Q Chili

This is a recipe I came up with after smoking some pork one weekend and we needed to eat up the left overs so they wouldn’t go bad. It was a hit with the family. I also do competition BBQ some weekends and sometimes we enter the “anything but” category. We needed a dish for one competition so I made this. It was a hit with my team and came in third.

1 Onion

4 cloves of crushed garlic

2 TBLS Olive Oil

1 bottle Woodchuck Cider (your choice of flavor)

1/4 Cup soy sauce

2 TBLS Worcestershire Sauce

2 TBLS Apple cider vinegar

2 TBLS Mustard BBQ sauce

1lb smoked pulled pork (no sauce)

1 roasted pablano pepper

2 roasted bell peppers (red and yellow)

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsb black pepper

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp Chili powder (or to taste)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1. Dice the onion and saute in a pan with the olive oil and garlic until it is translucent.
2. Add cider, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar and BBQ sauce; bring it to a boil and let it reduce down.
3. Add the pork and mix it in.
4. Chop up the roasted peppers and add them to the pot. Let it simmer for a bit. (you can put it in a crock pot at this point to let it simmer for a while or to keep it hot when serving)
5. Add all the dry spices and mix it up.
6. Add the tomatoes and the black beans and mix it up. Let it simmer until the smell makes you want to dig in.

I like to smoke the peppers when I make BBQ pork which gives the chili another level of flavor. When I make this I add some of my rub and use the mustard sauce I make. I have found the heat in it comes after the initial flavor to the back of your throat but it is not overpowering.

Snow Q

This weekend I smoked some pork and a brisket. It was the first time I smoked a brisket so I had a bit of fear going into it. I really didn't want to ruin it. The other obstacle I ran into was snow. When it snows it is harder to keep the smoker at the right temperature so the meat may cook quicker (due to high temperature) or longer (due to low temperatures). Well, turned out I had a flat not a whole brisket so it only took about 5 hours to cook it as opposed to 10+.

Another thing I did was video my process. I won an iPod Nano form Dealsplus on twitter and decided to give it a go. the video didn't turn out too bad and neither did the Q. Here is the video:

The snow Q turned to a swamp Q by the end of the day as everything melted.

Below is the final brisket cut up (ok the part that made it the container, the rest was eaten quickly).
And here are the two butts before I pulled them. I didn't take any photos of the pulled pork though.

Q Class

Last weekend my friend Ken (of CatchaFire for Q) and I went to a BBQ class called Road to the Winners Circle. It was a a great class. Not one for the beginning BBQer but really good for someone who competes and is trying to get the edge to move to the next level.

The class was taught by Troy Black (pictured left) of Learn2Q.com. He’s a really good guy and knows his stuff. He was able to answer many questions we had about things and we got some great tips that will, hopefully, take us to the next level. No, I’m not going to share what he taught us here you have to go to his class.

He covered how to get your brisket, pork, ribs and chicken prepared and cooked and then how to set up the presentation boxes. Each of the things he went over are key to impressing judges and making sure you can get a good score. The best part of a class is you get to taste what you cook, and it was GOOD!

He also has a BBQ 101 class where he teaches you how to BBQ in your backyard. It would take out some of the guess work when you first start out and help you understand how to get a fire going and how to use the cooking equipment properly.

Both Ken and I are excited about this years competitions after going to this class. We’re looking forward to trying out what we learned and getting some wins.

Drunken Chicken

I had heard about the drunken chicken for years and finally tried it last summer. It is one of our favorite grill dishes (yes I know this is supposed to be about BBQ. This also works well on a smoker if you have one.) I have had friends try it with soda and they say it is good too. I have tried with different beers and found that they will give you a different flavor profile. You can also stuff the rest of the cavity with other aromatics. The juice left in the pan after cooking makes great gravy. I have also made it in the oven set at 350 but it doesn’t taste as good as coming off the grill.

Ingredients

• 1 can of beer
• 1 Whole Chicken
• Your favorite rub or seasoning salt ( I use my homemade one)
  
• 1 cup yellow mustard
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic

Directions

1. Preheat an outdoor grill for low heat.
2. In a bowl mix together the honey and the mustard
3. Brush the honey mustard all over the chicken
4. Put your favorite seasoning all over the chicken (rub it in)
   
5. Drink 1/2 the beer, leaving the remainder in the can.
6. Place can on a disposable baking sheet. Set chicken on can, inserting can into the cavity of the chicken.
7. Chop up the onion and garlic and place it in the cavity above the beer.
8. Place baking sheet with beer and chicken on the prepared grill. Cook over low heat for about 3 hours, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).