Smoked Beef Ribs

Ok so this is another smoker recipe, and if you scroll down the page pretty much the last recipe I posted was a smoker recipe, and I don’t want to come across like a smoker show off, but I do have a smoker and I’ve been smoking stuff so I thought I’d tell you about it... again... because it is better than telling you about either nothing, or a bad apple risotto that seemed like a good idea but wasn’t...

I was given the Pitt Cue cookbook as a belated birthday present recently. It tells the story of Pitt Cue’s evolution from a trailer on the South Bank to their own little restaurant in Soho, building their own smokers and devising their own rubs, sauces and smoking techniques. These days they are even farming their own Pitt Pigs, I’d love my own pigs... It’s a canny little tale and is full of amazing looking smoked stuff.

Only it is DEAD complicated. I want to make the ‘Mother Sauce’ but to do that I have to first make beef stock and pork stock, fresh. I’d like to make the BBQ sauce to go with my lovely beef rib, but first I need to make a spice mix AND homemade Chipotle ketchup... I make a lot of stuff from scratch but this seems a bit of a faff on. They probably don’t expect people to make most of the things, but that makes me want to give it a go... The drinks and pickles look a bit more accessible. So  I improvised, missed some steps out and sacked off the BBQ sauce and ended up with a bloody lovely beef rib rack...

I made their ‘House Rub’, there’s enough to rub a house, so make a half or a quarter of this if you only have one piece of meat like I did. It comprised of 10g of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns and 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan for a few minutes, then ground up in a pestle and mortar. Add to a large bowl 100g of soft brown sugar, 50g granulated sugar, 10g garlic powder, 100g of fine salt, 15g of smoked paprika, 30g of regular paprika, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and 1 teaspoon of cayenne. I threw in some mustard powder too... See, it’s a LOT of stuff. Mix it all together and you have your rub...

The beef was a lovely 4 bone beef rib rack from Charlotte’s butchery, which I covered all over in every nook and cranny with the rub. It was enough for four people, or two if you're really greedy, we just ate it for two days.

So we set Mr. Smokerson up, charcoal burning nice and white, water bowl in, temperature hanging around 110°C or 230°F, put the little metal box of wood chips onto the coals and in went the rib, not to be seen again for 6 hours, so we went for a walk. There is a massive bit of fat that runs through the middle of the rib that keeps it really moist but also has to break down so takes some time. When it is done the meat pulls away from the bone and is soft, sticky, smoky and delicious. We had it with mustardy coleslaw, lentils done like baked beans and some buttery polenta, perhaps an odd mix, but a pretty tasty one...

Live Below the Line - Day 3

I'm finding it a bit more difficult today, I'm a bit more hungry and more frustrated. I've eaten nice things so far, but the lack of choice and variety is the frustrating bit. I am now looking at people's take away coffee with huge envy. I didn't think that would be what I missed most, when there are things like meat, cheese and wine in the equation, I just keep thinking about hot frothy milky coffees... I don't even have them that often in every day life!

Yesterday I had Butternut Squash soup and flat breads for lunch again, with a tiny bit of leftover Dal. Then for supper I made a Chickpea, Tomato and Paprika Stew, a take on this stew but without spinach or pancetta, which was lovely; eventually... I soaked the chickpeas all day, but hadn't read the label properly about how long they needed to cook, so when I thought they were just about ready to serve they still had an hour to cook... At that point I was a bit tired and emotional, but actually it turned out lovely. Dried chickpeas are definitely tastier than tinned, and the stew was pretty good, rich tomato and spicy with paprika. It worked out at 47p per portion, there was enough leftover for lunch today too... Tonight is Pasta with Tomato, Chilli and Anchovy sauce...

 

I have also raised loads of money which is brilliant! £525! Amazing, thank you so much to everyone who has donated. I am on the leader board at 110th out of thousands so feel very proud! Have a look and feel free to sponsor me if you haven't already! https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/annahedworth

Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Mr Smokerson was feeling a bit neglected I think, starved of attention for at least a few weeks, maybe longer... Poor guy. Until I spotted some baby back ribs in Waitrose that was. I've smoked some once before and it was an effort to find them; now I see them everywhere, Morrisons, Waitrose, The Grainger Market. They are small, tasty and cheap. This lot only cost £2 and there were smaller racks for less... rude not to I thought...

It was a match day, expectations were high... (not that high as we were playing Man United), but high enough to bet on Newcastle to win and get up early to light the smoker and pop some ribs in. The sun was shining, autumnal colours were dancing around the yarden, wood smoke was puffing out of Mr. Smokerson, I could smell smoky delicious ribs, I was happy, Mr. Smokerson was happy, everyone was happy...

