I made my TV debut this morning on Fox40 Live Show.  What a treat it was to make MOINK Balls for Sacramento icon Paul Robbins. Here is the Original MOINK Ball Recipe.

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I’ve had some great thrills here at Memphis In May and one of the best ones was getting to meet Chef John Stage.  Chef Stage may not be as well known on the BBQ competition circuit as others but to me he’s a rock star.  John is the owner of Dinosaur BBQ.  Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, New York is the best BBQ restaurant I’ve ever eaten on.

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Check out the great video from Char-Broil about the on the Char-Broil Celebrity Grill-Off. Celebrities from local Memphis radio and TV stations participated to raise money for local charities. I was lucky enough to partner with Jay Young of radio station KIX 106 to get 2nd place and win $250.00 for Special Olympics.

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When Julie Reinhardt offered to send me a copy of her new book She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Over the past month or so I had gotten to know Julie in a “Twitter” sense, but really had no idea how extensive her experience and knowledge in the BBQ world was.  With over 20 years in the BBQ and catering business she has probably forgotten more than I know at this point.

So just who is this Julie Reinhardt?  Julie Reinhardt, owner of Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ, a Seattle joint, is passionate about the slow smoke of barbecue and understands the difference between ‘cuein’ and grillin’.  Born into an extensive Southern family, Reinhardt is ready to talk pork butt with the most macho grillmaster.  She plans and caters big events, and teaches smoking and grilling classes for women,  Reinhardt lives with her husband, son, and daughter in Seattle, Washington. “–She-Smoke back cover

Julie Reinhardt

“I will never forget my first taste of barbecue.  I was at a hole-in-the-wall joint just outside of Trussville, Alabama; it offered classic two meat/three side combos, a huge selection of smoked meats, and sides like warm peaches drenched in syrup and creamed corn.  When I first bit into those tender, smoky ribs, I had to take a moment of silence,” Julie tells in the opening sentences of the preface of her new book.

“This story is one of those that I’d told my friends and family too many times, so I needed to write a book to get some fresh ears. Seriously, though, it definitely shaped my approach to writing the book.  I’d been catering and working in restaurants for years, and though much of that was “front of house,” I had my share of prep and pantry experience.  When I looked back at my first grilling experience, I was first struck by how late it was in my work history.  I realized that there were so many women out there who avoided grilling and barbecue automatically, either because of some fear instilled in them at an early age, or simply because they didn’t question the assumption that barbecue was a man’s domain.  I wanted to write something to help change that.”

She-Smoke” isn’t your normal BBQ cookbook.  Julie set out to write more than just a cookbook, ” I definitely consider my book more than just a cookbook.  It’s a primer aimed at teaching technique and taking the mystery out of barbecue that many, especially women, find intimidating.”

Whether it’s the simplicity of explaining the difference between smoking and grilling to the the more complicated aspects of starting a proper fire in your pit or campfire Julie is not afraid to explore areas of barbecue often ignored by other barbecue cookbook authors.

Unlike more traditional cookbooks, “She-Smoke” doesn’t have pictures of the recipes.  The book, however, is filled with simple illustrations and charts that show how to cook barbecue.  One example is this simple, yet informative illustration on how to remove the membrane from a rack of ribs:

Whether it’s descriptions of the different regional barbecue styles or illustrations on how to cut up a chicken, Julie has come up with one of the more informative “how-to” BBQ books on the market today.  Yes, the book was written for women, but the book will teach anyone whether they are male or female, young or old, experienced or novice.  She takes some of the mystery out BBQ and opens doors for many to get involved in a great hobby.

The book “Smoke & Spice” to me has been the BBQ cookbook to gauge all others by.  It’s the book that really got me going in the right BBQ direction.  It’s been my inspiration for years.  “She-Smoke” doesn’t have the polish or literary chops that “Smoke & Spice” has, but if you are looking for a BBQ book to really learn the ins and outs of how to do traditional low & slow barbecue along with some great grilling tips then “She-Smoke” is a can’t loose purchase for you.

What’s next for Julie?

“What is next. Oh boy! I have so many things I want to do, I’ll have to live a very long life. We are in the mulling stage of what direction we want for our restaurant in terms of expansion. Since we opened six years ago, I’ve wanted to produce a line of wholesale rubs and sauces. I also have many more books inside me. In the short term, I need to figure out a way to get more sleep,” she explains.

Let’s hope her other books are as good as this one is.

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I learn so much from my fellow BBQ enthusiasts on The BBQ Brethren. There is not a greater group of people in the world. They are willing to share everything they know. Learning about different “meat” products is a great way to increase one’s smoking and grilling skills. Recently there was a discussion of Goetta on the forum and this lead me to giving it a try.

