Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Mann Orchards
This weekend Mann Orchards in Methuen, MA will be holding the 1st Annual Apple-Wood Smoke Off. This event is definitely geared towards the first timer or the backyard enthusiast. It's not sanctioned, the rules are very relaxed, and has a low entry fee. If there is anyone that has been looking for a fun event with no pressure, this is the one for you. I will be there all weekend on NEBS behalf; I'll have the NEBS tent set up, handing out brochures and talking BBQ. Stop by and say hi. Mann Orchards will be selling BBQ and their famous baked goods. I've never had their BBQ, but the apple pies are ridiculously good! Some other vendors that will be there are Traeger Grills and Denny Mike's from Maine. Hope to see you there.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
NEBS Cooking Class
Over the past two weekends I have been involved with two very different cooking classes. The first was at Lester's, a demo style class; the second was the NEBS hands on class this past weekend in Maynard, MA. Although you can learn lots of great info watching someone doing a demo style class, there is nothing like hands on. This is as close to a comp as you can get. The class started off with talks about food safety, demos on chicken, ribs, pork, brisket, searching the Internet for info, and judging procedures. Just when the students thought they would be sitting around all day, it was time to put them to work. Unload trucks, set up for a dinner service, set up cooking gear (theirs and ours), start prepping meats and get the cookers going. All this was done hands on. Right before we had our 9:30PM dinner, a massive rain storm moved through our area. My favorite part of the night was watching some of the students walk around asking:
"What do we do now?"
"We get wet..." I said "you didn't bring rain gear?"
Lessons like that can not be taught, they must be experienced.
After the rain cleared we split up the students into 4 teams and passed out meats. They even made up team names (my favorite was Meat Curtains). Each team was paired up with an experienced competition cook or two. We overlooked and made suggestions but the students did all the work. After the big meats were in the smoker, we sat around a blazing fire pit, and drank good beers into the early morning. With 3 hours sleep it was time to get the ribs ready. After breakfast, we had a quick demo on putting together turn in boxes. We passed out lettuce, parsley, and numbered boxes. We had everyone synchronize their clocks and had them get ready for actual turn in times. After all the food was turned in, and all other questions were answered, it was time to clean and pack up the gear. The students were wet, tiered, and some hungover. But after wrapping up the class and saying bye, I just knew that I would see all of them somewhere out on The Circuit this year.
More pics can be found here and here.
"What do we do now?"
"We get wet..." I said "you didn't bring rain gear?"
Lessons like that can not be taught, they must be experienced.
After the rain cleared we split up the students into 4 teams and passed out meats. They even made up team names (my favorite was Meat Curtains). Each team was paired up with an experienced competition cook or two. We overlooked and made suggestions but the students did all the work. After the big meats were in the smoker, we sat around a blazing fire pit, and drank good beers into the early morning. With 3 hours sleep it was time to get the ribs ready. After breakfast, we had a quick demo on putting together turn in boxes. We passed out lettuce, parsley, and numbered boxes. We had everyone synchronize their clocks and had them get ready for actual turn in times. After all the food was turned in, and all other questions were answered, it was time to clean and pack up the gear. The students were wet, tiered, and some hungover. But after wrapping up the class and saying bye, I just knew that I would see all of them somewhere out on The Circuit this year.
More pics can be found here and here.Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday Night Food Porn
A Farewell?
On March 21, 2008 I started Friday Night Food Porn; it was my 4th post ever. I've posted 58 of them, and only missed one Friday night...because a tree hit my house. Over the past year FNFP has been the one thing you could count on from this blog. Good or bad, simple or complex, BBQ or most likely not, it didn't matter. The food would be here. Every Friday. Until now...and to me, now just seems about right. I have been giving it some serious thought for the past month. My original plan was to do FNFP for one year and then end it. I never thought it would be a hard decision to make, but it was. I know some of you actually look forward to FNFP. You comment, send emails, and tell me when you see me how much you enjoy it. Thank you. It was your kind words that sometimes kept FNFP going. I'd also like you to know that this does not mean there will never be pictures of food again on this blog. Without food porn, this blog is pretty much dead. It just means that on Friday night, instead of fooling with a flash and a tripod, I can sit down and eat my food while it's still hot. They say all good things come to an end, and nothing lasts forever. Those phrases seem a little too final, so I'd like to modify one of them: all things, good or bad, sometimes just need a rest.
On March 21, 2008 I started Friday Night Food Porn; it was my 4th post ever. I've posted 58 of them, and only missed one Friday night...because a tree hit my house. Over the past year FNFP has been the one thing you could count on from this blog. Good or bad, simple or complex, BBQ or most likely not, it didn't matter. The food would be here. Every Friday. Until now...and to me, now just seems about right. I have been giving it some serious thought for the past month. My original plan was to do FNFP for one year and then end it. I never thought it would be a hard decision to make, but it was. I know some of you actually look forward to FNFP. You comment, send emails, and tell me when you see me how much you enjoy it. Thank you. It was your kind words that sometimes kept FNFP going. I'd also like you to know that this does not mean there will never be pictures of food again on this blog. Without food porn, this blog is pretty much dead. It just means that on Friday night, instead of fooling with a flash and a tripod, I can sit down and eat my food while it's still hot. They say all good things come to an end, and nothing lasts forever. Those phrases seem a little too final, so I'd like to modify one of them: all things, good or bad, sometimes just need a rest.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
BBQ Workshop at Lester's
Last Saturday NEBS was invited to participate in a BBQ workshop at Lester's Roadside BBQ. The class was instructed by Steve and Scott of the competition team Meat at Slims. They covered the basics of backyard BBQ including ribs, chicken, rubs, and sauces. Doug Shaffer, owner and pit boss of Lester's, also spoke and shared with the class the in's and out's of BBQ on a commercial scale. Lester's manager, Dave, talked about pairing craft beer with BBQ and included some great samples. NEBS official spokesperson, Andy King, did a great job speaking on NEBS behalf. Both Andy and I fielded questions from the 30 students. The class lasted 5 hours and finished with a BBQ buffet, and gift bags for the students. It was a great class on a beautiful sunny spring day. Be on the lookout for more workshops in the future from these guys.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Friday Night Food Porn
Pork Jowl Bacon Sandwich
Pork cheek is very similar to pork belly, so it makes sense that it would make great bacon. Lots of fat marbled with meat. It's a shame you don't see it around here too much. But, if you look hard enough, and are determined, you can find it. This one came from Ohio. Kris has family out there and pork jowl bacon is a very common thing. It can be found in any supermarket there. So, Kris' Aunt was kind enough to bring some back with her from her last visit...Like I said: determined.
I was very excited to cook up this stuff and I researched recipe after recipe. But nothing really made sense to me. Then it hit me: simple. And what's more simple than a BLT sandwich? Well, in this case the 'T' stands for toast, not tomato, they just didn't look that great at the time. So, I sliced up the jowl, cooked it in the oven, and made a BLT.
Pork cheek is very similar to pork belly, so it makes sense that it would make great bacon. Lots of fat marbled with meat. It's a shame you don't see it around here too much. But, if you look hard enough, and are determined, you can find it. This one came from Ohio. Kris has family out there and pork jowl bacon is a very common thing. It can be found in any supermarket there. So, Kris' Aunt was kind enough to bring some back with her from her last visit...Like I said: determined.I was very excited to cook up this stuff and I researched recipe after recipe. But nothing really made sense to me. Then it hit me: simple. And what's more simple than a BLT sandwich? Well, in this case the 'T' stands for toast, not tomato, they just didn't look that great at the time. So, I sliced up the jowl, cooked it in the oven, and made a BLT.
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