Friday Night Food Porn

Grilled Crab Legs


If you have never grilled crab legs, you should. They are easy to do, taste great, and have a great 'wow' factor. I cut the legs at the joints, then split each shell with my kitchen shears taking off about 1/2 inch of top shell. Then I take the meat out of the shell and remove the membrane that surrounds the meat. Put the meat back in the shell, brush with chive butter, and grill. After they are heated through, about 4 minutes, I give them a healthy dose of fresh lemon juice and a good sprinkle of sea salt.

Q Haven Visits Lakeside

We've known Ted and Sheila Lorson for over two years now. We met them at a BBQ comp and hit it off right away. Over those two years we have become very close friends. We would always try and make plans to get together outside the Circuit, but it didn't always happen. Everyone has a job and a busy life, and the two hour drive always seemed to get in the way. But, this weekend everything lined up perfect and The Lorsons packed up their new baby boy, Max and headed up to Massachusetts.
Thanks for the visit guys, we had a blast!

Friday Night Food Porn

Ribs
It’s been a good year for Lakeside with ribs. We’ve worked hard on maintaining consistency with our cooking procedure and recipe. We’ve received 2 first place calls, multiple top five calls, and finished 3^rd place for ribs in the NEBS Team of the Year standings. But all that has changed…we’ve lost our rib mojo. I’m not sure where it went, or how we lost it, but it’s gone, baby! The last two comps we did, Troy and Harpoon, we’ve had some of our worst rib scores ever. Ever. So, in an attempt to lure our rib mojo back from its summer vacation, I’m posting a picture of our competition ribs.

Walking Around

When I go shopping for beer, nothing makes me happier than a good selection. I love seeing all the American craft brewed beers, some old favorites, and some new ones I have not tried yet. Plenty of Belgium beers to choose from is always a plus. Checking out the seasonal offerings is also something I like to do. Many people know that I love walking around butcher shops to look at the meat. But, I also walk around stores that have a great beer selection, too. Some people might think it's odd to walk around a store and look at beer...but I don't. On many of my 'walk throughs' I notice some real good things. The picture above was taken yesterday at Mckinnon's Meat Market in Salem, NH. I went there to talk to The Cheese Guy, but he wasn't around. No biggie, I thought, I'll go look at some beer. When I turned the corner into the beer isle, there he was, The Cheese Guy. He was looking at some Belgium beer and taking notes!! I was very excited to find out that he was putting together a beer and cheese pairing for one of his customers. That might not be a big deal to most, but to me that's awesome! All cheese experts need to know wine, but to take some time and get to know beer is a great asset as well. Good wine and good beer go hand in hand with great cheeses. This got me thinking about a beer and cheese pairing of my own. When it happens, I'm sure it will make a good Friday Night Food Porn post.

NEBS Team of the Year Top Ten

The New England Barbecue Society statistical year ended with Harpoon last weekend. This year 205 teams competed in 22 comps, 13 BBQ and 9 grilling, in the New England and New York area. Here are the top ten for overall and each category. For full results please go to iQue's site. Also, a special thanks to Jamie Hart of iQue for keeping track of all the stats...I'm sure its a lot of fun.

Overall:

1 I Smell Smoke!!!
2 Transformer BBQ
3 iQue
4 The Anchormen
5 Dirty Dick & The Legless Wonders
6 Lunchmeat
7 Lakeside Smokers
8 Purple Turtle Catering Company
9 Q Haven
10 Feeding Friendz

Chicken:

1 Purple Turtle Catering Company
2 Transformer BBQ
3 I Smell Smoke!!!
4 Lakeside Smokers
5 iQue
6 Lunchmeat
7 Feeding Friendz
8 Yabba Dabba Que
9 Dirty Dick & The Legless Wonders
10 The Anchormen

Ribs:

1 Transformer BBQ
2 The Bastey Boys
3 Lakeside Smokers
4 iQue
5 The Anchormen
6 I Smell Smoke!!!
7 Lunchmeat
8 Yabba Dabba Que
9 Purple Turtle Catering Company
10 Dirty Dick & The Legless Wonders

Pork:

1 I Smell Smoke!!!
2 Transformer BBQ
3 Dirty Dick & The Legless Wonders
4 The Anchormen
5 Purple Turtle Catering Company
6 Lakeside Smokers
7 iQue
8 Lunchmeat
9 Yabba Dabba Que
10 Q Haven

Brisket:

1 I Smell Smoke!!!
2 Lakeside Smokers
3 Lunchmeat
4 The Anchormen
5 iQue
6 Transformer BBQ
7 Yabba Dabba Que
8 Purple Turtle Catering Company
9 Dirty Dick & The Legless Wonders
10 Q Haven

Rookie Team of the Year:

Sexy Gino's Bare Ass BBQ

Congratulations Brendan and Julie

Friday Night Food Porn

Wedding Cake
By Kris

We are very excited and honored to be attending the nuptials of Brendan and Julie, aka Transformer BBQ, tonight. For most people weddings are all about the dress, the flowers, the invites, etc. For me it was simply about the food and the cake. Especially the cake! Cake is the cornerstone of virtually every celebration. It is worthy of candles and inspires entire crowds to burst into song. Most brides cry during their vows. I got teary when I saw the cake. It was not only beautiful but delicious. Made by a local trattoria, the cake was vanilla with a chocolate mousse filling and old fashioned vanilla frosting, the kind that makes your teeth hurt. It brought me back to my childhood when my parents would attend a wedding and bring home that wonderful confection wrapped in a napkin. Oh what a delightful breakfast. In accordance with tradition, I carefully wrapped and froze our cake top despite objections from my new husband. He was under the impression that we can’t afford the freezer space. My reply to him was if we can fit two briskets, three racks of ribs, and countless chicken thighs-then the cake stays!! Only ten months until we can enjoy.