FUBAR'd

A sad story gentle readers. Apparently my Foodie Karma Account is seriously in the negative. I was forced to withdraw from Guys Can Cook Too competition that took place over the weekend due to my paycheck NOT being delivered on schedule, leaving me unable to purchase the necessary product to prepare 600 servings of my pulled pork appetizer. Sucktastic doesn't begin to describe it. My final dry run held the over the weekend of the 15th and 16th produced fantastic results - the best pulled pork I've ever had, no doubt about it. The combination of applewood and hickory produced a rich, smoky flavor that permeated the meat but did overpower it. My dry rub caramelized into a succulent bark. I had moved well beyond any concern about embarrassing failures and was suddenly enthusiastic about my chances in capturing the appetizer division. NOT. TO. BE.

Once my rage had subsided, I was able to give myself over to some quiet reflection/beer consumption and concluded that the real goal wasn't the competition but the pork itself.. of acquiring the hard won knowledge of what it takes to produce truly good BBQ. In that regards, I kicked @$$ and intend to so again very soon. Memorial Day is right around the corner, and I've got several pints of my competition BBQ sauce on deck and ready to go. I can assure you, there will be no taking of prisoners.

Food Porn #1

Birthday Dinner:

Salmon Chop with shallot-sherry cream
Roasted baby red potatoes with crispy salmon "bacon" bits
Sonoma greens in a Meyer lemon vinaigrette

Yes, it's low rent but the food was pretty damn good. The salmon "chop" is actually a noisette. If that makes me the Ron Jeremy of food porn then so be it. There's more on the way so just get used to it.

Pig-a-palooza

Yes, the pig is such a noble beast it deserves to star in an event all it's own. Pig-palooza was conceived as a chance to fine tune the cooking regimen I'll be employing during the 12th Annual Guys Can Cook Too competition. I'm entered in the appetizer division, and I'll be serving Savory Pulled Pork Bites: slow smoked pork shoulder served on a buttermilk bread round and topped with my Char-B-Q Sauce and pinch of coleslaw. I had just acquired a vertical water smoker and needed to dial that in and become familiar with maintaining my fire. Pig-a-palooza was a chance to experiment on family and friends to determine how the smoker would perform but most importantly what I'll be facing in terms of portions and service. To that end, Pig-a-palooza was big success even if small in scale. The biggest lesson learned was that I need to start with my pork shoulder cold and build my fire up slowly up from 200 to 225. Apparently, if the pork heats too quickly you won't achieve proper smoke penetration along with the possibility of overdoing some of the outer portions of the shoulder - which is what happened. So to recap: room temperature meat is for grilling, cold meat is for smoking. D-oh!

As you'll see, this was a very relaxed gig with people dropping by whenever they wanted and staying as long as they wanted in order to simulate the crowd traffic at the event and issues with keeping the pork warm over a four hour period.




The serious chef, tough but fair.


The service table, mirroring the workspace I'll have at the competition.


Anonymous comments from guests provided valuable feedback, as well as some comedic fodder.


The crowd starts to get unruly.



Some serious pig talk went down.


If you missed Pig-a-palooza do not despair. I'll be doing this again no doubt!