Harpoon!!!

We finally got a chance to find out first hand why everyone says the Harpoon New England BBQ Championships is the best contest in the Northeast.

Harpoon certainly lived up to its billing.

We arrived at the Harpoon Brewery at around noon Friday. I had wanted to drive up Thursday night in order to get a good vending spot, but was informed by the organizers that we could not get on site until Friday at 11AM. Apparently we were the only team who got that directive, as when we arrived, around 30 teams were already in place and set up. No big deal though, as we got a good spot just off the main drag and near the beer tents.

Harpoon is basicly backwards compared to the other New England BBQ Society events. Usually, NEBS has the grilling event on Saturday and BBQ Sunday. Harpoon has BBQ Saturday and grilling Sunday.

With the BBQ Saturday, we had to immediately begin prepping once we got our site set up. As usual, we brought way to much gear, something I have been trying to avoid. I'm getting better though.

Friday night was fun. Chris Hart and iQue cooked up a taco dinner for the cooks, which was great. It was nice to not have to worry about dinner and focus on the more important task at hand: drinking as much of the free beer as possible. Soon after we arrived, some Harpoon folks delivered three cases of their fine products, and we ended up getting two more the next day. Also, with our welcome packet, we received a big stack of drink tickets. Needless to say, there was no shortage of drinking going on.

There was no shortage of Brethren on hand. Visited with Vinny of Bad Bones BBQ, and finally got to meet the Poobah, Phil, who runs the BBQ Brethren web site. We talked for a while in his competition trailer, which is really cool. Also got to hang around with Willie B, the Champlain Pit Crew and many others.

Willy B

Friday night was a lot of fun. We set the WSM's on Minion method autopilot and cruised around the venue. Didn't party too hard, visited with a lot of teams and Cristiaan and I focused on making sure we didn't lose the temperature on the WSM's. At Lake Placid we all went to sleep and woke up to a 180 degree pit.

After a few hours of sleep, Saturday was all about the BBQ competition and vending.

Harpoon is the one event in the region where the teams are allowed to vend BBQ to the public. I decided that since we have the manpower available with my sister Kathleen and her boyfriend Jon, that we would try our hands at vending. I didn't want to go too crazy cooking and end up not selling all our food, so I didn't bring a whole lot to vend. However, our efforts were very successful, and we sold every bit of our Q, which was awesome.

I wish we could sell food at all our competitions, it would be a great way to offset costs.

However, the vending may have been a little bit of a distraction from the real task at hand, trying to make a strong showing in the BBQ contest. We did pretty well, finishing 7th overall in a very strong field of teams. But I really wanted to do better, and get one of those really nice beer tap trophies.

For chicken, I have completely blown up my old recipe and am developing a new one. However, with any recipe change, there are growing pains. We are now sponsored by Plowboys BBQ and their Yardbird Rub, and this was our first competition using it. The chicken really tasted great, but the appearance was way too dark. Even though it was just smoked, it looked burned, and it didn't score well. Chicken took 22nd place, our worst score of the day.

Next were ribs. I missed the mark a little bit with the flavor here, having made a subtle rub change. However, they were still damn good in my biased opinion. They took 12th place, even though one jerk judge gave them a 7-5-5. I get annoyed when five of the judges give mostly 7's, 8's and 9's then one gives a 5-5. I know the low scores get dropped but it is still annoying. Ribs were 12th place.

Pork was next. I'm very happy with the pork right now. The rub-injection-smoke-sauce combination is working well for us. I started using this recipe at the Jack last year and it was 20th there. Since then, we've had pork calls in almost every event, 2nd at the Winter Sizzler, 2nd in New Hampshire, and at Harpoon a call for 7th place. Was our only call of the weekend.

The final category was brisket. We cooked two briskets, and neither came out particularly well. Both were a little dry, so I ended up saucing it for turn ins. The flavor was pretty good, and brisket took 13th place.

Overall, 7th place is not that bad, especially with the impressive list of teams that was on hand.

My plan was simple, focus on the BBQ competition, then party hard Saturday night. Cristiaan was going to completely handle the grilling on Sunday, so I was really relaxed for a change. After all the stress of planning for the event, working my full time job as a news bureau chief for Westwood One/Metro Networks in Hartford, and putting in long hours at my part time job as a bartender at the New Haven Country Club, I was ready to get ripped.

We hung around with several teams Saturday night. Also, Mike Boisvert and Kris Eastman of Lakeside Smokers were up to judge, and we got to party with them. It was great to see them for a while, and we're looking forward to spending time with them in Maine this weekend.

We also got to have some drinks and Jello shots with the event grand champions, Lunchmeat. Michelle, Gary, Sully and the rest of their team have always been so nice to us since we started competing last year. After numerous reserve grand championships, they now are officially going to the Jack. I'm really happy for them, I know they will have a great time and represent New England well. Barrrh-bahhh-quueee!

Also got to spend some time with Robert Fernandez of the White Trash BBQ blog, who was up for the weekend to judge. Nice guy, and I enjoy his blog. He updates almost every day, unlike me....

Things took a turn for the strange late at night. I went in for a tour of the brewery sometime after midnight, but grew bored pretty quickly in my intoxicated state and left. By then, most of the teams had packed it in and wrapped up their parties. I found Cristiaan back at our camp, and we decided to go check out the camping area down by the Connecticut River to see if anyone was still partying.

