BBQ Contests: The Hudson Valley Ribfest

I LOVE the Hudson Valley Ribfest. It's by far my favorite event. It's far enough from NYC to feel like I'm cooking deep in the country. The views are fantastic. The sites are level and on grass. The bathrooms are indoors. The bands are far away enough that you don't have to hear them if you don't want to. The team that puts together this event works their ass off for you. They feed you a pancake breakfast. The weather is always exciting. And they have a fantastic pool for the teas to use. I really can't ask for more.

But as much as I love this event, I hated getting to New Paltz this year. The team was long in coming together with people joining and others dropping off the face of the earth, financial issues, transportation problems and just about anything else that could rear it's ugly head did in the week before the contest. When we did finally coalesce we were battle scarred.

But as they say out, of adversity arises greatness and boy did that come true with this contest. The team that finally did emerge; Kevin Lincoln, the founder of the New York BBQ Lover's Meetup Group, Matt Fisher, assistant pit master at RUB, Michael Rosen, a great old friend who has worked with me on more projects than anyone else in my life and myself, worked like a well oiled machine.

Unfortunately, we didn't cook so well. Let me rephrase that, the judges didn't think we cooked so well. We came in 51st out of 72 teams. It was a dismal showing on paper, but it was an encouraging showing none the less. The four of us have never cooked together before. Mike and I have cooked together outside of competitions for years, and cooked together once before at New Paltz when I joined his team Smokey Mikes 4 years ago. Kevin joined my old friend Pete and I for half of the event two years ago. Matt and I have never cooked competitively together before. Sure I've lent Matt a helping hand at various events over the years, but this was the first contest we cooked together.

And as amazing as it may seem, we achieved the perfect mix of ego, temperament and disposition. We laughed, we prodded, we joked, we directed and we talked, all while maintaining a festive and cordial atmosphere. We were there to compete, but we were also there for a good time. We achieved both.

Thank you guys. I can't wait until we team together again.

Next up, the food, the sponsors and the results.

BBQ Events: The Hudson Valley Ribfest

4 days to go until the Hudson Valley Ribfest. WhiteTrash BBQ returns to the competition arena in yet another new configuration. I feel like Wings. See you there.

More Meat

Well, we're at the midpoint of the Hudson Valley Ribfest. Chicken's in. Ribs are in. Now it's time for the pork shoulder.

KCBS rules allow pork to be submitted chopped, pulled, sliced, or diced as the cook sees fit, as long as there is enough meat in that box for six (6) judges. That can be as little as six threads of pulled pork to an entire shoulder.

In my experience as a judge, I've seen it all and in many cases the cooks decide to submit their pork both sliced and pulled. I've always found that to be a mistake. Again, this is just my opinion and your mileage may vary, but I've found that if the pulled pork is good, the sliced pork sucked. Now that is a little harsh, but usually one of the meat variations will be better than the other one, which in turn brings down the score. I was taught to only put your best in the box and nothing less.

We cooked two very small bone in pork shoulders. With our delayed start on Saturday, it gave me Friday night at home to create the rubs, brines and injections that we'd use for the contest. I made my usual pork injection and decided to play a little and create a new one. Now my friend Matt sassed me a little about how the serious cooks don't change their tried and true recipes or techniques right before a contest, but hey, I don't do this often enough to have any tried and true recipes or techniques! Let's play!

The pork cooked over a fire of hickory and apple and sat tightly wrapped in a cooler for a couple of hours before we pulled them for presentation. My tried and true recipe pork came out flavorful but a bit dry. The new injection recipe shoulder that was rubbed with Big Daddy's Pork Rub came out moist and flavorful. Both were tossed with our doctored version of Sweet Baby Ray's and taste tested. We went with the new recipe.

And I'm glad we did. This pork gave us our highest score in contest! 9 out of 53.

Judge's scores: 766, 877, 979, 788, 799 (Thank you whomever you were!) 788

Total points: 157.7142 which gave us 9th place. YES! iQue, the first place team's points were: 169.1428. A great showing for guy who hasn't made pulled pork in almost 6 months.

Last entry in any KCBS contest is brisket. The WhiteTrash BBQ team has a real disadvantage when it comes to the brisket category. None of us particularly like brisket. Yes, I admit it. I prefer my brisket corned thank you very much. But here's an even more shocking secret. The last time I came close to bbq brisket that wasn't bought in a restaurant was at last year's Hudson Valley Ribfest and I didn't even cook that one, my buddy Mike did. Pete tells me he's never cooked a brisket!

Even in the best of circumstances brisket will always be my Achilles heel. And this was not the best of circumstances, we only had two flats to cook. In my very limited brisket cooks, I've only made flats once and that wasn't a sucess. Why would I expect it to be different this time?

