Where there’s smoke, there’s flavor.

Serves 4

To make this recipe, you will need a baking stone, a sturdy baking sheet with a 1-inch rim, and a wire cooling rack that fits inside it. It’s fine if the ribs overlap slightly on the rack. In step 1, removing the surface fat keeps the ribs from being too greasy. And, removing the membrane from the ribs allows the smoke to penetrate both sides of the racks and also makes the ribs easier to eat. Note that the ribs must be coated with the rub and refrigerated at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours ahead of cooking. Be careful when opening the crimped foil to add the juice, as hot steam and smoke will billow out.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
When the craving for barbecued ribs strikes in the dead of winter, you’re out of luck unless you visit the local rib joint. There are recipes for oven barbecuing, but the smoke-flavored sauce they use is no substitute for actual smoke. We wanted the real thing, but prepared indoors.

St. Louis–style ribs, which have been trimmed of skirt meat and excess cartilage, work best here. We started with a spice rub as we would for grilling, but found that a thin coating of mustard, ketchup, and garlic helped the rub adhere. We tried wood chips in a stovetop smoker, but we had difficulty fitting the ribs in the pan, it’s hard to find wood chips in wintertime—and the smoke-filled kitchen was the clincher. We gave up on wood chips and instead borrowed a Chinese cooking method of smoking over tea leaves. Lapsang Souchong tea, which itself has a smoky flavor, worked perfectly when we ground it fine. Chilling the ribs first helped prevent toughening in the oven’s initial high heat. Apple juice, a common ingredient in barbecue “mops,” added moisture and more flavor. And running the ribs under the broiler at the end browned and crisped them. These tender, smoky, and spicy ribs taste amazingly like those barbecued on the grill, but can be made any time of the year.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/test-kitchen-community/2012/08/best-of-the-best-day-eight-oven-barbecued-ribs-2/

Serves 6 to 8

If you can’t find chuck and/or sirloin, substitute any 85 percent lean ground beef. Handle the meat gently; it should be thoroughly combined but not pastelike. To avoid using the broiler, glaze the loaf in a 500-degree oven; increase cooking time for each interval by 2 to 3 minutes.

Mojo sauce (recipe follows; makes 1 generous cup) is a citrus-flavored Cuban sauce served with pork. Rice with black beans is an excellent accompaniment to this dish. The use of wood for flavoring is not traditional in this dish and can be omitted if you prefer to keep the emphasis on the pork and seasonings.

Mojo Sauce
Makes 1 generous cup

Makes about 2½ cups

Makes about 2 cups

This sauce contains no tomato but is rich with heat and vinegar.

Makes about 1 cup

You can adjust the proportions of spices in this all-purpose rub or add or subtract a spice, as you wish. For instance, if you don’t like spicy foods, reduce the cayenne. Or, if you are using hot chili powder, eliminate the cayenne entirely.

Serves 8

Pulled pork can be made with a fresh ham or picnic roast, although our preference is for Boston butt. Preparing pulled pork requires little effort, but lots of time. Plan on 10 hours from start to finish: 3 hours with the spice rub, 1 hour to come to room temperature, 3 hours on the grill, 2 hours in the oven, and 1 hour to rest. Wood chunks help flavor the meat; hickory is the traditional choice with pork, although mesquite can be used if desired. Serve the pulled pork on plain white bread or warmed buns with the classic accompaniments of dill pickle chips and coleslaw. You will need a disposable aluminum roasting pan that measures about 10 inches by 8 inches as well as heavy-duty aluminum foil and a brown paper grocery bag.

Serves 4

Serves 8

Although it was originally made with skirt steak, this combination of steak and vegetables grilled and then wrapped in warm tortillas is the dish that put flank steak on the culinary map in the United States. The ingredients go on the grill in order as the fire dies down: steak over a hot fire, vegetables over a medium fire, and tortillas around the edge of the medium to low fire just to warm them.

Serves 6

Top blade steaks (also called blade or flatiron steaks) are our first choice, but any boneless roast from the chuck will work. If you end up using a chuck roast, look for the chuck eye roast, an especially flavorful cut that can easily be trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces. Buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes make excellent accompaniments to carbonnade. The traditional copper-colored Belgian ale works best in this stew. If you can’t find one, choose another dark or amber-colored ale of your liking.