Down by the river, there were a bunch of people hanging out by a bonfire in the center of this strange circle made up of these really tall, wooden stick figures playing instruments. I know that makes very little sense, so here is a picture of it.

They were mostly people who work at the brewery and members of bands performing at the festival. They had a guitar and were just sitting around the fire, playing music, laughing and drinking. They took us in and it was a great way to finish up the evening.

Sunday was the grilling contest. Cristiaan came up with the recipes for all four categories, allowing me to focus on the BBQ and vending for the weekend. The first category was chef's choice, for which he decided to cook skirt steak with a green peppercorn sauce. I thought it was good, and the presentation was really nice. The judges agreed on the presentation, but panned it overall. 29th Place

Next was wings. Cristiaan grilled the wings with a honey bourbon glaze. I didn't get to taste one, and they scored 19th.

Sausage was next. I believe it was maple glazed sausage patties, and I believe it took 22nd.

The final category was pork chops. This was our best showing in the grilling competition, taking 12th place.

Overall, we were 24th in the grilling. Certainly not what we expected, but what can you do? I felt bad for Cristiaan, because he put a lot of work into the planning and cooking. But I'm sure it will just motivate him to improve.

After the breakdown, we went down to the river and cooled off before hitting the road. It was the perfect finish to a great weekend.

Harpoon

Got back from our first Harpoon Championships late last night. We had a wonderful time at this event, which certainly lived up to its billing as the top contest in New England. Was great to spend time with friends, and make a few new ones. We got one call for 7th place pork, and finished 7th overall for the BBQ event Saturday. Much more will be posted on Harpoon in the coming days.

Harpoon!

Harpoon is here! No turning back now....

I have been absorbed in Harpoon for the last two weeks. Even at work, it's all I have been focused on. This is the big New England event of the year. It's the one that all the other teams talk about. I think we're ready for it.

Part of me regrets the decision to vend both days. It is going to be a lot of work, and it required a great deal of planning. However, in an attempt to keep things simple, we are just going to vend the competition BBQ meats. We are basicly double cooking our competition Q, and hopefully we'll sell it all. I'm excited about our first vending venture. Hopefully the weather will hold off and we'll have lots of customers!

Hopefully a few people who read this blog will be heading up to Vermont this weekend. Please come by and see us! We will also be selling Plowboy's Yardbird Rub all weekend. It's a great new product that won high accolades at the Great American BBQ in Kansas City this year. We're selling big 19 ounce shakers of rub for $8 each, which is a steal. Come grab some!

Heading north in around 10 hours!

Q Haven To Sell Plowboy's Yardbird Rub

Beginning next weekend in Harpoon, my BBQ team Q Haven will be selling Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub at competitions. Yardbird rub is what a growing number of competition BBQ teams across the country are using to season their chicken, and are seeing a lot of success from it. I started using it recently and it has made a big difference in the flavor of our chicken.

I am very excited to partner up with Todd Johns and Plowboys BBQ. We will be selling 16-ounce shakers of Yardbird Rub for $8. Be sure to come by at Harpoon and try some out!

Q Haven In The News

Q Haven got a little bit of media play during our three days in Lake Placid last weekend.

Click here to see me in a TV news spot. For the record I was speaking about our first competition in Rhode Island, not the one in the story.

Click here for a story in the Press Republican. While it's harmless, it is a complete misquote. What I said was "we could care less about the $50 check for winning a category, it's these cheap plastic trophies we want."

Click here to see the Adirondack Daily Enterprise

Some guy recorded me for a podcast but I can't find that anywhere.

Lake Placid

We had been looking forward to going back to Lake Placid for some time. Lake Placid was our 3rd competition last year, and we had a great time. This year, it lived up to it and more.

We decided to leave Thursday night and drive most of the way up to Lake Placid, so we could get a good night's sleep and still get on site early. This was only our second event since we bought the trailer/camper, so I wanted to be one of the first teams in so I wouldn't have to worry about parking it.

We got on site at about 10AM Friday. Last year, there were only 16 teams, so there was plenty of room. This year, there were 36, so the Olympic skating oval was a little tight. Fortunately, we had a site on the outside ring. The teams that ended up in the middle were pretty squeezed.

For anyone who has never been to Lake Placid, it's a great little town. As you pull in, you can feel the history. Two of the most memorable Olympic memories from my childhood happened within days of each other in Lake Placid in 1980, the Miracle on Ice and Eric Heiden's dominant speed skating winning five gold medals. The competition is held inside that skating oval.

The event is held right in the middle of an upscale village. The scenery of Mirror Lake is beautiful. Once we got our site set up, we went up to The Cottage, a restaurant right on the lake. Great sandwiches and views.

We had a great time last year hanging around with Frank and Carol Zeske, and it was so good to see them again. The Zeskes, Dmitry Feld and Jon Lundin and all the organizers do a great job of making the teams feel welcome. The people and the town really make this event.

Frank Zeske

This was going to be a busy weekend of cooking. Friday night was the midnight grilling bash, Saturday a "Buck-a-Bone" people's choice rib contest, and Sunday the KCBS BBQ contest.

