Recently in Grilled Meat Category

Happy Easter everyone, it's been a grand weekend out. Z and I spent most of the weekend on bicycles out and about, along with breaks for meat and happiness (farmer's markets and family meat smoking). See?

Click on pretty meat picture for larger badass version.

Yay, we're in an even numbered year. Thank goodness, you don't know how happy that makes me. You just can't lose in an even numbered year. It's like making sad music with a banjo, you just can't do it. The meaty picture above was from a little meat fest Meathenge Labs hosted on the 26th of December of last year. We did pork spare ribs, baby back ribs and a juicy flank steak. Oh my!

Oh my is right, forgot to buy onion powder. Never been a fan of the garlic powder, but I do love my onion powder. What's my go-to rub going to be without its key ingredient? Pah, I dunno.

4 parts Paprika
2 parts chile powder
1 part salt
2 part oregano
1.5 parts or less of celery seeds
1 or 2 parts cumin seeds, toasted (whiz oregano, celery seeds and cumin seeds together)
1 or 2 parts white/black pepper
1 part cayenne powder
and a little more salt!

Ribs got rubbed. Flank got marinated with the above rub doused with orange juice. Grilled indirectly with applewood charcoal and cherry wood branches for smoky love. Serve with ice cold Schlitz and a few sides.

Here's a pretty photograph of the last sunset of 2007. Goodbye you craggy ol' bastard, smell ya later.

Most certainly click on image for larger one, hey.

Biggles

Can you see the dragon?

It was a few weeks ago when Steve of CajunGrocer.com emailed me and asked if Meathenge would like a turducken. I'm thinkin', "A turducken for 'review'? A review copy of a turducken? Sheet yeah I do!"

I have a book and a water filtration system in the wings for a review, but this bird wasn't going to wait. It was thawing and needed attention and I'm just the caring soul who's ready and willing. And speaking of willing, let's talk a moment about shilling. Yup, that's right. I know many of us non-professional writers/bloggers are pretty cagey when it comes to accepting free stuff. Let's see what the dictionary has to say about it.

1. To act as a shill for (a deceitful enterprise).
2. To lure (a person) into a swindle.

This my good people, is not what I'm up to. Let's move on, shall we?

There are 2 kinds of grocery shoppers, 1 makes a list and gets what they need. The other (me) makes no list and winds up with a cart full of what he didn't necessarily expect to buy. This is a lot of fun and I enjoy it each time. The downside is that I forgot to purchase soap for the shower twice now. It's kinda funny to scrapple through the bathroom cabinet searching for those lost bars of soap that one might get as gifts from 10 years ago. You know the ones, nasty smelling, in the shape of a monkey or cat. Yeah, those. I fight the good fight.

I hadn't planned on purchasing that little rack of baby pork ribs, I did though. And a day later? I'm sooooo glad I did. I was able to try out a curry based dry rub I'd had in the wings here for quite some time. No really, a long, long, long time.

Come along my pals and we'll get a glimpse of a nice Wednesday evening meal.

I just knew this last Saturday, that Sunday morning I'd fire up the smoker and get that 5 pound picnic portion of a pork roast in there. I wanted a pull-apart roast with my go-to rub. This grass fed fancy roast needed the best and I was just the Biggles for the job.

Yeah well, after 8 hours of smoking, I'd had enough and pulled it. I could tell it wasn't ready, it needed another 4 hous in there. I got a late start in the day and it was time. That was okay, I'd figure it out tomorrow. There's always tomorrow.

And figure it out I did, all in about 10 minutes.

Please take note that my Nikon D70 has taken a nose dive and been sent off for repairs. So until further notice, these images were taken with my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 950.

Damn you to hell Mr. Neighbor Man and your nasty ass fluid, cheap crumbly briquettes and non-seasoned chicken pieces. And how dare you hit me with such vial smells just as I get home on a warm September's eve. While I had planned something ovenny with my whole natural chicken, you sir have forced me in to action. I'm going to totally kick your ass in startup fire smell, grilling smell and finishing smell. And I'm going to do it right now! Prepare for thine beating.

Ever since I took delivery of the fancy charcoal last week, we've grilled and smoked nearly every day. I've still got about 280 pounds, so I need to keep up my head of steam, ya know. Besides, what I don't use will have to be dragged off to the garage before the winter rains set in. And that my good friend, is work. Don't need none of that, sir.

