Images Of 2008, Part One

The next few posts will be some of my favorite pictures from the competition circuit in 2008.

Thanksgiving Turkey

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Sheila, Max and I went to my parent's house in Orange, CT for Thanksgiving dinner. I really felt like cooking, so I volunteered to smoke the turkeys. There were going to be 12 of us, so I planned to do two 13 pound turkeys on the WSM.

Brined with apple juice, brown sugar, salt, oranges, pretty much the apple brine recipe from the Virtual Weber Bulletin Board. Spent 24 hours in the brine.



After the brine, the turkeys air dried overnight in the fridge, then it was into a cooler for transport to my parent's house.

Fired up the WSM's, got it up to 325, brushed the turkeys with melted butter and hit it with my seven spice poultry rub and in they went.

After about three and a half hours, pulled them off when the breast hit 160. Held in foil for about an hour, then it was carving time.

The meat was moist, flavorful, delicious.

Complimented with sides of mashed potatoes. sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mom's sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce and pan gravy, it was an epic feast enjoyed by all. Oh, and we can't forget Cristiaan's appetizers. He made jalapeno poppers, scallops and bacon and baked brie in puffed pastry. Dessert was Mom's pecan and pumpkin pies, along with a killer apple pie made by my sister. It was all awesome, a true team effort. I ate way too much.

Le Jardin du Roi, Chappaqua, NY

I usually don't stray too far from the world of BBQ on this space, but want to give props to the restaurant where my brother and teammate Cristiaan works, Le Jardin Du Roi in Chappaqua, New York. Sheila and I went there again for dinner Saturday night, and as always everything was great.

Cristiaan

Even though it is a French bistro in an upscale town, Le Jardin doesn't project a stuffy feel to it. The food is great, and you can have either a high end special or a hamburger at any time. They also serve breakfast until four in the afternoon.

Cristiaan set us up with an appetizer sampler that included scallop spring rolls with curry dipping sauce, garlic shrimp sauteed in olive oil and roasted red pepper, along with pan sauteed goat cheese with carmalized onion and potato crisps. All were outstanding, I especially enjoyed the scallop rolls, which were different.

Knowing your waiter helps. Cristiaan then hooked us up with a pasta course, which was a serving of linguini with pan seared scallops and a tomato cream sauce.

For dinner, we both ordered off the specials menu. I had the rack of lamb with a green peppercorn sauce and truffle mashed potatoes. I received the entire rack, which was cooked to a nice medium rare. Sheila ordered the shell steak with Bearnaise and steak frites, which was great. That remins me that half of her steak is still in the fridge, I'll take care of that later...

We moved up to the bar and had cappuccinos and a rich chocolate cake for dessert. All in all, it was a great feast, and a fun night out for our first actual dinner out by ourselves since Max was born.

One thing that distinguishes Le Jardin from so many restaurants where I have eaten in the past is the service. waiters will not hesitate to help each other out, and seem to work as a cohesive unit to bring the best possible service to diners. Cristiaan is a large part of that, as he has been there for a long time and really sets the tone for the floor service.

All in all, New York area readers should take a trip up and try Le Jardin sometime. Reservations are suggested, and make sure you request to sit in Cristiaan's section. They will certainly take good care of you, and you may end up sitting next to the Clintons!

2008, The Year In Review

2008....this has been a great year, complete with high highs and low lows. The highlight obviously is the birth of our first son Max, but there were a few BBQ highlights too. Here's the recap of 2008.

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FYBO

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In what seams like forever ago, the season got underway at the end of February with the Freeze Your Butt Off contest, held at the end of February in Maynard, Massachusetts. While most think it is nuts to go cook out in the cold in the New England winter, I disagree. This type of event is great for so many reasons. It allows teams to get a competition under their belts after a long layoff, and try out those recipes we have been working on all winter to see how they fare with the judges. We got calls for 4th place chicken and pork, along with 5th place brisket and finished 5th place overall. Pretty much all the top New England teams were at the contest, so 5th was OK. It was my first contest cooking on the new Backwoods Party as well.

