BigMista on BBQ Pitmasters Season 2 Sept 2nd

I was honored to help assist Neil of Bigmista's BBQ during his filming of Season 2 of The Learning Channel's (TLC) BBQ Pitmasters.  This season the show is a competition highlighting four teams weekly competing for the right to compete for some big dollars during the season finale. 

Sept 2nd our spare rib showdown will air at 10 pm pst/9 PM cst.  These times may vary depending on your cable carrier. 

See these teasers for the series. 

Pulled Pork Tacos Soul Fusion Style

I have so much pulled pork in my freezer.  Today I decided to try to get rid of some of it by utilizing the pulled pork in a couple of taco recipes.  A traditional taco with salsa advocado and cheese and an fusion influenced taco with Asian slaw, pickled red onions and Red Dragon Sauce aka Momofuku style all on a flour tortilla.



Asian Cabbage Slaw
6 cups shredded cabbage

1 cup thinly sliced scallions

½ cup rough chopped cilantro

4 Tbsp Kochujang paste

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 Tbsp minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste



1. Make the marinade soy sauce, sugar, garlic, scallions, black pepper, sesame oil in a mixing bowl. Whisk until the sugar granules dissolve and set aside.

2. Mix kochujang paste, garlic, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sesame seeds

3. Toss shredded cabbage, scallions, cilantro with kochujang mixture

4. Add salt & pepper to taste and set aside, allowing the flavors to marry.

5. Brush a little bit of olive oil on tortilla and warm in a pan or the oven.

6. Assemble the tacos by adding meat to the tortillas and top off with the spicy Korean/Asian slaw

 
Pickled Red Onions
 
1 medium to large red onion sliced into thin rings
 
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
 
1/2 tsp salt
 
pinch of ground black pepper
 
Mix allo ingredient and refrigerate for at lest 2 hours.  Will last for at least a couple of weeks or more refrigerated.

Four Q Gets a 5th Place in Chicken at Vista Competition July 31st- 11th Overall

5th Place chicken  (out of 45)

Didn't Get a Picture of Box- Money Muscle Turn In (16th)

18th Place (out of 45)

17th Out of 45

Vista, CA- 07/30/2010 - 08/01/2010

Overall:

1 Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

2 Rhythm 'n Que

3 The Rub Company

4 All Sauced Up

5 Big Poppa Smokers

6 Goin Que Que

7 T & J's Backyard BBQ

8 Bird's Pit Crew

9 Smokin' Yankees BBQ

10 Smokin' Steve's

11 Four Q

12 Brazen BBQ

13 Rusty Barrel BBQ

14 Tops BBQ

15 Smoke It All Night

16 Tropical Heat BBQ

17 Smoked to the Bone

18 Left Coast Q

19 Smokey Bones BBQ

20 5J's BBQ

21 Rib Ticklers BBQ

22 Whiskey Ranch BBQ

23 El Fuego Fiasco

24 BBQ by Dan

25 All Hogs Go to Heaven

26 Soaked In Smoke

27 The Smokaholics

28 Meat, Inc.

29 Smitty's Smoke Patrol

30 West's Best BBQ Team

31 When Pigs Fly

32 Smokin' Hogs

33 Rubbed the Right Way

34 Ham-erd Hogs

35 Dirty Harry's BBQ

36 Here's the Rub

37 Carnivorous Habits

38 Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ

39 Revolution Barbecue

40 Big Rick & The BBQ Chick

41 GRILLaTactics

42 T & H Prime Meats and Sa

43 Two Irish Fools

44 Papa Chubby's BBQ

45 Pribs Ribs



Chicken:

1 Meat, Inc.

2 Smokey Bones BBQ

3 Goin Que Que

4 Smokin' Yankees BBQ

5 Four Q

6 El Fuego Fiasco

7 The Smokaholics

8 Rhythm 'n Que

9 Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

10 Big Poppa Smokers

11 Whiskey Ranch BBQ

12 Rib Ticklers BBQ

13 All Sauced Up

14 Bird's Pit Crew

15 T & J's Backyard BBQ

16 Rusty Barrel BBQ

17 Tops BBQ

18 BBQ by Dan

19 T & H Prime Meats and Sa

20 Tropical Heat BBQ

21 Smoke It All Night

22 Brazen BBQ

23 Smoked to the Bone

24 Smokin' Hogs

25 5J's BBQ

26 All Hogs Go to Heaven

27 When Pigs Fly

28 Here's the Rub

29 Smitty's Smoke Patrol

30 Revolution Barbecue

31 Rubbed the Right Way

32 Soaked In Smoke

33 Dirty Harry's BBQ

34 The Rub Company

35 Smokin' Steve's

36 Ham-erd Hogs

37 West's Best BBQ Team

38 GRILLaTactics

39 Papa Chubby's BBQ

40 Left Coast Q

41 Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ

42 Big Rick & The BBQ Chick

43 Two Irish Fools

44 Carnivorous Habits

45 Pribs Ribs





Ribs:

