BLACK BEAN GARLIC LAMB RIBS; SMOKED COCONUT MATCHA GELATO

smokingal

There’s a special place in my heart for lamb ribs.  They are extremely fatty
but when properly cooked, the fat renders and leaves the most delectable
meat with the type of soft fatty cover that you look forward to eating.  These
two lamb rib slabs came from American sheep, which tend to be larger
(and less gamey) than Australian or New Zealand.

 

 

I have quite a few of these slabs taking up space in my freezer and so I’ve had to get
creative with how to prepare them.  For this cook, I chose some ingredients that don’t
get much use in my kitchen, which lent themselves to an Asian flavor profile.

 

 

Onion powder and cilantro were also added.  The marinade ingredients were blended into a
nice puree so that the flavors would be evenly distributed.

 

 

The lamb ribs were vacuum sealed in a FoodSavor bag and allowed to marinate overnight.

 

 

The ribs went on the BGE at 245F along with a couple of sweet potatoes.  Hickory and cherry
wood chunks were used for this cook.

 

 

This shot was about 4.5 hours into the cook.  You can see that the chunks of fermented black
garlic that were left on top of the slabs had caramelized.

 

 

My first experience eating couscous was not pleasant.  It was the fine grained variety and
frankly was like eating a mouthful of sand.  The worst pasta I’d ever eaten.  I had some pearl
couscous lying around and decided to use it as a side for this meal, hoping the texture would
be a little more palatable.  The couscous was cooked in a blend of coconut cream and coconut
water.

 

 

The sweet potatoes were fixed in a ‘twice smoked’ manner, with butter, greek yogurt and
Dizzy Pig’s Pineapple Head seasoning and dinner was served.

 

 

 

The way the fat melted into these ribs was divine.  The black bean sauce, black garlic and
ginger gave the ribs a sweet glazed coating, almost like a bbq sauce.  Notes of sesame sauce
helped to provide a good finishing flavor.  The coconut pearl couscous was absolutely delicious.
I loved the flavor and found the texture to be much more pasta-like and enjoyable.

While planning this meal, I decided to make a dessert to go along with it.  I hadn’t used my
Gelato Pro in years and was dying to make a new smoked gelato flavor.

I’m not a fan of coffee so my morning hot beverage is usually some type of tea.  Matcha tea
is a favorite of mine and I usually order (or make) Matcha tea lattes using coconut milk.  Since
I had some culinary grade Matcha tea on hand along with coconut cream, I decided to use
them for some ice cold goodness.  I also wanted to add an element of smoke and set about
figuring out the best way, as coconut cream would most likely separate on the smoker.

While unpacking, I came across a contraption I purchased almost 10 years ago and never used.

 

 

This would be perfect for cold smoking the gelato base.  I got started by reducing 26oz of
coconut cream down to 16oz.

 

 

Eight ounces of heavy cream was then added and mixed until thoroughly heated.

 

 

This mixture was then tempered with 3 egg yolks which were blended with 3/4 cup of sugar.

 

 

Once blended, the resulting mixture was strained and 3 tbsp of matcha tea was added.

 

 

The smoking gun was filled with hickory and apple and the hose was placed into the bowl
with the lid clamped down around it.  Once the apparatus was fired up and the bowl appeared
very cloudy inside, the hose was removed, lid closed, and the smoke allowed to settle.  This
process was performed 3 times over the span of a several hours.  Each time, the mixture was
stirred prior to smoking it again.

I didn’t really think this device would give off much smoke and I was mistaken. Since I forgot
to run my hood vent during the first use, I got to spend several minutes disarming my smoke
alarms.

 

 

 

The gelato base was chilled overnight and was churned in the Gelato Pro the next day.

 

 

 

The gelato was placed in the freezer to harden overnight and served after dinner on a sugar
cone.

 

 

 

 Like sipping a coconut matcha latte next to a bonfire.  Cold, creamy, and coconutty with the
smokiness highlighting the earthy richness of the Matcha tea.  It had a frozen custard quality
as it didn’t melt and drip all over the place while being eaten.  Good eats.

CornfedMA

That’s some next level stuff! Well done. I absolutely love lamb ribs. Last time I did them, I finished them direct on each side for a few minutes to add a little carmelization. 

JohnInCarolina

Holy freakin sheeaht that all looks great.