The OMG Brisket Slider - aka Ooey Mooey and Gooey

[Standard FTC Disclosure]  I received my Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX at no charge.  I am sponsored by Certified Angus Beef® Brand.

Tonight is the college football championship between LSU and Clemson - GO TIGERS!   (Boy, way to commit, Chris.)

I have the perfect Game Day food for you - the Ooey, Mooey, Gooey Brisket Slider - or for short the OMG Brisket Slider.

Why yes, that is deliciously smoked brisket with pepper jack and sharp cheddar on a "grilled cheese" made with a freaking Krispy Kreme donut! 

• Ooey - As in, you are walking through the office, spot a box and say, "Oooo donuts!"
• Mooey - Smoked beef brisket
• Gooey - A blend of your favorite cheeses

The OMG Brisket Slider works too, since the first thing you exclaim when eating it is OMG!

So that's the short version, here's the detail.

The folks at Oklahoma Joe's gave me a killer Christmas gift this year - one of their new Oklahoma Joe Rider DLX pellet grills.  It is the biggest pellet grill I've had, and I couldn't wait to try it out.  I have a full review post coming soon, but this is a BBQ beast.  

The Oklahoma Joe's Rider - DLX -  The famed offset smoker manufacturer has entered the pellet grill market with 1,234 square inches of BBQ goodness.  Full review coming.

How I Choose My Briskets

Southwestern Steak, Black Beans and Rice

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I receive sponsorships and material support from the Certified Angus Beef® Brand.  Any opinions stated are my own.

Sometimes my creative flow is more like a trickle.

Case in point, I had a nicely marbled flat iron steak but I just wasn't feeling the creative spark.  No worries.  I just hopped over to Certified Angus Beef® Brand's recipe page and searched for flat iron steak.  I found a recipe for Southwestern Steak, Black Beans, and Rice and off I went...

The flat iron steak (aka top blade) comes from the chuck or shoulder of the steer.  Despite coming from section with an abundance of connective tissue, the flat iron steak is one of the more tender cuts of beef right up there with the tenderloin and teres major.  

It's also my Achilles heel in butchery.  I've tried to break one out two times and both times I botched it.  Diana Clark, the in-house Meat Scientist at Certified Angus Beef® Brand, was kind about my less than successful meat processing efforts but I know she was just being nice.  Fortunately for me, I can often find flat iron steak at the meat counter.

The steak portion of the recipe is quite simple - pepper, cumin, salt, and ancho chile. 

Shaved Smoked Prime Rib and Cheddar Sandwich

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post.

This sandwich is killer.  (I know that no one says that anymore but I'm old and I figure that trends are cyclical and eventually it will be in fashion again so bear with me.)

It starts with thinly sliced, smoked ribeye and is topped with smoked cheddar, caramelized onions, and horseradish sauce on top of a sesame seed bun. 

The star of this sandwich is the leftovers from our holiday smoked prime rib roast. 

It all started with a whole USDA choice ribeye.  I trimmed it into a chunk for cheesesteak sandwiches, 4 steaks, and a rib roast.

 I tied the roast and dry-brined it using our NMT Umami Steak Seasoning recipe.  I didn't measure how much I used, but I would guess about a half-cup.  I put it on a rack, loosely covered it, and placed it in the fridge for 12 hours. 

Jack and Coke Steak

[Standard Disclaimer]  We proudly choose Certified Angus Beef® Brand as the official beef sponsor for Nibble Me This because of their 10 science-based quality standards and their commitment to providing the best Angus beef.

In late October, I was fortunate enough to be a judge at the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue.  "The Jack," as it is known in the BBQ competition world, is one of the premier contests.  It is like one of the Majors in golf or Grand Slams in tennis.                 

This delicious steak is a tribute to my trip to The Jack for a couple of reasons.

• While at the contest, I got to see friends, Chef Michael Ollier and Bryan Schaaf, from Certified Angus Beef® Brand.
• The base recipe is from Jack Daniel's.
• I used Jack Daniel's Charcoal Briquets and Smoker Blocks.

Each judge received a generous SWAG bag, and these were just two of the things in it.

I saw the simple recipe for Jack and Coke Steaks on the charcoal bag and decided to give it a whirl. 

I went to my Food City and picked out this gorgeous pair of Certified Angus Beef® Brand, USDA Prime NY Strip Steaks. 

2019 Smokin With Smithfield National Barbecue Championship

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  My travel expenses for this event were paid for by a representative of Smithfield.

