Book Review: America's Best BBQ

America's Best BBQ
100 Recipes from America's Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses and Restaurants

Ardie A. Davis, PhB and Chef Paul Kirk, CWC, PhB, BSAS
Andrews McMeel Publishing Released: May 1, 2009

Wow. This May is turning out to be a great month for barbecue cookbooks. I don't remember a summer where so many barbecue legends all released new books; Paul Kirk and Ardie Davis with America's Best BBQ, Chris Lilly with Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book and Adam Perry Lang with Serious Barbecue (review coming soon.)

America's Best BBQ is the latest offering in the ever expanding canon of The Baron of Barbecue aka Paul Kirk and Remus Powers aka Ardie Davis.

With so many barbecue cookbooks entering the market this summer, the Baron and ol' Remus took a different route by traveling the country and selecting their favorite BBQ places and focusing on what makes them unique. Instead of the standard BBQ recipes, oh they're there too, but in America's Best BBQ you'll find recipes for things like Volcanic Goat Cheese, Beer Battered Cod, BBQ Pig Salad, Red's Barbecued Coon and my favorite, BBQ Pig Snoots.

This book will take you from NYC's RUB to Chicago's Lem's Bar-B-Q House, to Elgin Texas' Southside Market to Tukwila Washington's Gordon's on the Green and everywhere in between. This is a very enjoyable book filled with the legends, quips and back stories that only two old hands of the BBQ world could tell. Between the two of them, The Baron and Remus have over 100 years of barbeque experience combined.

While I enjoy the narrative of this book, sometimes the recipes leave me scratching my head. Sometimes the recipes are detailed and complete allowing the home cook to recreate the legend's food, other times not so much.

Take this recipe for Smoked Catfish that is attributed to Stevenson Bar-B-Que in Paul's Valley OK; 6 Head-on whole catfish, 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 cups dry barbecue rub. They then explain the technique for smoking the fish. While it is great information on smoking catfish, I would have preferred a recipe that included the make up of that rub so that I could attempt to recreate Stevensons' Smoked Catfish.

I recommend this book with some reservations. The narrative is easily worth the price, but if you're looking for barbecue recipes, you may want to keep on looking.

The Baron is Making News

Seems like Paul Kirk, aka the Baron of Barbeque is a busy guy. Today in my email I received two messages about Paul's activities. The first is a brief blurb from the Austin Statesman mentioning that Paul is in Austin for the National Barbecue Association's annual convention.

The other, copied below is a review from Las Vegas City Life of Paul and Andrew Fischel's new Las Vegas outpost of their RUB BBQ restaurant. Enjoy.

Oh, by the way, that's me, Paul Kirk and The Hampton Smoker in the picture from when we brought Paul and his School of Pitmasters to New York.

We knead meat
Sauce is rendered superfluous thanks to Rub's tasty dry-cooked BBQ

PHOTO BY TODD LUSSIER Meat. Need we say more?

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by AL MANCINI

AS I'VE MENTIONED IN THE PAST, I didn't grow up on barbecue. For me, the term referred to grilling burgers and hot dogs in the backyard on holidays. It wasn't until my early 30s that I learned to really appreciate meats cooked for countless hours in smokers. And it wasn't until last year that I experienced my first barbecue competition, in Vancouver of all places, where people from around the U.S. and Canada pitted their top-secret recipes against each other. Fortunately for those who are still in the dark when it comes to real barbecue, Rub BBQ recently opened its doors at the Rio.

Rub is brought to us by Paul Kirk, also known as The Kansas City Baron of Barbecue. Kirk is a certified master barbecue judge, a member of the Kansas City Barbecue Society Board of Directors and was inducted into the KCBS Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2005, he brought his barbecue to New York City with the original Rub Barbecue, and the place very quickly became both an overwhelming success and a celebrity hotspot. Given Las Vegas' hunger for restaurants that have been successful in other cities, it was only a matter of time until we got one here.

The local restaurant is a rather unassuming place on the mezzanine level of the Rio. A large glass window on one walls allows you to gaze in on the massive smokers (which honestly aren't terribly interesting), and many of the seats have a view of The Rio's Masquerade Show In The Sky (which is probably extremely cool for tourists, but can be a bit annoying after you've seen those dancing girls chained to their floats a few dozen times). While the service is great, the place has a casual vibe, with waitresses wearing cut-off denim shorts, and food served in cardboard baskets.

