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Lamb Gyro Stack

Nov 15, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Take advantage of the incredible Trompo King and your Big Green Egg to make the best Gyros you've ever had.

Lamb Gyros served up at the Central Florida Fall Eggfest
These are just samples...not much beats a big meaty gyro, which we had for dinner with the leftovers. (We cooked this late in the day, so we were able to bring some leftovers home. That may have been intentional. lol)

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

A post shared by Matt and Anna Seguin (@thebbqnerds)

Print Recipe

Lamb Gyro Stack

The most delicious lamb gyros I've ever eaten.

Equipment

  • Trompo King
  • Big Green Egg
  • Instant Read Thermometer

Ingredients

Lamb Stack

  • 4-6 lb Boneless Leg of Lamb trimmed of visible thick fat, cut into ¼" pieces

Meat Marinade

  • 2-3 Bulbs Garlic pressed/chopped
  • ¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 2 tbsp Chopped fresh oregano I've use dried, too
  • 1 tbsp marjoram
  • 1 tbsp Chopped fresh rosemary I've used dried crushed
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp dried onion
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes

Tzatziki

  • 1 Medium 10oz cucumber
  • 16 oz Sour Cream Publix Brand is my favorite
  • 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Chopped fresh mint
  • 1 tbsp Chopped fresh dill
  • 1 bulb Garlic pressed/chopped
  • ½ tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Tabasco

Other Ingredients

  • 5 Sweet Onions chopped/sliced
  • 4 Delicious Tomatoes
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Pita/Naan whatever you want to wrap it with
  • Feta Cheese Optional
  • Hummus Optional

Instructions

Prepare Meat

  • As stated in the ingredients, remove thick visible fat from the lamb and slice it in ¼" thick or less slices. I've done this by hand, or used a deli slicer. Both work well. Cold meat slices much better.
  • Combine all Marinade ingredients and add sliced meat to bag/bowl. Mix well, and let sit overnight.

Tzatziki Sauce

  • Grate cucumber (I use a cheese grater)
  • squeeze grated cucumber with hands, removing as much water as possible
  • add a pinch of salt and put in a paper towel. Squeeze again, removing as much water as possible (you may need to do this a couple times)
  • Combine all of the Tzatziki ingredients and mix
  • salt as needed

Cook Time

  • Heat Big Green Egg to around 350-375F INDIRECT
  • Peel and cut an onion in half. Spike one half onto the bottom of the trompo king
  • Stack meat onto the spike, creating a beautiful stack of sliced, marinated lamb meat
  • Second half of onion completes the stack on top
  • Dice 2 onions and add to the bottom tray of the Trompo King (to soak up and cook in the juices dripping from the meat)
  • For medium rare, cook until 140 internal temperature (or slightly lower) and let it rest for a few minutes. (Cook to whatever temperature you like. You will be shaving off the outside and putting the rest of the meat back in the heat)
  • Shave off the outer layer of the meat
  • You may like the meat at 140-145 internal temperature. If it is a little cooler internal, you can put the stack back on the kamado and cook the meat some more, to the temperature you like for lamb.

Assemble Gyro

  • Assemble all ingredients and eat

Beaver Treats

Nov 13, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Everyone loves Bucee’s Beaver Nuggets…and Rice Krispy Treats. Combine both in these crazy decadent Beaver Treats!

Print Recipe

Beaver Treats

Cereal treats made with Bucee’s Beaver Nuggets!
Cook Time10 mins
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dessert

Ingredients

  • 16 oz marshmallows
  • 3-4 tbsp butter (I prefer salted, but unsalted works)
  • 1 bag Bucee’s Beaver Nuggets

Instructions

  • melt butter in a large pot over low to medium heat
  • Add marshmallows to melty butter and stir until they melt
  • Add beaver nuggets to melted buttery marshmallows and stir to coat them in sweet goo.
  • Line a casserole dish with wax paper if you have it, and lube with nonstick spray or butter. A large cookie tray works, too.
  • Pour gooey marshmallow coated nuggets into the casserole dish. Cool. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Voodoo Chef Burger Bash - Best Burger in Tampa Bay

Aug 13, 2022 · Leave a Comment

We won!

Our team, joined by Sam Creighton of Fish Hawk Pinch a Penny fame, won the most Voodoo Burger in Tampa Bay. We served what we called the Rockstar Burger!

It was a simple 80/20 blend of ground chuck seasoned with VooDoo Magic and reverse seared on a Big Green Egg over Jealous Devil charcoal and Bourbon Barrel Chunks. We added some pyrotechnics and torched some imported provel cheese on them, placed on a leaf of butter lettuce, and then topped with some VooDoo Fatboy sauce marinated quick pickles and W Sauce marinated purple onions. Our Euro Bake potato rolls were branded with a Star, in honor of Kiss's Star Child. What is a rockstar burger without the King of Rock and Roll...so we served the burgers accompanied by our favorite dessert - a Fat Elvis cookie.

VooDoo Spice Rubs
I actually have a leather making business and made these spice wraps for the VooDoo Chef!
Fat Elvis assembly station
mmmmmelted cheese
Rockstar burgers
Simple...delicious
This burger won the best burger in Tampa Bay! it was a Loco moco bueger. So Good!
I'm still thinking about this burger that the team next to us created. So good!!
branding!
We fed the LEGENDARY Miki Sudo! She was one of the judges! She let me hold her hot dog eating championship belt!!!

We won!!!

Apr 2, 2022 · Leave a Comment

We recently cooled/competed at the Sunshine Eggfest in Naples, Florida. It was a beautiful sunny day. We cooked Tres Leches Bread Pudding, Blue Balls, Italian Beef Stuffed Sausage Balls, a Philly Cheese Stack on the Trompo King, and, of course, Fat Elvises! We managed to get a sample of almost everything into the Judge's box to judge...and we won the amateur pitmaster prize! We got a bunch of fun Big Green Egg stuff, including a brand new Mini Max! We are so excited to cook on it!

I'll post a better wrap up later...but, so exciting!

