Vic Socotra

08 August 2009

Birthday’s & Barbeque

(BBQ Beans in Authentic Styrofoam Cup with Plastic Spoon)

I have a pal whose Dad has the same birthday as mine does- they are both in their late 80’s now, and they have done it again. My pal is close enough that he will be able to give his congratulations in person. I sent flowers and will have to do with a phone call.

The little city by the Bay is a long way away, 773 miles and about thirteen hours in the car. That is the thing about Michigan, nestled as it is in the moist grip of the Great lakes: it is a destination unto itself, and not on the way to anything else.

I’m going to go up in a couple weeks, though, and it will be good to see him.

My pal’s Dad was a Merchant Marine sailor in the Big One, riding an armed cargo ship in convoys on the Murmansk Run to supply the Russians with munitions and trucks to kill Germans.

My Dad was a Naval Aviator back in the day, a dive-bomber to start, then piloting the monstrous Able Dog, the Douglas AD-1 Skyraider. Between the two of them, the icy waters of the North Atlantic infested with U-boats was doubtless the more dangerous, since going for a swim meant death in minutes.

But the Training Command down in Pensacola was famous for killing a novice pilot a day and sometimes two, buzzing around the outlying fields on the Gulf Coast in their Yellow Perils,

Neither made a big deal of their service, since it was something that everyone in their generation had to do, and they were neither combat heroes nor shirkers; just young guys who went and did what had to be done.

Later, they were both successes in their professional and personal lives, not that life wasn’t the American rollercoaster along the way. But they kept their marriages to good women and raised healthy children. Now they have made it to the latter part of nine decades on the planet. If live is not as good as it once was, it is life still.

I salute them both, the birthday Bills.

If I was to do something today, more than to think of them, I would grill, of course. A brisket, possibly, and possibly some chicken to balance. I have a passion for that, and a technique, which I will not share willingly except with my own children.

I will take the liberty of sharing something else, since it doesn’t belong to me, and is someone else’s trade secret. I have been about taking the secrets of others all my professional life, so try this one, if you need a side to something succulent coming off the mesquite-flavored indirect heat.

I may trouble you with a simple slaw recipe that works pretty well for me tomorrow, though I don’t know precisely how that impacts grumbling about the Great Issues of the day.

For the other side, I would recommend Death Junior’s mother’s Alabama potato salad, but that is laying around here already, and I understand she is going to mix some up for an impromptu barbeque down by the pool tonight. Stop by and have a taste.

There was some talk about a bean-off as well. Jeremy announced that he was going to do his famous beans. I may have looked skeptical, but he pushed the issue.

“How ‘bout a bean-off?” I said slowly, smoke trickling from the corner of my mouth. My ladle-hand began to itch. “Let the people judge.”

Jeremy rose to the bait, and we are on for a bean shoot-out. I am betting he is going for some tomato-based beenie weenies, and I think I have got him dead to rights. But this is the kind of guy I am: I am going to put my recipe right out there, and I bet he cannot find the source of my secret ingredient, even if it is right there in plain site across Route 29 from Clark’s gun shop, near the junction to Opal.

I stopped yesterday to ensure I had some in stock. Caroline helped me out. She must have been quite a looker when she was younger, and still gets a whistle from the long-haul truckers who stop. She was happy to help, and later today I will put the ingredients together and slow cook them for tomorrow.

You might want to try them. You don't have to serve them in styrofoam cups with plastic forks, but I find that to add to the traditional taste:

Socotra’s Best Beans on the Planet:

With thanks to “Barbeque Country” at the truck-stop on Rt 29 for the secret ingrdedient, and full and admiring credit to Oklahoma Joe Davidson, www.joedavidson.com <http://www.joedavidson.com> , who has won awards for years with this one:

Ingredients:

2 - 15 ounce cans of Pork & Beans
1 - 15 ounce can of Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 - 15 ounce can of Black Beans
1 - small red onion (diced)
1 - green bell pepper (diced)
1 - red bell pepper (diced)
1 - Jalapeno Pepper (diced)
2 - Cups-Golden brown sugar
18 ounces of Rt. 29 Truck Stop Sauce (or Sweet Baby Ray’s Hot n’ Spicy BBQ sauce)
1 pound chopped brisket

Directions:

    * Preheat oven to 350 degrees
    * Drain beans and place in an aluminum foil pan
    * Remove seeds and dice peppers and onion
    * Place in aluminum pan
    * Mix in remainder of ingredients
    * Place pan on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours
    * Remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes before serving

Serves: 12-18

Enjoy the summer. There is a lot of stuff coming down the road this fall that will not be so pretty, and not nearly as relaxed.

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