Tag Archives: recipe

Be the BBQ Pitmaster Book Review

May 2, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

By now many of you have navigated to my guide to regional American BBQ styles. But there’s so much more to know about BBQ, even more than what I provided about the meats and an overview of the regional techniques.

For example, one could easily spend years just learning about and perfecting the various side items that go along with American BBQ – baked beans, pickles, corn bread, grits, collared greens and what have you. But those are just the basic ones. What about molasses cake, or ginger cake? Well, in my quest to dig deeper into the world of BBQ, I came across a really informative, useful and practical book.

Be The BBQ Pitmaster, by Will Budiaman, hit me with a thorough history of American BBQ, detailed discussions of the various regional techniques (well beyond what I covered in my guide), tips for wood selection, smoking instructions, analyses of various types of smokers, an exacting survey of the various ingredients and spices involved in BBQ, and even recipes from well known pitmasters in each region. I actually met one of those pitmasters last year at Meatopia (Tyson Ho, of Arrogant Swine), so I can personally vouch for the expertise that’s captured within the book.

It’s seriously a one-stop-shop for all your BBQ research and cooking application needs. The book obviously comes chock full of delicious-looking photos and recipes, but it’s also intuitively laid out and presented in such a manner that keeps the reader constantly engaged from cover to cover.

It starts with an overview of BBQ, and then dives deep into each regional style, with chapters neatly organized accordingly. Recipes are included that correspond to each region within these chapters. The book is an invaluable resource and recipe guide that will benefit both the novice and the seasoned smoker alike. And while I am unable to keep and maintain a smoker here in my microscopic NYC apartment, I will certainly be tackling some of the other recipes within the book.

This book is a seriously informative food guide. That’s why I felt compelled to write a review about it here for you meat mavens. I feel like, since you guys like this blog, then you’ll probably like this book.

Check it out. It’s available in both ebook and physical formats:

Be the BBQ Pitmaster: A Regional Smoker Cookbook Celebrating America’s Best Barbecue
By Will Budiaman
Sonoma Press, May 2, 2016
Paperback: $14.95 (250 pages)
Kindle: $6.99

Recipes

Rusty Screwdriver

February 8, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This is a quick and dirty mash-up of the classic screwdriver and rusty nail cocktails:

– Scotch & Orange Juice –

Essentially, it’s a poor-man’s Germain Scotsman. I love the combination of smokey scotch and orange juice with a hit of that elderflower flavor, but sometimes you just want to cut costs at a bar. And they may not have the right scotch or the elderflower liqueur, either. So this is a cheap substitute.

Recipes

MexiCali Sunset

February 8, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This refreshing cocktail is super easy to make. Here’s what you need to make it:

1 freshly squeezed clementine (or substitute with orange)
1 packet sugar in the raw
1 bottle of spicy ginger beer
mezcal (or substitute with tequila, sotol)

Add all ingredients except the ginger beer into a shaker with ice, and shake it the fuck up. Put as much mezcal in as you want! Pour over ice in a low ball glass. Fill it up between half and three quarters full. Then add ginger beer and stir before serving. Garnish with clementine rind to add a pop of bitter into the otherwise sweet drink, and rub the rind around the rim of the glass to get those citrus oils popping with each sip.

Recipes

White Mexican

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

You’ve all heard of the drink known as the “White Russian,” which was reincarnated by “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. Essentially it is vodka, Kahlua and milk/cream.

My twist on the drink swaps out the vodka and Kahlua for Patron Cafe, a coffee and dark chocolate flavored tequila (hence the Mexican element). You can still use the milk or cream for the “white” element, but if you want to add a nutty flavor you can go with almond milk and then hit it with a dash of sweetened condensed milk for thickness.

Recipes

Devil Tacos

January 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Devil Tacos is a recipe I concocted for usage of Saint Lucifer Spice during my review of their product. If you can’t get your hands on their delicious shit, then substitute for some other pepper like cayenne powder. But I highly recommend their habanero garlic blend. It just works better. Or use some actual habanero peppers to season the meat (just be careful with those fuckers).

What do you need and how do you make them?

1) Coat some skirt or flank steak with Saint Lucifer Spice.
2) Grill for two to three minutes per side, depending on thickness.
3) While the meat rests, warm up some soft tortillas.
4) Also while the meat rests, prep some cilantro, onions, sour cream and jack cheese for a cooling taco filling.
5) After resting, slice the steak into thin strips for taco filling (cut on the bias for tenderness).
6) Slice up an orange (or any sweet citrus element, really).
7) Fill your tortillas, and squeeze some orange juice on before eating.