That was until about 4 minutes into the match, but the less said about that the better, I still smelt a bit of wood smoke and hadn’t forgotten the good times entirely...

You don't necessarily need a smoker to make these as there are two methods, one for the smoker and one for the oven. I haven’t tried the oven method yet, but the smoker way is pretty damn good, so I'm guessing that is too. The recipe is from the Joe Beef book, my current obsession and inspiration for my Pop-up Feast on the 3rd November at Ouse Street Arts Club.

My ribs weighed about 350g. Mix together a teaspoon of smoked paprika, one of garlic powder, one of mustard powder and one of black pepper, and add some crushed bay leaf. Rub this mix all over the ribs, whether you are putting them into the oven or the smoker.

For the oven method put them in a tray, pour in half a bottle of beer and cook for 2½ hours at 165°C covered with foil, for the smoker method bring the smoker up to about 240°F and smoke for 4 hours, keeping the temperature between 210°F and 240°F. For me this involves lots of faffing, opening and closing of vents and messing around with probe thermometers... but actually Mr. Smokerson is pretty reliable kind of guy when you leave him to his own devises, I just like faffing around pretending I'm some kind of all American smoker guy... For a fuller explanation of how Mr. Smokerson works see my 'Experiments in Smoking part 1' post.

We added an overly large handful of apple wood chips at the same time as the meat went in, and a few more half way through just for good measure, the aim being to smoke the hell out of them. This resulted in a pretty bloody smoky rib; soft, sweet, delicious. Just all round delicious. Next time I'll make more as well as coleslaw, buns, bbq sauce... I want more already...

Pulled Pork, Polenta Chips, Baked Beans and Coleslaw

Thank goodness the sun has reappeared, thank goodness the rain has stopped... It has been quite depressing, rain every single day, for weeks on end. Rain, rain and more rain. I have a broken umbrella that makes me a bit cross every time I have to use it, I've ruined some of my shoes and been drenched on more than one occasion. It puts you off going anywhere or doing anything. I've been craving a holiday in the sun, lying on a beach, swimming in the sea... But suddenly it's all ok. The sun is out! It is warm! Today I wore ballet pumps for the first time in weeks, we sat in the garden all day and lit the BBQ! The weather forecast has little pictures of suns, far into the future, it actually feels like spring, summer even, and it is such a welcome arrival...

Whilst hiding from the rain last week I have been writing about sharing food for my column in Appetite magazine. Big or small plates in the middle of the table whether at home or in a restaurant bring about a lovely happy convivial sharing atmosphere. I love inviting people to my house for food, putting plates full of tasty fare on the table and everyone diving in...

So in the name of research I rang some friends and decided to cook a 9 hour shoulder of pulled pork that I found in the amazing 'Joe Beef' book. This book is definitely one of my favourite new finds, it includes a fois gras breakfast sandwich, potted eggs with truffle and a smorgasbord… What's not to love. The menu took a bit of time to decide, it is a bit of a new direction, but in the end I decided on pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw, polenta chips and BBQ sauce... Trashy, yet delicious...

The baked beans are an odd mix of ingredients, but totally delicious. They were a recipe for some lentils in the Joe Beef book, but I wanted baked beans, so adapted it to suit. Chop and fry some pancetta and an onion and fry until golden and soft, then add a minced clove of garlic. Next add half a cup of water, ¼ cup of ketchup, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of English mustard, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 bay leaf, some salt and 2 tins of haricot beans. Then bake in the oven at 180°C or simmer on the top for 45 minutes, with a lid on. Check on it and stir now and again, adding a bit more water if needs be. This is all a bit out of my comfort zone, but totally delicious.

The creamy coleslaw was a mix of shredded white cabbage, red cabbage, grated carrot, thinly sliced onion and some grated kohlrabi which the kind man from North East Organic Growers gave me at Spring Graze. I left it all to sit for an hour in a colander with a sprinkling of salt, to get rid of the excess water. Then mixed it together with half mayonnaise, half yoghurt, chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon and some whole grain mustard.

The main event was a 2kg shoulder joint of pork heavily smeared in English mustard, sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, a cup of water in the bottom of the tin and cooked at 130°C for 9 whole hours. I like recipes that you can say in one sentence. Put some foil over it after 5 hours and make sure it always has some liquid in the bottom of the tray... The house smelt amazing...

