Tuesday, June 15, 2010

We're moving

In the next few days I'm moving this blog to a Wordpress blog away from the Google based system. Please change your bookmark, if you have me bookmarked, to

BFDude.com or BunrtFoodDude.US

See you guys there!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

June 6th

Let us not forget the sacrifices of "America's greatest generation". God bless them all.


General Dwight D. Esienhower - Allied Forces Supreme Commander



Franklin Delano Roosevelt - President of the United States

Friday, June 4, 2010

Freaky Friday

As I surf the Blogosphere, I've noticed that some of my fellow bloggers have set aside some days for certain things. Such as "Wordless Wednesday" or "Federalist Friday". So I decide to do a "Freaky Friday" entry.

Don at the "Beyond Left Field" blog wrote about getting close to a ghost. Here is a picture of something, maybe a ghost.

The Dudette (Pat my wife) and I went on a ghost hunt earlier this year. The locations was the Porter County Jail in Valparaiso Indiana. The jail is now a museum. The photo was taken on the upper floor of the jail/museum. The room at one time was side room converted to an office several years ago but then abandoned.

It was about 10:30 at night, the lights were out and we were in almost total darkness. Pat was taking pictures without a flash. She stuck her hand inside the door way of the room and pushed the button. We heard the auto focus trying to focus on something. When we saw the picture it was a WTF moment. The room was pitch black. We saw nothing and there was no flash.

We have no idea what it is/was. It appears to emit some sort of light that illuminated the back wall. Later that evening, we were in the attic. I felt a light tapping on my right upper arm. Also, I get one EVP on my digital recorder. It is considered to by a class b EVP that said "they're hiding".


Ghost?

Do I believe in ghosts? Well, I do believe in God, so I have to accept the fact there is at least one Holy Spirit or most often referred to as the Holy Ghost. Now, the supernatural is another thing...

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Tuesday!

I woke up this morning and remembered I didn't have to go to work! So I did some laundry and surfed the net. I thought I'd start June off with a laugh so I'll share this Carol Burnett out take with you. Its Tim Conway's elephant story. Enjoy!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day

Let me begin with thanking all the veterans (past and present) and our fighting forces wherever they may be for their military service. You guys are the greatest!

Don Chute has a great little video with Gene Simmons that you all should see. A tribute to all the branches of the military. Great music for great people!

Now I know you are all wondering how I did in Westmont's Red, White & BBQ contest. Well, the answer is not to good. We were 31st place over all out of 52 teams.

However, my ribs did not come in last place. Let me explain that last comment. The first year we competed there, my ribs cost me a Grand Championship. We had a 3rd place chicken, a 1st place pork and a 4th place beef brisket. My ribs were dead last which put us 7th place over all. The next year my ribs were 2nd from the bottom and last year they were 3rd from the bottom. This year they were 35th out of 52.

Oh well, may next year.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

BBQ Stadium, Westmont IL.

Ahhh! Its Saturday! One week from today I'll be back on the floor of BBQ Stadium (Ty Warner Park in Westmont Il). The smell of napalm in the morning...opps I mean the smell of smoking hickory and oak in the morning. Don't ya' just love it? Will Dr Porkenstein do a 4pete? Is this be a come back to competition win for the Porkrastinators? Will Uncle Bub give out his secret recipe for fried Mac & Cheese? I guess we'll have to wait for the smoke to clear next Sunday.

If you didn't know, this is a Kansas City BBQ Society sanctioned contest. We have to cook 4 meats and they are chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder (picnic, butt or both) and beef brisket. The hard part is the turn in times on Sunday. The chicken is due in at noon, the ribs at 12:30, pork at 1pm and brisket at 1:30pm.

I don't know exactly how many teams will be there. Last year they said that they were capping the number of entries at 48 or 54 teams. Also last year they had entries from as far away as New York and five different states. The current point leader (Quau) in the KCBS team of the year standings will be there. CancerSucksChicago.com the 2006 Jack Daniels World Champion will be there.

If you're in the neighborhood stop down and say hi. Also, on Sunday, after turn in, most teams will put out samples of their Championship BBQ. Don't expect the samples to last too long as there are a lot of great tasting food.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

All Texas Bloggers & Readers

Please, Please, Please! Help.

Ray Lampe's (AKA Dr BBQ) BBQ trailer was stolen last night (night of May 11th). Here is the note I got..