We cooked our brisket over an oak and charcoal fire. Brisket is notorious for drying out as soon as it's cut so we waited until the window (the ten minute turn in period) before cutting our briskets. Both flats were tough, dried out and hard to cut. One had a little more flavor than the other so we went with that one. It was hard getting six complete slices in the box without them falling apart, but we did. Instead of the putting green of parsley presentation, I created a putting green of lettuce and laid the slices out slightly overlapping each other and basted them with a light coating of our sauce.

Let's go to the judges...

767, 977, 876, 678, 867, 778 (No disrespect, but two 8's for tenderness? What box were those judges eating from because it certainly wasn't ours!)

Total points: 140.5712 which gave us 30th place. Ya gotta be kidding. 50th place should have been more like it. iQue, once again the first place team points were: 166.2858

Sorry, but there are no pictures of the brisket. We didn't have time to take any as we barely got the box turned in before the window closed.

So that's it. My experiences this year. Overall, I'm very happy with our scores. We placed better than some teams that are out there every week, got all our meat turned in, didn't embarrass ourselves and had a good time to boot. Not bad considering I hadn't cooked on my horizontal offset smoker since the last HVRF! I don't know why, but the bbq bug was dormant in WhiteTrash world this season, but it's back with a vengeance now! See you on the circuit.

Barbeque - The Meats

I've certainly given you a lot to read about the Hudson Valley Ribfest, but I still haven't gotten to the meat of the topic - the meat! Well here goes. I'll address the chicken and ribs today. The pork shoulder and brisket will be covered tomorrow or Monday. I don't want to overload you with everything.

I know that there's another post coming about my thoughts about cooking under my own banner for the first time and I might write it tonight, but it won't be up for a few more days. I've teased you all long enough. Tonight we talk about meat.

First up - the results... WhiteTrash BBQ came in 32nd out of 53 teams. Not bad, not great and certainly encouraging enough to want us to compete more. I think we'll be back in October.

Our final score was 579.4280 out of a possible 720. iQue took top place with a score of 646.8570, so you see we have a long long way to go. Congratulations to the iQue team for another well deserved win. If you want to read more about them, check out this very interesting interview with Pitmaster Chris Hart over on PigTrip.

But back to me. First category to be judged is chicken. We cooked 24 chicken thighs for this event. Why thighs you may ask? Well thighs have a good amount of fat and are probably the most forgiving part of the chicken to cook on a smoker. Most teams in the North East cook thighs. We brined the thighs, marinated them, rubbed them with a rub I can't remember and cooked them over an apple wood, hickory and charcoal fire.

Pete did a superb job of trimming the thighs. I was surprised to see how much he knew about trimming chicken thighs. It seems that Pete was schooled by one of the best cooks on the circuit, Steve Farrin of I Smell Smoke on how to trim thighs for competition. I bet Steve doesn't even know that he taught Pete. But he did and Pete created some beautiful little footballs for us to cook. That Pete is a clever little monkey.

We pulled the chicken from the cooker and painted them with a doctored up version of Sweet Baby Ray's sauce and then we firmed it up on the fire. We selected the best looking six, arranged them as best we could in our lettuce only presentation box and handed them off to our runner, the ever lovely Mrs. Pete, Jean.

How'd they do? Here's each of the six judge's scores; the first number is for appearance, then taste and finally tenderness.

755, 888, 766, 877, 988, 956 (In case you haven't been reading previous posts, and shame on you if you haven't, scores run from 2 to 9 in KCBS contests.)

Wow - 2 perfect scores on appearance. I didn't see that coming. I didn't think they looked that good in the box and Matt Fisher of Wildwood BBQ said that they were too dark. The thighs were also on the small side. We could have easily fit another three in the box.

As for the taste, well they were pretty tasty to me but they were definitely over cooked. They weren't dry per say, but they were reaching that point of mealy mouth feel. If they cooked much longer they would have been garbage. If I was judging this chicken, my scores probably would have been closest to judge 3. Maybe even a little lower.

Total points: 140.5714 which gave us 41st place. Sexy Gino's Bare Ass BBQ, the first place team's points were: 169.1430

Next up were ribs. We did spare ribs which I trimmed down to the famous St. Louis cut. I also removed the membrane from the ribs, but I've never had so much trouble getting it off the meat. Out of the six racks of ribs I trimmed, the membrane only came off on the first shot on one rack. Each time I tried to get it off and pulled the membrane shredded. If I was at home, they would have cooked with the damn membrane on them!

We slathered these ribs with a little bit of cheap mustard and rubbed them with Blues Hog. We cooked them over a fire of hickory and cherry wood and finished them with a traditional but not mainstream sauce. I've made them this way at home and the neighbors said they were the best ribs they've ever had. Not so in New Paltz.

