Last week I got a tweet asking if I had ever eaten at “Baby Blues BBQ” in San Francisco. Since I hadn’t, I figured it was as good a time as any to venture over the Bay Bridge with my BBQ Buddy “Landarc” and give it a try. As we drove down Mission we had high hopes. Some of the best BBQ joints are in the more colorful parts of town. And Baby Blues BBQ is in one of the most colorful areas of one of the most colorful cities on Earth.
Upon finding the address I thought we might have a winner. The restaurant is located in an old Rexall Drugstore. As you can tell from the picture signage is at a minimum. Normally this would be a good sign. A BBQ restaurant that can make itself known without garish signs has got to be good. Right? Well not necessarily. Just as you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, you shouldn’t judge a BBQ restaurant by it’s exterior. Looks can be deceiving.
Continue reading I’m Singing The Blues After Lunch Today
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!
One of the techniques commonly used to turn out tender brisket is to inject it and then when you are done smoking it you wrap it in foil and toss it in a cooler wrapped in towels or blankets. After “coolering” the brisket for a couple hours you should have a good amount of liquid in the foil.
Usually I keep the brisket liquid and inject the next brisket with it. This time out I decided to give making risotto with the brisket liquid. The brisket juice is very concentrated so you need to add a water to it. Just add enough water to the brisket juice to give you enough broth for whatever risotto recipe you use.
After you saute the onions and mushrooms you need to brown the rice a little. Once the rice has been browned you add a ladle or two to the rice and start stirring.
Continue reading Smoked Brisket Risotto — BRISOTTO
I’ve wanted to eat at Pat’s BBQ in Salt Lake City ever sinse seeing the restaurant on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” on the Food Network. I’m not sure what it was about the show that made this a must eat at place for me, but I knew the next time I was in SLC I would be paying the place a visit. When I first turned down Commonwealth Ave and headed down to the end of the street I just knew I was end for a treat. Good BBQ establishments are found off the beaten path. And certainly Pat’s was. My wife and friend’s first response was “there’s no restaurant down this street.” But sure enough there it was.
When you first walk into Pat’s you know this is a legit BBQ restaurant. The smell of smoke and meat greets you as soon as you walk in the front door. It just smells like BBQ. To many times over the years I’ve walked into BBQ restaurants and there is no indication they serve BBQ. That’s not the case with Pat’s. It’s BBQ through and through. From the pictures on the walls to the picnic tables with buckets of plastic silverware and rolls of paper towels.
Continue reading Road Trip: Pat’s BBQ in SLC
Each month Foodbuzz hosts a cooking and blogging even known as 24, 24, 24. It consists of 24 bloggers from all over the world. Each of the 24 bloggers cooks a meal (24 meals) and posts to their blog about the event (24 hours). Each month we are treated to an array of spectacular cooking/eating
Continue reading … Exploring Texas BBQ with Tasty Eats At Home
I love brisket. I’m not sure if I like brisket as much a chuck roast on the smoker, but after reading about home ground hamburger meat made from a brisket I knew I had to give it a shot. It took me two stores to find a brisket that had the look and feel I thought I needed for good tasting burger. After searching through about 20 briskets I selected this nice 10 pounder.
I trimmed almost all the fat cap off. Since the marbling was so nice on the brisket I didn’t grind any of the fat back in. If you’ve cooked a brisket before you know that there are two “types” of fat on the brisket. I guess the best way to describe them is “hard” and “soft.” If you want a fattier hamburger you need to grind the “softer” fat back into the meat. Make sure you at least partially freeze the fat before attempting to grind. Instead just grinding fat into the meat I ground a pound of apple smoked bacon into the mat.
Continue reading Brisket Burgers…
“Kid’s are wonderful, but I like mine barbecued.” — Bob Hope
Last week I got a tweet asking if I had ever eaten at “Baby Blues BBQ” in San Francisco. Since I hadn’t, I figured it was as good a time as any to venture over the Bay Bridge with my BBQ Buddy “Landarc” and give it a try. As we drove down Mission we had high hopes. Some of the best BBQ joints are in the more colorful parts of town. And Baby Blues BBQ is in one of the most colorful areas of one of the most colorful cities on Earth.