Brrrrrr.... Next came a couple of grilling contests, and some especially bad results. First was the Snowshoe Grilling Challenge in Abington, Massachusetts. Just missed the mark here, no calls, although I was pretty happy with what we cooked. There were 17 teams, and we finished 9th overall, just missing calls with 6th place sausage and vegetable.

The following event was the worst we have ever done in a contest. it was the Oyster Bay Smoke N Steam grilling contest on Long Island. I'm trying to forget this contest. We finished second to last, and probably would have had our first DAL if one of the teams had not been disqualified in the steak category. In summary, the steak was awful, the pork wasn't much better, I burned the wings and apparently got a table that hated oysters Rockefeller. Here are the oysters, which I thought were very good, followed by a very pregnant Sheila at the contest.

The highlight of Oyster Bay was seeing our good friends Brendan and Julie Burek turn in a truly dominating performance, taking home almost all the trophies and being grand champions.

In between those two grilling contests, I attended a judging class and became a Kansas City BBQ Society certified judge.

After Oyster Bay, it was a long layoff for me. Sheila was pregnant and due in mid July, so I didn't want to schedule any contests for June or July. That meant events that we had cooked in previous years in New Hampshire and Lake Placid, New York were taken off the calendar.

I did get to wear my judging hat for the first time in June, however. I judged the Peter's Pond rib and brisket festival in Sandwich, Massachusetts. It was a good learning experience to be on the other side of the table for the first time.

Meanwhile, we didn't want to lose our spot at the Harpoon New England BBQ Championship at the end of July. So we entered, even though it was on July 25th, and Sheila wasn't due until July 22nd. The plan was to have my brother Cristiaan cook the event himself if I couldn't make it. The good news was that Max was born healthy and early on July 11th, which allowed me to be able to go to Harpoon for the whole weekend.

And it was sure worth it.

We got calls for 9th place chicken, 7th place pork and 1st place brisket, winning reserve grand champions in a field that featured all the top New England teams, and some big national names such as the Slabs from Kansas City and the Smoking Triggers from Texas. We missed taking grand champion honors and an automatic trip to the Jack by 2.2 points. Oh so close....but what a great time regardless. Even if we had finished last, this was an awesome time. The only regret was that Sheila was not there to enjoy the moment.

A few weeks later brought our next contest, the Hudson Valley Ribfest just outside of New Paltz, New York. We didn't cook the grilling contest at Harpoon to focus on vending, so this was our first grilling event since the disaster at Oyster Bay. While we didn't get any calls here either, the showing was a lot better for sure. With 33 teams cooking, we took 7th place in pork chop and fish, and 12th place in steak and were 9th overall. Not great, but nowhere near DAL. As for the BBQ, 53 teams cooked. We got a great call for 3rd place ribs, chicken was 10th place, but pork tanked at 23rd place and brisket REALLY tanked at 40th place. Overall, we were 11th out of 53 teams, not our best showing, but it could have been a whole lot better. Life goes on....

Here were the ribs cooked for Saturday night's dinner for friends.



The best part of the contest was again being located next to our good friends Mike and Kris Boisvert from Lakeside Smokers.

This was also our first contest bringing Max along. He was a huge hit with the crowds. While I'm sure his presence was somewhat of a distraction, I am so glad that our BBQ friends were able to meet him. They will be seeing a lot of him in the future for sure.

After another month, our last contest of 2008 was the Blues, Views and BBQ in Westport, Connecticut. In our two-plus years of competing, this was our first contest in our home state. Our tight site:

Long story short, we got called for 3rd place pork out of 45 teams, and finished 9th overall. We struggled on a lot of levels at this contest. Max was difficult, and we didn't work very well together on the iron chef entry. But like every contest, we learned a few things that will help make us better down the road.

So in summary, 2008 was an interesting and exciting year. We didn't get to hit all the contests we would have liked, but it is hard to be upset about that because of the awesome life changing event of having a child. We got to spend a lot of time with friends and family, and made some new friends as well. To me, that is what BBQ is all about.