Unfortunately, our ribs were undercooked and a bit tough. They needed a little more time on the cooker, but time ran out for us. I thought that the ribs tasted pretty good, but the rest of the team and some visitors to the tent thought they were too spicy. I liked them, first you tasted sweet, then smoke, followed by meat and then a bit of heat. I thought the flavor was spot on and the heat just right.

What did the judges think?

677, 887, 777, 757, 666, 878

Total points: 140.0000 which gave us 40th place. Casual Smokers; the first place team's points were: 170.8572

Poor scores in every category. We need to rethink that category completely before we compete again. Sorry, we didn't get any pictures of the ribs.

This brings us to the middle of the contest and is a good place to wrap up for tonight. Tomorrow we'll talk about pork and brisket. Ya all come back now, ya hear?

Meet the Team

OK boys and girls. It's time to get down to the brass tacks and talk about the barbecue competition.

First off - the team. I'm real excited to get this team together and finally compete under the WhiteTrash banner. I've always wanted to cook with Pete and Kevin is a great new member. All we need is my buddy Mike to join us and we'll have the team I've always envisioned.

That's me, Kevin Lincoln, the founder of the NY Barbecue Lover's Meet Up Group, and my old buddy Pete.

This was Kevin's first visit to a barbecue contest and only the second time I've met him. Kevin and Pete had never met before.

Pete and I have known each other for 30 years and we've cooked together in each others backyards but never in a competition type setting. Pete has competed with his own team The Hot Hogs at the Grill Kings and at a couple of Grillin' On The Bay events.

You have to be pretty thick skinned to be part of WhiteTrash BBQ. Pete and I have no problem getting in each other's face. If something sucks -- we say so. We don't get into niceties or social graces with each other. It all rolls off our backs as easily as it rolls off our tongues. That's not to say that we're rude or mean to each other, but we have our ways. Sarcasm rules in WhiteTrash world. It may have been a little much for Kevin. I hope we didn't scare him off.

We all had some problems getting to the contest this year. I still don't have a car, so Pete was going to pick me up on Friday afternoon and we'd drive up together. Kevin was going to meet us on Saturday morning.

Pete was supposed to arrive around 1:00pm so on Friday morning, I pull all my equipment, coolers, food,tents and cookers and put them in my driveway so that we can get it loaded into Pete's trailer and get on the road quickly. Now you have to understand, living in Brooklyn my driveway is only about a 10' x 20' piece of cement right off the sidewalk. With all my stuff in the driveway I can't leave it unattended; especially on a Friday afternoon! Friday night is when the trash is picked up and many people are out scouting the trash piles looking for treasure.

So I'm waiting for Pete. Little did I know that Pete was having his own troubles. First problem -- the trailer. Pete was borrowing the trailer from his local Boy Scout troop and the last people who had employed it left it sitting full of gear from a camping trip. Pete need to unload the trailer before he could take it.

Then he discovered that the trailer's registration had expired. A visit to Motor Vehicles was required. Now there was shopping to do. Pete had previously bought picnic hams, not shoulders and an unscheduled visit to restaurant depot was now top priority. Let's just say Pete was not having a good day.

It's now around 4:00pm and the skies of Brooklyn were getting very dark. I moved most of my equipment back into the garage just before the rain broke. Everything was in the garage except for my double door smoker. The rain wouldn't hurt it, but it sucks loading wet equipment. I'm getting worried since I haven't heard from Pete since about noon and Pete is never late. My back is complaining as well. I make sure that I pack my back brace for this trip.

Finally at 7:30 at night, I hear from Pete. He's had enough and we decide to head out to the contest in the morning. It's a good decision as it's still raining hard in Brooklyn and many of the roads are closed due to flooding. We agree to meet at 5:30 Saturday morning. I ask Pete to call me when he leaves his house, just to make sure I'm awake. I am not a morning person.

6:30 am on Saturday, my wife wakes me. About 5 minutes later Pete calls. He's just leaving his house and should be in Brooklyn in an hour. 2 hours later he finally arrives. It takes another hour to load up the trailer. We're finally on the road.

Somewhere in New Jersey, Kevin calls. Shit! With everything going on, I forgot all about him. Is he at the contest looking for us? I feel like crap, I should have sent him an email letting him know what's going on, but I didn't. "Robert, I'm sorry I'm not there yet. I'm having brake troubles and I'm at my local Meineke shop." "We're still on the road too," I tell him, "so there's nothing to worry about."

Pete and I get into New Paltz just before the event opens to the public. We unload with out any major problems, but discover that one of the pop up tents doesn't have its canopy. We decide to use an old tarp on top of the tent. The other tent smells of mildew. It really smells of mildew. Every time I go near it, I'm checking my shoes to see if I stepped in something. It's just another wrinkle in what's proving to be not exactly an auspicious start.