All of that is just fine. Barbecue isn't about fancy restaurants. It's all about the meat, and Rubs delivers some of the best I've ever had.

There's a huge variety available here, including pulled pork, smoked ham, pulled chicken, barbecued chicken, smoked turkey, beef brisket, pastrami, three types of sausage, a whole pig butt, the fatty brisket points known as burnt ends, pork spare ribs and baby backs. They're smoked for as long as 18 hours in a blend of hickory, oak and apple smoke. You can order them in a wide variety of platters ($16.75 and up) and sandwiches ($13.75 and up), with ribs available in half or full racks ($16.75-$26.75).

They also offer appetizers like fried dill pickles ($7.25), fried green tomatoes ($8.75), BBQ bacon chunks ($9.75) and BBQ chili ($8.75). If you want a salad, you have four choices ($3.95-$13.75), although two of them are packed with meat. And sides include greens, cornbread and garlic mashed potatoes (all $3.75 for small, $7 for large).

My wife and I were simultaneously disgusted and intrigued by a listing in the appetizer section called BBQ Frito pie ($11.75). So we decided we had to try it. It was a bowl of Fritos topped with chili, cheese, onions and jalapenos. In all honesty, it was a pretty decent take on nachos -- although Doritos might worked better as an alternative corn chip. The best part about the sloppy appetizer was the barbecue chili topping it gave as our first taste of Rub's perfectly smoked meat.

For our dinner, we ordered up a massive sampler platter called The Baron ($49.75). It could easily have fed four people, but its combination of beef, chicken, pork, ham, pastrami, turkey, sausage, ribs and two side dishes gave us our best chance to try as many meats as possible. Since this was true barbecue, they'd all been cooked dry, without sauce. And on meat this flavorful, you certainly don't need it.

We liked every single thing on the plate. In my opinion, the hand-down favorite was the pastrami, which was the leanest and tastiest I've ever had (I can't wait to try it on one of their BBQ Reuben Crusher sandwiches). My wife loved it as well, but liked the brisket even better. Other standouts included the pulled pork and the incredibly moist turkey.

While all of the meats were excellent, the sides were simply average. The macaroni and cheese and cornbread were on par with the stuff you'd get in a grocery story. I also found all three of their barbecue sauces rather bland, but as I said earlier, they were fairly superfluous.

Those are minor complaints, however, with barbecue this good. Whether you're a barbecue neophytes or someone who grew up behind a smoker, you owe yourself a visit to Rub.

BBQ Events: RUB BBQ Opens in Vegas!

Congratulations to Paul Kirk and Andrew Fischel of RUB on the opening of Vegas's newest and best barbecue restaurant... RUB!

RUB BBQ Debuts Best Butt in Town At First West Coast Location Today

Restaurant opens today inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®

LAS VEGAS (Dec. 27, 2007) – Las Vegas heats up on this winter day with the debut of New York City’s highly-acclaimed RUB BBQ with its new location inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®. This will be the restaurant’s second location and only venue outside of the New York original.

The 9,000-square-foot RUB BBQ at the Rio features championship-level barbecue created by Paul Kirk, aka The Kansas City Baron of Barbecue and The Ambassador of Barbecue. With frequent appearances by Kirk himself, the restaurant will be home to resident “pitmaster” Chef Skip Steele. Steele joins the RUB team from St. Louis where he spent years perfecting his barbecue craft.

RUB BBQ will quickly become Las Vegas’ hottest destination for great barbeque and live entertainment. The restaurant features a stage for local as well as well-known artists to perform offering patrons a truly spiced up evening out.

The original RUB BBQ in New York opened to much praise and immediate popularity in 2005 and has remained ahead of the growing trend in barbecue restaurants grilling up in major cities across the country. Celebrity frequenters include Chris Rock, Tyra Banks, Dave Chapelle, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martha Stewart.

“We’re excited to introduce the RUB BBQ concept to Las Vegas and to the West Coast,” said Andrew Fischel, owner and creator of RUB BBQ. “With the sheer amount of visitors that Las Vegas sees every day, combined with the lack of traditional barbecue on or near The Strip, the Rio was clearly the perfect home for us.”

