BBQ…to the Bone!

Ask anyone that has known me a while and they will tell you one of the first things I learned to do as a child was to man a BBQ pit. In fact, to my Dad and his buddies I was known as the "D.C." aka "Designated Cooker". My dad had designed and built a nice size pit on the back of a little old trailer my grandpa gave to him since it was in disrepair. The pit, now on its third or fourth fire box, is still active and used to this day about twenty years later. It was here my passion for food was literally forged in the fires of the mesquite lit BBQ pit. I spent many hours sitting diligently next to the pit ensuring it stay as close to the coveted 225F mark. Many hours were spent on fair grounds for competitions, and many hours in my drive way just getting ready for other events. To say that my passion for food originated in BBQ is an understatement. I was helping to cook competition level BBQ and cater parties of a hundred plus people when I was 12 years old.

It was here that I was bonded, not only to my father and his love of cooking, but to cooking and my own love of cooking that has only increased with age and experience. I learned from him that there is an order of things to prepare a meal with such high regard (at least if you're from where I'm from). I also learned my passion for entertaining and making the meal a total experience.

Here in SE Texas we have started to meld many cultures into our love for outdoor cooking. My family, due to our Cajun roots and my father's Louisiana connections, were hosting crawfish boils decades before you could even find crawfish in Texas. Frying turkeys has caught on and is now a Thanksgiving tradition here in the Lone Star State as well. There are many other examples on how food brings us Texans together, which I have mentioned in other blogs, but here in Texas beef based BBQ still reigns supreme.

It is these types of meals I love. Huge portions of slow cooked goodness all cooked in one big apparatus that will bring people together in a culmination of everything that represents us and our true culture. The meal will bring out the best in everything and everybody. People will listen/play music, dance, sing, eat, drink, and tell stories, older generations connecting to younger, and vice-versa. This is the type of thing that drives me and my passion for cooking.

Lately my role as a chef has taken a strange turn. I don't do so much entertaining and catering as I used to, and my days as restaurant chef are probably over. However, I still drive from this passion because I get to teach others to cook. Everyday simple Joe Smo's that have never attempted a dish are cooking for their families. Even if it is only one time, if a father cooks a meal for his family that I taught him to cook, then that makes it worth it. I know that sounds awfully romantic coming from a guy like me, but it's true. I have people come back to me all the time smiling from ear to ear telling me about how they made that dish and it came out perfect and the whole family loved it. These are the moments that bring me back to my learned love and passion and how it was my family and friends that have driven all of my cooking experiences. Those are also the moments that I can think about how that one dish these families took with them might drive similar passions within the family and someday might have a son or daughter ready to take my place in the world as an advocate of good food, family, and friends.

 

Smokey Spicy BBQ Sauce

3 Cups Ketchup

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 TSP White Sugar

1 Can Dark Beer

¼ Cup Butter (unsalted)

1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion (diced)

2 TBSP Dijon Mustard

1 TBSP Sea Salt

1 TBSP Black Pepper

1 Can Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Sauce (puree in food-pro or blender)

1 TBSP White Vinegar

1 Garlic Powder

½ TSP Cayenne

 

1. In a sauce pot on med. heat, add onions and butter to sweat.
   
2. 4-5 min. later add all dry seasonings.
   
3. When onions are completely translucent add the remaining ingredients.
   
4. Bring to a bubble and simmer for 20-30 min. stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
   

 

 

 

Grilled Pineapple Mahi Mahi

Ingredients:

4-5    Fresh Pineapple Rings

5-6    Mahi Mahi Filets

1. TBSP Grapeseed Oil
   

1-2    TBSP Adams Reserve Rub: Kicked Up Chicken (only at HEB)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat grill or cast iron skillet to med-hi.
   
2. Season both fish and pineapple pieces and coat with oil.
   
3. Grill pineapple first for only 2-3 min. per side, set aside and let cool slightly, then dice into medium sized pieces.
   
