Giveaway: Operation BBQ - 200+ Smokin' Recipes from Competition Grand Champions - UPDATED

Operation BBQ Relief is one of the best organizations that you can support.  OBR was founded to feed survivors and first responders in the wake of the Joplin Tornado in 2011.  Since then, Operation BBQ Relief has gone on to have 57 deployments and provide over 2.9 million meals to those in need and first responders.  

The organization has released Operation BBQ - 200+ Smokin' Recipes from Competition Grand Champions as a fundraiser and this is a top-notch, rocking BBQ and grilling cookbook.

Let's face it, sometimes community fund-raiser cookbooks are a hodge-podge of hit and miss recipes.  They are often full of lack-luster recipes like Aunt Judy's jello mold or are unoriginal casserole recipes copied from the label on a can of condensed "cream of whatever" soup.

Not this one!  Every single recipe in Operation BBQ comes from a competition BBQ team that has at least one Grand Champion victory to their credit.  The recipes are kickin' and the photography by Ken Goodman is drool-inducing.  For example....

Jalapeno and Applewood Bacon Burgers with Smoked Vermont Cheddar and Crispy Vidalia Onions by Three Men and A Babyback BBQ Team (page 147).  Photo from the book.

June BBQ Giveaway: Praise The Lard - Recipes and Revelations by Mike Mills and Amy Mills

[FTC Standard Disclosure] We received no compensation for this post and paid list price for our copy of the book.  Amy Mills has graciously provided the giveaway package.

June's BBQ give away is a phenomenal one!

I am giving away a great BBQ/Grilling package from the father/daughter duo - Mike "The Legend" Mills and Amy Mills.  They own/operate 17th Street Barbecue, Oncue restaurant consulting, and 3 BBQ World Championships.  

The prize package includes

• A signed copy of Praise The Lard - Recipes and Revelations From A Legendary Life in Barbecue,
• A jar of the famous 17th Street Barbecue's Magic Dust,
• A jar of 17th Street Barbecue Sauce (Mikes Original),
• A 17th Street Barbecue koozie, and 
• A 17th Street Barbecue sticker.

Praise The Lard is their follow up to the hugely successful and iconic Peace, Love, and Barbecue.  I bought my copy as soon as it became available for pre-order but I was just able to flip through it last night.  Initial impressions?  Wow!  I intended to just scan it but ended up enthralled and spent 3+ hours reading sections, marking recipes, and being impressed.

I'll do a full review this month but from all appearances, Amy and Mike have nailed this book. Coming from 3 time Memphis in May Champions, you might expect this to be all high-level, uber -pitmaster stuff. It does have advanced techniques but they did an amazing job at writing this as a "how to" book so the newbie griller will not be lost.  In fact, I think that if you are a beginning or average griller and cook through this whole book, you will end up gaining the full knowledge and experience needed to be grill master.

Praise The Lard will be a greatly appreciated Father's Day gift for Dad.  Or if you order it now, it will help you throw a 4th of July BBQ celebration that will be talked about by your guests for years to come. 

Giveaway Rules

1. Giveaway entry period begins Wednesday, June 7 and ends Friday, June 16th at 11:59pm. Drawing will be held on Saturday around noon (All times are Eastern Time zone).
2. To ENTER:  Leave a comment below.  If using an anonymous comment option, leave me a way to get back to you (email, Egghead or BBQ Brethren user forum name, etc).  For a bonus second entry, you can tweet or post a Facebook entry about this and post a link to that entry in a comment below.
3. Comments will be numbered by order received and random.org will generate a random number for the winner.
4. Limited to residents of the continental US unless you want to pay the additional shipping charges.
5. I am the final judge regarding any discrepancies, interpretations, grievances, etc about this drawing.
6. 17th Street Barbecue, Mike Mills and Amy Mills are just sponsoring this prize package. They are not responsible for the drawing or the giveaway. 
7. Winner must respond and claim the prize within one week of the winning announcement. If a winner does not claim the prize during the specified time, a reserve winner will be drawn from the original entries.

NOTE:  Comment moderation is turned on to fight the bots, so your comment won't appear right away.

WINNER ANNOUNCED
The winner of the giveaway is GrillinBeers who wrote:

I will shoot you an instant message on the BGE forum to get your mailing address and contact info.