When we were finally finished setting up I tell you, it was a WhiteTrash site. All we needed was a car up on some concrete blocks and an old TV with a hanger for an antenna!

Wow, this is long. I apologize for not getting to the food yet. I just gotta learn to shut up. I'll talk about the food tomorrow. Till then!

More Pictures from the Hudson Valley Ribfest

First up the legendary damn dip. It was the first time I ever tried it and it truly exceeded my expectations. Thanks Sully! Oh, and I want the recipe.Next, just a few sights from around the fair grounds...

WhiteTrash world being created...

And finally a sobering reminder to be thankful for what you've got....

Tomorrow we talk about barbecue.
Or should I say BAAAAAAAHHHHH B QUUUUUUUE!!!!!!

Turduckhen

Thanks to Kevin Lincoln founder of the NY BBQ Lover's Meetup Group, here are some pictures of the turduckhen we cooked on Saturday into early morning Sunday at the Hudson Valley Ribfest.

The Cajun Grocer supplied us with this magnificent bird or I guess I should say birds since a turduckhen is a semi-boneless turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck stuffed with a de-boned chicken.

Following the manufacturers and FDA's guidelines I cooked this bird to the recommended 165 degrees which in my opinion is over cooked. I(n the pictures, you can see where the heat overtook the skin in a few places. I should have pulled the bird off the cooker at 155 or so and let it rest until it reached it's proper temps. This bird was cooked over a charcoal and apple wood fire for close to 10 hours.

When I started cooking this bird, its internal temperatures registered a chilly 34 degrees!

This bird is still delicious, even a bit overcooked. Turkey, duck, chicken and two types of stuffing all meld into one incredible meal.

If you buy one of these birds, and I highly recommend that you do, remember it takes about 5 days to defrost one of these suckers in the refrigerator. Be prepared.

But also be prepared to have a fantastic and memorable meal. Every time I make one of these beasts it becomes the talk of the party.

Buy one. Now.

Apples

I promise, there will be posts about the barbeque side of the contest, but for today it's a quick review of our apple entry at the Hudson Valley Ribfest 2008.

What you're looking at is a bourbon caramel sauce with honey roasted mixed nuts and apples in a sponge cake tart topped with vanilla icing.

It was the creation of my team mate, Pete. I had absolutely nothing to do with it except for some advice on how to place it in the box. It was absolutely delicious and I thought a sure fire winner.

How'd it do? 39th out of 44. Usually, deep down, you know when your your food deserves to win and when it should tank. This one left me scratching my bald head. If I was served this in a bakery or a restaurant I would have been one very happy WhiteTrash boy.

Looking back, I naturally begin to search for the reasons why the judges didn't like it. The first thing that pops into my head is that underneath the apple/nut mixture, Pete put in a layer of vanilla icing. With the icing on top, was that just overkill? Was it too sweet? Were the apples too tart? Did the filling melt into the sponge cake as it sat in the box making the overall dessert mushy and wet? Did the judges think that using a pre-made sponge cake shell was a cop out? Were the apples not the star of the dessert, but only a bit player? Were there too many nuts and not enough apples? Was the filling too warm/cold? Did the filling get to hard when it sat and cooled?

Who knows. We know we liked it. There's no point in second guessing it. We gave it our best shot. 39th out of 44? You take your licks and you move on. That's part of the challenge and fun of competition. You put out your best and hope the judges agree. Sometimes you grab the brass ring, others you're left grasping air.

Damn Judges!

Back from New Paltz and let me tell you, them damn judges don't know squat.

One judge had the audacity to boast about how there was nothing spectacular and that most of the food was just "OK." The nerve of that rat bastard! I thought he was my friend and to hear that the food sucked. Man, oh man, that was just too much.

Doesn't he know how much time effort and money went into preparing that food that to his "refined and educated" palette was just "OK"? Shouldn't I be rewarded with better scores simply because I cooked? Damn.

Then, another judge was pontificating on how the food this year wasn't as good as last years! WTF?

Damn judges! I may never judge again!

Whatcha doin?

While you're inside in the air conditioning surfing the net and avoiding this heatwave, check out this story in the Albany Times Union about the Troy Pig Fest and two of the teams competing there; The Anchormen (seen on the left, my left not the blog's left, who were the 2007 Grand Champions of Grillin' On The Bay) and Lakeside Smokers.

But wait, don't go yet, there's lots of stuff coming up here in WhiteTrash BBQ world. I've got a review of the Brinkmann Smoke n' Grill, reviews of some new books; The Shameless Carnivore and Meat: A Love Story, and finally reviews of a couple of NYC BBQ restaurants that I've visited lately.

