Kevin's BBQ Joints

Adam Perry Lang has really carved out a wonderful little niche in the food world. He’s got the culinary street cred (Le Cirque, Daniel in New York City; and Restaurant Guy Savoy in France), but left that pursuit of Michelin stars to follow his passion for barbecue. As a matter of fact (and which makes many a bbq team growl in anger) in his first year on the national barbecue circuit, Adam won Grand Champion honors at the World Pork Expo and first place for his Pork Shoulder at the Kansas City American Royal (The World Series of BBQ). So it made perfect sense that he would open up Daisy May’s BBQ in New York to showcase his BBQ skills. Suffice to say he’s secured a loyal following of faithful BBQ lovers as well as endorsement from the queen of all endorsers, Oprah.

His new book, BBQ 25, a follow up to Serious Barbecue, is really great. OK, great is not the ‘greatest’ word to use when describing something, but it’s ‘great’ for everything it strives to be, which is, a simple and easy to use book of the top 25 recipes you would use actually use when BBQing at home. The first thing you notice is that the book resembles a children’s book. That is it has hard thick pages that are simple to wipe clean and because of their heaviness, they are essentially wind proof. Also, Adam realized that most of us drink beer (or some sort of cocktail) while BBQing and most likely will spill it (or a marinade or basting liquid) onto the surface of the book.

Here’s the breakdown of the 25 recipes:
1. Rib-Eye, T-Bone & Strip Steaks Cut Less Than 1″
2. Rib-Eye, T-Bone & Strip Steaks Cut Over 1″
3. Chuck Steaks & Leaner-Cut Steaks
4. Filet Mignon
5. Hamburgers/Cheeseburgers
6. Chateaubriand
7. Boneless Beef Roast
8. Beef Back Ribs
9. Brisket
10. Pork Chops (Rib & Loin) Cut Less Than 1″
11. Pork Chops (RIb & Saddle) Cut Over 1″
12. Pork Tenderloin
13. Boneless Pork Loin/Bone-In Rib Rack
14. Pork Butt and/or Picnic Ham
15. Spareribs “St. Louis-Cut Ribs” & Baby Back Ribs
16. Lamp Chops (Saddle & Rib)
17. Leg of Lamb
18. Chicken Breast & Thighs (Bone-In)
19. Chicken Breast (Boneless, Skinless)
20. Whole Chicken (Spatchcock/Butterflied)
21. Chicken Wings
22. Grilled Fish Steak
23. Grilled Fish Filet
24. Hot Dogs & Other Cooked Sausages
25. Grilled Vegetables

I first tried out the #1 Rib-Eye, T-Bone & Strip Steaks Cut Less Than 1″

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In this month’s Saveur magazine there’s an article by Betsy Andrews entitled ‘The Well-Read Carnivore’ which was in name alone enough to stop my page flipping to read it. She reviewed a bunch of potential ‘meaty’ reads, but the two that stuck out were these:

Pig: King of the Southern Table by James Villas.

and

Planet Barbecue by Steven Raichlen.

I haven’t had a chance to pick up either, so I can’t adequately review until then, but from the article I would be interested in Pig: King of the Southern table as it ‘celebrates every part of the animal’ which is a philosophy I really commend. Also, the fact that there are 300 recipes culled from all across the southern portion of the United States make me very interested.

It appears Steven is at it again as he ‘reports on grilling traditions in a whopping 53 countries, from Burkina Faso to Uraguay’. I’ve been a fan of Steven’s for years as I watched his specials on outdoor grilling, and I have, as I’m sure many of you have, his 780 page tome BBQ USA (I think I have two copies for some reason).

As I wasn’t as acquainted with James Villas as Steven Raichlen, here’s a bit more info on him:
James Villas was the food and wine editor of Town & Country magazine for twenty-seven years. His work has also appeared in Esquire, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Saveur, New York Times and the Atlantic Monthly, among other publications. Two of his cookbooks have been nominated for a James Beard Award. He’s also won a James Beard Award for journalism and received Bon Appetit’s Food Writer of the Year Award in 2003. James Villas is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks and books on food, including MY MOTHER’S SOUTHERN KITCHEN and THE GLORY OF SOUTHERN COOKING.

You can check out Steven’s blog here and get his extensive bio here