The grill is smoking! All that is missing is that secret ingredient.
Although technically not “Christmas” music, this new CD is from a singer-songwriter hailing from Prince Edward Island, Canada. That is pretty darn close to the North Pole.
Catherine Maclellan is another musical treasure I have found courtesy of WYCE. When Pete asked me to review this CD, he just said; “new artist, don’t really know much about her”.
Reviewing new music can be hit or miss. Church Bell Blues is a hit. What a voice.
Perhaps the most versatile Christmas gift of all: Lazzari Charcoal.
For the individual who has been good the past year, Lazzari will reward him or her with the best charcoal experience ever.
For the individual who has been bad the past year….well a lump of coal in their stocking says it all.
I can speak first hand about this charcoal. The Outdoor Cook was the first store in Michigan to carry Lazzari and we were the first area distributor. Now, you can buy Lazzari at Herman’s Boy in Rockford and Kingma’s in NE Grand Rapids.
Here is an excerpt from Lazzari’s website that outlines a little about their history:
Company History
Lazzari Fuel Company was founded in San Francisco in 1908. Originally located in the city’s Cow Hollow district, Lazzari’s earliest business was the sale of heating coal and firewood to San Francisco businesses and residents. Daily deliveries throughout the city were made by drivers using horse drawn wagons.
In the 1940s, Lazzari Fuel began importing mesquite charcoal from Mexico as a specialty product for cooking food. Roy Lazzari, son of company founder Hugo Lazzari, discovered the appeal of mesquite during a chance conversation with a railroad worker just recently returned from the Sonora Desert in Mexico – one of the main geographic regions where the gnarled mesquite trees grow. Mesquite’s exceptionally high and long-lasting heat made it a favorite among Bay Area chefs, who viewed it as the perfect fuel for searing meats and fish. As the gourmet grilling trend exploded in the late 80s and 90s, the general public got in on the act – backyard barbecuers eschewed the conventional, chemically-treated charcoal briquettes of the 50s and 60s, and instead sought out the hot-burning, premium performance of Lazzari 100% natural mesquite lump charcoal.
This upsurge in demand, both from foodservice and retail customers, has shifted Lazzari Fuel’s focus primarily to providing mesquite lump charcoal and high quality firewood for cooking. Now located just south of San Francisco in Brisbane, the company is the nation’s leading supplier of premium natural charcoal. Several hundred restaurants nationwide use Lazzari charcoal, including such high-profile venues as the Tadich Grill, Chez Panise, Zuni and The Slanted Door in the San Francisco area, as well as gourmet grills, Brazilian churrascarias, and Indian tandooris from coast to coast.
Voice of a Grateful Nation- Volume One and Volume Two
Voices of a Grateful Nation is part of a nationwide effort by the Welcome Home Project to provide support to military veterans. Volumes I and II are the first series of recordings that will help raise awareness and funds for our veterans.
Volume One is a terrific compilation of songs by a wide variety artists with a Texas flair. This volume has a strong blues, rock and and alt-country feel to it. Fifteen different artists provide real diversity to the CD. My favorites were tracks #1- I’m Coming Home by Jesse Dayton, # 3 Mother of Mercy by Gaelic Storm, # 11 Sparrows by Dustin Welch and #12-Don’t Fight it by Kevin Welch, Kieran Kane, Fats Kaplan an Lucas Kane. I think if you asked 10 different reviewers about this CD, you would probably get 10 different songs and artists as favorites…they all are great and authentic. 
Volume Two is decidedly more country and folk. Personally I enjoyed this CD more. It is outstanding. Some real traditional country, Texas twang and solid Americana by veteran artists, who have made a name for themselves over the years by playing in honky-tonks throughout Texas and other parts of the U.S.
Tracks #1- The Boy I left Behind (Deryl Dodd), #3 Shipping out of Iraq (Jesse Dayton), # 5 Soldiers Prayer (Mike Cross and Robin Ludwick), #9, Soldiers in the Alley (Walt and Tina Wilkins), #12 West Texas (Davin James and Gary Nunn) and #14 Fences (Mark Jungers and Susan Gibson) are just a few of the standout tracks.
As a music reviewer for WYCE, a great benefit is being exposed to new music and artists. Voices of a Grateful Nation was a like winning the lottery. Over 25 artists, who for the most part, are relatively unknown to me. Of special note was Jesse Dayton, who contributed songs to both volumes.
Certainly worthy of exploring his other recordings! Both CD’s are a treasure trove of styles, talent and heart. Highly recommended. For more about this movement, please visit www.voicesofagratefulnation.org
It is every music reviewers dream. Be assigned a CD, by an artist you never heard of, and then be totally blown away. Friends, you read it here first, Anna Laube, is a star. Her CD on Ginkgo Records is the real deal.
