There’s a reason people arrive in droves and wait for hours at Goldee’s Barbecue in Fort Worth. The award-winning barbecue joint doles out trays piled high with smoked brisket and ribs, plump sausage links, julienned white onions, sliced pickles, and tubs of sides until the kitchen runs dry.
But you can skip the wait and make a bit of Goldee’s magic happen at home. House of Plates, a small food and music outlet based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is running a recipe series from local chefs called Scratch Paper. Chefs such as Matt McCallister, Tiffany Derry, Misti Norris, and Bruno Davaillon have already contributed recipes to the series. Luckily for us, two recipes from Goldee’s trio Lane Milne, Jalen Heard, and Jonny White are the latest additions.
Their recipes are for smoked pork belly and an accompanying heretofore secret peach glaze. The glaze is the restaurant’s take on barbecue sauce, Milne says. It uses a sweet peach base, rather than a ketchup base, and herbs and dry spices to balance the sugar. Orange and lemon juice turn the glaze into a pretty amber hue. The result doesn’t look like a traditional barbecue sauce, but it pairs perfectly with the pork belly.
The smoked pork belly is a “sleeper hit” on the Goldee’s menu, Milne says. For a short time, Goldee’s took beef ribs off the menu and replaced them with the smoked pork belly. Customers ended up loving it.
“We put crispier bark on the pork belly,” he says. “It’s fatty, so [the bark] adds a little texture to all the soft fat.”
The recipe calls for a load of seasoning on the pork belly, which is smoked for about 4 to 6 hours. The cooking time depends on the weight of the protein. Pork belly is an extremely forgiving cut, so it’s OK if you overcook it a bit.
“We’ll feel the bottom of it, and if it’s kind of bouncy, it’s good to go,” he says. “The fat—you [could] burn it, but it’s kind of hard to. It’s a pretty foolproof cook.”
At Goldee’s, the pork belly is served with peach glaze for dipping, but the glaze is great on top of pretty much anything. And if you wind up with leftover pork belly, Milne suggests dicing it and mixing it into some collard greens or braised cabbage. Get your smoker ready.
Smoked Pork Belly
Ingredients
- Pork belly, cut into 6-inch squares. (Milne says they use whole pork belly and then cut it up into squares.)
- Goldee’s all-purpose rub, or 2 parts coarse black pepper, 1 part season salt, and 1 part kosher salt
Directions
- Trim belly into 6-inch squares and round off any sharp corners.
- Season the pork belly aggressively with Goldee’s all-purpose rub or 2 parts coarse black pepper, 1 part your choice of season salt (or Goldee’s season salt), and 1 part kosher salt.
- Smoke the belly at 225 degrees on a smaller smoker or 275 degrees on a bigger smoker until the probe is tender and the bottom and fat cap are nice and soft, around 200 degrees if you temp the center of the belly. (The amount of time it takes will depend on how much pork belly you’re smoking, Milne says. At Goldee’s it takes about 4 to 6 hours.)
Secret Peach Glaze
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 cup peach preserves
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 21 grams salt
Directions
Blend all ingredients until smooth, and then bring to a simmer in a saucepan to dissolve the salt and sugar. Let cool.
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