Barbecue

Sunday, May 2, 2010 in the St. Mark Schoolyard, corner of East 18th Street and Ave Z, Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn, stop in for a free burger or hot dog. Not barbecue by my definition, but free food and fun all the same

I Need New Clothes!

Mo Gridder's being up for sale is keeping me from sleeping tonight. It's not so much my concern for the folks behind Mo's - for all I know this sale may be a good thing, something they've planned and longed for. But it's awakened a feeling in me that has been just below the surface for a long time, longer than this blog has been alive. I need to start cooking barbecue professionally. And I need to do it soon. I'm getting too damn old to be putting things off until the time is right. As any parent can tell you, the time is never right. The time comes when you accept it and deal with it. You make it work and you follow your dream. Climb any mountain. Ford any stream. Follow any rainbow. But as George Harrison sang, "If you don't know where you're going, Any road will take you there." Well, I've been "I've been traveling on a boat and a plane, In a car on a bike with a bus and a train,Traveling there and traveling here,Everywhere in every gear." It's time to get off my fat hairy ass and do what I want to do. No one will remember me for my contribution to the world's architecture, no one will remember me for my contribution to the world's information technology needs. But in the world of food and barbecue, there I can leave my mark. There's still time. And the time to start is now. It's time to plan and follow through. Enough of traveling on a wing and a prayer, By the skin of my teeth by the breadth of a hair, Traveling where the four winds blow, With the sun on my face - in the ice, and the snow. Oh and as Pete Townsend sang, "I need new clothes!"

Wordless Wednesday

BBQ Business: Mo Gridders for Sale?

Just found out on Eater yesterday that the famed Mo Gridders BBQ Trailer is for sale. Sadly - it's more than the trailer - it's the entire business. Mo Gridders for $90K.

Mo's wasn't the best BBQ in the city, only because I thought it needed more spice, but damn, it was easily in the top 10. It's probably in the top 10 in the state or tri-state region.

I'm so very disaapointed to hear about this. I wonder if I can raise $90K quickly. C'mon Power Ball!

If you're interested, the entire ad can be found here at Backpage.com

BBQ Events: Duke's Get's Chopped

This has to be a record - a second post on a second day? This must mean summer is just around the corner with all the barbecue news popping up.

Tune in Tonight at 10pm on the Food Network to see Duke's chef, Michael "Sheffy" Siry, compete on the Food Network's Chopped!

Chopped at 10pm EDT on the Food Network!
Or Stop by Duke's at 560 Third Ave (37th St)to Party with Sheffy!
Complimentary Cookies and Cupcakes during the show!

Michael is a good guy and a veteran of Grillin' On The Bay. Be sure to tune into watch. I wonder what he's going to do without his smoker.

BBQ Recipes: Grilled Orange Chicken The WhiteTrash Way

I told about the orange chicken.
You know the bbq that was really grillin'
Well here's another version to try
And still look the author in the eye
Looking through a glass onion
Oh yeah!
So I told you about Charbroil's version of BBQ Orange Chicken. Well I liked the recipe as printed a lot. But I felt it was missing some depth and body, so here's my version of...

Grilled Orange Chicken - The White Trash Way

My modifications are in red. Tell me - does this qualify as a new recipe?

2 1/2lbs chicken parts

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 Tsp of ground ginger
• 1 Tsp of dried onion powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Kosher Salt to taste
• Fresh ground pepper to taste
• Zest of one orange

Cooking Instructions:

1. Light a chimney of charcoal. Meanwhile prepare your grill for a two zone cook. (Don't know what that is - well it will be detailed in a future post.)
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all sauce ingredients except salt and pepper, until smooth.
3. Place sauce in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute and reduce heat to a simmer. I usually do this on my stove - yes, it is gas powered.
4. Let sauce simmer and reduce until it thickens to a light syrup.
5. Once the sauce is thick - taste it carefully it could burn your lips. Adjust the seasoning by adding salt and pepper to taste.
6. Once your charcoal in the chimney is lit, place it on the hot zone of the grill. Let the grill come to a medium heat.
7. Lightly oil your grill grates.
8. Lightly salt and pepper your chicken
9. Place chicken pieces on grill away from heat, skin side down and cook 20 minutes.
10. Turn chicken, and grill for 10 additional minutes.
11. Brush chicken with sauce and turn occasionally cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
12. Place chicken over direct heat and to char and crisp the skin and sauce. Turning frequently. Do not walk away - This sauce has a lot of sugar and will burn easily.
13. Let rest 5 minutes and serve.

