Smokin’ Hot: 17 Top Barbecue Joints in Rhode Island

Backyard Barbecue

Recipes to try at home whether you have a smoker or not.

No Joke Smoke BBQ Pineapple Burger Bomb
By chef Ryan Nahas, No Joke Smoke BBQ, 395 Wilbur Ave., Swansea, Mass., nojokesmokebbq.com.
Find the sauces at the Stony Creek Farmers Market, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

No Joke Smoke BBQ Pineapple Burger Bomb. Photo by Angel Tucker.

Makes six burgers

2 lbs grass-fed ground beef or turkey
(he uses Stony Creek meat)
6 pineapple rings
1 jar No Joke Smoke Pineapple Bomb
barbecue sauce, divided
Salt and pepper
12 slices bacon, griddled/baked to your liking
Swiss cheese

Pour 8 oz NJS Pineapple Bomb onto beef, add salt and pepper, then mix.
Portion out six, 6-oz burgers, and using a clean thumb — doesn’t have to be yours, but it does have to be clean — press into the middle of the raw burger to cause a ¼-inch deep/thumb-wide dimple (will keep your burgers from looking like footballs).

Grill burgers over medium-high heat around 3 ½ to 4 minutes on each side. Admire for 30 seconds, then add pineapple to the party on the grill.

After 2 ½ minutes, flip the pineapple. Wait 1 ½ more minutes, then flip the burger.

Now it’s time to build. Wait one minute, then add pineapple. Add sauce to the center of the ring (fill ’r up). Add bacon, then Swiss and dome/cover for 30 seconds. Place these masterpieces on grilled/griddled buns, add more pineapple bombs, then enjoy.

Smoked Beef Cheek Stuffed Piquillo Peppers
By chef Jake Rojas, Tallulah’s Taqueria, Providence

Makes 24 peppers

1 cup olive oil
4 beef cheeks
Salt and pepper
2 cups carrots
2 cups diced onion
2 chipotle peppers
¼ cup tomato paste
3 cups sherry vinegar
4 cups Monopolio Negra Beer
4 qts beef stock
30 piquillo peppers, already roasted
and canned
½ cup Dijon mustard
½ cup chopped chives
1 Tbsp smoked paprika

Preheat smoker to 275 degrees. Place large roasting pan or pot over medium heat and add enough oil to coat base of pan. Season beef cheeks with salt and coarse ground black pepper, place meat in pan and sear till caramelized on all sides. Add to smoker for 1 hour, remove and reserve, add carrots, onions and chipotle peppers to pan and cook until caramelized. Lower heat to low and add tomato paste; cook until aromatic.

Add 1 cup sherry vinegar and raise heat back to medium, cook until paste has thickened. Add second cup and bring to a boil.

Add beer and beef stock and bring to a boil, then add cheeks back to pan. Cover half the pan with foil and add to smoker, and smoke at 275 degrees for 3–4 hours. Remove pan from smoker. Cheeks are done when meat easily pulls apart.

Strain braising liquid and add back to a medium pot and reduce over low heat by half and season to taste.

Cool cheeks down and pull meat apart until shredded. Add 1/2 cup sherry vinegar, season with salt and pepper, mustard, chives and smoked paprika. Stuff meat into prepared peppers (slightly trim the tops first) and reserve.

Use braising liquid to reheat peppers. Use remaining sherry vinegar to season sauce to taste.

Bonetown BBQ Beans
By chef Shane Caledonia, Bonetown BBQ, Cranston

8 Servings

Water
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 pound small dried beans, such as great
northern, navy or pinto beans, picked
over and rinsed
8 ounces smoked pork shoulder
1 ½ cups apricot preserves
1 Tbsp minced garlic
(about 3 medium cloves)
1 ½ cups ketchup
⅓ cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp barbecue rub
1 qt water

In a large container, whisk together 2 quarts water and salt until salt has dissolved. Add beans, cover and let stand overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse beans.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large pan, cover and bake for 6 hours.

Bonetown BBQ’s Collards

2 Servings

2 Tbsp blended oil
4 ounces smoked pork shoulder,
cubed
1 Tbsp minced garlic
(about 3 medium cloves)
2 bunches collard greens, washed
and chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup cider vinegar
1 ½ cups chicken stock

In a large stock pot on medium heat, add oil, pork and garlic and saute until heated and aromatic. Add the chopped collard greens, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper and toss to coat. Continue to saute until greens just begin to wilt. Add vinegar and chicken stock. Bring to a low boil then reduce heat to simmer. Continue to simmer for about an hour or until greens are fork tender.