Category: Uncategorized

My Visit to Peg Leg Porker – Nashville, TN

Rather than write a review of Carey Bringle’s BBQ joint, Peg Leg Porker, this entry will simply be a description of my visit. You see, I met Carey a few years ago when we both attended a seminar called “The Business of BBQ” hosted by Mike & Amy Mills at 17th Street Barbeque in Murphysboro, IL. Subsequently, I hung out with Carey and his competition team at Priase the Lard a couple of times and helped him serve at the first annual Kentucky State BBQ Festival. So to say that I’m predisposed to enjoy my trip to Peg Leg Porker would be an understatement.

My daughter is in the process of selecting an institution of higher learning, so that drew us to Nashville for a college visit. While the family enjoyed learning about some of the finer points of college dining halls, I discovered that Peg Leg Porker was only a short drive away. I excused myself from the cafeteria line and hit the road.

I’d seen a numer of photos from Carey’s social media sites, so I quickly recognized the place when I saw it. Located in an area of Nashville called The Gulch, Peg Leg Porker is in a trendy area of Southwest Nashville and a popualr destination for locals and college students.

Out front, Peg Leg Porker has a whole hog pit that they use on occassion and plenty of patio seating. Inside, the front wall is graced with a huge bar, TV’s, beer, and spirits, including Peg Leg Porker bourbon. But that’s a topic for another time. At the back of the place, a counter sits in front of the open kitchen. Like any good BBQ joint, the menu is simple and displayed above the register.

Being familiar with Peg Leg Porker, there was no doubt that I was having the dry ribs. So I ordered up a 1/2 a rack with a couple of sides, a glass of sweet tea, and settled down to enjoy me some Tennessee BBQ. And, I was not disappointed. The ribs were just the way I remembered them and my only regret is that I only ordered a 1/2 a rack.

When I finished, I bought a trucker hat with the Peg Leg Porker logo and headed back to meet up with the family. Carey was out of town this particular weekend, so we didn’t get a chance to reconnect. I did get a chance to talk with one of his crew that I’d met before.

I’m not sure how this college search will turn out, but I’m pulling for Belmont Unviversity. That would keep me in Nashville and good BBQ for the next 4 years!

Cheers,
Braddog

Recipe: Pig Shots

With football playoffs underway, I wanted to try something different to share with friends while watching the NFC playoffs on Saturday. I’d seen this appetizer a couple of different times recently, so I decided to give it a shot.

Basically, pig shots are formed with a slice of sausage wrapped in a piece of bacon on it’s edge. This forms a “shot glass” that you then fill with whatever you choose. I used a mixture of cream cheese and green chillies. I applied a spicy BBQ rub and also topped them with brown sugar.

Here are a few pictures of the process:

Kielbasa & Bacon

“Shot Glasses”

Filled with cream cheese, green chillies, and topped with brown sugar

The finished product

Here is the stey by step process:

cut sausage (I used Kielbasa) into 3/8″ discs
wrap 1/2 piece of bacon (on edge) around each disc and secure with a toothpick
combine 8 oz. block of cream cheese (softened) with 1/2 can of green chillies
apply bbq rub
pipe or spoon cream cheese mixture into “shot glasses”
top with brown sugar
cook indirect at ~300* for 45-60 minutes or until the bacon is finished to your liking

*Note: I cooked indirect on the Big Green Egg with platesetter in place (wrapped in foil of course)

If I do these again, I think I’d add some grated cheese to the cream cheese mixture and experiment with a different type of sausage, Boudin maybe?

What’s on your menu for football playoff season? We all need a killer dish for the big game in a few weeks.

Cheers,
Braddog

Honoring Law Enforcement – Labor Day 2015

I’m a little late in posting this, but I wanted to share this experience. I had read on the interwebs about a challenge to all the pitmasters who would be cooking on Labor Day weekend, to set aside a little extra and honor the men and women of law enforcement with some BBQ.

As I was finishing up the ribs on Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend, I remembered the challenge. Since I had extra, we wrapped up a side of ribs, scrawled a note on a thank you card, and sent my wife and nephew on the short drive to the local police station.

