December 2005
Rose Bowl BBQ Competition results
Yesterday’s Rose Bowl BBQ competition, put on by the CBBQA, turned out to be a pretty nice excursion for Cutty and I. We got to sample plenty of great BBQ from some of Southern California’s Best BBQ teams as well as sit and chew the fat with other fellow BBQ junkies. Congratulations to all of the teams that participated, you all did one heck of a job creating some great BBQ. QN4U won the Grand Champion prize and Sug’s Shack won the Reserve Grand Champion. Professor Salt (a fellow Southern Californian who fancies BBQ and writes his own blog) was there taking some great pictures and talking with QN4U, if you get a chance check it out.
Rose Bowl BBQ this Friday - update
This is just a reminder that this Friday the CBBQA (California BBQ Association) will be having a BBQ competition at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This competition is one of the most centrally located BBQ events in the L.A. area. The event will be held in parking lot “I” on Friday (December 30th) and is open to the public. There will be a booth open at around 10am that will sell BBQ samples to raise funds for a children’s charity… just in case you wanted to stop by and try out some BBQ.
There will be twenty BBQ teams competing so bring your camera and take some pictures of these spectacular BBQ pits… and if that wasn’t enough, the Food Network will be there filming one of them (CeeCee’s Bar-B-Q, an all-female team) for an upcoming show.
Previous post on the Rose Bowl BBQ Competition
More info at the CBBQA website
The Cajun Injector
One of my stocking stuffers this year was a Cajun Injector. I am so happy… it’s my first. Many people use these puppies to inject a marinade deep into a thick piece of meat… where a marinade or brine just can’t reach that easily. I really can’t wait to try it out. If Santa didn’t drop one these beauties off for you this season you can pick one up at Barbecues Galore for about $25. I will let you know how it works for me, I plan on using it soon.
Xmas brisket
BigMista over at the Survival Gourmet made a beautiful BBQ brisket for Christmas dinner. I am so jealous. He takes you step-by-step throught the whole process and offers up some nice tips.
Holiday dinner
I had no BBQ for Christmas Dinner, but, as you can see in the picture, there was plenty of good food to be had. There were some chicken tamales, a pot of seafood/chicken gumbo, gravy for the turducken and a pot of collard greens. yummmm. Food is a big component to any holiday celebration, feel free to post a comment on what you had or are having. In the mean time, I am going to go heat up some left overs.
Holiday heat
What is up with this weather? 80 plus degrees today… amazing. I got the Xmas music blasting through iTunes as I wrap my final gifts, but it just doesn’t feel like Xmas Eve without it being a little colder. If I wasn’t wrapping gifts, I’d probably be outside BBQ’n. We do have good weather here in Southern California, but on Xmas Eve I do like to at least pretend that it’s winter time. Come on Saint Nick… I don’t need a white Xmas, just a cool one. How am I supposed to enjoy eating tamales and drinking eggnog in all of this heat.
Anyway, enjoy your Xmas Eve and try not to get sun burned.
BBQ King
What better way is there to finish up a trip to downtown Los Angeles, than with some BBQ? My first inclination was to take my wife (Cutty) and my niece (Missy) over to the Spring Street Smokehouse, but it seems that they are closed on Sunday. Fortunately, I had a plan B that wasn’t too far away. A quick right turn on Cesar Chavez Ave. and a few blocks up the street turns into Sunset. You go a little further to Figueroa St. and there is the BBQ King restaurant. I had driven by BBQ king after leaving Dodger Stadium once and have wanted to stop by ever since. It was as though the moons were aligned.
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Happy Holidays
This is me enjoying my third Crown-on the-rocks of the evening… and yes, i am wearing a fake mustache (not sure why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time).
We had our annual company holiday party last night and I am still a little hung over. I got my party on pretty hard last night with Rob Lowe (not the actor), Jill of the Grill (occasional poster for BBQ Junkie), and Pramit… a few notable bloggers and friends. I also wanted to take this time to wish everyone a happy holiday (pick one). I’m not sure how frequently I will be posting in the next couple of weeks because this time of year is so busy with cooking, parties, shopping (I am way behind on my shopping) and entertaining. If any relevant BBQ news comes up, I will keep you posted. One more thing that I wanted to remind you of is the Rose Bowl BBQ Competition at the end of this month. You should try to make it out there and support our local BBQ teams.
BBQ gift ideas
Here are a few items that would make perfect stocking stuffers this holiday. First off, Williams Sonoma has few good BBQ products that are on sale. They have a non-stick rib rack for $7.99 or a nice forged grill brush with replacement heads for $14.99.
Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
Imagine my delight when, after a tiring evening of Christmas shopping in 2nd street in Long Beach, we walked past Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ. Of course we had to stop and go inside for some good old BBQ.
At 8:30 on Monday night they still had a wait, we knew we were in for some delicious food. From the lobby we could see (and smell) the hickory wood smoker. My mouth was watering before we even sat down.
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