Food folks get solemn about many things, but few are as fervid as the barbecue-obsessed. Don’t mess with Texas – or Carolina or Memphis or Kansas City, for that matter. People have their favorite joints about town, but recently Los Angeles is seeing an influx of new talent at the smoker. Take Adam Perry Lang – his barbecue tome, Serious Barbecue, was released in 2009 but is already getting a facelift. To celebrate the relaunch, the chef has taken residency in the back lot of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! studio in Hollywood for lunch and pre-ordered dinner take-out. Adam and his pit crew are sleeping in an Airstream so they can stoke the fire at regular intervals during the night and treat guests to barbecue that Angelenos haven’t seen the likes of since…well, perhaps never. Staged on the truck bed that drove out the pecan wood he is using to make his own charcoal, Adam is dishing out beef short ribs, tender pork shoulder, and just about any other carnivorous delight that strikes his fancy. The set-up is straight out of Owensboro, Kentucky (with a dash of AstroTurf). And what does he plan to do with the dozen pristine Big Green Eggs on site? Lang tells me that he anticipates cracking those babies open for a delivery of ivory king salmon in August.
Make the trip before the lines get too long. Lunch is being carved up 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Tuesdays thru Thursdays from July 16 – September 5. If you do it right, you’ll leave with your hair smelling of smoke.
Below, Lang shares his recipe for Short Ribs with Fleur De Sel.
Short Ribs with Fleur De Sel
Serves 8
Two 3-bone plates of short ribs
Mustard Moisturizer
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Seasoning Blend
1/4 cup garlic salt
3 tablespoons coarsely ground fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
Wrapping Mixture
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey3 tablespoons beef base in paste form, such as Better Than Bouillon
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter or margarine, melted
Finishing Dressing
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Fleur del selFinely ground fresh black pepper
- Preheat an indirect barbecue with a drip pay and hardwood (preferably hickory, oak, or pecan), a ceramic cooker with deflector plate and hardwood (preferably hickory, oak, or pecan), or a charcoal or gas grill with a box or packet of hardwood (preferable hickory, oak, or pecan to 250 degrees.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the mustard moisturizer and moisten all sides of the roasts. Combine all of the seasoning blend ingredients. Sprinkle the roasts with about half of the seasoning blend, covering all sides evenly. Using your hands or a brush, evenly, but lightly, coat the roasts with canola oil
- Place the roasts in the cooker, bone side down, and cook for 5 hours.
- Meanwhile, combine all of the wrapping mixture ingredients.
- Remove the racks from the cooker. Lay two sets of double sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil large enough to wrap the roasts on the work surface, and pour half of the wrapping mixture on each. Top one set of foil with a rack, meat side down, close, and crimp to seal. Wrap with a second sheet of foil. Place the racks back in the cooker, meat side down, and cook for 1 hour.
- Remove the racks from the cooker, and increase the temperature to 275 degrees. Let the racks rest in the foil for 45 minutes.
- Remove the racks from the foil over a baking dish or disposable aluminum pan, reserving the cooking liquid. Lightly dust all side of the racks with the remaining seasoning blend and place, meat side up, in the cooker for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, strain all of the juices and solids from the pan through a fine-mesh strainer set over a measuring cup. Discard the solids. Allow the fat to come to the top in the measuring cup, pour off, and discard. Pout the remaining liquid back in the pan to keep warm.
- Remove the roasts from the cooker, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Drizzle the olive oil on the board, add about 2 tablespoons of the defatted liquid, along with the parsley, fleur de sel, and pepper. Unwrap the roast, place on top of the mixture, and slice perpendicular to the bone into 1/4-inch slices. Dredge the slice in the mixture and sprinkle with additional fleur de sel and pepper.
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