Note: That sweet tartness from the orange will pair perfectly with the habanero of the Saint Lucifer spice and cut it ever so slightly. Trust me. Your taste buds will thank you. I swear that shit is fucking good. Orange + habanero is fucking amazing. I used to soak fresh habaneros in my cartons of orange juice to give the juice a nice kick.

If you have hairy balls, and you’re drinking a Bloody Mary with your Devil Tacos, you can even add a few shakes of Saint Lucifer into that shit as well.

Recipes

Steak Sauce Martini

December 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I came across an amazing drink that Chef Admir from Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse whipped up for the holiday season. It’s called the Steak Sauce Martini.

Ingredients

1oz Bourbon
1oz Eggnog
1oz White Chocolate Liqueur
1oz Frangelico
1/4 teaspoon Steak Sauce
1 Strip of Bacon (for stirring)

Directions

Smear the steak sauce on the inside of a chilled martini glass.
In a shaker with ice, add bourbon, eggnog, white chocolate liqueur and Frangelico.
Shake and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with strip of bacon.

If its too much work for you to make at home, then take a trip over to Ben & Jacks to try it out.

Recipes

Winter is Coming

November 29, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

It’s really simple:

1 part Amaretto
1 part Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey Whiskey
1 part Kahlua

Shake up with ice and pour over some rocks. It starts out looking cloudy and light brown, but then it darkens up as it settles. A riff on this if it is too strong is to mix in a little bit of milk, but then the whole dynamic changes.

These were a smash hit on Thanksgiving. I must’ve made a half dozen of them for family members that took a sip of mine and then wanted their own. To me, it tasted like liquid brown sugar. My sister said it tasted like chocolate covered black cherries. My wife said it was a very “Fall/Autumn” drink.

Recipes

Sweet Cactus

November 23, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Adding to my repertoire of cocktails made with aloe drink, I went a little deeper into that family of aloe/cactus plant lineage with this mezcal-based drink:

1 part aged mezcal
2 parts aloe drink
1 teapoon agave syrup
1 packet of sugar in the raw
a squirt of lime juice

Shake with ice, and serve on ice. Very refreshing.

Recipes

Aloe Guvna

November 22, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to make a dent in some booze that I haven’t touched for a while in the liquor cabinet. I offered to make my wife a cocktail and she said “surprise me,” so I figured I would concoct something new and unique.

I have a LOT of scotch, so that was the first ingredient I picked. I took the lemon juice out, and grabbed a packet of sugar in the raw. But it needed something else. I opened the fridge and saw some aloe drinks. Perfect! It has a lychee-ish, grape-ish, elderflower-ish flavor to it, and a bit sweet but refreshing at the same time.

So I threw one part scotch, two or three parts aloe drink, lemon juice and sugar into the shaker with some ice and went to work shakin’ that shit. The result was a foggy yellow colored drink that was absolutely incredible!

Strong, sweet, refreshing and unique. You can swap the lemon for lime if you want, and you could add a dash of spicy ginger beer if you have it, or perhaps a splash of cherry juice. I garnished with a cherry.

Recipes

Steak “Salad”

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Okay so I am playing fast and loose here with the term “salad,” I realize that. If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you know I have some very serious opinions about what constitutes a salad.

According to my definition, this is not a salad. This is some other kind of appetizer. But if you’re like me, you have an aversion to reheating leftover steak from the steakhouse. Other than tossing the leftovers into a pot to make a stock or a broth what can do with the meat, especially if you ate like a pussy and there’s a lot of nice slices left?

Once in a while my wife and I will cut it up small and toss it in with some fried rice or something, but this steak “salad” is a really fun and quick way to make a pre-dinner, cold food item.

This recipe is a little something I picked up from my dad, who used to make this with leftover steaks as well. We called it “meat salad” around the house.

The first thing you do is cut up the steak remnants into small, thin pieces. Try to cut against the bias so that you simultaneously tenderize the meat. While cutting, you can remove some of the excess fat or gristle. Keep that in the freezer for the next time you make beef stock or broth.

You’re almost done already. Place the meat into a bowl and drizzle on some olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Then toss with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes and crushed red pepper. If you have any cheeses in the fridge, this dish goes really nice with some shaved pecorino or parmesan, or crumbled blue cheese, on top.