2021 Central Florida Fall Eggfest

Nov 5, 2021 · Leave a Comment

On our way to the 2021 Central Florida Fall Eggfest. Anna I’d driving and I’m riding shotgun as we travel across the state in the rain with hopes of beautiful weather promised to us tomorrow. It should be a great day. We have great food on the menu and are hoping to see a lot of our friends. We are celebrating the joy of BBQ and cooking out with friends as much as we are promoting the Big Green Egg brand. I suppose that is what it is all about - getting folks excited about big green eggs, and we do really enjoy cooking on them. We will be making such an awesome variety of food tomorrow - I can’t wait.
the best thing about this Eggfest is that there is no voting, no competition, just people supporting eachother and enjoying good food. Don’t get me wrong, competitions are fun and it was GREAT being recognized as the Pittmasters choice at the Florida Gulfcoast Eggfest, but I’m not really a competitive guy. This Eggfest is really relaxing. It is set up right on the water at Wekiva island, fish and turtles all around us. Just a beautiful area.
I’ll hopefully put a video together of our experience this year, too.

Pig Newtons

Oct 13, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Gotta love the sweet savory goodness of a bacon wrapped fig. Well, this takes it in another direction, adding a little creamy spiciness of a jalapeño popper. Sweet savory and a little spicy - you really can’t go wrong with a Pig Newton


Print Recipe

Pig Newtons

fig Newton topped with cream cheese, jalapeño and wrapped with bacon.
Course: Appetizer, party, Snack, tailgate
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Bacon, big green egg, Cookie, fig newton, jalapeno

Equipment

  • Big Green Egg

Ingredients

  • 1 pack fig newtons
  • 1.5 lb bacon
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 6 whole jalapenos
  • 1 tbsp bbq rub

Instructions

  • Core jalapeños and cut into either diagonal rings or ½” thick strips
  • Add a schmear of cream cheese to the top of each fig newton
  • Place slice of jalapeño on cream cheese
  • Wrap each Newton with a ½ slice of bacon. I found that it works best to have the figgy side of the Newton facing out. Helps preserve the structural integrity of the Newton.
  • place wrapped Newtons on greased grill grate. I like to use either a greased metal mesh grate on top of a regular grate or a silicone mesh grate to make removal of the cookies easier.
  • Cook at 350F indirect for approximately 30 minutes, until the bacon looks good (dark/crisp)
  • Enjoy!

Notes

Another eggfest all star born from a hungry trip to the grocery store.  They were out of nutter butters, so I thought about what else would taste good wrapped in bacon. 

Philly Cheese Stack

Oct 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

If you want to pull something off your grill that has every instagrammer clambering for a photo, this is the meal for you. Meat transformed into art. An orgasm for the eyes. A beautiful stack of gooey cheesy steak. Not only that, but it tastes incredible, too!

We didn’t skimp on quality ingredients with the prime rib, fresh veggies, and two types of cheese.

The key to this feast is a cooking device called a Trompo King. Essentially a stainless steel platter with a vertical spike that allows you to stack your meat up high. The benefit in cooking this way is that as the meat cooks, juices seep down through the layers…until they end up in the pan, marinating the veggies. It’s just so good!
move used this many times to make Tacos al Pastor and Gyros….but we got creative this time with a take on a cheese steak…and it works so well.


Print Recipe

Philly Cheese Stack

eye catching crowd pleasing take on a Philly cheese steak that utilizes a Trompo King
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time2 hrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Barbecue
Keyword: cheese, keto, Philadelphia, potatoes, Sandwich, steak
Servings: 8 People
Cost: $100

Equipment

  • Trompo King
  • Big Green Egg

Ingredients

  • 6-7 lb prime rib roast
  • 5 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • 4 whole green peppers
  • 5 whole sweet onions
  • 1 lb sliced provolone cheese
  • 1 Lb mozzarella cheese
  • Steakhouse rub any salt/pepper/garlic rub
  • ¼ cup neutral cooking oil vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Slice prime rib into approximately ¼ inch slices (we use a deli slicer, or you can do it by hand)
  • Slice green peppers and all but one of the onions into rings. Keep outer few rings of onion (same size as pepper rings) to the side. Dice onion centers and tops and bottoms of peppers into approx ½” chunks
  • Dice washed potatoes into approx ½” cubes. Combine with diced peppers and onions.
  • Peel remaining onion and cut in half at equator. Skewer on Trompo King spike, flat side Up, as the base for the meat.
  • Toss vegetable mix with oil and steak seasoning and mound it to the top of the onion on the tray of the Trompo King (however much will fit)
  • Season slices of prime rib and start stacking it up on the Trompo King. I like to layer 2 slices of seasoned meat, then 2 rings of green pepper, 2 rings of onion, and a 2 slices of provolone cheese, followed by 2 more slices of meat. Don’t be afraid to push down on it to pack it tight.
  • Repeat the layers all the way to the top of the spike and finish with the other half of the onion, flat side down.
  • Cook indirect at 350F for approximately 2 hours, til potatoes are done. You may need to stir potatoes so they cook faster.
  • 15 minutes before you plan on taking the stack off the heat, remove the top onion and replace with a big ball of mozzarella. Cook for another 15 minutes, or until mozzarella melts down over meat.
  • Carefully remove from heat (there will be some liquid in the dish) and let cool/rest for 5 minutes. (People will need this time to admire the stack and take photos)
  • Using a sharp knife, shave meat down onto potato mix and serve (either on a plate by itself or on bread)
  • Once you shave down to the doneness of steak you prefer, you can put the stack right back on the grill to cook some more. Top with another block of cheese if you desire.

Basic Balls

Oct 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

.

Ah, fall is upon us. There is a nip in the air, cinnamon brooms are by the checkout lines at Publix, and everyone is starting their days off with Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
I wanted an eggfest dish that screamed fall. I prefer apple cider spices, but let’s be honest, pumpkin spice is the king of fall. (Apple pie stuffed pork loin is another recipe coming soon).
I came up with this concoction roaming Publix on an empty stomach. I saw the pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie in the bakery…and it just came to me.



Kinda funny - we made these and never tried them before the Florida Gulf Coast Eggfest. One fell off the egg as we were taking them off to serve them, so Anna and I split it…it was pretty good. We decided to serve them to the hungry crowd gathering, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! Yummy!