My trailer was stolen last night at a hotel in Wichita Falls, TX. It's a 14ft Wells Cargo with Green Flames on the side, a kitchen and Big Green Egg in the back. Anybody sees it email me at drbbq@hotmail.com

Please keep an eye out for the missing trailer and pass the word.

Thank you for your help.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Betty White on SNL

Betty White on SNL talking about FaceBook..

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I've been lost and now...

I'm found. LOL

Sorry for being away so long. I had a lot of things to do. I've been trying to get the proverbial ducks in order for two things.

1. We had our first BBQ contest May 1 & 2 in Liberty Indiana. We had to get the trailer ready and buy supplies. You'd be surprised about all the things that needed stocking up, especially pellets. BTW we came in 14th out of 38. Not bad for our first outing of the year.

2. During the month of April I was busy visiting the pension board, human resources (personnel dept.) and various other assorted departments.

It is official, I'll be retired as of May 28th, 2010! I'll have 30 years and 2 months of service with the Cook County Sheriff's department. I figured that after 2 trips to the hospital and being sued once I shouldn't press my luck anymore. Its time to try and enjoy life.

Will I have more time to do BBQ contest? Maybe. The cost to do a contest isn't cheap. The Dudette will continue working for a little while but I look for her to "retire" after the first of the year.

My "honey do" list is growing, so I'll have lots to do in my spare time.

Once again sorry for the long delay. I'll have the marinade part up in a few days.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Brine now and marinade later ;-P

Hey gang! I got an email from Ted in Menomonee Falls Wi. Ted was asking about brines and marinades. He wanted to know what was the difference between them and when to use each one.

To put it simply, a brine is water, salt and sugar and a marinade is an acid, oil and seasonings.

I'm no food scientist so I can't give you the scientific explanation as to why brining works. So I'll give you the Dude's version. Ready? Splish, splash your meats takin' a bath, all on a Saturday night. Rub a dub dub add you special rub and we'll be gourmet eatin' tonight.

Seriously, the salt, water and sugar combine and does something chemically to the meat. It makes the meat able to absorb and retain the solution. If you add different seasonings to the brine it will be carried into the meat adding extra flavor. The benefits of brining is that the meat will seem juicier and tender. You can slightly over cook brined meats without it drying out. Also, it seems like brined meat cooks a little faster.

When you go to the store, check out chicken. Look at the label. It may say 3% solution added or 10% solution by volume on the package or label. Look at some prepackaged ribs. It may say enhanced or something similar. The solution added to both is a brine with other seasonings.

What meat works best with brining? Usually lean meats. Turkey, chicken, pork (ribs, tenderloin, etc) or seafood work best.

Before I forget, if you brine, don't add any salt to your rub or seasonings after brining. Also, if you are on a reduced sodium diet I don't suggest you eat the brined food.

How about some...

Beer Brined Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops about 1 ½ inches thick
1 ¾ cups water
1 ¾ cups dark beer
3 tablespoons Kosher or Sea salt
2 ½ tablespoons mild molasses
2 teaspoons black pepper
4 cloves garlic minced.

To make the brine put the water, beer salt and molasses in a large bowl and mix well. Make sure the salt and molasses are mixed into the liquid.

Trim pork chops of excess fat and place into large resealable plastic bag. Pour brine over the meat, seal the bag and mix the brine and meat around to make sure the meat is covered in the brine. Put the bag into the fridge and let the meat soak over night or 24 hours.

Prepare grill with medium hot coals spread around a drip pan in the center.

Drain chops and pat dry. Mix pepper and garlic together and rub into the chops.

Place chops on grill over drip pan, cover and cook 30 minutes, turning once about half way through. Cook until the internal temperature is 160 degrees or the juices run clear.

Enjoy.

My take on marinades in a couple of days.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

For all my Cubs friends.

I got this in an email and decided to share it with you. Yep, I'm a Southsider. Go White Sox!

Photobucket

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Pitmasters New Season

I received an email today. I checked it out and it is a legitimate request. As a matter of fact several of my competition BBQ friends have received the same letter. Here it is..

It's official. Our new format features FOUR different pit masters competing in EACH episode. We are looking to augment our cast from last season and welcome all interested cooks to throw their aprons in the ring. Send your audition tape/DVD, selling us on why you should be picked to compete against the best. To: Lindsay Freed c/o Original Media, 38 E. 29th St., 8th FL, NY, NY 10016. Or, you can email a file of your audition to bbqpitmasters@originalmedia.com. Send your ?'s there as well. Shooting schedule April 30th - June26th. Good luck and see you on the trail!