Goetta is a peasant food of German origin that is popular in the greater Cincinnati area. It is primarily composed of ground meat and oats. Pronounced gétt-aa, ged-da or get-uh Americanized pronunciation, this dish originated with German settlers from the northwestern regions of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Westphalia who emigrated to the Cincinnati area in the 19th century. The word “Goetta” comes from the Low German word götte.

Goetta was originally a peasant dish, meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals to conserve money.

The modern popularity of goetta in Cincinnati has led to it being called “Cincinnati Caviar”. Glier’s Goetta, the largest commercial producer of goetta, produces more than 1,000,000 lb (450 metric tons) annually, around 99% of which is consumed locally in greater Cincinnati.–Courtesy Wikipedia

There are a variety of different recipes for Goetta. They range from using pork butts to using a mixture of ground chuck and pork sausage. I went with a “generic” recipe I received from “The Pigman” a Cincinnati resident on The BBQ Brethren. The only change I made to the recipe below was that I “brethrenized” it by using a sage fatty I had in the refrigerator.

Goetta

• 1lb ground chuck
• 1lb pork sausage
• 8 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups pinhead oats
• 1 lg onion chopped
• 1 to 4 bayleaves I use 5
• 3 tsp salt
• pinch pepper

Brown and drain beef and sausage not fine but larger chunks.

Put water in pan and when boiling add salt, pepper and pinhead oats. Cook 2 hours stirring often keep lid on over low heat. Add meat, onion and bayleaves mix well. Let cook 1 hour stirring often. Pour into bread pans. When cool place into refrigerator with a piece of wax paper on top. Chill.
Slice and place in cast iron skillet in bacon fat when skillett is hot and brown on both sides well.
Some people will put catsup on top, or just salt, on fry a egg and put on top so egg runs over it. Can be for breakfast or any time of day.

I used Irish Oatmeal which are steel-cut oats (or pinhead oats) Steel cut oats are the actual whole grain groats that have been cut into two or three pieces with steel. I wouldn't try to use rolled oats with this, they aren't going to hold together enough when you chill the oat and meat mixture.

Okay, I know this isn't the most appetizing picture but I wanted you to see what the consistency looks like after it's cooked for the three hours.

After the Goetta had chilled it was taken out and sliced. You can see the mixture of beef, pork sausage and oats.

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The following interview with Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie was originally published in Smoke Signals magazine, the new online publication of The BBQ Brethren.  It is republished here with the permission of Smoke Signals magazine.  The original interview was conducted prior to the winner of Top Chef – Las Vegas being announced.

Imagine, if you will, a young high school senior from a small school in Henry County, Georgia receiving the letter almost any parent would be happy to have their child receive, a letter of acceptance, with a full-ride scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Flash forward about 8 years and that student is about to, possibly win one the biggest prizes in his field…Bravo TV’s Top Chef competition.

Kevin Gillespie, one of this year’s final three contestants turned down the full-ride MIT scholarship to go culinary school instead.  With a smile on his face and simple, yet elegant meals, Kevin has become one of the fan favorites to win this competition.

As the Executive Chef and part owner of the Wood Fire Grill in Atlanta, Georgia,  Kevin has combined his love of southern culture with casual dining to create a menu that doesn’t quite fit the mold of most restaurants in the area.  “I believe food should be simple and approachable but still packed with surprises,” he said in explaining his philosophy for cooking.  “We change the menu every day. We don’t write a menu and then place an order for ingredients. It’s the other way around. Every day we tell the suppliers to bring us whatever is best and then we write the menu from there. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle,” continued.

“I hope they leave with the feeling that they dined at my house and not at a restaurant. I’d like them to be shocked that it was better than they expected,” he said when asked what he wants most for his customers.

“I’m a huge advocate of the preservation of traditional southern barbecue,” Kevin explained recently during a break in the taping of Top Chef.  “I use a lot of the old techniques in the restaurant.  A wood fire grill is similar to an open pit,” he continued.  “My favorite meat to prepare is pork,” he said.  “I use an open pit. I build a separate fire and shovel live coals under to minimize smoke and drip down,” continued to explain.

Kevin also has an active interest in sustainable foods and the “slow food” movement.  He only uses locally grown produce and proteins in his restaurant.  And takes pride in that achievement.

However, Kevin sees a disconnect between the traditional southern BBQ culture and his interest in slow foods.  “The BBQ culture is moving further away from tradition. It’s too convenient.  An electric machine that you push digits on and leave is not BBQ – that’s an oven that smokes,” Kevin explained.

When asked if he cooked “ribs” he said yes.  Although Kevin professes a love for Eastern Carolina type sauces he is quick to point out that  “if you cook ribs the right way, sauce is not necessary. But in moderation, sauce can benefit.”  When it comes to BBQ Kevin claims some of the greats in southern BBQ as his inspiration, the late Pete Jones, Wilbur Shirley and Ed Mitchell.