Print Recipe

Basic Balls

pumpkin pie stuffed sage sausage balls
Prep Time1 hr
Cook Time45 mins
Course: party
Cuisine: American
Keyword: basic, basic bitch, meatball, pumpkin
Servings: 32 Balls
Cost: $15

Ingredients

  • 4 muffins Pumpkin muffins Standard size
  • ½ pie 9” pumpkin pie
  • 1 lb sage sausage
  • 1 lb breakfast sausage
  • Pumpkin Spice BBQ Rub

Instructions

  • Using your (gloved) hands, Smash muffins together with pumpkin pie in a mixing bowl. Be sure to break up large chunks of crust.
  • Roll mixture into balls, approximately ¾” diameter.
  • Place balls spaced apart/not touching onto a non-stick sheet and freeze
  • Combine sage and breakfast sausage (you can use all sage sausage if you want more sage flavor, or all breakfast if you want none). Work the meat well when combining.
  • Flatten approximately 1oz of meat in your palm and place a frozen ball of pumpkin mixture in the middle. Form the meat around the ball, making sure no pumpkin is exposed.
  • Place meatballs on non-stick sheet and freeze.
  • Sprinkle meatballs with pumpkin spice BBQ Rub and Cook at 350F (indirect) for approximately 45 minutes, 165F internal temperature.

Seguin’s Famous Tres Leches Bread Pudding

Oct 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment


Anna and I were sitting around in our underoos watching the office trying to think up something good for an upcoming big green eggfest. You know, how all the cool kids spend their Friday nights.

I was thinking about bread pudding and how many different forms it takes. In college, I used to go to a place called Caribbean Spice that would serve a Jamaican patty, a piece of pocket bread (we called it clam bread because of it resembled a vag) a can of pop, and a dessert for something like $2.50. Crazy good deal. I always got the bread pudding as my dessert - I was poor in college and that chunk of bread pudding weighed like a pound. It was crazy dense, wrapped in plastic wrap, and had a good cinnamon raisin taste. Then, when I visited New Orleans, I had a completely different take on bread pudding. It was baked in a pan and had a crazy rich sweet sauce spooned on top of it. It was nothing like the dense cube I got in Gainesville, but it was amazing…and still called bread pudding. Imagine that.

Anyways, back to the crazy night watching the office brainstorming what to cook at the eggfest…. I mentioned that bread pudding would be really easy, and something different. People get overloaded with meat at these eggfests (I highly recommend you go to one, if you get a chance. I’ll write about them at some point…). We started going back and forth with different flavor profiles (Anna hates that term) - maple blueberry bread pudding, French toast bread pudding, maple sausage bread pudding, etc…but one of us said Tres Leches Bread Pudding (doesn’t matter which one said it) and we both drooled over it.

We didn’t have a recipe so Anna started googling and ended up cherry picking the best parts of several recipes all over the Internet and created her own…and it is absolutely wonderful.

You can probably cook this in a home oven, but as I mentioned, we cook it at eggfests and prefer cooking it in our Big Green Egg. The charcoal isn’t overpowering, but it certainly imparts a little extra flavor. If you do cook on a kamado, cook indirect at 350F.

Print Recipe

Seguin’s Famous Tres Leches Bread Pudding

Sweet custard based bread pudding that is light, fluffy and reminiscent of your favorite tres leches cake.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: Latin, Southern
Keyword: dessert, EggFest, sweet, vegetarian
Servings: 12 People
Cost: $10

Ingredients

Bread Pudding

  • 1 loaf Puerto Rican bread (or Cuban bread)
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups milk
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 1 can evaporated milk (12-14oz)
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk (12-14oz)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Sauce

  • ½ cup salted butter
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Instructions

Bread Pudding

  • Cube bread into 1 inch cubes
  • Place bread cubes into a greased 9” x 13” pan
  • Combine remaining bread pudding ingredients (not sauce ingredients) in a bowl and whisk
  • Pour mixture over the cubed bread and press bread into the liquid
  • Allow to soak for 5-10 minutes
  • Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.
  • Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Sauce

  • Melt butter in a pan
  • Add white sugar, brown sugar, and heavy cream to melted butter and stir to combine
  • Anna usually eyeballs this part to get it right…stir until the sugar dissolves and looks like a caramel sauce
  • Remove from heat, add vanilla bean paste, stir to combine.

Bringing it all together

  • Pour sauce over bread pudding
  • Enjoy!

Notes

This tres leches bread pudding freezes well. 
This  has been an all-star at eggfests.  It is easy to make, portions easily, and tastes great. 

Food Reviews

Jun 19, 2021 · Leave a Comment

I'm just going to organize my thoughts a bit on how I want to do food reviews. I'm by no means a chef, nor am I a professional food blogger...nor am I a seasoned reviewer. Why am I doing this? Well, I'm pretty good at eating. I've been doing it my whole life. I definitely have opinions on what I like vs what I don't like. I thought that I could use this forum to share my thoughts on items I've tried at restaurants. These may be anything from fast food or even gas station food to high end establishments.

That being said, I'm not about to go into a place and order the whole menu. Therefore, I'm not going to give a rating to an establishment based on a single dish. I can give my thoughts and feelings on that one dish and some insight into my experience at the establishment at that one snapshot in time. By no means should it serve as a final judgement of a restaurant and the folks behind the food in the kitchen.

Food Review Rating Systems

5 Point Scale

I've thought a lot about how I want to rate a food item. There is the simple 5-star scale that works for many journalists, including youtubers Peter and Kitra of Ordinary Adventures. Their reviews aren't of restaurants, but of single menu items...and I love that. The 5 point spread doesn't really give a lot of information, though. Peter and Kitra usually end up with a lot of 5/5's if they love it, or ⅕'s if they don't. They occasionally add a half star, to give them a little more variety in their reviews.

10 Point Scale

This brings me to El Presidente Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports and his amazing pizza reviews. He is only rating a single type of food (with few exceptions): cheese pizza. His reviews are on a 10 point scale - one bite, everybody knows the rules. The 10 point scal is pretty simple. Dave breaks it down even further by scoring everything to the tenth of a point. Any round number score is actually labeled a "rookie score" by the Prez and decimal scores (9.2, 6.9, etc) are encouraged. I love this, but I'm not about to steal such an established review style from Dave.

20 Point Scale

I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons for a long time...table top games in general are a favorite of mine. These folks at Roll for Review (@rollforreview) have one of my favorite review systems that I've seen. Like all of the great games, it is d20 based! These folks, @halflinghannah @alexcorrao and @cardboardtruth, talk about tabletop games on Kickstarter and rate everything on a 20 point "d20" scale. For those of you out of the loop, a d20 is a 20-sided die, aka a icosahedron.

