Today’s announcement from TLC BBQ Pitmasters here are the judges for Season #2 premiering August 12 at 10pmEST/9c

They are:

Myron Mixon from Jack’s Old South and BBQ Pitmaster  from Season #1

Warren Sapp

Superbowl Champ & BBQ Enthusiast

Art Smith

Celebrity Chef  James Beard award winning author of  Back to the Table and Kitchen Life

image via Metblogs

My husband got up this morning and made me some lovely pancakes for breakfast. The children brought me beautiful handmade cards and lovingly made presents from school. I had a nice leisurely morning playing with the kids and writing recipes. I think Mothers Day is such an overrated day. I think everyday should be Mothers & Fathers day. However I will use this day each year to get the house cleaned. I admit it I am shallow like that. Any opportunity to get the house cleaned works for me.

So while the hubby and the kids were cleaning I was playing on the grills. Now in my world a day of playing with the kids and playing with the grills rocks.

My menu for todays meal has been planned since this past Monday. I received an AWESOME present from the food editor of the Toronto Star Jennifer Bain. She also is known as the Saucy lady. I had not seen here for years though we corresponded back and forth. It was fun to grill up some items for her to be featured in a couple of articles in the Toronto Star’s food section. Jennifer brought me a present she knew I would appreciate.

Her husband is a bison rancher in Alberta. I was thrilled to see her digging out packages of meat from her bag. A gorgeous tri-tip and some other cuts to be used at a later date. I knew in an instant what I would be making for Mother’s day. I love tri-tip. Love it. I do not have it often enough. To get a bison tri-tip was really special. I can’t wait to get together again. She is a walking encyclopedia of food knowledge and funny as hell.

For those of you not familiar with Tri-tip Whitetrash BBQ had the following article and image on Santa Maria Tri Tip:

My tri-tip started its journey today in a marinade of dried rosemary, minced garlic, canola oil, and red onions.

While the tri-tip was getting happy I moved on to the side dishes. Artichokes are another one of those items that I do not eat often enough. They are labour intensive but so worth it. I started out with quite a lot of artichokes.

Then I got to trimming them with some scissors to take out the tough sharp outer leaves. I used a large knife to cut off the ends just above the choke.

They are so pretty.

I needed to trim a little faster these were browning up quickly.

Cutting them in half and using a melon baller is the easiest way i have found to clean them out quickly.

I also like eating the stem. I used a paring knife to trim out the harder outer layer.

One of the most important steps is placing the trimmed artichokes in some acidulated water. Thats a fancy schmancy way of saying some water that has some lemon juice in it. So glad I am finally putting those college degrees to use. Basically if you skip this step you will end up with very gray blotchy looking artichokes. It won’t affect the taste but they will look like crap on a plate.

After soaking them in the acidulated water for half an hour I drained them off and placed them in one of my large stock pots filled with fresh water. I boiled them in salted water for approx 1/2 hour till they were just started to tenderize. Now you can skip this step but you better be prepared to stand beside your charcoal grill for a good hour or so while they get tender. Since they are not a rib I am ok with boiling.

While they were getting their happy bath I moved on to the last side dish – corn. I love corn. If given a choice between corn or potatoes corn for me wins out every time. I remember once when I was a kid I got my a$$ seriously reprimanded for eating corn raw right in the field of the farmer that lived near us. Not only did I get the displeasure of my parents bestowed upon me for stealing our neighbours corn I had to go work for the farmer and make up for it. Sheesh I mean really to an 11 year old kid was the farmer really going to miss a couple of ears??? I still think brat (baby brother) ratted me out for that one.

Ok so getting back to the corn. I keep it simple flavorful and fresh. I peel back the husks and I remove the silks and I go right to the grill with it. I don’t season it at all until it comes off. I really find if you use a good charcoal like Basques a lot of the flavor is imparted by the charcoal itself.