Positive Results

The results of the cook, and the Alabama-LSU game yesterday, were all positive. Well, mostly positive.

For the cook, I made three racks of baby back ribs. The last few times I have cooked ribs, they came out a little on the bland side. So this time, I wanted to make them spicy. I started with my usual rib rub, then added some cayenne pepper for additional heat. Since I had so much room in the smoker, I decided to throw a fattie in there too for a pre-dinner snack.

The fattie consisted of breakfast sausage, shredded cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, one large chopped jalapeno pepper, then rubbed before going into the smoker with Plowboys Yardbird Rub. Was a great second quarter snack.

The ribs were smoked with apple and hickory chunks for three hours, then a while in foil, finished with a couple of sauces that I wanted to clear out of the fridge. Served with homemade cornbread on the side.

They were really tender, which was exactly what I was shooting for. I thought they were a little too spicy, although Sheila didn't think so. Extremely flavorful.

So in the end, we had a great afternoon of BBQ and football. It ended well, with Alabama needing overtime but defeating rival LSU to remain undefeated. In two weeks it's Auburn, who Alabama has not beaten in the last six games. I'll be cooking that day too for sure....

Roll Tide!!!

Saturday: Ribs and Alabama Football

It could not be a better plan for a Saturday afternoon. My college football team, Alabama, is ranked number one in the country and is playing a rivalry game against LSU. As a perfect compliment, I will be firing up the Backwoods and cooking a few racks of ribs. My goal is to time the ribs so they are done just in time to be devoured at halftime. I will post some pictures when it is all over.

The Backwoods

Hey, all you New Yorkers: If you want to have some BBQ and experience the passion of Alabama football, head down to Brother Jimmy's BBQ at Lexington Avenue and 31st Street in Manhattan. The Greater New York Alabama Alumni Association holds their game watching events there. I went to one a couple years back, when they used to hold them at the Mercury Bar. It was pretty cool, they even got the waitresses to wear Alabama cheerleader uniforms.

I'm sure it will be even better at Brother Jimmy's. It's apparently a new place, complete with flat screen TV's. I cannot vouch for their BBQ at all, but I'm sure there will be plenty of buzz. The Alabama faithful really come out when the team is playing well. The game starts at 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

Here's a link to a review from PigTrip about one of the other Brother Jimmy's BBQ joints in New York. Can't be too much different....

Brother Jimmy's Review

Cristiaan And Kim Engaged

Breaking news, as my brother and teammate Cristiaan is now engaged to his longtime girlfriend Kim Schneider. They got engaged Sunday, which was also Cristiaan's birthday. Congratulations guys! I doubt I will be able to convince then to have a BBQ wedding, but we'll see!

Chili Recipe

I had hoped to do some cooking this weekend, ribs, but ended up laid up in bed sick for the last couple of days. Feeling better though, thanks for asking....

For the first time since I started this blog, I'm going to post a recipe. I haven't posted any before because for one, I'm not posting my competition BBQ recipes for obvious reasons, and quite frankly I don't have many homemade dishes that are so good that they warrant someone else trying them at home.

But this chili recipe is pretty good and very easy to duplicate at home. It is basically meat, spices and some peppers.

Mix together in Large Bowl:

2 lbs Beef Sirloin tips, cut into 1/2inch cubes

1lb Ground beef

1/2 cup Chili powder (I use Gebhardts)

3 Garlic cloves, fine chop

1 Red chili pepper, fine chop

1 Habernero, fine chop (optional, if you like really hot)

1 Jalapeno pepper, fine chop

1 Tablespoon cumin

In a large pot, saute one large finely chopped white onion in 2 tbsp oil (I use bacon fat). Once the onions are clear, add meat mixture and brown.

