So as I’ve mentioned in previous posts I am new to barbecuing. I am not new to barbecue culture, but the physical act of being in charge of the grill. I’ve been trying to fine-tune my skills to understand proper meat handling, cooking times, heat management, spices, differences between cuts, meat types, and regional specialties. I based my first barbecue on what I’ve grown up eating, for me a traditional barbecue, consisting of boudain, ribs, chicken, sausage, potato salad, rice, beans, guacamole, and tortillas. To focus specifically on grilling I cut this menu down to the basics of boudain, chicken, sausage, rice and beans. Trying to make sides and barbecue in the same pocket of time was way too much work. I have been considering different options to streamline this process and I am sure I’ll have it down in a few weeks. If you’ve never had it, boudain is a mix of spices, rice, and sausage in a sausage casing. They hail from Louisiana and are usually spicy to really spicy. A distinctive flavor note, is that many contain liver and can be fried into boudain balls the holy grail of boudain! If you’ve never had a boudain ball - find one and eat it! You cook boudain the same as regular sausage, grilling it for about 15-20 minutes turning it occasionally. For barbecue one, both the boudain and sausage came out great! I marinated and seasoned the chicken, but fumbled around with cooking it a bit. I used my low salt spices for the rub and it just did not have a strong enough flavor. I was also confused about skin side up, down or both? I got through it, unburned, house intact, and the chicken tasted pretty good. It was a bit dry, but I corrected it on the second try the following Friday. I also think I fussed with it too much on the first round and roughed up the skin a bit. It was not a huge deal, but didn’t look really pretty and may have messed with moisture levels. The following Friday, I skipped major sides and made German potato salad (which I love) and changed from spicy to less spicy boudain (just for fun). I timed the chicken to only turn it once while cooking, which seemed to work well. Steaming it at the end of the process making it super moist. The only changes for next Friday will be leaving the chicken on the grill longer, I guess I got too excited and took it off early. I’ll also be burning my sausage a bit, it just taste better a little burnt. Something new I'll be trying out is my cast iron skillet, which has lots of queso in its future! For this week, I’m going to baking a cherry dump cake on the grill along with my barbecue. Updates to come. . . Happy BBQ’ing! A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA: There are lots of favorites and opinions, even to the spelling of boudain or boudin. One of my favorite spots for boudain is Burt’s Meat Market in Houston. They sell regular boudain, seafood boudain, boudain balls, gumbo, and dirty rice. The other is Don’s Specialty Meats in Scott, Louisiana. We always stop on our way to New Orleans to pick up their amazing pepper jack cheese boudain balls. You can read a little more about the history of boudain in this article from the Smithsonian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/louisiana-boudin-180960105/
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AuthorThird generation southern Texas barbecuer diving into the world of BBQ! #eatmeatrepeat Archives
September 2018
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