Caribbean BBQ


 
j biesinger

j biesinger

TVWBB Platinum Member
I had this planned for veterans day on Tuesday but because of the extended family's schedule, stomachs were hard to come, so we were talked into cooking today (sunday). Weather was a bit different than last week, windy and 40's, luckily I transported my wind break with me. I actually needed to toss a blanky over the wsm to get it in to the 300's.
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appetizers: I scored a nice piece of salt cod a month ago, so we went a bit overboard. but asking me to decide whether I prefer "pick up salt fish" or "stamp and go" and I'll make both.
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Smoking with apple wood, on the wsm was a brined, bone in, pork loin rubbed with a jerk rub and 3 racks of baby backs that had been marinating in a cuban mojo. The ribs were finished with a guava habanero bbq sauce, and the loin was sliced into chops and finished with a jerk balsalmic glaze. The plate was finished with cuban black beans, yellow rice, fried plantian coins, and a jicama slaw.
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man, it was good, but too much food. I can never decide what to make, and the fact that the wsm has two grates, always leads to me over cooking.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:

man, it was good, but too much food. I can never decide what to make, and the fact that the wsm has two grates, always leads to me over cooking. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
And that's a problem?
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What's the blue stuff on your press board ends?

Plated pics look great !!

Bill
 
I'm pretty much completely ignorant of carribean ... you're plate looks like a great place to start!

Great just great .... now I have a whole 'nother culture whose food I need to try
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Looks really appealing, great pics too! Thanks for posting
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bill Hays:
What's the blue stuff on your press board ends? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Bill, It's paint from the factory, I'm guessing the colors are for the thickness? I've seen green, blue, red ,yellow etc on the ends. All plywood comes with painted ends, except for the cabinet grade stuff. At least here it does.
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Food looks fantastic there jb, most excellent job.
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Great photo's of a great looking meal.

Do you salt or otherwise season the plantain chips? Or is it just for a crispy texture?

Nice windbreaker too.
 
Beautiful food, and perfectly plated! You dont happen have formal cooking training do you? Your plates/pictures always look incredible
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Brandon
 
Bill, I suppose it’s not a bad problem, just a problem.

Shawn, let me be the first to break the news, but legend has it that barbecue has it’s origins in the Caribbean.

I’m really into the Jamaican bbq scene, I was there once and the taste of it has never left my mind. I’m always looking to recreate the experience at home. Some day I’ll score some pimento wood and really get my reggae on.

I’ve also been to St Martin twice. I should probably figure out how this little beach side rib shack called Talk of the Town does their ribs, my wife would be ever so grateful.

Tom, just salt. You’re right they’re there for a contrasting texture and they act like little firemen when the habanero in the jerk and guava sauces catch up to you.

The windbreak is a great thing to build. One sheet of osb and 8 door hinges. One miter cut, and little template guided routering and it went together in a snap. It folds flat and pops up in a flash. It’s no Todd Randall bomb shelter, but I’d like to see him take three of his anywhere in a car.

Todd, let me know if your coworker likes Dr Bird’s Rastarant, and if there’s something for me to try. I typically stop there after work for a meat pie and a d/g ginger beer (which makes the best dark and stormys) and always think I should give something else on the menu a try.

Brandon, thanks for the compliment. I hate to blow my cover, but I’m a school teacher who likes working 8-3 with summers off and a pretty serious food geek. Friends often encourage my wife and me to get into the restaurant scene. I’d cook for a living if you could find me job that had teacher hours and wasn’t a lunch lady.

We do have over a 100 cookbooks and a subscription to 3-4 cooking magazines. I’m constantly surrounded by glossy pictures of perfectly browned and garnished meats. Every once in a while, I like to plate up something pretty just to keep myself from being intimidated. It sure isn’t hard, you can even do it with cold leftovers the next day (that way you dinner guest won’t be sniggering while you’re taking the pic). It helps to have a little tripod to set on the table, that way you can shoot without the flash. My little camera tends to blow out anything light colored when I use the flash at that close range.