1 The Rub Company

2 Rhythm 'n Que

3 Bird's Pit Crew

4 Carnivorous Habits

5 Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

6 Rib Ticklers BBQ

7 BBQ by Dan

8 Tropical Heat BBQ

9 All Sauced Up

10 Tops BBQ

11 Smokin' Hogs

12 Left Coast Q

13 Soaked In Smoke

14 When Pigs Fly

15 Smoke It All Night

16 Big Rick & The BBQ Chick

17 The Smokaholics

18 Four Q

19 GRILLaTactics

20 El Fuego Fiasco

21 Smoked to the Bone

22 Ham-erd Hogs

23 Smokin' Yankees BBQ

24 Rusty Barrel BBQ

25 Smokin' Steve's

26 Revolution Barbecue

27 Two Irish Fools

28 Goin Que Que

29 Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ

30 West's Best BBQ Team

31 T & J's Backyard BBQ

32 Dirty Harry's BBQ

33 Here's the Rub

34 All Hogs Go to Heaven

35 Brazen BBQ

36 5J's BBQ

37 Smokey Bones BBQ

38 Papa Chubby's BBQ

39 Big Poppa Smokers

40 T & H Prime Meats and Sa

41 Rubbed the Right Way

42 Pribs Ribs

43 Smitty's Smoke Patrol

44 Whiskey Ranch BBQ

45 Meat, Inc.


Pork:

1 Big Poppa Smokers

2 Smokin' Steve's

3 Brazen BBQ

4 Rhythm 'n Que

5 All Hogs Go to Heaven

6 Left Coast Q

7 Rusty Barrel BBQ

8 Smoked to the Bone

9 Smokin' Yankees BBQ

10 All Sauced Up

11 5J's BBQ

12 Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

13 Tropical Heat BBQ

14 Meat, Inc.

15 Big Rick & The BBQ Chick

16 Four Q

17 T & J's Backyard BBQ

18 West's Best BBQ Team

19 Smitty's Smoke Patrol

20 The Rub Company

21 Bird's Pit Crew

22 Smoke It All Night

23 Tops BBQ

24 Rubbed the Right Way

25 Goin Que Que

26 Whiskey Ranch BBQ

27 Smokey Bones BBQ

28 Soaked In Smoke

29 Two Irish Fools

30 Ham-erd Hogs

31 The Smokaholics

32 BBQ by Dan

33 When Pigs Fly

34 Revolution Barbecue

35 Pribs Ribs

36 Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ

37 Dirty Harry's BBQ

38 El Fuego Fiasco

39 T & H Prime Meats and Sa

40 Rib Ticklers BBQ

41 Here's the Rub

42 GRILLaTactics

43 Carnivorous Habits

44 Smokin' Hogs

45 Papa Chubby's BBQ


Brisket:

1 T & J's Backyard BBQ

2 Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

3 The Rub Company

4 Goin Que Que

5 Whiskey Ranch BBQ

6 Big Poppa Smokers

7 Smokin' Steve's

8 Brazen BBQ

9 All Sauced Up

10 5J's BBQ

11 Rusty Barrel BBQ

12 Smitty's Smoke Patrol

13 Rhythm 'n Que

14 Tops BBQ

15 Bird's Pit Crew

16 Smoke It All Night

17 Four Q

18 Smokin' Yankees BBQ

19 Rib Ticklers BBQ

20 El Fuego Fiasco

21 Smokin' Hogs

22 Smokey Bones BBQ

23 West's Best BBQ Team

24 Soaked In Smoke

25 Left Coast Q

26 Smoked to the Bone

27 Here's the Rub

28 Rubbed the Right Way

29 Dirty Harry's BBQ

30 Tropical Heat BBQ

31 Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ

32 BBQ by Dan

33 Ham-erd Hogs

34 Carnivorous Habits

35 All Hogs Go to Heaven

36 When Pigs Fly

37 Pribs Ribs

38 The Smokaholics

39 Meat, Inc.

40 GRILLaTactics

41 Revolution Barbecue

42 T & H Prime Meats and Sa

43 Papa Chubby's BBQ

44 Two Irish Fools

45 Big Rick & The BBQ Chick

BBQ Pitmasters Season 2

Season 2 of BBQ Pitmasters premieres August 12th, 2010 on TLC.  See your local programming for the time in your area (10/9C).    The below link is to video sneak previews of the first episode.

