Year of the Pig

Hungry and out in Brooklyn with my friend Shaky Dave, I finally made it over to the Smoke Joint in Fort Greene, a place he has been encouraging me to visit for quite a while now. We parked illegally, and made our way to the restaurant located on Elliot Street between Lafayette and Fulton.

The restaurant is small and low key, giving off a friendly welcoming vibe as soon as you walk in the door. There is a counter with a chalkboard menu above it on the right, and a smattering of seating on the left. Also, there is a nice cozy looking closed-in front porch area with additional seating. We walked up to the counter and despite a menu of items that looked worth exploring on future visits, I knew what was for dinner this evening, ribs of course! I ordered a half rack ($10) and a square of cornbread ($1). The staff were friendly and fun, and I appreciate that.

The ribs came out in short order, and I lit into them. They made for a satisfying meal but lacked the glory of great barbecue. I have to say, this New York Times review is right on the money as far as the ribs go, and more positively, also about the friendly staff:

…the spare ribs are passable once you’ve paired them with a sauce, but great dry rub pork ribs don’t want for sauce or succulence. Smoke Joint’s ribs need the former, because they’re lacking the latter. I suspect that the pork itself could be a problem. It can be tiring to read about pig breeds on every menu in town, but it’s far more tiring to gnaw on the lackluster flesh of lackluster swine. Then again, a mop sauce might clean up the problem entirely.

Hospitality is something they’ve already got down pat. The staff is chatty and self-effacing; any minor missteps — forgetting to pop the top on a bottle of beer, say — are earnestly apologized for. One night a woman in line ahead of me wondered out loud whether she should get the greens with her dinner. Mr. Grossman, who was working the register, boasted about their quality and jokingly bullied her as he produced a tasting portion for her to snack on while she waited for her order.

The ribs were decent, and certainly affordable for a porky barbecue dinner. I would note that they DID have a mop sauce on them, maybe responding to the NYT review, but it didn’t really help. The tomato based sauce I tried, “jointsmoke,” was quite good, and thankfully so as I used it liberally on the ribs. Also, they have a nice selection of decent beers: Dale’s, Pork Slap, and Ommegang, to name a few. Next time, I will have to try the beef short ribs which both Dave and the New York Times recommend, but that probably won’t make it to this blog. Don’t get me wrong, the Smoke Joint is totally worth a visit, and I will be back when I find myself in the area.

I polished off my half rack of ribs without a problem. I saved the sweet, buttered, grilled cornbread for last and had it for dessert like cake. 6 more ribs down for the Year of the Pig. That makes it a nice even 12 squared, 144 ribs. Thanks to all “yous” piggies!

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After a nice afternoon in Charlottesville, our taste for barbecue only whetted by Jinx’s, Mr. Blue, Mr. Red and I high tailed it down to Farmville, VA. We had a gig there that night, and after showing up at the venue, we dropped off our gear and asked if there was a decent barbecue place in town. We were directed to Grady’s BBQ, the ONLY barbecue place in town, but hey, that’s a start.

We found the place with no trouble and followed the signs from the parking lot, past the smokers out front, to the entrance of the building, which I believe was once an ol’ bank.

We walked into a large, empty lobby and spotted the entrance to Grady’s across the way. We walked in and although it was Saturday evening, I was surprised to see that the place was pretty dead. We had a seat and checked out the menu. We ended up ordering a mess of food for all of us to split: A pound of pulled pork, a rack of ribs, plus sides of beans and mac and cheese, which was also served with buns and cole slaw.

Grady’s was a great place, mellow and low key. The young woman working there was very friendly, and the food respectable, although not sublime. The pulled pork was good, but a stark contrast from that we had at Jinx’s in Charlottesville that afternoon. It was shredded much finer and drier. It was good, but benefited from sauce in a way that Jinx’s did not. As for the ribs, again maybe not the best I have ever had, but totally tasty, well done, savory, juicy, nicely smoked ribs. They were advertised as Memphis style with a dry rub.

