub (I perfected mine nearly thirty years ago) and you work it into the meat. Now, you let them puppies marinate in that rub for a bit before rendering them to the fire. Now's the time to get the coals hot!

Just before you're going to introduce Porky the Rib to the brimstone, turn down the heat a tad. You don't want all that fine, fine meat to dry up now, do 'ya? Here's where the babysittin' begins, so hopefully you've prepared ahead (while the ribs were marinatin' of course), getting your sauce and utensils, plate, etcetera all ready. Put them puppies on the fire, inside facing down and cover the grill. Let 'em simmer there for five or ten, and then give them a flip. Slightly brown the meat side, and then flip them back over. Do this repeatedly until they are cooked through and through. About ten minutes before they are ready for removal, get your sauce (I usually make my own, but due to impromptu circumstances, opted for Sweet Baby Ray's this time), and spread it on thick, starting with the underside. Now, flip them babies and coat 'em real good on the meat side. As Sweet Baby Ray says, "The sauce is the boss," and you sure don't want to shortchange here. Cover 'em back up and allow the sauce to glaze for a few. OK, now, pick up your cover, coat them once more, cover for about two minutes, then scoop them babies up and take 'em straight away to the dinner table.

Now, I like sweet potatos and southern style spinach (or greens) with my ribs, but you may prefer another side. one thing's for certain, and that is white bread. 'Ya ain't eatin' ribs unless you're moppin' the sauce with white bread. That's soul!

Ah, now all I need is a slice of either Key Lime or Sweet Potato pie! Life really is good!!!

Thanks Vinni (and Maggie)!

:R :R :R

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for makin' up my mind for lunch tomorrow, r_a_!

[tot_Ou_tard]

Ooooh, the horrors!!! For a minute I thought you were gonna eat your G&L 2kL.:D

[SuperSwede]

mmm... I am getting hungry :)

[Tone2TheBone]

BBQ at Rob's house. BYOB.

[Tim]

R A – Thanks fore the recipe. I cannot wait until I get home back to Florida. Unlike my brother fretters, I will cook my own ribs from scratch. A REAL man cooks his own meat. I will let you know how it turns out. Hmm. Chicago ribs in Florida. I can’t wait.

[tot_Ou_tard]

A REAL man cooks his own meat. I will let you know how it turns out.
On behalf of all of the fretters, let me be the first to thank you for not including a picture of you *cooking your own meat*. :D

[warren0728]

On behalf of all of the fretters, let me be the first to thank you for not including a picture of you *cooking your own meat*. :D
+1 on no "cooking your own meat" photos :eek:

ww

[Spudman]

...and don't fry bacon without your shirt on.

[Tim]

You guys are getting tough. No slack found on the net.

[tot_Ou_tard]

You guys are getting tough. No slack found on the net.
No thank'yew, please do not post a picture of your slack either!

Jeez, some folx get a new digital camera & suddenly *everything* is ART.

[warren0728]

...and don't fry bacon without your shirt on.
i got caught making pancakes with no clothes on one sunday morning when a couple we were friends with dropped by unannounced...i guess they looked in the window to see if we were home and saw me...they left without letting me know they stopped by...told us about it later :D

ww

[tot_Ou_tard]

What question is that?

[Robert]

i got caught making pancakes with no clothes on one sunday morning when a couple we were friends with dropped by unannounced...i guess they looked in the window to see if we were home and saw me...they left without letting me know they stopped by...told us about it later :D

ww

Haha Warren, the Coke I was drinking almost spraypainted my monitor a new color!

[r_a_smith3530]

On behalf of all of the fretters, let me be the first to thank you for not including a picture of you *cooking your own meat*. :D

Ouch! Oh the visual on that just plain hurts!!!

Damn, I do believe that I have hooked up with a bunch of puppies who are as sick as myself! :D

[SuperSwede]

i got caught making pancakes with no clothes on one sunday morning when a couple we were friends with dropped by unannounced...i guess they looked in the window to see if we were home and saw me...they left without letting me know they stopped by...told us about it later :D

ww

I wonder if that is a common fetish? :D

[Tim]

LOL! Wow Warren! You made my trip a happy one after reading that. Making pancakes in the nude. WOW! (Shaking my head in disbelief).

I can thing of a million things to do instead of making pancakes. There are many safety problems with the detailed task you explained, but I will not go there.

Now I have been to your home and ALL your front windows are not covered with long drapes. I think this is just hilarious. That is what I call freedom.