BBQ Pitmasters Season 2 Preview

July 10th, 2010 BBQ 101 Class by Professor Salt

My Four Q BBQ teammate is starting a series of BBQ cooking classes in Irvine, California.

An excerpt from his website on the class follows.

"Have you always wanted to learn how to make slow smoked, authentic Southern barbecue? Perhaps you’re not sure what type of equipment you’ll need, or how to make better use of the smoker you already own. Sure, you can learn by reading books and lots of trial and error. Or you can speed up your learning curve by taking this class, and go home with the delicious barbecue you made yourself!




•Learn from a local expert who’ll show you contest winning techniques.

•This is a hands-on class: you’ll trim meat, season it with dry rub, and cook it while I guide you through the process

•You’ll get your pick of different smokers to demo: Big Green Egg, Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber gas grills, Traeger wood pellet smoker, and an “Ugly Drum Smoker” – a 55 gallon drum smoker you can learn to build yourself.

•When: Saturday July 10,2010 9am to 1pm

•Where: Irvine location to be revealed after payment is received.

Call 949 334 7485 with questions


Cost is $95 per student, which includes lunch, and you get to take home the meat that you’ll cook. The grill shop where classes will be held is offering 10% off of the cost of a smoker, and 20% off of accessories. If you’re in the market for a nice smoker, this discount can offset the cost of tuition."

Bigmista's Barbecue empire - latimes.com

Bigmista's Barbecue empire - latimes.com

Real.Good.Meat

See article in L.A. Times July 1st, 2010.  The man to go to for great BBQ.  My Four Q BBQ teammate now on his own and doing quite well. 

Yellowtail Fish Collar and Belly With a Miso Glaze

My hubby went on a deep sea fishing trip this past week. Of all the fish he caught, the one he most cherished was Yellowtail. From three that he caught he had the deck hands cut them so that he had fish collars with attached bellies.

His preferred method of prep was for me to grill them with a teriyaki or soy sauce based glaze. I came across a recipe for a Miso Glaze which I tweeked a bit.

1/2 cup yellow soy bean paste (Miso)
1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 minced and crushed garlic cloves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mirin

Mix all the ingredients. Reduce over low heat to slightly thicken. Cool the mixture.



Coat fish collar and belly with the glaze. Let marinade for about an hour in the refrigerator.
Prepare BBQ grill with area for indirect and direct heat.

Grill the fish with the skin side down to start over the direct heat source. Be careful to minimize the charring of the skin. Move to the indirect side of grill with skin side up. Place cover on grill. Peak in after about 4-5 minutes. Turn fish over with skin side down again. Brush on more glaze. Put cover back on and grill for about another 3-4 minutes. Check for flakiness of meat. Remove from heat source and enjoy.




I also grilled some shrimp marinaded with the Miso Glaze.

Bacon Explosion

Four Q BBQ team member, Professor Salt was featured in an interview by Ed Lin of Deep End Dining.  The making of a bacon explosion was filmed during our recent competition at the OC BBQ Festival for Kristie's Foundation June 11-12th, 2010.  The Four Q BBQ team site is the background.  

This is a must see video.  It will have all you bacon lovers drooling. See below link

Bacon Explosion

Cooking With Chef Dave

Heads up.  One of my friends is going to be teaching a hands on cooking class at a working Organic farm in Irvine at Tanaka Farms.  Recommendations from people who have taken the class include comments like "he makes cooking fun and approachable. From Bistro to BBQ, Gourmet to Gourmand, Chef Dave will inspire you to enjoy food even more and cook your very best".

6th Place Brisket (Out of 57 Teams)

Four Q BBQ got a 6th place in brisket out of 57 teams.  Proudly accepting the trophy is Sylvie. Quen for
Kids  2010 OC BBQ Festival.

Quen for Kids BBQ Competition

Four Q BBQ Team will be competing June 12th at the Kristie's Foundation Annual Que'n For Kids BBQ Competition.

