Ruby – great burgers out west

A recent visit to the wonderful RAMM musuem in Exeter, saw us emerge with hungry bellies and children, we stumbled across the Ruby Modern Diner almost next door. The decor and meaty aromas certainly promised good things.

The service was friendly, excellent and quick, which is always a bonus with the little ones in tow. We ordered a selection of burgers, I went for a Piggy, a 6oz Ruby Red Hamburger topped with a really good pulled pork, and served in a perfect brioche bun. We also had a Ruby, with smoked streaky bacon and Hawkridge mature cheddar cheese. The burgers were outstanding quality, and served slightly pink, so still very moist. We had sides of fries, beef dripping thick chips, Maccaruby cheese (really cheesy and well cooked) and slaw.

The also have salt beef  and sliders which I will be back for, and some fantastic sounding hard shakes such as the “Peanut Butter Wolf” made with Chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, banana, malt & Buffalo Trace bourbon. Right up my street.

We will definitely be returning, it’s great to support indie food such as this.

GrillStock BBQ Joint

I love going on little foodie adventures with my family, and they just about suffer my passion for good food. We just had a little trip up to Bristol, to visit GrillStocks new BBQ Joint, in St Nicholas’ Market.

Not often venturing into the Big Smoke, it has been quite a while since I’d been to St Nicholas’ Market, so was pleasantly surprised to see what a bustling foodie mecca it had become with lots of tempting options, but seeing as I had dragged my family up for this, we had to go for BBQ. We opted for a Pulled Pork Bap (£4) and a ‘Holy Moly’ Special (£12) to share between 4 of us.

The pulled pork bap with slaw was juicy and smoky, and my kids enjoyed it immensely having been raised on good BBQ. The ‘Holy Moly’ Special consisted of a pulled pork roll, a rack of baby back ribs, some burnt end beans, it was only later that I realised it should have come with extra slaw and some pickles, but was nonetheless very good, I probably would have liked the sauce for the beans a bit thicker and richer as it has soaked up into the bottom of the roll making it very soggy, the ribs were fantastic, smoky and spicy.

Seating is the only real issue here, and we visited at a busy time, it’s difficult hanging around for an empty table with a couple of hungry little foodies, but as we left the tables had all been freed up.

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CountryWoodSmoke Backyard BBQ Pop Up

Well I’ve been writing this little blog for a whole year now, so I wanted to do something a little bit special to celebrate, so I thought I’d host a Backyard BBQ pop up and invited a few local food producers who have inspired me, and a few friends for an evening of outdoor cooking.

My new outdoor cooking and dining den came in most useful due to the terrible weather. I’d planned a menu that would give me time to spend with my guests and not be slaving over a hot BBQ.

So we enjoyed home made Rosemary and Sea Salt Focaccia with rapeseed oil and chive flower vinegar to dip in. My special bourbon laced CountrywoodSmoke Chilli. Apple and Maple smoked Pulled Pork in a roll with my rainbow slaw. Some wonderful flower salad leaves from Maddocks Farm, and my speciality Chilli Chocolate cake with clotted cream.

A fab evening, celebrating outdoor cooking and local produce.

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Christ on a Pork Butt

I love a good pork butt, cooked low’n’slow for a good 7 or 8 hours, I used some Smoking guns rub I was given by Steve Heyes a BBQ legend and founder/chief cook of the Royal Q Pit Crew, so I knew it was going to be good.

I smoked a pork butt (bone in pork shoulder) for 6 hours at 240 deg F in cherry and maple smoke, which had been rubbed generously with the rub until it reached 180 deg F, I then wrapped the pork in foil and poured in a cup of apple juice and sealed, I put this back onto the smoker until it was 200 deg F. I rested it for half an hour, at this point it was so juicy and falling apart, I pulled it and dosed with some homemade vinegar sauce, popped it in a roll, with some homemade slaw, and a good dose of The Ribman Holy Fcuk “Christ on a bike” chilli sauce, perfection served with an ice cold beer.

Cider dressed Pulled Pork Bap

When feeding a big group of people for an event such as a bonfire party this time of year, it’s so much easier to put together a big dish of food that people can get stuck into, usually I go for a chilli ( I put together a 3 bean chilli too as it happens) but fancied something a bit different this year for the carnivores.

This is a Steven Raichlen inspired pulled pork, that went down a treat with everyone before the fireworks display.

Cider dressed Pulled Pork Bap

Make up a dry rub by blitzing in a gringer or pestle and mortar the following.

1 ancho poblano or chipotle chilli

2 tbsps english mustard powder

2 tbsps smoked paprika

2 tsps smoked sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Rub this into your bone in shoulder of pork and leave to marinate covered in a bowl in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

Set your oven or hot smoker for 120 deg C and pop in your meat for 6+ hours until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 85 deg C. Leave to rest for 20 mins to cool slightly. Then remove the skin which can be popped into a hot oven 200 deg C for 5-10 mins to crisp up the crackling. Using 2 forks shred the pork into long strands and cover with foil.

Prepare a cider sauce, with the following ingredients in a small pan.

100ml cider

100ml cider vinegar

2 tbps brown sugar

1 tsp salt

good grind of black pepper

2 tbsps tomato ketchup

1 tbsp english mustard

Warm this slightly so the sugar dissolves and then drizzle over the pork, mix together and add the crispy chopped up crackling. Serve in a floury white bap with homemade coleslaw and BBQ sauce. Delicious!