On a hot Saturday afternoon this spring, I entered through a distressed white wooden barn door and was greeted by that seemingly ubiquitous sign, “Beware Pickpockets and Loose Women.” Inside was a lush, shaded outdoor space lined with long rows of white tablecloths and chairs, enough to seat at least a hundred guests.
This is the backyard of Southern Smoke BBQ, the only barbecue restaurant in Garland, a single-stoplight Eastern N.C. town of about six hundred. It’s also the blood, sweat, and tears of acclaimed chef-owner Matthew Register, who was hosting a release party for his new cookbook, Southern Smoke—and who could launch a lucrative barbecue joint anywhere he wants.
Food-Seen Photography
Matthew Register, the chef-owner of Southern Smoke BBQ in Garland, N.C., released his first cookbook, Southern Smoke, earlier this spring.
So why set up shop in the middle of nowhere?
“This is home,” Register told me recently. “People always ask me, ‘Why don’t you have a place in Raleigh or Wilmington or Goldsboro?’ We want to be something that Sampson County can be proud of.”
Southern Smoke is Register’s first cookbook, but he says it won’t be his last. The self-taught cook from the even-smaller Harrells (population two hundred) wants to convince other small-town chefs that they don’t have to move to the big city to open a successful restaurant.
“Eastern North Carolina, like a lot of places across the U.S., has people that leave and never come back,” he says.
The cookbook is an expansion of Register’s seasonally based, farm-to-table restaurant, which draws locals and tourists alike. A definitive guide to Southern fare, Southern Smoke is a culinary tour of the South, from North Carolina barbecue, to dry-rub ribs from Memphis and the Delta, to a Low Country boil, to rice and okra dishes developed by the Gullah people who migrated from Sierra Leone to just outside of Savannah, to a classic peanut pie.
Register’s Eastern N.C. influences are evident in his barbecue technique. He opts for vinegar-based barbecue sauce over tomato, pork shoulder over whole hog (it’s more economical and less wasteful).
But Southern Smoke—the restaurant and the cookbook—transcends the old east-west divide. Barbecue is not just a trade but a way of life, a ritual that brings together friends and families.
“Some of my closest friends are the people I would sit up with all night long around the fire cooking barbecue,” he says. “There’s a bond that’s formed especially when cooking barbecue. We all know what really goes into it: being tired, sitting up at three a.m. telling stories; it’s such a family-oriented thing.”
For the Fourth of July holiday, Register has shared a smoked chicken recipe that finishes in, of all things, a cooler. The longer the chicken stays in the cooler, he says, the juicier and more flavorful it becomes.
“The best part is you can have it all done an hour or two before your guests arrive, and when you’re ready to eat, just open the cooler,” he says.
Felicia Perry Trujillo
Smoked Chicken Quarters with Papa Nipper’s Church Sauce
Serves 6
- 6 chicken quarters
- 3 Tbsp. salt
- 1½ Tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. garlic salt
- 3 cups Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Sauce (see below)
My wife’s grandfather, Jimmy Nipper, comes from a barbecue family. Jimmy would cook whole chicken quarters over hardwood coals ’til they were almost done. Then, when the chickens were just short of finished, he would take them out of the smoker and throw them in big coolers. He poured a vinegar-based sauce over them, closed the lid, and let them finish cooking in the cooler. While it sounds strange, what came out of the coolers was a smoky, juicy, vinegary, and somewhat sweet chicken that people couldn’t get enough of.
Prepare a grill for smoking by putting the charcoal to one side of the grill. Once the fire burns down, add oak wood, which has a mellow flavor, directly over the coals and get it smoldering. Close the lid.
Trim each chicken quarter of excess fat and skin, then season them liberally with salt and pepper. Arrange the quarters on the makeshift smoker, but don’t cook the chicken directly over the fire. Instead, set it off to the side so the wood and charcoal are on one side, and the chicken is on the other. Smoke for 2 hours at 250°F or until a digital thermometer reads 165°F when inserted deep into the meat.
While the chicken is smoking, melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and whisk to combine. Add the garlic salt and vinegar sauce, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set the sauce aside and let it cool for 30 minutes. To finish the chicken, place the smoked chicken in a cooler and pour the sauce over the top. A smaller cooler works best so the chicken gets fully immersed in the sauce. Close the lid and let the chicken rest for 30 minutes, or until you are ready to serve. Serve hot, straight from the cooler.
Felicia Perry Trujillo
Eastern North Carolina Vinegar Sauce
Makes 1 gallon
- 1 gallon apple cider vinegar
- 1¼ cups salt
- 2 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
- 3½ Tbsp. paprika
- 1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
This is my recipe for a classic Eastern-style sauce. Make sure you shake it well before using it because most of the spices will settle to the bottom as it sits. You can also cut the recipe in half.
In a large stockpot, bring the vinegar and salt to a boil over high heat. When the mixture begins to boil, add the cayenne, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Stir the mixture with a ladle until combined and remove from the heat. The finished cooled sauce can be stored in the empty vinegar gallon jug. It can be stored in a dry, dark place for a month or refrigerated for slightly longer.
Reprinted and adapted for print and web with permission from Southern Smoke, © 2019 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. © 2019 Matthew Register
Contact food and digital editor Andrea Rice at arice@indyweek.com.
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