Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (233 page)
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Despite its innate simplicity, salsa verde can easily go wrong. In fact, many of the recipes we tested were overly potent and harsh, leaving tasters with puckered lips and raging garlic breath. The texture was problematic, too; all of those first salsas separated into pools of oil and clumps of parsley. Processing chunks of toasted bread with oil and lemon juice—not vinegar—in a food processor created a smooth base. We then added the remaining ingredients: anchovies for a touch of complexity, capers for brininess, a little garlic for bite, and parsley to make the sauce “verde.” In one variation, we replaced the parsley with fragrant basil and in another, we swapped in peppery arugula.
MAKES
1¹⁄
2
CUPS
Salsa verde is excellent with grilled or roasted meats, fish, or poultry; poached fish; boiled or steamed potatoes; or sliced tomatoes. It is also good on sandwiches.
2–3 | slices hearty white sandwich bread, lightly toasted and cut into ¹⁄ |
1 | cup extra-virgin olive oil |
¹⁄ | cup lemon juice (2 lemons) |
4 | cups parsley leaves |
¹⁄ | cup capers, rinsed |
4 | anchovy fillets, rinsed |
1 | garlic clove, minced |
¹⁄ | teaspoon salt |
Process bread, oil, and lemon juice in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add parsley, capers, anchovies, garlic, and salt and pulse until finely chopped (mixture should not be smooth), about 5 pulses. Transfer to serving bowl. (Salsa verde can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
Replace 2 cups parsley with 2 cups fresh basil leaves, increase garlic to 2 cloves, and add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest.
Arugula gives this variation a peppery kick that’s a nice match for grilled foods.
Replace 2 cups parsley with 2 cups chopped arugula and increase garlic to 2 cloves.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
In Texas, good beef ribs are all about intense meat flavor—not just smoke and spice. We found that the juiciest meat with the most flavor was accomplished by the leaving the fat and membrane on the back of the ribs in place. The fat not only bastes the ribs as they cook but also renders to a crisp, baconlike texture. A simple mixture of salt, pepper, cayenne, and chili powder rubbed into each rack was all that it took to bring out the flavor of the meat. To turn our grill into a backyard smoker, we made a slow, even fire with a temperature in the range of 250 to 300 degrees. A couple hours of slow cooking were enough to render some of the fat and make the ribs juicy, tender, and slightly toothy. For real Texas-style barbecue sauce to pair with our ribs, we pulled together the usual ingredients—vinegar, onion, and molasses, to name a few—with dry mustard and chipotle chiles for spiciness. Savory Worcestershire sauce added depth while tomato juice (in place of ketchup) provided tangy flavor and helped thin the sauce out.
GOOD WOOD
You can use any hardwood as fuel for grilling or smoking (softwoods like pine contain too much resin and give foods an unpleasant flavor), but most stores carry only hickory and mesquite. In the test kitchen, we’ve found that mesquite is too assertively flavored for smoking applications, but it can give good, musky flavor to meats that don’t spend too much time on the grill. Our favorite all-purpose wood for grilling and smoking is hickory, which gives food a subtle, slightly sweet flavor.
SERVES 4
It is important to use beef ribs with a decent amount of meat, not bony scraps; otherwise, the rewards of making this recipe are few. Two medium wood chunks, soaked in water for 1 hour, can be substituted for the wood chip packet on a charcoal grill.
4 | teaspoons chili powder |
2 | teaspoons salt |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons pepper |
¹⁄ | teaspoon cayenne pepper |
4 | (1¹⁄ |
2 | cups wood chips, soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained |
1 | recipe |
1.
Combine chili powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne in bowl. Pat ribs dry with paper towels, rub evenly with spice mixture, and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
2.
Using large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, wrap soaked chips in foil packet and cut several vent holes in top.
3A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL:
Open bottom vent halfway. Light large chimney starter half filled with charcoal briquettes (3 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into a steeply banked pile against 1 side of grill. Place wood chip packet on coals. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 5 minutes.
3B. FOR A GAS GRILL:
Place wood chip packet directly on primary burner. Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot and wood chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Turn primary burner to medium and turn off other burner(s). (Adjust primary burner as needed during cooking to maintain grill temperature between 250 and 300 degrees.)
4.