There, they presented Officer Blomberg with ribs and a heartfelt “thank you” for serving and protecting the citizens of our community. He was super grateful and it warmed our heart to be able to express our appreciation and share some of what we have been blessed with.

So now, I pass the challenge on to you. The next time you fire up the BBQ pit, (or oven, stove, etc.), set aside a little extra and remember the first responders and public servants. They’ll appreciate it for sure, and you’ll be reminded of how blessed you are.

Cheers,
Braddog

United Methodist Men’s BBQ

I have a friend at church who competes on the BBQ circuit. He typically mans the grill when the United Methodist Men (UMM) meet during the summer. Last month, after a succesful meal of grilled pork steaks, the guys decided they’d like to have ribs at the next meeting.

Well, that turned into a two man job. We decided that we would take the day off and plan to cook at the church. We also decided to press my Backwoods Pro Jr into service. Paul and I moved my cooker to church that morning and he trimmed the spare ribs down to St Louis style ribs while I put together 2 pans of my “magic” beans.

Paul uses Code 3 spices when he competes, so we decided to use them for this cook as well. We roughly followed his competition process, which means we wrapped the ribs in foil with brown sugar and butter, then finished them out of the foil and glazed them with sauce.

We also decided to do the rib tips at the same time, following the same process. It’s a good thing we did. We had a great turn out.

Here are a few shots of the finished product.

Everyone enjoyed the meal and fellowship. Next month, we’re frying fish!

Cheers,
Braddog

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Sliders

Seems like we often go to casual gatherings where we take a dish. I’ve gotten tired of the same old thing, so I looked for a way to do something a little different while still cooking outside.

Enter, Chicken Sliders. This was pretty simple. I simply bought thin sliced chicken breasts at the lcoal grocery store. I cut each in half and hit them liberally with Plowboy’s Yardbird rub. I grilled a pound of bacon and then grilled the chicken. I placed the chicken along with a couple of strips of bacon and a slice of cheddar cheese on Hawaiian rolls to serve.

Here’s the process. First, I grilled a pound of bacon. Next, I grilled the half chicken breasts that were sliced thin.

And finally, I assmebled the sliders with a slice of cheddar cheese, a couple of strips of bacon, and half a chicken breast on a Hawaiian roll.

A couple of things that I’ll do differently next time. First, I think I’ll use a tenderizer mallet to flatten the chicken breasts a little mroe. I also think that the slider would benefit from some other condiment. BBQ Sauce, mayo, etc.

Other than those few tweaks, this was a success and I’ll be doing this again.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Hill Country BBQ – New York City

I caught a wiff of wood smoke while I was still more than a block away, and my mouth began to water. You see, I’ve never eaten BBQ in Texas so this opportunity to eat at Hill Country BBQ in New York City was as close as I’ve been.

When work took me to the city, I began to scout for one of the BBQ joints that have sprung up there that I’ve read about. Then, I realized that Hill Country BBQ was only a dozen or so blocks from where I was staying. Immediately, I began to plot a night to myself when I could make the walk for dinner.

Hill Country BBQ is a tribute to the central Texas markets that began serving BBQ over the counter, by the pound, wrapped in butcher paper, and served with saltine crackers. Just like those markets turned BBQ joints, Hill Country serves the BBQ the same way; over the counter and by the pound.

The meat counter at Hill Country BBQ

The menu consisted not only of beef, but also pork, chicken, and sausage from Kreuz Market in Texas. At Hill Country, you order your meat at the counter and specify the amount (by weight) that you’d like or in the case of ribs, how many bones. I opted for 1/3 lb. of lean brisket (that’s cut from the brisket flat, but you can also order “moist” brisket cut from the point) and a single pork rib. They cut the meat, weighed it on a butcher scale, wrapped it in brown butcher paper, and handed it over with a half sleeve of saltines.

Then, I headed over to the counter where they served sides. Sweet Potato Bourbon Mashed caught my eye so I ordered that and a side of green bean casserole. The server was at my table when I got there and my order was complete with a glass of sweet tea.

I’ll cut to the chase and say that the food was excellent. In fact, this is probably the best brisket (from a restaurant anyway) that I’ve eaten. The pork rib was pretty good. A little tougher than I expected but it had a great flavor. And the sides? Fuggetaboutit! I could go back and just eat side items. The sweet potato dish was amazing, and I loved the comfort food style green beans. There were plenty of other sides as well as desserts, but frankly I can’t eat that much.

