Fit for a long weekend
FLAVOURS FROM THE BASQUE COUNTRY HIT THE GRILL WITH RIBS AND SIDES
Whether barbec uing, charring, grilling, slow- roasting or smoking — chef Ben Tish is an advocate for fully utilizing your barbecue.
Cooking over wood and charcoal imparts unique flavours. He hopes that more home cooks will adopt the method as a year- round extension of the kitchen, applying it from breakfasts to desserts.
“Anything you can cook in an oven, you can do on the barbecue — as long as the smoky flavour works with the food you’re cooking,” Tish says.
“You can ( of course) grill meat and fish … but if you really enjoy those flavours, why not experiment with other things? Like more vegetables on the barbecue. Vegetables are fantastic cooked over charcoal, and desserts. Chocolate works really well with smoke. It takes it to the next level, really.”
In his second cookbook, Grill Smoke BBQ, Tish highlights the flavours of Spain and Italy in inventive dishes.
Breakfast, brunch and bread ( smoky eggs with asparagus and sweet shallots on sourdough) join sides (patatas alinadas; recipe follows) and desserts ( smoky bitter-chocolate puddings).
Tapas and small plates ( smoked and grilled chorizo with roasted peppers and saffron alioli; smoked cod with white beans, clams and parsley), and large plates meant for sharing familystyle (Florentine-style steak; roasted and grilled pork ribs with quince glaze, recipe follows) are the centerpiece of the collection.
Eleven years as head chef at Ember Yard — a grill restaurant specializing in Spanish and Italian small plates in Soho — and trips throughout Spain and Italy spurred Tish’s interest in this style of cooking.
In Spain’s Basque country (Euskadi) and the Italian region of Tuscany in particular, open- fire cooking is regarded as an extension of the domestic kitchen, he says.
A T- bone grilled simply over hazelwood charcoal at Florence’s Trattoria Sostanza, Tish writes, was a high point of his culinary travels (“one of the best pieces of beef I’ve ever eaten”). And the Basque custom of grilling fish and meat over hot coals influenced him immensely.
“Traditional Basque grills especially fascinate me, with their distinctive operating wheel that precisely raises or lowers the grilling racks to allow food to be cooked quickly, slowly, or anything in between,” Tish writes.
He mentions a visit to Etxebarri, a highly-regarded restaurant in Axpe. It’s here that chef Victor Arguinzoniz cooks on a custom- made Basque grill. He selects different types of local wood for various applications, and serves dishes such as lightlygrilled angulas ( baby eels) and smoked ice cream.
Etxebarri is exceptional, Tish says, but adds that even the novice griller can learn from Arguinzoniz’s approach: the importance of using natural charcoal and sourcing the best- possible ingredients, as well as cultivating an understanding of how fire and smoke work.
Tish prefers grilling over charcoal, but if you have a gas grill, “by all means use it for these recipes: you’ll just end up with different flavours.”
Wood and charcoal impart subtle seasoning, he says, and should be considered in the same way you source the ingredients for a dish. Tish likes to use charcoal from a single species — apple, hazel, oak, and silver birch are some of his favourites.
“Apple wood ( is great) cooked with pork, for example. Oak is generally very good with meat: an allrounder. Silver birch is better with fish. So you can really have some fun matching the smoke essentially with the foods,” he says.
Excerpted f r om Grill Smoke BBQ by Ben Tish ( Quadrille Publishing/ Chronicle Books, 2017).
PATATAS ALINADAS WITH PIQUILLO PEPPERS AND WILD GARLIC Serves: 4
600 g (21 oz) waxy potatoes ( e. g. new potatoes, fingerling), cleaned but skins on 1/ 3 heaping cup ( 80 g) piquillo peppers, roughly chopped (See Note) 1 small green bell pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped Small handful of wild garlic ( a. k. a. wild leeks or ramps) leaves, chopped, or 3 ‘ wet’ ( fresh) garlic cloves, finely sliced 2 tsp ( 10 mL) smoked hot paprika 2 tbsp (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp ( 30 mL) red wine vinegar Sea salt and black pepper Light the barbecue and set for direct/indirect cooking.