In boxing, you will hear the term "Unified Champion."  That is because there are different sanctioning bodies - WBO, WBC, IBF, etc.  Each organization might have its own champion.  When things align, and the same person wins championships from the WBO, WBC, or IBF, that is referred to as a Unified Champion.

Over the past year, Smithfield created a unified championship across the BBQ sanctioning bodies when they established the Smokin' With Smithfield National Barbecue Championship, which was held in New Orleans last weekend.  I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along as part of the media team.  Here are scenes from this inaugural championship.

The event was held in New Orleans, so naturally, they had a Mardi Gras theme going on.

This unified championship started long before last weekend.

• Two years ago, it began as an idea - a points chase across BBQ sanctioning bodies culminating in the top group going head to head in a "back-to-back-to-back" triple-contest.  
• Last year, teams signed up at Smokin' With Smithfield and BBQData began tracking the points of the 370 registered teams.
• After a full year of competitions, the top 24 teams were invited to the Smokin' With Smithfield National Barbecue Championship.

I loved that this contest didn't get into silly stuff that televised food competitions do, like mystery proteins and special challenges.  They kept it to traditional BBQ contest formats - who can cook the best chicken, pork ribs, pork, and brisket.

Another refreshing spin they did to level the playing field was that everyone was cooking with the same set of meats: 

• Ribs and pork from Smithfield
• Chicken and brisket from The Butcher Shoppe in Pensacola.

The organizers did their best to have evenly sized meats divided up into Yeti 65 coolers.  Then teams are drawn by a bingo-style ping-pong ball dispenser to determine who gets which cooler.  You can't get fairer than that.

It's a good thing these are heavy or I might have grabbed one and run off with it :)  The pork was provided by Smithfield and the brisket and chicken by The Butcher Shoppe.

Because of travel arrangements and work, a lot of the media team did not make it in until after Day 1 was in the books.  The 12 teams advancing on to the second round were:

A Pimento Cheese Burger And BBQ Baked Beans

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I received no compensation for this post.  Obviously, I benefit from the sale of my second book that is linked.

This past week, I got to spend time with my parents and siblings in my hometown. I have been teaching grilling classes, judging at BBQ contests, and other grilling events every weekend.  As fun as those are, the constant go, go, going on weekends can start to feel like a grind.  This week was a chance to recharge and stoke that inner fire.  

My parents were inbound from an all-day drive from the mountains, so my sister and I thought we would make them dinner.  Growing up, I always loved it when we had burgers on our grill that my dad had made from an abandoned beer keg.  My mom would often make her sweet and tangy BBQ baked beans.  So, Rhonda and I decided on burgers and BBQ beans, specifically, Pimento Cheese Burgers.

A backyard classic - burgers, bbq beans, and chips.

For the beans, we have Alexis' #1 Barbecue Beans recipe in The Offset Smoker Cookbook.  That is a spectacular recipe, and it won Alexis her first First Place at competitions.  But my mom varied her bean recipe all the time, and they were all good.  So Rhonda and I decided to wing it and just made this one from what we had on hand.

We happened to have some "seasoning bacon" from Rhonda's home-cured, home-smoked bacon.  That's the ends that you cut off to square the edges of the slab of bacon. Typically, we would use chopped smoked pork or brisket.

Tonight's BBQ Baked Beans

Event: Scenic City Eggfest 2019

I have been on the run at BBQ contests and grilling festivals every weekend for weeks on end.  I've been traveling so much that I haven't been able to get my wrap-ups posted, so I'm playing catch up.

I travel around the country, going to various Eggfests, cooking, teaching classes, and judging.  But my home Eggfest is the Scenic City Eggfest.  It is my Eggfest for more reasons than just being close.

• Elder's Ace Hardware, East Tennessee's leading BBQ/grill dealer, is the host.
• I get the chance to hang out with the best Eggers in East Tennessee.
• Food City, the grocery chain where I shop day-to-day, is the food sponsor. '
• The proceeds benefit the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.  

Here are some photographs of the fun, food, and friendships that we shared at the 2019 Scenic City Eggfest.

The Scenic City Eggfest is held at The Commons, which is a gorgeous open-air public event center.  It is relatively new, has clean facilities, and has room for us to grow.

The covered event area is ideal because this is a rain or shine event. 

Cortlandt Minnich was there, rocking the Pizza Porta.  Their team is always a popular booth because A) everyone loves pizza, and B) The Pizza Porta is an eye-catching accessory.