We ate our fill, and still had to take a box of left overs with us. I was glad that Mr. Blue and Mr. Red seemed pleased as well:

I would like to mention that I had a great time in Farmville, and we were shown a great time by Wes, the proprietor of a new venue called the Mad Hatter where we played that night, for their opening night. We had a great time at the show, and maybe even a better time out on his farm, staying up too late playing music and hanging out with the horses under the stars.

Late at night, after drinking too much corn whiskey, I made a sandwich with the Grady’s leftovers, and it tasted all the sweeter, closer to sublime.

As for the ribulation, I had 5 Grady’s ribs, bringing the count to 138 ribs in the Year of the Pig.

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Last weekend was my birthday. Whats 34? That’s a throwaway birthday, but if nothing else, a good day for some ribs. We had some people over to play card games–Canasta, if you can believe that. The day before I bought 4 racks of spare ribs from the supermarket. I trimmed them up, realizing that I have gotten quite a bit better at the trimming, although it is still a little time consuming. I took off the remaining membrane, and some of the pockets of fat. Then when the rain stopped on Saturday afternoon and I was ready to smoke, I took the ribs and brined them in a light salt solution with a ratio of 1/4 cup of salt to 1 quart of water, for 30 minutes. I had read that this would help keep them moist so I thought it was worth a try.

I seasoned the racks based on two recipes from Paul Kirks’ “Championship Barbecue” book, which I like very much. I seasoned two racks with a thick coat of store bought saltless Lemon Pepper, and for the other two racks I chopped up about a tablespoon fresh rosemary and a tablespoon of thyme and ground them together with a head of pressed garlic using a mortar and pestle, til it was a thick garlicly paste. I rubbed the garlic mixture onto the racks. Since it didn’t coat the ribs like the rubs I usually use, I was afraid it wasn’t gonna really impart much flavor. I did my best to really rub the paste into the ribs, and it turns out that the flavor took very well.

I smoked the ribs all told for about five hours, using hickory chunks and some bourbon barrel oak chips. The temperature built up slow, but stayed around 225. About halfway through I turned them over in the rack, and basted them by rubbing butter on them, the more fat the better right?! Here is a picture of them at the halfway point:

After the halfway mark, whenever I opened the smoker (every 30 min or so) I would put a little smear of butter along the top of the racks and I would also spritz them with apple juice to keep them moist.

When the rib meat had drawn back off the tip of the bone by a good quarter inch or so it was time to take them off. I let them sit for about ten minutes and they looked wonderful:

I sliced them up and placed them on a platter to serve. Both recipes proved to be delicious and they were a big hit with everyone, but I especially liked the potent and simple flavor of the garlic and herbs ribs. To be honest, I found them to be the best ribs I had ever made. I wonder if the brining or the butter-basting made the difference, or something else, but I am telling you, these ribs were delicious. I was very happy with the result. These were the best birthday present I could ask for.

As for the ribulation, including that night an subsequent leftovers (yum) I ate ten delicious ribs, bringing the Year of the Pig count to a respectable 133 ribs. And counting. Thank you piggie!

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My diet over the last couple months has had no shortage of pork, but it has been sadly short on ribs. I am trying to make up for that this week.

Above is a crappy photo of meat. Sorry about that. The meat in question however is from the Brooklyn barbecue restaurant, Fette Sau. I have already mentioned this place in several posts, including Squidocto’s preview-review about it, but I had yet to try it for myself…until last weekend!

I arrived in Willimsburg around 10 pm not having had a bite to eat since lunch, and headed straight to Fette Sau. The place was hopping with Saturday night Williamsburg hipster types, and a hoofed it right through them to the counter and ordered up a rack of the baby back ribs which are served by the pound and cost around $25. The friendly young woman dropped my rack on the tray and I promptly picked it up and sat it down on one of the long tables, next to the not-that-funny-LCD-screen fireplace. I sat down excitedly and purposefully with my rack of ribs, ready to thoroughly enjoy them.

I planned to take my time with these ribs and savor them. The first bite was promising. They had a nice texture and solid smoky flavor. I have to say, however, I was disappointed. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they are tasty and enjoyable, but nothing to blow your mind. Also, the meat was a little dry and bland compared to say, Texas Hill Country, who’s ribs will blow your mind. Anyway, I got a little bored with these ribs about halfway through the rack, but nevertheless they made a very satisfying tasty meal for a man in desperate need of some ribs. To be fair, I will definitely come back and give the ribs another try. A trip to Fette Sau is certainly still a good time, the place itself has a real nice fun and low-key atmosphere that I dug.