Because of such a grilling frenzy I've been poking about looking for a sauce I haven't tried yet or would like to reinvent for myself. I came up with this one. Come have a gander and see what you think.

There are so many wonderful ways to cook pork. This is one of the many reasons pork and I get along so damned well. I used to be a pain in the ass purist and would beat any passers by in to my figurin' that pork spare ribs needed to be smoked for approximately 5 hours before they were 'correct' or edible. Now I'm just a pain in the ass that enjoys good food. And I have to say that after Saturday's grilled pork rib meal, both Mama and I enjoyed great food. However, it just doesn't happen by mistake. There are a few finer points that needed to be adhered to so your meat makes your teeth smile.
Interested?

I have several friends that have the name Paul. One drives to Oregon for bacon and one I've known since 2nd grade. Let's call him Uncle Paul, mmm kay?

Uncle Paul has recently purchased a home near Dittmer's Wurst Haus. 2 weeks ago the boys and I drove down and helped him move the large items, umph. We had a great time checking out the new digs and later in the day we did some cold beers with grilled tasty pork. No time for poor Dittmer.

"What to do !?! What to do !?" cried the engineer.

Ah, what's in the smoker right now? A 7 pound lamb leg. Bone removed and butterflyed open. Stuffed with extra virgin, s&p, fresh cilantro, toasted corriander & cumin seeds, special spices (curry like), fresh crushed garlic and lemon zest. Reinstall bone, tie up roast and put way down in the smoker for hours.
This is what it looks like right now. As it happens. You're seeing it. No lie.

xo

Ah yes, the July 4th grilling holiday. Oh sure we have Memorial Day as well, but you have to admit, there's something about July 4th that just screams mesquited meat nuptials. As with Thanksgiving Day meals, this day brings out the home chef that may be better off attending someone else's party. Oh no, not you. You figure you can handle it. How tough could it be? All you have to do is prepare/season/marinade the meat, build & maintain a fire, cook to perfection and serve. What could possibly go wrong?

Here is this week's batch of bacon. We noticed last week it was a tad salty, Taylor thought so as well. So, he did up a different mix on the cure and here we have it. This right here? Is good bacon.

I remember back around 1998, during the early summer it was. I was out in the yard spending time with a grill that I no longer have. It was the best grill in the world, an old charbroiler. It had a rotisserie, access to the coals without opening the lid and cast iron cooking grates. But after 30 + years of service, it rusted out and that was pretty much that. It lived a good life in my yards over the years. I learned how to rotisserie pork ribs, chickens, turkeys, just about anything. Anyway, this was about 8 years ago and I laid my first piece of bacon on a grill. I know, I know, you've been doing it for years. Even so, it was a day that changed my life forever. You see, cooking bacon (indirectly of course) with a real wood fire delivers you flavors and textures you couldn't possibly have dreamed of. It crumbles over beans, salads, vegetables, pasta and just about anything else you could think of. Or do what we did and just stand there eating it, piece by piece.
So, if you have the smoker or grill fired up, throw on some bacon and live the life. You'll be glad you did.

Biggles

ps - Just in case you think you're smart and quick and decide to cook the bacon directly, don't. It'll create a grease fire that'll cause you a lot of grief and time. Plus it'll ruin your bacon.

It was exactly 2 weeks ago when an email from Toponia rolled in. I noticed it just as the sun was going down on a nice spring evening. One of those evenings when the doors are open, windows are open and the neighborhood is so quiet all you can hear are the mosquito hawks knocking against the walls. Their smoker needed a new home, either mine or someone else's, and we had barely 3 weeks to get it out. Did Meathenge Labs have the room? Was I willing to negotiate this 1200 pound beast out and through our citiy's little streets? In a 1974 Ford pickup truck belching black smoke at every turn?

It was exactly 2 weeks ago when an email from Toponia rolled in. I noticed it just as the sun was going down on a nice spring evening. One of those evenings when the doors are open, windows are open and the neighborhood is so quiet all you can hear are the mosquito hawks knocking against the walls. Their smoker needed a new home, either mine or someone else's, and we had barely 3 weeks to get it out. Did Meathenge Labs have the room? Was I willing to negotiate this 1200 pound beast out and through our citiy's little streets? In a 1974 Ford pickup truck belching black smoke at every turn?

