I’ve thought that anybody who was interested in serving BBQ to small crowds was already aware of this great hack. Not so, apparently! It’s actually one of those things that’s more of a technique than a recipe… But requires no special gear or ingredients…
I just adore a nice bite of BBQ. But getting the flavour, texture – in fact, the whole experience – is not a thing to be undertaken lightly when you’re cooking for 4 diners or fewer.
Right there, under your nose…
Here’s where the fun, the ingenuity and the ‘technique’ come into play.
Can take days
Trimming, marinating and perfectly slow-roasting/grilling a big, beautiful appropriate chunk of meat can make BBQing seem like a never-ending ‘job’. Even the most dedicated pit master lose heart. Even if the roast/smoke turns out perfectly, will it all seem worth it? Then there’s financial return on the investment – a very real consideration these days.
And even under ideal social circumstances, who among the young and growing majority – who value convenience and ease of prep – is prepared to make the commitment that can involve marinating a great, heaving brisket all day, or even overnight? Not to mention the equally onerous task of cooking it for 8 to 12 hours – in some cases also overnight.
But conventional wisdom insists that’s what you have to do to abtain the best, most authentic results when searching for real, classic BBQ!
Not so!
I’ve tried this myself. And I’ve discovered the technique can actually produce results that most folks heretofore thought could only be achieved by investing days of tortuous effort. (Maybe that’s thy it’s now considered a ‘weekend sport’…)
The rationale is simple… For smaller cuts of meat, to server smaller dining crowds faster… Roll that big grill/smoker over into some low-traffic corner and pull out a smaller. more-conventional piece of gear.
Specifically…
… We’re going to:
Use smaller, leaner, boneless cuts of meat.
Par-cook your meat before applying the smoke and glory.
And leverage the power of your conventional oven to ‘cheat’ your way to crispy-crusted, tender Q’ed perfection!
What I’m talking about…
What I’m talking about is some expression of the ways-and-means described in the source story for today’s so, so appropriate ‘recipe’ post.
Basically, you’re going to leverage fully the power of heavy-duty Kitchen foil, the best prepared (or your own) BBQ sauce, The patience to marinate a great piece of meat – albeit, not for as long you would have to whole brisket or pork shoulder – is also essential. And there’s no substitute for that low-and-slow BBQ cooking technique that makes Q what it is.
What’s different…
… Is that smaller cuts of meat cook faster, need less time to marinate and may be more susceptible to drying out, or burning on the surface before they’re done to perfection in the middle.
Essentially, we’re swapping out the traditional grilling process in favour of a sheet-pan model. And in addition to doing the meat on it, you can roast/grill traditional BBQ veggies on the same pan, depen-ding on the flavour you’re shooting for.
And you can use ether a regular gas or charcoal backyard grill – or even the oven of your kitchen stove to achieve similar results.
Unique cultural mix
Original Recipe author Maria Do takes great pride in her Vietnamese heritage, and so it’s no surprise she’s elected to replicate her home culture’s national BBQ sandwich sandwich: Bánh mì.
“Bánh mì translates literally to ‘bread’ in Vietnamese,” Do explains. “and is well-known today as a Vietnamese street-food sandwich. The modern-day Bánh mì sandwich stemmed from French co-lonialism in Vietnam when French cuisine heavily influenced Vietnamese food culture. After the French defeat, Vietnamese cooks adapted a popular French sandwich made with cold cuts, butter, and cheese into something quite different that we recognize today as Bánh mì.”
To me, one of Do’s most elegant and intriguing charms is that she specifically hails from the Viet-Cajun community, which has developed its own post-revolution cuisine incorporating the best of both. Her nouveau (newstalgic?) take on traditional Bánh mì is a great example!
My take
Do knows her stuff. And her stuff is essentially Viet-Cajun. I’ll be following both her and her cuisine with great interest!
~ Maggie J.