Seafood Gumbo

I was hunting around on the internet this a.m. looking for something to cook in my dutch oven today and ran across this recipe for gumbo by Diana Rattray.

The recipe as it stands is a little bland, but I added 2 teaspoons of Old Bay Seasoning to add more depth to the flavors. I also used quick serve rice that comes in the plastic packets and added three packages directly to the gumbo about 15 minutes before adding the seafood. It worked well.

Seafood Gumbo

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups crabmeat
2 pounds shrimp, in shells
3 quarts water
2 small bay leaves
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 small onion, cut in wedges
salt
black pepper
parsley
2 pounds okra, sliced
4 tablespoons bacon grease, divided
4 tomatoes, peeled & chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
2 green peppers, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
4 tablespoons brown roux
reserved shrimp stock
salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, to taste
hot cooked rice
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning (my addition)

PREPARATION:
In a large Dutch oven boil the water with bay leaves, lemon juice, onion wedges, salt, pepper, and parsley. Wash shrimp and add to pot; boil for 2 minutes. Peel shrimp and return shells to the stock for later use.

Put shrimp and crab meat in refrigerator until ready to add to the gumbo.

Saute okra in 2 tablespoons bacon grease in large heavy skillet. The okra will turn darker as it cooks. When okra is soft, transfer to a stew pot and add tomatoes. Stir and mix together well. Clean skillet and heat remaining 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Sauté the chopped onion, green pepper, and red pepper. When soft, add to the stew pot.

In a saucepan, warm the roux; strain shrimp stock and stir into the roux. When well-blended, add to the large stew pot with the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, adding more strained stock if needed. Taste and add salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley to taste. Simmer for 1 to 2 hours longer; add the shrimp and crab meat and cook for 15 more minutes.

Serve with fresh boiled rice in soup bowls.

Grandma's BBQ Sauce

My mom gave me a copy of my grandma's recipe for bbq sauce. I thought I'd share it here.

1 1/2 cups of ketchup
2 tblsp of flour
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tblsp brown sugar
1 tblsp yellow mustard
1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water

Competition BBQ Trailer

I ran across a posting tonight on e-Bay that caught my eye.

For a competition bbq cook that's looking to upgrade their operation, this is a nice looking trailer at a reasonable price.

The trailer is a 21 ft bumper pull trailer with smoker capacity to cook up to 60 briskets at one time or up to 50 slabs of ribs! The trailer has a french fry slicer, turkey fryer and propane.

It sounds like a nice opportunity.

Here's some pictures:

Side view
Front view
Front view

Bidding starts out at about $7,000. I don't think you could build a trailer like this for less money.

Here's an enclosed concession trailer from the same folks.

Gas Prices Got You Down?

Like most folks, I am getting pretty disgusted with the price of gasoline. It just keeps going up, up, up with no end in sight. It is beginning to be a serious problem that has been influencing my bbq budget directly. Last year I had to forgo a few contests at the end of the year becasue the cost to transport the equipment there was just too great. Before too long it is going to hit $3 a gallon and when that happens, I am going to have to cut bbq contests out of the budget for a while.

At the start of the last bbq season in 2004 I recall paying about $1.50 for gasoline. As I write this gasoline here in Michigan is selling for $2.85 in the community where I live. That increase in gas prices hits bbq competitors pretty hard.

The potential prize money isn't going up fast enough on average to offset the rising costs of competing. Competitors and judges are having to decide based on market forces whether or not the cost of competing and judging is offset by the benefits, including the potential for recouping the costs and the intangible value included in the mere challenge and enjoyment of it. I am sure contest organizers are affected also in the form of fewer vendors, fewer competitors and fewer potential judges for their events.

BBQ restaurants aren't faring well either. Folks are staying at home more and spending less on luxury and convenience items and one of the first expenses that gets slashed is eating out at restaurants.

I read an article last week announcing that one of the large oil companies earned a profit of $31 billion last year. That astronomical profit was earned at the expense of the ordinary average guys and gals like you and me. Kind of discouraging isn't it?

Unfortunately it kind of looks like high gas prices are here to stay.