Clean and oil cooking grate. Place ribs meat side down on cool side of grill (the ribs may overlap slightly). Cover (position lid vent over meat if using charcoal) and cook for 1 hour.
5.
If using charcoal, remove cooking grate and add 20 new briquettes; set cooking grate in place. Flip ribs meat side up and rotate racks. Cover (position lid vent over meat if using charcoal) and continue to cook until meat begins to pull away from bone, 1¹⁄
4
to 1¹⁄
2
hours longer.
6.
Transfer ribs to carving board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut ribs between bones and serve, passing sauce separately.
MAKES ABOUT
1³⁄
4
CUPS
This is a simple, vinegary dipping sauce quite unlike the sweet, thick barbecue sauces found in the supermarket. The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days; bring to room temperature before serving.
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
¹⁄ | cup finely chopped onion |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons chili powder |
1 | garlic clove, minced |
2 | cups tomato juice |
³⁄ | cup distilled white vinegar |
2 | tablespoons Worcestershire sauce |
2 | tablespoons molasses |
1 | teaspoon minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dry mustard mixed with 1 tablespoon water |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chili powder and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato juice, ¹⁄
2
cup vinegar, Worcestershire, molasses, chipotle, mustard mixture, ¹⁄
2
teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄
4
teaspoon pepper. Bring to simmer and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and reduced to 1¹⁄
2
cups, 30 to 40 minutes.
2.
Off heat, stir in remaining ¹⁄
4
cup vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cool to room temperature before serving.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Korean barbecue should be a quick process, but when we quickly grilled short ribs the meat was barely chewable and overly fatty. We wanted crusty, browned meat that had a barbecued char but was nonetheless tender—all accomplished in minutes. Butchering the short ribs properly proved to be the most important step to reaching our goal. Using English-style short ribs (the cut most widely available in markets), we made four slices from each rib, evening them out (and tenderizing them) with a quick pounding. The right marinade was also critical—pear puree turned out to be a key ingredient. The pear balanced the acidity of the rice vinegar, adding sweetness and a fruit flavor. For a crusty exterior, we cooked the meat over a hot fire and flipped it every couple minutes.
See “GETTING ENGLISH-STYLE RIBS READY TO GRILL” illustrations that follow recipe.
SERVES 4 TO 6
Make sure to buy English-style ribs that have at least 1 inch of meat on top of the bone, avoiding ones that have little meat and large bones. Two pounds of boneless short ribs at least 4 inches long and 1 inch thick can be used instead of bone-in ribs. Alternatively, 2¹⁄
2
pounds of thinly sliced Korean-style ribs can be used (no butchering is required), but if using charcoal, reduce to 3 quarts. Serve with steamed rice, kimchi (spicy pickled vegetables), and, if available, a spicy bean paste called gochujang. Traditionally, all these ingredients are wrapped in a lettuce leaf with the meat and eaten like a taco.
1 | ripe pear, peeled, cored, and chopped coarse |
¹⁄ | cup soy sauce |
6 | tablespoons sugar |
2 | tablespoons toasted sesame oil |
6 | garlic cloves, peeled |
4 | teaspoons minced fresh ginger |
1 | tablespoon rice vinegar |
3 | scallions, sliced thin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) |
5 | pounds bone-in English-style short ribs, meat removed from bone, trimmed, sliced widthwise at angle into ¹⁄ |
1.
Process pear, soy sauce, sugar, oil, garlic, ginger, and vinegar in food processor until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds. Transfer to medium bowl and stir in scallions and pepper flakes, if using.
2.
Spread one-third of marinade in 13 by 9-inch pan. Place half of meat in single layer over marinade. Pour half of remaining marinade over meat, followed by remaining meat and marinade. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours, turning meat once or twice.
3A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL:
Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter three-quarters filled with charcoal briquettes (4¹⁄
2
quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour into even layer over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
3B. FOR A GAS GRILL:
Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s).
4.
Clean and oil cooking grate. Place half of meat on hot side of grill and cook (covered if using gas), turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until well browned on both sides, 8 to 13 minutes. Move first batch of meat to cool side of grill and repeat browning with second batch.
5.
Transfer second batch of meat to serving platter. Return first batch of meat to hot side of grill and warm for 30 seconds; transfer to serving platter and serve.