Coming up there's the great hot dog taste challenge between Oscar Mayer's premium beef hot dogs , BallPark's beef hot dogs, and our usual house brand Nathan's; reviews of La Cense's all natural, hormone and antibiotic free grass fed beef and a review of a turducken from The Cajun Grocer. We're going be eating high on the hog!

Also, I'll be talking a little about the KCBS judging process. I'll be up in Vermont next weekend to judge the Harpoon Brewery New England BBQ Championships at which the New England BBQ Society crowns its team of the year and I like to review my thought process and the rules before I judge any event. I'm really looking forward to this contest. Last year I ate some of the best grilled foods I've ever had and I swear the beer had nothing to do with it!

And finally, at this year's Hudson Valley Ribfest, I'll be competing under my own name as WhiteTrash BBQ. I'll be joined by my old friend and pitmaster of Hot Hogs, Pete and the founder of the NY Barbecue Lover's Meetup Group, Kevin. Hopefully one of the "Mikes" whom I competed with last year will be available to round out the team. Preparations are under way, but I don't expect to win as I don't compete anywhere near enough, but a fun time is guaranteed for all.

Yup, it's busy in the world of WhiteTrash BBQ!

You Think That's Good?

I was bouncing my review of Fette Sau around in my head this morning. Was it too harsh? I know what it takes to produce great barbeque and how it can be subject to many variables even if you do everything right. I called my client and she said I was too easy on them. Ouch.

To many of my friends in the world of barbecue, the food produced for competition is the gold standard of barbeque meat. While I wouldn't go that far, there's too many other flavors that can be incorporated into good barbecue that wouldn't work in competition, it is a not a bad place to start.

The standards of taste and tenderness do however translate easily from the competition circuit to the restaurant world.

So how do you learn what these standards should be? By becoming a KCBS certified barbecue judge. If you're in the New York area the next judging class will be held on March 29, 2008 in Highland, New York. It's being taught by the Mullanes, whom regular readers of this blog will know by now, and it's being hosted by the fine folks who run the outstanding Hudson Valley Ribfest. These classes fill up fast, but you can download the application here.

I wish I could join you, but I'll be performing my judging duties at the 15th Annual Snowshoe Challenge in Abington, MA that day. If you're anywhere near Abington, come on by. It's a great grilling contest with some of the best teams in New England and always a lot of fun.

BBQ Events: Hudson Valley Ribfest

Yes, I still have a little more to say about this event, but today I have little time. So here's a couple of pictures of us at the contest. That's John, me, Mike and Mike after the last turn in.

The Hudson Valley Ribfest is easily one of the best venues for BBQ in the North East. Look at that cooking site.

BBQ Contest Foods: Chicken

We finally reach the story of the KCBS sanctioned BBQ contest at the Hudson Valley Ribfest. Yup, it's a month has almost passed since the contest and I'm still talking about it.

In a KCBS event there are four foods that must be cooked. Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulder and Beef Brisket. There may be other foods that the contest organizer wants you to cook, but these are the four that count for the prize.

What you see in the picture are 9 skinless chicken thighs that we presented to the judges for scoring. Chicken thighs are the prevalent choice among barbeque cooks in the Northeast. I think they're the most popular choice for barbeque cooks throughout the country, but I've only been to events up here, so I'm not going to make that claim.

Thighs have a high fat percentage compared to the rest of the chicken which makes them take to the smoke and heat of the barbecue better than the other parts of the bird. They're also more forgiving to a cook's mistakes. The fat helps keep the meat moist so you can over cook them and get away with it.

We did surprisingly well with this chicken. We came in 24th. I can hear you ask - "You came in 24th place and you think you did surprising well?" Yup. I was really surprised. I screwed up this chicken royally.

Oh chicken, how I screwed you. Let me count the ways.

1. I asked John, who had never been to BBQ contest before, and as far as I know doesn't cook chicken to trim the thighs. He asked me what I meant and I said to just trim off the obvious fat. He said that was a "dirty job" and I said OK, let's wait till I get back from my shower; but John, ever the trooper, said no he'd take care of it. Unfortunately he interpreted trimming the fat to mean - skin them. Looking back on it now, there was time to go out and buy more chicken, but the thought didn't occur.
   
2. I didn't brine the chicken. I've never cooked skinless chicken before, so I wasn't really sure if they could stand up to a brine so I decided not to. Thinking about that now, that was a completely stupid idea. Brining adds moisture, which would have been provided by the fat from the skin. Damn I wasn't thinking.
3. I never tasted the chicken. I took the best looking 12 pieces of chicken from the 24 pieces we cooked, sauced them, and then took the best looking 9 and put them in the box.
4. I did a lousy job of presentation. Most judges gave us a 7 on presentation, but one kind soul gave us a 9 (the top score). Bless you whomever you are.

