A Southern style smoker night

The Menu

To start: 

Prawn, halibut and cod ceviche with guacamole

Entrees:

 Smoked Pulled pork

Smoked Brisket

Smoked Pulled chicken

Smoked Sausages

Beans

Cornbread

Roasted vegetable salad

Classic barbecue sauce

Coffee barbecue sauce

Egg salad

To drink:

Peach cobblers among other 'special' drinks

The hosts:

Dave, Mary & Ellen Carman

The location:

Vancouver, BC

This elaborate occasion was held in honour of our friend's basement being restored after a flood. The same friends who hosted the Raclette evening, they are incredibly generous and really good cooks. The evening was warm and sunny and also happened to be mine and Neil's 12th wedding anniversary. Having enjoyed a romantic meal at an Italian restaurant the night before, I couldn't think of a better way to spend the night itself. 

Many of the recipes were taken from a local barbecue cookbook, developed out of the kitchen of the Memphis Blues Barbecue House, a popular local Vancouver restaurant. First, I will share the recipe for my contribution; the roasted vegetable salad and the ceviche, which another guest; Carolyn, brought. All other recipes are underneath the relevant pictures.

Recipe : Roasted vegetable salad

This dish includes roasted radishes which soften and mellow, providing a slight bitterness which complements the sweetness of the beets. The pepperonata adds a herbal element and a little tang.

5 large beets, peeled and cut into chunks

5 radishes, cut into chunks

1/2 zucchini, cut into chunks

1/2 yellow pepper, seeded and diced

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

8 cherry tomatoes, halved or other flavourful varieties such as Heirloom, cut into small chunks

A handful of mixed spicy leaves or other Summer greens

1 tbsp pepperonata

2 tbsp white wine vinegar 

A little extra salt to taste

Pre heat the oven to 400oF and place the beets, radishes, zucchini and pepper in a baking dish. Drizzle over the oil and sprinkle over the salt. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, add the butter to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes until the beets are soft. Remove and allow to cool for a while.

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and add the greens, stir well. When the other roasted vegetables are cool, pile them into the dish with the tomatoes, including all the buttery juices. 

Stir well and add the vinegar and a little more salt to taste. The combination of vinegar, oil, butter and the juices from the tomatoes and pepperonata provide a very flavourful dressing.

Seafood ceviche

Ceviche is a Mexican technique used mainly with fish. The protein ingredients, typically prawns, scallops or other fish are 'cooked' using only citrus juice, which they soak in for several hours from a raw state. The juice changes the texture to a more opaque and firmer consistency, as though they have been boiled. The result is an incredibly fresh and healthy dish with virtually no fat and whatever seasonings you feel like adding that day.

This recipe comes from Carolyn, a guest on Saturday who brought this to share. She had also made a zingy guacamole, fresh with cilantro and a little Chipotle heat and some small nachos for creating your own bite sized morsel.

Recipe : Shrimp, halibut and cod ceviche

1 piece each of halibut and cod, about 1/4 lb in weight each

1/2 cup small peeled, cooked shrimp. (If using raw prawns or scallops, Carolyn suggests boiling them very briefly for about 2 minutes first).

Lime or lemon juice, enough to cover the fish and prawns in one layer. (Other juices can be used, orange, grapefruit, pineapple or a combination. There must be a high citric acid content).

1/2 orange pepper and 1/2 red pepper, peeled, cored and cut into fine dice.

1 onion, peeled and chopped small
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 seeded and chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced finely
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped finely (optional)

Lay the halibut, cod and shrimp in a single layer in a flat dish. Pour just enough citrus juice over to cover. Cover the dish and refrigerate for several hours until the fish has become opaque and 'cooked'.

Transfer the fish, shrimp and juices to a dish and add the other ingredients. Mix well and chill again for a while. To serve, provide some guacamole and some mini nachos and let everyone help themselves. 

Carolyn sometimes serves this with larger chunks in a Martini class as an elegant starter. 

Recipe : Carolyn's guacamole
2 - 3 avocados, peeled, flesh removed and mashed

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp lime juice

Kosher salt to taste

Mix everything together well, balancing the salt and lime juice to create a tangy and well flavoured dip.

