It was a glorious Saturday. I had the great fortune to be invited to the LSU-Tennesse football game yesterday. With the travel plans secure, the food for the tailgate was the next mission. The trip to the market yielded enough pork and charcoal to feed a militia, with the tally being a ten pound pork butt, five slabs of baby back ribs, green onion sausage, and brautwurst.
Around ten o'clock Friday night the butt began to braise, sleeping gently in a slowly simmering stock where it remained for the night. In the morning the smell of pork - and not coffee - was what brought me out of bed. The butt was removed from the braising liquid and cooled. Reducing the liquid by twenty-five percent and blending it made for an amazing BBQ sauce base. While the pork butt was still in the braise, the ribs remained in a brine in the refrigerator overnight. Now packed and ready for travel, the journey began.
The spot and hosts for the tailgate were more than accomodating and thus set the stage for a great day of food and football. Our menu started with the sausages, smoke-grilled over hickory chunks and resting on french bread with a little sauce, which made for the perfect amuse to the game. During the game my loyalty lay with the food and not football, but the grass was green on both sides as we had a TV broadcasting the game. So the food and I hung outside the stadium talking, cooking, and drinking, waiting for the touchdown of the butt. Once the bark on the butt was right, it was sliced and placed on french bread.
Food was good and rustic, the company was above average, and the Tigers won; I am not one much for recipes, but this was a recipe for success.
Bon Vie, Bruddah!
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