Archive for December, 2008

Looking for a Cure: The Bacon Experiment

Written by Matt Sadler on December 25, 2008 – 8:09 am -

It is really hard to find people out there who don’t love bacon. I mean, really, its bacon. Crispy, greasy, smokey, wondrous! I have been spoiled over recent years because I have easy access to bacon at the Belmont Butchery. They carry their own store made stuff as well as the always wonderful Nueske’s brand. I love getting it from there especially because I can have them custom slice it for me, a nice thick slice on number 5 (the slicer setting).

This year I thought it would be fun to create bacon myself. Here is a short diary of my experience:
So I went to the butcher and had them hook me up with 2.5 lbs of pork belly (without skin). I started the process by soaking the pork belly in rum. After about 5 hours, I patted it dry and mixed it with a cure consisting of brown sugar, salt and pink salt. Then left in the fridge for 5 days to work its magic. I then rinsed and let if sit in the fridge for another 24 hours before smoking.
The smoking process went well. I used apple wood chips and I was able to control the temp as well as get a good smoke. The smoke lasted about 2 hours as we tried to get the bacon to 150 degrees. We took it out and cut off a slab and it was beautiful in color, but the it was really salty. 
I sliced up the slab by hand and let it soak for a bout 4 hours in water. I noticed that salty flavor was gone, but also gone was a good bit of the smokiness. 
Finally this morning, I cooked the bacon on my grill. And overall I would give myself a B-. It was flavorful, a great consistency, but there was slight sourness. I am pretty sure that it was related to the rum. 
Lessons Learned:
1) No rum
2) Not so much salt
3) Try hickory with the apple wood for a stronger smoke flavor

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Dancing BBQ Man

Written by Matt Sadler on December 16, 2008 – 4:57 am -

He shows up in Richmond at least twice a year. His setup smells like heaven. He’s the man dancing to his Irish music, spraying your mouths with Irish whiskey, and then wielding a knife as he passes around samples of his glorious smoked pork shoulder. He’s an English born, African-raised, Irish-bred, and now a full-fledged American BBQ man. He is Peter Baker, owner of Sneaky Peat -the foremost Irish peat business for US homes since 1998, and he is the man who helped me finally understand BBQ as it should be.
You will generally find Peter at Irish and Celtic festivals. He is present at the Irish Festival in Church in March and at the Richmond Highland Games in the fall. He advertises his product as IRISH BBQ and his method for making IRISH BBQ is with peat- yes, the same stuff that is used as a heating source in Ireland. He freely admits that he gets some chuckles from BBQ purists and that if you were to talk about Irish BBQ over in Ireland that the people would think you were bloody crazy. Yet, he would be quick to remind you that BBQ was a way of survival in years past. It was about using the hearth with peat to heat one’s home. While heating the home, people would store/cook/preserve their food using that same hearth. So while the Irish would never claim to own the BBQ, they were using the BBQ process years before America existed.
What you can’t help but notice as you walk by Sneaky Peats is the wonderful sweet earthy smell of peat. No sooner do you stop to take a look at the product when Pete graciously hands you a slice of meat. He might have sprayed your mouth with whiskey, he might dip the meat into his sauces, but the when all those flavors roll away; the rich, smoky flavor of peat persists. That was the exact experience that hooked me and made me decide I was going to make this myself. What I didn’t realize going in was that I didn’t get it when it came to smoking meats. I have several outdoor methods of cooking and possibly smoking. My often-used implement for BBQ was my little electric bullet smoker. So my first go around, I soaked me some chuncks of peat, and laid them near the coil. I filled up my water basin with beer. I rubbed my pork shoulder with salt, pepper, sugar, and dried mustard. I served it with a mustard-beer sauce. Honestly, it was a hit. The taste was great, but not because of peat, but because I could flavor food well with spices and sauces. I was disappointed because I wanted a wonderful smoke flavor, but that just didn’t happen.
When I cornered Peter in October and in subsequent conversations, he proceeded to teach me the basics of BBQ. He taught me that if I separated the elements, then I could truly understand and appreciate BBQ and subsequently Irish BBQ. He also taught about how peat works. The trick to peat is to give it a slow burn, but not too slow because that chars the product and traps the oils that produce the wonderful aroma and flavor. As such, it is important to select the appropriate size of peat to the heating element that you would be using. He said that water is essential to backyard BBQ because it helps transfer the flavor to the meat. He also told me to never, under any circumstance, soak the peat in anything. There were several conversations like these over both phone and email. Honestly, we didn’t have success I was looking for that next time around. Finally, after more talk and a little trial and error, we found the system that worked.
Needless to say that this homage is a way of saying thanks to the person who literally gave me hours of his time to help me refine my technique in the art of BBQ.

