I've been bad...

I have been a very bad blogger (on more blogs that just this one I am sorry to say).

Not that I haven't thought about it. I continue to love going to BBQ joints, eating BBQ and taking photos and mental notes about the food and atmosphere with full plans to go home and make a review post. But... it just hasn't been happening. Well, the last step hasn't been happening.

So I thought it was high time I dug up all those photos and did what I should have done some time ago - get those reviews posted. Many of these barbeque restaurants I have been back to one or more times. Which is actually good!

One, it means it was good enough to go back, and two, it means I have more than just one trip to base my thought and feelings on.

 I am, however, having trouble locating all of my photos. Bummer. Or...is that a good thing since I will just have to "force" myself to go back and eat more que...

Question of the day. With sauce, or without??

What a Lovely Trip to Costco

Post Christmas trip to Costco to ready for our annual New Years Day open house was a boon for my scotch collection. We had a little left over gift money and Jen wanted to be sure I got a few of the bottles that they aren't going to restock.

The Blue Label - yeah, that was on sale so it came home too!

The Current Scotch Selection

Just in case you might be wondering... here is the current scotch selection at my place.

Tonight I am drinking some Dalmore (love the bottle).

My favorite here? I'd say the Dalwhinnie. Tasty, easy to drink, with a slight sweetness.

Down below are also a bottle of JW Black and Dewar's white label.

And hiding in my office is a big bottle of JW Blue that has yet to be opened. Waiting for a special occasion for that one.



The three Dewar's on the right are from Christmas 2012 - Costco package. After the holidays the price kept going down and down on the 3-pack. By the end I had the one Jen bought me for X-Mas, and then three more after the price dropped! So they are all hiding in a closet and as a bottle is finished it magically gets replaced with a full version (gotta love that)!

Oh ya, and had a lovely grilled ribeye for dinner (this is a BBQ blog after all).
 

BBQ map (mostly San Diego)

Not only have I been bad about posts to my blogs, I have also failed to update my BBQ Joint Reviews map. You can also view on your iOS or Android device.

I will have to make some time for some reviews, photos and meal reports!

Let me know about any locations I should add to the map & review!

Dusting off the Smoker for July 4th

Can you guess what I am doing on July 4th?

The Butt is trimmed and rubbed

Like a ton of folks, I will be firing up the smoker tomorrow and slow cooking some pork butts.

I am trying a new flavor base this time. For years I have used molasses as my base, but from the start I have wanted to use honey. So in honor of the birthday of America I am trying honey.

Sticking with my old standby rub, Bad Byron's Butt Rub. Best to just mess with one thing at a time. I love Bad Byron's tagline - "A little Butt Rub makes everything better" - ain't that the truth!  =)

I picked up 14.84 pounds of Butt at Restaurant Depot in San Diego on Monday. It was hard to not get more Butt and toss in some Ribeye (on sale!) as well. But I was good. Lots of other supplies yet to get for the party on the 7th.

I trimmed up the two butts a bit. There was some serious fat on the larger of the two. Coated with honey. rubbed with Butt Rub, wrapped and back into the refrigerator.

On the 7th we are having family and friends over to hang out, eat, drink and spend some quality time together. Serving pulled pork sandwiches and hotdogs. If people know what's good for them we will have a lot of leftover hotdogs...

Well, now that I have that done, I'd better finish cleaning up the kitchen and get to bed.
After the butts are done tomorrow we are heading out for a date - San Diego County Fair or dinner and a movie. We shall see...

Impulse Buy...

Impulse buy at Costco.
Been thinking about trying this for some time. Imagine my (happy) surprise when Jen walked over and put it in the cart!

Will let you know what I think!

"Faux-be" Beef - Maybe You've Had This "Kobe Beef"

Thanks to Bigmista Neil Strawder for pointing out on his Facebook feed this article from Larry Olmsted in Forbes Lifestyle section.

From the article:

Despite the fact that Kobe Beef, as well as Kobe Meat and Kobe Cattle, are patented trademarks in Japan, these trademarks are neither recognized nor protected by U.S. law. As far as regulators here are concerned, Kobe beef, unlike say Florida Orange Juice, means almost nothing (the “beef” part should still come from cows). Like the recent surge in the use of the unregulated label term “natural,” it is an adjective used mainly to confuse consumers and profit from that confusion.