Really, the only negative comment I have about my experience at Hill Country BBQ is the cost. I mean, I know I was eating in New York City, but brisket at $26/lb? That seems excessive. While I thoroughly enjoyed my experience, my dinner (for only me) was ~$39. That’s with nothing from the bar or dessert.

So here’s how I’d rate Hill Country BBQ:

BBQ – A
Side Dishes – A
Atmosphere – A
Value – C
Service – A
Overall – A-

No doubt about it, this is one of the best BBQ joints I’ve eaten at. Frankly, I didnt’ expect that to be the case. If you get to New York, here’s where you can find Hill Country BBQ:

30 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10010

They also have locations in Brooklyn and Washington, DC.

Cheers,
Braddog

Butcher Paper Brisket

Over the past few months, I’ve been reading about this technique on the interwebs. I’ve tried wrapping my brisket in foil before, but frankly I prefer to cook it unwrapped. Now keep in mind, I’m not cooking for competitions or trying to cook a brisket in a short amount of time (usually). However, there are times when I’d sure like to be able to do one in less than 12 hours.

So this past weekend, I decided that I would cook one brisket on Saturday using the butcher paper method. If that was successful, I’d cook one on Sunday morning for my annual Daytona 500 gathering. If it wasn’t successful, I’d still have time to cook one overnight on the Big Green Egg. Seemed like a reasonable plan, all except for the $45 practice brisket.

In general, wrapping your brisket (or ribs, etc) after a couple of hours helps the meat finish sooner. There is some science behind this around how connective tissues break down etc, but frankly if you’re reading this because you’re looking for the science behind the process you should stop now and move along to another blog.

Most often, you’ll see folks wrap brisket in foil. But recently the notion of wrapping in butcher paper has become popular. Part of the theory is that the paper provides the same benefit in terms of helping the meat finish sooner, without the braising effect of foil.

So, I prepped my brisket:

Cooked indirect at 325 degrees for 4 hours

At 4 hours, I wrapped in butcher paper. Didn’t check temp, but wrapped when the bark had the right “look” and placed the brisket back on the cooker.

I probed the brisket through the paper and when I thought it felt tender and the temp was 200 degrees plus, I pulled it. Total cook time was about 6 hours.

Here’s the brisket as I unwrapped it:

Sliced…..

The results? It just wasn’t’ tender enough. You could say that I should have cooked it longer. Maybe, but it was also dry and if I’d cooked it longer it would have been even drier.

So the jury is still out for me. I don’t think this is a viable option for the Big Green Egg. I’ll try it again on the Backwoods Smoker and see if different cookers have different results. Stay tuned for more.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Smokeware Vented Chimney Cap for the Big Green Egg

I’ve been cooking on a Big Green Egg for several years now. My stand operating procedure (SOP) has always been to place the cast iron vented cap inside the hot grill when I finish and use the solid ceramic cap to extinguish my fire (along with closing the lower vent compeltely). This allows for the cast iron cap to burn off any build up, while extinguishing the fire more efficiently with the solid ceramic cap.

Alas, I finally did what may others before me have done. When removing my all weather cover from the egg and table, I inadvertently flipped the solid cerami cap off and busted it on the pavers in my cooking area.

Sure, I could just use the cast iron vented cap to shut the cooker down. But I know from previous experience that it gets gummed up pretty quickly and becomes hard to use. I could also break out the JBWeld and try to repair the ceramic. But I know from previous experience that it would only be a temporary solution.

So I decided to just buy a new cermaic cap. Much to my surprise, I had a hard time finding one. Then, I stumbled onto this new SmokeWare SS Vented Chimney Cap from Smokeware. It looked very interesting and it’s affordable enough that I thought, “Why not?”.

The product shipped quickly and I finally got around to installing it. First, I had to clean the chimney where the new cap will sit. I scrubbed it pretty good, but there’s some discoloration from years of use that was more stubborn than me.

Then, to ensure that the new cap is airtight a felt gasket is applied. This is similar to the gasket between the base and lid of the Big Green Egg.