Some potential solutions for reducing the cost of competing:

1. Downsize what you take to contests. Less weight equals better gas mileage.

2. Trade your motor home for a pick-up truck or van and small utility trailer.

3. Plan your route to save driving miles. Take a direct route and reduce traveling speed. A 5 mph reduction will improve gas mileage on long trips.

4. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. Low tire pressure cause reduced gas mileage.

5. Swap out your big offset cookers for smaller, portable cookers such as Backwoods, WSM, Ranch Kettle or the new knockdown cookers being offered by the BBQ Guru folks such as the Caldera.

6. Prioritize your expenses to make room for bbq. Take a sack lunch to work instead of eating out and skip the $3 and $4 cups of gourmet coffee for breakfast.

There are a myriad of things that you can do to help make room for bbq contests in your budget, but this short list should help get you started.

If I've missed anything obvious, feel free to post it by clicking the "comments" link below.

Bite Through BBQ Chicken Skin

The 10th Installment of the 31-days to Better Barbecue Series

Chicken experiment update:

I just finished up a taste test on some more chicken tests this weekend. I cooked the chicken using my low and slow method and basted with some beer and some lemon juice to continue my experiment from last weekend. Both the beer and the lemon juice gave the skin a nice color and both defintely affected the texture of the skin.

I've heard tell of some folks using corn starch, lemon juice, butter, apple cider vinegar, and beer among others. I've even heard rumblings that plain old table salt will add to chicken's ability to "crispening" characteristics.

I chose the beer at random and went with ReaLemon juice from concentrate for the test. I preferred the results using the lemon juice to the beer, but the color was definitely better on the chicken spritzed with beer.

Many bbq cooks prefer instead to cook chicken using higher heat, say 275-300 degrees. That's just not my cup of tea. I love the results I get from an overnight maridade and 225 degrees. I'm convinced it's a more consistent approach. I cooke the chicken to 165 degrees internal and it's always very tender and juicy.

The both spritzing agents did crispen the skin, but the lemon juice produced a better result this time.

I also picked up some of the K.C. Masterpiece Hickory Brown Sugar bbq sauce and Cattlemen's Honey flavored bbq sauce while at the store on Friday. I added honey to both and added the sauce as a finishing sauce near the end of the cooking process. For chicken, I preferred the K.C. Masterpiece to the Cattlemen's. The Cattlemen's did not produce the color I was looking for.

If you'd like to share your theory for "bite" through chicken skin, feel free to post a comment.

Read the previous article in this series

Use of Garnish at BBQ Contests

It seems to me that as long as lettuce is allowed in the contest rules, you almost have to use it. I think KCBS could save competitors some money and headaches if they adjusted the rules to disallow the use of lettuce for everyone. Besides the money and inconvenience, I believe it's a potential health issue for the contest judges.

For one contest last year we had to go to 4 different stores to find enough high quality lettuce for a contest. At the Carmel contest, my wife gave one of the contest reps, who I believe was also on the board of directors, an ear full about it. She might not have been so vocal if she'd realize he was on the board, but as I told her at the time, the board members are elected to represent the membership/competitors, so she had a right to voice an opinion. This board member did not agree with her view that lettuce is unnecessary.

I seem to do well in lettuce contests, so I don't mind using it. I just think it's unnecessary. If enough people voice these opinions consistently, I think it will change over a period of time.

I'd like to see the issue put to rest once and for all by allowing the entire KCBS membership to vote on it.

What do you think?

Comments are welcome, both "pro" and "con". I look forward to hearing your views on the subject. Click the link below to post a comment.

Smoke and Spice Win Again--Viera FL

Smoke and Spice of Homestead, FL walked away with the victory in the KCBS event held Saturday in Viera, FL. Congratulations Mark Rogers!

To my knowledge, Mark is probably one of the very few bbq competitors who actually earns his living almost exclusively from bbq catering. I've had the pleasure of competing against Smoke and Spice many times at Florida Barbecue Association events and wish Mark and his team continued success.

Currently the team sits in 4th place in the FBA Team of the Year standings and have earned many victories this year.