Ability Check Ratings

An ability check tests a character's or monster's innate talent and training in an effort to overcome a challenge. The GM calls for an ability check when a character or monster attempts an action that has a chance of failure. When the outcome is uncertain, the dice determine the results.

For every ability check, the GM decides which of the six abilities is relevant to the task at hand and the difficulty of the task, represented by a Difficulty Class. The more difficult a task, the higher its DC. The Typical Difficulty Classes table shows the most common DCs.

5thSRD

To make an ability check, roll a d20 and add the relevant ability modifier. As with other d20 rolls, apply bonuses and penalties, and compare the total to the DC. If the total equals or exceeds the DC, the ability check is a success--the creature overcomes the challenge at hand. Otherwise, it's a failure, which means the character or monster makes no progress toward the objective or makes progress combined with a setback determined by the GM.

This feels like a great base for a nerdy way to review food. It is an easy system that makes a lot of sense in my gamer mind. Anyone seeing the review can rationalize that the higher the number, the better the food. Modifying the definition above, a Food Review Check tests a restaurant's or chef's innate talent and training in an effort to feed me good food. Therefore, I'll call for a food review check when a chef or restaurant attempts an action that has a chance of failure (feeding me something).

The number I'm assigning to a food item is the variable...essentially the dice roll! A low "roll" isn't very good food...and a high "roll" is great food! I'm never going to give a raw score higher than a 20 (the highest number one can roll on a dice), but numbers CAN go higher with modifiers!

Modifiers

Beyond the whole numbers, I can give the scores a modifier...any kind of modifier that I want! This is where it gets fun For example, I may order a fish sandwich from a restaurant and it is really tasty (I'll give better information than that, of course), so I may rate it a 15. However, I learn that they make an effort to use sustainable fish, so I may decide to give the sandwich a +2 for a conservation bonus...and maybe the view from the table is overlooking a beautiful body of water, so there may be an additional +2 atmosphere bonus...bringing the total score of the sandwich experience to a 19.

Alternatively, I may order that same sandwich, find it to be very tastyand score a 15. I then discover that they are using endangered Chilean Sea Bass (why did I order that????)! Therefore, I'll give it a -2 Conservation penalty. The restaurant may only offer plastic danger chairs for me to sit in and enjoy my meal, so that may incur an additional -3 penalty. These modifiers will bring a 15 down to a 10!

I think you see how this works...

...and some notes about the different Deliciousness Classes

In the end, I think we have a fun, nerdy, somewhat complicated, but not overly complicated , unique method for reviewing food!

Thank you again to Roll For Review for the inspiration!

No photo description available.

Jim Seguin's Italian Beef

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Sure, this is meant as a site dedicated to BBQ, but this recipe is very meaningful to me, so I wanted to get it online right away.  This whole website is new to me, so I wanted to give this recipe editor a shot.  Why Italian Beef?  Well, my dad brought his beef to every family party, he cooked it for every gathering - it is my ultimate comfort food.  I've had several people ask me for the recipe, so why not put it here.  I don't want to tamper with perfection, but I think I'm going to make it on my big green egg one of these days, because why not.  I can cook anything on my egg.  That recipe will come later.  This is the OG, published here for your enjoyment.

For the uninitiated, a Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwich is iconic in the Chicagoland area.  This is the blue collar cousin to the French Dip.  Thinly sliced beef piled high on a roll, soaked in beefy juice, and topped with peppers/giardinaria,etc.  The Trib did a good overview of the top restaurants for beef in Chicago, but this recipe is for those that want to make these at home.

I should say that my dad called this Marly Bielunski's Italian Style Beef...but I didn't know Marly Bielunski...I never had his beef...and my dad changed it up enough that I think I can credit him.

This is a recipe for the heart and soul of the sandwich - the meat and juice, but I haven't actually included instructions for putting the sandwich together. I'll probably get to that later.

Here is a link to the recipe in my dad's handwriting.  It means a lot to me.  My Dad's Italian beef recipe

Print Recipe

Jim Seguin's Italian Style Beef

Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time3 hrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Chicago
Keyword: Beef, Chicago, Italian, Italian beef, Sandwich

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Deli Slicer

Ingredients

  • 4 lb Brisket or any inexpensive roast I prefer Eye of Round
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tsp crushed fennel seed
  • 1 tbsp Worcester Sauce
  • 4 Cubes Beef bouillion cubes
  • 2 tsp Italian Seasoning (or Oregano)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp Tabasco
  • 1 Green Pepper cut in thin strips
  • 3 cup water

Instructions

  • Place meat fat side up in a 10"x13" roasting pan
  • Sprinkle garlic and fennel on top, and then cover with the onions (they will really pile high)
  • Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour at 325F
  • Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 2 more hours (or til desired internal temperature)
  • While beef is cooking, add all remaining ingredients to a 2 qt saucepan (water, Worcester sauce, beef bouillon cubes, Italian seasoning, salt, Tabasco, and green pepper) and bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
  • When meat is done, pour juices/drippings and onions into the liquid
  • cool everything overnight
  • slice meat very thin across the grain (deli slicer is ideal)
  • reheat the juice and add meat as needed for sandwiches.

Moistmaker Fatty

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Poor Ross.  Someone stole his Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich at work.

He wouldn’t have had that problem if he had used his leftovers to make Moistmaker Fattys for his coworkers, family, monkey, and of course, his Friends.

These are really easy to make, and use mostly Thanksgiving leftovers.  I’m not going to go into detail on how to make stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, etc, as I’ve made these with everything from powdered mashed potatoes to old family stuffing recipes, and it all tastes great.  I actually prefer these to actual Thanksgiving dinner.  Leftovers truly are the gift that keeps on giving

You will also need silicone ice cube trays for this recipe.   I really like these.

Ozera 2 Pack Silicone Ice Cube... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0191FAZW2?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They are big enough to let you get a good amount of ingredients in them, but still manageable and easy to wrap with sausage.

Assemble your leftovers and let’s get cooking.

