Mark BBQ Billy's first official barbecue competition in the books: Grillin' on the Bay, 2011. My grilling compatriot and brother-in-law, Bert Cooper, represented hardcore in an all-out, 15-hr endeavor featuring sub-freezing temps, 4 hrs of sleep, and a ridiculous amount of smoke, meat, beer, and bourbon. Everyone at the competition was incredibly welcoming and informative. When the NEBS (New England Barbecue Society) people heard it was our first event, they introduced us to a few pros, and rallied throughout the day to confirm we knew when turn-in times were, how to plate an entry, and otherwise make it through the day successfully.

We placed 13th overall, out of 20 entrants. Not bad considering it was our first time. But in the Chef's Choice category Bert's brainchaild Oyster Bombs placed 8th earning us recognition at the awards ceremony. I have since learned that many of our point deductions were simply because of our lack of food plating experience. People take the presentation wikid seriously! I witnessed a few women spending 2 and 3 hours cutting parsely and lettuce to create perfectly uniform beds of green for their team's meaty entries. Its strange, but not hard to replicate now that we know the drill. I figure we could have jumped a few spots in the standings with a little more time and consideration spent on presentation. 

Here's a recap of how the whole day went: 

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Nothing has changed my grilling life more than a grill light. My wife placed one of these under the christmas tree for me this past december, and its already taken a beating in snow, sleet, and rain. If you are like me and can't get dinner on the table before 9 any night of the week (and like me, you grill every dinner you make), then a grill light is officially the best friend you never knew you had. Go get one. I'm somewhat shocked at myself for grilling for as long as I have in the dark. Never more, never more. 

I've been a long-time enthusiast of the "St Louis" cut sparerib, and only more recently have I started preparing baby backs. In my mind, if I was going to fire up the smoker I should get some ribs in there that would benefit from a long smoke. And spare ribs, being larger and served up at so many great barbecue joints around the country, seemed like the best choice. But now that I've been grilling baby backs for the past few years, I thought I'd smoke a few racks for the first time and have a smoked comparison of the spare v the baby...

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These simple ingredients make for one hell of a sweet and salty dessert. Inspired by Paulie Gee's dessert the other night, I attempted to make a similar sweety at home tonight. It was the kid's movie night, so i had a little left over popcorn on hand. And we also made too much bacon (yes, its possible) for breakfast, so i had a spare slice already cooked in the fridge. I minced the bacon, and picked only the smallest popcorn bits from the bowl, salted of course. Mixed together, i had this:   I heated up some delicious argentinian caramel sauce, and then set to work:  Mixed a scant tablespoon of warmed caramel with the popcorn and bacon mixture to arise at this:  Which by the way needs to be its own dessert. Little golfball-sized bacon caramal popcorn balls. OMG. But that's for another day... tonight i was on a sundae mission. So i simply poured a little more caramel on a couple scoops of vanilla icr cream, and sprinked the bacon caramel popcorn mix on top: 

I swear there is ice cream in that bowl. And I also swear this is perhaps the best dessert ever created. Well, my wife's Bluebery pie might actually win that contest, but for a guy that's more of a cue cook, this was one damn fine after-dinner treat. I'd make it immediately if I were you. 

I love baked beans: Sweet, smokey, spicy, warm, filling, addictive, cheap... what's not to love? But until recently, my only experience with them in the kitchen has been to pop open a can and heat them up. Considering the volume of burgers, ribs, and steaks I serve up at home, I felt it was time to end my canned-only experience. So I set to trying various recipes, and I've now made a handful of batches. My latest attempt was a combo of a few recipies, and then my own spice blend... and I think we're onto something. These are a bbq style pot of baked beans. So think a traditional kansas city type thick and sweet sauce, with a little kick to it. I've used an applewood-smoked thick-cut bacon in here as well to add a smokey/savory element, but if by chance you happen to be barbecueing some brisket, pork shoulder, or ribs, tossing in a handful of burnt ends into the pot will go beautifully. Recipe is at the bottom, but here is a blow-by-blow of what I did:

I started with a pound of dried great northern beans, boiled then, and then simmered covered for about 2 hrs until nice and tender: 