Friday night for grilling was not a schedule we are used to, but it was fun. Cristiaan handled the chicken recipe, and I did the strip steak. For the chicken, Cristiaan did a bbq chicken pizza, with sauteed onions and smoked cheddar. It came out really well, and took 2nd place, despite getting two 5's for appearance.


The steak didn't do as well. I did a bone in strip with red wine butter, presented (open garnish) on a bed of onion strings with the box lined with a plank of asparagus. As it turned out, at least one judge ate the onion strings with the steak. I intended them to be just garnish. We cooked them an hour before the turn in, and didn't even season them. My mistake. As they say, don't put it in the box if you don't want them to eat it. Took 11th in steak, and 5th overall for the event. A good start to the weekend.

Friday night was fun. We cooked a lot of ABT's, and my Mom brought some appetizers and we had a pretty nice feast.

Saturday was the "Buck a Bone" competition. We had never done one of these before. So the question was, how much do we cook? I was very unsure on this one. I didn't want to cook a ton of ribs and end up taking them all home. We cooked 17 racks....and sold every bone in the first hour. Wish I had made more.

We probably broke even with the rib contest. But it was really a lot of fun. We got a lot of positive feedback about our ribs, and the people voted us third place for the contest, only losing to Lost Nation and I Smell Smoke!!! That's pretty good company.

We had hoped to do a lot of hanging around and partying Saturday night. However, it got really cold and rained heavily, so we ended up boarding up the camper early and falling asleep to a movie. The camper has proven to be a huge plus while competing. While it allows us to haul all our gear easily, it is extremely comfortable for sleeping. It was nights like this that made us decide to get the camper in the first place.

Sunday was the KCBS BBQ event, with 36 teams cooking. Overall, we cooked what I thought was some really good, consistent food. I thought the chicken was really good. The scores were pretty high, mostly 7's and 8's, but other teams must have had some huge scores. Chicken was our worst entry, took 19th.

I knew that I missed the mark with the ribs. They were a little tough, maybe a little more spice than I should have used. I messed up the presentation too, when the design I planned didn't fit in the box. We had to blow it up last minute, and the box ended up somewhat sloppy. All the handling of the ribs made them lose that nice glaze too. Two judges gave us 799 on ribs, but the two 6's for taste hurt. Ribs were 9th place.

The pork was what I thought was our best entry. I am very pleased with the injection-spice-sauce combo I have developed for pork. Sheila has been really coming up with some nice presentations, which is helping our overall scores, especially in pork. Scored pretty well, 12th in pork. Thought it would do better though.

Brisket was last. I thought the flavor was right on, but knew it was a little tough. I have been struggling with brisket tenderness lately. I put the best pieces in the box and hoped for the best. To my surprise, we got called for 5th place brisket. The appearance scores saved us here, four 9s and two 8s. Sheila gets credit for this one.

Overall, we were 4th place for the event. A pretty good showing considering the top teams that were on hand.

Now, after back to back competitions, we have nearly a month to recover before Harpoon.

New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest

After much deliberation, we decided a few months ago to compete in the New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest this past weekend, despite the fact that an event was scheduled in East Hartford for the same days. The Connecticut event had been cancelled last year, and we just didn't want to end up getting shut out of New Hampshire if that happened. Also, we won New Hampshire last year, and felt we should at least go and try and defend our title.

We arrived on site Friday afternoon. Last year, it rained heavily Friday and Saturday, reducing the entire Anheuser Busch Brewery field where the event was held into a mud pit. We came up with a much more promising weather forecast. However, we pulled on the site, and before we could even unhook the trailer from the hitch, the skies opened up and a massive thurderstorm rolled past. We scrambled back to the truck and all Sheila and I could do is look at each other and laugh. Here we go again....

However, the rain quickly stopped, and we had a weekend of great weather. The crowds were huge, and we were surrounded by friends. Mike Boisvert, Kris Eastman and Lisa Mazzone of Lakeside Smokers were right next to us. On the other side was Andy King and the Bastey Boys. Andy was on crutches because of a knee injury, but fortunately he has a posse of people that came and help him out.

Mike and Kris, Lakeside Smokers

Also, there was no shortage of Brethren at the event. For those not familiar, the BBQ Brethren is a forum where I spend a lot of time at work and home trolling around with some great people from around the country who share the same passion for BBQ that I do. It's a very inclusive group and I really enjoy meeting the Brethren when we compete. Brethren on hand included Clint of Smoke in Da Eye, Lunchmeat, and Chris Hart and iQue.

We also met some Brethren for the first time. Tom and Michelle of Lo and Slo BBQ were really cool, and ended up winning grand champions of the grilling competition. Big Barry was there as well, getting a grilling call in his first ever competition.

As for us at Q Haven, is was just me and Sheila. Cristiaan was in Las vegas for the weekend, so he did not attend. Fortunately, we did have some visitors. My friend Av Harris traveled up for Friday and Saturday, and Sheila's father and stepmom came up for the day on Sunday. It was nice to have some support.

This was the first event we would be using our new camper/toy hauler. We towed it up to the venue without any problems, and after plenty of trial and error, we were able to get it parked in our site. It was so great to have a comfortable bed to sleep in and a shower to clean up after all that cooking.