Give it a shot both ways. I think you'll enjoy my modifications to the original recipe.

Cigars and BBQ - It's a Man's World

A rare second post - but I saw this and knew that I had to share. A chance to save some money on a fantastic infrared grill and a website pairing cigars with grilled meats? Damn. Cigars and BBQ - it really is a man's world.

PUNCH CELEBRATES THE TWO REASONS MAN INVENTED FIRE
National BBQ Promotion Debuts at Tobacconists Nationwide

Richmond, VA—Two of the biggest names in smoke, Punch® cigars and Char-Broil® are teaming up to encourage consumers to break out the cigars and fire up the grill to kick off the much-anticipated barbecue season with the Punch “King of the Deck” promotion.

The Punch Cigar Smoker Box - fill it with wood chips and place on your grill!

Consumers of legal smoking age are encouraged to visit their local cigar shop to purchase a Punch-branded steel smoker box while supplies last. Inside the smoker box, cigar enthusiasts will find one each of the following cigars: Punch Magnum, Punch Gran Puro Rancho, Punch Rare Corojo Magnum, plus the new Punch Upper Cut Robusto which is included free. In addition, the smoker box contains a coupon that can be redeemed online at www.CharBroil.com for $100 off the purchase of a new Char-Broil grill valued at $399 and above. For the suggested retail price of just $19.99, this special offer also boasts the added benefit of the smoker box itself which, along with wood chips, can be used to add a rich, smoky flavor to the cigar lover’s favorite grilled foods.

This Char-Broil infrared grill is eligible for a $100 discount with the coupon from Punch Cigars.

According to Debo Mukherjee, vice president of marketing for General Cigar, parent company of Punch cigars, “For cigar enthusiasts who have a passion for grilling, we are pleased to bring these two great pleasures together under such well-respected brands as Punch and Char-Broil. To get people thinking about barbecue season, we’re taking this promotion one step further by engaging in a comprehensive social media campaign to spark online conversations about grilling tips, recipes and cigar pairings.”

A dedicated Twitter account (@PunchCigars) and a Facebook page (Punch Cigar) have been established to educate smokers as to which Punch cigars pair best with their favorite grilled fare. A mobile extension of the promotion’s website (www.punchgrilling.com) has also been developed to allow consumers to enter their favorite Punch cigar brand and preferred grilled meat to receive personalized pairings. In addition, a series of brief videos featuring grilling tips and Punch cigar pairings from Barry “CB” Martin, Char-Broil’s lead blogger and grilling expert, will be released throughout the promotion on www.punchgrilling.com and will also be available for download.