Mark is a great guy and proof that perseverance pays off when it comes to bbq. Tweaking the process a little bit here and a little bit there has paid huge dividends for the team for the 2006 season. Based on pictures posted on the SmokeandSpice.com, it looks like those competition bbq classes from Dr. BBQ and Paul Kirk are beginning to pay big dividends.

Smoke and Spice is a team to reckon with on the Florida circuit this year.

Dollywood's Bluegrass and BBQ

Dolly Pardon is a bbq fan. I just read an article on Cybergrass that Dollywood has added a bbq and bluegrass event to it's list of attractions for 2006.

I didn't see the contest listed on the KCBS web site of events yet this a.m., but I'm guessing the bbq contest will be KCBS sanctioned.

Michigan BBQ Restaurants

I'm going to be introducing a new series of articles to the bbq blog over the course of the next two or three weeks.

Since the weather is getting nice for motorcyle riding, I'm going to be firing up the V-Twin and hitting the highway in search of some Michigan barbecue restaurants. I might venture into Ohio too, if I get a bead on some good bbq in northern Ohio. This way I can partake in three of my favorites hobbies at the same time--motorcycles, eating bbq and sharing my passion for bbq with others.

If you've recently visited any good bbq restaurants in the Southeastern Michigan area, shoot me an e-mail. I'll check it out and post my experiences here.

BBQ Linked to Cancer?

I've read a few online articles today regarding a John's Hopkins study regarding the link between meat cooked at high temperatures and cancer. I tried to locate a copy of the study directly from John's Hopkins via their web site, but so far have not been successful. Apparently the study was presented recently at a gathering of the American Cancer Society.

The articles referencing the study published by New York Post and ABC News (and many others) via the web, refer to "cooking meat at high temperatures" and refer to "meat that is charred" as "bbq".

I've read similar articles in the past referencing similar health issues associated with eating overcooked meat, but most of them reference "eating meat that is charred" and methods of cooking that I associate more closely with grilling than with slow-cooked barbecue.

As with most things, if done in excess or taken to extremes, there are risks associated with them. Drinking too much alcohol, smoking cigarettes, not eating a balance diet, listening to loud music with head phones, staring at a computer for hours and hours at work every day, and on and on and on...are associated with negative health risks. In my own experience, there aren't very many things that don't have harmful side effects.

Given enough time, I suspect that I could locate research on just about anything that associates it with cancer.

But, a word to the wise for those that haven't yet experienced the joys of slow-cooked bbq...don't eat burnt meat that is cooked at high temperatures with a lot of charred fat on it. It's probably not good for you.

I know one thing for sure....you won't catch me eating stuff like that. It probably doesn't taste good either.

Contest Chicken; Better BBQ Series - #9

My post yesterday about brining gave me an idea for a competition chicken test tomorrow. I'm going to prepare chicken two ways as a test for the upcoming season.

Here's how I normally cook chicken in contests:

1. Start with Amish chicken thighs

2. Trim excess skin and fat

3. Sprinkle with rub

4. Refrigerate and marinade for 6 - 8 hours in Ziploc bag with Italian Salad Dressing

5. Remove from Ziploc bag and place directly on smoker

6. Cook at 225-235 degrees for 2 hours

7. Check temperature, should be about 150 degrees

8. Sauce with "secret" sauce

9. Continue cooking for another 30-40 minutes

10. Check temperature, should be between 165-175 degrees

11. Remove from smoker

Chicken cooked according to this time-tested and reliable recipe have allowed TheBBQGuy.com to win the chicken category at many FBA sanctioned bbq cook-offs, a KCBS event last year, and consistently places near the top of the field in almost every event we've entered.

The drawback to this recipe, however, is that although the chicken is tender, juicy and as near perfect as I can make it; the skin is sometimes "rubbery" and hard to bite through.

Tommorrow I'm going to experiment with a version of Jim Minion's honey chicken brine recipe that includes water, salt, tender quick, honey, bay leaves, ground cloves and pickle spice and complete a direct comparison to our normal contest recipe. During the cooking process I'm going to spritz with a mixture of lemon juice and lime juice in an attempt to "crispen" the skin a little.

