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Community Corner

Viewfinder: Low and Slow is the Key for Good Barbecue

Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts experts offered a mini-course on proper barbecuing techniques.

Two dozen area cooking enthusiasts ate up a crash course in barbecue cooking Saturday, thanks to a demonstration at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Mendota Heights.

The school runs cooking demonstrations and open houses each month where non-professionals can learn from Le Cordon Bleu instructors and also tour the school.

Le Cordon Blue’s next demonstration will be Saturday, July 23, starting at 10:30 a.m. and will commemorate Bastille Day with a demonstration of French culinary delights, including baguettes and crepes, French onion soup, vichyssoise and chocolate mousse.

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Patch asked Chief Instructor Randall Toenges a few questions about basic barbecuing.

Mendota Heights Patch: Do Minnesotans understand the difference between grilling and barbecuing?

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Randall Toenges: No. And it’s not because they don’t want to know the difference, they just don’t. I grew up here in Minnesota. It’s not that I choose to not understand barbecue. It’s just that we live in an environment that’s a different culture.

Patch: Are there secrets to good barbecue you can share?

Toenges: If we’re talking about authentic barbecue, then first of all you have to think about what it is that you’re cooking. Is it ribs? Is it brisket? Is it shoulder? Is it hog, are you cooking the whole thing? And then once from there, again, it’s low temperature and a long time. And if you can control those two things, I think that’s where a really good barbecue separates from one that’s OK.

Patch: What’s a dish you would recommend barbecue beginners try?

Toenges: You know how I was talking about taking some ribs and putting them in a baking dish along with a little beer? So first put a rub on the ribs, then put on a little beer, I mean a little bit, maybe a quarter cup for one full rack. And then braise that for about an hour in a 350 degree oven. And the ribs will start to pull away from the bone and what you want to do is stop it before that actually falls apart. Then what you could do is cut them up into individual ones or sections of three or four and then put them on a nice hot grill and get them nice and crisp, and then glaze them with your barbecue sauce. Just that, for the typical Mendota Heights reader, will be a revelation right there.

Patch: Do people often make the mistake of wanting to put the sauce on too soon?

Toenges: Yes, and then they end up cooking it and burning it and it turns bitter. What you want to do is crisp the ribs, get them nice and crisp so the fat kind of helps give it a crunchy quality and then at the very last moment glaze it with your sauce.

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