BBQ Contests

OK. Here's the preliminary plan for the Kansas City Barbecue Society sanctioned competitions this year that we plan to enter. I will be competing as part of the BBQ-Brethren, Brothers in Smoke Competition Team. We may not make all of them, but this is the plan. We may not win them all, but we're going to have a good time trying.

May
5/20 - Barbeque on the River, Bristol, PA

June
6/4 - Cape Cod Barbeque Challenge, Hyannis Port, MA
6/11 - 3rd Annual Rock'n Ribfest, Nashua NH - State Championship

July
7/8 - New Jersey State Barbecue Championship, Wildwood, NJ - State Championship
7/23 - Grill Kings, East Islip, NY- State Championship
7/29 - Guitarbeque, Asbury Park NJ- State Championship

August
8/6 - Podunk Bluegrass Festival, East Hartford,CT - State Championship
8/12 - Maryland Barbeque Bash, Bel Air, MD - State Championship
8/20 - Hudson Valley Rib Fest, Highland, NY
8/26 - New Holland Summer Fest, New Holland, PA - State Championship

We'll have a great time. Come down and join us! Come see a legacy being born! You'll have a great time too! I promise!

Restaurant Review - Waterfront Ale House

I got turned on to the Waterfront Ale House via email by Seth, who is a member of the Feugheadaboutit Barbecue team. They may not remember me, but I met him/them in real life at the Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Connecticut KCBS Barbeque contest in 2004.


Waterfront Ale House has two locations, 540 Second Avenue in Manhattan and 155 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I went to the Brooklyn location today for lunch. The place is located not far from Long Island College Hospital on Atlantic Avenue where I was having my hand examined. It's fairly large compared with Pearson's or Daisy May's. It is a real saloon with a great selection of beers and whiskeys. It feels like it's been in business for 100 years.

For lunch today, I had their $9.95 lunch special. Let me tell you, this is an incredible deal. The soup of the day, a mug of beer, soda or coffee and a choice of 8 entrees, 3 of which are barbecue. I had a pint of Liberty Ale and the pulled pig sandwich. (My waiter forgot to bring me the soup, but I didn't miss it)

The pulled pig came piled high on a white bread bun. It was moist and tender, beautifully cooked. The pork had a nice dark bark with light deep meat. It was sauced with a "Carolina" style sauce. A traditional Carolina style sauce is heavy on the mustard and or vinegar. Some sections of Carolina eliminate the tomato from the sauce completely. The sauce was good; it had a nice vinegar bite to it, but it also had a little too much tomato flavor for me. That being said, I wouldn't want to be on the other side of a competition table from this pulled pig! The meat worked better when eaten in the bun. There the flavors of the meat and bread blended nicely.

The sandwich was served with "creamy mustard slaw." Unfortunately, the mustard over powered the rest of the flavors in the cole slaw. I could swear that it was flavored with Wasabi, but there were large mustard seeds scattered in the sauce. This slaw definitely opened your sinuses!

Over the long bar, towards the back you can see some of their hardware (Read that trophies and awards) from past Barbecue contests. Very impressive.

One complaint I did have was with the music being played. It was an eclectic mix of light jazz and Muzak. I heard things like the theme from The Newlywed Game to jazz covers of Nirvana. They even played a version of The Beatles Norwegian Wood, but it was a cover and in another language. I don't think this music was the usual stuff, because one of the cooks was razzing the bartender about it. Don't mess with my Beatles, boys!

Prices for Appetizers run from $5.95 to $11.95; for Soups, Salads and Sides: $2.00 to $11.95; Sandwiches, Burgers and Chili: $7.95 to $10.95; and Entrees $12.95 to $23.95.

Will I be back - you betcha! I want to try their "award winning barbeque spare ribs" and hickory smoked beef brisket.

The quest for the Golden Chicken Part 3

OK. Here's the finished product. About 4 hours on the grill.





How did it taste? Good. Not great. The sauce was sticky and gooey like a good Barbecue sauce. Sweet but not over powering. You could really taste the chicken. The wife and kids all said that they liked this recipe better than the traditional sweet red barbeque sauce. The chicken skin was tender and crispy. The meat, well, to me the legs were perfect, but the wings were over cooked. This wasn't competition quality barbecue to me. But remember, I am still on the quest!