Huevos Rancheros Featuring Smithfield Seasoned Carnitas

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I'm proud to be a brand ambassador for Smithfield's Marinated Fresh Pork line this year and I receive compensation for this post.

I kind of feel bad for you all.  Last year Smithfield took me on those great trips to Smithfield, Virginia and The American Royal World Series of BBQ.....and I didn't get you all anything.  But here's a chance to make up for it!

Real Flavor, Real Fast

Smithfield is giving you the chance to win a trip to Napa wine country or hundreds of other prizes. All you have to do is enter the Real Flavor, Real Fast challenge and share your tips and tricks for using Smithfield marinated fresh pork products to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less.  It's easy to enter, just click on over to their site and then send me pictures from Napa when you win.

Examples of Smithfield's Fresh Marinated Pork include: Sweet & Smoky Marinaded Fresh Pork Roast, Seasoned Carnitas, Applewood Smoked Bacon Marinated Fresh Pork Loin Filet, and Steakhouse Mushroom Marinated Fresh Pork Loin Filet.

When I opened the package that they sent me, I immediately went for the Seasoned Carnitas.  Smithfield has already done the seasoning and trimming so all that you have to do is put them in a slow-cooker or slow roast them in an oven or grill.   

Of course, you know that I chose to cook mine on the grill. I made these Huevos Rancheros featuring Smithfield's Boneless Pork Shoulder Seasoned Carnitas.  The tender, mildly spicy chunks of pork shoulder really hit the spot, they are surprisingly easy to make, and they keep me fueled up for the day!

The Seasoned Carnitas cook great in a slow cooker so you can just do that while you sleep and have them ready for you when you get up in the morning for a hassle free breakfast in 30 minutes. Of course, I give alternative direction for making this on the grill, for all of my brothers/sisters in smoke.  Either way, it's Real Flavor, Real Fast.

Huevos Rancheros with Carnitas

4 servings

Ingredients

Giveaway - Electric Starter for Kamado Grills

I am giving away this Grill Dome Rapid Lite electric start for firing up your kamado grill.

I am running the giveaway over on my Facebook page so to enter, just hop over there and leave a comment.

Tex-Mex Sauce: Hatch Green Chile and Cilantro Crema

We made this sauce tonight for some fajitas that we were grilling.  It was pretty fantastic and would be a great sauce for any kind of Tex-Mex food.  It's heat level is mild as written but you can add hotter chiles or just kick in some dried chile powder.  

Hatch Green Chile and Cilantro Crema 

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup Mexican Crema
• 4 ounce can Hatch diced green chiles
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon grilled lime juice
• 1 teaspoon NMT Fajita Rub

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together and pulse in a small food processor or blender (aka Ninja-Bullet thingy). 

You can substitute sour cream for Mexican crema but most grocery stores stock crema in the refrigerated Latino foods section. 

I have ordered frozen Hatch chiles but I hadn't seen them available in cans before today.  Food City has them in their Latino dry goods section (ironically they DON'T carry crema).  If you can't find them just use canned diced green chiles.

Operation BBQ Relief - Volunteer Drive and Giveaway

Operation BBQ Relief (OBR) is a fantastic organization that feeds the victims and first responders in the wake of natural disasters.  It started after the 2011 Joplin tornado disaster.  Just a few BBQ guys were wondering what they could do to help.  So they did what they knew how to do - feed people. Since that time, OBR volunteers have responded to 29 disasters in 18 states feeding over 700,000 people.

OBR relies on the great American barbecue network family for talent and equipment.  Buy you don't have to be a pitmaster to help.  OBR needs registered volunteers to do everything from serving, packaging, loading, and plenty activities that you can do even if you burn toast (or in the BBQ community, boil your ribs).  

That's right - they aren't asking for a dime.  They are just asking you to take a few minutes to register to volunteer to help if a disaster strikes in your region.  Right now if you volunteer (or update your info for existing volunteers), you can get entered into this kick ass prize package!  

Prize package worth over $500 includes: 2 Panel Grill Grate Set & Spatula; Snake River Farms Grilling Package; Pelican 35 Qt Cooler; OBR Swag.

Who is #IAMOBR? You are! Sign up to be an OBR volunteer, join our mailing list & share this post on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. 

• Registering as a volunteer qualifies you to win. 
• Earn a bonus entry for each time someone clicks on the link you shared. 