Now, did someone mention Texas Hill Country? Oh yeah, that was me! I made it out to Texas Hill Country again last night, excited to relive my previous experiences with their wonderful pork spareribs. Could it be that they are really as good as I remember? For that I would be willing to put up with their zoo of Manhattanite customers and their inane seating methods, which are frankly just plain irritating. My friend Jay was playing with a Patsy Cline tribute band called the Poor Man’s Roses in the downstairs level (which typically has a good line up of bands), and my friend Ben and I saddled up to the bar to enjoy some ribs, some rye whisky and some music. The band was very good; they do an excellent job of reproducing the sweet, mellow, soulful music of Patsy Cline. As it got later, the crowd began to thin out and we moved over to a table to watch the band, and they even dedicated a nice version of Bill Monroe’s Blue Moon of Kentucky to yours truly, which was very nice, thanks. So, were the ribs as good as I remembered?? Yes, every bit and more so. God bless Texas Hill Country!

Rock on, I finally get to ribulate again! I think I left off at 108 ribs. Now I add 12 from Fette Sau and 3 from Texas Hill Country, which oddly enough, is about an equivalent amount of meat, bringing the grand total for the Year of the Pig to 123. Thank you piggies one and all, and may your ribs find their way to Texas Hill Country!

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This afternoon I was thinking fondly about how delicous the food was at Texas Hill Country was last week, and decided that I should swing by there for a follow-up sampling after work. It was hot as all hell out today, and I just wanted to go for a “lite” meal of a couple of ribs and a side or something, and I figured that the by-the-pound model they have would make that possible and very affordable.

It was Tuesday, so I was a little surprised to see that the place was pretty much a zoo when I got there at 8:20 pm. They said there was a 15 minute wait until they would even give us a meal card. We gave them our names but ended up not having to wait very long at all. The friendly hostess came and got me and gave me the run down of the restaurant. I have to say that over all the staff at Hill Country is very friendly, and go out of their way to make you feel welcome, which I like.

The line at the meat counter had died down to just a few people. We got in line and decided on our orders. The line moved like arctic molasses while a doofy guy in front of me heckeld his buddies about their inability to decide on an order and proclaimed his opinion that this place was nothing but a gimmick. He seemed kind of like a wiener:

The doofy guy and his friends moved along, and when I got to the front I ordered 2 pork spare ribs and a leg quarter of the smoked “market” chicken. I headed over to the sides counter and got a small order of the “Texas Caviar” which is basically a cold bean salad made with black-eyed peas.

We went down and grabbed a seat. Again, the ribs did not disappoint. They were pretty much just like I remembered which was what I hoped for: simply loaded with smokey flavor, and delicious. The outside, a little chewy and savory with a touch of sweetness, the inside tender and firm and dripping with flavor. Also, I would like to point out that this rib was freaking ENORMOUS:

I thought that bigger ribs tended to be tough and harder to cook. Obviously not in this case. I am in love…I would love to figure out how to cook a rib like this, but it seems daunting to say the least. It is so good.

Now enough gushing about Hill Country. Yes, the food is awesome, but it is by no means affordable. I guess that is fine for them though, cause they are packing the place in every night with a bunch of expense-account weilding Manhattan-ites. My 2 ribs were almost $10. Yes they were big, but 2 ribs for $10, that is pricey. I also got a small leg quarter of chicken (delicious and more affordable, almost $4) and a side of the Texas Caviar, which was fine, but just a small cup of bean salad for another $4. So, 2 ribs, 1 small piece chicken and some beans ended up costing almost $20. That is definitely Manhattan pricing, but then again, it’s in Manhattan. I realize I was spoiled by my first trip there when they picked up the tab for the band…I guess I just gotta hope we get another gig there!

Even though they should probably count as more three, we can add on two more ribs for the Year of the Pig. That brings the count to 108 ribs, or 3 pigs 18. Thank you the pigs!

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