No matter what your religion, political persuasion, ethnic makeup, or sexual orientation, there is one American ritual that everyone seems to love: the summer outdoor barbecue.

Purists argue heatedly about whether the term refers to beef or pork or even chicken or fish that is smoked, cooked in a pit, or indirectly cooked on a grill. Should it be prepared with a spicy rub, slathered in sauce, or both? There is even debate about how it is spelled. Is it really "barbecue," or is it "barbeque," or one of the various abbreviations: "BBQ," "Bar-B-Q" or "Bar-B-Que"? For some, a simple "Q" will do. And then there are regional variations: Texas barbecue, Kansas City, Memphis, and North Carolina barbecue, and many others—all claiming to be the real deal.

The one thing no one disagrees about is a barbecue isn't just about food; it is an event, an outdoor gathering of friends or family to eat great food, to talk, drink, and tell stories. I would argue barbecue is all-inclusive because it doesn't even have to be centered around meat. For many, grilled veggies will do just as well. You don't have to be a carnivore—you can even be a vegan.

I was recently invited to a first-of-the-summer barbecue at the California home of Dennis and Connie McCullah, who have mastered the art of outdoor cooking and entertaining. They graciously agreed to let me bring along a photographer and to collect recipes to share with our readers.

The McCullahs, who own a construction company specializing in green technologies, have built a uniquely wonderful house that flows naturally between indoors and outdoors. It is situated in the back end of a sprawling, eclectic garden that is filled with dozens of rose bushes commingling with towering cacti, honey bushes, coral bells, poppies, all sorts of herbs, peppers, melons, succulents, lemon trees, and many other plants, water fountains, and stone sculptures ranging from Buddhas to frogs and turtles. You simply can't get to their front door without experiencing the garden.

The main feature, though, is a huge, glass-enclosed atrium with sliding doors and windows. It provides an outdoor experience no matter what the weather or time of year. In other words, it's a great place for a party. This particularly beautiful day, about 30 people are gathered in small groups in the kitchen, garden, back patio area that serves as a bar, and atrium while Dennis and Connie, with help from some of us, prepare the food. At other events, they have entertained as many as 200 people, so this was no big deal.

 

 

 

 

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Among many special moments, I especially enjoy standing in the kitchen watching Dennis expertly prepare a dozen racks of pork ribs. He coats them with a vibrant-red spicy rub that he has refined over 20 years and then slowly cooks them over a low heat on his grill for two or three hours. These ribs are just tender enough to be easy to chew but not so much to fall apart. They are so flavorful, you don't need to add barbecue sauce—in fact, you won't even think of it.

I ask Dennis why he doesn't wrap his ribs in foil and slowly bake them ahead of time before finishing them off on the grill as many people do. He tells me, "If you grill the ribs on a low heat for two or three hours, they are tender enough." Dennis uses a gas grill so he can control the temperature, but if you use a wood or charcoal grill, you should cook the ribs on indirect heat.

"But really," he continues, "the rub is the secret."

You can make your own approximation of Dennis's amazing rub, but you'll never quite duplicate it because the core ingredient is roasted chili powder that he procures from Nick's Barber Shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "You have to first stand in line for about an hour for a haircut," he explains, "and then Nick will take you in the back where he has a whole freezer full of roasted, powered chili. I buy packages of mild, medium, and hot chili so I can vary my rubs, depending on how I feel or who's joining us for the barbecue."

While Dennis pats more rub on the beautiful rib racks, his talented wife, Connie, pulls out of the oven a large iron pot full of her locally celebrated "Best in the West Baked Beans." You haven't lived if you haven't yet sampled this amazing dish, a combination of three kinds of beans, chopped onions, chili powder, pepper, and a simple sauce made by combining ketchup, barbecue sauce, spicy brown mustard, and blackstrap molasses. Just as once in your life you should travel to either Mecca or Yosemite, you need to try these beans.

As great as the ribs are, a large serving of Connie's beans and a glass of Fat Tire beer on tap from Dennis' bar could just about make my day.

But then I would miss out on all the other wonderful dishes: the colorful Grilled Vegetable Medley, my own fabulous (if I do say so myself) Summer Gourmet Slaw, the Maxed-Out Basque Sheepherder's Bread, Connie's Scalloped Potatoes a la Cheese, Dennis and Connie's Seven-Hour Lamb with homemade peppermint and cactus jelly, and my wife Jackie's amazing Rhubarb Crumble.

Most of the ingredients used for this barbecue were locally grown and procured at a nearby farmers' market. Many of the herbs and spices and some of the veggies came from Dennis and Connie's garden. The paprika in Dennis' rub came from a neighborhood Indian grocery store, and, of course, the red chili powder was from Nick's Barber Shop in Santa Fe. The pork and the lamb were farm raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones.

I arrived at noon and stayed until sunset. I learned from one of the guests that the average American has $9,000 in credit card debt, and this was about the only disparaging comment I heard all day. No mention of Iraq or the presidential candidates.

May your summer months be blessed with some wonderful backyard barbecues. Or is it barbeques?

Here are recipes for some of these dishes:

Connie's Scalloped Potatoes a la Cheese » [0]
Ribs with Big D's Dry BBQ Rib Rub » [0]
Connie's Best of the West Beans » [0]