BBQ Lamb to die for
There's a generally held belief that slow-cooked meats are the best, but we've evolved into a culture that relies on speed and efficiency. We don't want to be stuck there, tending to a slow-roast or a smoker.
No, we want it done for us. And it better turn out great.
I'd argue that there's a simple pleasure in spending several hours cooking a large piece of meat.... that pleasure comes from the low heat, the assurance that it'll be gooood, and the anticipation of the first bite.
This Houstonpress blog has a terrific recipe for this Mexican-style BBQ lamb, which is a combination, they say, of "braising and smoking". Alright:
"Mexican barbacoa is still made in a smoker by a few Tejano barbecue enthusiasts, but commercial pit barbacoa is all but extinct in Texas. Vera's in Brownsville is one of the last restaurants in the state to use a real pit to make barbacoa. In the old days, Mexican ranch hands used to wrap cow heads up in canvas or maguey leaves and bury them in the coals. (In the movie Giant, Elizabeth Taylor faints when they unwrap the package and show her the head.) But health departments frown on such traditional barbacoa these days."
Most of us don't have a big pit to smoke the head of a cow in, but we'll try this recipe nonetheless...
The recipe calls for smoking the lamb shoulder for 5 or 6 hours, which is crazy talk. You'd have to put it in the smoker in the morning, then come get it for lunch.
Read the recipe!
I'm going to propose a different method, which I'm salivating over. Instead of smoking the lamb, I'm going to try steaming it in the chile soup, then braising it in the oven. I'm going to the market now; will try it for dinner.
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