Kevin, any chance you have an application for guava paste? I used a third of the goya tin making a double batch of sauce. The rest of the guava is going to sit in my freezer until I burn through the extra bbq sauce.
 
j-- I used to go to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands often. (Bajan and T and T foods are favorites as well.) And I used to have a few pimento trees when I was farthr south. Now I use allspice berries (foiled) for jerk (along with citrus) but you can get wood here if you wish.

Guava paste is often spread on sweetened cream cheese-esque fillings for various Cuban pastries. I use a similar approach but don't sweeten the cheese much, and fill puff pastry. If the paste is soft you can also simply smear a layer of it a top a block of cream cheese or, if harder, mix it into softened cream cheese. Makes a good spread for cornbread, corn muffins, toast, etc., or as a filling for french toast, drizzled with guava or mango syrup.

It is also nice, again mixed with cheese (I use goat) as a filling for stuffed chicken breasts. Remove the tenderloins from the breasts, pound to even out, smear with the filling, then roll. Make a tight egg wash, dip, then roll in chopped macadamia nuts or chopped pecans; sauté to brown then oven-finish, or bake from the get-go. Serve with something a little bitter, like greens, and with lightly garlicked rice. Drizzle parsley oil here and there.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> It’s no Todd Randall bomb shelter, but I’d like to see him take three of his anywhere in a car. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hahaha..bomb shelter, that's a good one. Actually JB, that sucker breaks down into 3 pieces in a snap that all lay completely flat. The biggest section being 4' (tallest) by 30" wide (I think) by 4" deep. I'd have to go look at my original post again to remind myself of the dimentions. It would certainly fit in a good sized trunk. Would 3 of them fit, maybe not, you could be right there. Probably a bit heavier than yours, because of the composite framing, but nothing a single person can't handle. It was built for easy storage, disassemble, reassemble, and transportation in mind.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Todd, let me know if your coworker likes Dr Bird’s Rastarant, and if there’s something for me to try. I typically stop there after work for a meat pie and a d/g ginger beer (which makes the best dark and stormys) and always think I should give something else on the menu a try. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I will ask, you made him very hungary the other day. He did tell me he likes this site, http://www.gracefoods.com, a lot. Good recipes.

Dark and Stormys....mmmm...you just reminded me of my honeymoon in Bermuda, first night the wife and I got a little crazy on those, we couldn't drink them again for the entire week we were there! I'll spare everybody the details, but I think I could get back on that horse again now!

Todd
 
So I asked my coworker about Dr. Birds, he said he's eaten there a few times, but he didn't have anything great to say about them. He's from NYC originally, and he couldn't compare that place to the places he's eaten in NYC and Toronto.
Todd
 
Kevin, the chicken recipe sounds great. I've already added it to my "to cook" list. and thanks for the link, the pimento wood looks awesome but a bit pricey. You reminded me about using the berries to smoke with. I had that idea but seemed to have forgotten it. I'm definitely going to add some with my fruit woods next time I get jerky. They mention something on their site about not letting it burn, do you wrap in foil?

Todd, that thing breaks down too? man, I'm really jealous. and you'd be surprised at how much one of those sheets of mdf weighs, its the one problem with using it, they are too heavy to be toting far.

Dr Bird's is a serious hole, I was just wondering if the food was any good. I recommend going there for a few bottles of ginger beer to go. If you're a ginger fan like me, it makes the best dark and stormys. I've tried just about every domestic brand and found no difference between them and ginger ale. Goya is way too gingery, the D/G is perfect.

A couple of months back, I printed out some recipes to brew my own ginger beer. some day I'll get around to it.

I recall, back in the day, getting some really good ginger beer in canada. It came in a tiny gold can...memories.
 
jb, sometime when the wifey and I get a night out, we'll head over to that place for some D&S. Do they just have a bar we can sit at?

This link, The Money Shots, should take you to my wind screen post where the good stuff is. I just checked it out and the picture links are still good. It shows how they break down and you can get an idea of the size of them too when broken down.

Todd
 
no, the place is pretty much a dumpy take out joint. the ginger beer is more of a diy thing. they have a case that has some bottled sodas. I'll get a six of the ginger beer and take it home to mix with black seal or meyer's dark rum.
 
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