This competition is well on it's way to being one of the largest for Southern California with possibly 50 plus teams competing.  Funds for admission and People's Choice BBQ sampling all benefit Kristie's Foundation, a charity for critically ill children and their families with end of life needs.  Show your support and come on out for this event.

1st Annual Vendy Awards 2010 L.A.- BigMista BBQ Competes

My friend Neil from BigMista BBQ was nominated as one of the top 6 street food vendors in Los Angeles for the 1st annual Los Angeles Vendy Awards. The top 6 were judged by reknowned L.A. food personalities in radio, food blogging and food reviews. Though BigMista did not take home the trophy, placing in the top six is a major accomplishment. Two of us from Four Q (Shuji and Sylvie) had the honor of helping Neil at this event. We made some new friends (shout out to the Grilled Cheese Truck- Michele and Dave) and met some wonderful folks who appreciate great street food.

Finalist
Bigmista's BBQ
Nina's food- Winner of 2010 Vendy Award Los Angeles
India Jones Food truck
Hot Dog Kings
Grilled Cheese Truck
Tacos El Galuzo



Big Mista Interview

The Sporting Life

My combined Mothers Day and Anniversary present (June 2010). I told myself I woulld not post this, but I am bursting at the seams wanting to share this with you all.

Trading in the CTS was very hard but after 8 years, she was ready to go.

Results From Wildomar BBQ Competition

It was great competing at the Wildomar- Ultimate BBQ Showdown.  We had fun and enjoyed hanging with our BBQ family.  We did take three walks though only getting a 19th place overall. 

Next event we will be competing at will be June 12th at Que'n for Kids in Orange County, CA.

See below for the results from this past weekend at Wildomar:

Grand Champion:  Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ

Reserve Grand Champion; Notley Que

Overall:

1st Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ
2nd Notley Que
3rd Otis & The Bird
4th Porketeers
5th Burnt By The Best
6th Rusty Barrel BBQ
7th Big Daddy's Q'n Crew
8th Rhythm 'n Que
9th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
10th The Rub Company
11th AzBarbeque
12th 7 kinds of smoke
13th Simply Marvelous BBQ
14th Rolling Bones
15th Punk Rock BBQ
16th Bird's Pit Crew
17th Rancho Rocke BBQ
18th Tropical Heat BBQ
19th Four Q
20th The Q
21st California BBQ Smokers
22nd Get It While Its Hot
23rd Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ
24th All Hogs Go to Heaven
25th When Pigs Fly
26th Smoke It All Night
27th GrillaTactics BBQ
28th Southfork BBQ
29th Meteor Barbecue Wave
30th Soaked in Smoke
31st Get Your Rub On
32nd Emi

Chicken:

1st AzBarbeque
2nd Slap Yo" Daddy BBQ
3rd Rolling Bones
4th Otis & The Bird
5th Rancho Rocke BBQ
6th Notley Que
7th Punk Rock BBQ
8th 7 kinds of smoke
9th Rusty Barrel BBQ
10th Four Q
11th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
12th GrillaTactics BBQ
13rd Meteor Barbecue Wave
14th Soaked in Smoke
15th Emi

Pork Ribs

1st Notley Que
2nd Otis & The Bird
3rd Big Daddy's Q'n Crew
4th Porketeers
5th Slap Yo" Daddy BBQ
6th The Rub Company
7th Bird's Pit Crew
8th Burnt By The Best
9th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
10th 7 kinds of smoke
11th Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ
12th Smoke It All Night
13rd Southfork BBQ
14th California BBQ Smokers
15th Rancho Rocke BBQ

Pork:

1st Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ
2nd Notley Que
3rd Otis & The Bird
4th Rusty Barrel BBQ
5th The Q
6th Rhythm 'n Que
7th Porketeers
8th Big Daddy's Q'n Crew
9th Simply Marvelous BBQ
10th Get It While Its Hot
11th All Hogs Go to Heaven
12th AzBarbeque
13rd Bird's Pit Crew
14th 7 kinds of smoke
15th Get Your Rub On

Brisket:

1st Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ
2nd Notley Que
3rd Burnt By The Best
4th Otis & The Bird
5th Tropical Heat BBQ
6th Rhythm 'n Que
7th The Rub Company
8th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
9th California BBQ Smokers
10th Simply Marvelous BBQ
11th Four Q
12th When Pigs Fly
13rd Punk Rock BBQ
14th Rusty Barrel BBQ
15th Porketeers

Tri-Tip:

