The action kicked in to gear on Thursday, February 21 as Paula Deen and sons hosted Moet Hennessy’s The Q, an event that featured:

• 1.5 tons of Omaha Steaks beef products
• 1,200 lbs of Kingsford charcoal
• 475 lbs of lamb ribs
• 570 lbs of pork bellies
• 325 lbs of pork cheeks
• 100 lbs of beef hearts
• 1,200 lbs of short ribs
• 8,000 pieces of chicken
• 2 pig heads
• 20 gallons of duck fat 
• 144 quarts of heavy cream
• And 35 culinary masters turning out some truly amazing barbecue and grilling dishes for the thousands of guests. 

Among some of the highlights of the evening’s eating adventure were Kingsford’s own Chris Lilly cooking up barbecue short ribs with iron skillet mac and cheese, Robert Irvine with braised pork cheeks on brioche with fried pickles, Art Smith with charcoal-grilled skirt steak with green sauce and horseradish potato salad and Tim Love’s smoked black buck antelope crepinette with oak lentils and pickled leeks.

Paula Deen announces the winner of Kingsford Charcoal’s King of Q (Jonathan Waxman) and the Omaha Steaks Award for Culinary Excellence (Todd English) alongside judge Todd Simon of Omaha Steaks and Jamie Dean.

Later in the evening Paula Deen took the stage to announce the winners of two special 2013 awards – The Omaha Steaks Award for Culinary Excellence and Kingsford Charcoal’s King of Q.  Judged by Pat & Gina Neely, Rocco Dispirito and Todd Simon, the Omaha Steaks awards went to Todd English for his steamed bun of hoisin glazed short ribs and roasted 5 spice tenderloin while judges Marc Murphy and Aaron Sanchez named Jonathan Waxman as Kingsford’s King of Q for his Whole Roasted New York Strip Steak, tomato, arugula and salsa picante.

 Me and Bobby Flay! 

From there the weekend only got better with over 62,000 burger portions being cooked up by the likes of Bobby Flay, Michael Simon, Guy Fieri, and 19 other notables chefs at the Amstel Light Burger Bash, a tribute dinner honoring Nobu Matsuhisa and Chrisophe Navarre, the Let’s Get Spiked celebrity volleyball tournament, Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best and countless other VIP events.

The Let’s Get Spiked celebrity volleyball tournament  

Rachel Ray 

Hungry for more of the SOBE Wine and Food Festival action?  Stay tuned to Grilling.com for some exclusive interviews with many of the weekend’s biggest names!

-       Clint Cantwell, Grilling.com Editor

When I’m firing up the grill for a zesty batch of chicken wings or a beefy cut of prime steak, I love the pop of flavor real wood adds to my charcoal-fueled cookout.  Recently I got a chance to take one of Kingsford’s latest product offerings, the Kingsford Smokehouse Style Briquets, out for a spin while firing up my Grilled Porterhouse with Pink Peppercorn Sauce recipe found here.

Now there’s a certain debate that rages among grilling enthusiasts regarding the use of wood chips and chunks while grilling, namely “to soak or not to soak.” Personally I fall in to the “no soak” category as the reason for using said chips and chunks is the flavorful smoke they create and not the steam caused by heating wet wood.

But that debate is left for another day with these Smokehouse briquets as they were created as a no-soak compliment to your favorite charcoal briquets.  Simply prepare the fire as you normally would, allow the briquets to start ashing over, then toss 4-6 hickory or mesquite Smokehouse style briquets on to the fire.  No soak and instant smoke…it doesn’t get much easier than that!

Now as with any wood product, the key to pure penetration of that smoky flavor is the grill cover.  Unless I’m flipping the food I almost always keep my grill covered as it allows the smoke to fully envelop the food.  Plus it is a great way to kill unwanted flair-ups as the lid helps to cut of the oxygen flow, a necessary ingredient in growth of flames.

Kingsford Smokehouse Style Briquets are available at most hardware stores and select grocers so keep an eye out this grilling season and remember, no soak means instant smoke!

- Clint Cantwell, Grilling.com Editor

We can always count on Clint Cantwell to come up with flavor profiles that, at first glance, make us blink like we just got smoke in our eyes. Here he’s done it again by rubbing steak with coffee, paprika, and coriander—some of the hottest seasonings out there now. It opens up some new flavors you might not have thought of, but they work!

Coffee-Coriander Rub

2 tablespoons ground coffee

3 tablespoons smoked paprika

1½ tablespoons coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground

½ teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons kosher salt

Steaks

4 New York strip steaks, about 1½ inches thick

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the rub ingredients together and set aside.

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a grill to high, placing the majority of the coals and a couple (optional) fist-sized wood chunks in the center of the grill to create a cool zone on the outer edges.

Once the steaks have come to room temperature, coat all sides with the olive oil; then season generously with the coffee-coriander rub. Place the steaks in the center of the grill, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Flip and grill, covered, for another 3 minutes. Flip and cook each side for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until they reach your desired level of doneness (145° to 150°F for medium-rare and 150° to 160°F for medium according to the USDA. Remember, however, that the meat will rise in temperature as much as 10 degrees as it rests). Remove from the grill and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes so that the juices have time to redistribute and don’t end up all over your serving platter or cutting board.