The menu at RUB BBQ will satisfy any level of a barbecue connoisseur’s taste buds, with standard dishes such as Barbequed Ribs cut St. Louis-style, Barbequed Sausage and Pastrami prepared the old-fashioned way, slow-cooked over wood in pits for 14 hours. Specialty menu items include Burnt Ends, smoked twice until crispy and lightly sauced and a The Taste of the Baron that includes a tasting of beef, pork, ham, pastrami, turkey, chicken, sausage and is topped off with a quarter rack of ribs. All selections are prepared fresh daily so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

RUB BBQ was designed by Nevada-based Cypress Architecture and Design. The 230-seat restaurant, which includes a 30-seat bar area, will be a modern take on the industrial loft look allowing guests to enjoy their barbecue favorites (as well as some mouth-watering RUB originals) in an open, high-energy atmosphere. Wall accents of deep, fiery reds will contrast with the weathered metals and will be set near aged brick and warm rustic wood floors and ceiling beams. Combined these elements will create a sophisticated, yet relaxed environment to experience a taste of Americana.

Located on the second level of the Masquerade Village inside the Rio, RUB BBQ will feature live bands on the weekends, from a variety of musical genres.

Rub BBQ is open for dinner from 4 p.m. – 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; open for lunch and dinner beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday – Sunday.

About RUB BBQ/Chef Paul Kirk
The original RUB BBQ opened in New York in 2005 by Andrew Fischel, an ex-student and now partner of Executive Chef Paul Kirk. Chef Paul is recognized as one of the most accomplished barbecue chefs and pitmasters in the world. He is the recipient of 425 cooking awards, including champion of the American Royal Open (the largest barbecue competition in the world) and seven World Barbecue Championships. In 1990, Chef Paul was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame and has been named numerous times to the Julia Child BBQ Team of Ten. In addition to his competitions and prestigious awards, Chef Paul conducts The Baron’s School of Pitmasters, a truly international school, which has held classes across the United States, Ireland, Canada, South Korea and Switzerland.

About Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is a Harrah’s Entertainment resort. The Rio offers guests a unique all- suite hotel experience. Complete with 2,563 all-suite hotel rooms, the property overlooks the famous Las Vegas Strip, one block west on Flamingo Road. The Rio is the home of Vegas’ most popular free show – Masquerade Show in the Sky performing nightly. A sand beach surrounds the edge of the Rio’s tropical lagoon, complete with waterfalls, four nautical-shaped swimming pools, and five Jacuzzi-style spas. The Rio boasts 16 dining outlets, three lounges, two performance theatres (Penn & Teller Theater and the Chippendales Theater), Spa/Health Club/Steam Room/Beauty Salon, 23 retail outlets, five swimming pools, nine luxury Palazzo Suites and three nightclubs.

Father's Day Recommendations

OK boys and girls, Sunday is Father's Day. Does dear old dad like to grill or barbecue? Still don't know what to get him? Well, I have a few recommendations for the outdoor cook.

• A Weber Charcoal Chimney Starter. It's only about $10 and will allow dad to light the fire without charcoal lighter. He'll notice a huge improvement in taste of his finished product.
• A year's subscription to The National BBQ News. This newsletter covers the barbecue circuit, has some great recipes and is one of my must reads.
  
• Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops, and Salsas. A cookbook? Yup a cookbook for Dad. This is one of my fall back books and I can't recommend it enough. It's so much more than a cookbook, it actually teaches you how to create your own recipes.
• Looking for a gas grill? Take a look at the Charbroil TEC Series. I truly believe you can't find a better gas grill for the price. I've written two reviews about the grill, which you can check out here and here.
• Looking for a charcoal grill? Take a look at the famous Weber Kettle. It's a classic and worth every penny. Be sure and buy Dad the larger 22 1/2" model. It's a much more versatile piece of equipment than the smaller version.
  
• Believe it or not, I'd be thrilled if my kids bought me some real charcoal or hard wood for cooking. The instant light stuff, well, it's another four letter word that can't be used on a family blog. The real stuff is cheaper and better. Don't know which charcoal to buy? Take a look at The Naked Whiz. He reviews and tests all the brands.
• If you're looking to really impress the old man and your pockets are deep, why not consider purchasing him A Big Green Egg, Primo or a Kamado? They are a unique Japanese inspired ceramic grill that can do everything from cold smoke to grill pizzas. Not too many Dads have one and he'll be the envy of the neighborhood.
  

And finally, just be good to Dad on Father's Day. He needs a break, even if he denies it.