Once meat is browned, add:

2 cups beef or veal stock

1 cup beer

1/2 cup water

Bring to a boil and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. After two hours, add:

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Cook for another one hour, stirring occasionally. When the hour is almost up, add 1 teaspoon hot sauce (I use Dirty Dick's Hot Pepper Sauce). Adjust up or down based on how hot you like your chili. If you like beans, add one cup of black beans for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

I serve with chopped red onion, shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese and tortilla chips.

This recipe is the result of a lot of experimenting over the last few years. That's the beauty of chili. Just like BBQ, there are so many ways to make it, and none of them are wrong.

Judging, Sayville

For the second time since becoming a KCBS certified judge, I judged a contest this past weekend. It was the battle of the BBQ Brethren in Sayville, Long Island, New York. This experience reminded me again that I am really a cook, not a judge.

Before I go any further, I want to say that I respect those who come and judge BBQ contests. They take time out of their lives, and spend in some cases a great deal on gas or hotels to come and serve as a judge, and do not get paid for their efforts. From what I have seen, most come and make their best effort to be fair and judge each entry on its merits. They have an important role in BBQ and I appreciate them as a cook.

The only thing that really bothers me about the judges in the two contests that I have done is that many will take the tiniest nibble of their food, then pack all the rest into plastic bags and coolers to bring home. This process kind of creeps me out. I picture them sitting down to dinner with the family, with this nice platter of BBQ with one bite out of each piece at the center of their dining room table.

Ugh....

They should not allow judges to take food they have scored home. I feel the judges that only take the tiny bite are not doing the cooks any good by doing that. They should take at least one big bite, maybe two. Maybe bite both sides of the rib. But saving any of the entry to bring home should not be an option.

I would rather that they require 10 samples in the box, so there is extra food for judges to bring home afterwards.

But that is not my biggest problem with judging. One of the main reasons I like to cook BBQ contests is being there for the weekend, seeing friends, enjoying adult beverages and what not. And of course, the actual cooking of the food, and the challenge of cooking it just right.

When you judge, it is different. You arrive Sunday morning, and you are not allowed to converse with the teams. You can kind of walk past and wave, but you are not really supposed to stop at anyone's site and talk to them. Then, when it is over, it is also hard to visit with anyone. The teams are all in breakdown mode, they have been there all weekend, and really all they want to do is get their gear packed up so they can get out of there as soon as the awards are over. You kind of feel like you're in the way.

However, the hardest part for me yesterday was the drive. Out the door at 5:30 a.m. and it was two and a half hours to get to my brother's place in Montrose, New York to pick him up. Then, another two hours driving to Sayville. We decided to stay until the awards were handed out, but it turned out they were not scheduled to begin until five and didn't actually start until 5:30. We didn't get on the road until 6:30, and it was just before midnight that I walked in my door at home. And because I took the SUV, I spent around $60 on gas alone.

When I judge in the future, it will be a lot closer to home.

Oh yeah, the food. I'm not going to be one of the haters who says "everything was terrible." There was some of what I consider to be bad BBQ, but I also tried some really good food. One of the rib entries was outstanding, and we didn't have any really tough brisket out of all 6 entries. Several chicken entries were good too, with both nice flavor and bite through skin.

The worst entries of the day were two of the pork turn ins. Both had the appearance of cat food, this cold, mushy pile of unappetizing pork. Both tasted a little better than they looked, but all at our table agreed that these were the worst two entries of the entire day.

I do take my judging responsibility seriously though. I feel that my scoring is fair, accurate and thoughtful. I don't give out too many 9's, but I also don't give out many 5's either. I actually did give a 4 yesterday, it was a rib that was so tough you could barely bite it.

So in the end, it was an OK day. The weather was nice, and it was nice to visit with friends, and see Clint and Smoke In Da Eye win the contest. However, all things being equal, I would have rather picked up some BBQ from one of the local slop joints, spent the day with Sheila and Max, and watched the Giants-Steelers game on the plasma.

Big Week In BBQ

It's a big week in the BBQ world, and for the most part Q Haven will be on the sidelines for it.