Looking back, all of this just points to the fact that we've never cooked together before. We needed some practice before this contest and we just didn't do it. It doesn't matter in the end. We'll do a lot better next time.

BBQ Contest Foods: Steak and Sausage

I'm getting a bit bored writing about the foods we cooked for the Hudson Valley Ribfest, so today I'm combining two posts into one and finishing off the NEBS sanctioned grilling contest. I'm sure you're getting bored reading them as well and we still haven't talked about the foods for the KCBS sanctioned BBQ contest!

The last two items for the grilling contest were steak and sausage and they were both Brooklyn classics. For the steak entry, we chose porterhouse steaks from an old Brooklyn institution, Landi's Pork Store and the sausage was a classic Italian style with roasted peppers sausage wheel hand made by John's girlfriend's ex-husband.

Now wait a minute? You bought your steak from a pork store? You betcha. Landi's is so much more than just a pork store. It's a classic butcher shop where all of your meat needs can be satisfied. We even purchased our polenta for the apple dish at Landi's.

While I'm not a big fan of Brooklyn living, I do have to say that the one of the best things this borough has going for it is the little shops. We still have butchers, bakers, pasta makers and fish mongers. In Brooklyn, you can still do your shopping and never set foot in a chain or mega store. Oh you pay for the privilege, but when you need/want service or quality the little guys are the only way to go.

Mike grilled the steaks using an old family recipe of his that includes bathing the steaks in a pool of olive oil after they are removed from the grill. It's a process I had never seen or heard of before, but he and Mike and John all swore that Mike's method produces the most succulent steaks you ever put in your mouth. Now even though I am of Cuban heritage and my Abuela used copious amounts of olive oil, Spanish only please, in her cooking I was skeptical of the procedure.

Why would you need to bathe a great piece of meat in oil? I tasted it and all I could taste was olive oil, and Italian olive oil at that; not that there's anything wrong with that. I didn't think the steak would do well and I was right, the judges hated it.

For the sausages, it was John's turn to cook. He grilled three rings of the sausage and if I remember correctly he sauced two of them and left the last one plain. Well, the two with the sauce burned and we submitted the sausage plain. Looking at the picture now, it's not very pretty, but it looked great on the table. I guess we were all tired. I'll tell you, that homemade sausage is some of the best I've ever tasted, but unfortunately the judges didn't agree. The public did however, they ate it up and many asked where it could be purchased. Sorry babe, this is for family only. Fuggetabodit. Yo.

BBQ Contest Foods: Lamb

Astute readers or even the occasional reader, of this blog know that the American Lamb Board sponsored our team Smokey Mikes for our lamb category in the NEBS sanctioned grilling contest at the Hudson Valley Ribfest. OK, I think I've got everyone covered.

We were really excited to get the American Lamb for the contest. The flavor and tenderness of the American Lamb is far superior to what I've experienced with the New Zealand or Australian lamb in the past. We knew that we'd have a bit of an advantage cooking this meat.

To get the meat, I picked it up at the Hunts Point Food CoOp in the Bronx from B. Rosen and Sons. We took it as a good omen that we were getting the lamb from a Rosen, as that is the last name of one of the Mikes.

I tell you, going up to Hunts Point is a story in itself, but it was amazing to see how much food is distributed from this market. I also used this trip as an excuse to visit the new Fulton Fish Market. They're both amazing places, but in these days of terrorism I question the wisdom of centralizing all the food distribution for the Northeast in one poorly guarded location.

So what about the contest you say? Well, we cooked two boneless legs of lamb and 4 sides of baby back lamb ribs for the event. I skinned the ribs and seasoned them with a doctored version of Wild Rooster Barbeque Sauce - Mustard Mania. For the leg Mike seasoned one with garlic and herbs, tied it and smoked it whole. For the other leg I butterflied it and made a marinade of the seasonings that we had with us. I don't remember the exact recipe but it included apple juice, mustard, garlic and olive oil.

When turn in time came, the ribs and Mike's leg were ready, but the butterflied leg needed to cook some more. We tasted the lamb and decided to submit the ribs. We liked them a lot and thought the mustard would be an interesting seasoning departure from the traditional BBQ flavors. Unfortunately, the judges didn't agree. We came in solidly in the middle of the pack.

We seasoned up the remaining legs of lamb and put them in the cooker to feed the crowds during the day. (Well, we seasoned up what we thought was the remaining lamb, but one survived to make the trip back to Brooklyn to become De-constructed Shepard's Pie) This lamb we gave out to the people along with recipe cards and other promo material.

