Speaking Of Flashbacks. . .

Let's hop in the time machine and return to May 15, 2009.

The Memphis in May BBQ festival was a rousing success. According to the organizers this was a slightly down year concerning the number of teams entered in the event, but this did not stop large crowds from turning out and certainly did nothing to mute the fierce competition.

Last year's 2nd Place Ribs finalists, The Sassy Sows, had their game faces on when Beatrice and I arrived on Saturday morning and their ribs looked great, tasted even better, but unfortunately, they didn't place this year.

Hard luck, but sometimes it is luck to end up in the finals. Although, it cannot be ignored that they have placed in three of the last four years. But it was not to be for the girls this year. Irregardless, the ladies did a fine job and their hospitality and fun-loving demeanor are always 1st Class and 1st Place!!

Ubon's "Champion's Choice" BBQ Team elected to enter the shoulder category this year. We saw "Big Brain" Campbell on Friday night for a brief moment as he was tending to his shoulders and on Saturday, we didn't see the whole team until after the judging was over. Gary and his daughter Leslie, who incidentally is expecting a baby soon, were all there, hospitable as always and invited us to sample the pork shoulder.

Gary, by the way, was featured on Fox and Friends this past Friday morning as his team was preparing for the Big Apple BBQ something or other up there. Steve Doocy of Fox News, jackass extraordinaire, tried his best to trip Gary up with his sarcastic badgering, but Gary faced him down and it was all over after Doocy put a piece of the shoulder in his mouth. His face said it all.



Did I mention that Gary is a champion? I don't know where I get that idea from. . .


Being a professionally trained culinarian, I am quite fussy about the things I put in my mouth, well, food-wise anyway, and the shoulder Ubon's presented this year was absolutely phenomenal! Perfectly cooked, tender, well-formed "bark" on the exterior, moist and simply divine! I've cooked many a pork shoulder, but even with all my training, book learning and practical experience, I've never produced anything that comes within 10 miles of those shoulders. Well done Ubon's!!

Once the judging was over the crowds proceeded to the awards area, which was ankle deep in slimy mud, but that didn't stop the celebrating as the individual teams were crowned in the various categories.

Ubon's placed third in the shoulder category and I'm sure must have been disappointed after all the blood, sweat and beers, er, I mean tears, but a win is a win and next year is just around the corner.


The surprise hit of the event, at least for us, was the formation of a new cooking team from New York, succinctly called Jubon's. I'll ask that you go to Leslie's website for the full story of the beginnings of this new phenomenon.

Jubon's entered in the Patio Porkers ranks and walked away with a 4th place trophy! Great job Jubon's!

UPDATE: From the comment section of a previous post about Jubon's, Alexandra, whom I must assume is one of the Jubonettes, adds this:

the new york jubon's team is made up of: david rosen, adam rosen, brian jay and bob-o livingston!!!! we were just in memphis for the 2009 competition and won 4th place in patio porkers.

Names+faces = people! Paging Dr. Rosenrosen!

As for the Sassy Sows?

They lack nothing in the way of pride, friendliness and support for their fellow competitors. And I'm sure that they've already hatched a plan to capture next year's crown. Crafty little ladies they are!

And Beatrice? Well, she had a blast as this picture may attest.

Looking forward to next year's event Beatrice? I think you are!

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Artful. . .

A sneak peek at Ubon's pork shoulders.

The master, Big "Brain" Campbell perfecting his craft. . .


Let's take a closer look at those shoulders. . .

A funny side note:

Brain and the gang from Ubon's traveled to New York City a couple of years ago and befriended a handful of fellows who have become advocates and addicts of the Memphis in May BBQ festival. I met them last year and even though their names escape me although the guy with the "popped" collar will not, it turns out that the fellows have entered in this year's competition. Being the good New York fellows they are and Jewish gentlemen on top of that, what else would good New York Jewish gentlemen do but enter a cooking competition that focuses solely on pork.

Such sweet irony.

And their team name I hear you ask?

Jubons!

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The Equation. . .

Beer³ + Memphis In May BBQ Festival x No Sleep = Good Times!

Today I find myself in Memphis as my friends with the Sassy Sows and Ubon's cooking teams square off against the world. For those of you not in the know, just type either of those names in the search box in the left hand corner.

As for Beatrice and I, we are trying to shake the cobwebs out and chipped the dried mud away from our toenails from last nights visit to the competition. For days it has been raining in Memphis and this year's event has been casually, but rightfully changed to the Memphis in Mud Event. It's a sump hole.

