backyard grub

Carolina Barbecue

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer. While I think you can have a barbecue just about any time, lots of folks consider this the last big weekend to fire up the grill.

When people in my neck of the woods say "barbeque", they are not thinking about ribs slathered in a ketchup-based sauce. Outsiders are sometimes shocked when they order barbecue in North Carolina. It is quite different from barbecue anywhere else in the U.S.

Barbecue in eastern North Carolina is shredded roast pork (the whole pig or sometimes just the shoulder) drenched with a cider vinegar-based sauce, usually with red pepper flakes. The barbecue is either piled on a plate or on bread, and served with coleslaw and hushpuppies. My parents have been known to bring a cooler with them on visits from Oklahoma. They stop in their hometown, go to their favorite joint, and load a cooler with round paper cartons full of pork barbecue.

So, if you make this, it's as simple as roasting pork -- no need to get fancy with seasonings. Let it cool before you shred it. Then drench the shredded meat in the sauce which you have mixed the night before.

Carolina Style BBQ Sauce:

4 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
3-4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients and let this sit for several hours before using. No need to cook, but I wouldn't pour it over the meat straight from the fridge.

You can play with this, because everyone has their own super-special secret recipe. Some of their ingredients include molasses, dry mustard, dashes of Worchestershire sauce, melted butter, chili sauce... just remember that if you add ketchup, you are leaving the sacred territory of Eastern style North Carolina barbecue and headed west.

For slaw, I personally don't like it made with mayo, and if you are eating outdoors, it's a good idea to avoid mayo, anyway. I recently tried this recipe for Cabbage and Tomato Slaw with Mustard Vinaigrette from Epicurious.

Learn more about this style of barbecue from the book North Carolina Barbecue. If you ever come to North Carolina, pick up a copy of The Best Tar Heel Barbeque for a review of more than 140 barbeque places across the state. (Proceeds from the book support Special Olympics North Carolina.)

Groom's Tomato Sauce

Elke has a bumper crop of home-grown tomatoes. If only all of us were so blessed! She asked for a tomato sauce recipe.

This is my husband's recipe, which I think he learned from his mom because I've seen his sister make it, too. The first time I had it, it was while we were dating, and it was his first time to my apartment. He brought fresh tomatoes, fish, eggs, Italian parsley, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and a few other ingredients. He also brought some of his favorite CDs to share. He went to my kitchen and started cooking dinner. He refused to let me lift a finger, except for making iced tea. So there I sat, candles burning, music playing, watching a gorgeous man peel tomatoes in my kitchen for me.

What else is a single woman to think but "I have to marry this guy"?

We tied the knot less than three months after eating this sauce...! (Thus the name.)

As far as the sauce, he served it with breaded fish, and it was great. His other favorites are meatballs and eggs.

several tablespoons of olive oil (a good glug)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
7-8 medium to large ripe tomatoes, peeled*, seeded if you like, and diced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin**
2 tablespoons minced Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1/4 cup fresh minced cilantro

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a pot with a wide bottom. Add the minced garlic and let it cook for a minute; just make sure the garlic doesn't burn.

2. Add the tomatoes, paprika, salt, and cumin. Cook over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occassionally -- we also smash some of the tomato chunks with a wooden spoon while cooking (whether that's an approved cooking method, I don't know). Taste and adjust seasoning.

3. Stir in the parsley and cilantro and remove from heat.

* I recommend the shock method to peel tomatoes: boil a large pot of water. While it's heating, fill a bowl halfway with ice, and add water to make an ice bath. Cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. Drop each tomato in the boiling water for about 20-60 seconds -- the more ripe the tomato is, the less time it will need-- then take out the tomato and immediately plunge it in the ice water. You should be able to easily remove the skin. This method also works great on peaches.

** cumin note: You'll enjoy better flavor if you grind your own cumin seeds. Toast whole cumin seeds in a dry pan for just a few seconds, until they begin to smell. Remove immediately from the heat (they can burn quickly). I keep a coffee grinder just for spices. Grind your cumin seeds after they've cooled a bit.

Barbeque Sauce

My senior year in college I got a new roommate. I walked in the apartment and found a very thin, tall girl from Malaysia, sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, eating chocolate chip ice cream out of a half-gallon carton. It was 4:00 p.m. Her name was Denu. After we introduced ourselves I asked her about the ice cream. "We don't have chocolate chip in my country," she said.

"Aren't you worried you'll ruin your dinner?"
She said, "I don't like American food. It's too bland."
I said, "What kind of American food have you had?"
Denu: "Cafeteria food."

AAAAGH!

I explained to Denu that cafeteria food isn't really food; it's just edible sustenance to live off of while you're in college. I offered to take her out to dinner, and we took off to north Tulsa (Oklahoma), to a place I think was called Joe's BBQ, for a more proper introduction to American food. Whatever the name was, it was one of the places where many college students who went to church on the north side wanted to eat after Sunday services-- you were sure to get eats made with more soul than what was served in the cafeteria. We walked into Joe's and I said, "she likes it hot." We got ribs, slaw, and bread. A few minutes later Denu was smacking the sauce off her fingers. "I like this American food," she said. "It's spicy."

I really don't like sweet bbq sauces; I like it tangy. My mom's bbq sauce is the only sauce for me. I'm not sure where she got the recipe. It's called Jamaican BBQ sauce; don't know why, but it's not jerk sauce if that's what you're looking for. Although it has a lot of ingredients, you just throw everything in the blender, so it comes together fast-- faster than you can run to the corner store for bottled sauce. This keeps in the refrigerator for a good while. I love this with chicken.

Mom's Jamaican Barbeque Sauce

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
3 teaspoons worchestershire sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 cup tomato puree
dash liquid smoke

Just blend and refrigerate; heat prior to use.