I've tried the lemon juice thing a few times and although it did not competely solve the skin issue, it did seem to firm up the skin a lot.

I am not a fan of "hot and fast" chicken cooking because it leaves too much room for error, but I'm going to continue to experiment with alternative ways to achieve a "bite-through" skin on my contest chicken thighs.

Read the previous article in the series.

Peace, Love and Barbecue

I purchased a new bbq book a few weeks ago: Peace, Love and Barbecue

Now that I've had a chance to read through most of it, I felt it was time to update this previous article about the book.

The authors, Mike Mills and daughter Amy, take readers through a history of barbecue, share recipes, discuss the bbq circuit, and the bbq restaurant business. The book begins with a family history about how the Mill's moved from Missouri to Illinois and details some of the Mills' family influences that held bbq in such high regard.

The book starts out more like a novel than a cookbook, which personalizes the bbq experience for readers. There are a lot of personal family memories, anecdotes and details about some of the "whys" behind the Mills' family bbq obsession.

It's got a lot of cool black and white photographs and "secret" recipes from the family cookbook. The book also details how Mr. Mills got his start in the bbq business, his early influences, and recent successes as he expands his bbq reach to Las Vegas and New York with the Memphis Championship BBQ restaurants.

I've tried the recipe for the Apple City bbq sauce and it's pretty good. I look forward to trying the rubs and numerous side-dishes.

This 3-time Memphis in May champion and winners of countless bbq awards, has written a book that the bbq community should be proud of.

Previous article about my favorite bbq books

Brining BBQ Meat, Day 8 Better Barbecue

There are several options for enhancing the flavors of your barbecue meats. You can use a dry rub marinade, a wet marinade, a brine, or a plain old injection.

In this article I am going to focus on brining. Morton Salt's web site offers products and tips for correct brining techniques for curing all type of food including meat, beef, poultry, fish, and game. However, in this article we're not talking about curing ham, sausage, or bacon. This article is all about using brines to make better bbq. I usually use plain old table salt.

Chicken lends itself nicely to salt water brining.

Some of my favorite brining recipes are for chicken from BBQ Porch).
Here's another chicken brine recipe courtesy of 3Men.com
And still another as published in Fine Cooking magazine.

I like to bbq dark meat like drumsticks and thighs; a brine adds a "deeper" flavor to the meat. Anyone can cook chicken and slap a bunch of sauce on it and call it bbq, but a brine adds an element of flavor that is hard to explain until you experience it.

I've found the less is more with brines. There is a tendancy for brines to become too salty if the meat is left in the solution too long.

Brines are simple to make and simple to use. They are one of the most powerful techniques you can use to add full-flavor to your bbq. Don't over do it. Begin by following the recipe exactly several times before attempting to develop your own signature brining ratios.

Some of the biggest names on the bbq contest circuit have switched from simple marinades for chicken; such as generic homemade Italian dressing, Newman's Own salad dressing, among other brands, to brining for their prize winning entries.

Read the previous article in the series

Smokin Chicks BBQ

I ran across this bbq web site today featuring a new bbq restaurant that recently opened in Columbia, MO -- Smokin' Chicks BBQ

The restaurant is located near Rockbridge High School football field at 4603 John Garry Drive Ste 3 . Columbia Mo 65203. Call them at 573-256-6450.

Here's a copy of the menu featuring such notable items as Smoke BBQ Brisket, Fried Dill Pickle Spears, and the perennial favorite-- pulled pork.

Michigan Barbecue Association

I received this letter from Hayden Powers yesterday. Hayden is from Holland, Michigan. Hayden and some other Michigan barbecue enthusiasts (including yours truly) are interested in forming a Michigan Barbecue Association to promote barbecue in the state.

Michigan can support many, many more barbecue contests than it's current rate of travel for KCBS events. At last year's Taste of Grand Rapids event, there were more than 60 teams in attendence. This year there are a total of three Michigan contests on the schedule: Dundee, Grand Rapids and Mears. I'd like to see that number grow steadily over the next few years.

The text of Hayden's letter is included below. If you'd like more information regarding the proposed association, please contact me and I'll put you in contact with Hayden.