I wonder if I should send in a DVD or file. I'm a low level player on the contest circuit. Granted, we've done fairly well considering we only do 7 or 8 contests a year. I've competed in some of the same contests as Johnny Trigg. As a matter of fact he and Rod Gray (Pellet Envy 2009 KCBS Team of the Year) taught me a few things. I've competed against both of them.

Pat (the Dudette) is leaving it up to me to decide. Pat has stood behind me in every stupid thing I've tried since we got married many years ago.

If I decide to do it, what do I put in the audition video? Cooking? Just a bit about our team? What?

P.S. Yes Don, I'll live.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Went to Doctor!

Yes, I went to see the Doctor today. I had a 2:15 appointment, so I get there before 2, just in case she was running early. SILLY ME! I do the co-payment insurance card thing and went to sit down. I must have nodded off but I didn't think so at the time.

I heard my name called and went into the exam room. Her assistant asked the standard million questions. Then I was told that the Doctor was busy but I was next. Then I went back out into the waiting room. Maybe I nodded off and maybe I didn't. Finally I get into see the Doctor. That visit lasted maybe 10 minutes.

I walked out of the office about 2 1/2 hours after I went in. I see a parking ticket on my car. It seems I over stayed my metered time. I didn't think I was in the office waiting that long. That is why I figured I nodded off.

It was a double bummer day! A parking ticket and I get to go back to work tomorrow.

I want to thank my Entrecard friends for the get well wishes.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Sorry

Sorry about not posting. I've haven't been feeling well the last couple of days. I will post soon. I promise

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Cookers

I believe it was Mama Asid from Mama Asid's Entrepod Asked about ceramic cookers. I do not have any personal experience with them. I do know that a lot of the competition cooks use them for cooking their chicken.

In the past I have used 3 Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) cookers in competition. They are "bullet" smokers like the ceramic cookers like the Big Green Egg or Komodo. Unlike the ceramic cookers the WSM has to be insulated from the wind. A barbecue friend of mine Ray Lampe aka Dr BBQ uses the BGE as his main competition cooker.

Currently I am using the Fast Eddy Cooker (FEC100) made by CookShack. Its not that I didn't like the WSMs because I do. However, on the competition circuit, after two or three days, picking the WSMs up and putting them in the trailer along with tables, chairs, canopies, etc got to be a chore. The FEC stays in the trailer. BTW the FEC100 is a pellet cooker. It uses food grade cooking pellets in place of charcoal to generate cooking heat.

I have not been paid for any of the endorsements of the above cookers or web sites. The opinion are my own.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

CancerSucksChicago BBQ Team

The Dudette (Pat) and I just spent an enjoyable weekend at a barbecue cooking class taught by Scottie Johnson and Mike Wozniak. Scottie is the head cook of the CancerSucksChicago.com BBQ Team. Mike Wozniak is the head cook of the Quau (pronounced Q-Wow) BBQ Team.

Scottie started the class by giving us his background in competition barbecue. Then he went into the sad reason on how he named his BBQ team. His wife Corliss died from cancer 7 years ago this month, leaving him with 2 young daughters. On the eve of his winning the Jack Daniels World Invitational BBQ contest his Father died from cancer. Through out the years, Scottie has dedicated his free time to raising awareness and money for cancer research.

Mike is a perennial top 10 cook in the Kansas City Barbecue Society team standings. A few years ago Mike tied for team of the year with Mike Davis of Lotta Bull BBQ Team. Unfortunately KCBS says there can be only one number 1. So Quau lost to Lotta Bull.

The object of this class was to raise money for cancer research, share information to help everyone cook better, network and have fun. I believe the class achieved all its objectives and then some.

Friday evening started with us being served dinner by Uncle Bubs Barbecue in Westmont. The food was great! As we ate Scottie showed us how to trim briskets and pork butts. I did learn a different way to trim pork. Then Mike and Scottie talked to us about chicken and its preparation. Scottie showed us his trimming of pork ribs. The class ended Friday evening about 10pm with Scottie putting the briskets and pork butts in his FEC100 cooker.

The morning began at about 6:30am with it snowing. Scottie showed us how he wraps his briskets and butts. Then Mike took over the class and show us his custom "Quau" cooker. It is one slick cooker. Then he worked on chicken and Cornish hens.

Mike and Scottie tried to do the class in "contest" time. They gave everyone in attendance the feel and flair of contest timing. Not everyone attending the class were contest cooks. There were some amateur or backyard cooks.

