Thinking Deep

As of the the 16th of July, I have been employed at Probation for 13 years.  That is a long stinking time of listening to criminals complain about why it isn't there fault and rationalizing how their lives would be better if they did not live in Kankakee.  Honestly, my life would be different and better if they did not live in Kankakee. That is beside the point, though.  After all of this time it seems that all I do is think about food. Not thinking about food as if I am hungry and just want something to eat. I have been thinking about food in the context of what I want to fix or where good places for restaurants would be, or what type of restaurant would do well in Kankakee.  When I daydream I constantly think about these types of things.  I will think in great detail how the restaurant would run, definitely what the menu consists of and any other detail. 

I need to figure out how I can turn my obsession with food into more than just day dream fodder.  I may have to blog the menu to my latest restaurant fantasy.  I still have a little work to do on the imaginary menu but I think it would work well in the Kankakee area.  Maybe I will share that sometime soon.

Emy's Birthday BBQ

We had Emy's second birthday party this last weekend. Since it was the summer, I, of course had to smoke something and have "real" bbq for her party. I woke up at 4:30 am and had the two pork butts in the smoke at 5:15 am. My ultimate goal was to keep them on for a full 12 hours and be able to pull that bone out of the meat with nary a bit of it stuck. I came close to fulfilling my goal and this was by far the best pork butt that I have ever done. I had the two butts on for 11 hours and let them rest for 45 minutes. I grabbed the bone and it slid right out!! This happened on both of the butts. There was no problem in pulling the pork either. It just fell apart. The pork was so tender there was definitely no need for the toothpicks. Two types of sauce, mustard and tomato based. The only thing I would do differently is to keep the smoke going a little longer before I stop adding the wood chips.

This definitely has me jacked up to do some ribs. And soon!

Bull's BBQ-First Trip

On Thursday, Denise and I went to Bull's BBQ in Kankakee.  All I can say is that Kankakee finally has a BBQ restaurant that understands what BBQ should be.  They don't get there on every point, but they are closer than anyone else in the area.  I had the pulled pork sandwich with BBQ beans and coleslaw as the sides.  The sandwich was big and piled high with meat.  The pork was good.  Some of the meat was a little dry but too dry, but that can happen when you have to let it sit while waiting to serve it. I can live with that. What made me happy was the fact that they did not drench the meat in sauce. They let the meat stand on its own and at the table you add as much or as little sauce as you wanted.  The meat was not over smoked but you could see the smoke ring on some of the bigger pieces of meat.  There were also pieces of the outer bark added to the sandwich. Perfect way to do pulled pork. Actually, that is the way I do pulled pork.  

The best part of the meal were the BBQ beans.  The ball was hit way out of the park on this one. The beans were smoked along with the meat. They were sweet but not overly sweet.  You could taste the brown sugar, but it wasn't overpowering.  I have wanted to make some beans like this but I never had a big enough smoker. I do now.  I can't wait to try making beans this way.  The beans were a perfect complement to the pulled pork. These beans are worth the trip to Bull's all by themselves.

There were two areas that Bull's didn't quite hit the mark for me. The BBQ sauce and the coleslaw.  The BBQ sauce was only OK. It had a flavor that was a bit off to me. It wasn't sweet which is fine, but there needed to be some sweetness to counter some of the other spices that were used.  There was also no tang or punch to the sauce that maybe a little vinegar might have helped with.  Some spices that were added just didn't work.  It did have almost the perfect amount of heat.  It did not burn you, but you could feel the heat when you were done.  They could have added just a touch more heat without it having been too much.

The coleslaw was not good at all.  They attempted a vinegar dressed coleslaw and again they needed some sweet to go with it.  I don't know what they added to it but occasionally there was an almost bitter taste while I was eating the slaw.  They need to work on there slaw, just to put it mildly.

Denise had the BBQ nachos. I of course had to taste and finish what Denise didn't eat.  These were good.  Tortilla chips were topped with pulled pork (chicken and brisket were also available), BBQ beans, BBQ sauce, cheese and jalapenos.  It was good and messy.  Fortunately the sauce didn't hurt the flavor of this. Again, the beans and the pulled pork made this as good as it was.  They did use what appeared to be homemade tortilla chips that stood up to the sauce and cheese. Surprisingly, even the last few bites, the ones that I got, were still nice and crisp. This was a nice "appetizer". Denise got the half order and it was huge. I can not imagine how big the full size order would be.  

Finally, Denise also got the mac and cheese.  I did not try this but Denise liked it. Which says a lot because she knows her mac and cheese.

Bull's is definitely worth a second trip. Or third. Or fourth. I will definitely be going back. I have to try their pulled chicken sandwich, the brisket and of course the ribs. I will let you know how they faired with those dishes. 

Real BBQ

My BBQ integrity was recently called into question because of my love for the McRib. That sandwich is just a guilty pleasure. I do not consider it BBQ. It is just a sandwich that has BBQ sauce on it. BBQ is something I love and take very seriously. Unfortunately, I do not get to eat, make, or participate in real BBQ as regularly as I would like. Between living in the tundra for four months out of the year and working a second job that ties up the weekends there is just not as much spare time as I would need to do it right. So, now I will tell you what good BBQ is.