MICHIGAN STATE BARBECUE ASSOCIATION

This letter is announcing the intent to form the Michigan State Barbecue Association. We are contacting you because we believe you may be interested in joining this association.

The association will be comprised of folks like yourself who share a common interest in barbecue. It really doesn’t matter whether you are a competition BBQ team, restaurant owner, caterer, event coordinator or backyard BBQ’er, we want you to join us and help promote barbecue in this state and other surrounding Great Lakes states.

At the present time we are sending out this letter and asking that you complete the contact section below and return via mail or email to the address provided. The next step will be to arrange for a brief centrally located first meeting with interested parties. At that time we will begin discussing forming our association and establishing by-laws and mission statement. There will also be a general election for officers to run the association.

If you are interested please complete the contact information below and return to either the email address or street address provided. We will be in touch with you soon.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Hayden Powers

Having a local association to help promote bbq in the state would be a great asset to contest organizers, the business community, potential corporate sponsors, and bbq contestants collectively.

I urge you to show your support for this proposed new bbq association.

Barbecue Disaster to Barbecue Master

If you or someone you know is a chronic "meat-burner", Cattlemen's Barbecue Sauce wants you to enter their newest contest promotion in conjunction with Rick Browne, Ph. B. (Doctor of Barbecue).

To enter the contest and receive personal bbq instruction from Browne, contestants can enter by writing a 100-word essay and submitting it to Cattlemen's via their web site. Grand prize is a trip to the 2007 Memphis in May barbecue contest.

Other Cattlemen's promotions:

Braggin Rights
Hot Off the Grill

Cattlemen's is probably the world's most popular bbq sauce. It's used by amateur backyard cooks, professional contest competitors, and restaurants from coast-to-coast.

I've never used it in a contest, but it's readily available from Sam's Clubs if you want to try it out.

BBQ Research, Day 7: Better BBQ Series

When I decided I wanted to start competing in bbq contests, my backyard cooks took on a whole different approach. I became more serious and took a more systematic approach to things. Up until that time my approach to bbq was kind of non-chalant and happy-g0-lucky, but upon making the commitment to work towards the ultimate goal of paying an entry fee to compete in an actual contest I got real serious.

I started down this more systematic road by assembling an arsenal of bbq recipes, bbq web sites, bbq books, magazines, watching Food Network, and talking to other people involved in the hobby.

For the aspiring contest cook I think there are two pretty good websites that are useful in helping wade through all the white-noise out there regarding how to actually do it. Since that day five years ago on my back patio in Casselberry, FL, I've developed my own theories, recipes, and system based on observation of others and just plain old seat-of-the-pants trial and error, but Virtual Weber Bullet and Barbecuen on the Internet definitely helped shorten the learning curve. Both sites have a lot of basic information and pictures of cookers, diagrams, recipes, history and just plain old bbq stuff.

I made a file folder of things that I printed from both sites and kept it for reference later on. The Virtual Weber Bullet site helped me develop an understanding of fire control and the importance of knowing your cooker.

Barbecuen, helped me decide what type of cooker I wanted to use. There must be about 15 or 20 different types of cookers, grills and smokers featured on the web site and Smokey Hale lists many of the pro's and con's of each.

I learned the importance of keeping records of my cooks including recipes used, temperature, time, weather conditions, preparation techniques, spices, sauces, etc. The more detailed these records, the better. The Virtula Weber Bullet site has examples of a cooking log that you can adapt for your own use.

I learned that if a particular cooking session did not meet my expections for results, don't change everything willy-nilly, but rather change one thing at a time to sneak up on the results I was looking for. Just like the scientific-method I learned in high school chemistry, changing too many variables at the same time prevents the serious competitor from understanding and pinpointing exactly which technique, spice, sauce, wood type, charcoal, etc. did not meet expectations.

Hopefully the articles I write for the BBQ Blog are helping others get started. My aim is to help flatten the learning curve for those who want to improve their backyard cooking and start to compete. By all means, learn from my mistakes and benefit from my successes.

Read the previous article in the series

Tournament Chess and Championship BBQ

At first glance, tournament chess and championship bbq seem to be at opposite ends of the sprectrum, but believe it or not the two have a lot in common.

