Wordless Wednesday 3/10/2010

Chimney Catfish Cookout

I love fried catfish.  But what I don’t like is the odor it leaves in the house.  So when I got the craving for some fried catfish and without a working outdoor cooking unit I had to come up with some way to cook fry the catfish without using the stove in the kitchen.

A few months ago I used my charcoal chimney and a small cooking grate to grill some sausages.  Cooking directly on the chimney worked perfectly and I’ve used it a couple of more times to grill small amounts of meat.

The thought came to me that I could use the charcoal chimney to heat the cast iron skillet and fry my catfish.  I lit half a chimney of Kingsford charcoal and let it ash over.  I knew the charcoal would get the cast iron skillet hot, but I wasn’t sure how long it would burn so added five or six unlit briquettes to the already hot charcoal.

Continue reading Chimney Catfish Cookout

Wordless Wednesday 3/3/2010

Olympic Winnings #1

A couple of Canadian BBQ enthusiasts were willing to bet some BBQ sauce on the outcome of the first USA vs Canada hockey game.  Ultimately Canada won the Gold but I scored too.  Here’s a shot of the first package of winning arriving.

Phat Matt is where it's at!

I ate lunch this week at Phat Matt’s BBQ in Oakland, California and there is no way I can get around the fact that this review is going to sound like an advertisement.  I’ve been thinking about writing this review for a couple of days and I have no idea how to get around the ad problem.  But I can’t

So let’s get the hyperbole out of the way.  Phat Matt’s BBQ is the second best BBQ restaurant I’ve ever eaten at.  I’ve eaten a lot of really bad restaurant BBQ,  I’ve eaten  a lot of mediocre restaurant BBQ.  But only twice have I eaten great restaurant BBQ.   Up until this week the only other place I have eaten great restaurant BBQ was Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, New York.  Dinosaur may remain my all time favorite BBQ restaurant but Phat Matt’s is a close second.

There are a couple of things that make a BBQ restaurant great.  Certainly the food is critical, and we’ll get to that in a minute, but atmosphere is important.  I’ve eaten at a lot of BBQ restaurants and most of the them are decorated as you would expect a regional cuisine type restaurant to be decorated.  But the staff and cooks are all pretty sterile.  Phat Matt’s has a rather sterile decor but it’s more than made up by the friendliness of the staff.

Continue reading Phat Matt is where it’s at!