Kevin takes away a great deal from his Top Chef experience.  Win or lose he discovered that “people are really capable of doing more than they think. If you push yourself you can make yourself do anything. Failure is a temporary setback to success.”

For a southern BBQ fanatic Kevin enjoyed the “escargot challenge” on Top Chef the most.  The biggest challenge, during Top Chef, was the infamous “Restaurant Wars.”  Kevin’s team had the distinction of having the worst restaurant ever in six seasons of Top Chef.  He places the blame on this failure on “the fact that we made a critical error in judgment and didn’t appoint a leader. It was a bunch of chiefs and no Indians – or vice versa.”

Like many other chefs Kevin has many tattoos.  When asked why so many chefs have tattoos he explained, “We are in a field that allows us to express ourselves and not face the scrutiny of the business world. Chefs are very creative. My favorite tattoo is my pig.”

Where does Kevin see himself in the years to come?  He’d like to someday own a BBQ restaurant but in the mean time he, “wants to be busy by focusing on making the restaurant better every day. Being a mentor. Making a difference.”

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I would be willing to bet hamburgers are near the top of the list of food items when grilling newbies light their first grills.   I know for me that was the case and for the past 35 years or so I have been seeking the perfect hamburger.

There is nothing more All-American than the hamburger in my book.  There has got to be a good reason hamburgers are found at family reunions, picnics, tailgate parties and the like.  It’s because they just scream friends and good times.

In my book there isn’t much you can do to improve upon the hamburger.  So when I got the chance to give August Kitchen’s J-Burger seasoning I took it.  Most “hamburger” seasonings are dry spice type seasonings.  As you’ll see this is far from the case with this product.

I’m always interested in how a product comes to market.  The August Kitchen story from their website:

Why not fresh ingredients?

We were seasoning our burgers with dry, processed powders and decided to give the real stuff a try. We were amazed at the difference it made in our burgers. They tasted delicious and so moist. We then tried our mix with other ground meat dishes like meatballs and meatloaf and realized our seasoning made any ground meat dish taste better but it required so much chopping and prepping.

After constant requests for J-Burgers, having to make extra mix for friends and family to take home, and requests for the recipe, our friends and family encouraged us to take the recipe and bottle it.

We’ve taken our homemade recipe and shared it with everyone looking for that gourmet meal without all the work.

I was expecting more of a sauce when I opened the jar.  Something along the consistency of A1 Sauce with a little chopped onion in it.  I was pleasantly surprised to see, truly a seasoning, instead of sauce.  It actually looked like it had some “meat” to it.

J-Burger Seasoning is a concoction made from Fresh Onions, Worcestershire Sauce  Diced Tomatoes, Bread Crumbs , Olive Oil, Kosher Salt and Spices.  I’ve got to be honest and say that when I first opened the jar I was not impressed with the aroma of the product.  It actually didn’t smell all that great.  But I’m used to a variety of BBQ products not smelling as good as they taste.  So I put that aside and set out to make me some burgers.

The instructions call for 1 tablespoon of J-Burger Seasoning for each 5 oz patty.  I wanted to make sure I could taste the seasoning so I went with 1 tablespoon for each 4 oz patty.

You can see that the chopped onions and tomatoes really add a great deal of thickness to the seasoning.  This made it really easy to mix in into the hamburger.  Make sure you mix it up good, you don’t want any chunks of the stuff to bite into.

Form into your patties and get them on to your hot grill.

I almost always make quarter pound patties for the family and I’ve pretty much got the whole process down to a science for cooking them.  I know how many briquettes to use and how long to cook them on each side to get medium rare burgers.  I’m not sure what it was this time, maybe it was my timing or maybe it was the J-Burger Seasoning but what normally came out as medium rare came out medium to well done.  I’m going to go through the whole process again but use hamburger with a little more fat in it next time.

The burger tasted awesome.  I’m normally a fully loaded burger guy.  I love pickles, red onion, pickle relish, tomato, lettuce and sometimes avocado and jalapenos.  This time I went with 1,000 Island Dressing, tomato and lettuce.  Wanted to make sure I could taste the J-Burger.  It tasted good, it had a nice flavor that complimented the meat and the condiments.  It seemed the meat carmelized a little more than normal.  That also added a nice texture to each bite.

J-Burger Seasoning also comes in a “Onion & Chipotle” version that I’m going to try soon on some meatloaf smoked on the Traeger.

For those with dietary allergies to worry about J-Burger Seasoning contains: Contains yeast, wheat, egg, milk, sunflower, soy and sesame.

Where to find J-Burger Seasonings.

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