This was a two day event, with grilling Saturday and BBQ Sunday. For grilling, the categories were Fish Steak, Beef Steak, Sausage and Fruit.

For fish, I did pretty much the same thing as at the Snowshoe and Grillin On The Bay; grilled swordfish with garlic butter. It came out pretty good, finished 12th place.

Next was beef steak. I made filet mignon with sauce bearnaise. The sauce came out really good, but I really messed up the presentation. Once I started putting the sauce on, it just got out of control, and I ended up being unhappy with the end product. Look for yourself. 15th place.

Sausage came next. I cooked two different types of sausage, medium hot links and a wheel of garlic, spinach and parmesan. I ended up turning in the wheel, which I thought presented really well. However, it only finished in 11th place.

The final category was fruit. We did grilled apples with a cinnamon-brown sugar sauce. Came out pretty good. 12th place.

We finished 6th overall for grilling. Not bad, but could have been better.

Now, on to the BBQ....

Prep went well Saturday afternoon and the brisket and pork butts went into the smoker between five and six PM. The brisket was 16 pounds, one of the largest I have ever seen. Overall, I cooked one brisket, two butts, six racks of ribs and 24 chicken thighs. This has become our regular competition cook, but I am planning to cook two briskets in the future.

During the overnight hours, Willy B rolled in. He's Will Breakstone, who owns his own Q place on Long Island and I met at the New Paltz event last year. He's a cool guy, and he came over to our site for a beer after he finally made it up. Willy B is the type of guy that people gravitate towards. Before long, we had around 10 people on our site, drinking, laughing and having a great time. Looking forward to hoisting a few with Willy B again at New Paltz.

Everything went amazingly smooth Sunday morning. This was my 7th KCBS competition, so I have my processes pretty much down. Everything got in the cookers on time, and for the most part I was happy with the results.

First was chicken. I was happy with the flavor, but we had come up with a great system of crisping the skin before turn ins, and I didn't stick to it exactly. The result was rubbery skin on some of the entries. Most scores were decent, but one judge gave me a 7-4-5. Thanks pal... Chicken I believe was 15th place.

Ribs. Ahh, the ribs. I practiced ribs numerous times this winter and spring, and they're right where I want them to be. I thought the tenderness was perfect, and the scores backed it up. Ribs were 2nd place.

Pork came next. I'm extremely happy with the pork these days. I have come up with the rub-injection-smoke-sauce combo that I want. Pork was 4th place and our second call.

Last was brisket. Many people who tried our brisket said that it had great flavor. Unfortunately, it was a little tough, so I knew it would be trouble. Brisket was 19th place. Oh well.

Overall, I was happy with the results. Obviously, I want to win every contest we enter, but to get two calls and finish 7th overall out of 36th place is pretty good. I know what needs to be done to improve for this week in Lake Placid. Also, we will have Cristiaan there as another set of hands, so we should be poised to have a great weekend.

A big congrats goes out to Sean McCabe and Q Ball, who won grand champions for the event. Those guys are a whole lot of fun, and clearly Sean is cranking out some great Q in his assortment of Big Green Eggs. We were two sites away from them, and had a lot of laughs with them over the weekend.

Thanks to Mike of Lakeside Smokers for all the things we forgot to bring that he lent us, including but not limited to: foil, extension cords, twist ties and countless uses of his ladder. Also, thanks to Boneyard Smokers, who lent me the grill grates for their smoker after I left mine next to the trailer while packing.

Now, we move on to Lake Placid. We're leaving Thursday night and driving most of the way there. We'll motel it and head into Lake Placid in the AM. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

New Hampshire

Had a great time in New Hampshire at the Rock-n-Ribfest this past weekend. We got calls for 2nd place ribs and 4th place pork. The new camper worked out awesome. I'll post a full report in the next few days.

Q Haven In The News

We leave for our first BBQ competion of the summer in two days, and the planning is underway in earnest. We got a write-up in our local paper today, click the link below to read it.

Norwich Bulletin Story

If you don't have anything to do, come up and see us at the New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest this weekend. There is a full slate of teams, and a lot of entertaining stuff, including rides and games for the kids, and lots of live bands all weekend. More info about the event is at the link below.

New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest

Getting Ready

The beginning of our summer BBQ season is just around the corner. Our first cook off will be next weekend in Merrimack, New Hampshire, the Rock-n-Ribfest at the Anheuser Busch Brewery. I just can't wait to be there. I am having severe problems focusing on or thinking about anything else these days.

The boxes of sauce, rub, water pans and other assorted competition items have been pouring in. We closed on our new trailer this week, and are picking it up this weekend. Our BBQ Brethren banner arrived this week too, which will surely bring a lot of new people from the forum to our competition site to say hello. I know a lot of "Brethren" will be at New Hampshire, including Mike from Lakeside Smokers, Chris from iQue, Lunchmeat, Militant Squatter aka Vinny from Bad Bones BBQ, Willy B and I'm sure plenty of others not immediately coming to mind.

There is so much nervous excitement about the upcoming season. We had some success early, winning New Hampshire last year, but I still feel we are nowhere near being part of the elite of the BBQ circuit. Winning one competition does not get us to that status. We did take reserve grand champions at the unsanctioned Winter Sizzler in January, our last Q event. Hopefully that is a sign that New Hampshire last year was not a fluke.

