Get Your Grill On

Cold Smoking. Most of you already know, but for those of you who don’t? It’s simple, you smoke your food at a temperature of about 90 to 120 degrees F. It’s how smoked sausage, bacon & hams and chile peppers are done. Oh, don’t forget CHEESE, MmMmm smoked cheese.
Years ago I went through my own […]

THE CHILI TAKEDOWN IS A NO-HOLDS BARRED CHILI COMPETITION.
Any ingredients welcome: Beef, Vegetarian, Seafood- just so long as it stuns our judges senseless!
Come on out to the  Union Pool is on 484 Union Ave. Brooklyn, New York. Get off at the Metropolitan stop on the L train!
Free to enter if you cook, […]

One of my favorite side dishes to go with barbeque is baked beans. To create the ultimate beans you need to bake them in a low oven for hours. When the temperature is leaning to the upper end of the scale you probably do not want to run an oven. I have a Mad Meat […]

Here’s some BBQ tips from our friends at the National Barbecue Association…
Facts on Types of Smoking Processes:
Cold Smoke:

Smoking occurs at 70°F to 100°F, imparting flavor without firming proteins. Items may be cold smoked, then finished in the oven. 80 degrees is average in a smoke house. There will be slight dehydration but very little actual […]

Hey all you Yankees. You think you can cook? Ya don’t know squat! You need to learn from the masters! Don’t worry, they can handle you, they’re Yankees too.

Smokin’ Joe’s True-Blue Texas Barbecue, Inc. In cooperation with
the Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmond Town Presents
BBQ Pitmaster University
Saturday, July 19 or Saturday August 16th
$75 […]

Paella is a classic dish from eastern Spain. Recipes vary widely, but are always based around rice, saffron, and olive oil. It is traditionally cooked over an open fire in a wide, flat pan called a paellera. In that spirit of outdoor cooking, this is a simple version that has been adapted to work well […]

2 tbsp butter, softened slightly
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp candied ginger
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
3 freestone peaches or nectarines, halved & pitted
1 tbsp butter, melted

Heat grill to high.
Combine softened butter, honey, vanilla, and candied ginger together in a food processor and pulse until mixed into a soft paste. Refrigerate.
Brush cut side of peaches with melted […]

The Meat
Pick USDA Choice or Prime beef. These top 2 grades will have enough marbling (thin streaks of fat in the muscle) to give you a tender, juicy, flavorful steak.  Know your cuts and what you like.  Filet mignon will be oh-so-tender, but not necessarily very flavorful. Rib-eyes have excellent flavor, but can be […]

The Copper River flows some 300 miles through Alaska, and the salmon that attempt the journey up that river are some of the richest, tastiest fish in the world.
The Copper River king salmon has a firm red flesh and a rich, nutty flavor that really calls for a minimalist approach when grilling.  I almost always […]

I’ve heard this complaint from other competitive BBQ’rs. Sometimes you start only worrying about the 4 competition meats: chicken, ribs, brisket and pork shoulder. You stop cooking other meats and forget about the spontaneity and creativity that made you enjoy live fire cooking in the first place.
In the butcher case yesterday, I looked over all […]