Good BBQ is not about the sauce. Good sauce does not make good BBQ. Good sauce makes good BBQ better. BBQ is about smoke. Pulled pork, brisket, ribs and chicken need to be cooked low and slow over coals with plenty of smoke flavoring the meat. If that is not happening it is not BBQ. In fact, if the meat is done correctly you may not even need BBQ sauce.

The basic elements of real BBQ are fire, smoke, and low temperatures for long periods of time. If you have those things you have BBQ. I came to understand what real BBQ is late in the game. Fortunately, I am still in the game with, hopefully, plenty of time to play. For me, BBQ is about more than eating good food, although, that is a good portion of what I like. I love tinkering with the fire and adjusting the settings to get the temperature right, watching the smoke rise, and smelling the smoke while it is cooking. Getting to pick at the meat when it first comes off the smoker is tops. If you are not the one cooking it you have to rely on the generosity of the cook to share this with you. Fortunately for Denise, I am a very generous guy. You can get good BBQ in restaurants, Hickory River Smokehouse in Champaign is a good example, but I would rather do it myself in my backyard. Anybody can do real BBQ and I don't understand why more people don't do it. I think if more people knew how easy it was, more people would do it.

This summer, when Emerson turns one, I plan on having pulled pork for her party. Hopefully, our guests will get to try some good BBQ. I am counting on myself not to mess it up. With a little luck there will be some people who have never tasted the real thing and they can see what it is all about. I better start fine tuning my skills a little because June will be here before you know it. And since I am raising my girls right, they will have a whole lifetime of enjoying real BBQ.

Summer is Coming

I am excited about the summer. I will be getting a new smoker that is going to allow me to do so much more than what I was previously able to do. I will be able to do several racks of ribs, a whole brisket (can you say "excitement"), and several pork butts. This means that for Emerson's first birthday we will have plenty of food prepared at one time instead of several different times on different grills. She is going to be a nice addition to my cast of fire breathing toys. This also means that I will have to practice to learn how to use this particular smoker since they are all different. That means plenty of good practice food leading up to her birthday party. I have to fine tune my dry rub and my own BBQ sauce. I am giddy with the possibilities.

Using this is the perfect way to spend a Saturday. Sitting in a lawn chair, watching the girls play in their playhouse, tending the fire and smelling the smoke, all in anticipation of eating some of the best food a person can have. Does it get any better than this?



With a little practice she will be turning out some delicious BBQ. The BBQ will hopefully look like this. Forget PETA. This is what animals were meant to do. Be slow smoked and covered in sauce. Add some of Denise's potato salad and some baked beans. My stomach is about to growl even as I type. And right now I haven't even gotten to the pulled pork (that is a post of its own). I was only thinking of the ribs.

Summer can't come soon enough.

The McRib from McDonald's should be on the regular menu. That thing is so doggone tasty. They have no other sandwich that even comes close. I can not figure out why they don't keep it around constantly. It has three things going for it that puts it head and shoulders above their other sandwiches. The three things are:

1) Pork
2) BBQ sauce
3) The need for lots of napkins

With those key elements it has to be a regular menu item. There is always a lot of BBQ sauce on the sandwich which makes it perfect for cleaning up with the fries. How can you go wrong with that? A messy pork sandwich covered in BBQ sauce is as near to perfection as you can get for fast food.

This does not come close to satisfying my constant need for true BBQ, but when you go to McDonald's and expect to get the same old thing, average burger and world class fries, and you unexpectedly see the McRib is back, it is like a surprise party. All is good in the world despite Obama having been elected.

How do you follow up something as tasty as this? I will tell you. McDonald's chocolate chip cookies. Three for a dollar. If you are lucky enough to get fresh ones, even better.

Chew on that.

Tonight is Halloween and the girls took us trick or treating.  Claire made a pretty good haul for someone so little.  We didn't even go to that many houses.  After we were done, we decided to use a coupon we had for a free appetizer or dessert at Friday's.  We settled on an appetizer.  The loaded Potato Skins seemed like the least disastrous thing that we could choose, so we went with that. 

Denise and I each had something new.  She had the Prime Rib Stroganoff and I had the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Skewers with the new Jack BBQ sauce.  I had a taste of Denise's meal and it was incredible.  The meat was so tender but it still had a rich sauce with the noodles.  Grilled onions and mushrooms.  A great thing to order.  

The main thing this post is about though is the new BBQ sauce.  I could have put a straw in and drank a glassful.  If I could make a sauce like that I could retire. My life's work would be done.  It was sweet and tangy with a little bite to it.  It was not too sweet like some sweet sauces can be.  Whoever developed this sauce did an amazing job.  It is easy to see why it won the contest.  Needless to say I didn't have any left to bring home.   I finished off that sauce with the Texas toast that came with the shrimp.  If they ever decide to sell that sauce on its own, it is a sure fire money maker.  It easily beats Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ.  Now I just need to get out of this Biggest Loser thing so I can have a whole slab of ribs to eat that sauce with.

I can't wait for that day.