I've been monkeying around Barbara's Tigers & Straberries for quite a few months, reading posts, checking out recipes and leaving odd comments when possible. I stumbled upon this recipe for Char Siu last Thursday and knew it was for me. A quick jaunt to the Asian grocery and we were set, Meathead visits often and knew where everything was, thanks MH.
Are you ready?

I'M ALIVE !!! I'M ALIVE !!! Oh man that felt good, like a warm spring rain or a light jog down a sandy beach in September. I lit a FIRE !!! I think boys & girls need to light fires at least once a week, that's how I see it. Going a month or two just won't do, nope.
I've been in a fog for a little bit and the nasty winter weather hasn't been helping. Well, here we are at day 2 of daytime temperatures in the mid 70 degree F range and I couldn't be possibliy feeling any better. Yesterday at 4:30pm Biggles was at the grill, in shorts and lighter in hand, cool refreshing beverage in the other. It was time to light a fire and cook dinner, wanna see?

Last week some time Jlee asked if I'd show up early to the market on Saturday morning, she'd like a hand getting the Fatted Calf meat coolers out of the truck, they heavy. Sounded as though she was going to be by herself selling sausage until at least noon or so. I offered to come play and help out, it's nice to spread the good word of the charcuterie, I am your guide. The weather was pleasant and there was a really cool Native American festival going on in the park 40 feet behind us. We got to hear music and smell flat bread being cooked and sell meat to hungry patrons, a perfect Saturday morning for Biggles.

2 weeks ago, I caught my brain feeding me images of beef meat, roasts to be exact. Not pretty little standing rib roasts or the lean ball-tip roast. But the big and mean looking chuck roast, the caveman type. I know you're thinking, "yeah, so?" Well, I've never been a huge beef eater. Yes, I eat more beef than most beef eaters do. But my meat passion steers towards the piggy and most anything with feathers. Plus I'm a cheap bastard and good beef costs money. In this case though, I am obliged to follow the voices in my head, "Must Get Beef Roast".

If you're eating well and wanting to listen to good music, I nearly always choose fast flowing classical. And if that isn't going, I'll switch to John Denver or Woody Guthrie. This will usually suffice, however when it can't overcome? Clearly Helen Reddy wins the bid, timeless and built to withstand time.
Just like Pork, Mesquite and Hickory. Tonight's meal was delivered by Niman Ranch with their thick pork loin chops grilled directly. Then we have Rick's Hot and Mild Italian Sausage. These sweet sausages are tenderly hand-made with care and forethought. Sure the mild ones are fine, but what will draw you in is the Hots. I know, I know, ewww, hot food! ICK. No, this isn't that. Yes, they are 'spicy' but not hot. What sets them apart is the apparent huge flood of red wine and fat, warm happy pork fat. The stuff that puts the flavor all over your apprehensive mowf.
Real Wood, Real Fire & Real Meat = Real Happy Diners (they don't hassle your ass).
It's summer, get fat.

Rick's Quality Meats
1600 Liberty Street
El Cerrito, CA 94530
510-233-9390

You want a meat thrill? Click on the above image to get a much larger version with all kinds of juicy detail.

The logistics of making a decent blog can get interesting at times. One of the basic rules I have is to not post too many times a week, let alone a day. I believe I can give you 3 decent posts a week without getting too weak. And this post I wanted to leave for tomorrow morning, but I can't. It was too tasty, too amazing to leave behind. This is a fresh post from tonight's meal.

Today was a perfect sunny day to start up the grill and try out one of Rachel's recipes. Anything with wild salmon, extra virgin olive oil, smoked chile peppers and some fancy Australian salt. Such a treat since I can get most of these ingredients at one stop.
The Austrailian Murray River Salt flakes I already had, from the wonderful Salt Traders. Look for the Margarita Salt. I got no idea why they named it that, but it's amazing. Smoky, hot and with wondeful cruncy light salty love.
Just before noon I jacked up the mesquite grill and tossed on some hickory chunks. This was let to settle for a bit. One needs to let the grill or smoker get in to its crease before cooking anything.
The fresh salmon was slathered in extra virgin olive oil and the Margarita Salt. On to a searing grill for a handfull of minutes on each side. Pay attention to the initial side, that's for presentation. Let the other side go to hell, who cares.
Even with lighting a fire, I had this meal done inside of an hour, not quite 30 minutes. I believe it was closer to 40 minutes, even so. This was a hands down winner for when you have very little ingredients and no time.

