Help keep AmazingRibs free!
With a $25 donation you'll get a 100% cotton, brushed twill, adjustable, low profile cap with the AmazingRibs.com patch sewn on. I'll even toss in a small bag of BBQ'rs Delight excellent wood smoke pellets.
Click for more info and pictures of the hat.
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QUICK LINKS
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Show Me Yours
| I've been getting wonderful emails and pix from you. Man, you folks
know how to party! Send me pix of your versions of my recipes or your party and I might publish them on my site.
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| Smoke Signals is Free
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About Smoke Signals
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Smoke Signals is the free email from AmazingRibs.com's Barbecue Whisperer and Hedonism Evangelist, Meathead.
If you like my website, please click here to forward a copy of this to a friend. And remember: No rules in the bedroom or dining room!
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No I have Not Abandoned My Omnivore Friends
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| Before I started my strike against
factory farming by renouncing meat for 30 days, I put the finishing
touches on several meat recipes and there are links below.
Sunday August 15 is
the late Julia Child's 98th birthday. Although she reached fame in Boston, she was born in Pasadena and retired in Santa Barbara. That's Tri-tip Country and she loved this local version of barbecue. A link to my recipe is below. Enjoy it, even if I can't.
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How to Grill Great Steakhouse Steaks
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|  Steaks are easy. Hard to mess up. Unless you overcook them.
Regardless of what cut of steak you cook, there are some basic tips and techniques that can raise your game, and when you master them, you will have your guests reeling in deliria.
Click here for the path to great steakhouse steaks.
I have also made some significant revisions to my article about The Zen of Beef Grades & Labels. particularly at the bottom under the heading "Where beef is heading."
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Gold Nugget Lip Smackin' Cracklins
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In the fancy Manhattan restaurants they tout their dishes garnished with pork bellies. They are soft, melt in your mouth buttery and meant to go with wine. Down South they make cracklins from pork bellies. They are crispy, salty, and crunchy and meant to go with beer. In New Orleans, they're grattons. In Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Philippines, they're chicharrons. I call them Gold Nuggets. No matter what you call these cousins of bacon, only chocolate is more decadent.
First, we need to clarify some terms. Cracklins are not the same as pork rinds. Pork rinds are popular snacks sold in bags like potato chips. Called baconettes in Cajun Country and beloved by the first George Bush. They are made by frying the fibrous fatty layer under the skin of the hog until they get light, puffy, and crunchy, like giant Rice Crispies.
Cracklins are a thin layer of skin and the rind combined, often with a thin layer of meat, deep fried until Golden Brown and Delicious (GBD), and then salted and spiced. They are addictive as a snack with beer. They can also be added to beans, greens, soups, stews, or as a salad topping, wherever you might add bacon. In New Orleans they are often mixed into corn bread batter adding a tasty crunch. I once floated them in a cream and pumpkin soup. They. Were. Incredible.
The old fashioned traditional classic recipe is simple. Deep fry the skins and subcutaneous fat layer in oil for about 6 to 8 minutes until they are GBD. And doubly greasy. And the skin can get really really hard. Like shard hard. And frying them also makes a horrible mess. They can pop and spatter all over the stove and floor. I wanted to avoid the mess, tame the hardness of the skin, and add some flavor. So, of course, I took them outside. Click here to see how I accomplished my goals. Hint: There will be smoke.
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Santa Maria Tri-Tip Steaks: Poor Man's Prime Rib
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|  In the beautiful Central Coast town of Santa Maria on California Highway 101, there are big ranches, plenty of cattle, and ocean breezes that whisper "bah-be-quuuuuu".
Originally settled by Mexican cowboys called vaqueros, Santa Maria has an international reputation for their local specialty, tri-tip steak, the unique grill they invented to cook it, and the clever way they carve it to make it tender.
Tri-tip is a crescent shaped muscle from the bottom sirloin just in front of the hip. It has big beefy flavor, it is very lean, so it can be on the chewy side if you don't cook and slice it properly. But cook and slice it the way they do in Santa Maria, and you can have a piece almost as tender, and every bit as juicy as prime rib. Click here to learn how.
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The Zen of Hams
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A few months or go I uploaded a useful new article that I don't think I've mentioned in Smoke Signals yet, The Zen of Hams, with a good definition of all the major ham types and how to cook and serve them. Click here for everything you ever wanted to know about hams and more.
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Improved Pork Loins
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I recently made some major improvements to my article on Stuffed Pork Loin. If you are looking for a dish that is quick and easy and really wows the guests, this is it.
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Two Egregious Omissions
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|  Last month I paid tribute to Upstate New York and I heard from several
of you about two omissions.
Most notable, I did not include Buffalo
Chicken Wings. Sorry bout that, but I am still fussing with my grilled version.
The original is deep fried, and crispiness is an important part of its
appeal. I am not happy with the crispiness of my grilled wings. I've got
the blue cheese sauce and the hot sauce down, but I'm still fussing
with the cooking of the wings. Stay tuned.
 I also omitted mention of the
marvelous new breed of New York wines. There shouldn't be any wine lover
alive who is still laboring under the misconception that New York wines
are all sweet Concords. Although I haven't been up there in a couple of
years, last trip I was blown away by the quality of the white wines,
especially Rieslings.
The picture here is the late Dr. Konstantin Frank, the man who proved you could grow the great European vinifera grapes in the Finger Lakes.
I was a judge at the very first New York
State Fair wine Competition in 1976, and Rieslings from Glenora and
Heron Hill, brand new wineries at that time, stole the show. One of these days I will write in detail about these crucial years when New York wines were reborn.
Finger Lakes Rieslings are
still kicking butt (and they go extremely well with barbecue pork butt),
and they have been joined by a dozen more newer wineries who have
parlayed the cool hilly climate to produce German style wines. Seek them
out. You will not be disappointed.
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Fun Gifts for the Barbecue Fan
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|  Visit the AmazingRibs.com Gift Shop for a chuckle. There are more than 30 BBQ-themed designs, about 30 steak-themed designs, about 20 hotdog-themed designs, and more than 30 wine-themed designs. Order aprons, hats, shirts, sweatshirts, intimate wear, and
other apparel for men, women, kids and pets, beer mugs, posters, and
other tschotschkes.
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