No: 17264 Friday, June 23, 2017

F o o d

FRIDAY, 

JUNE 23, 2017

By Elizabeth Karmel 

B

eef ribs are all the rage in the barbecue world these

days. I first saw beef ribs 20 years ago in Nassau,

Bahamas. Looking for the best local food, I asked a taxi

driver to take me to his favorite restaurant. He took me to a

barbecue shack way off the tourist path and introduced me to

the finest plate of beef ribs that - up to that time - I had ever

eaten. Not only were they the tastiest, but they were the

biggest ribs that I had ever seen. He aptly called them

“Brontosaurus Bones” because of their dinosaur size, and it

stuck with me. The Bahamas’ road-side barbecue shack served

the meaty-style, sometimes called “Hollywood,” beef back ribs. 

Today, the meatier short rib is the “Texas” beef rib of

choice. This rib was made popular by Wayne Mueller of Taylor,

Texas, and perfected in New York by Billy Durney of

Hometown Bar-B-Que in Red Hook, a Brooklyn neighborhood

in New York, who learned from Mueller.

Durney took the ethnic foods of his Brooklyn upbringing

and re-made them using southern barbecue techniques. Think

pastrami-cured pork belly, jerk ribs, and a smoked lamb belly

Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. The beef rib that he is famous

for is his interpretation of what he ate during his first visit to

Mueller’s restaurant.

In a recent conversation, Durney told me that when Mueller

started smoking short ribs, they weren’t used in restaurants for

any other preparation than braising, and they were relatively

cheap. These days, they have become so popular that they are

very expensive and barbecue restaurants often lose money

serving them. Durney buys 123-A beef-plate short ribs in

three-bone racks from his butcher. If you have a good butcher,

you can request that cut. Each bone-in short rib can be cut

into 6-8 pieces, which will serve 2-3 people, and will weigh

around 1.3 pounds once it is cooked.

No. 1, you have to “feel” the ribs to know that they are

done. They are ready to come off the heat once the bones

have receded from the meat. “The center is soft and tender to

the touch and the top of the meat should also be wet and glis-

tening because the fat and collagen from the beef has ren-

dered,” explained Durney. “If the beef ribs are dry and crusty,

you have overcooked them.”

And, they have to rest a good long while - 40-60 minutes

on a rack set into a sheet pan so the air can circulate around

the meat. “If you set the ribs on the surface of the pan, they

will steam and continue cooking,” he warned. After the initial

rest, “wrap them tightly with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer

of butcher paper,” continued Durney. Since you will be mak-

ing these at home, you can finish the resting process in a pre-

heated 145 F oven for 30 more minutes before serving. When

ready to serve, unwrap and slice the meat vertically off the

bone in equal chunks and re-assemble on the bone for presen-

tation

BRONTOSAURUS BONES

Ingredients 

Serves: 6

Start to finish: 2 1/2 hours

6-7 meaty-style beef baby back ribs

Olive oil

4 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

2 rosemary sprigs

Beef Rub:

2 tablespoons butcher-grind black pepper

1/2teaspoon cayenne pepper

5 tablespoons kosher salt

Preparations 

Mix rub ingredients in a small bowl, making sure it is well

combined. Meanwhile, build charcoal fire or preheat gas grill,

setting it up for indirect heat. Take beef ribs out of refrigerator

and rub all over with cut side of the garlic cloves and brush

with a thin coating of oil. Set aside for 20 minutes to come to

room temperature. Rub ribs liberally with spice rub. Place ribs

(bone side down) in the center of the cooking grate making

sure they are not over a direct flame. Grill covered (at about

325 F, if your grill has a thermometer) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or

until the meat has pulled back from the ends of the rib bones

and the ribs are well browned and slightly crusty on the ends.

Individual beef ribs will be done before the full rack (connect-

ed rib bones) is done. 

If grilling individual bones and the edges start to burn,

stack them on top of one another in the very center of the grill

and lower your fire slightly. About 30 minutes before the ribs

are done, brush lightly with the rosemary sprig dipped in olive

oil. Remove ribs from grill and let rest 15 minutes before serv-

ing or cutting into individual rib portions (if starting with a full

rack). I recommend serving these ribs sauce-less with a sprin-

kling of the beef rub, if desired. But, if you love barbecue

sauce, feel free to serve some warm on the side. —AP 

Next time on the grill,

consider going dinosaur big

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F o o d

FRIDAY, 

JUNE 23, 2017

COOKING ON

DEADLINE:

Halibut Fried

Fish Sandwich

By Katie Workman

I

love a deep-fried, puffy-battered fish sandwich, with a tem-

pura-like coating, but I’m not doing that at home. That’s for

an indulgent summer seafood shack lunch, or if you’re

lucky enough to find yourself in a British pub. But a great, pan-

fried piece of fish can be yours with much less work, and sig-

nificantly less oil. One time to do it, and stat, is when you have

Alaskan halibut. It’s worth seeking out - sweet and delicate,

with white, firm, flaky flesh. It keeps its shape nicely even as

you flip it in the pan. One-quarter inch of oil will get you a

great crust, and when that crispy fish is nestled in a roll with

lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce, you will feel like summer has

really arrived. You could certainly just go out and buy some

prepared tartar sauce if you’re in a hurry, but a homemade tar-

tar sauce is a bit of a revelation, and very simple to make. If

you don’t have cornichons, you can substitute jarred relish.

HALIBUT FRIED FISH SANDWICH WITH LEMON BASIL 

TARTAR SAUCE

Makes 4 sandwiches

Start to finish: 25 minutes

Lemon Basil Tartar Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons minced cornichons (baby pickles)

2 tablespoons minced scallions

1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed, then minced

2 teaspoons coarse Dijon or Creole mustard

1 tablespoon minced basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Halibut Fried Fish Sandwiches:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 cup panko bread crumbs

4 (6 -ounce) pieces halibut

Vegetable oil for pan frying (about 1/2 cup)

4 potato rolls

Several pieces of leaf or romaine lettuce, torn to fit the rolls

1 ripe tomato, sliced

Lemon wedges for serving

Preparation

Preheat the oven to broil. Make the Tartar Sauce. In a small

bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, cornichons,

scallions, capers, mustard, basil, parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt

and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Have all of the

sandwich rolls and toppings ready to go so that when the fish

is cooked, you can assemble the sandwiches right away.

In a shallow wide bowl, mix the flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt

and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. In another

shallow wide bowl, beat the egg with the milk and the hot

sauce. Place the panko bread crumbs in a third shallow wide

bowl.

Heat enough oil to come up 1/4-inch high in a large skillet

over medium high heat. While the oil is heating, dredge each

piece of fish first in the flour, shaking off any excess, then in

the milk mixture, allowing any excess to drip back into the

bowl, and then finally dredge the fish in the bread crumbs. Fry

the fish in the oil for about 4 minutes on each side until the

fish is golden brown and cooked through. Remove it with a

slotted spatula and place on a paper towel-lined plate or sur-

face to drain for a minute.

While the fish is cooking, broil the buns cut side up for just

a minute until lightly browned. Place a piece of cooked fish on

the bottom half of each roll, and top with a spoonful of the tar-

tar sauce. Top with the lettuce and tomato, and then with the

second half of the roll. Serve immediately, with the lemon

wedges. — AP  

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