Low Carb Crustless Griddle Pizza

Jun 9, 2021 · 2 Comments

Anna and I have been having a lot of fun with this Blackstone 36" griddle.  Thank you to the kind soul on Craigslist that sold it to us for a great deal.  Anna took it upon herself to completely resurface and reseason the thing while I was at work one day, and now we have an absolutely beautiful nonstick flattop cooking surface for our outdoor kitchen.

The outdoor kitchen, of course, is a work in progress.  As you can see, things are a little cluttered on the back patio, but steady as she goes.  Soon enough we'll have a beautiful fun cooking place.

But, I digress.  Tonight, we decided to make some delicious griddle pizzas.  In an effort to drop some pounds, I've decided that I'm going to eat low carb.  I've done it before, and it worked great for me.  Since we are two days into the new year, I figured I would do it again.  The even bigger change is that I've decided to give up pop, too!  (Soda for you heathens).   I suppose that is official now that I put it online, too.  Damn.  lol  Thankfully, we have a beautiful lemon tree in the backyard that is always loaded with lemons...so lemon water is now my drink of choice.  I'm thinking about getting into teas...I just don't want to get insufferable about it.

Anyways, on to the recipe.  I hate when recipes go on and on about nonsense before getting to the gist of it, and here I am, rambling on about nonsense.  My apologies.

This is a great substitute for pizza if you are living that low carb/keto life.  Or, heck, even if you aren't, it is still a really tasty dish.  Pretend the toppings slid off of a slice of Chicago style deep dish, and this is basically what you have...with some crazy good crispy all-cheese "crust".

Low Carb Coconut Shrimp and Fish Cakes

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Coconut shrimp are crowd pleasers.  If you are looking for an appetizer for the table, I've found that everyone will always agree on coconut shrimp.  Why not turn them into an entree??  Of course, you can make these smaller to work as an appetizer, too.  The world is your oyster - or shrimp.  Make them as big or small as you want.

While these are low carb or even keto, they are delicious to those not watching carbs, too.  This is one of my favorite recipes, and I'm constantly tweaking it and making changes.  I'm going to provide the "basic" recipe, but I'll also mention some cool additions to kick the recipe up a notch or two.

These can be cooked in a nonstick pan or cast iron pan on your stovetop, but we've enjoyed cooking them on our Blackstone Griddle recently.  It is such a fun cooking tool and a great addition to any outdoor kitchen (or tailgate setup).

Arm on the hip = frying position

Cheese Grits Square Shrimp

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Anna’s favorite food is shrimp and grits.  If we are at a restaurant and they have shrimp and grits on the menu, Anna is going to get it.

We can easily cook a pot of gooey cheesy grits and top with some perfectly cooked shrimp (sous vide is my favorite way to cook them), but we were looking for a better way to serve shrimp and grits to a crowd - an appetizer/game day food.  We have been making some amazing coconut shrimp/fish cakes, so we decided to tweak that recipe a little and came up with these.

kinda like Spongebob Squarepants, right?

Addendum: we made these once at an eggfest   Anna was really proud of them, so she was talking them up a bit.  One gentleman was particularly interested in them, so he was waiting for them to finish.  Anna gave him a cube with a smile and he walked away with it to enjoy it.  We watched him take a bite…and spit it into the garbage!!  Hahahah  it broke Anna’s heart and I couldn’t stop laughing   The flavor is great on these, but the soft grits on the inside may feel like they are undercooked…not something you want with shrimp, I suppose.  The man spitting these into the trash can is still a running joke between us, and I still love these things!  Lol  (Sorry Anna!)

Blue Balls

Jun 9, 2021 · 1 Comment

We've served these maple blueberry muffin stuffed sausage balls tailgating football games and at several Big Green EggFests, and they really go over well!   They are a great combination of sweet and savory - just what you would want for a tasty breakfast or even a dessert.  Why try to categorize - they are just good!  haha

The gooey blueberry muffin in the middle of the savory sausage is usually a big surprise to anyone that tries one.

Most of my measurements are estimates...sorry about that!

Enjoy!

Pitter Patter

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Blue Balls

Sweet maple blueberry muffin stuffed sausage meatballs
Course: Breakfast, party, tailgate
Cuisine: American, Barbecue
Keyword: blueberry, maple, meatball, Sausage

Ingredients

  • 6 blueberry muffins
  • 1-2 cup Maple Syrup inexpensive/artificial "Mrs Butterworth" type is fine
  • 1-2 cup frozen blueberries
  • 2 lbs Breakfast Sausage Jimmy Dean Maple Breakfast Sausage tube is my favorite

Instructions

  • break apart blueberry muffins in a bowl
  • add maple syrup to create a thick muffin/syrup "sludge"
  • add frozen blueberries and mix to combine
  • freeze until it thickens (I usually let it freeze overnight) The syrup won't let it get completely hard
  • flatten a small ball of the sausage in the palm of your hand (helps to wear latex style gloves)
  • using a small melon baller, scoop out a bit of the frozen muffin/syrup mash, and set in the middle of the flattened sausage
  • carefully wrap the sausage around the frozen ball of blueberry mash, making sure the whole ball is covered in sausage
  • place on a plastic tray and freeze (take care that the meatballs aren't touching each other)
  • Once they are frozen, they can be stored in a container/bag until ready to cook
  • Cook indirect at 350F until 165F internal temperature (approximately 30-35 minutes)

Mocha Umami Rub

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

I wanted to make my own rub for some jerky.  I may change this later, if I decide to make my own from scratch.  This recipe starts with Bad Byron's Butt Rub and adds some depth with cocoa, coffee, and a few sources of umami flavor (including powdered Worcestershire sauce and powdered shiitake mushrooms).

Gold Dusted Mocha Umami Rub

Print Recipe

Mocha Umami Rub

Cuisine: American, Barbecue
Keyword: BBQ, rub, spice

Equipment

  • bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 cup Bad Byron's Butt Rub
  • 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Folgers Ground Coffee
  • 2 tbsp Hershey's Cocoa Powder
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire Powder
  • 2 tbsp Shiitake Powder

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a bowl

Fat Elvis

Jun 9, 2021 · Leave a Comment

Illustration by liahartati through Fiverr

During the summer of 2020, folks were stuck at home, and things got weird.  Instagram was flooded with images of people baking oreos wrapped with bacon.  This was particularly popular in the BBQ community.