This Thursday through Saturday is the Jack Daniel's World Invitational BBQ, which in my opinion is the most prestigious BBQ contest there is. There are others that are bigger, that have larger payouts, but no contest is harder to get into than The Jack. In case there are any readers who are not aware how it works, you have to win a state championship to even have a chance to go to the Jack. If there are more than one championships in a state, there is a draw to determine which team goes. Some states like Vermont only have one, so they are an automatic qualifier. Others, like Missouri have more than 30 contests each year, so winning that draw is much more difficult.

Q Haven qualified for The Jack by winning our second ever contest in 2006. However, we have not won a contest since. I would really like to go back someday.

Also this weekend is the Battle of the BBQ Brethren in Sayville, NY. We cooked this contest last year and had a great time, but we have so much going on with Max, and it turns out Sheila will be in California Friday and Saturday anyway, that I decided not to cook it this year. However, my brother Cristiaan and I will be heading down to judge on Sunday. It will be fun to see everyone, but I would much rather be cooking.


So when is our next contest? I don't know. I hear the "Freeze Your Butt Off" contest is going to happen again this winter. I'll probably cook it if it happens. In the meantime, there will be lots of practice...

To read about Q Haven's 2006 trip to "The Jack" click HERE

Pork, The Other White Meat

My competition pork recipe has been pretty much the same for the last two years. But it is very different from when I first started cooking BBQ.

When I got my first smoker, I started cooking pork using the "Mr Brown" recipe that I found at the Virtual Weber Bulletin Board web site. For someone first starting out cooking Q, this is a great recipe. By the time I cooked my first contest in May of 2006, my pork recipe had changed somewhat, but was still based on the Mr. Brown recipe. However, I turned the pork in without sauce at that contest. Here is the picture from the turn in box at Rhode Island.

To me, this box looked super dry. It scored 12th out of 21 teams.

The next contest we cooked, I changed it up and used pulled, chunks and slices of pork in the box. This took 13th out of 33 teams.

This box was kind of a mess looking at it now....and it is the only time I have ever turned in sliced pork.

Anyway, the next few contests, it was pretty much the same, with pork scoring in the middle of the pack. I knew that I had to make some changes to push it over the top. I made wholesale changes, using new rub and sauce, and I also started injecting. The first time I tried this recipe in competition was at the Jack Daniel's in 2006. It was our best BBQ result of the Jack, taking 20th place. Here it is....

Since then, the recipe has been tweaked and the presentations have changed, but overall my pork is pretty much the same. It has gotten some really good calls, including 3rd place out of 35 teams at Westport last month. While I love change and experimenting, this is one category I will be leaving alone, at least for now.

Friday Night Food Porn

Well, since everyone else is stealing the idea from Mike Boisvert of the Lakeside Smokers blog, I might as well do it too....

Grilled Swordfish with Lobster Cream Sauce

New England Represents at the Royal!

The New England teams that cooked at the American Royal in Kansas City this past weekend certainly represented well.


iQue finished 8th overall out of more than 400 teams in the open competition, and I Smell Smoke was 20th overall. Transformer BBQ took 11th place ribs out of the more than 400 teams. In the invitational, I Smell Smoke took 1st place in chicken.

After hearing so much about the Royal, I really want to cook it. Someday....

American Royal This Weekend

This weekend is the American Royal, certainly one of the biggest and most prestigious BBQ contests of the year. I have never cooked it or been to the Royal, but am planning to do so sometime in the future. We were qualified for the invitational contest in 2006, but had a vacation to Jamaica planned for the same week and decided to just go to the Jack.

New England will be well represented at the Royal. Transformer BBQ, I Smell Smoke!!! and iQue will all be cooking the Royal this year. Also, the Brothers in Smoke, Phil and BBQ Brethren.com from New York are making the trip.

Brendan and Julie Burek, Transformer BBQ

Chris Hart, iQue

Steve Farrin, I Smell Smoke!!!

Phil Rizzardi, BBQBrethren.com

Good luck everyone!