Dry rub for the chicken, pork and brisket
Recipe taken from The Memphis Blues Cookbook
1 cup dried parsley
1 cup sugar
1 cup Lawry's seasoned salt
3 tbsp black pepper
3 tbsp garlic powder
3 tbsp onion powder
3 tbsp dried oregano
3 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp celery salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper


Mix everything together well and rub handfuls over your chosen meats. The rub will keep for up to a month in an airtight container.

Dave's smoker. Two layers. Brisket and pork shoulder underneath and chicken and sausages on top. Dave began cooking at 7am, so all this meat was slow smoked for approximately 13 hours. This technique makes it very succulent, subtly smoked and slightly spicy from the rub.

Cornbread. It was interesting to hear from an American friend that it is difficult to find the pre-made cornbread mix here in Canada, which is so readily available in the US. She has resorted to making it from scratch, but doesn't feel it has quite the same taste. Mary made this one herself from scratch.

Recipe : Cornbread
Taken from the Memphis Blues Cookbook

1/4 lb (125g) butter
3 large eggs
3/4 cup can creamed corn
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose white flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup corn flour
1 tbsp + 2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
salt

Preheat the oven to 425oF

Melt butter and honey together in a pan over medium heat, remove and let cool completely. 

Add the eggs, creamed corn and milk and stir well.

In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together until no lumps are left and slowly incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry, using a whisk to smooth. 

To bake a loaf, butter a loaf pan and pour the batter in. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

The host: Dave Carman with a tray of a first batch of 'special' drinks.

Peach cobblers were made in keeping with the Southern US theme.

Recipe : Peach Cobblers
Taken from the Memphis Blues Cookbook
1 and 1/2 oz (45ml) of bourbon whiskey
1 oz (30ml) peach liqueur
3 or 4 ice cubes
1 oz (30ml) Southern Comfort
soda water
1 peach slice


Combine everything except the soda water and peach slice in a cocktail shaker and shake for 30 seconds. 
Pour into a tall cocktail glass, top with soda water and finish with the peach slice.

The hosts' young daughter, Ellen.

The chickens straight off the smoker, ready to be shredded and pulled, (always my job and a great opportunity to sneak some of the crispiest edges where the rub and taste has intensified).

Brisket. Magnificent. (Am I using too many extreme adjectives? Believe me they're justified).

The brisket was sliced rather than pulled to appreciate it's gelatinous texture and to enjoy it with the slice of fat underneath and crispy skin on top.

The sausages, a little overdone but still retaining some juiciness and heat.

Good ole' Southern style beans. Mary was concerned that they were very soupy, but as a dipping sauce for the cornbread, they were full of spicy chipotle heat and sweetness from the molasses.

The pulled pork

The pulled chicken with classic barbecue sauce. 

Recipe : BBQ sauce
Taken from the Memphis Blues Cookbook
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt
a dash of hot sauce
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk or blend until completely smooth.  
Simmer over low heat for one hour, stirring frequently to pasteurise. 
Remove from the heat and cool for at least one hour before serving. 
This can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.

Just visible in the right top corner is the coffee sauce. Dave commented that he was unsure whether it would be successful as the main ingredient was coffee. It was outstanding with a subtle coffee flavour, a little like eating coffee ice cream, but obviously much more tangy, spicy and savory. 

Recipe : Tot's coffee BBQ sauce
From the Memphis Blues Cookbook
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 tbsp oil
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
pinch of dried red chili flakes


Saute the onion in the oil in a pan over medium heat until soft and golden. Remove from the heat and set aside. 
In another pan, reduce the coffee to 1/4 cup, remove from the heat and whisk in the ketchup, vinegar and sugar. 
Add the onion, return to the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chili flakes and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

The egg salad was similar to potato salad, with a dressing of mayonnaise, slightly tangy and sweet. 

Mary also prepared some pot stickers which she pan fried and served with ABC and oyster sauce. They unfortunately stuck to the pan and ripped a little but were still an interesting addition to the whole meal.

By 9pm, everyone was suffering from the curse of too much of a good thing and trying to find more comfortable positions in which to digest and unbuckle belts. Fortunately Dave has an extremely well stocked liquor cabinet with many digestives which helped us greatly. The smoker slowly cooled well into the early hours while still fragrancing the air with apple and mesquite wood chips.