Does it get any better than smoked pork? I mean really. I wanted to demonstrate with this video that making great restaurant quality BBQ ribs is possible without any fancy equipment, or even nice weather (as demonstrated in this particular video).

If you learn anything from this video, learn this:

- DO NOT BOIL RIBS. EVER. Well, that is unless you like eating flavourless gray mush grilled at the last minute and drowning in store bought BBQ sauce. But I guarantee once you try these, you’ll never go back.

Okay, I’ve talked enough, watch this will ya? By the way, I apologize in advance for the questionable video quality and lighting, it’s BBQ, it’s outside, and it’s all about the end product anyways!

Now for recipes and method:

Drew’s BBQ Rub

1 cup Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chinese 5 spice powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container.

Method for Great BBQ Ribs on Any Grill

1. Prep ribs by trimming excess fat, and removing the membrane along the underside. Use a butter knife to lift the corner and a paper towel to help you grip the membrane and pull it off in one piece.
2. Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard to the exterior of the ribs (as stated in the video, there will be no mustard taste left, but if this still freaks you out, use olive oil)
3. Liberally apply the BBQ rub to both sides of the ribs to coat evenly.
4. Heat BBQ on indirect heat (completely off on one side, low on the other side, shoot for an internal temperate between 225 and 275F if you have a gauge)
5. Place ribs on unheated side of the BBQ along with a foil pouch of wood chips and let smoke for 2 hours.
6. Remove ribs from the grill and wrap loosely in heavy duty aluminum foil. Place back on BBQ for approx. 2 more hours
7. Remove ribs from foil place back on BBQ unfoiled for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until ribs are crispy and tender to the touch

Remove and enjoy with your favorite BBQ sauce! Or try making one of mine

Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1.5 cups ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tsp tobasco

Simmer all ingredients except water for approximately 15 minutes. Add in the water and stir to bring sauce to desire consistency. Pour sauce through a fine strainer into air tight container and refrigerate any unused sauce for up to 2 weeks.

For those who love a tangier sauce with their BBQ (like me), here is a mustard and vinegar based sauce that goes great with ribs and pulled pork especially:

Tangy Mustard Vinegar Sauce

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Yellow mustard
1/4 cup onion finely minced
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Simmer all ingredients together for about 20 minutes over low heat. Strain throw a fine sieve just like the other sauce and enjoy! Refrigerate that leftover sauce (if there is any) for up to 2 weeks.

So there we have it! And lastly, for the BBQ purists, I am well aware that “true” BBQ is cooked over wood or a combination of wood and charcoal and not a tiny propane grill on a rainy patio. My point with this video was simply to show that great tasting ribs with smoke flavour CAN be cooked on a small condo grill, where bylaws often forbid charcoal and wood burning BBQ pits. Hey, anything’s better than boiling right?

Enjoy!

I’ve decided we’re going to start something new over here at the food blog. Each week, I’m going to share a unique or overlooked ingredient with you along with some info and a recipe or two. Why? Because I can, and also because each time I go to a place like an asian grocery store, or Granville island market, I like to buy something I have never of or tried before. Even for someone who’s been cooking for a while, you will never run out of things to try. Sure, some have been awesome discoveries, and some brutally bad (I once bought a pound of lamb brains after seeing someone deep fry and eat them on TV), but hey, try before you judge right?

Without further adieu, here is this week’s unique ingredient: The Meyer Lemon

So what? It looks like a regular lemon! Maybe, but it’s not a regular lemon at all, in fact it’s a rare citrus that is a combination of a regular lemon with a sweet mandarin, originating from China and recently becoming popular in Western culture after being used by some very famous chefs.

It has a balanced tang and sweetness that make it perfect for desserts, dressings, and other applications. The most famous chef to make use of meyer lemons is Charlie Trotter, who used these almost exclusively in place of regular lemons in his recipe collections.

Are they expensive? Well, in a word, yeah. Buying some meyer lemons will cost you about 3x what buying regular lemons will cost. It’s not outrageous considering they are only grown in a couple areas of the US, but enough to make you want to think about what you want to do with these little babies before you buy. So fear not, here’s a couple recipes that will benefit from the unique sweet and citrus flavour of the Meyer lemons, and ones that will help you recognize the flavour difference from using regular lemons:

Meyer Lemon Risotto (my personal favorite)

ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped, about 1 to 1-1/2 cups
1 tender inner celery rib, finely chopped, plus 1/4 cup chopped leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons julienned basil leaves
1/2 cup porcini mushrooms (optional)

In a medium sauce pan, bring the stock to a boil. In a separate large sauce pan, melt the butter and saute the onions, garlic, and celery until soft. Add in the rice and stir to coat with the butter, continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add the hot stock to the rice and vegetables, stirring constantly and waiting until each cup is absorbed before adding the next. Continue stirring and ladelling stock for approx. 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked through, and the mixture is thick and creamy.

Add in the meyer lemon juice and zest, the basil, the parmesan cheese and the mushrooms. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes and then serve in bowls, garnishing with extra parmesan cheese.

And now, for a cocktail to wash it all down:

Meyer Lemon Martini

1.5 oz. Lemon Vodka or premium regular vodka
1/2 oz. cointreau
1 oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
Juice from 1 meyer lemon
Ice
Sugar for glass rim garnish
Meyer Lemon slice for garnish

Method:
Muddle all the ingredients, including rind, in a shaker. Add in the ice and shake until blended. Strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a meyer lemon slice.

WHERE TO BUY?