Knowledge, fun and food was shared by all. By the way, this class raised over $13,000 for cancer research.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Winter Burn 2010 Results

Well gang, the old Dude didn't fare to well at the Winter Burn. The best I did was 7th place in pork. There were 17 teams out in the bowling alley parking lot. There were 18 paid teams but one team had to back out at the last minute. BTW, this was the 5th year for the Winter Burn.

Winners...

Over all
1> Porkrastinators
2> Brew B Que
3> Mike Rib BBQ

Sausage
1> Porkrastinators
2> Butt Smokers
3> Smoke Rings

Chicken
1> Porkrastinators
2> Brew B Que
3> KRE Smokers

Ribs
1> Mike Rib BBQ
2> Won't Get Smoke Again
3> KRE Smokers

Pork
1> Porkrastinators
2> Brew B Que
3> Ma & Pa Kettle

Now we have to look at our scores and see what needs to be changed. We experimented with different recipes and sauces this time out. Back yard contests like this is the perfect time to try out new recipes and sauces.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Winter Burn 2010

You've probably have watched the countdown clock above and wondered, "What the heck is a Winter Burn 2010?" Well... Winter burn is a one day barbecue contest between old and new friends in a bowling alley parking lot. More of a bragging rights thing.

For the last several years backyard and professional barbecue cooks get together to cure their cabin fever and to raise money for N.O.A.H.

This year we will be 12 to 17 teams cooking sausage, chicken, pork ribs and pork loin/tenderloin. There will also be a peoples choice chili contest. Whew! That's a lot going on in one day.

The teams will be arriving about 6am and the first turn in will be at 1:30pm and every half hour thereafter. If you want to talk barbecue, come early. If you want to taste some bodacious, and some not so bodacious, barbecue come closer to 1:30pm.

February 14th (Yes, Valentine's Day)

River Rand Bowl
194 S River Road
Des Plaines IL 60016

Phone: 847/299-1001

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Official totals are in!

As the heading says the Official 2009 Totals by the Kansas City Barbecue Society are in. They keep track of over 4,600 member teams in KCBS sanctioned contest.

Over all we are number 288! I think that is pretty darn good considering we did only 7 contests in 2009. Some teams have cooked in more than 30 contest and your standings are based on your 10 bests contest. So all things considered we didn't do to bad.

Individual categories..

Brisket... 170
Ribs... 267
Chicken... 282
Pork Shoulder... 380

To your right you'll see the Pickled Pig Power Rankings. The Pickled Pig keeps track of all teams participating in contests. KCBS keeps track of member teams only.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Wing Things

The super bowl is coming soon! The posse is coming over to watch the game and what are you going to serve? Are you going to a Super Bowl Tailgate Party and need something quick and easy?

How about doing wing? They are simple, easy and not too expensive.

Simple Sweet & Tangy Wings
ingredients
3.5 pound chicken wings (about 25) tips removed
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (to taste)

Preparation
1. Mix everything except wings in a bowl. Reserving 1/4 cup
2. Add wings and toss to coat well, leave sit 15 to 20 minutes
3. Grill over a medium low 2 zone fire, covered 25 - 30 minutes turning every so often. If wings appear to be over cooking (read burning) move to cool side of the fire.
4. Baste with reserved marinade during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Note: If you don't have a grill, you may cook these in your broiler.

Grill temperatures can be judged by holding your hand about 2 inches about the grill grate.

* Very hot: You can hold your hand at grill level only 1 to 2 seconds.
* Hot: You can hold your hand at grill level only 2 to 3 seconds.
* Medium-hot: You can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds.
* Medium: You can hold your hand at grill level only 4 to 5 seconds.
* Medium-low: You can hold your hand at grill level only 5 to 6 seconds.
* Low: You can hold your hand at grill level only 6 to 7 seconds.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Thank A Soldier (long post)

I got an email from Dave Murphy at Thank A Soldier Network. Dave is in Calgary Canada and he started ThankASoldier.net to thank the men and women in military service. He wants to let them know that we support them. We may or may not support the war but we support them for doing their jobs. Since he says it better than I can I'll post his email here. If you can please donate some of your time and send a picture. He is not asking for money.

Begin
So The Gratitude Project has been getting some amazing response so far but I've gotten a lot of emails and messages on Facebook and Twitter from people asking how they can help well here it is.

What would be great is if could go to your local newspaper, radio or TV stations and click on the "Contact Us" link, if they have a web form fill it out and below you will find our official press release and what I am asking you to do is copy and paste it to an email (or web form) with the full message aside from this part.