Then the lower part of the 2-piece stainless steel vent cap sits firmly against the egg.

And finally, the adjustable cap fits on top of that.

Here are my initial thoughts on the SmokeWare SS Vented Chimney Cap .

Pros:

It’s affordable, yet well-made
It solves both the need to control air flow and the need to cover the chimney for extinguishing the fire and storing the egg
It’s build like the flue on your chimney such that it won’t allow rain/water into the system. I’ve cooked under an umbrella and other unique arrangements to avoid this.
It sealed tight enough that I don’t think it’ll come off easily

Cons:

It’s stainless steel and it does get hot. I wish the tab to control the size of the opening was a little longer/bigger. If you’re not careful you’ll burn your hand, trust me I know.
I wish the sliding vent control had a stops for fully open and fully closed. As it is, the vent control can move 360 degrees. You have to be sure to position it exactly right to fully close off the air flow.

All in all, I think it’s a winner. Check out the folks over at Smokeware.net for this and other BBQ accessories.

Cheers,
Braddog

Review: Beast Craft BBQ – Belleville, IL

BBQ joints seem to be opening every other week in my area. Recently, Beast Craft BBQ opened up in the location of a former diner. I’ve been anxious to try it out, and today I finally had a chance.

A friend and I agreed to meet for lunch at 11:30. The parking lot was pretty full when we arrived and when we went inside, the line was 20+ people long and there were no empty tables. I figured this was a good sign. However, nearly every table in one of the dining areas were waiting for their food and the line hardly moved. In fact, more than a few potential customers in line behind and ahead of us chose to go elsewhere based on the slow service.

All that aside, how was the BBQ? Pretty darned good. I had the brisket sandwich and hand cut fries, while my lunch mate had the pulled pork sandwich and corn on the cob. All the items were very tasty. The brisket sandwich was served with grilled onions and a house mustard. The pulled pork was served with slaw on the sandwich (as it should be).

Brisket Sandwich with Hand-cut Fries

Pulled Pork Sandwich w/Slaw & Grilled Corn

Beast Craft is bucking one of the most common trends in BBQ joints these days. There was “1”, count ’em, “1” bottle of BBQ sauce on the table. And, it was very good. In fact, it might be my favorite part of the meal. I saw no evidence that they’re bottling and selling this sauce, but they should.

I also like that they are selling soft drinks from a local bottler and not the big guys. However, no self-respecting BBQ joint should ever sell sweet tea that is mango flavored. That’s just wrong.

If they can address their customer flow and service issues (and lose the mango flavored tea), I believe that they’ll do just fine. Here’s my report card for my visit to Beast Craft BBQ:

BBQ – B+
Side Dishes – B
Atmosphere – B
Value – B
Service – C
Overall – B-

And, here’s their location & contact info:

Beast Craft BBQ

20 S Belt W Belleville, IL 62220

Give ’em a shot, I think you’ll like it,

Cheers,
Braddog

Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites

It’s playoff time in the NFL and that means I have a lot of chances to get together with friends for football on the weekends. I don’t do this all that much during the regular season, but after the holidays it seems like folks aren’t as busy and we enjoy getting together.

But I digress. I get tired of the same old snacks that I’ve done for gatherings like this. So, I was looking for something different when I came upon a reference to bacon-wrapped chicken bites. Sounded good to me, so I gave it a shot on Sunday.

I cubed 2 large chicken breasts and wrapped each cube in a half a strip of bacon. I then rolled them in brown sugar and hit them with a little bit of spicey rub. That’s all there was to it.

I fired up the Big Green Egg and set it up for indirect cooking. However, I ran the temp up to about 350 degrees. The chicken cooked for 45 minutes to an hour. The only problem I had was judging the doneness of the chicken, as I couldn’t really see the chicken through the bacon.

There are a couple of things I’ll do differently next time. First, I won’t panic and switch to direct cooking half-way through. That was a mistake (and why there are no “after” photos). Second, I think a little more brown sugar and a little more heat would be good. I will try to punch up the flavor next time for sure.

Conference championships are coming up this weekend so you’ve got time to perfect your game time grub before the Superbowl. Leave a comment and let me know what you’re going to cook for the big game.

Cheers,
Braddog