1st Freddy Ray's BBQ
2nd When Pigs Fly
3rd Rooftop BBQ
4th Big Jims
5th Sweet Surrender
6th Game Over Cookers
7th Porketeers
8th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
9th Punk Rock BBQ
10th Get Your Rub On
11th Simply Marvelous BBQ
12th Southfork BBQ
13th AzBarbeque
14th GrillaTactics BBQ
15th The Rub Company

Beef Ribs:

1st Slap Yo' Daddy BBQ
2nd The Rub Company
3rd Southfork BBQ
4th Tropical Heat BBQ
5th Soaked in Smoke
6th 7 kinds of smoke
7th AzBarbeque
8th Four Q
9th Rooftop BBQ
10th Cooks 'N Ladders BBQ
11th All Hogs Go to Heaven
12th West's Best BBQ Team
13th Rib Tickler BBQ, LLC
14th Game Over Cookers
15th When Pigs Fly

Ultimate BBQ Showdown- Wildomar, California

Four Q BBQ will be competing in this event this weekend.  With some changes to the team and head cook, we are ready for our first 2010 competition.

This IBCA event will center on the usual 4 meats, chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork and brisket.  Additonally other competiton meats include tri tip and beef ribs.

We are so looking forward to this event.  With 47 teams signed up and many of them selling 'people's choice' samples, this should be the place to be this weekend.

Swimming Pool During Earthquake 4-4-10

I took some video of how the 6.9 updated to a 7.2 earthquake in Baja impacted our swimming pool in Los Angeles. The motion of this quake was like a swaying back and forth for what seemed like 30 seconds to a minute.  The first video is of the initial quake, the second video was taken during an aftershock seconds later.

Two Dinners With Friends

Birthday Celebration and Jamaican Cuisine

Happy birthday V.   Food was great.  Fish escoveitch, plaintains, green bananas, brown rice, greens.



Dinner in San Marcos

B cooked these pork chops to perfection.  Moist tender and full of flavor with a herb marinade.  Smashed potatoes and brussel sprouts as sides.

Posole or is it Pozole?

G found a bag of dried hominy in the pantry and suggested that I make Posole.  Thumbing through my trusty cookbook collection, I found a simple and easy recipe for making this pork and hominy stew.  I had all the ingredients (Go Figure) but one set back was time to soak the dried hominy.  I chose a quick soak method which I do not suggest.  Overall the stew was tasty but suffered because of the texture of the hominy which I did not get softened/soaked enough.despite a long cook time.

I used some frozen smoked pulled pork instead of cubes of pork as suggested by the recipe.  I also used skinless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken.  Other ingredients included 1 whole diced onion, 4 cloves garlic minced, 1 tsp of cumin and oregano, water, and  dried Mexican chili. 

I made a red chili sauce from onion, garlic, soaked Mexican chilies pureed with a 1/2 cup water then sauteed in olive oil.

Sushi Feast Shared with Friends

Sushi Feast


Sushi Feast link

G recently returned from a long range deep sea fishing adventure. We invited some friends over to share some of the goodness of very fresh fish grilled and also some sliced for sushi.

The menu included a green salad, fresh fruit, homemade (by me) spring rolls, grilled tuna, wahoo and red rover sushi.

I got the he recipe for the spring rolls from a Surfas Restaurant Supply demonstration I attended last year. Thanks to Minnie, I was able to make these goodies at home.  I chose to use green cabbage instead of the red.  The red would have made for an even prettier presentation but I worked with what I had.

Minnie’s Red Cabbage
From the demo: Asian Street Food
Recipe Courtesy of Minnie Luong
Shredded red cabbage
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 small red onion, diced
2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sugar
2 teaspoon fish sauce
3-4 tbsp rice vinegar
salt& pepper to taste
A few squirts of sriracha chili sauce
Heat canola and sesame oil in medium high sauté pan. Sautee red onion until soft. Add ginger sauté until the whole kitchen smells like ginger before adding cabbage. Stir and cook until cabbage is soft. About 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about a minute, then add sugar and salt, fish sauce, let it cook off for a few minutes. Turn on your fan, because it will start getting stinky, but don’t worry it will taste great! Add rice vinegar, cook a few more minutes before adding sriracha for a little heat. Cool off before adding to spring rolls.


Wasabi Butter was simply a cube of softened butter which I added the zest of one lime, about a tablesppon of minced cilantro and about a tablespoon of wasabi paste. I got this recipe from taking ideas from a number of internet recipes and using ingredients that I had in the refrigerator.

BBQ for Hubby's Staff