The crowds ate it up. We fed them for about 2 hours. I was really surprised to hear from many many people that they've never had lamb before or don't cook it themselves. But they all seemed to love it. Another very interesting conversation that seemed to happen a lot with the older folks was that our lamb was the flavor that they remembered. We all attributed that to the fact that this was American lamb. I wish we had a list of retail markets to give them, because I was asked repeatedly where they could purchase it.

After the lamb entry was submitted and while Mike was making the next entry, steak; we took off the butterflied leg that I mentioned earlier. We cut that up and started to munch on it. Damn - this was the lamb that we should have submitted. It was outstanding. Even one much trusted opposing competitor thought so. Too bad it wasn't ready in time. On to the steak.

BBQ Contest Foods: Fish

Let's take a look at some of the food we submitted at The Hudson Valley Ribfest. Here's a picture of our fish entry. It's grouper steak with a Caribbean pepper sauce. Unfortunately, I don't have the score sheets and I don't remember where it placed. But it didn't do great.

This entry was cooked by one of the Mikes following the recipe as published in Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking With Live Fire by Jamie Purviance and Tim Turner. Almost. Mike followed the recipe as closely as he could, but it calls for a chunky pepper sauce which is something that is not allowed in a KCBS governed, NEBS sanctioned event. So instead he smashed and chopped up the sauce until he got what you see here. We tried to massage the sauce into the cooked fish with the hope that the sauce would still flavor the fish.

Looking at the picture, I can say it's really a mediocre presentation. I was so off on the boxes this weekend and our scores reflected that. I have no idea how this fish tasted. Mike bought two whole groupers and had them butchered (Do you butcher fish or is there another term for it?) into steaks. I've only seen grouper in filets, so this was an interesting choice, but Mike said that he had never had grouper fillet, only steak. Go figure. I wish there was more, but what you see was all the edible meat from the two fish. It all went to the judges. And they didn't like it.

Oh well, on to the lamb.

Ya Gotta Have Friends: The Tur-Duc-Hen

About two weeks ago, I got an unsolicited email from one Steven Dugas at the Cajun Grocer. It seems an old friend of mine, Dr. Biggles over at Meathenge suggested to Mr. Dugas that I might be interested in trying out this unique bird. Well, Dr. Biggles was right. I've heard much about this legendary beast, but I had never tasted one, let alone cooked one. I was definitely intrigued.

After my usual exchange with the vendor about my rules for review, if I like it I say so - if I don't - I say that too, Mr. Dugas stood by his product and agreed to subject the tur-duc-hen to my pallette and cooking skills. Oh what a trusting fool he is!

What is a tur-duc-hen you say? As you can see from the label a Tur-Duc-Hen is a "stuffed chicken in duck, both boneless, turkey partially de-boned, cornbread pork rice stuffing with creole seasoning." That's easy for them to say. Boy was I looking forward to this.

According to the Cajun Grocer website, the tur-duc-hen has 44 - 5.5 oz servings per bird. That's a lot of food and not something to cook for the family's typical Sunday dinner.

What would I do with this bird? I know - I'll cook it at The Hudson Valley Ribfest. We need to eat on Saturday night, and there will be a lot of people milling around who I'm sure have never tried a tur-duc-hen either. Problem solved. Now how do I smoke it?

Since I was cooking this bird at the ribfest, this meant I was going to smoke it. There as no option for an oven. Looking for advice, I spoke with Mr. Dugas. Unfortunately he had none, so a quick e-mail to Dr. Biggles was composed. He hadn't smoked one yet either, but we both agreed that temps just above normal smoking would work just fine. Basically, we concluded to smoke it like a turkey and ignore the stuffings. One bit of important advice I did get from Biggles, is that the tur-duc-hen takes about 5 days to defrost in the refrigerator. Damn. Best get moving.

So on Saturday night, I built a fire in my trusty Weber Smokey Mountain using oak, maple and apple. I brought the temps to 275 degrees and placed the bird in the smoke. Ignoring the label's cooking advice, I started the bird breast side down, thinking that the fat in the duck would help keep the breast meat of the turkey moist.

After about 2 1/2 hours I flipped the bird on it's back and let it cook until it's internal temperature reached 165 degrees. I didn't add any spices or seasonings to the bird, but I did spray it with apple juice every hour or so. Total cooking time for this bird, 5 1/2 hours.

Basically the tur-duc-hen it's a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. Everything is de-boned except for the wings and legs of the turkey. If you look closely at the picture you can see that in addition to the pork rice stuffing the bird also has a layer of cornbread stuffing.

After letting the tur-duc-hen sit for about 20 minutes we sliced it right across the body. It sliced beautifully. Each slice exposed all three meats and every layer of stuffing. Each meat was juicy and very flavorful. This was a damn nice looking piece of bird meat.