The Quest for the Golden Chicken Part 2

Here's some pics from 3 1/2 hours into the cook.

Here's how the chicken looked when I opened the smoker.



I mopped the chicken pieces, moved them around and flipped them over. Here's the underside of the chicken.



And a picture of the mop.

The Quest for the Golden Chicken

Today. 55 Degrees. Sunny. No Wind. Perfect day to make some barbecue. The quest for the Golden Chicken continues.

I picked up a couple of packages of Perdue chicken wings and legs. I marinated them for one hour in: (Mix all ingredients in a blender set to puree)

1 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Corn Oil
1 Tablespoon Chopped Garlic
1/4 Cup Sherry
1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup White Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Tumeric
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Turbinado Sugar
1 Minced Onion



I built a fire of Kingsford Charcoal, Cowboy Lump and some oak chips. I placed a pan of chicken stock in the middle of the fire. I basted the chicken one time with some of the marinade. I put the cover on the smoker and went inside.



I took the marinade boiled it for 3 minutes to kill off any bad bacteria, removed it from the heat and added...

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup
4 Heaping Tablespoons of Head Country Rub
12 Oz Dole Apple Juice
A few shots of Franks Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper
And a little more Turbinado Sugar to finish it off.

This marinade is now my mop and finishing sauce for the chicken. I let the chicken cook for about one hour, then mopped it for the first time. In another hour, I mop again and I'll take some more pics.

Remember the Chicken!

A long time ago, I mentioned that I was working on the perfect "golden chicken."
This isn't the final recipe, I'm still working on that but, here's a start.



4 or 5 chickens, cut in half
1 1/2 cups champagne vinegar
3/4 cup light olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 small yellow onion chopped small
1 clove garlic minced
1 egg

Mix well in a food processor so that the onion is pureed. Wash and dry the chicken. Brush the chicken with the sauce. Cook over in-direct charcoal and oak till done. Mop the chickens with sauce every 1/2 hour or so.

Restaurant Review - Daisy May's BBQ USA

Ok - I've been here before. I've reviewed this place before. Let's just say that their product was on a definte down swing last year. Today I went back. They raised their prices a little bit.

But....

It was worth it. Today's food was EXCELLENT. I had the Kansas City Sweet and Sticky Pork Ribs. 5 large ribs and two sides - $11. Perfectly cooked. Just the right amount of tug when biting the meat off the bone. Moist, juicy, perfectly seasoned. I'm in heaven.

My advice, RUN to Daisy May's today.

Daisy May's BBQ USA
623 11th Avenue
New York City

Daisy May's BBQ

Clean up

Removed two links from the links section today.
YumFood.net apparently no longer exists and the Joy of Soup hasn't updated since November. Goodbye folks.

Goodbye John Paul II

Viva El Pappa! Whatever you thought of his beliefs, the world and the Catholic Church lost a great man today.

O glorious St. Michael, guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ, come to the assistance of this Church, against which the powers of hell are unchained, guard with especial care her august Head, and obtain that for him and for us the hour of triumph may speedily arrive. O glorious Archangel St. Michael, watch over us during life, defend us against the assaults of the demon, assist us especially at the hour of death; obtain for us a favorable judgment, and the happiness of beholding God face to face for endless ages. Amen.

Finally - Barbecue, Barbeque, BBQ!!!!

Today, April 1st, 2005, I played hookey and hooked up (in the 50s sense of the word) with my buddy Phil, the Grand Poohbah and exalted mystic ruler of the BBQ-Brethren, and actually cooked some barbecue!!!!!!!!!!! My long dry spell is over.

Phil recently purchased a new smoker from David Klose of Klose BBQ pit's. It is an incredible piece of machinery. This model is not on the market yet, but let me tell you, the MOAB (join the BBQ-Brethren to find out what that means) was the best pit I ever cooked on. Dave Klose and his team are outstanding craftsman.

We Q'd up steak, wild salmon, sausages, chicken wings and thighs. We experimented with rubs from HomeBBQ, Head Country and others. We used sauces from Pepperheads, Whoop Ass, HomeBBQ and others. What a great way to spend the day.

How'd it turn out? Most of it was great, some not so good, and some down right inedible. But today was a day to experiment. I'm going to bed tonight happy and smelling like smoke!

CD playing as I wrote this: Thomas Dolby's Aliens Ate My Buick