In addition to in-store events which will be held at tobacconists nationwide, Punch cigars will be sampled at noteworthy barbecue events throughout the year. Visit www.punchgrilling.com for more information.

~~~~~

About Punch Cigars
Since their U.S. introduction in 1969, Punch Honduran cigars have been a favorite among premium cigar connoisseurs. In addition to the original line of Punch cigars, the brand features these bold-flavored collections: Punch Deluxe®, Punch Grand Cru®, Punch Rare Corojo®, Punch Gran Puro® and Upper Cut by Punch®.

About General Cigar
General Cigar Co. Inc., a subsidiary of Swedish Match, manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Passionate about delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar produces Macanudo®, Partagas®, Cohiba®, Punch, Excalibur®, Hoyo de Monterrey®, La Gloria Cubana® and several other industry-leading brands, which are sold through tobacconists nationwide. In addition, the company grows its own proprietary Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. For more information, please visit www.cigarworld.com

® Punch, Macanudo, La Gloria Cubana, Partagas, Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.

® Char-Broil is a registered trademark of Char-Broil LLC.
# # #

Monday Night Burgers at RUB BBQ

Today's special burger at Rub BBQ is the Pizza Burger ($7.50), a burger with meatball spices topped with pepperoni, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. It will be available for dinner starting at 6 p.m. 208 West 23rd Street, New York NY 10011; 212-524-4300

Now I haven't talked about the burgers at RUB before because, frankly I didn't want you to know. Scottie, the pitmaster at RUB, only offers burgers on Monday night and he's got a small griddle in the kitchen. There are limits my man. Ya see, in addition to cooking each burger to order, Scott grinds up a special mix of beef to produce these tasty marvels, and once that meat is gone, so are the burgers. He can only produce so many.

Scottie offers a different burger each week. He's mastering the burger game just as he's mastered the pitmaster's art. I hope he's not getting any ideas.

But I'm not going to be there tonight, so I thought I'd share. Just don't be there next week.

BBQ Recipes: Grilled Orange Chicken

I admit it. Grilled chicken is easily and by far my favorite food on the grill. Crispy skin. Sweet sauce. Tender juicy meat. Seared and charred skin. I could eat grilled chicken almost every meal and still be a happy camper. My family - ehh. Not so much. Part of the problem is that I like - love my grilled chicken to be swamped in sauce. The family - ehh, not so much. We need to find a compromise.

Towards that end, I've been playing with various barbecue sauces lately and I came across an interesting one. It's called BBQ Orange Chicken from the book Everybody Grills by Charbroil. I enjoy this book, but be warned, it is very much gas grill focused. Recipes from this book will need to be adjusted for cooking on the only true barbecue grill - wood and charcoal.

Notice that I changed the name to Grilled Orange Chicken as we are instructed to grill our chicken, not barbeque it. This recipe produces a light and refreshing very orange tasting barbecue sauce that is a nice departure from the bottled stuff. Enjoy!

BBQ Orange Chicken

2 1/2lbs chicken parts

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• Zest of one orange

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat grill to high, if using a gas grill.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together all sauce ingredients until smooth.
3. Reduce heat to medium on one side of the grill and turn off the heat on the other side.
4. Place chicken pieces on grill away from heat, skin side down and cook 15 minutes.
5. Turn chicken, and grill for 10 additional minutes. Brush chicken with sauce and turn occasionally cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
6. Let rest 5 minutes and serve.

Up next, I'll talk about my additions and modifications of this recipe. "Turn off one side of the grill." Sheesh! Sorry for the excessive blue tones in the picture. It's a new camera and I'm finding its features. Did you know not to have the camera set to incandescent light while photographing in the sun? I didn't. I didn't even know it was an option. Live and learn.

BBQ Recipes: Owensboro Barbecued Mutton

Ladies and Gents, children of all ages, here is the amazing losing recipe that produced such spectacular results at The Lamb Takedown on Sunday April 18! This recipe lost, not due to any lacking on its part - this will produce spectacular lamb. It lost due to my incompetence as a presentation chef. I highly recommend this recipe and believe me, I will be cooking this again.

I've added some comments of my own which are in parenthesis to reflect my cooking methods and style.

Owensboro Barbecued Mutton from the book BBQ USA by Steven Raichlen. Published by Workman Publishing Company708 Broadway, New York, New York. This recipe serves 8 to 10.

Method: Indirect Grilling (aka barbeque)

For the Mutton (or Lamb):

• 1 piece of mutton (or lamb) shoulder or leg. (About 5lbs) I used 5 lamb shoulders that averaged about 2.7 lbs each.