@MeatChurch was definitely on board

@p3_bbq submitted some beautiful oreos

@WorldStar Hip Hop reported on the trend!

Even @Oreo supported the effort!

Needless to say, this was a big deal!  Not one to be left out of a delicious food trend, I masked up and went right to my friendly local Publix to pick up the necessary ingredients...  Oreos and Bacon.

When I got to the store and gazed upon the huge selection in the cookie aisle, my mind started spinning.  There were so many desserts that I could wrap with bacon.  I, of course, picked up some oreos (Double Stuffed, if I remember correctly), but also grabbed Twinkies, Nutty Buddys, and...Nutter Butters.

My oreos were not as pretty as @MeatChurch and @WorldStar

The Nutter Butter got a little stiff.  It was OK, but not something I would necessarily eat again.

Bacon wrapped twinkies, on the other hand, are absolutely worth exploring in a little more detail...experimenting with flavors in the future.   The cream filling baked into the yellow pound cake, creating an ultra rich bacon fat drenched cake that I would absolutely eat again and again.  I have a few ideas to make it better.  But, more about that later.  This was epically good, but wasn't the winner of the evening...

The stand out was absolutely Nutter Butters! This was my original instagram post for the nutter butters.  lol

This made sense... Peanut Butter and Bacon go together really well (I make a great peanut butter bacon fudge...I'll add that recipe later).  I was thinking...banana goes really well with peanut butter, too.  In fact, wasn't there a famous sandwich with these same ingredients??  Thats, right, the Elvis Sandwich!

I swapped out the plain Nutter Butters for DOUBLE NUTTY Nutter Butters (for that extra peanut buttery goodness), added a diagonally sliced slice of banana (so it would be almost as long as the cookie, and wrapped lengthwise with a half slice of bacon. (I didn't use anything fancy...just plan ol thin cut bacon.  One half pack of bacon is usually enough for one box of Double Nutty Nutter Butters. A whole pack can wrap 2 packs of cookies).  Wrapping lengthwise was key, as it helped maintain the integrity of the cookie.  As it cooks, and the oils from the bacon soften the cookie, the baken starts to shrink, and the rectangular shape slowly squeezes into a square.  It really is magical!  lol

The final missing ingredient was BBQ Rub, to give it that little extra kick.  I'd imagine you can use whatever rub is your favorite.  We've experimented with quite a few and found that our favorite is a brown sugar espresso rub made by VooDoo Chef out of Tampa, FL called Dirt.  It is amazing stuff.

We bake these indirect on our Big Green Egg at 350F (but you should be able to use any indirect cooking setup...and probably your oven (I'd recommend cooking them on a wire rack over a tray so the bacon can drip/drain).

We like to oil a stainless grill grate and place the cookies on that, before placing on the actual grill grates (so they are easier to remove all at once). Lately, we have been using oiled silicone bake mats, which work really well to keep the cookies from sticking, too.)

They have been crowd pleasers at the couple of EggFests that we have brought them to...and will likely be our go-to simple dessert for years to come!

Print Recipe

Fat Elvis

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Dessert, party, tailgate
Cuisine: American, Barbecue
Keyword: Bacon, Banana, BBQ, Cookie, EggFest, Nutter Butter, Party, Tailgate
Servings: 24 Cookies

Equipment

  • Big Green Egg

Ingredients

  • 24 Cookies Nutter Butter Double Nutty Cookies (one package) The double nutty cookies have more peanut butter cream
  • 6 Ripe Bananas
  • 12 slice Thin sliced bacon

Instructions

  • Peel and slice bananas into approx ¼" slices, on a diagonal
  • Place a banana slice on top of each cookie
  • Cut bacon slices in half
  • Wrap each cookie/banana with a half slice of bacon, lengthwise
  • Preheat grill (or other cooking device) to cook indirect at 350F
  • Oil a silicon grill sheet or a grill grate and arrange the cookies on the grill (I like to use a separate grate to make removing the cookies easier)
  • Sprinkle cookies with your favorite sweet BBQ rub.
  • Cook indirect at 350F for 30 minutes, or until the bacon looks cooked how you like it.
    As the bacon shrinks, the bacon grease will soften and compress the cookies into more of a square shape. This is a good thing and part of the magic of these cookies.

Notes

Fiverr.com, Branding, Commissioning talented artists

May 27, 2021 · Leave a Comment

I can't believe I hadn't discovered this website sooner.  Well, I already had an account set up from 2012, so I suppose I had discovered it before...but I can't believe I haven't USED it before.  What a cool place to hire artists from all over the world!  I went a little spend crazy this past week, commissioning some content for branding/stickers/and some possible upcoming youtube videos.

These amazing illustrations were made by user Liahartati.  She is an illustrator based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her works are mostly comic illustrations, and her other passion is food and cooking illustration.  She had several of these deconstructed food illustrations and I thought it would be a perfect way to document our Fat Elvis cookies.  I think we are going to print them out with our contact information on the back, almost like business cards.  That sounds fun, right?

 

 

 

 

User abrom_rose is a full-time design illustrator from Indonesia who has been in the art world for many years, inspired by various elements such as music, motorbikes, beaches, holidays, sports etc.  They were able to create this for us in a traditional tattoo style.  I don't know that I'm actually going to get it tattooed on me, but I think it might make a fantastic sticker!

 

 

User svahavector created this unique logo for the BBQ Nerds in his unique style.  He is a graphic artist, also from Indonesia, specializing in artwork and illustration for a brand, band, tshirt, merch, and any visual branding needs. He has been experienced with the artwork and design for 8 years.   I asked for a Tiki look for the logo, and he really came through!  I love it!

Even his sketch/sample looked great!

 

User Hikmatr124 made us this awesome robot!  I'm not sure what we are going to do with it, to be honest.  It might be a cool sticker, or look neat on a t-shirt.  I'll need to hit photoshop to do some lettering to go with it, but I think I can make that happen.  Hikmat is also from Indonesia and has been working as a Graphic Designer for 7 years.  His expertise expands into all sorts of vector design and tracing work like logo creation, creative caricatures, digital painting, image manipulation, and 3D design.

