The Bacon Take Down

The Bacon Takedown. A Brooklyn first. 30 different type of bacon. C'mon out and taste the goodness. Come watch as I get my ass kicked by the hipsters!

Food Contests: Sweet Potatoes

This came into my in-box the other day. It has nothing to do with BBQ, but it does involve food competition. Check it out...

WHAT'S HOT, SASSY, AND EASY TO MAKE?

SWEET POTATOES!

Grab a few of these babes and steam up your blog with a snappy new recipe. Just create it, blog it, enter it...and win our hearts plus cash prizes, too! The North Carolina SweetPotato Commission is gearing up for the Bloggers' Recipe Challenge, 2009. Why enter? We have $1,000 for the winning creation, plus $100 for each of five finalists. Fame? Your one-of-a-kind winning recipe doesn't just put you in the www.ncsweetpotatoes.com hall of fame along with other recipe contest winners past, but shows off you, your inspiration, and your blogs, plus lots of exposure to food bloggers everywhere on Sweet Bytes, the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission's own blogspot. All you have to do is... ● CREATE an original recipe using sweet potatoes as the main ingredient in a quick-to-make everyday family meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack ideas are all welcome, as long as they can be put together quickly enough to join the family at mealtime. (Hints): Don't just mash them-sass 'em: Spice them, zing them, slice or dice them. Think outside the Thanksgiving box and put sweet potatoes on the table every day in new and different ways. ● POST your recipe on your blog any time from February 21 through March 31. . (Only blog content managers age 18 or older living in the U.S. can enter.) Use your blog to fill us in on your entire sweet potato creative experience, from entering the contest to your recipe's inspiration. ● ENTER E-mail your recipe to us: sassysweets@lewis-neale.com, any time between February 21 through March 31 along with your name, blog URL, e-mail address, mailing address, telephone number(s)*, and a brief note about where you heard about the contest. Make sure your blog posting includes the link to your recipe. ●WHO'S TO CHOOSE? A group of real pros. Ten final recipes will be selected, and we'll start testing them in our kitchens. Then, a specially chosen panel of food professionals will attend a formal tasting and rank the final recipes. They'll be looking for taste, most creative use of sweet potatoes, and preparation time. On April 9, we will announce the winners. All of the winning recipes will be posted on www.ncsweetpotatoes.com, the Commission's website.

Let a sweet potato inspire you today.
*Names and personal information will not be added to any mailing list(s).

For information visit www.ncsweetpotatoes.com and their blog, Sweet Bytes.http://sweetbytesblog.blogspot.com/

BBQ Toys: The Orion Cooker

I picked this up yesterday at Lowe's. $37 - regular price $139. The original Orion Cooker. How could I say no?

While this isn't really a barbecue toy, it's more of a Dutch oven, it does involve live fire cooking.

Let the experiments begin!

Grillin' On The Bay and The Brooklyn Chili Smackdown

It's back and better than ever!

Grillin' On The Bay 2009

To benefit St. Mark School Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sanctioned by The New England Barbeque Society
Sponsored by RUB BBQ and Butternuts Beer and Ale
Saturday April 4, 2009

Corner of East 18th Street and Avenue Z, Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn
Four Grilling Categories: Chicken Breast, Fish, Pork and Chef's Choice
$75 to $125 to Enter - Cash and Fabulous Prizes
and
The Brooklyn Chili Smack Down
People's Choice Chili Contest
Any type of Chili you want to make.
You call it Chili - WE call it Chili

Free to Enter
$100 to the winner!
$10 All the Chili you can eat - Till it runs out!

For more information: Web: GOTB Email BrooklynQ or call 917-763-5062
This contest is not affiliated with the Kansas City Barbeque Society or any Chili Contest Sanctioning body.

Circles

I've got a song, I ain't got no melody
I'ma gonna sing it to my friends
I've got a song, I ain't got no melody
I' ma gonna sing it to my friends

Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

I've got a story, ain't got no moral
Let the bad guy win every once in a while
I've got a story, ain't got no moral
Let the bad guy win every once in a while

Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

I've got a dance, I ain't got no steps, no
I'm gonna let the music move me around
I've got a dance, I ain't got no steps
I'm gonna let the music move me around

Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

I've got a song, I ain't got no melody
I'ma gonna sing it to my friends
I've got a song, I ain't got no melody
I' ma gonna sing it to my friends

Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky
Will it go round in circles
Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky

Thought of the Day

Try beating your head on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Don't have time for the music
They want the blood from a clone

I hear a clock ticking
I feel the nitpicking
I almost quit kicking at the wall
There seems a confusion, under the illusion
That they know just what will suit you all

Beating my head on a brick wall
Hard like a stone
Ain't got time for the music
They want the blood from a clone

BBQ Rumors

This just in...

Justin Timberlake does not own NY's Southern Hospitality...

Check out his denials in People Magazine

Prepacked BBQ Review: Jack Daniel's Pulled Chicken

I'll admit it. Sometimes I'll buy pre-made barbecue meats. I've tried Lloyds. I've tried Curley's. I've tried Tony Roma's. All with mixed results Sometimes, even if it's not the real deal, the "smokey" flavor of these prepackaged meats can be enough to satisfy the itch. Ya know?

I was intrigued to see Jack Daniel's Pulled Chicken join my supermarket's offerings of "authentic" barbeque. I like the Jack Daniel's barbeque sauce that is sold next to the ketchup in the condiment aisle, so I was looking forward to this chicken. To add to its credibility, Jack Daniel's Distillery sponsors what is arguably the most prestigious barbecue contest in the world. Stamping a product with the Jack Daniel's imprimatur implies quality and value.

Jack Daniel's Pulled Chicken comes from the refrigerated section of the store in a plastic, not microwave safe tray and vacuum packed in a thick cryovac bag.

Why isn't the tray microwaveable? I would have been really pissed to discover this if I was making this for lunch at work. I'm all for reduced packaging, but the vacuum packing didn't make this stuff look very appetizing. Maybe ol' Gentleman Jack should consider packaging this in tubes like some of his competitors.

Taking the meat out of the bag didn't help much the appearance much either. My ever lovely, but never shy to offer an opinion, teen age daughter said, "That looks worse than the cat food." "Are you going to eat it?" "Throw it away." "It's disgusting."

Well, if you've ever stored pulled pork or other loose items like chili in vacuum sealed packaging, you know that the process is not kind to the products appearance outside the bag. The meat and sauces are compressed and deformed. Any item like that would need to be worked to be presentable. Dumping the meat into a bowl to be nuked certainly didn't help. I was beginning to wonder if my daughter was right.

A trip in the microwave and a quick stir helped thing immensely. Now this was beginning to look like some good edible "pulled chicken barbecue."

On a roll, it looked better. My appetite was returning. This was not a bad looking sandwich, even if the picture isn't so flattering.

I took my first bite. I was surprised to discover that they don't use the same sauce that is sold in the bottles.

Enough with the tease; how did it taste? Have you ever eaten hot rubber bands coated in a sickeningly sweet tomato based sauce? That pretty much sums it up.

As my daughter predicted, I did wind up throwing this out. I'm glad to report that this is no longer available in my local supermarket. You've been warned.

BBQ Rumors

I just came across this interesting little tidbit....

"Timberlake To Expand Restaurant Empire"

Seems like Justin Timberlake and his business partners Trace Ayala and Eytan Sugarman are in talks to take up a second location of Southern Hospitality in Chelsea.

According to New York Magazine, the trio are have singled out a space on 6th Avenue for a rent of around $35,000 per month.

This is great news in this economy. I wish them luck. They're gonna need it.