|
|
The Arcadia News features
restaurant reviews each month.
If you have a question or comment, please see our contact
page.
Barbecue!
This being the season
of the grill, this month we sent three of our food writers out to
explore the barbecue offerings around Arcadia. We had each of them
submit their articles individually, although they did the research
together, traveling in Food Writer #1’s family vehicle, complete
with the baby car seat. Food Writer #3 had to ride in the back,
in the land of toys, discarded food wrappers and formula stains.
He complained most of the way, until fed.
Food Writer #1
The first time I had really great BBQ, something that would give
me a benchmark, was in Dallas from a place called Sonny
Bryans. I was at a company meeting and our president had
a catered lunch delivered of smoked pulled turkey, pinto beans,
cornbread, coleslaw, corn on the cob (you get the picture). It was
awesome stuff.
I was impressed with the turkey because for me, turkey had always
been a completely hopeless meat which was forced on me once a year.
Smoked pulled turkey was another story. I set about designing my
own Thanksgiving dinner which would officially unchain my family
and me from the rest of the country whose Thanksgiving dinners were
plain and predictable. The meal was a big hit and family members
from across the country clamored for the recipes I had worked out.
Hickory smoked turkey with chipotle pumpkin gravy, grilled corn
slaw with peaches and pasilla peppers, beet green salad with cold
roasted julienne beets and raspberry jam vinaigrette. Pinots, Syrahs,
Malbecs, Knob Creek, you name it; this meal was over the top.
Unfortunately it was such a nice day out that our neighbor left
his arcadia door open when he went to his parents for the day and
his living room received 4 hours of hickory smoke treatment completely
gratis. Whatever! It is what it is. BBQ in Arcadia isn’t as
hard as I make it sound. There are some good places to eat in or
take out and the one I’m going to cover here will all handle
large catering platters so that you don’t have to smoke your
own.
Fat Slims on the corner of Camel-back and 40th
Street has their smoker cranked up with little complaint from the
neighboring drycleaner. I like to take home the combo platters they
put together and you can pretty much call it as you want it from
brisket to chicken to ribs to hot links, they are slow smoking everything
in Pecan wood which gives a very mellow smoke flavor. Since no one
sauce pleases everyone, Fat Slims has nine different sauces which
cover the gambit from the sweet to the sour. I’m a sour sauce
guy so I like their mustard sauce but truthfully, I like to put
Cholula on my American BBQ and give it a south of the border assado
flavor.
Fat Slim’s has a great take-out dinner set up (average $15)
and it’s a perfect pick up on the way home when you just don’t
feel like cooking. The smell in the car will just about drive your
saliva glands mad on the way home. If you’re stopping in the
place, don’t forget a piece of the Jack Daniel’s Chocolate
Pecan Pie – a fantastic, necessary evil.
Food Writer #2
One thing any guy has a knee-jerk opinion on is BBQ. Probably a
remnant of our Cro-Magnon predecessors. The common denominator in
all BBQ is the meat, chicken, ribs, and sausage, and except for
a few select suppliers, their so called “secret weapon”
can be simply identified as the sauce they use. Any cook will tell
you what kind of wood they use, how long to cook, where they got
the beasts, but ask them what is in their proprietary sauce and
you might as well ask them if you can look around in their wife’s
underwear drawer. So, this said, depending on the region of the
U.S. you are eating this meal is the sauce you're going to get.
Being a mid-westerner, I've been exposed to (willingly) many different
flavors of sauce. Yes, I'm credentialed to write this. I've dined
on barbecue in Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, and even sampled Carolina
fare. Hell, I've even judged a barbecue contest in the 1986 State
Fair. My palate has an affinity to-ward the Texas style. Smoky mesquite
and oak flavor and a simple hickory sauce.
Enter Haps BBQ. Local Q-Joints are not plentiful
in this town partly due to zoning restrictions. Mostly because good
isn’t good enough. Q-ers demand great. Great might even be
questionable. Luckily, Haps received the coveted "Best of Phoenix”
BBQ award. Interest piques when you see those. This should give
formal notice to Honey Bears down the street that they are onto
them. I love a good turf war.
Simply, there are two reasons Haps taps my BBQ nerve. They have
the right texture, taste, moisture, and smoke drilled into their
brisket. The benchmark and main event for BBQ contests. The smoked
chicken is the other reason. It is unexpectedly incredible. Even
their ribs and sausage are outstanding. Certainly, every Q-joint
has their own nuances with their sides, bread, dessert and beverages,
so suffice it to say, theirs is good too. Subliminally, I wanted
to not like them, new guy and all. Possibly I got a fluke good day,
or lucky slice of meat on my plate, but I give in. I’ve been
there enough. You win. I like this place the best. I now have my
go to place when company comes to town or when I crave it myself.
I only wish this weren't in a strip mall. Nice enough and all, but
this talent would be perfect on a pothole infested, cypress tree
covered, moonshine dirt road in the middle of nowhere. It can stand
alone. It's that good.
Food Writer #3
It’s interesting that these two chose not to write about Honey
Bears. In speaking with the writers, they both maintained that everyone
in the area has probably been to Honey Bears or has at least enjoyed
their BBQ at some catered event. We did make a few trips there in
the interest of gathering material for this article, and so it should
be said that we only left them out due to space restrictions. If
you’re in the neighborhood, Honey Bears is
certainly worth a visit. They are located at 5012 E. Van Buren St.
Hit all the barbecue joints in town when you don’t have the
time to do it at home yourself, but invest a few hours with the
following recipe and you will be forever revered as the Master of
Barbecue with those you share this with.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who Loves Ya
Baby-Back?
By Alton Brown, courtesy of the Television Food
Network
Click here
for printable recipe
Prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 3 1/2 hours
Ingredients: 2 whole slabs baby back ribs
Dry Rub: 8 tablespoons
light brown sugar, tightly packed
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon jalapeno seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon rubbed thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Braising Liquid:
1 cup white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each
slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny
side down. Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Pat the
dry rub into the meat. Refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 1 hour.
In a microwavable container, combine all ingredients for the braising
liquid. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Place the ribs on a baking
sheet. Open one end of the foil on each slab and pour half of the
braising liquid into each foil packet. Tilt the baking sheet in
order to equally distribute the braising liquid. Braise the ribs
in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Transfer the braising liquid into a
medium saucepot. Bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce by half
or until of a thick syrup consistency. Brush the glaze onto the
ribs. Place under the broiler or toss onto the grill to carmelize
the sauce slightly. Slice each slab into 2 rib bone portions. Place
the remaining hot glaze into a bowl and toss the rib portions in
the glaze.
*This recipe makes several
batches of dry rub. If more rub is needed, it can be extended by
any amount, as long as the ratio of 8:3:1:1 remains the same.
|
|