I then brought out the cast iron skillet, and fried up six slices of bacon. Once fully cooked (you want these very well done) i removed and chopped the bacon roughly. I then added 1 1/2 cups chopped onion to the skillet and cooked over medium heat in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes. I then added 2 cloves of minced garlic and stirred around for another minute before adding the sauce ingredients to the pan. A few shots of bacon and onion frying: 

Now for the sauce. I added the following bbq sauce inspired items to the same skillet: 1 cup chili sauce (I still stand by Heinz), 1 cup Ketchup (Gotta be Muir Glen), 1/2 cup molasses (Grandma's Robust!), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire, 1 Tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard (Gulden's, a nod to Fenway Park),  2 Tsp paprika (smoked is best), 2 Tsp chili powder, 1 Tsp cumin, 1 Tsp coriander,  1 Tsp kosher salt, 1 Tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1 Tsp cayenne pepper. I then cooked this down for about 5 minutes just to make sure all sugars and spices have dissolved evenly:

Then I simply poured the sauce into an oven-proof pot over the cooked beans, and tossed in two cups of water: I baked this for an hour covered in a 350 degree oven, then removed the cover and continued to cook for another 1 1/2 hours. The end result looks like this: 

These are definitely a stick-to-your-bones kind of baked bean... pretty sweet, but some great tang and a little heat from the cayenne. I've made these with about a cup of chopped barbecued brisket and they were even better. But even without additional meat, the bacon adds a ton of smokey flavor and these beans will stand up well to any spring time barbecue. Recipe follows... give it a shot! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb dried great northern beans
• 1 cup chili sauce (i.e., Heinz Chili Sauce, which is essentially a spiced up ketchup)
• 1 cup Ketchup 
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp worcestershire
• 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard 
• 2 Tsp paprika
• 2 Tsp chili powder
• 1 Tsp cumin
• 1 Tsp coriander
• 1 Tsp kosher salt
• 1 Tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 Tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups water

Process:

• Pour the beans into a large soup pot and cover with 4 inches of water above the beans
• Bring the bot to boil, cover, and reduce heat to medium low
• Simmer for 1-2 hrs, adding more water if needed, until fork tender. 
• Drain, and put the beans into a large oven-proof pot. 
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. 
• Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minuntes. 
• Remove bacon, chop, and reserve. 
• Add the chopped onion to the heated skillet with bacon drippings, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
• Add garlic, and stir for 1 minute
• Add the chili sauce, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, worcestershire, mustard, and spices to the skillet, and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. 
• Pour the sauce over the beans in the oven-proof pot, add the bacon, and 2 cups water and stir thoroughly.
• If using, now is the time to add a cup of barbecued burnt ends. 
• Cover the pot, and place in the 350 degree oven
• Cook for 1 hr, then remove cover and cook for another 90 minutes. 
• Enjoy!  

 

 

 

 

With March 2011, officially in full swing, I've had BBQ on my mind. The annual "Grillin' on the Bay" competition is just a few weeks away, and this being my first offical BBQ competition entry, I've been eager to get a few tests going. I already know the beef and chicken entries I'll be preparing, but ribs are still up for grabs. I've asked "Big Uncle Bert," my brother-in-law, to join my team, and he's got a few ideas brewing as well. But in the past two days I've served up 4 racks of ribs, in 4 different styles. I originally assumed I should avoid a traditional BBQ-style rib, as there are presumably dozens of old-timer pit masters out there who have this style nailed. So I set to making a pineapple/lime/cilantro rack, and a ginger/basil/jalapeno rack. Both were good, but not competition ready.

I little disappointed, I then turned to my latest rub creation, and kept it simple: rub, grill, steam in some cider, then a dry shake. And man oh man, I'm onto something. These were honestly some of the best ribs I've made to date, especially considering they were simply grilled on the gas weber. I plan to smoke these guys for the competition, so the meat will get the added benefit of a moist smoking environment. I really can't wait. I also tried a sauced version of these ribs, but the dry shake is the hands-down winner. I'll continue to tinker and scheme, but here are a few galleries of my various tests in March thus far.

Sweet Pineapple, Lime, Cilantro Babybacks:

Fresh Ginger, Basil, & Jalapeno Babybacks:

BBQB's Dry Rubbed and Sauced Babybacks:

And finally, BBQB's Dry Rubbed and Sweet Shaked Babybacks (the winner!):