 

One of my favorite illustrations that we commissioned is this Rubber Hose Cartoon Character from german_espina.  He is based out of Argentina and says he is an illustrator with a fun sense of humor ready to bring your ideas to life!  This happy guy looks like he jumped right off the screen of Cuphead!  This is definitely going to end up on a tshirt, and probably stickers, too.

 

 

I down low love Japanese Kawaii style...so I knew I had to have a Big Green Egg (our favorited cooking device) in the style for a sticker...   raynaldihidayat definitely came through for us.  Check out this cute little guy!  Ray is from Indonesia and was a pleasure to work with!

I had to double dip into kawaii style and also got in touch with maaq_design for this little guy.  Maaq is a freelance graphic designer and vector artist from Indonesia, cute and cool design specialist,  a fun person, easygoing and easy to communicate.  She loves to draw cute and cool design in her cartoon style.  I already got this printed as stickers by Sticker Mule!  lol  I want this guy to follow me around the house cooking for me!

More to come...I commissioned some musicians, too.  🙂

 

GoPros and Coconut Shrimp

Apr 21, 2021 · Leave a Comment

We decided to break out the FireDisc for dinner - it is quickly becoming one of our favorite tools for outdoor cooking.  This thing is a deep fry machine!   So easy to get the oil ripping hot, doesn't make the house smell like a fryer, and really easy to clean up.  At the same time, I've been working on shooting better videos with my GoPro.  I would love to post more videos to our growing youtube channel, but I need to work out the kinks first...  you know, gadgets, camera settings, lens filters, editing, etc.  This is way outside of my comfort zone, but hopefully something I can learn so we can deliver some decent content.  I would love to shoot videos of all of our recipes, cooking adventures, and maybe even some product/equipment/restaurant reviews.  Why not, right?  Would anyone reading this like that?

Anyways, here is a video of Anna and I cooking some coconut shrimp.  (btw, Mr Furley was fine after taking a pop of oil to the face...I think he learned his lesson)

 

A Barbecue Alignment Chart? Yes, a Barbecue Alignment Chart!!!

Jan 4, 2020 · Leave a Comment

If you have ever played a roleplaying game such as Dungeons and Dragons, you are likely familiar with alignment charts.

From easydamus.com: Alignment is a tool for developing your character's identity. It is not a straitjacket for restricting your character. Each alignment represents a broad range of personality types or personal philosophies, so two characters of the same alignment can still be quite different from each other. In addition, few people are completely consistent.

We can use this when developing a barbecue alignment system.  It is a tool for describing barbecue, really not valuable for anything other than hopefully generating some conversation and maybe an argument or three.  I've found that alignment discussion tend to be nothing more than a powder keg, as many people dislike this type of categorization all together.  Plus, what I'm pitching here isn't necessarily correct, it is just my opinion, and totally open for discussion (and I'll probably make changes based on said discussion).

 

The axes of an Alignment Chart are typically Good Vs Evil and Law vs Chaos.

The third edition D&D rules define "law" and "chaos" as follows:[thank you wikipedia]

Law implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include closed-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentalness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

Chaos implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the downside, chaos can include recklessness, resentment toward legitimate authority, arbitrary actions, and irresponsibility. Those who promote chaotic behavior say that only unfettered personal freedom allows people to express themselves fully and lets society benefit from the potential that its individuals have within them.

Someone who is neutral with respect to law and chaos has a normal respect for authority and feels neither a compulsion to follow rules nor a compulsion to rebel. They are honest but can be tempted into lying or deceiving others if it suits him/her.

 

With respect to Barbecue, I'll define "law" and "chaos" as follows:

Law implies adherence to a set of easily repeatable rules to follow to attain an expected outcome - a recipe, if you will.  There isn't too much wiggle room with lawfulness - you follow a recipe or a set of directions, and get your finished product.  As the Mandalorians say, "This is the way."

Chaos implies a lot more wiggle room with the recipe.  Everyone may have their own way of doing a cook that works for them.  It is often more difficult to repeat or involves a lot more "artfulness" to get just right.  You need to pull the meat when it has the right "feel".  You need to get the smoke to the exact right color.  Even if you do everything by the book, some variable that you didn't take into account may sabotage your whole cook.

Barbecue that is neutral with respect to law and chaos can usually be created following a set recipe, but there are still a lot of variables.  Rub or sauce?  Wrap or no?  What wood should I use?  How long do I cook?  When is it considered done?

 

The third edition D&D rules define "good" and "evil" as follows:[thank you wikipedia]

Good implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

Evil implies harming, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil creatures simply have no compassion for others and kill without qualms if doing so is convenient or if it can be set up. Others actively pursue evil, killing for sport or out of duty to some malevolent deity or master.

People who are neutral with respect to good and evil have compunctions against killing the innocent but lack the commitment to make sacrifices to protect or help others. Neutral people are committed to others by personal relationships.

 

With respect to Barbecue, I'll define "good" and "evil" as follows:

Good implies food that is best cooked over a fire, either direct or indirect.  This is the food that defines the word "barbecue".

Evil implies food that really has no business being cooked over an open flame or in a smoker, and really should not be considered barbecue.  Evil food just doesn't work as barbecue.

Food in the neutral category with respect to good and evil is usually good barbecue, but can also be cooked really well through other methods.  Cooking on a grill or a smoker may work, but it may not be the best method.

 

The internet is full of fun creative people, and they have definitely come up with some great alignment charts.  If you do a Google Search for "Alignment Chart Food", you will see some great ones!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Pizza Alignment Chart

 

 

Frozen Pizza Alignment Chart

 

 

 

Halloween Candy Alignment Chart

 

 

 

Dipping Sauce Alignment Chart

This last one may be the closest to what I was trying to accomplish here...but I could only find a thumbnail from a deleted twitter post by Andrew Thaler.  I may have to explore this idea in the future...

