Onde El Gringo - Texas BBQ In Panama City

 Onde El Gringo

Plaza 69, San Francisco Panama https://www.ondeelgringobbq.com

Hi all. I know you've missed me. Well, frankly, I've missed you too! Panama is a wonderful country and I've been enjoying myself tremendously. What I haven't been doing is writing or taking an obnoxious amount of pictures of what I'm eating. Well, it's time to stop that nonsense and start all that up again.

First stop: Onde el Gringo. It's a Texas-style bbq joint that sits right next to a couple of other good restaurants including TaiSei Ramen and La Rana Dorado. Both of those deserve separate posts and will get them.

The owner of Onde el Gringo trained in the US in Texas and his brisket is second to none. Mine included. It's not cheap at $15 per 1/2lb, but it's worth it.

When going by Uber you'll note, much to your driver's dismay, that the location reads dead center in the block so they will generally take you to the middle of the next street over and look around. You need to continue to the next street and take two rights to get you to Plaza 69. It's towards the back. There is ample indoor and outdoor seating.

You can request fatty or lean. Everything is sold by the pound. They offer brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs (sometimes) and pulled pork. Sides are minimal and also sold by the pound. Cole slaw, Mac'n'cheese (seemed pretty much like Velveeta, not that that's a bad thing) and a few others.

Menu pricing is below.

Below is what we got for Father's Day. 

I managed to score some burnt ends once and they always throw in some pickled onions and pickles with a couple of buns. 

Expats, rejoice. There are other BBQ joints in the city, but so far this one has my heart.

As always, questions/comments are welcome.

Cheers.

Home Cookin' Smoked Brisket So Good It'll Bring a Tear to Your Eye

Ever go to a restaurant that isn't a bbq joint that had brisket so flavorful and tender that it rivaled the best BBQ restaurant brisket you've ever had? Here's one way to do it. There are others, but this way is pretty much fool-proof and the end result is so fantastic you'll sprain your arm patting yourself on the back. It's very impressive for a dinner party too.

All you need is meat, salt, seasoning, a smoker, a vacuum sealer, and an immersion circulator. It's not as bad as it sounds, promise.

 I started out with a brisket flat. It is about $6.99/lb at Giant. You can find it cheaper on sale. This recipe will work for a whole-muscle brisket as well, so if you've got an actual butcher who will get you one, give it a try.  I sliced it in half to start with as my vacuum sealer is on the small side. I salted it generously with flaky kosher salt and let it sit in the fridge for a few days.

 The day before you're going to serve, season the brisket with your favorite rub, then smoke it for 3 hours at 225. 

 Turn off the smoker, or kill the fire, whichever is applicable, and let the meat cool to room temperature. Once it's cool, vacuum seal it. Once it's sealed, you can put it in the water bath you've got waiting at a toasty 185 degrees.

 Set your temp to 185 and set the timer to 12 hours. If you want to go lower/longer that is an option as well. I was in the middle of a Gotham binge with my wife so I knew I'd be up until midnight, which is when the meat went into the bath.

 In the interest of having fewer single-use tools in my kitchen, I use a cooler that fits nicely into the small compartment of my sink for my water bath rather than having a lexan to store and keep clean. I line it with a trash bag, fill it 3/4 of the way with water that is as hot as I can get it out of the tap (@130), and then boil a pot of water to get the temp up to 185 quicker. The faster you get the water up to temp the less wear and tear you put on the heating element of your circulator...I think. 

Be aware: even though the meat is sealed in bags, the smell and some color leaches out into the water after 12 hours. Don't use your favorite tailgating cooler.

 After 12 hours at 185, I kick the temperature up to 203 and let it continue to cook for another 2-3 hours, then shut off the circulator, remove any covering you have on the water bath, and let the meat cool a bit. When you're ready to serve, cut off the corner of the bag and pour the liquid into plastic pint container. Put it in the fridge and the fat will rise to the surface so you can skim it easily. The liquid remaining is pure gold. It will eventually solidify as it's very gelatinous. You can use this for anything from gravy or a sauce for the BBQ to flavoring for greens.

 When you're ready to serve hit that shit with a torch! It looks cool and it will give you a crust, though it won't be nearly as thick/crunchy as you'd get with smoking it for 12 hours.

And there it is. Beautiful, tender brisket. The fat is fairly liquefied and isn't chewy at all. It's more like bbq flavored mayo. Get a little fat, a lot of meat, and slap that on some white bread. 

Enjoy.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

Home Cookin'!...Greens so good my wife will eat them.

The T House
Somewhere on the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania
In a cabin.

The cabin is more than what you expect when you hear the word "cabin". Going to the cabin is a real treat.  The facilities are rustic, the setting is rural, and the good times roll.  I usually get to cook dinner for the campers when I go.  This time was not an exception.  I brought some of the butt I'd vacuum packed and frozen a few weeks ago.  As accompaniments I chose cole slaw, baked beans, and my mildly famous greens.  Start by soaking the greens in cold water.  I let them soak for 1/2 an hour or so then shake them off vigorously.  Let them sit and dry for a while. 

While they're drying, take about 1/2 lb of good, thick-cut bacon and slice it up.
  

If you peel the leaves right alongside the main rib in the middle you'll avoid the tough part of the leaf.  Then you can set a bunch of them on top of each other and slice into 1/4" strips.

Dice 1/2 an onion and some garlic and your prep is done.  Saute the bacon until it's just getting crisp, then pour off most of the fat.  Toss in your onion and garlic.

When you're ready to put the greens in, it should look about like so.  Deglaze the pot with about a 1/4 cup of cider vinegar and let that boil down, then put your greens in the pot in batches until they wilt, stirring it fairly frequently, until all the greens are in.  Add 2 cups of beef stock, put it on simmer, then go sit by the fireplace with a glass of bourbon.  In about 1-1/2 hour you've got some of the tastiest greens you'll ever have. No need to add any sugar or anything.  These are good just as nature intended them: smokey-bacony-garlicky.

Plate up with the sides and pulled pork.  You're good to go.  The beans I served were the fancy Bush's kind (but I cheat and add some of the same bbq sauce I use on the pork to give it a little kick and bring the flavors together.)

 

If you're lucky, your kids will like it so much they'll make dessert.

Thanks for reading.  As always, if you have comments or questions feel free.