When it came off I simply sprinkled chipotle powder, lime zest, salt and pepper on it with a tiny bit of butter. (please note this is the truth the Paula Deen in me didn’t come out today y’all!)At the last minute I always squeeze lime juice on as well.

As the corn was finishing it was time to get the artichokes on the grill to get a bit of char on them. It was quite windy in my backyard today.
**Ahem – note to husband a Q bana may be in my near future. Just saying its something to think about.

Please note this picture should also be proof that I do on occasion wear something other than black. Bright orange neon capris at home are perfectly acceptable grilling clothing.

While all this veggie madness was going on (see Peta I do eat veggies….) on went the tri-tip on the new Traeger 300. I am really loving this grill. Awesome color on everything and great taste too.

Today I employed the reverse sear method. It worked well again. Here is another reference to reverse sear as well.
I held it at 225F for approx 1/2 hour then I finished it at 450F. I took it to medium rare. That way everyone in our house is happy. rested it for 15 minuted lightly tented.

I sliced the tri-tip fairly thinly and served up the corn and the artichokes with a curry aioli (curry powder, good quality mayo, s&p, lemon juice, a wee bit of garlic powder, and a few pinches of turmeric).
Dinner as a family is always great and we try to eat together as much as we can. We are coming up to soccer season in our house this week. That means 3-4 times a week (for the next 12 weeks) we are either at a soccer game or at a soccer practice. I am going to cherish this dinner with family. Let me tell you it was goodness on a plate. #GOAP It was a wonderful meal for mothers day.

For all you Mom’s out there you rock. Happy Mother’s Day to you all.

Smokin Scotsmen!! FEAR THE KILT!!

Fire Fightin’ Cookin Crew ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap0va0O7r9M

Kentucky Smoke Squad



Team Unknown BBQ- Seriously funny video



Moe from Ponderosa BBQ~



Tarheel Smokers!!!


Southern Soul Barbecue Harrison Sapp



A Boy and his BBQ!

Their BBQ showrooms are incredible. They carry everything you can imagine and more….

So many BBQ’s ……………….

There was a great selection of BBQ Companies there to demo their products and to provide tastings..Traeger’s menu for the day was ABT’s  Grilled Asparagus with a curry aioli, and hot & fiery chili dipping sauce, pulled pork sliders, Bacon Bombs (Ill be posting about those next week!!) and of course a little bit of chocolate heaven. All done on Traeger BBQ’s

Celebrity BBQ & grilling chefs Ted Reader (Teds BBQ World) and Rob Rainford (Food Network- License to Grill) were also on hand making some incredible food (pulled pork and foie gras burgers from Teddy!- so decadent)

Rob looking as stylish as ever and he always has the megawatt smile.

Here is a picture of Ted’s Ass bending over his grill. You can see it is a much smaller ass now. He has lost a lot of weight.

I have no clue what he was looking for here. You never know with Teddy what will happen next.

I got to try some of his new Apple Brown Betty Grilling Sauce (and I forgot to bring my bottle home) it was damn good. Go get some.

For some serious comedy please watch this video of us chatting after the show on Teddy’s weight loss secrets – they are truly inspirational.

Heres a link to some of the media coverage from yesterday.  It was a really fun day !! Thanks to the folks at Eventrix for organizing the entire event.

Global TV April 2010

]]> http://divaq.ca/ontario-gas-bbq-media-day/feed 1 http://divaq.ca/more-audition-tapes-for-bbq-pitmasters-season-2 http://divaq.ca/more-audition-tapes-for-bbq-pitmasters-season-2#comments Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:38:29 +0000 admin http://divaq.ca/?p=1263

Whiskeybent BBQ

And here is the new Banner AD for BBQ Pitmasters

Confirmed with John Markus today : Our new format features FOUR different pitmasters competing in EACH episode. We are looking to augment our cast from last season and welcome all interested cooks to throw their aprons in the ring!!! Great news for all those guys and gals who want to be on the show. Here is how you can apply! Good luck to all those who send in their DVD’s!