Granville Island Market sells them at one of the asian specialty vendors (the one who sells the hard to find peppers and fresh wasabi). They are individually priced but average about $2.50 per lemon.

I’ve had this discussion on numerous occasions and thought I’d write a bit about it here on the ol’ Drew Cooks! food blog. The question is pretty simple:

Is life too short to eat out at chain restaurants?

Let me get this out of the way first, I am not completely anti-chain, stick it to the man, against corporate North America, or whatever you want to call it. Hey, I’ve even worked in more than one chain restaurant over the years. As with anything, there are good ones and there are definitely bad ones.

But at the end of the day, if forced to give an answer, mine would have to be yes. Life IS too short to dine at chain restaurants for all our gatherings, special occasions and those times when we just don’t feel like cooking.

We are creatures of habit, we know we like that 6″ roasted chicken with southwest sauce from Subway on our lunch break, so we don’t want to risk trying that little deli around the corner with the cured meats and cheeses and grilled paninis. Hey, we may not like it. On the flip side, it could be the greatest sandwich we’ve ever eaten and we’ll never go back to boring mass produced subs ever again. At the very least, we may discover an ingredient, a method, a condiment or even a vegetable we never even knew existed, or thought we enjoyed. Wouldn’t that alone make trying a new place worth it?

Wouldn’t you rather give your business to a place where the head chef doesn’t get his new menu items from the “head office” but toils, perfects them and cooks them with passion? Don’t get me wrong, there are some extremely talented head chefs working at chain restaurants, but if you asked them I would bet nearly all would love to have their own little restaurant somewhere, complete control over their ingredients and food and glowing reviews. The reason many don’t do this is simple: it takes a lot of money and it’s hard. Very hard. Putting yourself out there on the chopping block (bad pun alert), going for it, being married to your restaurant for 16 hours a day, trying to turn a profit; like I said before, one thing makes that happen: passion.

This hard work and dedication is exactly the reason why we should visit the little guys instead of the big guys and see what we’re missing. Get a wood fired pizza from Commercial Dr. instead of Panago. Try some West Coast Italian cuisine from Vita Bella Ristorante on Hastings instead of Olive Garden, I could go on for hours.

Vancouver is a restaurant and foodie hot-bed waiting for your empty bellies, so get out there and try something new!

Have you ever walked into your butcher shop and taken a look at the items in the far recesses of the display? You know, the “weird” and cheap items that make you wonder who would buy that and what would they do with it? Let me help you out with some examples of things I’m talking about:

1. Lamb, Beef or Veal Shanks

2. Beef Brisket

3. Pork Butt or Picnic Roast

4. And perhaps scariest of all, Tripe

Now I won’t lie, even for me tripe (essentially the lining of a cows stomach) is a stretch. I only include this because while reading Thomas Keller’s book (arguably the top chef in North America) he had a fantastic recipe for braised tripe which I tried and actually enjoyed. It CAN be done.

However for the rest of this list, and several others not included here, it can be done much easier and just as cheap. For a fraction of the cost of some high end steaks, you can take home some beautiful meaty lamb shanks and create something beautiful and delicious with just a bit more time. I’ll include a recipe a bit later, but first:

What is braising?

The best way I have heard braising described is as “stewing with a college education”. It is essentially a combination of dry and wet cooking methods, where meat is seared in a pan with a small amount of oil until the exterior is browned and caramelized, and then vegetables, stock, wine, and other flavouring ingredients are added and the mixture is simmered to allow the meat to tenderize and take on flavour. Even the toughest cuts of meat are no match for mighty braising, and can be turned into melt in your mouth tender dishes bursting with flavours.

Why Bother?

Well for starters, eating grilled steaks and chicken every meal gets boring, not to mention expensive. 4 or 5 high quality ribeye steaks will cost you at least double as the same amount of the above cuts. Another reason is experimentation. Let’s be honest, anyone can grill up some steaks with a little practice and have it turn out great, but with braising and experimenting with other tougher cuts of meat, endless flavourings, herbs, vegetables and stocks can be added to the mix to create something unique and delicious that any cook would be proud of. Many top chefs include a large number of these items on their menus, not soley in an effort to save cost, but to challenge themselves to turn an often overlooked cut of meat into something refined, beautiful, delicious and worthy of a spot on their menu.

Have I sold you on trying it out sometime? Great, here’s my favorite recipe and great one to start off with if you aren’t familiar with braising.

Braised Lamb Shanks

Ingredients:

- 4 meaty lamb shanks (ask your butcher, these generally cost around $3.99/lb or less)
- 1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved
- 4 large carrots, chopped into large pieces
- chopped celery, about 2 cups
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup diced canned tomatoes
- Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- Salt and Pepper
- Sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary

Method:

Heat a small amount of olive oil  in a large heavy bottomed pot over high heat. Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper. Sear the lamb shanks in the hot oil, turning to brown and caramelize evenly on all sides. When all sides are browned, remove shanks from the pot and set aside. Add in potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot and season. Add in the red wine to deglaze and use a wooden spoon to scrape the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the lamb shanks back in and add in the chicken stock and tomatoes, along with a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer, covering the pot with a lid. Let simmer for approx. 2 hours until lamb shanks are extremely tender. In a separate pan, heat butter and whisk in flour to form a roux. Add to the pot and whisk to thicken the mixture. Do a final seasoning to taste with salt and pepper, and then plate the lamb shank in the center of a large white plate and arrange the potatoes and vegetables around it, ladelling some of the flavourful sauce on top to finish.

Enjoy!