Well, today is the Fourth of July. Since I’m not employed right now, I actually have this most American of all holidays off this year.
I decided to barbecue. Fireworks are out of the question, but Germans seem to be of a mind that any excuse to fire up the grill is a good one. Barbecue it is.
I’ve not had barbecued pork ribs in almost twenty years. That’s what we used to make at home on the Fourth, and I’ve been away for a damned long time.
German’s don’t seem to eat pork ribs. I’m not talking about spare ribs here. Germans eat those, and two of the butcher shops I went to tried to sell me some. I don’t want those. I want the scraggly, gnaw the bone plain old ribs.
The third place knew what I was talking about, and the clerk rooted around in a cooler somewhere in back and brought out what looked like a strip with all the ribs from one side of a (small) hog. Gimme. 2.50 Euros (about three bucks.)
While I’m out, I stopped and bought a yard and a half of a small metal chain from the hardware store. The grill needs major work done on it, and that’s what the chain is for.
Back home, and take the grill apart as far as necessary. The fire grate has come apart on three places, so I’ve brazed them back together. Then I brazed a piece of chain to each corner of the grate and drilled four holes in the sides of the barrel. Chains through the holes, and now I can raise and lower the grate to vary the cooking temperature. I’ve needed to do this for a long time, but never got around to it. My Father and I built it one day when he was here on vacation.
At the time, I was also digging out the backyard so the grill kind of got a little neglected. Out in the yard, swing a pick and hack out about a wheelbarror full of dirt, back into the garage and help Dad with the cutting and welding while waiting for the brother in law to shovel up the dirt and dump it in the trailer.
That was five years ago, so I’ve really been needing to put those chains in there for a while.
Back to today.
Chains attached and in, now chuck the steel bruch into the drill and clean the grill and knock the rust and scale off the outside of the barrel. Wash the grill, and paint the barrel.
Ahh.
The grill is ready, now for the food. First the barbecue sauce. Do NOT ever use what the German’s get foisted off on them as “American Barbecue Sauce.” That’s nasty shit.
Fannie Flagg has a good recipe for barbecue sauce in her “Original Whistlestop Cafe Cookbook.” A little too much vinegar “whang,” but the next time I’ll know to use less.
Corn. Just add some water, butter, salt, and pepper - and garlic. I put garlic in just about everything. I wouldn’t normally add water, but canned corn comes just about dry over here for some strange reason.
Pork and beans with a little syrup and a tablespoon of mustard - and no pork. Germans don’t put pork in their pork and beans, for which reason the can simply says “Beans.” Whatever. It still tastes like pork and beans, so there.
Ribs on the grill and a couple of sausages for the kids. Baguettes with garlic butter on the back edge of the grill to heat.
Everything all cooked, and back in the house to eat. Crappy weather. It always rains on this particular July weekend, and the rule is holding true today. The local festival almost always gets rained out, and since it started today the Fourth gets rained out too.
MMMMMMHHHHHHH!
Barbecue sauce from ear to ear. Barbecue sauce up to my elbows. A big pile of gnawed bones and empty bowls for the corn and beans - and a big full belly.
It took me five minutes to wipe enough stuff off of my face and hands so that I could stand up and go to the bathroom to wash up with out dripping sauce and crumbs all over the house.
Damn, that was GOOD!
I’ll have to do this again next year - but I’ll take a day off of the new job I damned well better have by then.