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| Pit Beef (right) and Pit Turkey (Left) |
I got bored and had people to feed.
I have done so many steaks, chicken parts, pork chops and so on that I had to do something different...anything different. I usually have a few things in the back of my mind and wait for an occasion of some sort to try one out. In this case, Good, Old Fashioned Maryland Pit Beef really stood out and it is as different as one can get. I spent some time in Baltimore a few years back and remember the food almost as much as I remember the people. That was a tumultuous time and I'm not going to say everything went right but I met some outstanding people and ate like a king the whole time I was there. Hell, even the Chinese food was a little better there than most.
Of the many times that there was a party, and that was most of the time, there was one that stood out and really grabbed my attention. Every region of the Country has Fraternal Lodges of some form and those always have dinners as fundraisers. In Michigan, I remember a lot of pork loin with gravy and the once a year Lions Club BBQ in Linden. However, Baltimore being the town that it is, the Elks Lodge had the Bull and Oyster Roast. For the cost of a $50 ticket, you get as many oysters as you can eat done a dozen ways, free keg beer all night, free sodas and juices for mixers (for hard liquor it was BYOB).....and all the Pit Beef you could eat. The last time I went to one, my long time Partner in Crime Paul came to MD and we drank and fished and had a freakin' blast. Not only did we drink until the music ran together, laughed until we literally hurt, but we ate until we couldn't drink anymore...and that took aaaaallllllllllllll night!
Pardon my coarse approach, but Pit Beef is just Bad Ass Beef Pleasure on a bun. The funny part is the simplicity of it while being nearly impossible to perfect, all at the same time. It is a beef roast that is rubbed with spices, grilled to a medium rare then sliced paper thin and served on a Kaiser Roll with Tiger Sauce.
Pit Beef
Fair Warning: To get this right it's going to take at least two days. You can short the process a bit if you want but it will take away from the end result.
4-6 lb. Top Round Roast
2 tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 tbsp Granulated Onion
1 tbsp ground Oregano
3 tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp fine Sea Salt
1 tbsp fresh ground Pepper
Blend all dry ingredients in a one gallon zip top bag for a rub. Place roast in the bag and coat thoroughly. Please in roast in another zip top bag and let sit in the fridge for an hour or so. Take the roast out and repeatedly jab it with a fork to drive some of the spices into the meat. These hols will sear closed when it hits the grill. Coat again with the rub, place back in the bag, and let stand in the fridge for at least a day, two if possible.
Take roast out of the fridge at least 3-4 hours before your ready for the grill and let stand at room temperature. This is important as you don't want the core of the roast to be too cool. On the grill, over a medium bed of coals, begin to sear the roast on all sides, constantly turning and rotating to make sure it is cooked evenly on all sides. Move the roast just off the coals and continue to rotate until you reach on internal temp of about 120 degrees. You can go a little longer for a more well done but this is best at a medium rare. Take of the grill, wrap in heavy foil, and let stand for at least 15 minutes.
For Pit Turkey, add 2 tbsp Organic Cane Juice Sugar to the rub, let rubbed turkey breast stand in the fridge for no more than one day, and grill until an internal temp of 170 degrees is reached. Wrap in foil as with the beef roast, let stand 15 minutes, and proceed to the instructions below.
If you are lucky enough to know someone with a meat slicer (and I am), slice paper thin, if not, use the sharpest knife and slice as thin as possible. Save the juice that runs off for finishing. Stack the Beef high on a warm, toasted Kaiser Roll, drip about 1 tsp juices over it, and finally, top with Tiger Sauce. If done properly, you'll end up with juicy, thinly sliced beef that has a well done exterior for those people that insist on killing their beef, some that is slightly less done for others, and the medium rare center which is for those that can seriously appreciate what good beef can be. With the above explanation on the table, our conversation now brings us to......
Tiger Sauce
On the morning of the Big Grill, make your Tiger Sauce. Its best to let this sit for a few hours, at least, to combine the flavors.
1 cup Quality Mayo
1/2 cup course Horseradish
1 tsp fresh ground Pepper
1 tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
Whisk to combine and top your Pit Beef Sandwich with a generous portion.
I can't imagine having as much of an interest in cooking as I do without the travels I've had. There were great times, hard times, dangerous times, and times that I would rather not recount as to protect those that are still going on with their lives but no matter where, when, or what was going on around me, there was the food. Fresh pizza in Naples, Italy, Falafel fresh out of the fryer in Alexadria, Egypt...and Pit beef in Baltimore. I realize the other locations are difficult to get to but for anyone who is going to create a Food Bucket List for the U.S.A., you can populate the list with whatever you want, but if you seriously eat like I do, your list MUST have....
Street Food in New York City
Cajun/Creole creations of New Orleans
Koegel Hot Dogs from Flint, Michigan
and a trip to Rt. 40 in White Marsh, MD to go to Chap's or farther down Pulaski Hwy for one of the many places that serves Baltimore Pit Beef.
Party Well, Eat Better
Rob
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