Memorial Day grilling, Southern style (with recipes)

Barbecue. Bar-B-Que. BBQ!

I love just about any form of barbecue.

South Carolina pulled pork (whole hog) barbecue, in my humble opinion, is the best.

So, with May being Barbecue Month and Memorial Day heralding the beginning of grilling season just ahead, let me sharea new cookbook that should be a must-have for backyard Q-ers: “The Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ” with Pitmaster Christopher Prieto.

What makes this a must-have: Subtitled “The Complete Year-Round Guide to Grilling & Smoking,” the book really does a good job of offering a wide range of recipes for every season. Prieto knows his stuff, having grown up with Texas and Kansas-style que before becoming the pitmaster at PRIME Barbecue near Raleigh.

It starts with the basics ... the history of barbecue, what “barbecue” means in regions within the South (although in the sauce breakdown on the map, it fails to mention that South Carolina is unique in that we have three basic sauces: mustard, vinegar & pepper, and hint-of-tomato red), the animals used (beef, pork, chicken, goat, lamb) and the different cuts of meat. The cookbook covers sauces and sides and, as an aside, even the beverages that should be served cold at a Southern barbecue (Coca-Cola, Cheerwine, Lone Star beer anyone?).

There’s also a primer on which woods to use when smoking to produce certain flavors in the meat and recipes for the sauces and rubs.

Prieto shows step-by-step how to break down and trim each cut of meat, from beef brisket to pork baby back ribs, pork butts to how to spatchcock a turkey (or chicken or duck).

Low-and-slow versus hot-and-fast: Prieto and the Southern Living staff have included recipes using both methods. Typically, the larger and tougher cuts of meat require slow cooking while the thinner cuts, as well as chicken, shrimp and fish, can be done hot and fast. Best of all, you don’t necessarily have to have a fancy smoker when your oven or backyard grill will do.

There are even recipes that can be done in a slow cooker.

It’s not all meat: Sure, it’s MOSTLY meat, but there are recipes for vegetable sides (who knew there were six different versions of slaw?) and tips for preparing vegetables on the grill. There’s even a recipe for the classic side/sandwich topping: chow chow.

But, speaking of meat: What do you do with leftovers from a perfectly smoked whole Boston butt? It can happen. And when it does, the cookbook has recipes for those occasions: tacos, carnitas, chili, sandwiches and more. Overall, “The Ultimate Book of BBQ” is a very comprehensive guide to everything Q.

Light one side of the grill, heating to high heat (400 to 500 degrees); leave other side unlit. Remove silverskin from tenderloins, leaving a thin layer of fat. Sprinkle with pepper and 1 teaspoon salt, wrap 5 bacon slices around each tenderloin and secure with wooden picks.

Place green beans, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cloves garlic and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt in center of a 24-by-18 inch piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil; toss to coat. Bring up sides of foil over beans; double-fold top and side edges to seal, making a packet.

Arrange pork and foil packet over unlit side and grill, covered with grill lid, 25 to 30 minutes until meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 145 degrees.

Meanwhile, mince the remaining 2 cloves of garlic. Saute garlic in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Add vinegar and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Boil 5 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and stir in strawberry preserves. Reserve half of this mixture for basting. Stir fresh strawberries into remaining mixture.

Remove foil packet from grill, transfer pork to lit side. Baste pork with strawberry preserve mixture. Grill 5 minutes more over lit side, turning once. Remove pork from grill, let stand 10 minutes. Slice and serve with fresh strawberry mixture and green beans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse ribs and pat dry. Remove thin membrane from back of slabs by slicing into it and pulling it off. (This will make the ribs more tender.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and wrap each slab tightly with aluminum foil. Place slabs on a jelly-roll pan and bake at 325 for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until tender and meat pulls away from the bone.

Bring honey, soy sauce, chili sauce, lime juice, butter, dry mustard and ground ginger to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Transfer to a bowl.

Remove slabs from oven and increase oven temperature to broil. Carefully remove slabs from foil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Brush each slab with 3 tablespoons honey mixture.

Broil 5 to 7 minutes or until browned and sticky. Brush with remaining honey mixture before serving.

Stir together first 5 ingredients and salt in a large Dutch oven. Cover and chill 8 hours. Rinse and drain; return mixture to Dutch oven. Stir in sugar and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes.

Sterilize 5 pint jars and prepare lids. Ladle hot mixture evenly into each hot sterilized jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Seal and process jars, processing 10 minutes.

Remove jars form water and let stand, undisturbed, at room temperature 24 hours. To check seals, remove the bands and press down on the center of each lid. If the lid doesn’t move, the jar is sealed. If the lid depresses and pops up again, the jar is not sealed. Store properly sealed jars in a cool, dark space up to 1 year. Refrigerate after opening.