Happy Halloween

Ziggy and I wish you all a happy and safe Halloween

A Quick Culinary Trip to the Mediterranean

Naw, we didn't really go anywhere. I just felt like putting together a Mediterranean platter for dinner. Highlighting this meal was a lamb roast subtlely smoked on the grill to medium rare. Paired with my homemade Baba Ghanouj (grilled eggplant, tahini sauce, lemon juice, garlic and salt, Tzatziki Salad (greek yogurt, cucumber,garlic, mint, dill, lemon juice, olive oil and salt), lettuce and tomato salad, and pita bread.

See below Flickr link for additional photos.

Flickr photo set

Dinner





Tzatziki prep = greek yogurt 1 cup, 2-3 garlic cloves finely minced, 1-2 tbl fresh lemon juice, salt to taste, 1/2 cucmumber thinly sliced seeds removed, 1 tbl olive oil, 1 tbl mint leaves minced, 1 tbl dill or 1 tsp dried. Correct salt and lemon juice to taste.







Baba Ghanouj- two eggplants wrapped in foil and placed directly on hot coals. Rotate over coals every 3-4 minutes til all sides complete. Remove from foil and place over grate to cook another rotation of 3-4minutes per side.





Remove from grill and allow to cool to touch so you can remove the charred skin.

Process eggplant in food processor with 2 tbl tahini sauce, 2-3 minced garlic cloves, 1-2 tbl lemon juice, salt to taste.





Lamb Smoking on Grill. Goal is an internal temp of 120 for medium rare.

Medium Rare Lamb Roast

Lettuce and tomato salad

Four Q BBQ Team in the Top 10 at Viejas Comp

It was a very exciting weekend as Four Q BBQ Team were back together again for the Fifth Annual Viejas BBQ Competition in Alpine, California.

We took a 6th place in chicken and a 5th place in brisket which landed us overall in 9th place out of 52 top notch teams. The judges were not so kind to us in pork ribs nor pork though in our humble opinion, our turn-ins for these two categories were also excellent.

See below for overall results and photos of our brisket, chicken and rib turn in boxes. I did not get a picture of the pork. Hopefully one of my teammates has one. Click on overall results/ranking photo for enlarged print.










Flickr Photos of Viejas Comp

Viejas BBQ Competition Oct 16-17 Promo

Four Q BBQ Team will be competing this weekend at the Viejas Outlet Center. See the below link for a video describing what to expect at this event. (note: there is a quick advertisement before the BBQ segment plays).

To date there are 50 teams signed up to compete. With so many great cooking teams, placing anywhere in the top ten is an honor. Four Q plans to be at the top.

Smokin In The Park