­–From Americas Best BBQ Homestyle By Ardie A. Davis and Chef Paul Kirk Andrews McMeel Publishing LLC

When it comes to grills, few folks do ‘em better than the team at Weber.  Recently I had an opportunity to visit one of Weber’s main manufacturing facilities in Shaumberg, IL, a place that can only be described as Disneyland for daddy.

While the building itself was rather non-descript upon our initial arrival, the interior presented us with a magical wonderland of bits and pieces that, when combined, created some of my favorite grills in the Weber product lineup.  And despite denials from our tour guide, I could have sworn I saw a few Oompah Loompahs scurrying around behind the scenes.

But alas no photo or video was allowed inside of this mecca to outdoor cooking so the claims of jovial green skinned workers singing songs of smoke and flame in perfect unison will go the way of all other urban legends.

The journey to the backyard began with round sheets of steel that were then pressed in to familiar bowl shapes.  Holes were punched for vents, handles were added and soon the various pieces were on their way to a sprayer to receive a powder coating that would soon be heated to some insane temperature in order to create a long lasting black ceramic finish.

Now I was not aware that all of the Weber grills start off black, with a select few making their way through the powder sprayers and blast furnace once more to receive the addition of blue, green, red and a myriad of other stock and custom colors.

The lids and bodies then received the additions of any remaining parts and were off to be boxed and stacked before finally being trucked out en route to their final destination – your home.  The warehouse portion of the factory was equally impressive, stacked floor to ceiling for as far as the eyes could see with one-touch kettles, WSMs, Genesis gas grills, Smokey Joes and so on and so on.

Soon the tour had come to an end as participants shared some of their favorite Weber stories.  We then re-boarded our bus and set off to the Weber Grill Academy where we got a sneak peak at some of the new grills and accessories that would be making their way to local retailers any day now.

–Clint Cantwell, Grilling.com Editor 

It’s cold out! Let’s take the grill on a tropical vacation with Hawaiian chicken courtesy of AmazingRibs.com.

As popular as this is in Hawaii, it is surprising that the dish hasn’t become more popular on the mainland. Let’s change that!

The story of Huli-Huli Chicken is fascinating, and I tell it on the page devoted to the recipe for the sauce. It reminds me of the story of Cornell Chicken, another regional marinade and recipe that is required at every cookout and fundraiser in the region.

Makes. 1 whole chicken or enough for 2-4 people

Takes. Making the marinade takes about 30 minutes, marinating takes 3 to 24 hours, and cooking takes about 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 batch Huli-Huli Sauce

1 whole chicken cut into quarters or equivalent parts

Do this
1) Make up the sauce first.

2) Pour it in a large bowl, or better still, into a large zipper bag. Add the chicken. Marinate for at least 3 hours, as long as 24 hours. As you can see in my article on marinates, they do not penetrate far. But if you have read my article on brines, you know they do penetrate. The fun part of this recipe is that the Huli-Huli sauce contains a lot of soy sauce, which is salty. So it will penetrate. And it also makes a nice glaze when basted on during cooking.

3) Set up the grill for 2-zone cooking and preheat it so the indirect side is about 325°F. Pour the marinade into a sauce pan and bring to a boil to pasteurize it so it can be used for basting. Keep cooking until it reduces significantly, perhaps 25%.

4) Roast the chicken with the lid down on the indirect side of the grill. Huli it (turn it) frequently so the sugar in the sauce doesn’t blacken. After turning, paint the upper surface with a layer of the sauce.

5) Take the meat’s temp, and as it approaches 150°F, stop basting so you don’t contaminate the cooked meat with juices in the marinade from the brush. Discard the sauce. When it hits 150°F, move the meat over the direct heat, skin side down to crisp the skin. Check it every minute or two to make sure it is not burning. When the white meat is 165°F and the dark meat 170 to 175°F, you’re ready for your luau.

Source: AmazingRibs.com

In the U.S. there are a handful of regional barbecue influences, and one of them is the Carolinas. The central portion of South Carolina is known for their mustard-based sauces. This is my interpretation of a South Carolina mustard sauce.

As the name implies, this is a bold sauce, but it’s not an in-your-face blast of mustard and heat. Instead, I’d like to think that it’s refined, mellow, but yet it lets its roots shine. Think of it as a down home sauce in its best Sunday overalls. It really is magic on pork.

I served this to a bunch of guys at a church retreat to good reviews. My girls also like it, which is a testament to it not being too bold.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Spicy brown mustard

1/4 cup Prepared yellow mustard

1/3 cup Apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup Apple sauce, unsweetened

1/4 cup Honey

3 Tbsp Molasses, unsulphered

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Black pepper, ground fresh

1/2 tsp Garlic salt

1/2 tsp Granulated onion (not “powder”)

1/4 tsp Ground chipotle

1/2 tsp Ground paprika

1/8 tsp Ground cinnamon

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Blend with a immersion/stick blender.