• Coarse salt (Kosher or sea - I used Kosher) and freshly ground black pepper

For the Basting Sauce:

• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (I used Lea & Perrins, which in my mind is the only Worcestershire sauce to use. I've never tasted a better one.)
• 5 tablespoons course salt (Kosher or sea - in this case I used sea due to the fact that I was low on Kosher salt after salting all 5 shoulders)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

For the Dipping Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (see comment above)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw instead, which is a natural cane turbinado sugar. For some reason my brown sugar had been mixed with cinnamon and that wasn't the flavor I wanted.)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (Kosher or sea)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional) (I didn't use this. I don't have any MSG in the house)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

10 t0 12 hamburger buns or 20 to 24 slices white bread. (I used tortillas)

You'll also need:

• 4 cups wood chips or chunks, preferably hickory, soaked for 1 hour in water to cover, then drained. (Soaking wood is such a fallacy. I'll address that in another post! - I used a mixture of apple and hickory woods with charcoal.)

Cooking Instructions:

1. Generously season the mutton (or lamb) with about 1 tablespoon of each salt and pepper. Set aside
2. Make the basting sauce: Combine the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, lemon juice and pepper with 1 1/2 cups water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. (Water? Where did that come from? Why isn't it in the list of ingredients?)
3. Make the dipping sauce: Combine the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, pepper, coarse and onion salts, garlic powder, MSG (if using), allspice and 2 cups water in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat and cook until richly flavored and slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a nonreactive serving bowl to cool.
4. Set up the grill or smoker. (Now I'm going to vary from Steven's instructions here. This should have been your FIRST step. Setup your smoker and bring it to a temperature of 225 - 250 for at least one hour before placing your meat on the cooker. If you want to know how Steven does it - buy the book. This blog focuses on charcoal and wood grilling and barbecuing. I'll do some posts on setting up the various grills later in the spring)
5. When your cooker has locked in on its temperature, place the mutton (or lamb) fat side up in the center of the cooking grate over a drip pan and away from the heat. Cover the grill. Cook the mutton (or lamb) until it is fall off the bone tender, 4 to 6 hours. (Mine cooked for 8 hours! Barbecue does not tell time.) To test for doneness, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, being sure not to touch the bone. The internal temperature of the meat should be about 190 degrees. (When the meat is ready, the thermometer should enter the meat as if going into warm butter - there should be almost no resistance.)
6. Baste the mutton (or lamb) with the basting sauce every half hour (after the bark has set on the meat) If the meat starts to burn, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Keep your temperature steady, refueling your cooker as needed. (Steven has some instructions on refueling a charcoal grill, but I find them to be off)
7. Transfer the cooked mutton (or lamb) to a cutting board and let rest for at least 5 minutes. (I'd recommend at least an hour) Slice the meat thinly across the grain or finely chop it with a cleaver.
8. Spoon half of the dipping sauce over the meat.
9. Serve the mutton (or lamb) on toasted or grilled hamburger buns or slices of white bread, or all by itself, passing the remaining dipping sauce on the side.

So, there you have it. Owensboro Barbecued Mutton. Damn good if I do say so myself.

Since I was making 5 times the amount of meat that this recipe called for, I increased the size of all the ingredients, except the salt. Be careful when doubling or tripling seasonings. Some, like salt and pepper don't double precisely. Doubling the salt may cause it to overpower a recipe. I've got to find some good charts on that.

Please try this recipe at home. I'm sure you'll love it.

Wordless Wednesday

Ewe Don't Get It! Or At Least We Didn't.

We didn't win squat! After smoking for 8 hours over apple and hickory, mopping with a Moonlight mop, wrapping and resting in a heated cooler for an hour, shredding and pulling and removing all fat, we didn't win squat.

I really liked the lamb. It tasted like an outstanding smoked/barbeque lamb. It was tender, moist and flavorful. I'll post the losing recipe later in the week, but damn, I'm cooking this lamb again. To me - this was a winner.

Here's a list of the contestants for this year's Lamb Takedown. All worthy opponents. We didn't get to try most of the entries unfortunately. The crowd was too large and many of the teams ran out of food. I hope when Matt Timms does this again, he sets up a competitors choice award where all of the cooks get to taste the competition.

1. Robert and Johanna Fernandez - Blue Moon of Kentucky Lamb
2. Sara Morrisson - Lamb Sliders