For Season 2 BBQ Pitmaster Auditions: tapes/DVDs, under 5 min! Sell us on you/your team! Lindsay Freed c/o Original Media, 38 E. 29th St. 8th FL. NY, NY 10016. Get Goin’!

Or, send a file of your audition to bbqpitmasters@originalmedia.com Shoot schedule runs from April 30 – June 26. Send ?’s there as well.

• 173 out of 4716  Pork
• 267 out of 4716 Chicken
• 331 out of 4716 Ribs
• 580 out of 4716 Brisket

For these rankings we had 6 competitions that were included:

We did however compete in additional competitions for the 2009 as well that were not included in those rankings:

Canada Southern BBQ Championships
Grand Champion

1st — Pork; 2nd — Ribs; 3rd — Brisket; 3rd —Chicken 1st—Anything  But

_____________

“Smoke on the Water Barbecue Competition Saskatchewan”
Reserve Grand Champion

1st — Pork; 2nd — Ribs; 4th — Brisket; 4th—Chicken 1st—Anything But

_____________

Canadian Pork BBQ Championships
Reserve Grand Champion

2nd—Chicken; 2nd — Pork; 4th — Brisket; 4th — Ribs

_____________

National BBQ Festival “Best of the Best”

Invitational BBQ Cook-off
4th Overall

7th — Pork Shoulder; 6th — Chicken;

_____________

National BBQ Festival “Best of the Best”
Open BBQ Cook-off

13th Overall

9th — Ribs
_____________

BBQ on the Bow Calgary Alberta

4th Overall

1st — Brisket; 3rd — Ribs

______________

Crazy Canuck BBQ Championships Toronto Ontario

4th Overall

3rd—Chicken; 3rd — Pork; 4th — Ribs; 6th — Brisket

Overall we made improvements to our overall BBQ in my opinion. I am hoping to be able to attend more competitions this year however my schedule may have some interesting diversions this year. I can’t share them yet but I am really excited for 2010 overall. I have a lot of practice and work to do. LOL

Well I recently had the opportunity to try Kosmo’s Q Chicken soak. I thought it would be best to do a simple test to see if the Chicken Soak made a substantial difference vs. regular brining. I consistently have been using a brine for turkey or chicken at home and also in competition.

I used 10 lbs of chicken pieces for each test. 10lbs for each application for a total of 20 pounds chicken pieces.

These two plates were for the Kosmo’s test. It was a mixture of chicken thighs legs and wings some with skin and some without.

The ingredients listed on the package are:

Salt, Brown Sugar, Worcestershire Powder, Dextrose, Hydrolyzed Soy & Corn Protein, Citric acid, Caramel Color, Natural Flavor

The package of chicken soak weighed 8.6 oz. Thats .6 oz. more than the listed weight.

In one bucket I used the Kosmo’s Q Chicken Soak 1/2 lb sample mix cost – $4.95 plus shipping- I mixed it according to the directions on the package (doubled for 10 lbs) – Mix 3/4 cup with 64oz (1/2) gallon of liquid. For this test I used plain old tap water for Kosmo’s and the standard brine.

* this was the color of the Kosmos at 5lbs then I added the remaining chicken and soak mix. It mixes up very easily as the particles are very small.

My Standard Brine

In the second bucket I mixed a standard brine I make for Chicken Brown Sugar, Kosher Salt, Peppercorns and All spice berries – cost $2.25 approx for enough brine for 10lbs chicken.

• Both sets of chicken were left in their mixtures for the recommended 4 hours.
• They were both rinsed thoroughly afterwards with tap water.
• They were both then rubbed with my own personal chicken rub.

**The only difference I noticed on the chicken when they came out of the brine was that the Kosmo’s chicken had some very fine red particles that adhered to the chicken. I could not rinse it off. I also could not get a clear picture of it. They were very tiny.