1.      Go to http://woobox.com/tdnbyt  and complete follow the registration giveaway form

2.      Go to www.operationbbqrelief.org/register/ to register or update your profile. 

[This giveaway is run by OBR at the above listed links, not here.  You don't have to comment or do anything on my blog - just go register and share.]

2015 Eggtoberfest and Chef Works Giveaway

This past weekend, our BBQ team went to Eggtoberfest in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

We weren't cooking at the event, we were just taking it all in since this was the first Eggtoberfest for most of our team.  It is a BBQ/grilling exhibition, not so much a competition.  Four hundred people cooking on over 200 Big Green Eggs for 4,000 people - quite the spectacle.  

Camp NMT

Since the event was held at Stone Mountain, we stayed in the lakeside campground nestled in the tall pines. The five of us stayed in a RV rented from RV Valet which is a very cool service.  They secure your camp site and set you up with a fully furnished RV onsite.  All you have to do is show up and "move in". They even set up the outdoor area for us.  It was the easiest camping experience I have ever had. The RV was ready for us including bed linens, cable TV, outdoor settings, and a kitchen with all of the essential equipment. Thad and his team were hospitable and made sure we had everything that we needed. I highly recommend RV Valet if you are ever planning on camping at Stone Mountain. 

We had the 28' Grey Wolf unit.  Well worth the money when the rains came in at 2am.

Our site was right on the water. 

Still enjoying my Father's Day present...it's bear proof!  Just in case bears like beer.

Campsite and park grills are notoriously bad.  When I got there, my sister had "slightly modified" ours with her Mini-Max to make it a "little" better.

Prepping brisket nachos...it's so nice out, I'm glad it's not going to.....

...rain.   Well crap.  Like sister, like brother.

 

Rhonda's cherry chipotle pork tenderloins for sliders. 

Cherry chipotle pork tenderloin sliders, smoked brisket nachos, and Asian chopped slaw.  Beats the heck out of hot dogs for camp food.

We were also there with a larger group of people but we have a very strict "what happens here, stays here" policy, so no pics from the evenings.  Suffice it to say that we had a couple of good nights, ridiculing each other, laughing, and telling lies. 

The Event

Smaller Eggfests happen across the country throughout the year but this is THE Eggtoberfest held by the corporation.  The event was on Saturday morning from 10am to 4pm.

It started off on a bad note this year.  The line to get in was about 1,100 feet long and took right at an hour to get into the gates. By then, a lot of the teams had already served their first courses.  I haven't been to Eggtoberfest since 2010 but there was never a line like that back then.

About halfway through the line at this point. 

The yellow arrow is pointing to the end of the line way in the distance by the trees.

Overhead layout of the event.  The yellow line marks where the line to get in was.  Photo Credit:  Google Earth image

I get that this was 4,000 people but Memphis in May has 100,000 people and it doesn't have lines this long.  Long lines will turn people away from coming back so I hope they address it next year.  The bottleneck was the check in process where they marked you off by name, after finding you on a list several pages long. The tickets already have QR codes printed right on them for instant validation. BGE needs to take advantage of that and scan tickets for check in - it's WAY faster and would take fewer people to handle that process.

One of the great things about these events is fianlly meeting fellow kamado enthusiasts that you know from online, like my cyber buddy Tim Shelburn (on the left).  Here he was deep frying smoked pork belly. 

Blake Carson was also with Team Big Green Craig using a pair of his Carson Rodizio rigs that work on kamado grills, gas grills, or other charcoal grills.  These are Brazilian style rotisseries like the churrascaria restaurants like Fogo de Chao use. Pricey but very cool.

Marcia staying on top of things and keeping the food coming.

Clayton serving up a delicious blueberry French toast with whipped cream.  I love that teams do creative things like this instead of the typical grilling fare.

Cooks were busy trying to keep the throngs fed throughout the event.

These teams are doing this for the love of grilling/BBQ.  They aren't paid to do the event and they pay for the food they serve.

When a team booth starts serving food, the lines form quickly and the food disappears in minutes.  Almost like how piranhas can strip a cow carcass clean in minutes. 

Salmon gives you rock hard abs, who knew?

Obligatory Thermapen sighting.  There is a reason you see these at every high level BBQ event - they are best in class in the digital thermometer category.

Two common sightings at Eggtoberfest - food lines (moved quickly) and the bright green gift bags.