Cover and refrigerate for up to a month.

Makes about 2 cups

Source: PatioDaddioBBQ.com

Every fourth Saturday in October, some of the finest teams from the US and abroad converge on Lynchburg, TN for one of the most prestigious barbecue contests in the world – The Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue. This year I am honored to be one of the judges for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend.

Check out this video to get a taste of all the excitement this event has to offer:

Now in its 24^rd year, the contest features grand championship winners from the US who were selected by draw in September, as well as teams from as far away as Switzerland, Germany and Australia.  Gathered in the famed Jack Daniel’s Hallow, these top tier outdoor cooks will compete for the top prize in chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder/butt, and beef brisket as well the ancillary categories of dessert, cook’s choice and sauce (featuring Jack Daniel’s, of course!).

“Our teams continue to amaze the judges and me, bringing different flavors and techniques to the competition and constantly raising the bar in barbecuing,” notes Jack Daniel’s master distiller Jeff Arnett. “They have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours perfecting their trade, and this competition is truly the best of the best in barbecuing. But while the competition is fierce, there is still a strong sense of friendship and camaraderie among teams when they gather together in Lynchburg for The Jack.”

Other activities include original games such as the Country Dog Contest, Butt Bowling, and Bung and Bag Toss competitions. Games begin at 11 a.m. Saturday and continue throughout the day.  Free tours of the Jack Daniel Distillery from the Visitor Center will also be available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Barbecue judging starts at 11:30 a.m., and the awards presentation will take place at 5 p.m.

Admission to the 24rd Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue is a voluntary donation to the Moore County schools.  For more information, please call (931) 759-6930.

– Clint Cantwell, Grilling.com Editor

Having been partially raised in Columbia, Missouri I thought it high time that I feature a great grilled staple of the region — pork steaks. St. Louis pork steaks are “steaks” that are cut from a pork butt. They are typically seared over a hot charcoal fire and then braised in a mixture of beer and barbecue sauce. How can you possibly go wrong with that?

These are really simple, but the results are spectacular. I use a basic “Dalmation” (salt and pepper) seasoning with a little garlic. I’d urge those of you that are barbecue masters to resist the urge to over-complicate things by adding a bunch of extra ingredients.

You want steaks that are cut at least an inch thick, but I prefer 1 1/4″. If you can’t find them in the case at your local store (they’re typically labeled as “blade steaks”), just ask the butcher to cut some from a pork butt.

OK, let’s get this show on the road.

Ingredients

4 large Pork steaks, 1 1/4″ thick

3 Tbs Kosher salt

1 1/2 Tbs Black pepper, ground fresh

2 tsp Granulated garlic (not “powdered”)

16 oz Beer

18 oz Your favorite barbecue sauce (I used KC Masterpiece Sweet & Tangy)

Note: You’ll also need two 9×13 disposable aluminum roaster pans.

Method

Combine the salt, pepper and garlic in a small bowl and mix well.

Season both sides of each steak liberally with the seasoning, then place them in zip-top bags and refrigerate at least three hours, or overnight.

Start your grill and prepare for direct cooking over high heat (450-500º). Sear the steaks on each side.

While the steaks are searing, combine the beer and barbecue sauce in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Put the steaks in a single layer into the disposable aluminum pans and cover them with the beer mixture, putting half of the beer and barbecue sauce mixture into each pan.

Cover the pans tightly with foil.

Move your coals to one side of the grill for indirect cooking. Put the pans on the side of the grill opposite the coals and cook, indirect, for 90 minutes.

Note: Add charcoal as needed to keep the temperature at about 350º throughout the rest of the cooking time.

Remove the steaks from the pans and quickly sear them over direct heat (about 2 minutes per side). Remove to a platter and let rest for about five minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Source: PatioDaddioBBQ.com 

Brisket Ingredients

1 Brisket, 12-16lbs

1 cup bold brisket rub

¼ cup yellow mustard

Instructions

Prepare grill for indirect cooking (or smoker if available), approximately 250 degrees.  Trim brisket of all hard fat and trim remaining fat to approximately ¼-inch. Rub both sides with a thin coat of yellow mustard.  Coat entire brisket liberally with dry rub.  Place on grill (or smoker) away from the heat source.  Cover and allow to cook until brisket reaches 190 degrees internal temperature (approximately 8-10 hours).  Remove, rest for 15 minutes and slice against the grain.  Serve and enjoy ya’ll!

–Clint Cantwell, Grilling.com Editor

Teriyaki Glazed Shrimp

Buffalo Style Chicken Sliders

Rattlesnake Tails (FYI, no rattlesnakes were harmed in the creation of this recipe):

Stuffed Jalapenos

Brisket Nachos

Grilled Flank Steak Quesadillas

Blue Onion Cheeseburger

Green Eggs and Ham-burger

Pork E Pigskin

Grilled Banana Split