For this test I used my Traeger Texas Style with hickory pellets. The grill was set at 300F. All of the chicken parts were taken to 165F.

All of the pieces looked great. Nice color on both. They were glazed with my own competition sauce.

After the chicken came off I rested it on a plate uncovered for 10 minutes.

Here are two pieces the one on the right is from Kosmo’s and the one on the left is my own standard brine.

Now for the all important taste/tenderness test picture:

Picture of the chicken with standard brine (juices on the plate very moist and tender):

Picture of Kosmo’s Q Chicken(juices on the plate very moist and tender):

Even after an additional 15 minutes both chicken pieces were still tender and moist.

Conclusion:

Kosmo’s Q chicken soak works. So does regular brining.

I could not find any discernible difference between the two other than cost and convenience.  There was no taste difference whatsoever. Nothing stood out.  They were both tender and moist.

Personally I’ll be sticking with my own brine.

**Picture Courtesy of 4 Legs up BBQ

I have had the Memphis BBQ experience I was looking for. The NBBQA conference is done for another year but those memories will certainly last a long time. In 4 days I ate lived and breathed BBQ with a few hundred other enthusiasts. However there was a core group of us again that went out on our own to seek out those unique Q & food experiences that are best experienced within a smaller group of friends.

Our group Dave from Sweet baby Rays, Rays Nephew Duce Raymond , Ron Nunes BBQ Organizer,   Kelly & Roni from 4 Legs Up, Chris Jones from Colins Creek Barbecue, Joey McManus from Joey Mac’s Smoke Stax, Tim Clendenning from Windy City Smokers, Woody Steve Wasson & Brenda Grubb from Woody’s Smoke Shack  all set out to experience some authentic Memphis Q and food.  I felt once again blessed to be with such great people.

Cozy Corner

We set out to a place I have been waiting to eat at since I read about it in Peace Love & BBQ – Cozy Corner.   It’s in a less savoury part of Memphis where the  windows of derelict buildings are smashed out everywhere, a bit of desperation has set itself on the people and the poverty is overwhelming.  However when you pull up to this battered restaurant- you are greeted with nothing but pure Love & Sunshine by the owner Desiree.   This woman is a true light within this downtrodden area.  She puts her beliefs  in God on Display throughout the restaurant from the bibles next to the register and the menu board which proclaims they would not accept any tips and thanks God.

When I spoke with her she was warm and lovely readily giving anyone and everyone that walked through the doors a hug a word of encouragement and true sincere expressions of care and concern.  The restaurant itself was a relic in itself. The stained blue Berber carpet, missing ceiling tiles and flimsy wall panelling really does the place no justice.  However you don’t need decor to have great BBQ. I have seen this time and time again. Cozy Corner is one of those places.

**Photo courtesy of 4 Legs Up BBQ

We decided as we usually have in the past to get one of everything on the menu.  This is really easy when you are traveling with a pack of 11.  When we received the tray I was shocked to see the huge amounts of sauce on the Cornish hen, the ribs and the pork in addition to the smoked bologna sandwich.  I am not a big fan of sauce and this looked as coated as an oil slick.

Photo courtesy of 4 Legs Up BBQ

Everything at this place was wonderful. The hen was tender sweet tangy and spicy- I savoured the tiny little drum stick I had then the breast meat – intensely flavoured and spicier than the rest. My rib was perfectly cooked coming off the bone with just an easy tug of teeth once again surprisingly not overwhelmed by the sauce. The bologna cut into almost an inch thick slab was a throwback to my childhood. It was layered with sauce and coleslaw on a typical hamburger bun. It was awesome. The coleslaw and sauce really added to the overall flavour of the bologna sandwich.  I could imagine coming here with my children just for that Sammie alone.

