Soul Fusion Kitchen

Stagecoach BBQ Competition May 2-4, 2008

BBQ Competition at the Stagecoach Music Festival

Four Q BBQ Team will be competing as Four Q Country BBQ at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, Ca-May 2, 3rd and 4th, 2008.

There will be 35 to 40 teams competing in this event. Yes, it is huge and big dollars are to be had.

Four Q BBQ has had a very successful year. I previously posted about our Grand Championship win at the March Madness event last month. We also competed April 19th at a charity event for Wishland (children's charity) where we placed 4th out of 24 teams (photo set).

We are very excited about this competition. For all of you who happen to be attending this music event, come on by and say hello to Four Q Country BBQ. We will be participating in People's Choice sampling for charity so you will have the opportunity to taste our award winning BBQ (chicken ribs, pulled pork and brisket).

Saturday Night Feast-Prime Rib

Saturday mornings are my only opportunity for grocery shopping. I wasn't sure what I wanted to cook today and I actually thought abour braising a whole chicken until I came upon a 7 pound boneless prime rib at a reasonable price. That's it, my menu was finalized. Prime rib, asparagus and sweet potatoes with a bottle of a fine red wine.

I rubbed the prime rib with Montreal Seasoning and Worscheshire Sauce and let it rest about 30 minutes before I placed it on indirect heat on my BBQ grill. For the first 20 minutes, the temp was quite high(475 degrees). I added an aluminum foil packet of oak wood directly over the heat source and lowered the temp to 325. This added a smoky flavor. The prime rib cooked to an internal temp of 130 degrees close to the edge and 125 in the middle. I let it rest for about 20 minutes before serving. Perfect medium rare slices. No added seasoning necessary.

I also grilled the whole sweet potatoes and the asparagus tossed in olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Oven Braised Short Ribs & Mushrooms With Mashed Potatoes

Ok, I haven't posted in over two weeks which means I either didn't have time or I didn't cook anything newsworthy. Answer = both. My 8 quart Staub enamel on cast iron dutch oven has been sitting on my table as a reminder to "cook something in me". This all just somehow came together today. Some time and the need to cook.

I was browsing the cookbooks at Costco and came across a new one to me- "Things Cooks Love" by Sur La Table with recipes by Marie Simmons. Only a couple of pages covered dutch ovens and I immediately paged to it. I knew I was going to buy this cookbook once I read this recipe and then I headed back to the meat section for some short ribs to cook today's project- Braised Short Ribs (without the fennel)and mushrooms.

The recipe suggested mashed potatoes as an accompaniment. I decided to do garlic and roasted mini bellpepper mashed potatoes.

Braised Short Ribs
5 pounds boneless short ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 medium onions diced
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
4 garlic cloves
3 cups red wine
2 bay leaves
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2X14.5 oz stewed diced tomatoes

Ingredients prepped for short ribs

Browning of boneless short ribs

Onion, celery, carrots and garlic

Red wine and diced tomatoes added. Reduce for 8-10 minutes.

Add browned short ribs and mushrooms. Make sure ribs are covered by vegetables. Cover and move to 325 degree oven for 2-2.5hours. Beef should be easily shredded

Minced garlic. (Lots- did I ever tell you I love garlic)

Garlic and Roasted Pepper Mashed Potatoes

4 medium russett potatoes

4 cloves garlic finely diced

5 mini red, orange yellow peppers

1/4 sour cream

1/4 cup milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roasting mini bell peppers

Garlic and roasted mini bell pepper mashed potatoes.

Braised short ribs out of the oven.

Labels: garlic, mash potatoes, roasted peppers, short ribs

Got a New Kitchen Toy- Staub 8 Qt Cocottes

It's just a large dutch oven, what's the hoopla?

I made up my mind well before Christmas 2007, that what I wanted was a large enameled cast iron dutch oven. I couldn't make up my mind between a LC, Staub , Mario Batali, Martha Stewart or other brand. I just had to have one. Yep, just another kitchen gadget. G told me to just go out and get what I wanted. Well it is now March and I finally got my present. It arrived today.

What took me so long? Too many choices and very high price tags. I finally bit the bullet last week over an Amazon special price of $179.00 for an 8 quart grenadine(red) cocette Staub dutch oven regulary priced at $269.99 at stores such as Sur La Table.

I haven't even had the chance to follow the manufacturer guidelines for seasoning this baby. It is suggested that the advantage is the enameled surface which when seasoned simply by coating with vegetable oil over low heat results in a non-stick surface which over time adds to cooking enjoyment.

It is very heavy (duh- cast iron), holds heat well and the dimpled top adds to cooking enjoyment by allowing moisture to recycle in the pot.

Can't wait to try this new toy out.

Labels: cast iron dutch oven, kitchen gadget, Staub

Spring Gardening- First The Flowers

This weekend in Los Angeles was gorgeous with temps in the mid 70's, clear and just gorgeous. The weather screamed "work in the garden". Another incentive was the new stock of spring flowers at the local gardening center. Pretty colors, healthy looking and a wide assortment. I purchased quite a few flowers. Another customer in the store asked me what my color scheme was. I answered- color, just lots of color all over my flower beds. So I spent all Sunday afternoon pulling weeds, turning dirt, bending, digging, on my knees and sweating. I am pretty proud of the results.