ChezJJP       food. brooklyn. eat.

There's no better way to shed a tough workweek and Manhattan grime than to plan out a Saturday smoking session in the park or backyard. (Yes, you can do some good smoking in Prospect Park if you claim one of the more lone grills early on in the day.)

Here are the steps:

1. Purchase 12 pounds of spare ribs at $3.49 a pound from Los Paisanos butcher on Smith Street.

2. Purchase hardwood charcoal and hickory wood chips from hardware store across street.

3. Go home and make a rub with a combination of brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, granulated garlic, granulated onion, salt, pepper, pinch of allspice, mustard powder and whatever else you think might work.

4. Slather the ribs with yellow mustard. This will help the rub make more of a crust and will not impart a mustardy flavor in the end product. Season ribs liberally with the rub and make sure you rub it in hard. It aint called a rub for nuthin'. Optionally let sit for up to 24 hours to absorb the rub flavors.

Braising - It sounds like a complicated word representing a technique that can only be done right after spending grueling years at various culinary institutions and losing limbs from knife related incidents in the quest for success. Well, wrong. Braising means:

COOK THIS MEAT IN SOME LIQUID AT LOW HEAT FOR A LONG TIME

A couple definitions: by meat, we mean a part of the animal suitable for braising. This excludes things like beef strip steaks and pork chops and those skirt steaks that everyone thinks is so "cool to know about". It includes things like beef short ribs, cubes of chuck, pork shoulders and yeah..a bunch of other stuff. Ask your butcher what they like to braise the best.

By liquid, we mean any liquid. Water, brine, wine, apple juice, beer...you name it. Just make sure it goes well with the meat and the rest of the dish (e.g. leave the apple juice for pork, not beef). And we dont mean to drown the meat in the liquid, but give a fair amount. Be judgmental. Like half or a quarter of a bottle of wine, or something.

This crazy late night idea probably came from some strange, impromptu desire to impress someone - and really it turned mostly into a satisfying personal experience in which I was able to improve my rolling skills. One needs to have decent dexterity to roll things in general, be it those backwards -flaming-rolling-paper-type cigarettes that the Swiss are so good at rolling, hangover-destroying Watsonville pulled pork and steak burritos that the guys at Uncle Moe's are so damn efficient at making or just  your run of the mill, Wednesday night nonsensical, labor intensive, but weirdly relaxing rice paper spring roll project.

It's important to feel inspired when shopping for this, and just about any ingredient can be put in this. Hell, stray away from the Vietnamese flavors and go for New Orleans flavors like andouille sausage, or Jamaican flavors, or go strictly seafood even. Its the same principle that governs this site: use your mind power to imagine flavor pairings, and then go boldly without worrying about screwing up.