Thanks to my friend Brent at Beanilla Trading Company, I am experimenting with a vanilla-based barbecue sauce, *possibly for use in the 2009 State of Michigan Competition (for use on my pulled pork)
Here is the basic recipe- adapted from a Steve Raichlen book, Raichlen on Ribs: (recipe discovered via RecipeZar)
Ingredients
- 1 cup tomatoe sauce
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
- 2 tablespoons mustard (prepared- Dijon or spicy brown)
- 1-2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 Madagascar Vanilla Beans
- Kosher salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Directions
- Combine tomato sauce, molasses, vinegar, Worsestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, cayenne, vanilla beans (split the beans and scrape out the inside “guts”) and 1/4 teaspoons each of salt and pepper in a non-reactive saucepan and slowly bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium and let sauce simmer gently until dark, thick, richly flavored and slightly reduced, 6-10 minutes. Taste, add more seasonings (salt, pepper, cayenne for test)
- Let sauce cool to room temperature before serving. Keep in a well sealed container in refrigerator for up to several weeks. Makes enough for 4 lbs. ribs.
As a brethern of the barbecue, Brent and Beanilla Trading Company are certainly worthy of being certified 100% Grilladelic.
* possibly, but my experience is that simplicity and classic barbecue ingredients are what judges prefer in competition. Many a gourmet has went down in flames in these competitions. Tenderness, taste and appearance gets the call outs.
This is my youngest daughter Nora- the official mascot of grilladelic.
Here are the overall results for the competition. For those “in the know”….some pretty tough teams (the meat is tender, but the teams are tough).
Overall:
1 Shigs-In-Pit
2 Up in Smoke & Chet Too
3 CancerSucksChicago.com
4 Doctor Porkenstein
5 Smokin’ Scotsmen
6 Down Home BBQ
7 Rubbed Smoked & Sauced
8 Homefires Burnin’ BBQ Tm
9 Bavarian Smoke BBQ
10 KRE Smokers
11 Pigs-N-Digs BBQ Tm
12 Grilladelic (we could of been a contender! Curse you brisket)
13 All Day Smoke
14 Extreme Rosters
15 DNA Hog Farm
16 BBQ Mole
17 Jus Blowin’ Smoke
18 Great Lakes BBQ & Feed C
19 Chuckwagon
20 Dr. Chuckie’s BBQ
21 Straight Meat BBQ Boys
22 Second Hand Smokers
23 Port-A-Jon’s BBQ
24 Bag O Bones
25 Voogt Farms
26 Cole Pepper
27 Taters-N-Grits
28 The Smokin’ Pigs
29 Pork Pimps
30 Squirrels 2 BBQ
31 Big Moe’s BBQ
32 Bar-B-Que Skis
33 Hog Wild BBQ
34 Schultz’s Backyard BarBQ
35 Smokin’ Wally’s BBQ
36 Jimmy’s
37 Bone Lick BBQ & Grill Tm
38 Buffalo Bros Outdoor Coo
39 Meat Wagon Rescue Grille
40 Midwest Livestock & BBQ
The Brisket King is dead. Long Live the Brisket King.
As you might surmise, the “brisket king” was trounced in the State of Michigan BBQ Competition. Yes….I was in the bottom ten instead of the top ten. The only good news on the brisket front was that the beating was self-inflicted.
Poor choice of meat and lack of attention to the cook. To make a long story short, I bought an untrimmed brisket and did not anticipate the amount of fat that cooked off, starting an early morning grease fire. From that point, I attempted to recover, but the brisket ended up being very dry….something I thought I had worked through with my foil wrap technique.
However, my mistake in technique was not fully wrapping (crimping the foil tight around the brisket) the meat and instead I just let it simmer in a foil pan, leaving the top 30% of the brisket exposed to the dry winds of a Weber kettle.
Not all was lost however. Team Grilladelic took 12th overall (out of 39 teams) and had a 5th in chicken and 7th in ribs. If only the brisket had cooperated…I could of been a contender!
As I wrote earlier, I was gunning for a top 15 finish and two walks. I accomplished that and now will focus my efforts on the Silver Lake Barbecue Competition!
Pictures of the fun weekend to follow!
Tomorrow is the big day….The State of Michigan BBQ Competition. Team Grilladelic will be trying to throw a monkey wrench into the aspirations of many of the “pros”….especially the “pellet poopers” (thermostaticly controlled, electric driven augers that poop wood pellets into a firebox). How these smokers/grills are considered legal in a competition that does not allow gas or electric heat is beyond me.
However, in the wisdom of more experienced BBQ pro’s like Dr. BBQ, it doesn’t really matter what you cook on….if you are good, you are good….bring it on!
For this event I am using my Weber kettles for the brisket, pork and chicken and my Hasty Bake for the ribs. I am just a backyard guy, hauling, setting up, cooking, cleaning and tearing down my site….just a humble BBQ grunt, hoping for a few call outs. Just a deluded grill junkie thinking he can take home a few trophies…
Actually, I am just hoping to have fun, spend time with my kids and friends and catch up with folks I have not seen in a few years.
Here are the events;
Friday
Veggies- 7:00 pm
Potatoes- 7:30 pm
Beans – 8:oo pm
Dessert- 8:30 pm
Saturday
Chicken- 12:00 pm
Ribs- 12:30
Pork- 1:00 pm
Brisket- 1:30 pm
Stop by friday night around 6:00 for a cold one and few samples.
July 25 and 26th, John Ball Park Zoo, Grand Rapids, MI
The link above will take you to the web site that has more details (including the application)
Team Grilladelic’s goal is a top 15 finish, with at least two top ten call outs. We would be very disappointed with anything less.
If you are around, stop by and say hi.
Ludzie Poradniki: Its a Best Blog. I found it on Aol. I will be back here sometime....
John Rumery: How much are you asking? Where are you located?...
Susan Barker: I have a vintage Ball B Q with some rust and paint flaking off on the ...
Marnie Thompson: Hi! I was going through some old school emails and found some from y...
Brent: Might be fun to do a video tour of these great establishments! Woul...