BBQ IN THE GLEN

BBQ in the Glen BBQ Competition was a fun tasty way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We are in Willow Glen California to attend and judge a three meat competition. We have the coveted position of sampling and scoring championship entries of chicken, ribs and tri-tip. The weather could not of been nicer with the thermometer barely breaking the 80 degree mark. We would like to share a couple of photos with you.

This is not a KCBS sanctioned event so photos are allowed and encouraged in the bbq tent. The table I sat at comprised of all KCBS Master Judges and were all familiar faces. There was a backyard division to be judged today. This was manned by a mix of KCBS judges and local V.I.P.'s. We take the judging process very serious but smiles were present on everybody's bbq sauce smeared faces.

The photo above is a picture of Ralph Reyes. You may have seen this hard working rib master in previous blog posts. He is the perfect image of a bbq competitor and for some reason I always get hungry looking at his photos.

This is Ryan Pang who you may noticed from the Food Network. He has competed on Guy's Grocery Games. The team he was cooking with, Ric's Righteous Ribs,  won the People's Choice Award. I liked this custom Santa Maria Grill pictured below.

 The military personal below helped out with parking and crowd control. Today was a great day for bbq. The BBQ in the Glenn is a wonderful event that we were happy to be a part of. See you next time.

SNICKERS CHEESECAKE

It has become a tradition to order a whole cheesecake from the Jokers Bakery at the Feather Falls bbq competition. This local bakery sells their decadent cheesecakes at this festival and I am hooked. This year I chose a "Snickers" flavor. The topping has nuts and caramel to mimic the iconic candy bar. The filling is a light (?) creamy rich cream cheese delight. It even tastes great for breakfast. I have a year to choose my next flavor.

HOT Q'S AND COLD BREWS

This is a photo of Sherri who is very happy with her casino chips from Feather Falls Casino. We were there this weekend to judge and join in the activities at the Hot Q'S and Cold Brews bbq competition. Back to Sherri, she is happy for numerous reasons. These chips she has gathered are proceeds from vending bbq to the rib hungry public. Part of the proceeds will be dispersed to local charities. If you scroll down to the last image you can see Sherri again accepting a trophy ( "taking the walk") for 9th place pork. What makes this so special it was her first time 'taking the walk'. She is a member of "Team Bacon" and I have to support a team with such a great name. Team Bacon is the future of KCBS competition. Come take a journey with me as I share this weekends experience. 

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 These are local cheerleaders selling bbq donated from the competitors. The competitors received food credits in the casino for helping out with their donations. There was no shortage of the bbq hungry public. Several vendors sold out within a couple of hours. The casino has a microbrewery on site and were serving great beer to thirsty adults. Ms. Goofy personaly sampled all the beers and gave the paws up on quality.

I wanted to include this picture of the cheesecake vendor. They are the Jokers Bakery located in nearby Chico. Every year I order a whole cake and bring it home. If it makes it home. Below is our friend Joe. He is not a deranged knife wielding psychopath but is showing me his custom kitchen knife he had made especially for him.

This contest was the last big KCBS four meat competition for the year. We do have some smaller contests to attend to stay sharped and tuned with our judging skills. Feather Falls Casino rolls out the red carpet for this event. They are wonderful hosts and this is one of the funnest events of the year. It is fun and bittersweet salute to the end of the KCBS season for us. I think I will have a slice of cheesecake.

REVIER CATTLE

The Chilebrown ice cave was getting low on beef. I have a new connection for quality beef at Golden Gate Meat Company. They are wholesalers and retailers that supply some of the finest restaurants in the Bay Area stocked with quality beef. I have acess to the wholesale division and gave them a call. They had some USDA Prime New York strip from Revier Cattle Company. They are based in Minnesota and raise the Black Angus breed. They raise their cattle on a diet which includes plenty of corn. This is what we crave

   

I bought the whole loin strip. It was brought home, cut up,proportioned for future meals and put in seal-a-meal bags and sealed . Of course we had to sample our beefy purchase. The grill was fired up to the smoking hot temperature. They were cooked to a perfect medium rare. This is exactly what the doctor ordered. Corn fed bliss is all I can say. The Chilebrown ice cave is stocked again. 

THAT"S HOW I ROLL

We experienced a mini heat wave here in the Bay Area. How do we cope with this temporary furnace of discomfort? We go to a hot sauce festival in Auburn. It will be hot literally. Yesterday we attended the Pepper Festival and Hot Sauce Expo. On our way we made a quick stop at the local farmers market.

The local farmers market was quit crowded. It was nice to see a lot of local farmers and all the fresh produce of the season. Some of you know I manage a farmers market but I never tire of visiting others to catch up on prices and see the local offerings.

The pepper festival was held at the local fairgrounds. Auburn has an old time fairground venue that is a step back in time. I saw a sign posted for the demolition derby and even though we could not attend it brought a smile to my face. .The festival was set up with the hot sauce vendors in an exhibition hall and assorted fair exhibits out on the midway.

This festival had a music stage set up for a lineup of entertainment. In the evening a pepper eating contest was scheduled. The outside vendors were a handful of typical festival attendees. You could win a free trip to Europe but if you sign up be prepared for a ton of phone calls. I did spy a food truck selling bbq but today I was on a mission for hot sauce.

It was time to browse the hot sauce exhibition hall. I had a strategy. I would make a lap of the various hot sauce vendors and sample sauces to return and purchase my favorites. As some of you know after a couple of hits of hot sauce your taste buds can become dull and maybe even on fire. It still was fun to meet the sellers and hear their spicy sales pitch.

We have returned home and the heat has subsided. I brought back a bag of hot sauce. I even found a mini pie to take home. It was the perfect way to beat the heat. I love local farmers markets. Auburn put on a fun little festival which was pepper themed. Mother nature must have listened to our whining because we are returning to our mild Bay Area weather.

CAROLINA GOLD RICE

The history of Carolina Gold Plantation Rice goes back to 1800’s and the way the story goes it was known as the ‘Golden Seed” and used as payment in Charleston for ship repairs. This ship was from Madagascar. It became the primary rice crop in the United States grown on plantations all the way up to the Civil War. After the war the rice was cross bred with other strains of rice for easier harvesting. In the 80’s the true strain of Carolina Gold has been revived and grown as a heirloom variety. I have heard about this variety and always wanted to give this rice a try. Here we go.

I bought this rice mail order and received it the next day. The price was just under 20 dollars for two pounds delivered. It comes in a colorful yellow cloth sack. There are no surprises here, it looks like rice. I looked for cooking suggestions and the only thing I found was 1 part rice to two parts water. I cooked a cup of rice with two cups of water with a pinch of salt. I let it simmer for 15 minutes on a very low heat. I took it off the heat and let it sit covered for another 10 minutes. The lid was removed and I fluffed the rice with a fork. When the lid was removed a nutty rice like aroma wafted throughout the kitchen.

The rice was served with bbq chicken wings, salsa, avocado, and a savory cream cheese roll. The rice had great texture with good kernel separation. How did it taste? I would like to tell you it had a nutty taste with floral quality being the best rice ever. It was and it was not. Yes it did have the nuttiness and floral qualities but you know….it is just rice. Carolina Gold Rice is a wonderful variety of rice. It has a great back story and supporting the preservation of heirloom food is something I support. I am glad to have given this a try………………………….Thanks Aaron for the heads up.