Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ

Of Food and Fellowship: Southern Living Ultimate Book Of BBQ

“To say barbecue in the South is a big deal is an understatement. It’s about sharing an age-old tradition with family and friends -enjoying the fundamentals in life: food and fellowship.”

-Taken from Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ

Photo courtesy of Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ

Now I don’t know about you, but I like that quote. I like it more than I can tell you. A person can digress over a great many things concerning BBQ, from technique to recipe, but at the end of the day, it’s all about sharing something good with the people around you. And BBQ is good! It is a sad affair indeed, the lonely pit master who has not one person in his lot to share with his smokey wares. Good BBQ cannot be hoarded. Nay, it ought to be shared.

Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ: The Complete Year-Round Guide to Grilling and Smoking

Which brings me to this cook book from the good folks at Southern Living. They have shared quite a bit in this one. I’ve had the good fortune to peruse its pages over the last few days, whilst taking up residence in my man chair, with a lovely beverage at hand of course. Thumbing through the book, and being a man, I was at once taken by the pretty pictures. It was bitter-sweet however. Because here at this blog we try our very best to snap the finest pictures we can, taking great pains with light and subject, but after seeing the food photography in this book, our pittance might as well have come from the fumbling shutter of a preschooler. My but it was good. I did rather fancy the photos.

It is well written too. And diverse. It says in the book, “if you ask 10 different southerners their thoughts on the best barbecue, you’re bound to get 10 different answers“. And it’s true. That’s BBQ alright, and the book seems to captures that essence pretty good. It looks to have it all, from BBQ basics, to expert cooking tips from pit blokes like Troy Black, Myron Mixon and Robb Walsh. But the main force behind the book, is pit master Christopher Prieto. This is his first cook book. You might have seen him on the television show, BBQ Pit Masters, which is a great show, BTW. Or if you’re really lucky, you live in North Carolina, and eat his BBQ in person. And to this end, you have our sincere envy. As the owner of Prime Barbecue, in Raleigh, NC, Christopher and his team will be happy to cater to you there, or in surrounding areas. Come to Minnesota young Christopher! We need you here!

Anyways, the Ultimate Book of BBQ is a lovely compilation of more than 200 recipes of utter BBQ succulence, that I think are Christopher’s. From ribs to chicken to brisket to salmon to soup to collard greens. No point in scratching your head, it has it all. It’s the ultimate book of BBQ after all. In point of fact, here is an excerpt recipe for some Cackalacky Sauce, as seen in the above photo, that you might want to try. No, we have no idea what a cackalacky is either. Must be a North Carolina thing. But check out this tasty sauce!

North Cackalacky Barbecue Sauce

Vinegar-based sauces, like this slightly spicy sauce, are traditional in eastern North Carolina and don’t require refrigeration.

Yield: about 1 2⁄3 cups Total: 30 Minutes

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1⁄4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp. hot sauce

1 1⁄2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

1⁄2 tsp. coarse black pepper

1⁄8 tsp. ground red pepper

2 tsp. table salt

1 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1⁄2 cup apple juice

Stir together all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 2⁄3 cups, about 25 minutes.

Photo courtesy of Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ

We appreciated the wide spectrum of flavors the recipes went after. You’ll find something to suit the snobbiest BBQ tongue. Like wise, we liked how it was all laid out, nice and tidy like, through-out the book – like a good cook book should. One chapter is devoted to the pleasures of Low & Slow, our personal favorite. But there is another chapter devoted towards the glories of Hot & Fast. One chapter for sauces, rubs and marinades. Another chapter just for sides, with such recipes as Grilled Watermelon with Blue Cheese, and Appalachian Cider Baked Beans. Man! They even had a chapter entitled, Rainy Day BBQ, of which I got perhaps, overly excited for. Nothing like hearing the rain drops splatter off a sizzling pit whilst sweet plumes of hickory smoke curl into the gray drizzle. But this wasn’t so. The chapter ended up being a collection of slow cooker recipes, and stove top wonders, which I suppose have their place in a BBQ book. I don’t know. I guess we do have a disturbing proclivity around here for foul weather BBQ. But even so, mercy, did them photos ever look good, crock pot or not!

Let’s see one more recipe from the book before we wrap this review up. Let’s see a rub. If a pit master has a signature flavor, most of it probably stems from the rub. Man, we love a good rub. Here is one of Christopher’s rubs, as seen in the photo above.

Season All Rub

Use Christopher Prieto’s signature rub on anything you want to throw on the grill or smoker: fish, steaks, pork, or chicken.

Yield: about 2 cups Total: 5 Minutes

3⁄4 cup paprika

1⁄2 cup turbinado sugar

1⁄4 cup seasoned salt

1⁄4 cup coarse black pepper

2 Tbsp. granulated garlic

1 Tbsp. granulated onion

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. chipotle powder

Stir together all ingredients until well blended. Store in an airtight container up to 1 month.

Anyways, there you go. A little review of the latest cook book to come by the pit. Pros: It’s well articulated, deliciously diverse, and beautifully photographed. Also impressively inspired from one, Christopher Prieto. This bloke can smoke! Cons: A bit pricey at $25 bucks a copy, but what isn’t these days. Other than that, we liked pert near every thing about it. So if you’re looking for inspiration for your next BBQ, or a great gift for your pit master, you’d do well to check out Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ. Read it. Barbecue something good. Then share it at once with some one that you love, and enjoy some of life’s fundamentals: in food and fellowship. Amen.

Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ: The Complete Year-Round Guide to Grilling and Smoking