One of the benefits of living in the Deep South is without question the luxury of firing up the backyard grill at will any time of year. Even so, I’ve always viewed the period between July 4th and Labor Day as the official grilling season. School is out for the summer, it’s a time for vacations, family time and backyard gatherings around the grill with family and friends building lasting memories.
When Flora based contractor Brent Cryer and his wife Apryl told us he wanted to capture the feel of a mixed grill that was a part of his life in his native Texas, we couldn’t resist going overboard in our efforts. “Growing up in Texas there was always a ranch somewhere having a chuck wagon style cookouts served by old rugged cowboys,” explains Cryer, “it’s amazing how those memories stick with you over the years. To bring some of those memories back every 4th of July we have family and friends over to our Flora property to have a big Texas style cookout. We’ll have smoked pork shoulder, ribs and more on a huge wood burning grill and of course Texas cowboy beans are the main hit.” Brent, who has been a Lone Star State transplant in Mississippi for over two decades, has left his creative mark in the greater Jackson area. His building skills have given us some well known institutions, including Seafood R’evolution, Saks 5th Avenue, St. Dominic’s Medical Offices, Libby Story and our own Flora Butcher.
Mr. Cryer is married to Mississippi native Apryl Stokes who asked that we create a menu that would offer not only the best of Texas, but would blend with dishes familiar to Magnolia State residents. “The Neshoba County Fair has always been a time for our family to gather for a giant house party at our fair cabin with a variety of family members master grilling ribs, chicken, steak and sausages,” adds Apryl.
We could not have asked for a more perfect setting for our mixed grill extravaganza than the Cryer Farm. Apryl Cryer is a nationally rated accomplished horse woman, having won over ten NCHA cutting horse competitions. She has been ranked 6th in the Louisiana/Mississippi/ Arkansas division. So having fenced pastures and horses as a backdrop simply added to our efforts to create the perfect atmosphere for a barbecue.
Learning more about Brent and Apryl’s traditions I realized my family experience was as unique as their’s. Growing up in Louisiana, my dad almost never cooked in the kitchen and big dinners always involved the grill. We would spend most of the time talking with family and friends and taking the occasional dip in Bayou DeSiard behind our house. The sides, salads etc were made by my mother and paternal grandmother in the kitchen. Steaks, burgers and slow cooked ribs were standard fare. As I got older and did more of the cooking, I was fascinated by the incredible flavor that you get from roasting whole pigs and smoking briskets or pork shoulders.
Weekend cookouts where an early day and the entire day was spent cooking. Lunch and dinner merged in to one giant feast that lasted all afternoon and into the night. We always seemed to be the house where everyone’s friends would come to hangout so we went big with the food.
Texas BBQ was a different experience for me. It was less about complicated rubs or marinades and more about the cooking itself. Salt and pepper was the basic rub although it was a chance to experiment with the coffee rubs that where perfected there. Instead of my tomato based sauces in Louisiana, ketchup based sauces prevailed. Sweet and often spicy bbq sauces went well with everything and the use of different vinegars added zing to the finished product. Getting a nice smoke ring and the perfect “Bark” on a brisket was the goal. Throw in some hot links, cowboy beans, potato salad and cole slaw, and you’re all set.
Basic Salsa
4 beefsteak tomatoes, seeds removed and medium dice 1⁄2 yellow onion, small dice
1⁄4 stalk celery, fine dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 jalapeno (depending on how hot you like it) fine dice 3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1⁄2 bunch cilantro, leaves only, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for an hour to give the ingredients time to marry. My friend Brent prefers to pulse my salsa in a blender a couple of times for a smoother consistency if he is eating it with chips.
Tzatziki
1 English cucumber coarsely grated, sqeezed gently 1 quart full fat greek yogurt
3-4 large cloves of garlic, very finely minced
4 ounces of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl until the oil is incorporated, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. The garlic flavor is supposed to be strong and it goes great with meat, fish and poultry.
Tomatillo Salsa
12 tomatillo, husks removed 2 serrano peppers, minced 1 spanish onion, small dice 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only, minced Salt and Pepper to taste
Simmer the tomatillos in salted water for 15 minutes. Drain and place the cooked tomatillos in a blender with the remaining ingredients and pulse until you get the desired consistency.
Easy “2 Bean” Hummus
2 lemons, juiced
4 ounces of tahini
3 ounces olive oil
1 Vidalia onions, small dice
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can of red beans, drained 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained 1 teaspoon cumin
Salt to taste
Blend the tahini with the lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Sauté the onions in the olive oil until translucent and allow to cool. Add all remaining ingredients to the blender and blend
until smooth, scraping the sides of the blender periodically to get everything mixed in. You may have to add a few tablespoons of water to get the right consistency. If you make red beans and rice every Monday as I do, you can take 1 1⁄2 cups of your leftover beans and use them in place of the canned red beans to make this recipe.
Cowboy Beans
2 tablespoon olive oil
1⁄2 pound of ground chuck
3 1/2 of a yellow onion, medium dice
1/2 half of a green bell pepper, medium dice
4 gloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 quart beef stock
2 15 ounce cans of dark red kidney beans, drained 2 15 ounce cans of light red kidney beans, drained 1 15 ounce can of great northern beans, drained
1 15 ounce can of black beans, drained
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a heavy pot, heat the olive oil and then brown the ground meat. With a spider or slotted spoon set the browned meat aside. In the fat, sauté the onions and bell pepper until soft. Add the minced garlic and keep cooking 3 or 4 more minutes. Return the browned meat to the pot and stir in the tomato paste. Once evenly distributed, add the spices and then the beef stock. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes to marry the flavors. Add the canned beans and gently simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes. Add water if the beans get too thick. Season to taste. NOW is when it can get interesting. You can add anything from brisket scrap, bbq sauce, molasses or good ol’ bacon to the pot to make it fit the style of bbq you like. I might sweeten it with brown sugar if I am eating mostly pork but I tend to add more savory ingredients when I know I’ll be eating brisket and beef ribs. Add diced jalapenos for color and a little extra heat if you need to feel the burn.
