Every day, when I open my email, I wonder what will surprise me next. There are usually strange PR pitches, some questions about baked goods or the best way to make roast pork shoulder, and some beautiful heartfelt letters that leave me a little teary.
And then this email from Julie Reinhardt shows up in the inbox:
“I own Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ in Ballard, have a new book out (She-Smoke), and have two (beautiful) kids. If you ever want to do a gluten-free barbecue shindig, I think it could be great. Barbecue should be gluten-free if it’s done right, after all. It’s also my personal quest to get more women out on the grill and smoker.”
We didn’t have to think twice about that one. Sign us up.
This is Julie. She’s pretty damned awesome. She and her husband run a southern-style barbeque joint in Seattle, which not only serves an incredible-looking menu but does catering and has live music. She has two kids — both of them under 5 years old — who are lively and running around her feet while she tries to cook. She wrote a book. She’s writing other pieces too. And she’s going on book tour to promote the joys of backyard barbequing and enticing women to step up to the grill. (Let go of your fear of the fire, ladies. You can handle those hot coals too.)
On top of all this, she cooked for us, cheerfully. She made sure the entire meal was gluten-free, including making tiny gluten-free buns for pork sliders, as well as a delicious sweet slaw from her family recipe.
The woman is a wonder.
This is her husband, Eric, the more silent partner. Julie does all the talking. Since she was in the kitchen with us, talking about her book and the joys of running a business and organizing a book tour and trying to help a toddler to sleep through the night while planning for a television appearance, Eric was kind enough to stand outside in the rain and coax the coals to produce enough heat to roast our pork.
I love what Julie wrote about her husband on her blog:
“I love my husband who yes has been supportive and my go-to-guy for this whole book process, but also much more. He has been silent. He, who worked his tail off for 20 some years on the line, churning out 300 covers without a break, working for many, (though not all), assholes along the way. He, who just wasn’t self-serving enough or self-advocating enough to be a celebrity chef. He, who has got to be bugged by my interviews and cooking demos and book talks, yet has not made hardly a peep about it. He, who manages to calmly smoke up and slice the godly stuff each day and night for the faithful, sometimes as if from thin air, even when the line goes out the door and we’re running out of everything.”
There is a lot more to Eric than we learned in this first visit with them.
This slaw that Julie made, with grilled jicama, was a revelation. Grilled jicama? I didn’t even know jicama had a taste until this. It always seemed like a texture instead. But grilled, it’s more pliable and slightly sweet, slightly smoky, slightly intoxicating in its unexpected taste.
And it’s a great accompaniment to barbequed pork.
Julie was kind enough to share her recipe with us, for you.
Modified Aunt Sandra’s 3-week Slaw
1/2 head green cabbage
1/2 head purple cabbage
1 jicama, peeled and planked
some olive oil for grilling jicama
2 carrots (I think we got sidetracked and only did one)
1 cup sugar
1/2 small bunch cilantro, stemmed and coarsely chopped
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 fresh limes, squeezed
1. Brush jicama on both sides with olive oil. Grill directly over heat on both sides until grill marks form, then move to indirect heat, close the grill lid, and roast for about 10 minutes.
2. Shred cabbage, grate carrot, dice jicama. Pour sugar on top and set aside.
3. In pan, mix the vinegar, vegetable oil, lime juice, salt and dry mustard, and bring to a boil. Stir, then bring to a boil again.
4. Pour hot dressing over the dry mixture. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved and refrigerate overnight (though obviouslu we did for a mere 30 minutes). Add cilantro before serving.
“According to my Aunt Sandra, this will keep up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. We usually eat it up before then.”
Slaw is great. We love slaw. But we were all waiting for the finale. The pork.
This is pork loin rubbed with Julie’s Cocoa Bliss rub. Crisp and blackened on the outside, tender and oh-so-faintly pink on the inside, this pork made us so so so happy at the end of a rainy afternoon. The waiting only made the pork juicier.
We’re making this at home.
In a couple of days, we’ll share Julie’s recipe for the Cocoa Bliss rub, so you can make it too.
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