The trailer-toy hauler should make a big difference for us. The one thing that was extremely difficult for us last year was the weather. It seemed to rain heavily every event, so we would get soaked, would sleep in rain soaked tents and just be uncomfortable. This will take the weather out of the equation, and allow us to enjoy ourselves at all events.

In the future, the trailer will allow us to hit events farther away from home. Next year, we plan to look for a couple of events we probably wouldn't do without it.

I think our BBQ recipes are ready. I can't wait to start cooking.

"The Trailer"

Last year, we purchased a Ford Explorer with the goal of being able to tow a trailer to BBQ competitions. Once we had the SUV, we began the process of trying to figure out what to drag along behind us. Our Explorer is only rated to tow 7,100 pounds, so we were limited as to what we could pull.

The first thing we considered was a pop up camper.

You may have seen these, they unfold to provide a little sitting area, and the sides pop out into beds. After looking at a few of these, we decided this was not the way to go. Number one, very little storage area, also no shower, which is something Sheila has lamented not having at other events. So that was out.

Next, we considered a cargo, or utility trailer.

This is something we considered because it would not cost a lot of money, and would allow us to keep all of our cookers and eqipment in the same place, and easily load and unload when we go to events. We decided not to go this route, because it really didn't provide much more than cargo hauling. It would not deal with the fact that I was tired of paying for hotel rooms so we could at least shower and feel somewhat human during competitions.

When I started this process, I knew very little about RV's, camping or trailers. I had no idea that there were som many different types of RV's, Class A, B, C, fifth wheel, pop up, travel trailer, etc. Then I discovered the toy hauler.

A toy hauler is a trailer that combines the comforts of an RV with the ability to bring gear. While these are usually used for quads, go carts, motorcycles, etc, I said "why not use it for our cookers and other competition equipment?" It was then that I decided to start looking at toy haulers as a realistic option for us.

That raised a whole new group of questions, espeically which one to buy? How much to spend?

I started by looking on Ebay. For those of you who are not familiar, Ebay is a great place to shop for things, especially big ticket items. Unlike RV dealer web sites, they post tons of pictures, so you can really learn about different products. I don't think I would ever make such a major purchase on Ebay, but it is great for research. It was there that I found a toy hauler called the Coachmen Blast 150 MPH.

This one jumped out at me for several reasons. One, it is only 15 feet, 19 feet including the hitch. So this will fit in any normal 20 foot by 20 foot competition site, leaving room for our cookers and a pop up tent. Also, it has a shower and marine toilet. In addition, not only does it feature heat, air conditioning and a small kitchen with a large fridge, it has two couches that fold into beds, and an electric track queen bed that comes down from the ceiling.

I decided that this would be the perfect unit for us. It's a utility trailer, but also has the comforts of home. It removes the weather as a factor in competitions. It brings functionality and comfort at the same time, and is affordable enough that it doesn't break our bank. We will no longer have to get hotel rooms at competitions. Sold.

Click HERE to see one on Ebay with a lot more pictures and info.

We should be picking it up next week, in plenty of time for our next competition, which is the New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest June 22nd through the 24th. This has me so excited to get back out there. June 22nd can't get here soon enough!

Getting Ready For The Season

Sorry I have been MIA for a while. Been taking a little break from writing and getting recharged for the season.

We are really excited to get the year started. We had originally planned to start our official Q season in Rhode Island on May 19th and 20th. However, that event was postponed or cancelled, so that one is out. We had hoped to do Lime Rock, but have decided that it is not the right event for us this year. I hope it goes well for the sake of those competing there.

So, our first event will be the New Hampshire Rock-n-Ribfest on June 22nd and 23rd. We won grand champions there in our second ever event, so that eventually led to the decision to go back this year. That's even with a BBQ event being held in East Hartford the same weekend. East Hartford is only a half-hour from our house, too, which made the decision even more difficult. But New Hampshire won out. I'm sure there will be a full slate of teams, and my buddy Mike Boisvert from Lakeside Smokers will be there, too.

After New Hampshire, we are returning to Lake Placid June 29th through July 1st for the I Love BBQ Festival. For those who have never been to Lake Placid, it is really a magical place. It's a neat little town, Mirror Lake is stunning, and the people are great.

If anyone wants to write a blueprint on how to run a cooker friendly event, they should come to Lake Placid. Low entry fees. Large prizes. Great location. Free ice. Free breakfast. Organizers who go way beyond the call to make sure the teams have everything they need. I cannot recommend this event enough.

A sign that this event is turning into something special: CancerSucksChicago, the team that won the 2006 Jack Daniel's World Invitational BBQ, is driving half way across the country to cook at Lake Placid.

Funny story from last year; I was sleeping under our EZ-Up tent on an air mattress when I heard "oohhh an air mattress!" and before I knew it, an attractive young, and clearly drunk girl who was riding in the rodeo taking place nearby had jumped into the airbed with me. Was interesting to say the least.

After Lake Placid, I will likely cook a BBQ Brethren event July 21st and 22nd. Then, it's our main event of the season, the Harpoon New England Championships in Windsor, Vermont. I'll talk more about Harpoon as it gets closer, but this is the event we have wanted to get into for the last two years, and we're in.