Fini

ps - Rachel Ray had nothing to do with anything I did. I was just feeling cheeky, in a positive way towards Rachel. Just venting a little steam, she's been getting such a hard time. I figure people should lighten up a bit about simple, easy to find and cook meals.

The fat from salmon is so cool. Remind you, this is coming from someone who has only been eating fish for 10 years or so and only recently Salmon. Yeah, I know I'm an idiot. But I just love Salmon Fat and had to mention it. The stuff is so sweet & warm, so clean. This lends possibilities, lots o'.

Hey, the crust on the bread had a bubble the size of Chicago in there. Anyone know what that's all about?
Had a nice weekend filled with crazy pork roasts, marinated tri-tips and sausage stuffed quail. The weather was quite breezy, but at least the sun decided to come out before noon. Heh.
Check out these hickory smoked quail that I picked up from Fatted Calf on Saturday morning. I hadn't decided what to get until I walked up. I think I did pretty well, eh.

And look inside the quail!!
That thar is a fig, yum. Figs & Pigs (Hi Kate!).

I entered my pork roast over at The Pragmatic Chef. Today was the last day to get your entries in, I barely made it. I don't think it's up yet, we'll see. I'll let ya'll know. I'm pretty excited about it.
As you can probably guess, the 3 day weekend really had no goals or plans. I knew Paul was coming over Sunday for a meal, but that was about it. Everything was just a toss together situation, now I need some salad and fiber.

Biggles

There's a reason I can set up a nice grilling session on weekday nights, even though I'm putting in 37.5 hours a week at my place of job. Five and a half years ago we decided to buy a little teeny tiny house in the same city that I commute to. This gives me a 6 minute commute, even in dead tight traffic I can get there in 10 minutes. That's planning right there, just in case you were wondering.
Tonight was the last night I had to grill the Crepinettes & Sweet Italians from last night's post, it was time.
What you're viewing there is a mesquite fire squizzled with spatz of hickory chips. Every 7 minutes I tossed on a Rosemary branch that was semi-dried from the garden. Oddly enough Rosemary is pretty much a Weed here in the SF Bay Area, you can't walk down any block and not find it spouting from some box or yard.
The gifted meat is a Lamb Crepinette with Red Wine and Nicoise Olives and yes, Sweet Italians. Notice they're done and not engulfed in flames. Why? Because they're sitting to the side of the direct FIRE. Do you see any problems? No, you don't.
They're gone now, we et them.

Hugs.

Here is something that worked out pretty well on the Father's Day Smoke Fest. The stuffed pork loin was the highlight, but only by just a bit. The beef brisket was running a close second. All were tender, quite juicy and the smoke ring was wide & deep. I have to say though, the onion was fun because I'd never had one this big.

Instead of waiting until next week to share my meat, I thought I'd step in right now and give you the short low down. I have more pictures, more meat and more love to share.
I got the fire started a little late this morning, 8:30am. The brisket had been marinating all night and went in first. A few hours later went in this Porchetta Pork Loin Roast from Fatted Calf. If you look, you can see where they sliced it open, stuffed it with herbs & spices and sewed the sucker right back up. I'm also doing a few whole chickens, one has a Jerk type seasoning and the other said it was a Singapore situation (had curry powder!). All these babies were installed in to a 200 degree smoker powered by mesquite/hickory and rosemary branches when I'm feeling dangerous.
I haven't done a brisket in years, it'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

