September 2008 First Thursday: The Grill 08 Sep 08

September 2008 was all about gorgeous grilled foods and over-achievers. I don’t know if the multiple-recipe entrants are trying to make up for lost time or just want to make the rest of you look bad, but some people are definitely working overtime here.

Roundup after the jump, and October 2008 info at the end!

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The Dodge & Graham Horse and Pony Jamboree: Part 2 02 Sep 08

Here’s a man who really knows how to massage his meat.

A barbecue in North Carolina isn’t really a barbecue unless some part of a pig is being cooked, and the Horse and Pony Jamboree did not disappoint.  Dodge (actual first name), the better other half of the HPJ, created an intensely flavorful pork shoulder, jazzing up a traditional Carolina vinegar-based marinade and mop with fresh and dried anaheim and poblano chiles.  He’d also planned some spicy pan-fried black bean cakes and some kind of amuse bouche that involved lemongrass-flavored shrimp wrapped in dough and fried.  I was skeptical, but as I generally approve of food on sticks, particularly when fried, I kept an open mind.

Unfortunately, he failed to actually cook the pork shoulder, and had to be bailed out by some non-Southern, non-professional chefs.  Also the beans were abandoned by the side of the road halfway through.  And the shrimp…well, you’ll see.  But hey, A for effort!

Gather ’round, children, while I spin a cautionary tale of culinary hubris.

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The Dodge & Graham Horse and Pony Jamboree: Part 1 01 Sep 08

I need something wide and shallow.

Here’s the exciting thing about this post: you’ll get to feel like you’re PART OF THE ACTION.  No, I haven’t invented smell-o-blogging or taste-o-blogging, but after spending almost 10 hours with Graham and Dodge, 2 chefs from the chi-chi Sanderling resort here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, I think I can help you re-create the experience I had chronicling them.

Here’s how you do it: Buy a case of Miller Lite.  Drink half of it, to get a good slosh on.  After every photo caption in this post, yell drunkenly, “LIKE YOUR MOTHER!” and drink another beer.*

Also, make delicious, spicy honey-glazed grilled shrimp.

*As often as possible, there things that were actually said.

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Smoke-a-Thon 2008: Porc a la Mode du Caroline du Nord 01 Jun 08

Is everyone tired of pork yet? Not a rhetorical question.

We come now to the final installment of Smoke-a-Thon 2008, semi-classic North Carolina-style pulled pork with my in-demand potato salad as your special bonus with purchase. I’m not sure what I’m more tired of doing: eating pork, editing pictures of pork, looking at leftover pork or writing about pork, so I’m a little relieved that we’ve come to the last chapter.

Note, however, the bacon exception: I am not currently, and do not foresee ever being tired of eating, photographing or writing about bacon. I’m fairly certain that the bacon exception is a categorical imperative for all humankind except for freakish vegans who put tofu in their macaroni and cheese. Not than I am judging.

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Smoke-a-Thon 2008: Gusta el sabor Cubano! 28 May 08

I don’t actually speak Spanish. Perhaps you’ve noticed.

Still very tired.
Can I write an entire post
using haiku? Sí.

Behold the raw pork:
Juicy, pink, fatty goodness.
Oh, salmonella trichinosis.

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Smoke-a-Thon 2008: The Porkening 27 May 08

Pictures here courtesy of The Girl Who Ate Everything. Olives and cake courtesy of No Recipes. Meat coma courtesy of 60.21 pounds of pork.*

More pics and recipes coming when we recover from the aftermath. More pix after the jump.

*Which means: Evil Chef Mom, you win! Email me the address where I should send your prize. Everyone else: how big do you think my refrigerator is? You’re all nuts.

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Smoke-a-Thon 2008: Harbingers 25 May 08

GIVEAWAY! Guess how many pounds of pork are in my refrigerator right now. 22 May 08

No really, guess. Closest without going over, Price is Right-style*, wins a copy of Mastering Barbecue by Steven Stines. Leave your answer in the comments anytime up until midnight this Sunday, May 25th.

The reason my fridge is laden with pork is that it’s almost time for our Second Annual Memorial Day Pork SmokeStravaganza, when we fill the apartment to bursting with people who in turn fill their gullets to bursting with pork (We do accommodate our veggie and kosher friends, we’re not heartless…but we use a separate grill so their vegetables don’t contaminate our pork).

I’ll be regaling you with tales and recipes from SmokeGate ‘08 all next week and answering your most pressing questions, such as: “Will someone top last year’s pulled pork five-sandwich record?,” “How many sleeping drunks can fit in a hammock?” and “How many hungover partygoers does it take to pay for the hammock they broke while drunk on baby back ribs and homebrew?” Until then, if you’d like to plan your own Porktoberfest, here’s a round-up of pulled pork from around the foodblogosphere

• The White on Rice Couple demos the simplest of all pulled porks: just pork, salt and smoke.

• Everyone’s got something to say about authentic Carolina pulled pork with vinegar-based sauce, including Serious Eats, The Paupered Chef, and Gild the Voodoolilly. I’ll pay each of them a dollar if they’ll wrestle in a pit of barbecue sauce to determine whose pork is the best.

• For a light version, Recipe Girl uses pork loin. I’m pretty sure that “lite pulled pork” is some kind of anathema, but I present it here in the interest of variety.

• No grill? First, shame on you. Second, Confessions of a Foodie Bride saves your sorry ass with a crockpot version. You should thank her.

• Sunday Nite Dinner has an outstanding looking Vietnamese-style pulled pork with lemongrass-caramel sauce that I need to be eating RIGHT NOW, PLEASE.

• Closet Cooking takes us “South of the Border” for some “carnitas” made with “braised” pork.

• Meathenge takes pulled pork and makes it EVEN LESS KOSHER with a pork roast braised in milk. It makes Abraham cry!

*My cousin Pam won an RV and a trip to China in the Showcase Showdown in the mid-80s. Also, don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets, or the disembodied head of Bob Barker will haunt your dreams. Or so I’ve heard; I’m not leaving that one to chance.

(Cute piggy pic from Lenndevours.)