If you do this can you email info@thankasoldier.net and let me know who you've sent it to or leave a comment on this bulletin,
Thanks

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCDseAUV6oc
AND WATCH THE VIDEO! l:)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy and paste the below to your local papers, radio & tv stations sites
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am forwarding you this on behalf of Thankasoldier.net and the gratitude project for further information please see the contact information below the press release.
Thank You
(Insert your name)

Thankasoldier.net is very excited to announce The Gratitude Project, a series of YouTube videos showing a collage of images from supporters of our men and women in uniform from all countries of the coalition. Thank A Soldier started as a ‘Cause’ page on Facebook and in just over a year has surpassed 3.4 Million members from all over the world.

Too often you hear “If you support the troops, you support the war”, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, it is about our men and women from all branches of the force and from all allied nations doing their job. This project is for our troops assisting with disaster relief in Haiti, assisting with the fight against piracy in Somalia, on guard here at home ready to go when needed.

We have received tremendous support with this project too, most recently Rock Legend Gene Simmons and his wife; Shannon Tweed submitted a photo holding a "Thank You" sign with Gene saluting. Other organizations that support our troops in various ways have come onboard as well, such as Operation Gratitude and Hero to Hero USA & Canada.

Showing gratitude to our men and women doesn't cost a penny. All you have to do is take a photo that says "Thank You" and people can interpret that however they wish. Once you take the photo we ask that you send it to thankyou@thankasoldier.net and it will be featured in the video.

We have received photos from all over the world, United States, Canada,Britain, Australia, and even Argentina and Turkey, truly amazing! Also as a nice surprise, we have received over 40 photos from Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who have heard about this project and are sending us "Thank You for the support" photos.

Our promotional video on YouTube had over 7000 views the first week and its picking up steam fast, to view the video search YouTube for "The Gratitude Project - Presented by Thank A Soldier" or go to the direct
link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCDseAUV6oc

Brief history of my Support Our Troops efforts:
2007 - Tim Horton’s for our troops was started and have sent over 40,000 cups of free coffee to soldiers
2007 - Operation Pen Pal launched and to date have paired over 7000 people with soldiers as pen pals
2008 - Petitioned to Canada post for a support our troops stamp and it was released in Oct 2009
2008 - Support & networking site launched for families of military personal

2009 - Thank A Soldier cause launched and has 3.4 Million members to date

2009 - www.thankasoldlier.net designed and donated by Chris Shave of mister six studios

2009 - Thankasoldier.net remains advertising free & donation free
2010 - The Gratitude Project Launched
For more details contact: info@thankasoldier.net

Dave Murphy - Creator and Founder of Thankasoldier.net

Calgary, Alberta CANADA

Monday, January 18, 2010

A butt is not a ham!

There has been a question about a pork butt. "What is it?" Well, its not what you think. A pork butt, sometimes called a Boston butt is actually from the shoulder of a pig. A pork shoulder is usually divided into two portions. The upper portion is called the butt and the lower portion is called a picnic.

The butt is slightly harder to cook properly. It contains five different muscle groups that cook differently. The K.C.B.S. rules state that pork butt shall not be parted while cooking. Or something to that effect. This means that for competition cooking you can't cut the butt into different pieces to cook each muscle properly.

I don't know why they have these names, especially calling it a Boston butt. BUT the butt of a pig is called a ham. So when you are eating ham you are eating the butt and when you eat the butt you are eating the shoulder.

Thankfully, the ribs are called ribs. Baby back and spare ribs are not what they sound like. Baby back ribs are also called loin back ribs. You've heard the expression, "Eating high on the hog"? Well, they are talking about the baby back or loin back ribs. Spare ribs aren't really extra ribs. They are the part of the rib closest to the breast bone.

I had some pics of what I'm talking about. As soon as I find them I'll post them to hopefully make this easier to under stand.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Mid-January

Its mid January and I haven't posted anything! Am I getting lazy or what?

My niece asked me to cook for her sons' Blue and Gold Cub Scout dinner. After talking it over with Pat we decided to cook pulled pork now. We won't be able to make it to the dinner so we cooked about 75 pounds of raw pork butts. It cooked down to about 35 pounds of cooked, pulled meat. The cooked meat is in vacpac bags and sitting in the deep freezer. In case you are interested, the butts were rubbed with SuckleBusters Hog Waller. Its good stuff for ribs and pork butts (not a paid advertisement).