BBQ | Sybaritica
I have recently featured a couple of different back-rib recipes. Both used fairly complex seasoning mixtures and respectively employed the techniques of pre-cooking and the indirect heat grill method. Today, I am cooking back-ribs again but I am going to grill over a direct flame after a marinating the meat using only garlic and herbs… Read more
While I was having lunch at a restaurant in Yellowknife a while ago, an interesting item on the menu caught my eye. I forget the name of it now, but basically it was a rib-steak marinated in a Chimichurri sauce and then given a Cajun style rub before grilling. It sounded terrific and I would love to have tried it but the steaks on the menu were only available after 5pm. In any event, the idea was quite intriguing and though I can’t really recreate it (not having been able to taste it), I thought I might try something along the same lines at home… Read more
Months ago, I posted an experiment whereby I poached ribs in a Chinese Master Stock before cooking them further. Here, I am going to be doing something somewhat similar except that I will be using my Firepot Stock, which is now, as of the date of this experiment, about a month and a half old.
Simply tossing a large slab of ribs onto a very hot barbecue will often result in meat that is dry and overcooked, especially on the outside, and so more complex methods are often employed in which the racks are slowly cooked by indirect heat on a cooler part of the grill before being quickly finished over higher heat. Here, I am going to poach the ribs in my stock first as I hope this this gentle precooking will achieve a nice moist flesh while infusing them with additional flavor before the second cooking… Read more
Date of Visit: July 6, 2013
The Hard Rock Cafe in Ottawa’s Byward Market is just one in a huge chain of restaurants with locations around the world. Despite the fact that the general culinary theme reflects the American southwest, the empire had its beginnings, I was surprised to learn, in London, England.
The selection of food available in these places is generally family restaurant fare, with the obligatory nachos and Chicken wings, but they also do a bit of a line in smokehouse delicacies as well. In general, the menu is not one that would tempt me especially but the Byward Market restaurant has a nice outdoor patio with a pleasant view and so, on a very hot and humid day, I decided to see what they could do with a steak… Read more
After sampling several Northern Chinese BBQ dishes at the Ju Xiang Yuan Restaurant in Ottawa some time ago, I tried reproducing one of their offerings and posted it as Grilled Squid with Chili and Cumin. The restaurant also does shrimp grilled the same basic way (which I didn’t try, but mean to rectify sometime), and I thought I would give it a try at home first. I am departing from the general method used by the restaurant (they dust with ground dried chili, cumin and sesame seeds), and instead used a chili paste that is first slightly sweetened… Read more
Recently, Carla over at Expat Chef in Barcelona ( a great blog, by the way, so please check it out), made some great comments to Part 6 of my Sunday Gravy experiment (The Pulled Pork Sandwich). I was looking for something to do for part 8 and her BBQ sauce idea prompted me to cook some ribs in the gravy (thus adding yet more depth to the flavor) and then use them to play around with barbecue sauce ingredients she suggested.
I plan to update you on the status of the gravy shortly (we are now at Day 45, of the experiment), but, basically, Carla inspired me to use a little of the current result with some simple additional additions in order to make a tangy sauce. There won’t be any actual barbecuing involved in this experiment, actually, but I am looking forward to seeing how her general theme works with the ribs cooked in the oven… Read more
This is a bit of a departure from the usual sort of fare I feature here but this experiment will allow me to feature some of the ‘Pulled-Pork’ I had left resulting from my recent Sunday Gravy Project post.
To be honest, neither my wife or I have been keen on pulled-pork the few times we have been served it but I have always wanted to give it a try in my own kitchen. Accordingly, in this post, not only will I get to test my own version, I will also get to show you a use for the Sweet Onion Shreds I introduced you to recently and, as a little bonus, share a simple but interesting trick at the same time… Read more
I was inspired to try this experiment after enjoying a similar Chinese BBQ dish at the Ju Xiang Yuan Restaurant in Ottawa last year. I actually gave it a try at home shortly after my return but, lacking a barbecue following the disastrous fire the previous summer, I tried to use my oven grill, which just didn’t produce the result I wanted. Now, however, I am the proud owner of a brand new barbecue, courtesy of my lovely wife, and this dish will be the very first to be cooked upon it… Read more
321 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa – (613) 241-6665 – Website
Date of Visit: July 25, 2012
The 3 Brothers restaurant in Byward Market might seem like an odd choice of place to go for breakfast but, as you can see on their sign, they do in fact offer breakfast service. I was rather curious to see what a breakfast might be like in a place that specializes in Shawarma, but it turned out to be pretty much the standard bacon-and-egg fare. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a little more exotic but, actually, it was pretty good… Read more
The above picture captures what has to be one of my least successful BBQ feasts…
The post I am currently working on involves a particular culinary process that will take some time to complete and, since I can’t finish writing until it is done, I have decided to take break from my usual sort of post and share a rather nasty experience with you. The incident in question took place over a year and a half-ago and, while I am able to take it somewhat lightly now, at the time it was one of the scariest episodes in my whole life … Read more