Thanks so much for joining me on this new journey, I can’t wait to share my knowledge with you and I hope you will find something interesting or useful in every edition. My intention is to post you a quick 5-10 minute read twice a month, once at the beginning and once in the middle of every month. Starting today, beginning now. I’m so happy to have you here. If you like it you will find a share button at the bottom, do pass it around to anyone else you think might enjoy it.
So, why do I cook with fire?
This is the question I get asked time and time again, every festival I talk at, every interview I give, so it feels right to kick start this new project off with a definitive answer.
I cook with fire because I would rather be outside than inside. Full stop. Although at this point in a long cold winter I often start to question my sanity a little, but as the nights shorten and the days nudge longer minute by minute I can literally see light at the end of the tunnel. I am very much a summer person, shorts and bare feet are my preferred attire and winter always hits me hard.
Really, I started cooking outside frequently when my kids were young (they are now 18 and 15) when I very quickly realised - and I know so many of you will relate to this, gimme a thumbs up in the comments below if this resonates with you - that feeding small children is really bloody boring indeed. Day in day out. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Plus endless snacks. The relentlessness was brutal, coming from a challenging role in TV (I was a Natural History documentary producer pre-babies) to be suddenly thrust into what felt like 1950s domesticity nearly killed me. I started to cook outside as an act of pure selfishness to make my life better, more varied and more challenging. To get outside in the fresh air where I knew I was happier. Then I got hooked and here we are now.
Ask Me a Question
This first one comes from Simon, my very first paid subscriber. Thank you, Simon!
“The main issue for me is using my kit in the less fun months. I’m really keen to use it and look longingly out the window, but when it’s cold and dark for months on end that’s all I’ll do. Have you any tips to help either with making it easier to get up and running quickly or recipes on how best to use it on a cold wet January day?“
First things first here. With good fuel, by which I mean pure lump wood, no chemicals, no additives, you can get a barbecue up and running in less than 10 minutes. I’m here to show you how. I have so much to say on fuel and this will be at the very top of the next newsletter. In fact it’s so important to me I will no doubt mention it in every newsletter. With good fuel you can be cooking very quickly indeed. Quicker than it would take you oven to heat up inside. And with current gas prices it’s cheaper too, even if you buy the best most expensive charcoal you can get hold of. Both the charcoal and wood I cook on come from Whittle and Flame, made as sustainably as possible in Oxfordshire. More on this next time. And the time after that.
Did I say it was IMPORTANT? You have to trust me on this.
The second tip is, pick something that needs very little attention from you, something you can just chuck in and leave whilst you go back inside to keep cosy. I really hate being cold, believe me, I just don’t enjoy standing outside in the rain cooking my tea. So I make something low and slow.
This recipe comes from the Chapter I called Smoke+Braise, which is quite possibly my favourite barbecue technique ever. You smoke for a few hours, then you chuck whatever you smoked into a liquid to braise to tenderness. Best of both worlds, a win-win situation. And you definitely don’t need to stand around in the cold while it cooks.
I buy my oxtail from my mate Olly at Meatmatters, a very excellent beef butchery in Swansea. There will be more on butchers I buy from in the coming months.
Smoked oxtail and pit beans
Smoked oxtail adds a glorious layer of complexity to these barbecued baked beans. Oxtail is a wonderful, flavour packed and unctuous cut provided you give it enough time and gentle heat to yield to its full potential. The constant swishing and flexing of a cows tail means its packed full of super hard-working little muscles and connective tissue, meaning low and slow is your only option for tenderness.
I cooked this in my Kamado Joe Classic for the book shoot, but I would be equally happy doing it indirect in my Weber Kettle. I’ll be covering more or Indirect vs. Direct cooking in upcoming newsletters.
1kg oxtail pieces, cut into rings through the bone
1 tbsp salt
300g dried cannellini beans
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground allspice
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp English mustard
2 bayleaves
to garnish 1/2 spring onions, finely sliced, a handful of flatleaf parsley, chopped
The day before you plan to cook, dry brine the oxtail by sprinkling the salt all over and rubbing lightly in. Rest on a rack over a tray and slide into the fridge, uncovered, overnight.
At the same time, tip the beans into a large bowl and cover well with cold water. Set aside to soak overnight. The following day, drain and add to a large saucepan, cover well in cold water and set on the hob. Bring up to the boil and simmer steadily until just tender - around an hour depending on the age of the beans. Drain well and set aside.
Fire up your barbecue ready for indirect grilling and add 2-3 lumps of smoking wood and shutting the barbecue vents down to moderate the temperature to around 130-140C.
Take the oxtail pieces and rest onto the grill bars away from the fire. Shut the lid and leave to smoke gently for 3 hours, turning over half way through. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Set a generous fire-proof casserole over the fire, pour in the oil and add the onions. Shut the lid and leave to fry over a moderate heat until soft, about 30 minutes or so. Stir a couple of times to make sure they are cooking evenly, and if they are colouring too much or too quickly, simply slide the pan further away from the fire.
Once the onions are soft, add the garlic, smoked paprika and allspice, stirring briefly before adding the smoked oxtail and cooked beans. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, along with 500ml water and add the brown sugar, treacle, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, bayleaves and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir well and cover with a tight fitting lid. If your lid is a little loose, take a sheet of greaseproof paper and run under a cold tap. Shake dry and press onto the surface of the beans before adding the lid. This will help keep everything nice and steamy in the pot. Shut the barbecue lid and cook for another 3-4 hours until the oxtail is super tender and falling off the bone. Towards the end of cooking you may need to add a splash more water if it looks to be drying out too much.
Just before serving, sprinkle over a little spring onion and parsley to add a little hit of freshness.
Thanks so much for reading Stuff That Fires Me Up! See you in a couple of weeks.
Big love,
GT
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PS, if you are already signed up as a paid subscriber I thank you deeply, I have been so humbled by the response to this new platform I’m creating for us to learn and grow together in fiery-ness. You can expect your first bonus paid subscriber edition in a week or so which will feature a lot of great stuff that I’ve yet to quite work out. This is a rapidly evolving picture, people, and one which I very much want you to contribute to should you wish. There’s bound to be a little music selection, things I’ve been enjoying recently, there may even be a discount code for something I can’t live without, there will be some behind-the-scenes stuff I’ve been working on. I might tease you a bit about the book I’m writing, I may even ask you to send in your questions to help me shape it to be the book you want to read. If you’d like to upgrade to a paid subscription to support my work that would be very lovely indeed.
Genevieve Taylor's Stuff That Fires Me Up! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
That would be great, thank you. I like the idea of the seasonal veg and stuff and the top 5 from each book would be very useful. It is as much inspiration for me to do try something new. Thank you again.
Yes I have charred, seared and your foolproof BBQ book and she eats meat and fish. I think I just need to do more recipes to change her mind. Thank you BTW for this.
That would be great, thank you. I like the idea of the seasonal veg and stuff and the top 5 from each book would be very useful. It is as much inspiration for me to do try something new. Thank you again.
Yes I have charred, seared and your foolproof BBQ book and she eats meat and fish. I think I just need to do more recipes to change her mind. Thank you BTW for this.