Photo courtesy of 4 Legs Up BBQ

Everyone that serves you or interacts with you in this iconic place-smiles. They thank you profusely. It is a wonderful experience to feel appreciated. They get it here. You can certainly understand why they are still there. It is perfect with all of its “imperfections”  Most of all what makes it perfect is the combination of Desiree’s continuance of this wonderful BBQ joint and the warm fuzzy feeling you leave with  it.

Rendezvous

We stopped at Rendezvous in the downtown core as well. It’s down an alley way near the Peabody in the same location it has been in for -well forever it seems. In 1948, Charlie Vergos cleaned out a basement below his diner, discovered a coal chute, and started a legend.  Charlie’s kids run things now, and their kids are coming along, and their kids will follow.

The alley is full of dumpsters, trash and the smell of charcoal. Seedy would be one way to describe it. However as you stand there you see people from all walks of life heading into Rendezvous:  Ladies dressed to the nines with their Manolo Blahnik boots and Louis Vuitton purses, men in their sharp Ralph Lauren suits  and Brooks Brothers, everyday people in their Nikes and hoodies attire all carefully treading around the dumpsters to get to this place.  Not only people walking in but there is a constant flurry of vehicles driving up and dropping people off.

Now imagine yourself walking into an antique store jumbled full of treasures and timeless classics, full glass showcases containing lots of kitschy fun stuff. The floor is mottled and cracked there are people everywhere sitting at tables eating BBQ. Then take a walk to one of their antiquated back rooms full of signs and pictures from all over the world and you know you have arrived at Rendezvous.

Our party once again tried everything we could possibly partake in on the menu while still allowing us to remain upright without going into a protein coma.  We ordered a sample platter of all of their meats plus a couple of sides. However before I go into more detail on this I will have to tell you about my most favorite part about Rendezvous and that would be our server. To call him a server seems a bit of a disservice he is a Legend here at Rendezvous himself. Big Jack Dyson is a flurry of Southern comebacks and full on court press hospitality. He will have you laughing and feeling comfy in an instant. He has been at Rendezvous since 1969.  They don’t have a lot of staff turnover issues at Rendezvous.

Photo courtesy of 4 Legs Up BBQ

Big Jack brought us out some of their gumbo to try on the house. It was an interesting medley of flavours for sure. He also brought us some lamb ribs that were gamier than most I have tried. These were not what I was used to but it was just fine. The food overall at Rendezvous is not something I would go back for to be honest. I didn’t like their ribs or the pulled pork at all.  I was really looking forward to some dry ribs but these were not it. They were just not my thing. I don’t think many in our party liked them at all.  I don’t think you go to Rendezvous for the food. You go for the experience. I would go again for the experience. It should not be missed. The ambiance and the cold beer were a great combo. However next time I think I would just stick with their ham & cheese plate.

Pig on Beale-Pork with an Attitude

From their website:

With the 1950s decor of checkerboard floors, formica tables and vintage movie posters mixes with live rockabilly, honky tonk or bluegrass music, a down-home happenin’ hoopla should come as no surprise. The Pig on Beale’s jukebox could easily be the best on Beale Street, with an eclectic mix of Memphis

music like the older Furry Lewis and Elvis to the Delta Blues of the Eric Hughes Band. The bar hosts live Blues and Americana music Thursday through Sunday from area Americana bands.

What they don’t tell you on their homepage (they do in the about section though) is that their food rocks. I mean rocks out like being at the best concert of your life with the love of your life.. For me sharing their food with some incredibly dear BBQ people was an event I will cherish.

The food is top notch. Once again I have found competition quality BBQ at a restaurant. There are only 3 BBQ joints (Pig on Beale, Bub-Ba-Q, Q Restaurant) I have been to that I would be happy to serve their food in a turn in box and be proud to call it my own. From the creaminess of their potato salad to the wickedly good onion rings to the hickory kissed ribs and pulled pork perfection, great wings and the tender chicken the Beale Street BBQ super feast is awesome.  Even that description doesn’t seem good enough to me.

