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| Ribs and wings from Gourmet Grilling |
With only a few exceptions, my outdoor cooking is limited to a gas grill, so I'm always drawn to smokey barbecue. That doubles down in the winter when I get chased inside and cook even my hamburgers on a cast-iron grill.
The Gourmet Grilling truck in Columbia is a nice way to pick up some smoke. Thick ribs and other meaty cuts cooked over charcoal and served up with nice sides like beans and rice fortified with sausage.
The Gourmet Grilling operates Fridays, Saturdays and every other Sunday at the Grandfather's Garden Center on Phelps Luck Road just south of Rte 108. The pit master cooks ribs, turkey legs, pit beef, sausages and wings on a big-barreled smoker and sells them from a white truck parked alongside.
I loved the ribs. They were thick and cooked to the tender-but-firm texture that I prefer. They had a rich smokey flavor that made them more than I could make on my gas grill. I'd pass next time on the sauce. I think it might have just been from a jar. Sweet and added nothing. It distracted from the good meat and the "bumpin' beans & rice" side dish that came studded with sausage and flavor. I got some chicken wings as well, and they were good -- although again would have been even better without the sauce.
Gourmet Grilling actually beat me. I couldn't finish the entire plate. So I carried home one meaty rib, and I turned it into one of the best risottos that I have ever cooked. I made a pretty basic risotto with sautéed onions, a little wine, chicken broth and grilled red peppers. In the final minutes, I shredded the meat off the rib and stirred it into the rice as it finished up. The smokey flavor spread throughout. Honestly, it was better than I had even hoped. More like a restaurant than my kitchen.
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| Risotto with a little shredded rib |
Gourmet Grilling food truck
at Grandfather's Garden Center
5320 Phelps Luck Drive
Columbia, MD 21045
NEAR: This is just south of Rte 108. The light for Phelps Luck Drive is just west of Howard High School, and it has a shopping center on the north side and a sign for the garden center on the south. Go south and the Gourmet Grilling food truck is on the right about a block down. He is there Fridays, Saturdays and every other Sunday. To confirm the days that Gourmet Grilling is cooking, check out its Twitter feed.
Their Caribbean wings are superb as well. Great spice taste and meat that just slips off the bones.
ReplyDeleteTried the "jerked" wings last Saturday and was disappointed. $10 for 7 very small wing pieces that were drowning in sauce and a large serving of just ok red beans and rice.
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