4. Grill fish 4-5 min. /side, for thicker filets move to low side of grill and close the lid for 5 minutes, if cooking on cast iron place in oven at 400F for 5 min.
   
5. Serve fish with pineapple over the top to give it some over the top flavor!
   

   
    

 

 

Jamie Oliver-The Dietician?

No, Jamie Oliver is not a dietician. However, he is a chef, and a chef always has an intimate relationship with food. A chef is an expert of food, and from many angles and aspects of food. But does that make him an expert on the field of food in relation to health? Well I say it does, but only if that chef has done his homework. Recently I watched a speech Chef Jamie Oliver gave on obesity in this country. I have always viewed Jamie Oliver as a bit a goofball and I don't watch almost any TV at all so I certainly haven't seen much of his food. Therefore, I have never really formed much of an opinion of him. However, I have always taken my role as a chef to coincide with the role of an educator very seriously, at least on the subject of food. In this way, after having watched his speech, I was completely impressed with him and his message. The speech was on "TED Talks: Chew on This", a series of speeches with very interesting food type people.

    I have known for quite some time now that he has taken on the role as a spokesperson for healthier school lunches and anti-obesity campaigns, but after watching his speech I realize that he has done his homework and is delivering an astoundingly good message. It is hard to deliver such a message without sounding like a pious ass, which is what I imagine I sound like most of the time, but when you are passionate about something like this, you don't stop. You don't stop because you are saying something that people don't want to hear, you don't stop when it is a message as important as his.

    We have known for a while now that the reason for almost everyone dying in the last 40 years is all diet related. We know now which foods cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and much, much more. However, the message has fallen on deaf ears. We know that the key to good health is diet and exercise, and we now have hundreds of venues and avenues to get us in the right direction. The truth is though, we don't use them.

    The fast food companies are thriving. The first class gyms are popping up everywhere, but we are staying fat. Why, because we buy memberships justifying the cost by the results of a healthier life, but very few people have a healthy plan or goal they stick with. I hear every day about a new diet that guarantees to be healthy while letting you lose an obscene amount of weight. Or what about the fitness programs that are geared for pro athletes? P90 Cross-X Fit 2000 or whatever it is. We are willing to try small spurts of these extremes, but not willing to do the right thing on the day to day. Funniest part about those workouts is that at the bottom of the screen in the commercial. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. It says, in very small print, "results not typical". Even the commercials tell you that stuff doesn't work, but we still buy and try these things. When will we understand that the key to our destiny is so easy, so simple, that it is much easier than trying these extremes?

    By not first understanding, preparing, and cooking our food properly we our robbing ourselves of the most basic means of human survival, and this is what is happening all the time. We do not provide any education for food in our schools; in fact, we feed our kids the worst foods possible while they are at school. People are amazed that I'm a chef and I can prepare meals from scratch, I'm amazed that people can't. In fact, if school is to teach us to grow up and have applicable survival skills for the real world, don't you think this should be part of a regular curriculum?

    I think Jamie Oliver said it best in his speech. Roughly put, he said that if he was standing up on stage with the cure to AIDS or cancer in a vial, the world would be clawing at him to get it. However, he wasn't. He was standing up there with a cure to the leading cause of death in this country, and an end to 10% of American health care costs. He was standing up there with an idea, the idea to end heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other completely preventable diseases.

    I will take this idea a step further. I believe in his message. I am by no means a health nut, but I do try to eat well and exercise, and I think that I am in great shape for being 30 years old and aging. I believe that we all have the means to do this to some extent. I believe that by dedicating ourselves to living healthier and eating right we can bring back a sense of community to the world. Not only will we be healthier, but we will be at the dinner table again. We will be at the table eating right and setting the example for our children, who in turn will grow up demanding that their food, be of quality, unprocessed, and actually grown from this Earth. I believe that food is the common thread that binds all man and civilization. In fact, it is how and why we became civilized in the first place, which brings me back to the point that the preparation of food is the most basic human survival skill. Not only is it a basic skill that we are missing out on, but it is a critical skill that gone without could lead to our demise.