Now that our season is starting to get going, I'll be posting a lot more. Check back once in a while! And don't forget to visit our team web site www.qhavenbbq.com for pictures and other team stuff.

Grillin' On The Bay

No Sleep Till Brooklyn!

We were unsure whether to travel down to Brooklyn Friday night so we wouldn’t have to get up at 3:30 AM to get to Grilling On The Bay Saturday. We decided not to spend $150 on a room and just get up early. Probably the right decision. One of the few right decisions of the contest.

We did pretty well at the event, got one call for 5th place fish, and took 7th overall out of 24 teams, including several very good ones. Not a bad showing, especially since grilling has been our Achilles heel in what has been a pretty successful run since Q Haven first competed last May.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It was just Sheila and I heading down to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn for the 2nd annual Grilling on the Bay. We were hoping Cristiaan would be joining us, but he couldn’t get out of work.

I was very excited to be cooking this contest. I was born in Manhattan, and lived either in New York City or the Westchester suburbs until I was 25 and moved to Connecticut, with the exception of my time in Alabama at college. I worked in Manhattan for more than four years, and have a real love of NYC. Also, an impressive slate of 24 teams made this an event not to be missed.

Since we weren’t going to stay overnight in Brooklyn, we had to get up at 3:30 AM in order to drive the nearly three hours to be on the site before seven AM. The only problem is that we were up until nearly 11 PM prepping for the contest, so we didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.

We got to the St Mark’s school at around 6:45, and it was great to see nice weather for the second straight week. We were sited next to the Anchormen, who we knew from other NEBS events, and Richie’s Rib Shack, who is an accomplished chili cook, but was trying competing in grilling for the first time.

I had a whirlwind two weeks leading up to this event. I was up in Vermont for a few days before Snowshoe, competed in that event, then was out a few nights leading up to Brooklyn celebrating, as my birthday was Tuesday. I made the decision of what to cook kind of last minute. While I feel our food was pretty good, we would have scored a lot better if I had stopped and thought a little harder when deciding what to cook.

The first category was chicken breast. I decided to do two barbecued whole chickens, then detach the breasts and slice them across the grain, turning in the juiciest middle slices. It ended up pretty good, and we took 6th in the category, just missing the call.

Next was fish. Last week at Snowshoe, I took 5th place by doing grilled swordfish, lightly rubbed with lemon pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and a little Old Bay, then topped with a garlic butter sauce with fresh parsley. I did the exact same thing in Brooklyn, with the exact same result, 5th place.

It was nice to walk again....

Next time, if the fish must be submitted in six pieces I will make sure they are more uniform.

Next was pork. I decided to do pork tenderloin with a maple glaze. However, since I had four tenderloins, I decided to throw a couple in the smoker and see how they came out. I liked the flavor, and decided to go with the smoked ones instead of the grilled. However, when I hit them with the maple glaze, it didn’t seem quite right. I had no choice but to turn them in, and it didn’t score too badly. Tenth place.

Finally, the last category was chef’s choice. I decided to do shrimp, and we themed the box with an Asian motif. Sheila came up with some great ideas, with a bed of Japanese rice noodles and little bundles of carrot, red pepper and baby corn tied together with scallions. The shrimp were grilled with a soy ginger glaze.

The judges loved the presentation (999887), but killed us on tenderness. The shrimp scored 18th.

I should have thought about this a little more. The first three categories were chicken, pork and fish. Hey dummy, what’s the natural fourth category? Beef!

Two of the top five finishers cooked steaks, and the winner made mini hamburgers. Bet those were some damn good burgers.

Also, the pork category allowed for ribs. That’s what I should have cooked. It was ribs that got me into competitive BBQ in the first place. A few of the top teams in pork cooked ribs, including category winner Lost Nation and fourth place Smoke In Da Eye, and probably a few others. I feel we would have given them a run for their money.

In any case, I always second-guess decisions made when they don’t lead to success. But I feel the seventh place finish is real progress. While barbecue is largely patience and practice, these grilling events require more culinary skill. It’s making me want to learn more about cooking, real cooking, which in turn will make the BBQ better too.

I’ll stop rambling. Big thanks to Robert Fernandez (White Trash BBQ) and Matt (Hampton Smoker), the organizers of the event. Also, congrats to Ray Depot and Bob, the Anchormen, who cooked some great food and were grand champions. I tried their pork, which was tenderloin with a mango stuffing, and it was excellent.

This was a great experience, and I will be sure to attend the 3rd annual Grillin’ On The Bay next year!

Snowshoe

There were a few firsts at the Snowshoe grilling challenge in Abington, Mass. For one, it was the first time I ever competed in an event completely by myself. Also, it was the first time that the weather was nice for the entire event.

Overall, the event was great. The Q Haven solo project got one call for 5th place fish, and finished 7th overall out of 16 teams.

I knew for a few weeks that I was going to have to cook by myself. Sheila had to go to Florida for work, and my brother could not get out of work. So, it was going to be just me. To offset this, I made sure to keep things simple, scaled back my setup and did all the prep work at home Friday. Look closely at the picture above, and you can see how bare bones I was.