3. Blondie and Brownie - Rock the Casbah Lamb
4. Emily Hanhan - Lambda Eata Thai meatballs
5. Jen De La Vega - Wham Bam Thank You Lamb
6. Trish Tchume - Indian Pizza
7. Ross Hutchison + Joanna Cybulski - Team Redneck caviar
8. Mike O’Neil and Christine Schmitd - Lambs in a blanket
9. Jordan Goldstein - Harissa Explained it All
10. Jules Acampora - Lamb Stew
11. Melissa Sands - Hoi Tomato Lamb Noodle Soup
12. Ben Conniff and Henry Chan - Baa Baa Bruschetta
13. Keavy Landreth - Lamb Cupcakes
14. Ben Sargent - Cocoa Loco Lamb Chowder
15. Cody Burke - Rogan Josh
16. Sarah Howland - Mini Greek Gyros
17. Tony Santoro - Grape Leaves of War
18. Greg Erskine - Gyro Pita OPA!
19. Carol Pitts - Vietnamese Lamb Stew
20. Barbara Warnock Morgan - Baa-BQ

The judge's winners (who received fancy cookware and knives) were: Wham Bam Thank You Lamb, a Filipino-style braised lamb stew, Harissa Explains It All, oroccan spiced lamb with carrot salad and minted lebne and Lamb on Goat, smoked lamb shoulder braised in bacon marmalade atop a round of goat cheese polenta all took home honors.

The people's choice winners were...

• 1st Greg Erskine - Gyro Pita OPA!!!!
• 2nd Ross Hutchison + Joanna Cybulski - Redneck Caviar
• 3rd Jordan Goldstein - Harissa Explained It ALL
• 4th Cody Burke - Rogan Josh
• 5th Sara Morrisson - Lamb Sliders
• 6th Ben Conniff and Henry Chan - Baa Baa Bruschetta

I learned a lot from this experience. The first thing I learned was that presentation matters. When I decided what to cook - I gave it no thought on how to serve it or present it. We decided to serve the lamb on tortilla bread with a slice of dill pickle. Sounds good right? Well, it looked like shit and was extremely messy to eat. And it was almost impossible to pick up.

Also, 13.5 lbs of uncooked lamb shoulder, which was provided by the American Lamb Board, is no where near enough for 250 people to sample! We ran out of meat long before this was over and when the picture above was taken we were no longer making lamb sandwiches but placing a few strands of lamb on 1/6 of a tortilla with the slice of pickle.

We almost made it to the end. When I do this again, I will seriously look for ways to supplement the meat, as all the winners did either with toppings, fillers or serving containers like bread or crackers. Something to take down the flavor of the meat. We, my wife and I, tasted most of the winners and we both thought that the flavor of the lamb was masked by the other ingredients. Sometimes so much, that the lamb flavor was completely lost. Our lamb was front and center. There was no mistaking it for anything but lamb. Maybe that wasn't a good thing.

And finally, I've learned that the rules of the barbeque competition circuit don't apply in the Takedown world. In the barbecue world, it's a meat contest. End of story. Here in the Takedown world - its all about presentation, combinations, creativity, degree of difficulty and familiarity.

A gyro wins? Seriously? Now I didn't taste the gyro - but look at what it was up against. The sliders were served on home made potato buns. Lamb shoulder braised in bacon marmalade atop a round of goat cheese polenta. Moroccan spiced lamb with carrot salad and minted lebne - hell I don't even know what lebne is.

I can't wait for the next one! I will whip you yet, Takedown! Just you wait!

Photo courtesy of Metromix

Lamb Shoulder

Cooking for the Lamb Takedown this afternoon. 13.5 lbs of Lamb Shoulder using Moonlight Mop. I hope I win with this!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Sunday cook

13.5 pounds of lamb shoulder I'd on the fire. Hickory and Apple. Wish me luck
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Wordless Wednesday

April Foolishness Continues

So how's April Foolishness going? Pretty well I think. Still no pictures, but I'm working on that. Here's the run down for the week.

Monday, April 5 - Totino's pizza rolls. It was a long day.

Tuesday, April 6 - Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Campbell's Tomato Bisque Soup. A classic dinner if there ever was one. Another long day.

Wednesday, April 7 - Left over beef brisket, chopped up and lightly tossed with Selmon's BBQ sauce, served with Pasta Roni and sugar snap peas. I cooked up a brisket on Saturday, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, poor planning and bad advice, it wasn't ready for consumption for dinner Saturday. I've got a post about it coming, but right now it too isn't ready for consumption. It's much too bitter.

Thursday, April 8 - A Burger King Steakhouse XT sandwich. I wasn't that hungry and the wife had a coupon, so this was a free meal.

Friday, April 9 - Grilled Barese Sausages, tater tots and mixed vegetables. What is Barese Sausage you ask? Well, I never heard of them until last night either. We were in our local Fairway Supermarket and they caught my eye in the butcher's case. (Yes, Fairway still has butchers.) Barase sausage is a thin sausage combining pork, lamb, flat leaf parsley, Italian cheeses and spices. Damn tasty.

Fire is lit today. I have my camera ready. Here's hoping!

This recipe comes to us from the fine folks at Weber. It's written by one of the Northeast's best barbecue cooks Jamie Purviance from his book, Weber’s On the Grill: Steak & Sides™