It's an interesting read, so take a few minutes to read it here. There is a lot of explanation of the real Kobe Beef process, rules and regulations that I found very interesting.

I like that Olmsted points out that there are many US based beef products that are of superb quality, some may be even better than true Kobe. Search these out next time you are going to a BBQ Competition or cooking something for a special gathering.

Bottom line, find the best product that you enjoy the most and can afford. And get that!


This is actually just part one in a series of three stories. Also take a look at:
Part 2: What about "Wagyu" and "Domestic Kobe beef"? Sorry, more meaningless labels.
and
Part 3: Why the U.S. Government wants you to eat fake foods.

From Part 3:

Twelve decades ago, the highest profile of the many foodstuffs to come out of the Treaty of Madrid protected was Champagne. Every major power in the world at the time elected to sign the treaty, with the exception of the United States. As a result, the term “Champagne” has been protected in almost every other first-world country since 1891. The Treaty has been revised many times, and in every case since, the U.S. has adamantly refused to sign. This is not an issue forgotten by the rest of the world. The European Union alone has a list of over 600 geographically designated products it protects under law, almost none of which the US agrees with. Despite repeated requests dating back more than a century from the French, and in recent decades the World Trade Organization and European Union, the U.S. has stubbornly and purposefully refused to become party to this treaty or dozens of others like it.

"Don't worry, I'm with the Government and I'm here to help." - Sure...

Just another example of how more government and more laws doesn't mean we citizens are better off.


Follow Larry Olmsted on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/TravelFoodGuy
and Bigmista at: http://twitter.com/bigmistasbbq and his website at: http://bigmista.com/

Spring is here, Summer is on its way!

The clocks have been changed, the days are longer. It is warming up. You know what this means...it's time to get outside!

This includes more grilling at home, or at the beach, or wherever you may go. But it also means it is better weather for sitting out by the smoker while your meats cook low and slow in the smoker.

Time to stop going to the local BBQ joints. Why do that when YOU can do it better, and enjoy the whole experience?

It's a good day when you can keep watch over the smoker while getting all those little jobs done around the yard that have been nagging at you. Need a break? Check on the smoker for a bit.
And the best part? At the end of a productive multitasking day you get to relax with a beer and your freshly smoked BBQ! Oh ya, now that's a good day.

Here's to you and your BBQing passion.
 I am looking forward to BBQing some pork butts, and my first brisket this year. I'll share notes and photos as I go. Hope you enjoy learning some from my mistakes and testing.

What I got (or didn't get) for Christmas 2011

Well, truth be told I didn't get anything for BBQ for Christmas, at least not directly. But I did get some cold hard cash from the in-laws (Thanks!!). Always a welcome gift.

I have purchased a few items so far. I got a nice carving knife at the Costco Business Center. Have never had one - big gap in my knife collection. Haven't BBQ'd anything to try it out with yet, so I totally used the wrong tool for the job and used it to slice pepperoni for pizza the other night. Yeah, a bit like taking a tank to a duel, but I tell you what - I've never been able to slice pepperoni so thin and clean ever before!

A bit more was spent at the "regular" Costco on some Single Malt Scotch Whisky that I haven't tried before. I've been moving in the single malt direction in my drinking preferences - a wee dram (OK, a bit larger than that) or two are quite welcomed in the evening.

I'd say that's a good start!

Quick thoughts:

• Knife is great
• Oban 14 year old is on the stronger side, but not too strong
• Singleton 12 year old is mild, maybe too mild. But good. Hoped for more after memories of first tasting this at a distillery in Scotland (not the distillery this bottle came from)
• Lagavulin 16 year old is too strong and peaty for my tastes. But great for others from what I've read

Check back here for reviews of various bottles (full disclosure - I'm no expert!) as I build up, and then drink down, my collection.

And hopefully I'll get that smoker fired up here again real soon as well!

New BBQ Joint - Mike's BBQ in Escondido (mobile)

Grabbed a quick full rack of baby back ribs to go after an afternoon with friends at Stone Brewery & some shopping.

Will report back later with a mini-review.

Will go back again later (unless this rack totally sucks) for a more traditional meal & full review.

I can report that this place is huge. Plus a bar where you can eat off the full menu while watching the 15 foot (yes, 15 foot - this is a big TV) tele.

Visit Mike's BBQ on the web.