illdothedisheslater

(A tale of two failures, or two wrongs make a right.)

So change of plan this week.  Today’s post was supposed to be all about smoking meat on the grill.  I got a grill for my birthday, a book about smoking, and I’ve spent the week reading and researching and thawing a big ‘ol pork butt.  I cleared my schedule Saturday, planning to spend the day on the porch, tending my meat and throwing wood chips over the coals.  I tenderly and lovingly rubbed my butt with sweet paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning.  I scored the fat cap, lit the coals and waited.

Gorgeous right?  Unfortunately instead of smoking for 12 hours at a low temperature of 250, the grill immediately soared up to an alarming 500+, and this result came after only a mere hour, leaving the inside completely raw.  So.  I have a little more homework to do before I try this again, I think.  Undeterred, I covered it with foil and threw it in the oven for six hours to finish cooking and changed my plans.

Memphis Barbecue Sauce:  I’ve spent a little time in Memphis – my dear brother went to grad school there and I’d visit from time to time and do touristy things (not Graceland, sadly).  I’ve never been a fan of the sticky-sweet ketchupy sauces, and Carolina mustard sauce is an upsetting color.  Plus I like the taste of pork, if you hadn’t noticed, so I don’t want to drown, hide, or otherwise disguise it with too much of a good thing.

Never having made barbecue sauce before, I decide not to wing it and turn to Serious Eats for their Memphis style recipe.  It calls for:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomato sauce

½ cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup molasses

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

So – saute the onions, add the garlic, add everything else.  I’m missing the rice vinegar, because I forgot to buy it, but that shouldn’t matter.  (Molasses is expensive!)  A quick whir with the immersion blender and:

Bleah.  Boring.  Tasteless.  I start adding more and more of everything.  Nothing helps.  Eventually I just dump a bunch of cayenne into it then, sadly, ketchup.  The ketchup somehow wakes the mess up and it starts to taste pretty good.  Not great, but pretty good.  (Two days later, lying in bed, I realize I forgot to add the brown sugar.  Hmph.  I also forgot to photograph the whole ingredient pile for the sauce.  Hmph.)

So pretty much a failure, but by failure I mean we still had a delicious meal.  The meat was tender and, though not as smoky as I’d hoped, still had some good flavor.  The sauce was fine.  And the only way to serve it, of course, is on a puffy white bun.  On a paper plate.  (Fewer dishes to wash.)