Free Recipes and Grilling Tips for Summer Barbecue Season
Smoked pastrami rubbed brisket in Kansas City is a new thing
With Memorial Day weekend over and summer beginning, it’s officially grilling season in the Kansas City area.
Pitmaster Erica Roby teamed up with the Beef: It’s What for Dinner brand to explore a variety of regional flavors and share all that American barbecue has to offer. As part of her recent nationwide barbecue tour, Roby made stops in Missouri, North Carolina and California.
“Barbecue is like music — every region has its own vibe,” she said. “Kansas City goes big on sweet, saucy and slightly tangy flavors, but the Carolinas are tangy territory with vinegar sauce in the east and mustard in the south. And while California’s central coast likes to keep it simple with salt, pepper and garlic, red oak smoke is their secret ingredient.”
READ: KC Royals help players attend Christian college
In Kansas City, smoked pastrami rubbed brisket serves as the perfect, tender base to top with sweet barbecue sauce, Roby said. Coated in yellow mustard and then sprinkled in a pastrami-style rub before heading to the smoker, this brisket is melt-in-your-mouth good.
With brisket being so popular right now for its rich, smoky flavor, a brisket flat sandwich is another great barbecue dish to serve. Hitting the tang with a mustard-base barbecue sauce topped with homemade coleslaw on a toasted brioche bun, this sandwich will give home chefs a reason to brag – not just for its insane flavor, but if they can master brisket, they can master just about any cut of beef this summer.
In Santa Maria, Calif., loyalists stand by a simple dry rub and cook meat over red oak, such as Santa Maria-style strip steak and Santa Maria tri-tip with pistachio pesto. Although both cuts are popular in that region of the country, the red oak smoke is what gives Santa Maria style barbecue its own distinct flavor.
Barbecue recipes and cooking tips are available at Smoking Basics (www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/cooking/smoking-basics) and Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner
www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com.
–Alan Goforth