It was great to arrive at a contest site with bright sunshine. Every event we cooked last year, it rained, usually like a monsoon, or there were high winds that caused other problems. The weather was no factor on this weekend. People told me that at last year's Snowshoe, temperatures were freezing, so we clearly lucked out.

The four grilling categories were fish, sausage, beef and vegetable. For the fish, I cooked a swordfish steak and a sea bass. I turned in the swordfish, as the sea bass didn't seem right to me. It did well, taking 5th place.

Next was sausage. I got the sausage from a place on Franklin Avenue in Hartford that makes all kinds of great Italian food. Used sweet Italian sausage. Didn't do well here, took 15th out of 16. Scores were mostly 7's and 8's, with a few 6's too. The other teams must have scored really high.

For beef, I cooked NY Strip steaks, and made sauce bernaise. The sauce came out great, but I wasn't completely happy with the meat. Took 8th in this category.

The final category was vegetable. I did grilled portobellos with melted cheese. They were really good, but only took 7th place.

I forgot my camera, so have no pictures of any of the turn ins. I will be sure to remember it next week at Grillin' on the Bay in Brooklyn, NY.

Overall, the event was fun and a good experience. It was great to see Mike and Kris from the Lakeside Smokers, along with the folks from I Smell Smoke! and Chris from iQue. Gary and Michelle Taft from Lunchmeat ran a great event! And the beer was really inexpensive at the VFW hall bar. Can't forget the Big Boned BBQ crew, who were sited next to me and are always fun to be around.

I Smell Smoke won the event, taking first place in three of four categories. Tried their beef rib after it was all over, was delicious. Been thinking about cooking beef rib since the trip to Holy Smokes last month, gotta try it!

Holy Smokes!

Went skiing up at Stratton in Vermont this past weekend. Had a great time, slopes were super crowded in the morning but conditions were great, especially once most of the people left after lunch. On the way home, we stopped in Hatfield, Massachusetts and met my friend Av Harris at Holy Smokes, a BBQ place in a former church.

Having read about Holy Smokes on Gary Goldblatt's BBQ site Pigtrip.net, I was really excited to try their beef rib. I was definately not disappointed.

We didn't go to Holy Smokes to review it, we were really just hungry and wanted to unwind for a while. It was also good to see Av, who may be known to some of you as a reporter for NPR on Conecticut and Massachusetts stations. But I will post some thoughts.

While this was not something that is a big deal, I feel it is worth mentioning, moreso as a former restaurant manager than anything else. We entered the restaurant and told them we needed a table for 6. Someone quickly set the table, and the woman at the desk said to me "do you want to have a seat?" I said yes, and went over with my brother's girlfriend to sit at the table.

After a minute, the woman came over and said that we coulnd't sit at the table until our entire party was there! So she made me and my brother's girlfriend Kim get up from our table and sit on the bench in the front of the restaurant! It was very embarrasing to us. The place was half empty at that moment, so there was no reason to treat us like that. We certainly would have ordered drinks and probably appetizers as we waited for Av to arrive. Instead, exhausted, we had to drag ourselves up front and wait for Av to get there. It was really pointless.

Once I identified myself as a fellow BBQer to pit boss/owner Louis Ekus, aka Papalou, we were treated very well. Papalou was really friendly and more than willing to talkabout his joint, his cooking processes and philosophies about Q. We really enjoyed him. He also bought us an order of wings. They were smoked, and had a great spicy honey glaze. Definatey try the wings if you visit.

Av, Cristiaan and myself all had the beef short rib. We each got a single rib, which was more than enough meat. It had a great smoked flavor, and was perfectly cooked. I got mine with sauce on the side, but Papalou recommends that you get it with sauce, as they finish it in the wood fired oven and it becomes like a candy crust. Will try it that way next time for sure.

Kim had the two meat platter. I tried the pork, which was sauced so I couldn't get a great read on the meat flavor. But it was good.

Av's two kids each had the kids rib platter. I got to take a bite of one of their ribs. They do St. Louis cut spares. I took one bite, and I found the rib meaty with a nice smoke flavor. The sides were good too, Cristiaan really enjoyed the roaster califlower. I had fries,which were just the way I like them, dark and flavorful.

They serve three different locally brewed beers, all of which were good. I also had some sweet tea, which was excellent.

Despite the rough start, we had a really nice time at Holy Smokes. Since it is so close to Interstate-91, we will definately visit again when returning from Vermont.

SouthernQue, Meriden CT

Just off East Main Street in Meriden, Connecticut, there’s a little slice of the south.

Don Washington has a trailer in the front yard of his home at 70 Pomeroy Street in Meriden, and operates his BBQ business called SouthernQue from there. I read about the place two years ago, and have been stopping by whenever I am in the area since. It is located very close to Interstate-91 and Route 15, ez-off, ez-on as they like to say.

The BBQ served by SouthernQue is a lot more of what you would expect from a trailer along a state road between Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, not a side road in Yankee-land. But if you’re looking for something different from most of the other northern retail BBQ offerings, you should make this one of your stops.

After years working for jet engine maker Pratt and Whitney, Don Washington fulfilled a dream and opened his BBQ trailer in his driveway. His home is zoned commercially, which allows him to run the business there. However, he was shut down for a few months last year when the city deemed that he needed a zoning variance. He got it, and is now going strong.

