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Wednesday, July 11, 2001
Book offers new versions of barbecue
Fire up the grill and try your hand at lamb shanks, turkey breast and tuna
By Samantha Critchell
Associated Press

Associated Press

Lamb shanks braised in a rosemary-red wine barbecue sauce offer a new twist on traditional barbecue.

NEW YORK - Think barbecue, and visions of ribs, brisket and pulled pork probably fill your head.
   And those dishes, smoked in a covered grill for hours, are "real" barbecue. But a loose (and still tasty) definition can be anything that fuses the right flame, cut of meat, blend of spices and finishing sauce, according to John Stage, co-owner of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant in Syracuse, N.Y., and co-author of a new cookbook of the same name.
   "In each bite, you should taste the smoke, the sauce, the spice and the meat," he says.
   So in addition to the "standards," "Dinosaur Bar-B-Que: American Roadhouse" (Ten Speed Press) includes recipes for barbecue turkey breast, tuna with wasabi-green onion barbecue sauce and lamb shanks braised in rosemary-red wine barbecue sauce.
   In the book, Stage says he's "a big fan" of anything braised, which, when done correctly, has a fall-off-the-bone tenderness.
   This broader swath of barbecue also means that foods that are lower in fat and quicker to cook are also candidates for grilling, notes Karen Adler, co-author of "Easy Grilling & Simple Smoking With the BBQ Queens" (Pig Out Publications).
   Lamb shanks braised in rosemary-red wine bar-b-que sauce
   6 lamb shanks (about 4 ½ pounds)
   Kosher salt and black pepper
   1/3 cup olive oil, plus ¼ cup olive oil
   2 ½ cups chopped onion
   3 tablespoons minced garlic
   2 cups dry red wine
   2 cups beef broth or stock
   3 springs rosemary
   1 cup Mutha Sauce, recipe follows (1 cup store-bought barbecue sauce can be substituted)
   ½ cinnamon stick
   Preheat the oven to 350 F. Using a knife, make a couple of shallow slits through the silvery skin on both sides of each shank. Sprinkle the meat on both sides with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
   Heat a big, heavy frying pan over a medium-high flame. Pour in 1/3 cup olive oil and get it hot and fragrant. Add as many shanks as will fit comfortably in the pan without crowding, and cook until richly browned, about 4 minutes. Flip them over and brown the other side. Pull the shanks out and drop them in a roasting pan. Continue browning the rest of the shanks. Once all of them are done, clean out the pan and pour in the remaining ¼ cup olive oil.
   Put the pan over medium-high heat and add the onions, seasoning them with salt and pepper. Cook until soft; then toss in the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Pour in the wine and broth and bring to a boil. Add the rosemary, Mutha Sauce and cinnamon stick. Pour everything over the shanks and cover the roasting pan tightly with foil. Shove it in the oven to braise for 1 hour; then pull it out and give the shanks a flip. Pop them back in the oven to cook for another hour.
   Once the shanks are tender and the meat is pulling away from the bone, lift them out onto a platter. Cover and keep warm. Strain the braising liquid and skim the grease. Pour the liquid into a small pan and reduce by half. Keep warm.
   To serve, spoon sauce over each shank.
   Serves 6.
   Mutha Sauce
   ¼ cup vegetable oil
   1 cup minced onion
   ½ cup minced green pepper
   1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
   Pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper
   2 tablespoons minced garlic
   1 28-ounce can tomato sauce
   2 cups ketchup
   1 cup water
   ¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
   ½ cup cider vinegar
   ¼ cup lemon juice
   ¼ cup molasses
   ¼ cup cayenne pepper sauce
   ¼ cup spicy brown mustard
   ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
   1 tablespoon chili powder
   2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
   ½ teaspoon ground allspice
   Pour the oil into a large saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions, green peppers and jalapenos and give them a stir. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft and golden.
   Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Dump in everything else. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce simmers. Simmer for 10 minutes. Cool. Pour into a container, cover, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.



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