So, how did it taste? I have to say that I sometimes find Cajun spices over whelming. While I do enjoy the heat, the spice sometimes takes over so much that you can't taste the meat. Not so with the tur-duc-hen. The tur-duc-hen was beautifully spiced; just enough heat and flavor to engage the taste buds and to allow the flavors of the turkey and duck to shine through. This was definitely a treat. What about the chicken you ask? It seemed to get lost in the mix.

One very interesting part or the tur-duk-hen I didn't expect was the experience of all the different textures; the turkey, duck, chicken and stuffing. This is a very enjoyable meal.

So will I buy one? Let me put it this way, there wasn't a piece of skin left over that night. Of course I'll buy one. I suggest you buy one too! Imagine how your friends and family will be impressed when you whip out a tur-duk-hen this thanksgiving. My only wish is that the Cajun Grocer would come up with a smaller version that I could serve to just the family.

BBQ Events: Hudson Valley Ribfest - The Results

Well folks, it's time to reveal our standings at the end of the Hudson Valley Ribfest.

Drum roll please.......

In the NEBS sanctioned grilling contest - we came in 24th. Ugh.

In the KCBS sanctioned barbecue contest, we did it! We came in first! Forty-first actually. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but not exactly bad. I'm looking at the pictures of our turn in boxes and nothing looks outstanding. I think we finished where we belonged.

For a group of guys who have never cooked with each other before, we did damn good. We submitted all of our meat in every category, on time. Ask anyone who's competed; that's not a small accomplishment.

But as a team we were very disorganized. As of Friday afternoon, we were still debating recipes. Hell we didn't even have our fish or chicken purchased. As a matter of fact, our fish and chicken were purchased after the meat inspection on Saturday morning. Don't worry, they were all inspected before we cooked them. Hey, we follow the rules.

As a team, we have a lot to learn; about each other, about how to cook together, how to criticize each other's cooking, how to accept criticism, how to communicate with each other both in words and in action and how to perform that special dance that will win a contest. In up coming posts I'll talk about what we cooked, how we cooked it and why, but not tonight.

It would be a lie to say that I'm not a bit disappointed by our results, but the important thing is that we had a great time cooking together. Mike, Mike and John are some of the greatest people on earth and I wouldn't have missed this chance to get to know them better for anything. As Spanky once sang, "maybe we'll do it again someday."

Dos

2 days to go to the Hudson Valley Ribfest and one of the team members has dropped out. We think. He hasn't made up his mind, but the rest of us are pretty sure that all signs point to him leaving. It's funny, if this had happened a week ago, I would have freaked out. Now, it doesn't bother me. Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope that he comes up as he's one of my favorite people and we will definitely miss him if he doesn't. But it's beyond my control.

It seems that I've lost or worked through all my apprehensions and nervousness about this event. What will be, will be. We'll do our best and hopefully it will be good enough. We'll be experimenting on some foods, and following time honored traditions with others. We will have fun - that I can guarantee.

If you're anywhere near New Paltz, New York this weekend, come on by.

BBQ Life: 7 days to go

7 days to go until the Hudson Valley Ribfest and I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about the event today. Last night I met up with two of the members of the team and discovered a few things that bothered me.

1. One of the team members is going to the event to "get drunk and have fun. I don't give a shit how we do." I want to have fun, and I'll probably drink a beer or two, but I do care how we perform. We can "get drunk and have fun" any time without the expense or pressure of a contest.
   
2. There will be a lot of folks coming up from Brooklyn to check out the event. While that in it self doesn't bother me at all, I don't think we're going to be prepared for the amount of folks showing up. At last count it will be around 40. I hope they bring drinks, coolers, ice and chairs as they'll be in short supply at our site. We'll have plenty of food.
   
3. One guy who plans on showing up, along with his bratty kids, is hated by one team member, despised by another, tolerated by the third and actually liked by the forth. I'm not saying which member I am, but I really hope this interloper doesn't interfere with the cooking. If he does, I could easily see one member of the team dismembering him. Or walking out.
   
4. We still have no idea of who's doing what on the team. We're supposed to meet next week and finalize all of that, but damn, I'd be a lot more comfortable if we did it already. I'm a but uneasy telling the guys what to do, as they've cooked together before, but if they're not willing or able to make a decision, I will.
   
5. I'm still trying to figure out what we're cooking for the grilling contest. The BBQ contest is a no brainer, but the grilling event is wide open.
   

Even with all that on my mind, I'm really excited about the contest. We've had some great things come our way, which will be revealed in time, and its a great bunch of guys I'm cooking with. It's a very well run contest in a beautiful location. I'll be cooking BBQ again. I like judging, but the real fun is in the competition.