What impressed me even more is that we were there during the down times. Not even close to lunch or dinner but right in between. Having top quality food at an off time is impressive. It was quiet when we were there with only 1 or 2 other patrons. They have most obviously taken great care to ensure what they serve is their very best at all times. Our server was great too. Very polite to all of us making sure we were well attended to.

Later on at the convention I ran into John the owner. Now John stands heads above me and he is a solid young man. Think the Stone Cold Steve Austin version of BBQ and you have a good picture of what he looks like. John actually owns both Pig on Beale and natural Born Grillers. They compete as well. Actually they win a LOT too with many of their impressive trophies in the windows of Pig On Beale. Their website lists their many competition accolades.  I was sorry we didn’t have the time to make it out to their Southaven location.

My advice to anyone would be that going to Memphis and not eating BBQ at Pig on Beale would be akin to missing your first Anniversary, your kids birth or your own wedding – it’s just something that should never ever be missed.  It was that good.

Gus’s Fried Chicken

Now off to another joint we went just down a few blocks and around a corner. This was the second time in three days that I had eaten there. That should pretty much tell you something right there. I had extolled the virtues of Gus’s fried chicken to our group and we all decided to give it a go.

We had the deep fried pickled fried green tomatoes and a whole lotta chicken and fries. Once again it did not disappoint.  Lip smacking finger licking can I get another piece even if I have just eaten at 3 other BBQQ joints chicken kind of food. I think to tell an outstanding place from a good one it is just this when you are so stuffed you can barely move but all you want to do is eat more you know you are in a place of greatness. I think that applies to both BBQ and chicken.

Jim Neely’s Interstate BBQ

On the day I was leaving my friends Chris Jones and Tim Clendenning all headed to the airport together.  As we wandered around waiting for our flight we decided to have breakfast. Well of course that would mean having more BBQ. You just can’t ever get enough. So we headed to Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que.  This was about 830am.

Gotta love Memphis where you can get BBQ at any time of the day or night. We ordered up BBQ Nachos, Pulled pork and BBQ Bologna. It was all great. Just really good decent BBQ that had good flavour, good texture, and nice sauce. The BBQ Bologna had a great char on it as well that was yummy.

The Pulled Pork Sammie had to have at least a ½ lb of pork on it. Extremely generous. We did also get the BBQ spaghetti I will say this it’s not my thing. Just no. Just not going to ever order BBQ spaghetti again. Overall the food was really good. We even got to talk with Harold Neely. He wanted to pick up our check but Chris had already paid. Good people to talk with for sure. If you are in the Memphis airport stop by and eat. You will not be disappointed.

Well I could go on and tell you some really juicy stories about Myron ”Damn” Mixon, or some of the other folks fables and tall tales or even my own new associations with some fine folks but I think I will take a lot of those stores and keep them to myself. While in Memphis I walked by a poster and it said this: What happens in Vegas started in Memphis.   I tend to agree with this sentiment. For the days I was there I was educated, libated and satiated with BBQ and food. We will leave it at that.

However as I end this rather long winded (and really if you have read the blog at any time you will know I tend to be a wee bit long winded) I have to tell you a story about our trip to Gus’s and this goes towards the kindness and the type of people I am real proud to associate with. As we were walking in Memphis within our tight knit little group a homeless man approached my friends and asked for money. He ended up being invited to eat with us. None of us would ever like to see anyone go hungry. None of us would have wanted for this man to go without something to eat. So we had our meal with this man who was quite articulate and certainly added a deeper meaning to our meal. That is the breaking of bread with your fellow man is always a good thing. That we should always look out for each other.   That we should take care of each other.  That food whether it be BBQ in Memphis a hot dog in New York  or even poutine in Toronto has the capacity to bring us all together.  That is my Memphis story.

** A note of thanks to Kelly & Roni Wertz from 4 Legs up BBQ for some of the excellent pictures of the Memphis adventure.