Anyway, to those of you who have been stopping by expecting one of my random and potentially vulgar rants or a funny story about my cats, I apologize for the long absence. Life has a curious way of cutting you to pieces and disassembling you to the base robotic animal. Work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep.

Cheers to all of you and please stayed tuned as Beatrice and I further investigate the goings on at the Memphis in Mud Intenational BBQ Contest.

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Low And Slow. . .

This picture means one thing and one thing only. Pork fat. And lots of it!!


Yes indeed humans, it's almost time for the 2009 Annual Memphis in May World Champion BBQ Cooking Contest. A long weekend worth of fun, music, food and drinking. Did I mention drinking? Last year's contest was a rousing success, or at least the parts I remember, and this year should be no different.

Hundreds of BBQ teams, from professional to back porch amateurs, will be competing for thousands in cash prizes, but more importantly, the pride that comes with being a winner.

In 2008, my friends, the Sassy Sows, came in 2nd place in the world for their deliciously slow cooked, slightly sweet and spicy pork ribs. As their unofficial/official good luck charm I have been advised that my presence is a must. And I won't let you down ladies.

Naturally, Ubon's was there also, and I made some good friends with Gary Roark and his daughter Leslie and their long-time fire stoker extraordinaire, Big Brain Campbell. Nice folks and can't wait to meet up with them again in a few weeks. Maybe it'll be a good time to share my super-sekrit, hairbrained, wishful-thinking, good idea with them!

Nevertheless, if you can find your way to Memphis and the calender be sayin' May, stop on by the riverfront for some good times, good food and thousands of drunk people all getting along.

Hey Beatrice, better get your drinking shoes on baby!

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Just The Facts Ma'am. . .

Big Brain, master hog cooker from Ubon's Crocheting/Pinochle Club Championship BBQ Team sends along a link to an article which fact checks some of the more outrageous claims that Obama made last night.

It's worth a perusal, especially considering that it was done by the Associated Press.

Thanks Big B!! See ya in Memphis next month!

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With A Side Of Jack Daniels Please. . .

Cooking competitions are tough enough, but add the name Jack Daniels to it and you've got a whole 'nother level of predicamentation. I'm making up words again.

Gary, Leslie, Brain (Brian actually, but I always type Brain, so from now on, it's Brain) and the gang of BBQ pirates known as Ubon's were invited to cook in the Jack Daniel's 20th Annual Barbecue Invitational held in beautimus Lynchburg, Tennessee.

78 teams from across the nation were invited for the BBQ extravaganza, all with a state championship under their belts . Our home state of Mississippi was represented by two teams, Ubon's out of Yazoo City and Natural Born Grillers from Olive Branch.

Brain and the gang are very well known for their specialty, which is whole hog cookery, but in this competition, the items are pork shoulder, ribs, brisket and chicken. If you ease over to Ubon's website, you can catch a glimpse of the seven or eight trophies they've won over the years. Actually it's more like 100 and 8 trophies plus or minus 50 or 60. Or as my old man likes to quantify large numbers: a bunch!

I've been in my fair share of cooking competitions, but mostly chef vs. other chef dabber-doos which are kinda the same, but not really. There is the preparation, the planning. The travel, possibly. The worry and the minute to minute dilemmas that invariably crop up. The unpredictable malfunction, the screw-up and the occasional destruction of something, whether it be food, machine, or person. Add to this mano a mano competing style, several hundred more cooks and helpers, then mix in about 72 hours worth of hardcore drinking and you've got the grim potential for monumental screw-ups!

But not with Gary, Leslie and Brain at the helm of the fire pit. Even with all the drinking, all the carryin' on, all the hijinks during the long hours of manning a slow-cooking dead animal, they've got the moxie, the wherewithal and the what-have-you to keep it between the charcoal briquettes and somehow, someway, somewhere they won 2ND PLACE PORK!!! (Thanks for the correction Linda! Somebody 'round here cain't read!)



*scratching head*

I guess they simply known 'dey bidness.

Congratulations to Team Ubon's for another great turnout! Good job!

Oh and one other item. . .Ubon's also won Grand Champion 2 weeks ago in Cleveland, Mississippi at Octoberfest, but you can read all about that over at Linder and Cudi's place.

At Cleveland (photo stolen from Linder's blog):

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Beep, Beep, Beep. . .B-Beep, Beep, Beep. . .

. . .please remain clam! BBQ competition news ahead!

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A Quick Recipe. . .

This weekend I cooked some chicken.

Why?

