28
Oct

Charleston Wine + Food Festival

01-4123The Charleston Wine + Food Festival is one of our favorite events and we were happy to help them celebrate their 10th anniversary. We raced from the NBBQA convention in Nashville to Charleston in order to cook for the Toasted finale event. Fortunately we made it just in time for this soiree in The Bower at Edmund’s Oast, where we sipped special cocktails and slurped these briny, chilled oysters.

02-4239We also had time to zip through the tasting tents and purchase t-shirts from Y’allsome, and dozens of jars of sauce, mustard, and other delicious food items.

03-4152We cooked alongside some friends from St. Louis ~ Kevin Nashan from the excellent Sidney Street Cafe.

04-4155And of course we mixed up some of our very special Sexy sauce for the ribs.

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06-4174Phillip showing off our signage.

07-4192X marks the spot for 10 years of delicious fun.

08-4183Watching the sun set over the harbor, listening to lively music, and tasting delicious wines, spirits, and other bites made for a memorable evening.

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10-4194Look for this Virgil Kane bourbon. I was gifted a bottle of the ginger-infused variety and it’s really good.

11-4214We had just one day to explore Charleston and I was so excited to take my dad and our crew to all of my favorite spots. We’re renovating a building around the corner as a sauce factory and coffee/breakfast spot and we wanted to look at the many ways to incorporate vintage/refurbished fixtures and finishes into our design.

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We ordered most of the menu at Leon’s Oyster Shop. We also visited Artisan Meat ShareSt. Alban, Two Borough’s Larder, The Daily, Butcher & Bee, and Edmund’s Oast, Ann Marshall and Scott Blackwell were kind enough to meet us at Highwire Distillery to give us a tour. Their building is remarkably similar to the building we’re refurbishing as The Factory at 17th Street and I wanted our gang to have a look. 13-4244And had an amazing experience at Husk, where we were showered with course after course of outstanding dishes. Thank you Weaver, Sean, and Jeff!

14-4235And of course, no trip to Charleston is complete without a cocktail or two at the beautiful bar at Husk. John Lewis and Jess Nieri joined us to celebrate the event and our friendship. Note Jess’s re-design of our now-famous “aint no thang but a chicken wing” t-shirt.

Huge thanks to the incredible team at Charleston Wine + Food Festival ~ Gillian, Mary, Liz, and more ~ who helped make this such a magical weekend. This is a behemoth of an event, with so many moving parts, and y’all made it look effortless, while making us feel so special.

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27
Oct

2015 Praise the Lard First-Ever Steak Cook-off

11-8194We held our first-ever Steak Association Cook-off as part of the Praise the Lard Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off festivities this year. This is a fast-growing segment of the competitive food circuit and I think it’ll be the next big thing. Competitors have to simply show up with their grill, charcoal, seasonings and a few tools. The $100 entry fee includes two 16 oz. ribeye steaks. It’s easy for teams to compete using their existing equipment and local people can get in on the fun, too.

12-8198Carly O’Keefe from KFVS-12 helped us promote the contest early Friday morning. We’re cooking these steaks on GrillGrates, and the GrillGrate company is a sponsor of both our cook-off and the Steak Cook-off Association. In fact, the person with the highest score using GrillGrates was awarded an additional $500 from GrillGrate. Interestingly, every person in the top 10 cooked with GrillGrates. We find them to be an indispensable tool in our operation and at home.

13-8203Mike, me, Carly, and Darren Warth, who also did a demo on air.

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Each contestant gets two 16 oz. ribeye steaks.

15-8209Look at this beautiful piece of Certified Angus Beef.

16-8212The steaks are displayed on a tray and each person gets to come through and choose two.

01-1262We were honored that World Champion Johnny Joseph came to Murphysboro to take part in our inaugural contest. Here he is prepping his steaks.

02-1327Terry Reinhardt of TR’s Up In Smoke gauging the temperature.

03-1330Well seasoned steaks.

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05-1373The judges are looking for steak cooked to a perfect medium.

06-1377The certified judging panel carefully considered each entry.

07-1390Jeff Streuter volunteers and helps us in so many ways. He tabulated the scoring for the steak contest.

08-2569This contest is double blind, and we read the winning teams from ticket numbers, add an element of mystery. Not even the organizer knows the winners. Here are the top 10 Steak Cook-off teams.

09-2574The top four teams: Johnny Joseph, Ryan Grob and his son Ethan, Joe Stump, and Jeff Ellison.

10-2580The Grand Champion was seasoned steak cooker Joe Stump, who is also the 2014 and 2015 World Steak Cook-off Grand Champion.

17-2760Huge thanks to John Reeves, the SCA rep who scored the contest and ran the judging.

SCA Steak Cook-off Top 10
10) Alex Schenck
9) Bryan Ropollo
8) Terry Reinhardt
7) Laura Butler
6) Jim Hughett
5) Kenny Nadeau
4) Jeff Ellison
3) Johnny Joseph
2) Ryan Grob
1) Joe Stump

Mark your calendars NOW for 2016. It’s always the third weekend AFTER Labor Day, so next year’s dates are September 22-24, 2016.

Read more about this year’s cook-off results and events. Next week, we’ll publish photos and stories about the Kids’ Que. Stay tuned!

Photos © Troy Brown.

Follow our adventures in real time on Instagram and Twitter.
See lots of entertaining and barbecue ideas on our Pinterest boards.
And we post fun things on Facebook, too!