The joint of meat was so soft when I took it out you could press your finger into it and it oozed sticky lush juices. I was excited all day to get it out of the oven! The skin was blackened and crispy but still delicious and the meat couldn’t have been softer. A pile of soft, sweet delicious pork falling apart with some crispy polenta chips, creamy crunchy coleslaw and sweet smoky baked beans was just totally delicious, a bit of tangy BBQ sauce on the side. Everyone had a lovely time digging into big bowls of soft delicious pork, and I've started looking into flights to Montreal, because the sooner I visit the Joe Beef restaurant the better...

Fish Stew with Clams, Red Peppers, Almonds and Saffron

This is a Catalan fish stew from the Moro cookbook, it is called Romesco de peix. Romesco after the famous nut sauce from the region. Different types of fish can be used, Moro use monkfish and clams, you can also use mussels, prawns and other white fish. I'd be pretty happy sat in a little Catalonian restaurant with a bowl of this, some fresh bread, a salad and a crisp cold white wine, it would be delightful actually...

We picked up some very pretty clams from the Grainger Market and two little gurnard. I got a bit I got a bit carried away taking photos of the clams, and the gurnard are quite cute in an odd ugly fish way...

To start you need to heat 6 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and add a large chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook the onion slowly for about 15-20 minutes until it is soft, sweet and golden. Then add 2 cloves of garlic sliced thinly, a couple of large sprigs of rosemary finely chopped, 3 bay leaves and 2 red peppers thinly sliced. Soften the pepper for about 10 minutes then add half a teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika and a tin of chopped tomatoes. These amounts will serve four people.

Simmer everything for another 10 minutes then add 150ml of white wine, let the alcohol bubble off for a couple of minutes then add 100ml of fish stock and about 50 strands of saffron that have been infused in 4 tablespoons of hot water, add the saffron and the water. Then add about 100g of ground almonds, Moro say 150g, which seems an awful lot, I may have added less than 100g, just until you have a thick-ish sauce. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

Finally add the fish, we left the gurnards whole, with their heads removed. If you're using monkfish cut it into chunks, about 650g. Add the fish and the clams, about 500g to the pot of sauce. Put the lid on and simmer until the fish is cooked through and the clams have steamed open, about 5 minutes. The sauce is deliciously smoky and sweet with paprika, tomato, nuttiness; with bites of sweet red peppers and fresh white fish and sweet little clams.

Smokey spinach, chickpea and pancetta stew

I make this quite often as it's pretty easy and makes a good mid week supper. It's a Thomasina Miers recipe originally and is Spanish in origin.

I grew my own spinach last year, but it is currently a slimy frozen mess at the bottom of the allotment, so this lot is out of a bag... I got the allotment last year and actually managed to grow quite a few things, including about a million courgettes. It was still a bit of a mess though and this year I plan to be really organised, grow loads, and turn half of it into a little garden for BBQs and outdoor summer wine drinking.

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 onion diced

1 carrot diced

1 stick of celery diced

2 bay leaves – fresh if possible

2 sprigs of thyme

2 cloves garlic chopped

½ - 1 tsp Spanish hot smoked paprika – depending on how hot it is

400g chickpeas drained

150ml tap water

180g pancetta/ lardons

150g spinach

Cook the onion in the olive oil with a pinch of salt until soft and sweet, about 8 minutes. Add the diced carrot and celery, bay leaves and thyme, stir and cook until softened, about 10 mins, season with salt and pepper. Brown the bacon in a separate pan, until turning crispy and brown around the edges. Add the bacon, paprika and garlic to the carrot mix after the 10 minutes.

This is the paprika I use... It is really smoky and hot and delicious. I don't know where I got it from which isn't much help, sorry...

Now leave to cook until really golden and soft and sticky, another 10/15 minutes. When the mix has turned caramelly and sweet add the drained chickpeas and water, leave to heat through for 5 minutes. Then add the spinach and stir through until wilted...

Serve with a warmed pitta, or a homemade flour tortilla, perhaps a dollop of plain yoghurt or sweet cumin yoghurt. You can add 200g of diced chestnuts at the same time as the bacon and paprika if you want, this turns the dish into a sweeter and thicker stew. Both are really good...

Perhaps later this year I will have grown my own carrots, onions, celery, spinach and garlic... I don't know how chickpeas grow, so will have to look into that one, it is perhaps a little cold in Newcastle I suspect. I planted some carrot seeds last year, quite a few of them, but not one ever appeared, so I may need to work on my skills somewhat...