Gone Fishin’

I will be taking a break from blogging as I am going on a short vacation with my family, over the holidays to Treasure Cay, Bahamas (on the island of Abaco).

Although I am not as an accomplished fisherman as I am a “grillmaster ,  my father-in-law and brother-in-law are salt water enthusiasts, and it doesn’t get much better than bottom fishing in the waters near Abaco, Guana Cay and Green Turtle Cay. (for fly fisherman, the flats are terrific for bonefish) You never know what you will catch, but typically you come home with enough strawberry grouper, yellowtail and mutton snapper (if you are lucky) for a terrific meal.

Now this is where the grilling comes in. A thick grouper filet on the charcoal grill, with a Goombay Smash or an ice cold Kalik- then top it off with a Cuban cigar, and you have a day worthy of being considered “grilladelic”.

The fish are terrific with a little lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I will share some pictures of this good life. Family, friends, fishing, stogies, sand, warm weather, beautiful beaches….when I return in January.

With three kids, we don’t do a vacation like this often, so it is a special time and we are thankful for the great country we live in!

Happy holidays everyone.

John, Leanne, Jack, Rose and Nora

If music were bbq…

This is bbq music. Rich in tradition. Honest. Quality ingredients. Genuine.

What do you think? What music is more “bbq’ than this? C’mon, comment.

http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Farmer-Levon-Helm/dp/B000VG7M0O/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197778108&sr=8-1

The Art of the Butt (aka- pulling pork)

I seasoned and barbecued a 6 lb. pork butt tonight in about 4.5 hours.  That is against many bbq “truisms” which generally state that “low and slow” is the only way for good bbq.  I was (and am) one of the purists too, but I also keep an open mind and experiment quite a bit.

Tonight, after seasoning, I double-banked some Lazzari Mesquite Hardwood Charcoal, and got it red hot.  I mean hot.  I am guessing 350-400 degrees with my kettle lid on.  I placed the butt in the middle and let it rip (adding a generous handful of both pecan and apple chips).  The smoke was billowing out of my wide open vents.  The fire was raging.  The butt was in an inferno!   After about 90 minutes, still very hot, I pulled it.  The exterior was crispy, a little burnt, but not bad.  I partially wrapped in heavy duty tin foil and then added about 2 cups of apple juice and then crimped shut.

Because lump charcoal burns so much hotter, and a Weber kettle is not the most tightly sealed grilled known to mankind, the fire still raged- even with the vents closed.

This was now about 6:30 and I planned on another 3-4 hours of just setting in the grill.  But at 8:00, I checked the internal temp…201 degrees!  I pulled it from the grill and let set for 30 minutes, then easily shredded it with a fork.  The bone pulled out clean as a whistle.

High temperature BBQ is a reality.  I am not saying it is better than low and slow, but it is still good and makes a large butt less than time consuming on a work night.

I am finishing it with Big Ricks BBQ Sauce for an office pot luck on Tuesday.

Big Ricks—IMHO, the best commercial BBQ sauce on the market.

http://www.bigricks.com/ 

Unique Cookbooks for Grill Enthusiasts

Here is one book I would like to recommend this holiday season.  I like it because it is “old school”.  In other words, no grilled tofu.

One of my BBQ heroes is Walter Jetton.  He was LBJ’s personal caterer when in Texas. Walter has a  great book that you can generally buy on eBay. A great addition to a library.  I even used the rib rub recipe (modified…) in a couple of competitions.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0811829618/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-7686950-8400061#reader-link