It's Teacher Appreciation Week in NYC public schools this week, and my son's school planned  a lunch made by parents for their children's teachers. I totally apreciate my son's teachers, so I barbecued some pork shoulder for them! The cook turned out nice... came in at around 14 hrs to melt that shoulder down, but it was well worth the wait. I saved a little bit for my lunch (because i appreciate myself too), and picked up some tiny martin rolls. "Perfect for Sliders!" said the sticker... it's amazing how what is now a "slider" bun is the same size a regular hamburger bun was 20 years ago.

And in keeping with the times, I had two.  

Messing around with a smoked chuck roast taco - chuck is so incredibly beefy! Every bite is like the essense of a bowl of chili. This taco gets a little brightened up with a fresh salsa and some lime-soaked red cabbage. Crunchy, smokey, and beefy... meet Chuck The Taco.  

There's something kind of awesome about the fire and heat required to build a 2,600 pound pit. We cook low and slow, but i start thinking fire is fire, and fire brings smoke, and smoke makes barbecue, and OMG I can't wait to start cooking on this fella! Looks like we're about 1-2 weeks from it shipping and making it's way to Brooklyn. Sweeeeeeeeeeet.

We just recieved word today from the good people over in Mesquite Texas at J&R Manufacturing that our pit is officially in production. It's totally bare-bones right now - really just a skeleton... but more importantly it's making us want to be welders. How badass is that for a profession? The pit is slated to ship at the end of month... we're getting closer each and every day to opening this joint.

Baaaaaaaahhhh-be-cuuuuuuueeeeeeee!!!!!

Mom, look! I won some trophies! The judges at this year's Grillin' on the Bay showed us some serious barbecue love this past weekend down in Sheepheads Bay, Brooklyn. We were pretty humbled to be handed trophies for every category of the day. So Awesome!  

I love this competition for many reasons... it's just a single day (no need to bring the tent and sleeping bags), it's right here in brooklyn, it's a reasonable size, and there's always an interesting category thrown at the teams. Read on for more info and pics of the day. 

Read the rest of this post »

The competition barbecue season is starting up next weekend for me... and the truck is packed up to bring the smokers back down to the big city in anticipation of March 24th's Grillin' On The Bay. (More info at www.grillinonthebay.com)

Baaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh-be-cuuuuuuuuueeeeee!!