Smoked Beef Shank
BRINE
2 quarts of water 1 cup kosher salt 2 bay leaves
4 sprigs rosemary 4 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 8 cloves of garlic, smashed
BASIC BEEF RUB
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoon paprika
1⁄4 cup kosher salt
1⁄4 cup fresh ground black pepper
1 whole wagyu beef shank, trimed
1⁄2 cup beef stock
spray bottle with apple cider vinegar
Heat the brine up to a simmer and stir often to make sure the salt dissolves. Allow to cool. Add the shank and make more brine if it is not submerged. The giant ziplock bags for best for this. Place in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the brine and allow to come to room temp. Coat the outside with beef rub. It should take a two times batch if you put it on as heavily as I do. The smoker should be at least 220 degrees but no higher than 250. Ours is set to 230 and it takes about 11 hours total. Smoke the shank for 6 hours, spray all around with the vinegar and then wrap it in aluminum foil with the beef stock poured in to help it “steam” the rest of the way. Return it to the smoker until the internal temp is at least 195 or fork tender. Pulled apart for tacos is my favorite family style way of eating this but it can be sliced and served just as it is. Remember, you need to start early if you want this bad boy for dinner.
Wagyu Beef Back Ribs
1 slab of wagyu back ribs, membrane removed yellow mustard to coat
1 time batch of Basic Beef Rub
Apply a thin coat of yellow mustard all over the ribs. Then, sprinkle the rub over the entire surface, top and bottom. With your grill of smoker set around 230-250 degrees place the ribs in with the bone side down and cook until they are fork tender and falling off the bone. Around 4 hours. If you prefer to wrap them in aluminum foil part of the time, wait until the first 2 hours have passed. Allow to cool 10 minutes before cutting the ribs.
For me, beef back ribs are as decadent as you can get. The bones come from the backside of the ribeye so the meat in between each bone is marbled, rich and juicy.
Whole Butterflied Chicken
BRINE
1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
3 sprigs fresh sage
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon of whole black peppercorns 1 bay leaf
BASIC CHICKEN RUB
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoon paprika
1⁄4 cup kosher salt
1⁄4 cup fresh ground black pepper
1 whole young chicken, backbone removed
Heat the brine up to a simmer and stir often to make sure the salt dissolves. Allow to cool. Add the chicken to the brine and allow to sit in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours. Pat dry and open up the chicken so that it lays flat with the bone side down. Sprinkle the rub over the chicken. I don’t usually put a really heavy layer on because I get some flavor from the brine as well but do what comes natural. Cooking at 230-240 degrees will take a little longer but I find it to be worth the wait. Place it off of the direct heat in your grill or smoker and let it cook until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees. Allow to rest 10 minutes before you dig in. The cook time on chicken varies depending on how often you open the lid. An open pit may take 4 hours while a ceramic egg may knock it out in half the time, or less, if you don’t open it too often during the cook. Butterflied birds are not only visually appealing amongst your other bbq items but they are easy to cut into pieces that way and I feel like there is no juicier end result when you smoke or grill whole birds.
Slow cooked pork belly
BRINE
1 gallon of water
3 ounces of kosher salt
6 ounces of dark brown sugar
PORK BELLY RUB
4 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper 1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2-pound piece of pork belly, skin off
Heat the brine up to a simmer and stir often to make sure the salt dissolves. Allow to cool. Add the pork belly and place in the refrigerator for 3 days. When it’s time to cook. Take the belly out of the brine and pat dry. One it sits and warms up a little, put a rather heavy layer of the rub on it and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. Smoke or grill at 230 degrees until the internal temp is at a minimum of 150 degrees. Cooking longer does not really dry out a pork belly so you have some flexibility there. I usually cook mine around 4 hours to get a crispier “bark” on it. I recommend skin off because it is a more uniform end result with the rub all around each slice.
We are lucky enough to get incredible milk fed pigs at the Flora Butcher and it is all we can do to not eat the pork belly ourselves once it comes out of the smoker.
Steaks
There are a lot of seasonings and marinades out there for steaks but I rarely use them. If you have come in the shop then you have probably heard me say, “Salt and Pepper!”, to any customer who asks what I recommend for their steaks. That being said, different flavors appeal to different people and they often evoke pleasant memories of meals eaten in the past. Flavor memory is one of the coolest things about food to me. An earthy mushroom topper on a steak transports me to a certain restaurant that my family would go to for special occasions. Cheap Italian dressing and I’m back cooking with friends at the camp. There is a certain cookie that makes me think of meeting my wife in Denmark. Do what feels right with your food because you’re the one who going to be eating it.
Hot and fast
Ribeyes, Flatirons, Flank steak, New York Strips, Skirt, Denver steaks, Filets etc etc.. I do on a hot grill
Slow and low/Reverse sear
Tri tip, tomahawk ribeyes, two inch porterhouse and thick Sirloin Flap are cuts that benefit from cooking most of the way with indirect heat and then searing the outside at the end. Tri tip, in particular, needs a little more time because of it’s tendency to tighten up if you go straight on a hot grill. Some people use this method with every steak they ever cook so play around with different techniques until you find the one that works best for you.