Posted in BBQ, Home Cookin', Retail | No Comments »

When the Moon Hit My Eyes at Lucali’s

Written by Matt Sadler on December 7, 2008 – 5:37 am -

I find one of the most challenging decisions in NYC is where to dine. On one hand you have all of these amazing high-end restaurants with world-renown chefs. On the other hand, you have amazing cheap ethnic food. And then there is the pizza. So my recent trip up there involved some decision making. Based on finances and flexibility and my sister’s wonderful post a month ago, we decided on pizza. I suggested the “old man” but she was concerned about the wait. She instead pointed me to Lucali’s. While I may never know taste the wonderful craft of the Old Man, I can say that I had a wonderful experience and a magical pizza at Lucali’s.

I often don’t discuss service when talking about a restaurant unless there is something out of the ordinary. The staff at Lucali’s was especially cool to us that night. We had a really long, frustrating drive from RVA and it was pushing 9 PM when we were finally on the George Washington Bridge heading into Brooklyn. Anyway, they let you call in and place your name on the wait list. So we called while on the bridge and they actually had seating at the moment. We left no name and said that we would see them in a few minutes. 15 minutes later, there were people waiting, but we had a table. They saved it for us.

The restaurant itself is very similar to many of the fan restaurants here in RVA, classic row house, pressed tin ceilings, glass store-front. The one big difference was that the tables only made up half of the room (maybe 15 at the most) and there was no bar. The entire back-half of the restaurant was an open kitchen with a brick-oven. The room had very dim lighting that was accentuated by the small candles on the table. The combination of the lighting and the lively conversations surrounding us made for a very surreal experience.

The menu at Lucali’s is very simple. You can have pizza and you can have a calzone. There are a handful of toppings but those might change on a daily basis. There are also a handful of bottled soda pops. The restaurant is BYOB, and gee I wish there were some BYOB places here in RVA.

We ordered a pepperoni pie and a mushroom pie. They served us the pies one at a time. I am not sure if this was due to the size limitation of the table or the timing in the kitchen, I just remember liking that they did it. So yes, the pizza was wonderful. The crust was delightfully light, airy and crisp. There was a light char on it, but it provided a nice flavor. The sauce was simple and elegant. The tomatoes were bright and cheery and there was no overwhelming salt or sugar flavor. The cheese seemed to be a mixture of fresh and shredded mozzarella. And while the toppings provided the accents to the pizzas, they didn’t dominate it the way they often do. Between the four of us there, we finished off the 2 pies (four slices each) and each one of us left content but not stuffed. It was that light.

The price on the pies was a bit steep. Each one was $24 plus toppings, but I didn’t feel that it outweighed the experience. As I am writing this, I just want to get back there.

I want to give special thanks to the staff at the Paupered Chef. Mrs. Marinara would not let me take any photos due to the lighting. She thought it would be too obvious. Anyway, the Paupered Chef was gracious enough to let me borrow their images. Please check out their review of Lucali’s when you get a chance.


Posted in Abroad, Restaurant Review | No Comments »