The U.S. Women's Chess Champion, Jennifer Shahade, attributes her success in tournament chess to being willing to keep playing and keep competing, even when she wasn't obtaining the results she hoped for. She began playing at age 13 and within twelve years she has emerged a two-time national women's champion. At the age of 25, she's now a very prominent figure in the sport.

I think there's a lesson to be learned from Jennifer Shahade that directly equates to competing in bbq contests.

As anyone who has ever played the game of chess more than a few times can attest, it may take 10 or 15 minutes to learn the basics of the game, but....it's something that might never be mastered after a lifetime of dedication.

The concentration and dedication required are enormous. It's a game that you might be able to win against mediocre players, who haven't played much, but when you're up against more experienced players, it can be very, very humbling and very frustrating. It's possible to win or lose a chess game with just three or four moves on the board.

Competitive barbecue is very similar. It's a grassroots sport that is rewarding and fun, but long term success in the sport is not easy. I know more than a few teams that have been competing for years that have never won a grand championship or a reserve grand championship award. I know other teams that have won a few awards, but when the winning didn't continue, the teams chose to stop competing altogether. I know other teams that have had some success in specific categories here and there, but for whatever reason haven't been able to put together consistent results in all four categories enough to win consistently.

Some competitors seek out the biggest and most prestigious contests, while others prefer to cook in smaller, local events. The level of competition varies according to the size and stature of the event. A state championship bbq contest usually draws competitors from several states and some very experienced and winning teams, while a local or smaller regional event might have only a handful of top-notch teams.

As competitors, whether in a casual game of chess or in the professional sport of barbecue, we are confronted with choices to dedicate ourselves to improvement, to be satisfied with being involved in the sport as participants, or to passionately dedicate ourselves to pursuit of excellence.

Is it worth it to continue spending the time and money to compete in bbq contests? Is it worth it to cook every weekend to tweak a rub recipe or sauce recipe to improve the results? Or, is better to be satisfied with enjoying bbq with friends, family and neighbors in the backyard?

The answers are largely up to each individual, but I think I'll follow Jennifer Shahade's example and keep my nose to the grindstone.

BBQ History - Tennessee

I ran across a real nice article tonight published by the Southern Foodways Alliance detailing the history of bbq in Tennesee. Whether it's in Memphis or in Rural TN the "Barbecue Oral History Project" funded by the National Pork Board offers a wonderful account of some of the tradition, history and methodology used by pitmasters throughout the Volunteer State.

If you're a bbq fan, you'll like this series of articles.

There are histories featuring several down-home bbq restaurants including:

Bill's Bar B Q
Foster's Bar B Q
Joyner's Bar B Q
Hay's Smokehouse

The Southern Foodways Alliance web site even provides a bbq bibliography for further research.

Cabela's CG-15 Commercial Grade Vacuum Sealer

I recently purchased a commercial grade vacuum sealer from Cabela's.

My wife and I have been looking for a solution for storing leftover bbq and at long last we've identified the solution--a vacuum sealer. Leftover bbq will store for a few days in standard plastic bowls with lids, but more than a few days of storage requires something more substantial. Enter the vacuum sealer solution.

The vacuum sealer extend the storage life of food by withdrawing oxygen that accelerates the deterioriation that hastens the spoilage process in food. After cooking, we just place the remaining meat into a bag of the appropriate size, press a button and less than a minute later we have a professional quality vacuum seal that will store in the freezer or refrigerator with ease.

When we have a craving for bbq, we just pop the bag into a pan of hot water and--presto--we have a bbq meal at our fingertips.

I'll be the first to warn prospective vacuum sealer shoppers that the CG-15 Commercial Grade Vacuum Sealer is not inexpensive. Ours cost $399.99 and the 15 x 18 size bags were another $45.00, but when you bbq as much as we do...and can't eat all that you cook in one setting (we often cook 10-15 lbs. of meat at a time), the vacuum sealer is a wise investment.

Here are some alternatives to the Cabela's model that are a little more economical.

Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer
Foodsaver 1-Gallon Bags




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