I’m not sure how this adds into my unfinished notes-on-barbecue and the importance of barbecue pits, but one factor I’ve not mentioned is the problem of weather.
Joe York, for whom Ricky Parker is (understandably) the Zen master of barbecue (if you can imagine a Zen master from rural middle Tennessee who is fueled on Mountain Dew and Jack Daniels and who has cooked thousands of whole hogs– he can cook 20 in a day without straining at his barbecue place) says Parker says that barbecue just comes down to you and mother nature.
So, somehow, I’m snakebit the last few times and have done major barbecue projects the last few months in the rain, which has reinforce, totally, a simple matter of physics: When you are using energy, the process of turning water to steam is going to require a lot more energy, and require a lot more effort, to get to and maintain temperature.
I’ve had it with doing barbecue in the rain. So, after the rain Tuesday, let’s hope for a dry spell through next Sunday night.
Anyhow, I cooked a lot of barbecue for a tent in the Grove Saturday, because Arkansas was in town. Arkansas in town is good time for cooking pigs. The barbecue went well, the weather for the game (if not the barbecue) was magnificent, and a splendid time was had by all-who-weren’t-razorbacks.
One of the things I made was baked beans, and I have been asked for the recipe. It’s a project, but here’s what I do.
Baked Barbecue Beans
5 cups dried great northern beans, cooked as below
1 tbs powdered ginger
1/2 tbs ancho chille powder
1/2 dark brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tbs powdered mustard
1/2 bottle picappepa
1/4 cup apple cider binegar
1/2 cup generic catsup
a quantiy of ground black pepper
a half bottle of Guinness stout
1 tbs chopped garlic
reserved cooking liquid for the beans
combine all of the ingredients in a pot and simmer gently for at least an hour and a half. If you can’t tend this while cooking, you might want to bake it in a 350 degree oven. If you have access to pulled or chopped pork barbecue, add a lot of it (a cup, cup and a half?) about a half hour before done. Stir regularly if on the stovetop, occasionally if in an oven.
If you want to try to shortcut this and use canned beans, strain and rinse the canned beans and substitute stock for the reserved cooking liquid. If you are using canned stock, be careful about adding salt. I’ve never done it, but I think it’s about 12 cups of cooked or canned beans. 72 oz of canned beans? This will make a noticeably inferior final final dish.
Cooked Great Northern Beans
5 cups dried beans
2 buttons of garlic
2 ham hocks or a ham bone
3/4 cups chopped onion
1/2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cups chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped leeks
an herb bundle made of leek leaves, 3 chili peppers, 3 bay leaves, 4-5 thyme sprigs (add dried thyme to the stock if you don’t have this) 4-5 savory sprigs if you have them, 3 parsley springs, a celery stalk, all tied together
cheesecloth
a gallon or so? of pork stock (I’m least sure about this measure, having played it by ear. The stock for the dried beans has to be homemade because of the salt and other issues; you may have to use water if you can’t make the stock).
put the garlic in a cheesecloth bundle. put the onion, celery, carrots, leek in a cheesecloth bundle.
combine the stock, beans in a pot. Add the garlic and vegetable bundles, and the herb bundle, beans, and stock. Bring to a simmer (cook dried beans gently!) and cook until the beans are soft. Watch the liquid quantity– if it runs low, add either more stock or (failing that) water. The liquid quantity here is the part of this recipe I’ve played most by ear.
Strain, reserving beans and stock separately.
These make a great bean dish for any use involving cooked dried beans, including for a side dish of cooked beans. If you’re serving them that way, I’d recommend adding chopped fresh garlic and olive oil.
Pork Stock
The bean recipe calls for pork stock. I’ve written about pork stock and bean recipes before, and want to reiterate how great pork stock can be when you are cooking bean dishes.
5 or so pounds of pork neckbones
1-2 ham hocks
2-3 chili pods
1 cup each chopped onions, celery, carrots
3 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
Combine all the ingredients and cover by 2-3 inches with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer at least 2 hours, and the longer the better. Skim while cooking Strain.
When you make the beans (above) this should be enough liquid, but it is important to have enough to cook the beans– which is not a science. Add water if necessary.
Wow, what a project! Best damn beans I’ve had though, so from my point of view, it’s well worth the effort. Of course, that’s easily said by someone who put in absolutely none of the effort.
By the way, I think this will serve 20 or so people.
Tom,
You might try to get a shoulder from a lard pig. You have probably been using bacon pigs which are most common for commercial bar-b-que.
If you attend any cook-offs you’ll notice the winners never say where they get their meat!
Below is a little snippet from http://www.camp-cook.com in the forum section.
Enjoy
“In the U.S., you have to raise it yourself or find a specialty breeder that raises real pigs. The primary problem is that the breed since WW2 has shifted from a lard to a bacon pig. The lard pig is much more marbled and flavorful animal. The pork industry rely on a hybrid of Duroc, Hampshire, and Yorkshire breeds. There is only seven other comercial breeds remaining so you have to go outside of the box. They did this to become ‘the other white meat’. It is a shame because not everything needs to taste like chicken.”
I know I’ve cooked a variety of breeds– and that the first two whole hogs I cooked were Berkshires. I have a local source for pork, who sells me the best pork I’ve ever eaten. The difference in flavor between this pork and “industrial” pork is remarkable.
For about 3 years, I’ve had access to specialty raised pigs. Last year, I used one from Mennonite farmers in TN. In June, Joe York, his brother, and I used a hog from Lexington TN, obtained where Ricky Parker gets his for BE Scott’s bbq. The other times, they were from someone who raises them in Panola County (and raised the pork Dan Latham used when he had a restaurant here). I’ll ask about the lard vs. bacon pig question. I will say that the first time i did a whole hog, I was stunned by the amount of lard that flowed off the hog after it was pulled off the fire. Each time I think, “I need to save that for cooking” (a thought that strikes horror in my wife, who does not believe that unhydrogenized lard is really better for you thank many cooking fats, for instance, butter).
Tom, you are a very lucky man to have access to good pork although you are ruined for life as you will never be statisfied with the store bought stuff.
It’s almost hog killing time in the mid-South-wouldn’t some homemade pork sausage be mighty good on a cold frosty morning with some cat-head biscuits?
You can probably remember when Mr. Levy’s Jitney Jungle had a huge shelf space devoted to nothing but lard. It came in buckets so heavy you could not pick them up without a two-wheel cart
.
Everyone cooked with the stuff til they came out with Criscoe. Then they all had a can on the stove to put the bacon drippings in which they used for flavoring the cooked vegtables.
Brings back some fond memories.
WS