Place the potatoes on the grill in the centre of the indirect cooking zone and close the lid of the barbecue. Cook the potatoes for 45 minutes or until the skins have crisped and l i ghtly charred and the flesh is soft and tender. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to steam for 10 minutes.
Roughly crush the potatoes, still with their skins on, with the back of a fork, then add both kinds of peppers, along with the garlic, paprika, oil and vinegar. Mix well, crushing the potatoes a little more with the fork to ensure their flesh is exposed to all the flavours. Season well, then cover and leave to marinate at room temperature for an hour before serving.
Note: Piquillo peppers are available roasted and packed in jars. They’re available at specialty stores and some supermarkets ( President’s Choice sells them as part of the PC Black Label collection). As a substitute, use equal amounts of j arred roasted red peppers.
SEASONAL SALAD OF HERITAGE CARROTS Serves: 4
1.2 kg ( 2 ¾ lb) mixed heritage or bunched organic carrots, stalks removed ( save any feathery tops for the salad), washed 3 ½ tbsp ( 50 g) unsalted butter 3 garlic cloves, crushed 1 ½ tbsp ( 22 mL) cumin seeds A few (50 g) French Breakfast or White Icicle radishes, trimmed 2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves, washed 1 ½ tbsp ( 22 mL) blossom honey 1 ½ tbsp ( 22 mL) red wine vinegar 1½ tbsp (22 mL) extra virgin olive oil Olive oil, for cooking Sea salt and black pepper Light the barbecue and set for direct/indirect cooking.
Spread out a double layer of foil large enough to enclose the carrots. Place the carrots on the foil, then dot with the butter and add a drizzle of olive oil. Scatter over the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the cumin seeds, then season well before wrapping up the foil to make a well-sealed parcel.
Using long-handled tongs, nestle the parcel into the coals and cook for about 35– 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the carrots (if using a gas grill, place the parcel on the cooking grate; consider using a smoker box for flavour). When they are ready, they should be nice and tender. Carefully remove the parcel from the barbecue, then leave to rest and cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, use a pestle and mortar or spice grinder to coarsely crush the remaining cumin seeds. Finely slice the radishes and place in a bowl, along with the salad leaves. Cut the carrots into small chunks or slices and add to the bowl.
Whisk together the honey, vinegar and extra virgin olive oil to make a dressing, then stir in the crushed cumin seeds.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well, mixing in any carrot tops. Season before serving.
ROASTED AND GRILLED PORK RIBS WITH QUINCE GLAZE Serves: 4
A lump of oak or beech hardwood 1 x 1.2 kg ( 2 ¾ lb) rack of pork ribs (preferably Iberico or Gloucester Old Spot) 1½ tbsp (22 mL) coarse sea salt 10 black peppercorns 3 bay leaves For the quince glaze: 2/ 3 cup ( 200 g) quince paste (membrillo; see Note) 3½ tbsp (50 mL) white balsamic vinegar ¼ cup ( 50 g) dark brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 180° C (350°F).
Place the rib racks in a large roasting pan and pour in 3 litres (12 cups) of water, then add the salt, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover the pan with foil, transfer to the oven and cook for about 1 ½ hours, or until the ribs are very soft and tender – you should be able to pull out a bone quite easily. Remove the ribs from the tin and leave to cool for an hour or so to firm up.
3. Meanwhile, make t he quince glaze. Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan with 1¼ cups (300 mL) of water and stir over low heat on the stovetop until the quince paste has completely melted.
4. Light the barbecue and set for direct/ indirect cooking. Place the lump of wood onto the ashen charcoal to start smoking (if cooking on a gas grill, consider using a smoker box).
5. Brush the ribs with the glaze, then place on the grill in the direct heat zone. Cook for 2 minutes on each side before moving them to the indirect heat zone and basting with the glaze. Close the lid of the barbecue and continue to cook the ribs, turning and basting them every 3 minutes or so, until they are beautifully glazed and lightly charred with a good crust.
Note: Membrillo ( quince paste, cheese or jelly) is a classic Spanish condiment to accompany cheese. It’s available at Spanish food suppliers, good supermarkets and cheese shops.