Part 1: Food’s Biggest Scam: The Great Kobe Beef Lie:  Think you’ve tasted the famous Japanese Kobe beef? Think again.

Part 2: Food’s Biggest Scam, “Domestic” Kobe And Wagyu Beef: Mine is a rather straightforward proposition – U.S. law bans the import of all Japanese beef. It’s hard to argue with that. But imitation Japanese beef is a much murkier issue.

Part 2:  Kobe Beef Scam: Why the U.S. Government Wants You To Buy Fake Foods: After this examination, my conclusion is that these products are collectively an attempt to fool the American consumer into thinking they are buying something they are not.

• The Manhattan [food] Project: Meditations on smoked pork.
• Color Me Pink: Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad with Sriracha Dressing
• Southern Bite: Loaded Bacon Popcorn
• Chewing The Fat: Milky Way Tart
• Home Sweet and Savory: Grilled Fish with Smoked Paprika
• Grilling 24 X 7: Homemade Spicy Cornbread Muffins
• Teczape – an escape to food: Noodles with Jalapeno, Fried Shallots, Green Onions
• Amateur Gourmet:  Chicken Fat Fried Potatoes
• Adora’s Box: Chargrilled Pork On Rice Noodle Soup
• Kitchen Confidante:  Filipino Beef Nilaga

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Larry Gaian

When it comes to barbecue and grilling two cuts of beef seem to standout far more than any other.  With BBQ it’s brisket and for grilling it’s tri-tip that gets the most press.  But, in my book the chuck roast is under appreciated when it comes to outdoor cooking.  The juicy meatiness of a well smoked chuck roast is something I look forward to.  Normally I just rub the chucky and toss it on the smoker.  A few hours later it’s moist and tender and waiting for any number of treatments.

This time around I decided to do something a little different.  I broke out my favorite cast iron skillet and tossed the seasoned chuck roast in it.  The whole thing went into the smoker for about four hours at 235 degrees.  I used the cast iron skillet so I could keep the drippings for some gravy.  It seemed to work to perfection.

After the four hours of smoke past I put the potatoes and carrots into the skillet and covered the whole thing with foil.  I didn’t want smoked potatoes or carrots, so this method allowed to me keep using the smoker outdoors and not get smoky potatoes.

Everything was cooked until the potatoes were done.  While the meat rested I made up a nice, simple gravy and we were able to chow down on a great dinner.

This year we will conducting various polls about grilling/barbecuing/smoking.  If you have ideas or suggestions about polls please drop me a line or two by using the “Ask The BBQ Grail” link at the top of the page.

Anyway, I’m still looking for some interesting ways to use my Bushelle Seasonings.  Because the seasonings are all natural with no preservatives you’ve got to use them up within a reasonable period of time.  This product is so awesome I don’t want to risk wasting any of it.  So, I had to come up with another way to use it.

I didn’t want to make another trip to the grocery store and since using up what’s in the refrigerator or pantry makes the food budget last a little longer I came up with a basic Lime/Bushelle Seasoning Marinade.  The flavor with the beef was fantastic.  The citrus enhanced the herbs and garlic in the Bushelle and after six hours in a vacuum sealed canister the meat was very tender.

I’ve been wanting to give the marinade in the vacuum sealer a try to some time and decided to it was finally time to go with it.

After mixing the marinade, I put it and the flank steak in the canister and using my FoodSaver I vacuum sealed it.  It was quite interesting watching all the marinade disappear from inside the canister.  I can only assume the pressure opened up the meat pores and absorbed the mixture.

Lime Bushelle Seasoning Marinade

• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1 Tablespoon Bushelle Garlic Seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

Mix all ingredients in a blender.  Place meat in a plastic bag or other container with the marinade.  Refrigerate at least two hours and no more than 8 hours.

Grill to your preferred temperature, rest and serve.

I also grilled up some small Russet potatoes with just a little Cajun spice and olive oil.  I love potatoes done on the grill.

I’m not sure I have a BBQ idol, but if I did it would be Adam Perry Lang (APL).  Over the last couple of years no single person has influenced me more in my BBQ techniques than APL.

I can remember one of the biggest “I’ve just got to do that” moments was after watching an episode of the Food Network’s “Th Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  Today I can’t remember who the host of that particular segment was, but I do remember they were raving about the smoke beef ribs at APL’s restaurant in New York City.

These were not your normal beef back ribs.  They were more like a roast on a bone.  I just sat there staring at the screen, knowing that since I wasn’t going to be eating them any time soon I had to try to make them myself.  I searched high and low for the type of ribs they were.  I googled, I Tweeted, I Facebooked all to know avail.  I could find what cut of meat they were.  Finally I just asked APL on his Facebook wall.  And he responsed.  I was like a 12 year old girl at a Taylor Swift concert.  APL answered me.  (Okay enough with the melodramatics)  They were “Plate ShortRibs.”  So off to the butcher I went to buy some.  They came out great. (The original blog post is here.)

My next  APL moment was when I bought a copy of Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking What a simply fantastic cookbook this is.  I had tried to find 15 to 20 other BBQ bloggers that were willing to take turns cooking recipes from it and blogging about them.  The goal was to cook our way through “Serious Barbecue” from front to back.  I still hope to someday accomplish that task.

APL’s latest book is BBQ 25. Unlike “Serious Barbecue” this new book is about the simplicity of bbq.  APL explains in his introduction why he took this approach:

“There are two sides to me.  One is obsessed by technique and detail.  The other is spontaneous, adaptive, and not too concerned about getting bogged down with complicated processes…

“But les is often more.  This is that book.  This is the backbone of barbecue.”

