#68 BBQ Food for Friends

#68 BBQ Food for Friends

I found a Brisket, I found a Brisket!!!!! This is cause for great rejoicing. Usually when I ask the butcher if they have any briskets I get a strange look and a NO. Yesterday I asked and he handed me a package of four little steaks. I told him, "no, I want the whole thing". He said he did have one but he was shaking his head as he walked away to the cooler. He came out and showed it to me and I told him "yes, that's just what I want". He tried to warn me that it would be very tough and difficult to cook but I say not the way we do it back home. So off he went to wrap and price it. This seemed to be taking a long time so I pushed open the door and there he was cutting off every bit of extra fat! I didn't have the heart to tell him I wouldn't mind some of that, he looked so proud as he handed it to me.

So I had my little 3 lb. brisket, it cost $21, I'm afraid to ask what they go for in the States. Probably cheap like turkeys, we pay $50+ for a turkey and I know they still almost give them away down there. Oh well, it was worth it! I wrapped it all up in foil and put it in the oven at 275 for about 5 hours. It came out fork tender and then the dilemma, which BBQ sauce to use? I like the smoky sweeter ones but some in the family likes the ones with a vinegar kick.

Here's a few of our imported sauces, see photo, except for the Tony Roma's, we can get that up here. We also have a hard time deciding which restaurants to go to when we visit Kansas City too. Last time we asked, KC had over 100 BBQ places. I know my brother-in-law had the goal of trying each of them, I'm not sure how many he's logged. We even have sauce tastings up here, kind of like wine tastings but with BBQ sauce and we don't spit it out. They are all great! So the cookbook for today is #68 BBQ Food for Friends by Jane Lawson and Vanessa Broadfoot. Okay down there, what's your favorite sauce?

#53 Nascar Cooks with Tabasco

#53 Nascar Cooks with Tabasco, photos by Michael Schroeter

My guest photographer for today is Michael Schroeter and he loves cars and racing. I guess it's no wonder since he learned to drive on the German Autobahn. I can't even imagine, there's no speed limit and they all have those high performance cars they want to push to the limit.

I was very pleased to find, I actually had a cookbook in my collection with a racing connection to offer as his photo challenge. It is Nascar and he prefers Formula 1 or Drift racing but he did a great job.

This last summer he visited the new Nascar track at the Kansas Speedway and got some great shots. It's just a few miles from where I grew up. He also got to try Kansas City BBQ which we think is the best in the world. This cookbook has a bit of a kick too with all the recipes using a dash or two of Tabasco. It features recipes from 50 Nascar celebrities.

Michael came up with a neat idea, he used Photoshop CS3 to place the cookbook right on the track with the cars . He even fit in the Tabasco logo, that's a nice touch. He used a Sony Alpha 100 and a fast shutter speed to freeze the cars as they sped by at speeds of up to 200 mph. I like the M & M car, that's another great food and chocolate tie in.

You'll want to be sure to click on the pictures and enlarge them to see the detail. You can see more of Michael's pictures at http://www.perfect-pictures.org/. He'll soon have a car themed Blog up and running which I'll post here. He has a BMW E300 which he has customized and I'm sure will it appear in his new Blog. So cookbook #53 is Nascar Cooks with Tabasco.