Well, because I had a freezer full of leg and thigh sections and I needed to make room for my bottle of Jagermeister and I knew that my folks with the Ubon's BBQ team needed some telepathic spirituality as they competed up in Whiskeyville at the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational. I'm working on getting the results as we speak, from the piggie's mouth of course.

Anyway, I had some chicken and I didn't want to put the full-on, kung-fu barbeque sauce on the bird, so I went with a lighter glaze instead. Here is the recipe for 8 leg/thigh pieces:

1 cup kectup, (Hunt's, not Heinz)
1/2 cup white rum (thankfully Beatrice isn't a lush like me and left me half a bottle)
1/2 cup lime juice (leftover from key lime pie recipe)
1/2 cup Mississippi clover honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. ground chipotle pepper
2 Tbsp. Hungarian paprika
1 Tbsp. medium heat curry powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients well, except for ketchup and add to chicken. Marinate for as long as you like, but at least 6 hours. Fire up your grill and have your mesquite chunks handy for some good smoke. Drain the marinade from the chicken well and reserve and as the chicken cooks, whisk in the ketchup into the marinade. Be careful with the fire. The marinade has plenty of sugar and will burn easily. Use medium indirect heat or medium-low direct heat if grill space is an issue.

When the chicken is about half-cooked, about 30 minutes or so, begin basting with the reserved marinade. The fire should be low enough that flare-ups shouldn't be an issue. Continue basting every so often until you are out of juice and in about 30 more minutes, you should be removing beautifully grilled, smoked and glazed chicken.

Serve with some homemade mac and cheese, black eyed peas and cornbread. Double yum!

Sorry that there is no picture, I think the Jagermeister had something to do with that. So instead, I'll provide you with a picture illustrating what life with Barack Obama as president will look like:


Empty.

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More BBQ News. . .

Leslie and her dad Gary of Ubon's BBQ, recently recorded an episode of The Story on American Public Radio. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I suggest all of you stop by and spend a few minutes with a couple of reluctant and proud Mississippi legends.

Here is the link for the podcast.

Great job y'all!!

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Monday Morning Good News. . .

. . .for a change.

I saw Brian from Ubon's BBQ cooking team this weekend. I stopped by his house with Beatrice on Friday night to have a bite to eat, chit-chat and to catch a glimpse at a hog he was cooking for his son's fraternity. I've been sworn to secrecy over what I saw and a chef's word is his word, so don't be coming to me mining for answers!

Brian told me that he and his compatroits with Ubon's have been invited to the Jack Daniel's 20th Annual Barbecue Invitational!!!! You might be saying, yeah so what, it's just another BBQ contest. Possibly. Until you recognize that this in an INVITATION ONLY event, so just over 60 teams from across the world will compete. And they are ALL winners.

Good luck Brian, Leslie, Gary and everyone else on the team! I have plenty of faith that y'all will bring home a trophy to a proud consti. . .constiuenc. . .to the people who love you most!!

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Breaking BBQ News. . .

This past weekend, Ubon's BBQ of Yazoo City competed in the Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned event, Grillin' For Life, at St. Joseph's Catholic School in Madison, Mississippi. This was the first time Ubon's has competed in a KCBS event and as team member Brian said, "You never see the judges, and they never see you. You can have a dirty ass area, and noboby knows or cares, which we think is unsociable as hell." Indeed.

The KCBS event is different from Memphis Barbeque Network events in that teams must cook at least one, if not all, of the following: beef brisket, chicken, pork ribs and pork shoulder. All finished products are judged on a "blind basis" as there is no "on-site" judging. And I have to agree with Brian about it being unsociable. The whole idea of BBQing is the social aspect. You'd think the judges would want to get involved, but alas, they are the ones making the rules.

Nevertheless, with on-site or blind judging, it doesn't really matter to Ubon's, because they kick BBQ ass everywhere they go. After some 30-odd Grand Championships, they can add another notch to their belt in the form of overall first place at the Grillin' For Life Competition! Awesome job Ubon's!!!!!!

The full results can be found here and more info at full-blooded, Ubon family member Leslie's blog, Mississippi Barbecue Princess. Also, Leslie features a video of Brain and his famous post-win, X-Man pose. Something to behold. I think.

Great job Ubon's!!! And sorry I wasn't their to lend support, maybe at the next competition.

Leslie's pictures of the event are here.

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Mmmmmmm, . .goooood!

More bacon sandwiches than you can shake a stick at!


This is what Brian from Ubon's BBQ in Yazoo City cooked this weekend.

This makes my pork shoulder look like a bologna sandwich on a stick. And not even thick cut bologna.

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