Our Summer Grilling Guyd featured an interview yesterday with Master Griller and Chef John Currence on the secrets of slow cooked BBQ.
Today, he serves up a smoky recipe for pork. It requires patience and some skill, and you’ll need a smoker or a grill that can adapted for smoking.
RECIPE TASSO HAM
Ingredients:
5 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons cayenne
2 tablespoons onion powder
5 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried sage
¾ teaspoons ground cloves
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
¼ cup salt
5 pounds pork cheeks (trimmed of fat) or pork butt, cut into 4-ounce pieces
Preparation: Makes 5 pounds.
In a small, stainless-steel bowl, combine the paprika, cayenne, onion and garlic powders, sage, cloves, brown sugar and salt.
Coat the pork cheeks evenly with the spice cure mix.
Wrap the meat in 3 – or – 4 piece batches tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 days.
In a smoker with a separate firebox, build a hot wood fire. When ready to smoke, remove the pork cheeks from the plastic wrap and hot-smoke at 200°F until the tasso reaches an internal temperature of 155° F.
Remove from the smoker and store in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, for up to three days. Alternatively, this can be vacuum sealed and frozen for up to four months.