“BBQ 25″ should appeal to all bbq/grilling skill levels.  If you fancy yourself a backyarder with some skills you’ll be tempted to jump right to the 25 recipes in the book.  But don’t overlook the beginning of the cookbook where APL has written some extremely helpful “tips.”  The “Glossary of Techniques” explains the processes used in each of the recipes.

Each recipe is broken down into the following “techniques:”

• Before Cooking
• Tools
• During Cooking
• After Cooking
• Cooking Method (Pre-Grilling, Direct or Indirect heat)

Even for the most skilled griller the explanation of these techniques is a good refresher.

The 25 recipes are divided into Five Categories: Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken and Fish/Misc.  Each of these protein categories are futher divided into Quick Cook, Medium Cook and/or Long Cook areas.

Whether you choose to tackle the Quick Cook recipe of a filet mignon or the “Long Cook of a Pork Butt each recipe will give you step by step instructions on how to preare that recipe.  From taking the meat out of the refrigerator to setting the table the recipe will guide you through the whole process.

One of the newest and most popular trends in cookbooks today is having stories/memories to go along with each recipe.  None of that here.  This is a down and dirty BBQ cookbook.  Simplicity at it’s best.  Lots of pictures and diagrams will make even the most unskilled griller appreciate their new found ability to turn out fantastic food.

This is a must have cookbook.  If you can master one recipe from each of the categories you’ll be the envy of 90% of all backyard grillers.  Get this book.

Photo By David Loftus

20. Whole Chicken (Spatchcock/Butterflied)

Serves  6-8

Two 3 ½ – 4 lb. chickens, spatchcocked/butterflied, thighs & legs slashed

INGREDIENTS FOR BRINE

• ¼ cup sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground
• black pepper
• 10 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves
• 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 6 cups cold water
• 2 Tbsp canola oil or vegetable oil

INGREDIENTS FOR BASTE/GLAZE

• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp water

PREPARATION

Combine all the brine ingredients in a large bowl or large sealable plastic bag. Mix and crush the ingredients with your hands, directly or through the bag, squeezing them to release the maximum flavor. Transfer half the brine to another bowl or bag.

Put the chickens in the brine, transfer to the refrigerator, and brine for at least 3 hours, and up to 24 hours.

COOKING METHOD

Indirect Grilling

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking; the temperature should be 300°F. Drain the chicken and dry with paper towels. Glisten with the canola oil.

Put the chickens skin side up on the well-oiled preheated grill and cook, covered, with the addition of wood of your choice (I prefer fruit woods when available), for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all the baste/glaze ingredients in a small bowl.

Baste the chickens, using a regular brush or an Herb Brush (see page 4), and continue to cook, covered, basting every 15 minutes, for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is done: the juices should run clear when a thigh is pierced, and the thickest part of the thigh should register 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Transfer the chickens to a cutting board, skin side up, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 6 pieces each (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks).

From BBQ 25 by Adam Perry Lang copyright 2010 with permission of William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Grilled beef tenderloin tacos was on the menu tonight.  I picked up some great tortillas at the local Bel Air grocery store.  These great tortillas from La Tortilla Factory in Santa Rosa have a fantastic flavor.  The green chili tortillas, which oddly enough aren’t listed on the companies website, have just enough green chili flavor to enhance the meat without overpowering everything else.  The combination of corn and wheat gluten gave the tortillas a nice texture.  They grilled/heated up great on the grill grates of my Weber kettle.  Unlike most commercially produced tortillas these are “hand made style” and are thick enough that you don’t need two tortillas to hold your taco fillings.

I seasoned the beef tenderloin with Fajita Seasoning from Lantana of Texas.  I received this seasoning in a BBQ trade with a fellow member of the BBQ Brethren.  I have not been able to locate any information about the company on the internet.  There are some listings for places that sell it, but nothing on the actually company.

Anyway, the seasoning is good but nothing really special.  You can probably find a fajita seasoning in your local store that is just as good and won’t have to worry about tracking it down and paying a shipping fee.

I left the seasoning on the meet for about 30 minutes while the charcoal was being lit in the chimney.  Once the charcoal was in the kettle and ashed over I grilled the tenderloin pieces for a couple of minutes on each side and them moved them to indirect until they were medium rare.

I heated the tortillas right on the Weber kettle while the meat was resting.  They didn’t dry out or curl on the ends like a lot of cheaper commercial tortillas will.  The tortillas from La Tortilla Factory are great.  At $2.5o for 8 tortillas they are a tad pricey and I doubt I’d use them for normal everyday tacos but when you’re breaking out the beef tenderloin a few extra pennies for a quality tortilla is worth it.

Just a simple taco with meat, avocado, tomato and cilantro.  These were outstanding tacos.  Tender and full of great flavor.  Here’s a couple shots of dinner with a River City Root Beer from Vine Park Brewing Company in St. Paul, Minnesota.

What’s really funny about the root beer is that I live near Sacramento, California.  Sacramento is located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers and is known as River City.  I thought I was buying a local product, only to get it home and find out it’s from Minnesota.

Another shot of the final plated meal.

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.

Phubar started with a layer of Endive Stampot. Stampot is a traditional Dutch dish made with potatoes mashed with one or more additional vegetables. A layer of Parmeggiano-Reggiano covers the Stampot.

A layer of zucchini with some more Parmeggiano-Reggiano.

A thin layer of ground beef covers the zucchini.

.Next up a layer of Pesto alla Genovese and some additional zucchini and a little olive oil.

A layer of homemade tomato sauce. And some more ground beef.

More cheese, zucchini and a layer of MOINK Balls.

Into the oven to bake and you’ve got the world’s first MOINK Ball Pie.