With bacon! I did my first book signing yesterday at The Rolling Pin in Brandon, Florida and Chef Dave made a batch of the Macaroni and Cheese Soup for the shoppers to sample. They sure seemed to like it and the book was a big hit. I really like that recipe and I think I’ll make that in most of the cities that I go to on the book tour. It was a great way to kick things off for me and the book.
I just got an email from Matthew in Wisconsin telling that he liked the book so much it has inspired him and his buddies to enter a BBQ cookoff. Be careful Matthew, BBQ cookoffs are an addicting hobby.

More soon from the road,

Ray

Buy it here

Thanks to all the great folks here at The Greenbrier. I just finished up my second session here and it has been amazing. Ken Hess, Sue Moats, and April Pusey run the program and they make our lives very easy. Thanks to Chris Lilly and Myron Mixon for being great partners on this adventure.

For the students, here are a few links for the items I mentioned. Anything I forgot feel free to email me or leave a comment here. Thanks for attending. I hope you had as much fun as we did.

Lots of sauces and rubs and gadgets at www.hawgeyesbbq.com

High speed thermometer Thermapen

The BBQ Guru

Buy my new NFL Gameday Cookbook

Gotta go, my room service has arrived. Life is good here!

I’ve been wanting to attend the World Championship Steak Cookoff ever since I first saw it on the Food Network. It’s always the same weekend as Memphis in May though so it hasn’t worked out…….until this year that is. So on May 17th I showed up in Magonlia, Arkansas and cooked this steak.

It looked good and was done properly, but I marinated it a little longer than I had intended and I thought it was a little too salty. That day they awarded first through fifth place and I didn’t get called. But we had a great time and I vowed to return. Well today I learned that I actually finished 9th out of 62 teams! I’m really happy with that. I’ve cooked in a couple hundred contests in my life but this one is pretty unique and it’s always hard when you are a rookie. But I’ll be back next year with a little experience under my belt.

As part of the event I had to cook 30 steaks to pass out to the public. The guests got in line for a salad, potato, roll and a glass of sweet tea, and then they went to whatever steak stand they chose to get the main course.

It’s really a great event in a great city. The folks of Magnolia couldn’t have been nicer and I look forward to seeing them again. This event is highly recommended for everyone.

This recipe is from my first book “Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook”

My Mom’s Rotisserie Pork Roast

This was a family favorite that we only got about once a year. Like so many families, grilling was a special event at my house growing up. Happily that has changed for most of us.

1 Pork Loin Roast, about 5 lbs, boneless, rolled and tied

Black Pepper

1-1/2 cup ketchup

1-1/2 cup soy sauce

Prepare your rotisserie to cook at medium hot.

Whisk together the soy sauce and ketchup. Season the roast liberally with the black pepper. Place the roast on the rotisserie per the manufacturer’s instructions.

While the roast is cooking brush the soy sauce and ketchup mixture on every ten minutes. Do it gently so as not to brush off the buildup of caramelization. Continue applying the sauce until the roast reaches an internal temp of 145°. This should take 1-2 hours but could vary a lot depending on your equipment. Carefully remove the roast from the spit and transfer it to a platter. Let it rest for 15 minutes tented loosely with aluminum foil. Slice and serve.

Serves 8-12

I’m writing from California today. I’m here to do a presentation this Saturday in Modesto called The Secrets of Great BBQ with Brent Walton and Shuji Sakai. It’s going to be a three hour show on stage sponsored by Save Mart

Brent and I will cook ribs on the Big Green Egg and then they will be judged by some local celebs and and audience members. We’ll also be cooking tri-tip and Shuji will do a great Pizza on the Grill demonstration. Today and tomorrow we’ll be on Sacramento and Co. to promote the event and we may let a few rib secrets slip. So watch us or come on out to the event on Saturday. There will be fun and lots of BBQ eating. We’ll even share the ribs we cook if there are any left after the judging and we’ll share all of the tri-tip. We’re gonna have fun so come on out to The Meet.

I can’t think of a better way to start my new blog than to tell you about a TV appearance I did yesterday with Tampa newsbabe Gayle Guyardo. Gayle does the morning news on the Tampa NBC affiliate and has been doing it for a long time. She’s a fixture in Tampa so it was a real treat to meet her. I get to do a lot of these things but it’s usually in a town where I don’t know the news people so it’s just another day at the office, but when you’re talking with someone that you watch every morning it’s very exciting no matter how jaded you are. And when she’s waaaay good looking it’s even better.

She was very nice too and cool enough to wear a Big Green Egg apron. As you can see I cooked some ribs and chicken for the event and I tried to teach her how to do it at home. It’s that time of year and the phone is ringing. It’s fun to be a BBQ man! Look how happy I am!

Thanks to Chef Dave West and the great folks at The Rolling Pin in Brandon for hosting us. The piece will air sometime soon and if they tell me in advance I’ll post it here.

Welcome. Please fasten your seatbelt.