Outta My Head is a terrific blend of roots, country and folk. It absolutely floored me it was so good. In fact I had an immediate flashback to the first time, back in the day, when a friend of mine came back to Michigan, after working on the oil rigs outside of Houston. He said, “you got to check out this cassette (remember, it was back in the day). Her name is Bonnie Raitt.” Too make a long story short, the cassette was, Streetlights, by Bonnie Raitt… and it featured one of the greatest songs of all times, Angel From Montgomery. (of course, written by John Prine)
It really didn’t get any better than that. It still doesn’t.
So the flashback is over, and I am listening to this new CD by Anna Laube, and I am thinking, this is one talented singer/songwriter. At dinner tonight, I played it for my wife, and she said it reminded her of some of Michelle Shocked’s more folk albums. Absolutely a great call.
All the songs are terrific, but track #3, Goodbye Blue Monday and track #6, Catch Me If You Can will have you thinking about those tunes throughout the day.
Like all “undiscovered” artists, there is a tremendous back story. Here is a review from Wisconsin”
Sure, San Francisco music publications are raving about a talented singer-songwriter named Anna Laube in their midst, but hey, we had her first. Anna Laube was raised in Iowa City and Madison, but now makes the city by the bay her home, where she has received strong notices for her music, including the debut ‘Outta My Head’ CD. Mixing agreeably rough living room recordings with more polished in-studio tracks, ‘Outta My Head’ showcases a powerful and personal songwriting that’s grounded but not bound by acoustic folk-pop conventions. You’ll hear bits of Aimee Mann, Margo Timmins and Norah Jones here and there, but overall it’s a lyrical voice that’s wholly original.
Rob Thomas – Wisconsin State Journal
Folks, you might of heard of Anna Laube before, but now that she is certified Grilladelic, you can take my recommendation to the bank.
Besides the joys of cooking over an open fire, good friends, family, music, cold beverages and craic; another component of the grilladelic lifestyle is a good book. When it comes to a low and slow cook; ribs, brisket, butt, it is nice and easy to kill a few hours in relaxing with a book between the prep and the party.
I recently discovered a new author that I have really enjoyed reading a couple of his books: Don Winslow. The books were The Power of the Dog and The Winter of Frankie Machine. Both were great reads.
The Power is a story based on the Mexican drug wars of the 1980′s and 1990′s (with a complex backstory) and Frankie is a west coast mafia story that is terrific (think Soprano’s and Goodfella’s)
So although books might be considered the red headed step child in the barbecue lifestyle, if it makes the grill master relaxed, it is a good thing.
As last reported, I was on a family vacation at Drummond Island (eastern upper peninsula in Michigan). Radio reception is not always that great, but one station that came in was Canada’s version of NPR.
Coming back from a whitefish dinner at the Northwood Inn, I was half listening/half watching out for deer crossing the road, when the host of a radio show began interviewing Canadian musician, Fred Eaglesmith. Never heard of him, wasn’t that interested. Then, all of a sudden, they played a track from his new CD- Tinderbox, and I was sold…hook, line and sinker. The song was called; Get on Your Knees. It was over before I had a chance to really process how good the tune was and soon I was back at the cabin, but I made a mental note to check this guy out (hoping I could remember his name in a few days).
Three days later I am back in Grand Rapids, and going to the WYCE offices to pick up a few more CD’s to review…and there it was; Fred Eaglesmith’s Tinderbox.
The fickle finger of fate smiled down on me again. If you are fans of Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen and great songwriting..this is one CD should check out. Tinderbox has a southern Baptist/Pentacostal, fire-and-brimstone, get-on-your-knees-and-pray, can-I-get-an-AMEN-from the choir, feel to it….In other words, perfect for a Sunday barbecue.
In fact, Fred is inspiring me to try a new rib technique this Saturday…hopefully I am filled with the spirit of the holy smoke as I try to coax a new flavor from a few racks of ribs (baby backs).
I will report back on the results, but to make a long story shorter, this new technique was something I “accidentally” observed last year at a BBQ Competition. A friend (and BBQ Champion….name to be withheld to protect myself) was finishing his ribs before turn in….From what I could tell, the ribs were done (visually), but he still had about 90 minutes before they were due. Maybe they needed a little more tendering up….Anyway, he had the racks of ribs layed out and was covering them in brown sugar (heavy cover) and then stacking them up and wrapping in tin foil. He then placed them back in his smoking chamber and walked away.
That is all I know….how long did he leave them? I don’t know. Was it just brown sugar? I don’t know. How cooked were they at that point? I don’t know. What was his dry rub? I don’t know. How hot was his grill? I don’t know. How well did he do? I do know he was in the top three…
There you go….if you believe in fate, karma or luck, it does not matter. Just like I was meant to be turned on to Fred Eaglesmith, I was meant to stumble on this barbecue secret….(I just need to figure out a few details)
So, on Saturday, I am going to go with the brown sugar finish, a spicy dry rub and Big Ricks on the side…I will let you know.