One difference between Eggtoberfest and the regional dealer Eggfests is the number of Eggs per team.  At regional ones, teams might only have 1 to 3 Eggs.

It strikes me that I have "known" some of these people from the old egg forum for 7 years now.

Sliders are a crowd pleaser but require a lot of hands on prep.  Teams make strategic menu decisions where prep time and turnaround time are just as important as the final product because there is no time to waste.  Then again, many hands make light work.

The North Georgia Eggers always represent well at Eggfests.  This year their theme was cookies and they made some great ones.  Here long time Egger, Kim Youngblood, checks a batch that were delicious.

There were rows and rows of teams.

Michael Collins of Flame Boss takes time to talk with an attendee about the Flame Boss 200 .  This is my favorite electronic controller and it is the only one that I have trusted to use in BBQ competitions. 

In addition to the Eggers, corporate had a big tent of Culinary Partners serving food as well. 

Raspberry chipotle pulled pork crescent from Marcia S and company. This is the kind of creativity that I like.

My favorite team shirt of the weekend - "Cook like a captain - party like a pirate".

There were culinary experts on hand sharing their advice and recipes at two demo stages.

Happy Belly - a Big Green Egg powered food truck.  Nice idea, I've been working on something similar for Knoxville.

Climbing rock tower, bounce house, and inflatable shark slide for the kids and kids at heart.

Congrats to Big Green Craig and his team for winning First Place in the recipe contest.  He made a great strategic move by serving 1 menu item throughout the day.  Brilliant move because it got that item in front of the crowd all day long.  Most teams serve three items, one at a time, so they only get exposed to 1/3rd of the potential audience.  Craig's smoked and deep fried pork belly was shared all day long.   PHOTO CREDIT:  Justin Bishop

The BGE Store store was constantly full of attendees checking out the latest gear and stocking up on supplies.

The new BGE branded aprons by Chef Works garnered a lot of attention from the crowds.

These full length bib aprons are a one time run (as of now) to kick off Chef Works new endeavor into consumer goods.

Chef Works Giveaway

So Chef Works was at Eggtoberfest to announce their expansion.  They are a global leader in culinary apparel for the hospitality and restaurant industries. Now they are expanding their reach with to serve the back yard warriors and home chefs like me and you.

It's the same gear that you see professionals wear.  It is just as rugged, stylish, and most importantly - functional! This apparel is constructed with heavy duty materials to handle repeated use and washing. I got to see some of their line up at Taste of Atlanta last year and I was impressed, especially with their Urban Collection.  A lot of that line would be great for outfitting your BBQ team to look first class.

To help get the word out about their new consumer retail program, Chef Works has put together the following prize package for a giveaway here on Nibble Me This. It includes a Chef Works Memphis apron ($34.99), a Chef Works 5 piece Professional Grill Set ($75), and a super sweet 9" slicing knife from legendary knife maker, Ken Onion ($190).  That is a top shelf prize package, my friends! 

Not to scale....but how kicking would that knife be if it was? 

How To Enter and Rules

1. To enter, just leave a comment below.  You can have a second entry for a tweet about this giveaway including my twitter handle @nibblemethis so I can find it.  NOTE:  If you are using the anonymous comment option, please make sure to leave a way to reach you (email,  forum user name, twitter etc) in case you win. 
2. Giveaway entry period begins as soon as this is posted and ends October 25, 2015 at 11:59pm. Drawing will be held October 26, 2015 at noon (All times are Eastern Time zone).  Winner will be announced in an update to this post. 
3. Comments and Tweets will be numbered by order received and I'll use random.org to generate a random number for the winner.
4. Limited to residents of the continental United States unless you wish to pay the extra shipping charges.
5. Chef Works is just sponsoring this prize. I am the final judge regarding any discrepancies, interpretations, grievances, etc about this drawing.
6. Winner must respond to claim the prize within one week of the winning announcement and/or email contact. I do attempt to contact the winner directly if contact information is provided.  If a winner does not claim the prize during the specified time, a reserve winner will be drawn from the original entries.

CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
The winner of the random drawing was Adam Carver who entered via a comment:

Adam I sent you a message through Google+ for your mailing address.   

[FTC Standard Disclaimer] We have no affiliation with RV Valet and paid full price for our stay. We received no compensation for this post from Yeti, BGE, Carson Rodizio, Thermoworks, Chef Works, or Flame Boss.