If you go to the Baby Back Shak and ask for the "Rossman Platter, it's very likely they'll look at you with blank stare and say "excuse me, what did you ask for?" To members of the Texas BBQ Posse, the Rossman Platter may be the closest thing to BBQ greatness that Dallas has to offer.
To backtrack, Jim Rossman, shown above on a recent trip to the Taylor Cafe, is a member of the posse who also happens to the the Dallas Morning News tech guru. This man knows his Mac computers and iPhone stuff, but he also knows his barbecue as well.
I was in DMN computer training with Jim the other day when a photo popped up on the screen, showing a mound of ribs, brisket and boudin. We knew it was the Shak, the boudin was a dead giveaway, but what was this thing of beauty?
"That's my lunch yesterday, a two-meat plater with TWO sides of boudin, and I ate very bite of it," Jim replied with a smile on his face. Instead of picking cole slaw, potato salad or the world-famous Shak beans as his two sides, Jim opted for two sticks of boudin, a Posse favorite we've written about before.
A light bulb suddenly went off in my head. That two-meat platter was $11.49 and would easily feed two people (sorry Jim). With the addition of the boudin sausage, it was actually a three-meat platter. Lunch plans for the next day were set in motion.
Along with several other folks in the DMN Photo department, fellow posse co-founding member Gary Jacobson and I ordered from the Shak the next day, settling on sharing a three-meat platter for $12.49. We ordered chicken, ribs, brisket and two sides of boudin, aka: The Rossman Platter. After we split the check, the total cost was under $7.00 each for a virtual four-meat sampler platter from one of the best BBQ joints that Dallas has to offer.
Since the Baby Back Shak is the unofficial headquarters of the Texas BBQ Posse, I hope pitmaster and owner Clarence Cohens doesn't read this and bump his prices. Knowing him as the posse does, that probably ain't gonna happen! However, the Shak Platter with four meats and two sides is $13.99. If you split it that's seven bucks a piece. WIth boudin as your two sides, that's a five-meat platter, the Rossman Platter on steroids. That's what we call BBQ greatness in the Lone Star State.........
Photos ©Chris Wilkins/The Texas BBQ Posse
