BBQ Junkie

Here’s a quick little recipe for a BBQ rub that goes great on pork. It’s what I’m using this 4th of July weekend.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup paprika
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup granulated onion
1/4 cup cinnamon
1 1/5 dashes of ground cloves

mix together and sprinkle liberally over your spare ribs or pork butt before smoking.

The unofficial start of summer is this weekend and what better way to kick things off than with a barbeque. Get out that power sprayer and grill brush and be ready to go in no time.
I’m looking for a couple of recipes to try out this weekend. I smoked some pulled pork and beer can chicken for Mother’s Day and we grilled up some tri tips last night, but now I think its time for something different. It’s time to try something new.

Any ideas, leave a comment and let me know what you’re cooking up for Memorial Day.

The 2nd Annual Que’n for Kids BBQ competition is happening this Saturday May 9 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. This is a very fun event for both attendees and competitors… and you can feel good about it, as the proceeds go towards Kristie’s Foundation which benefits terminally ill children. There will be live music, kids entertainment along with an “awesome kid zone and car show.
Four-Q BBQ team (minus me) will be there representing as last year’s People’s Choice Champions. I have no doubt that they will make me proud once again. If you happen to go, give them a try and cast your vote accordingly. You may also want to say hi to any of the other 33 BBQ teams that will be there competing. If you go, please leave a comment and let me know how it went.

Check out my Flickr photos from last year’s event.

Click for more information on this event.

Also this weekend is the Second Annual Los Angeles BBQ Festival in Santa Monica.

Not that I was watching Oprah, but just saw that she/KFC are hooking you, me, us up with a free grilled chicken dinner.

Coupon available for printing from 9am CDT 5/5/09 to 9:59pm CDT 5/6/09. Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC® locations in the U.S. from 5/5/09 to 5/19/09, excluding 5/10/09.

Click here to print your KFC Coupon, courtesy of Oprah.

The Los Angeles BBQ Festival is happening this weekend (May 9 & 10) in the parking lot right next to the Santa Monica Pier. The tickets cost you $10 per day or $50 dollars for the VIP Pass. The VIP pass guarantees access to “express” lines, admission for the weekend and a couple of other items. I’ve seen tickets online for as low as $36 for the VIP tickets, so you may want to Google or Yahoo! “Los Angeles BBQ Festival” if you do plan to go.
This is the second year for this event and it seems like they are addressing many of the problems that they had last year. I didn’t go to last year’s Los Angeles BBQ Festival, but I did speak with some folks who did, and they described it with simply two words… “long lines.” They had too many visitors and not enough vendors. Many of the vendors were local restaurants, which seems odd to pay $10 per person for admission to a local restaurant. This year they have more vendors.
In case you were wondering, this isn’t the only BBQ event this weekend. The Wishland foundation will be having their annual Que’n for Kids BBQ Competition at the Orange County Fairgrounds, which is a sanctioned event by The California BBQ Association and Kansas City BBQ Society (more on this in my next post).

BBQ JUNKIE TIPS:
- If you do go, get there early so that you can avoid the lines. The first hour, from noon to 1pm, is available open only to pre-purchased tickets, general admission is after that.
- Avoid the local restaurants (you can always drive over and visit them later). This is a good opportunity to try out some really good BBQ. I do have a friend that is going, specifically for one of the Texas pit masters that will be there.
- Get your mother some really nice flowers to help explain how you blew her off on Mother’s Day. Or, you can just buy her a ticket and take her.
-If you do go, let me know your thoughts.

Click for more event info.