Don Washington

Washington has a serious Q setup. He has a Southern Yankee trailer, equipped with a full commercial kitchen and a major league smoker. The rig can cook more than 75 racks of ribs, around 500 pounds of shoulder or two whole hogs at once. It’s a rotisserie smoker, fueled completely with hickory logs.

The Trailer

The first few times I visited, I only got ribs. The ribs are definitely the star of the show at SouthernQue. They are nicely spiced, and have an extremely strong smoky flavor, as they are smoked for more than six hours. They only do spares, which are cooked untrimmed then cut down after cooking. The sauce can be served on the ribs or on the side. It’s an excellent tangy tomato vinegar sauce. I got mine on the side this time so I could really taste the meat.

My visit this past Saturday, I got a half rack of ribs, and a half pound each of pulled pork and brisket. The brisket is a relatively new menu addition.



Every time I have visited SouthernQue, the ribs have been consistently good. This time was no exception. The smoky meat and sweet tang of the sauce are a perfect compliment. These are true southern ribs. They normally come with sauce, I asked for it on the side.

The Ribs

The pulled pork is another place where Washington excels. The meat has a great smoky taste, and the sauce again is a fine compliment. I’ve had the pulled pork sandwiches here in the past, and they’re outstanding.

Pulled Pork

I tried the brisket for the first time. It was good, but some of the pieces were a little tough. I know this is the hardest of the meats to get right. There were only a few tough pieces, the rest was pretty tender and had a nice flavor.

Brisket

SouthernQue also has sides, including potato salad, coleslaw and collard greens. They’re only open Thursday through Saturday, with the occasional Sunday, from 11AM to 7PM. It’s mostly take out, but there are a couple of picnic tables if you want to eat on site.

Overall, I really enjoy visiting the trailer in Meriden. Now that I have moved to the eastern part of Connecticut, I don’t have as many opportunities to visit. But every time I do stop by, I see that the lines are getting longer, the number of regulars are on the rise, and the business is starting to take off. It’s always great to see someone succeed in the business of BBQ. I tried to talk Don into competing on the circuit sometime. He would do well.

If you’re on the road, make an effort to stop by and try some of this unique BBQ. You will not find anything quite like it in the Northeast.

Daisy May's BBQ

***Note: I wrote this back in December but forgot to post it***

Last Friday, we made our annual trip to New York City for the holiday season. Every year, we make the pilgrimage into Manhattan, go fight the obnoxious crowds at the Rockefeller Center to see the tree, and usually sample one of the fine restaurants the greatest city in the world has to offer. Rather than visit Les Halles, Gramercy Tavern or Union Square Café, we decided to visit the establishment of a fellow BBQ competitor.

We have wanted to visit Daisy May’s BBQ for some time now. I first read about Adam Perry Lang in Food and Wine magazine a while back, and finally had the chance to meet him when he kicked our butts at the Hudson Valley Ribfest in New Paltz in August. I only spoke to him briefly then, and met him again at the Jack.

Adam Perry Lang

Adam is not your regular BBQ competition cook. Most of them are a lot like me: fat guys who cooked so many racks of ribs that they got it down to a science, then realized we could gather with other fat guys, cook, eat, drink, camp, eat some more, cook some more, then collect small checks and cheap plastic trophies for our efforts. (Apologies to the in shape BBQ cooks.) Adam is a real chef, CIA grad, French trained, having cooked at arguably some of the best restaurants in NYC, including Restaurant Daniel under Chef Daniel Boulud, LeCirque and Chantrelle.

Adam is not a cook. He’s a chef. A very good one.

That being said, I really wanted to try his BBQ. I made sure not to eat a lot, so I could really feast when we got to Daisy May’s, which is his joint in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.

Talk about cross promotion!

Being it was a Friday night, I expected the place to be busy. It was surprisingly quiet, which I believe had a lot to do with the location at 11th Avenue and 46th Street. The restaurant is located in an industrial area, largely surrounded by car dealerships. I remarked to Sheila that if his place was three blocks east and had a bar, it would probably be mobbed 24/7. They probably do a pretty brisk lunch take out business though.

We missed Adam, as we arrived at 6:30 and the guy at the counter said he had left for the day.

The Counter

The layout is cafeteria style, you order in a line, then pick up your food either to go or to sit in the picnic tables located in the new dining area. The area was empty, but it appeared that they had a group coming in a little later because there were reserved signs placed on the tables while we were eating.

The Dining Area

We ordered the Kansas City sweet and sticky ribs, a brisket sandwich, chili, creamed corn and mashed potatoes.

The Ribs

Everything we had was delicious. The ribs were spares, meaty and smoky with just enough sauce. The meat was chopped on the brisket sandwich, and it was also very good. I was really blown away by the sides. The corn was the best I have ever had, and the chili was outstanding.

I wish I had tried the beef rib. I’ve read on a few other sites that it’s really good. We ate most of our food, brought some home, talked to some of the workers for a while, bought a few t-shirts and headed out.

I’m glad we made the trip. Adam's food lived up to our expectations, and then some. I highly recommend that if you're in the city, stop by and give his Q a try. You won't regret it. He also has two carts that he sends out into Midtown, 7th Avenue and 50th Street, and to 40 Wall Street in the financial district.

For more information visit www.daisymaysbbq.com