Bone-In Rib-Eye Steaks with Sweet, Pan-Roasted Garlic
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes, plus about 20 minutes for the garlic
Grilling time: 6 to 8 minutes

• 25 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2–1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 bone-in rib-eye steaks, each 10 to 12 ounces and about 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the garlic and red pepper flakes with 1/2 to 1 cup of oil, making sure you have enough oil to cover the garlic cloves. Cook at a low simmer until the garlic starts to brown, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the garlic to cool in the oil. The garlic will continue to soften and brown until the oil cools. Set aside.

2. Pour 1/4 cup of the garlic oil onto a sheet pan. Dredge the steaks through the oil, coating both sides. Season evenly with salt and pepper. Allow the steaks to stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before grilling.

3. Prepare the grill for direct cooking over high heat (450° to 550°F).

4. Brush the cooking grates clean. Grill the steaks over direct high heat, with the lid closed as much as possible, until cooked to your desired doneness, 6 to 8 minutes for medium rare, turning once or twice (if flare-ups occur, move the steaks temporarily over indirect heat). Remove from the grill and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Serve the steaks warm, topped with a generous sprinkling of salt and some garlic. Spoon some of the garlic oil over the steaks, if desired.

Wordless Wednesday

March Madness Becomes April Foolishness

So folks, March is over and I failed miserably to keep up with my March madness pledge of eating and photographing a different dinner every night. I apologize but the madness has not left my soul.

Today I am announcing the first ever April Foolishness held here at WhiteTrash BBQ. The rules are pretty simple. I challenge myself to eat a different dinner each night for the entire month of April. I will photograph it whenever it seems interesting enough to document.

Here's the run down so far...

• April 1 - Grilled beef spiedinis with rice pilaf and sugar snap peas. Hey, I lit a fire!
• April 2 - Potato gnocchi with basil pesto sauce and grilled Cajun shrimp. Lenten Friday.
  
• April 3 - Perdue Fun Shape Chicken Nuggets, Tater Tots and corn. Not exactly the plan for dinner as I lit a fire that morning. I barbecued a beef brisket, more on that later.
  
• April 4 - Easter dinner! Oven roasted leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn and a new dish for my vegetarian son; barley-spiked winter vegetable casserole from the cookbook The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson.

I was glad to get the opportunity to review the Vegetarian Slow Cooker for a couple of reasons. We've had a crock pot for years and it has sat unused in the cellar until this book arrived. The pot was one of those things that survives every attempt at clearing out the cellar with the comment, "Oh, we'll use it someday." Finally "someday" arrived. The other reason to be honest was that I've been having a difficult time coming up with new, exciting and interesting meals for my son. Vegetables have always played second fiddle on my table.

The Vegetarian Slow Cooker has really expanded my horizons. I highly recommend it. We, my son and I, have made a few recipes from this book and so far, they've all been winners.

Barbeque!

Being surrounded by smoke all day Saturday at Grillin' On The Bay, waking up Sunday still reeking of it and wandering back into the school on Monday and being gobsmacked by the scent once again has worked its magic on my soul. Oh how I love the smell of wood burning! It brings me back to the campgrounds of my youth. There's something magical and mystical about watching fire burn. Add in the alchemy of barbecue and I'm one happy and content camper.

While I haven't been to every barbecue restaurant in the world, the closest I've ever come to experiencing that magic indoors has been at the bbq joints of central Texas.

In the book "The Only Texas Cookbook" by Linda West Eckhardt she describes how to identify a good barbecue joint...

1. "They serve only barbecue."
2. "A stack of wood is outside., and smoke is curling up from a large smokestack somewhere."
3. "When you walk in the door, you may see a sign that says, "Snickers in the cooler."
4. "More than likely there will be a picnic tables with loaves of bread still in the plastic wrappers, gallon jars of jalapenos and sliced onions. Maybe a pot of pinto beans."
5. "Look carefully at the other diners. They should be just-folks. They should be hunched over squares of botcher paper, chewing thoughtfully. Ideally, there will be no conversation other than murmurs of approval and considered belches."
6. "There are toothpicks besides the cash register. You meat order by the pound. The carver cuts it to order."
7. "You are probably in a small town west of a line running from Columbus and northward to Dallas-Fort Worth."
8. "You are eating Central Texas Barbeque - you lucky son-of-a-gun."

I don't have anything to add to that, except a trip to Austin would be nice right about now.

Photograph courtesy of Bookerweb.com. That's Cooper's BBQ in the photo!