Ribeye Steak with Compound Butter

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  I received no compensation for this post.  But in full disclosure, although I took the year off from working directly with Certified Angus Beef® Brand, I have been sponsored by them in the past and plan to return to the program next year.

I stopped by Food City before Independence Day to pick up a chicken for a recipe I had in mind.  But I had to pick up a steak when I saw that they were having a big sale on Certified Angus Beef® Brand steaks.  I still got the chicken...I just got a steak, too.

Food City had USDA Choice and Prime C.A.B. ribeyes on sale for a price I couldn't ignore.

I hand-picked this beautiful USDA Prime, Certified Angus Beef® Brand ribeye steak.

A Bit about Steak Quality Terms

Are you confused by all of the Angus beef offerings these days?  In addition to USDA grades of Prime, Choice, and Select, at the meat counter you now see vague terms like premium, champion, and more.  Let's take a look at what it all means.

Book Launch Celebration

 My second book comes out later this month on July 22nd.  I'm excited to share that I will be having a Book Launch Celebration at East Tennessee's go-to retailer for BBQ and grilling gear and suppliers - Elder's Ace Hardware.  The event will take place on Big Green Egg Tuesday, July 23rd from 5 to 7pm.

Come out and join us.  Big Green Egg Tuesdays at Elder's Ace Hardware are always a good time.  We keep things informal but informative: sharing techniques, demonstrating recipes, and answering questions.  Think of it like hanging out on a friend's patio, grilling and shooting the breeze about BBQ.

The book is titled The Offset Smoker Cookbook published by Ulysses Press.  While it is geared towards the backyard-level offset smokers, the recipes can be cooked on just about any smoker.  Since the Book Launch Celebration coincides with Elder's Green Egg Tuesday, I will prove that point by cooking the recipes on Big Green Egg's.  

Asian Pork Belly Cocktail Skewers

[FTC Disclosure] I received no compensation for this post.

Alexis and I made these fantastic little gems to take to a deck party at a friends house last weekend.  The Luxardo cherry, teriyaki grilled pineapple, and honey-sriracha glazed pork belly were a powerful combination, and they disappeared pretty quickly.

Asian glazed pork belly with teriyaki grilled pineapple and sweet cherry.

The cocktail skewers are a good idea for party appetizers.

Bourbon Butter Pork Chops with Cheesy Potatoes

[FTC Standard Disclosure] I have a business agreement with Oklahoma Joe's; however, it has nothing to do with this blog or my social media.  I received no compensation for this post.

A boatload of good grilling and BBQ books have come out in the past few years.  At the time things were busy, and I didn't get to spend the time cooking them.  Now I'm delving back into these books like these ridiculously good pork chops from the book Praise the Lard by Mike Mills and Amy Mills.

The original recipe was Bourbon-Buttered Reverse Sear Double-Cut Pork Chops.  I only had single-thick chops, so I made it work, I just had to adjust the length of the smoking portion of the cook.  We also made the Cheesy Potatoes recipe from the same book and fire-roasted summer squash. 

The Top Shelf Bourbon Butter melts over the smoky chops creating an intense buttery sauce.  

I made the sides in a large Big Green Egg and did the chops and bacon on the Oklahoma Joe's Bronco drum smoker.

Event: Certified Angus Beef BBQ Summit 2019

[FTC Standard Disclosure]  I was fortunate to have my travel, food, and lodging for this trip paid for by Certified Angus Beef® Brand.

May is National BBQ Month and Certified Angus Beef® Brand kicked things off by hosting their first BBQ Summit at their Culinary Center.  They brought in amazing pitmasters from legendary BBQ joints across the country to do some hands-on butchery lessons, discuss the science behind the sizzle, light the spark of new recipe concepts, and share their BBQ stories.

The BBQ talent that attended this event was so incredible that if I were to start dropping names, you'd have to put on steel-toed boots!  I was thrilled to be invited to tag along, and I wanted to share the fun and information with you.

Day 1 Travel and Reception Dinner

The first day was a travel day for everyone, but the chefs and crew at the Culinary Center put together one heck of a reception and dinner.

Airport routing is always interesting, I flew into Cleveland from Knoxville by way of NYC.

The Certified Angus Beef® Brand's Culinary Center is located in Wooster, Ohio, adjacent to their corporate headquarters.  It houses a gorgeous meeting room, offices, a newly expanded dining facility, a full-service bar, the Meat Lab, and two commercial kitchens - one front facing and a typical "back of the house" kitchen.

The reception started off with a vast charcuterie table featuring many of their house-made dried beef sausages.  I could have just eaten that and been fat and happy.  

Do you remember The Big Salad episode of Seinfeld?  Chef Brad Parker does! Here he is putting together a huge salad, Elaine would approve.  I'm not sure if that is a paella pan or a satellite dish stolen from a deep space observatory, that thing is gargantuan! 

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.

Event Recap: 2019 Sunshine State Eggfest in Vero Beach, FL

The Nibble Me This Grilling & BBQ Team had a fun-filled time at the Sunshine State Eggfest hosted by Wassi's Meat Market this past weekend in Vero Beach.

An Eggfest is a food festival that features mouth-watering grilled delights cooked on Big Green Eggs by teams of "Eggheads" (BGE enthusiasts).  This year there were 41 grilling teams, 8 restaurant teams, and 10 vendor teams participating in the event that raises money for Candlelighters of Brevard.

So much fun, food, and fellowship go on at these events that it is impossible to capture it all in a post.  But here are some pictures from the weekend to give you an idea of what goes on at these food festivals.

For Alexis and me, it starts with loading up the truck with coolers, hotboxes, grilling tools, and whatever else we can fit in the Titan XD.   Our drive for this event was 13 hours thanks to traffic so we got to the AirBnB (actually VBRO?) after dark. 

I woke up the next morning and saw that Sean was fishing at dawn. I rolled over an got another hour or two of sleep, the fish could wait.  Photo credit: Rhonda Hollis

We were on the Indian River which brings back memories of driving to Cape Canaveral to watch Apollo and Shuttle launches.   Rhonda got this fantastic picture from the balcony.

Usually, we do most of the food prep on Thursday at Rhonda's home so we have Friday to goof off and finish up any details.  This year; however, work got in the way and we ended up prepping most everything on Friday.