BBQ Style Alignment Chart

On to the Barbecue Grid:

Here is what I came up with, sketching on a paper towel on my lunch break at work.   I've even since made some changes, including adding veggies, burgers and chicken to the neutral category.    I felt that I definitely needed to separate Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts from other types of chicken.  Anyways, I digress.  Here you go!:

(I'll make this prettier with photos, etc, later, of course. )

BBQ Alignment Chart

Lawful good barbecue

Lawful good barbecue

Example: Pulled Pork - If you cook low and slow or hot and fast (turbo butt style), you are going to end up with a good end product if you cook to a 205F internal temperature and rest your meat.  This cut is so forgiving, it is very difficult to mess up.  Follow the recipe/rules, and you have a great product that is near impossible to recreate any other way.  (Don't @ me with any slow cooker instant pot nonsense)

 

Neutral good barbecue

Neutral good barbecue

Example: Pork Ribs - there is a little more wiggle room here with ribs than we had with pulled pork.  Sauce or rub (or both?)  Fall off the bone or not?  Spare ribs or baby backs?  Remove the silver skin?  Wrap or not?  If you find a tried and true recipe (3-2-1, 2-2-1) and stick to it, you will likely end up with a tasty product, but there are enough variables here that we are in neutral territory.

 

Chaotic good barbecue

Chaotic good barbecue

Example: Beef Brisket - I've read over quite a few forums where pit masters are asked "What is the most difficult meat for you to cook/smoke" and the resounding consensus seems to be brisket.  Even the most patient, detail oriented cook may find repeated great results difficult to attain.  The cut needs to be trimmed well, seasoned right, possibly pulled and wrapped at some point (or not), and removed from the heat at that exact moment where the fat is rendered but the meat is not overcooked so that it shreds.    It is a tough cut of meat and there are a ton of variables that go into cooking it "correctly", but the payoff is undeniably fantastic when done well.  This is the definition of chaotic good barbecue.

 

Lawful neutral barbecue

Lawful neutral barbecue

Example: Sausage Links, Vegetables - follow the directions and you are going to get a good product.  Most vegetables taste good with some caramalization, so burning them a little isn't an issue.  If they are undercooked, well, they are al dente.  You're welcome.   Sausage, too, is pretty straight forward.  Don't burn it, cook it til its done, and you are going to have a good time.  These are neutral, though, because, while good on the grill, that may not be the best way to cook them.  (hello flat top griddle)

 

Neutral barbecue

True neutral barbecue

Example: Steak, Hamburgers  So many variables here, and everyone has an opinion.  Are any opinions wrong?  How do you cook them best?  What is the best doneness?  Do you ask someone to leave if they want theirs cooked well done?  Can they be done better in a cast iron skillet?  This is the definition of neutral barbecue.

 

Chaotic neutral barbecue

Chaotic neutral barbecue

Example: Fish (seafood), Chicken  There are so many types of seafood with even more ways to cook it...  So many ways to cook chicken, too (whole or parted?  Spatchcocked or not?)  There are so many variables here, these are both very chaotic.  I have them as neutral because barbecue may not always be the best way to prepare fish/seafood and chicken.  Can you say deep fried?  Then again, fish and chicken ARE barbecue.  Shove a stick through either one and roast it over a fire in the wilderness...  "Screw you, normal bbq. Whether on a plank, or just ripped out of the mouth of a grizzly, fish isn’t your daddy’s grillin’. It’s your prehistoric ancestors." - DM and Food Lover Joshua Watson

 

Lawful evil barbecue

Lawful evil barbecue

Example: Hot Dogs - You are cooking hot dogs on your grill/smoker because there are finicky children that need to be fed and rather than trying the food that you poured your heart and soul into, they want a hot dog...or even a turkey dog.  This is something that is easy to heat up to serve and make folks happy, but isn't barbecue.

 

Neutral evil barbecue

Neutral evil barbecue

Example: Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast.  You want to take the leanest, most flavorless part of a chicken and remove all of the parts that give it flavor?   Go right ahead - let me know how that works out for you.  Sure it is healthy, but we aren't talking about that here, are we?

 

Chaotic evil barbecue

Chaotic evil barbecue

Example: Veggie Burgers - I have no problem with a veggie burger - they can taste great, but cooking them is a total crap shoot.  You have no good way of telling when they are finished cooking, so they aren't exactly easy to cook perfectly.  I always end up with some semblance of a vegetable puck of something trying to be meat, maybe with some black beans visible in it...and the person that I'm cooking it for would probably prefer roasted vegetables, anyway (me too!)   The added difficulty comes when you need to cook them on a surface that hasn't come in contact with animal protein (out of respect to the vegetarian/vegan, of course).  I suppose you can put down some foil and cook them on that, but at that point, you might as well cook them in a pan on the stove.  The Beyond Burgers and Impossible Burgers are the veggie burgers attempt to make an alignment change, and maybe it is working...but it still isn't barbecue.

 

What do you think?  Do you like it?  What am I missing?  What did I get completely wrong?  Let me know!

12 Beers if Christmas at Morimoto Asia

Dec 12, 2019 · Leave a Comment

 

Early this month (December 8th), Anna and I had the pleasure of attending the second annual "12 Beers of Christmas" event at Morimoto Asia, Disney Springs, Orlando, FL.

What an incredible event, raising money for Give Kids the World Village, an organization I love and support!  I was happy to pay the $64 for the ticket (though Anna bought mine for my birthday present!  Thanks babe!)

The event was hosted by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto himself - he welcomed us to his restaurant with open arms, a hearty handshake, and a tiny glass for sampling the beers flowing inside.

 

Anna and I at the 12 Beers of Christmas

We had the opportunity to purchase a copy of "Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking" and had a packet of Mr Morimoto's ramen signed by the Iron Chef himself.

Merry Christmas from Iron Chef Morimoto, Anna, and I.

We had the pleasure of sampling a lot of great food and beer...everything from bluefin tuna tacos to takoyaki, peking duck to sticky sweet ribs.  So much great food.  The craft breweries did not disappoint, either.  We sampled brews from local Orlando breweries like Tactical Brewing and Crooked Can to more nationwide operations like Rogue (Morimoto's Soba Ale on draft!).

Being a big fan of sour beers, my favorite offering was brought by new Miami brewery Sun Lab Brewing.  Their Berliner Weisse, Drift Deeper was super juicy and packed with boysenberry, raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry - so good!

Enjoying a Sun Lab Drift Deeper

Anyways, check out this video I threw together - we really had a great time at the event.  This is my first time playing around with Adobe Premiere Pro, so go easy on me!  lol.  My videos will hopefully get better.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sonnys Real Pit BBQ

Nov 13, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Eh, pass

Test Our Equipment

Nov 13, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Information about the equipment we use here.  This is just a test.

Rocks BBQ Stoker and a Big Green Egg.

 

 

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