Rubs, beer cans, and country-fried steak

Our new vista software has thrown a kink in our digital camera, so I apologize for no pictures.

There have been many requests for "Jed's Rub." I delayed in posting it because Ed and I had modified it somewhat and were going to have another bulk order done, but alas, Ed lost Mrs. Flamb to the homeland, he is soon to be kicked out because of some Patriot Act-unfriendly use of charcoal, and unpacking boxes and writing a grant has taken up too much of my time. So, below is the single bottle serving of Jed's Rub

2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper (if you have a choice, use the Royale pepper at the Spice House)
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 tablespoon Peace Climb chili powder (of course)
1 teaspoon mustard powder (yellow mustard if they ask)
2 teaspoons white sugar (I prefer brown, but will clump in the bottle)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder (granualted)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon hickory salt
1 teaspoon ginger powder

I know its alot, but if you basically call this into the Spice House, and be polite, they will probably make it for you. So far, the revues are great. It smells really strong, but in my use of it, doesn't come off strong- any other opinions? Ed and my changes basically decrease the salt, increase the garlic poswer, increase teh ginger, add paprika and cayenne.

I've been trying out the Spice House's Chicago Steak house rub- EXCELLENT! It is really good, especially on NY strips and Ribeyes. Try it, you won't be sorry.

In coming back from my parent's lakehouse in the hills of East TN, I stopped at Granny's Country Kitchen on I-40 outside of Hickory, NC (I counted 2 Granny's Restaurants and 3 country kitchens on 100 miles of interstate- gotta love North Cackilacky). I had the best country fried steak (or chicken fried steak to you Midwesterners. You english just call it steak, I think). As you may know, its a piece of beef, usually a cheap cut, but I think this was a sirloin, with the hell beat out of it, battered and fried with gravy. This was great- actually tasted light, had lots of pepper in the breaking, and the gravy was a white pepper gravy. Absolutely perfect, except the chest pains after dampened my spirits a little.

For those Peace, Love, and BBQ fans out there, I passed within 15 miles of Ridgewood, so anyone that comes and visits will get a trip to Lexington BBQ, Wilburs BBQ, and Ridgewood.

Happy grillin' and smokin'.

Lancashire spatchcock

Saturday was the first weekend day in 6 weeks that it hasn’t rained here in Rochdale. Mrs Flamb dropped in so it seemed appropriate to cook something a little quicker than usual. I bought a small (3lb) fresh chicken from Alec Chadwick, our local butcher, and took out the breast bone so it could be laid out flat – spatchcocked. The chicken was rinsed, shaken to remove surplus water and rubbed with a simple dry mixture of sea salt, black pepper and mixed herbs (equal quantities of each). We laid it on the grill under a baking tray weighted down with a brick as Joe-Be-Wan demonstrated at the Moist Heat teach-in back in May. Cooking for 20 minutes over a medium direct heat coloured the skin before turning the chicken over to cook through for about an hour. I like to get an internal meat temperature of 180F for chicken.

We cooked fresh corn cobs on the grill and one of Mrs Flamb in Law’s zucchini (courgette to us Brits), grown in France. With our wet weather these have gone berserk this year and are the size of marrows. They were cooked in a foil parcel with butter, salt and pepper. The chicken was moist and just fell off the bones – yum.

Lamb in red wine marinade

Yes Mrs Flamb is back in England and the red wine is flowing.


Ingredients:

4 lamb loin steaks.

For the marinade:

2 cups red wine – a full-bodied Burgundy is best but I used merlot
1 cup fresh rosemary
1 tbsp fresh mint
1 tblsp vegetable oil

Take the leaves off the mint and rosemary, place in the blender. Add a small portion of the red wine and blend until the herbs are well chopped. Add the remainder off the wine and oil. Blend for about minute to mix well.

Place the lamb steaks (do not remove any fat) in a corrosion proof dish and poor over the marinade. Cover and place in the fridge for a few hours, turning the steaks over at half time.

For the glaze and sauce:

1 cup clear honey
½ cup vinegar
1 tblsp chopped mint, fresh is best but dried will do.

To make the glaze/sauce place the mint and honey in a pan and warm gently. When hot add the vinegar and stir well, simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Place on one side to cool.

To cook:

Pre-heat the grill to high heat, drain the lamb steaks and place on the grill.
Mop the top with the glaze and cook for about 5 minutes according to taste – I aim to just cook the meat through as seen by the change in colour creeping up the sides, when most of the sides are cooked turn over and mop the top side with the glaze. Cook for 5 minutes and put aside to rest for a couple of minutes.

Serve with the remainder of glaze as a sauce on the side. Some folks prefer to pour the sauce over the steaks.


The foil pack to the right of the photo contains baby potatoes cooking in butter with a sprig of mint. At this time of year I like to serve fresh cooked corn cobs with the lamb and potatoes.

The Prodigal Son

We've been in the Promised Land for about a week now, and are really loving it. I'll admit up front that I already miss the Spice House, Ed's accent, cool nights, and custard. One thing weird here is the tradition of smoking- this town (Winston-Salem) being founded by Moravians (think Methodists with bonnets) and tobacco, cigarettes are readily available. You can still smoke in most restaurants here. No kidding- we were eating at the Mayberry Restaurant when a family walked in and asked for non-smoking, and the owner pointed toward a booth in the corner and said "they ain't smokin' over there."

We went to visit our local BBQ joint- classic NC bbq. Little Richard's "Eat Mo' Pig" Lexington-style BBQ. For those of you that didn't attend the class, this is what is called Western NC style, which is alot of cider vinegar with ketchup and spices- sweet and tangy, not much heat. This place was great. Curbside service was a teenage girl smoking and sitting in the parking lot to take orders. The sweet tea flowed like mother's milk, and the desserts were hand-made (banana pudding and chocolate cream pie- I'm still dreaming about it).

We could barely understand our waitress here accent was so sweet, and even though Kristen's parents ordered water, they still were served sweet tea. We all got chopped plates, with me getting the coarse chopped. The 'Q was served with finely chopped slaw served mixed with the BBQ sauce (so it was red-tinged) and crinkle-cut fries as well as hushpuppies- small and sweet. That is NC original. The meat was good, but almost too tender and not very smokey, as they use wood planks for fuel AND smoke. The skin wasn't very crispy. But the food combined with the ambiance, it was heaven.

Thining of Andy's review of Great Northern, I can't help but think that Moist Heat needs to lead a field trip down here so you guys can truly soak in this BBq culture. These people and the customers weren't looking for the best meat on earth- they wanted honest, genuine (or genuswine) food with little hassle and alot of consistency. I truly with you guys could see it.

Fired up the gas grill tonight and tried out Spice Houses Iron Grilling rub- smells and tastes like a Lays BBQ potatoe chip- and I mean that as a compliment. Worth getting -would be great on pork tenderloin.

More stories to come as we acclimated to southern living. Y'all be good now, y'hear?