(both photo’s are from Fred’s website)
I’m getting ready for my family’s annual trek to Drummond Island (in the eastern U.P. of Michigan) and was fortunate enough to be given a new CD to review; Hacienda Brothers, Arizona Motel.
I am one lucky dog. Great road music.
Back in the day, there was a legendary, west Michigan band named, Four Wheel Drive, who played in various honky tonks in the area. Their motto was: Strictly Country Music. From the first to last song on this CD, I was reminded of: strictly country music. Terrific steel guitar, strong vocals and a lot of heart. Researching this band turned up a great story. Based out of Arizona, this group has a cult-like following. Unfortunately the lead singer, song-writer and vocalist just passed away, and this became his last CD.
I wish I would of discovered this band sooner. If you are fans of Waylon Jennings and Los Super Seven (Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiminez, Joe Ely, etc.), you will absolutely love this CD.
Now to Drummond Island, as I have stated before, Michigan does not have a great BBQ tradition. The Upper Peninsula has even less. Michigan’s U.P. is known for many things (whitefish dinners, pasties), barbecue is not one of them. However, a very interesting food fact about the U.P….there is a strong Italian tradition in Iron Mountain and a specialty sausage call cudighi. Here is a recipe from Kevin Taylor (Stogie). If my memory serves me right, Kevin went by the nickname of Stogie, and was a regular in the BBQ circuit for a few years…a terrific and generous guy. I lost contact with Kevin, but remember him telling me about this fantastic U.P. Italian Sausage, and with a little searching, here is his post and recipe: (Kevin,,,,if you read this, drop me a note…your buddy at The Outdoor Cook in Rockford)
Cudighi
Recipe by: Kevin Taylor
This is a sausage that is indigenous to a very small geographic location. The Iron Mountain, Michigan area is populated by many Italians that settled here. These
Italians came from the Northern regions of Italy, around the Austrian border, and their cooking was greatly influenced by Austria and France. Northern Italian cooking is quite different than the more popular Sicilian (Southern) cooking. It has sweeter sauces and most of the recipes do not use fennel. This is a sausage that I grew up with and upon leaving found that it is nowhere to be found. So, I had to learn to make it myself. It is rather unique and I am sure you probably never tasted anything quite like it. Hope you enjoy it!
6 lb. pork butt
2 T. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 to 1 C. dry red wine
6 garlic cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
Have the pork coarse ground and DO NOT have fat trimmed (you want about 25% fat). Put through the meat grinder TWICE.
Mix the following ingredients together: salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Work into ground pork with your hands.
Combine wine, cinnamon sticks, garlic and cloves. Boil this mixture for 5 minutes and let completely cool.
Strain this mixture, reserving the liquid and work the liquid into the meat.
Let meat season in refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Some serving suggestions
You can make this into links or leave in bulk. We use it in all of our Italian cooking…lasagna, pizza, etc. You can also serve this as a sandwich, either grilled or pan fried. Many people ate these sandwiches with mustard and onions…..but the most popular way was to top with mozzarella cheese and some spaghetti sauce….you could add some green peppers and mushrooms too.
Another way to serve this was as an appetizer with cheese and crackers. To do this, roll the sausage into a summer sausage-like log. Wrap this in foil (doesn’t have to be airtight) and boil in water for 45 minutes. Let cool and serve slices.
John Cougar was a staple at many of the parties during my misspent youth in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Twenty five plus years later, John Mellencamp will now be rocking at your nearest coffee shop thanks to his new CD, Life, Death, Love and Freedom, which is scheduled for release on July 15 by Hear Music at Starbucks Company operated locations. (Hear Music is licensed trademark of Starbucks)
With T-Bone Burnett as his producer, there should be no surprise with the “O’ Brother Where for Art Thou” vibe throughout the recording. Mellencamp himself described the recording as “modern electric folk songs”.
As a reviewer for a local radio station, WYCE, I had the opportunity to check out this CD prior to it’s release. I liked the CD the first time I heard it, but grew to really appreciate it on every subsequent listen. Although definitely in the folk/blues genre, the tracks range from the 1950ish, upbeat sound of track #2 , My Sweet Love, to the bluesy track #6, Joe Cockers. My favorites tunes were #3 If I Die Sudden, #4 Troubled Love and #8 A Ride Back Home.
The midwest usually is only a footnote in the annals of BBQ tradition. But we certainly hold our own with great ingredients and a blue collar approach to the grill. First, the midwest is steeped in beer and sausage making traditions. Two very important ingredients to a barbecue party. Of course, the highly influential manufacturer of grills, Weber, is a Chicago native. Combine that with a strong urban grill scene and hundreds of back-forty pig roasts, and you have some worthy smoke.
So this summer, fire up your grill, and listen to Mellencamp’s new CD. There is enough familiarity to take you back to the all-night summer keg parties at the sand dunes with Jack and Diane, Little Pink Houses and Cherry Bomb.
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