Ah, never mind.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Was he making pancakes when you arrived?

[SuperSwede]

*BUMP*

Just wanted to tell all new members that this is the original "nude pancakes" thread.

[warren0728]

Just wanted to tell all new members that this is the original "nude pancakes" thread.
gee....thanks :pancake: :bootyshake: :D

ww

[Bloozcat]

Kind of long here, but this talk of BBQ pork took me back to some of the best BBQ and times I can remember....

Mmmmm...pork...:drool:

Well, I've been taught over the years that there's grilling, and then there's BBQ...

Grilling is what you do when you don't have the time, BBQ is what you do when you have all day to do it (and an ample supply of beer to "lubricate" the process)...:beer:

As it's said by the real BBQ aficianados, cooking pork on a charcoal grill (or a gas grill :eek: ) is grilling.
Slow cooking it all day on indirect heat in a big, smokey cooker over real charcoal is BBQ...

Pig roasts are pretty big down here, since the critters run wild all over the place when you get away from the coastal areas. As a young man and transplant to Florida some 36 years ago, I was new to the ways of Southern BBQ, and the long time Florida Crackers aren't always so welcoming to strangers from "up north". But, having grown up with a love for hunting, fishing, and the outdoors in general, I had a lot in common with the local boys here. I quickly went from being a "Yankee" to a "Damn Yankee" (a Yankee who never leaves), to being accepted as one of the boys.

I remember well, my introduction into the world of the Southern pig roast.

It would start at about 6:00am when we'd set up the fire to create the charcoal that we would use all day. That meant setting up a big "V"-shaped rebar rack that was about six feet long and three feet high. Each "V" section was connected to the others (about six in all) by long rebar "stringers" that were welded in place. This rack was then placed on top of a flat sheet of fairly thick steel that layed on the ground. The bottom of the rack sat about 2-feet above the steel sheet with the edges of the sheet extended out around the rack by about two feet on all sides. Into the rack we'd load split oak until it was about half to three quarters of the way up the rack. The wood was then doused with kerosene which was allowed to soak in for a while. The fire was then lit, and you waited for it to burn down. Once the wood burned down to the charcoal, it would start to fall through the rack down to the steel sheet below. With a shovel, we'd pick up the hot burning coals and load it into one side of the cooker. All the while, we'd be adding fresh wood to the top of the fire as the wood below burned down. This ensured a continuous supply of charcoal all day long.

The process of preparing the meat varied, but it always involved the use of rubs, marinates, and about 24 hours for the meat to soak it all in. As to the cooking itself, well that is a lengthy process...

The meat would be placed on racks above, and away from the side where the coals were. Depending upon whether the pig had been taken directly from the wild, or had been caught, penned, and corn fed, various bastes were used to moisten the meat and remove any gaminess. It's pretty convenient that one of the best things to use for this purpose grows all over this area...citrus. Nothing like it to cut that gamey flavor in pork. The pork would cook like this for several hours until it was so tender that the meat fell off the bone. At this point, the BBQ sauce was brushed on. Recipes again varied according to the "head chef" in charge (not exactly what he was usually called ;) ).

While the crew was readying the fire and the cooker, someone else would be making breakfast for all who were working. Ham, eggs, sausage, grits, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, coffee - all sorts of things. About late morning those people not directly involved in the actual BBQ-ing of the meat, would start to arrive. Eveyone brought something from BBQ beans, slaw, potato salad, BEER, ice, plates, utensils, and so forth. Others set up their own cooking stations and made their favorite swamp cabbage, venison stew, deep fried venison, and if we were lucky - gator tail. They're would be cast iron skillet corn bread cooking, and the air would be filled with all kinds of aromas. Still others would come with deserts. And no pig roast would be complete without some good pecan pie (pronounced PEE-can ;) ). And of course, the cooker wasn't the only thing "smoking" at these events...:rolleyes:

My first introduction to this started back in the early 1970's, when Southern Rock music was coming into it's own. The Allman Brothers Band, The Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchet, Elvin Bishop, The Outlaws, Blackfoot, .38 Special - would all be blaring from from speakers set around the area. At times, we would have all day jam sessions for those of us who played (there were always many). There could be over a hundred people at one of these events,. and that was just friends, relatives and friends of friends and relatives. Some of the best parties I'd ever been too, and it was always a group effort.

Ah, my misspent youth....:)