Biggles

I'll tell you why. For the last ... 3 months or so I've been dealing with Gout. What's gout? Well, to keep this short, it's the body (kidneys) inability to handle meat, alcohol, caffeine & legumes (even tofu), these foods are high in purines. Basically, it's an accumulation of uric acid in the blood. When it arrives in your feet (cooler than your body), the salts in the uric acid solidify and settle. Causing immense pain (you limp a lot).
I'm about 14 days out with nearly no meat (a few pieces of ham) and no alcohol and no caffeine and no legumes (not even tofu). At this point I don't have any clear idea as to what the near or distant future will bring.
So, if ya'll could keep that in mind when you wonder WHAT THE HECK IS BIGGLES DOING WITH CARPAL TUNNEL ENTRIES ?!? Or, WHY THE HECK NO MEAT IN THAT BURGER ?!?
You know why. Now now, settle down. This by NO means spells disaster for Meathenge. I'm still going to be smoking, grilling and roasting new and different meat type recipes. Good stuff too, just won't be eating much if any of it.
Please be ready for different types of entries here and understand the reasoning behind it. It's what's going on here at Meathenge Labs. And that is that.
Onward ...

Last week The Bay Area was experiencing a "Heat Wave". This was nice considering all the damned rain we've slogged through over the last few months. We're talking direct Spring weather. Bright intense sunshine with crisp air hovering around 75 degrees. Brilliant green grasses, blossoming fruit trees & wild flowers filled the air. SNEEEZE CHOOOO.

GRILB TIMEB !!!

Is everyone tired of winter yet? Tired of the snow, maybe? Tired of the rains? Oh you bet. Those long, day after day rain storms? Yes already.
For whatever reason, they broke this last weekend and we all saw 65 degree + weather, perfect for a morning out. Guess what I found?

Yes Jan, there's skin on that chicken. You bet.

It's still winter, just in case you were wondering. The trees are bare, the sun is going down too early and the days are only warm enough to wear only one sweater outside (I'm in California). Everyone has been spending too darned much time in the house, our little noses are pressed tight to the windows longing for the spring. There's a few things one can do to lift the spirits. One of which would be to spend a morning at the local Farmer's market, that helps. Especially if you're able to pick up a package of Taylor's Bordelaise sausage and fresh bacon. Another thing one could do is to fire up the grill. I did both and by Saturday afternoon I was feeling a bit better.

Click on image for larger explosion!

Where were you on December 26th 2004 at 4:10 in the a.m.? Yeah huh, sleeping or giving up your holiday dinner to the porcelain express. Hopefully not the latter. The above photograph you see is a starting stove rig for getting your mesquite hunks all lit up, at 4:20 Sunday morning. You see, I had a few honored guests coming for a mid day meat gathering. One of which being Joe Bob, our plucky reporter from Denver. I had this really nice stuffed pork shoulder roast that I wanted to smoke, but I was sure it was going to take at least 5 hours. And if the guests were to arrive about noon, I had to be up and ready very early. It was a bit cold and moist, the fire didn't want to blaze. Even so I got the smoker warmed and ready in 50 minutes. Meat in, hickory sparklin', time to pull the chicken and get that pieced out. The effort it took was worth every second, the day was a complete success.

This area, this year, this month is having a real cold snap. We Californians living in the Bay Area here aren't used to freezing temperatures. Albeit, this is at night. Even so, our daytime temperatures aren't getting much past 50. That ain't right. How do we cope?
Smoke meat.

Meathenge's very own recipe featured above! The Bean Experiment. A rich & wonderful pot of beans anyone can make. So good everyone had 3 helpings.

I know it may not seem busy around here, what with the posting slowing a degree or nine. Meathenge has been working furiously behind the scenes for family & friends. Last Saturday we hosted a birthday party for my father and a celebration for my sister finding a new job. I began the meal by choosing Fatted Calf's Spalla Ripiene, a stuffed pork shoulder. I figured along with 6 of Fatted C's Guinea Fowl Crepinettes, Guinea Fowl Pate and Pepperoni, we'd be set. Nope.
As I was perusing the meat section at our local super market I noticed one of the young butchers attempting to find a place for a lone pork shoulder. I already had one, a really bitchen' one. Ah hell, one more can't hurt. Besides, smoking just one pork shoulder is a waste of smoky goodness. So I bought it.

A few days ago, early in the morning, at work, before coffee, Meathead walked in and handed me a bag with some bloody meat in it. He assured me it was a cut of beef and the label said, Onglet. Since it was from Prather Ranch I figured it must be okay. They gots all that fancy Certified Organic meat. I thanked him & my sister for the gift and ran back to my computer to google "what the HELL is a beef onglet?"

Last Thursday I received an email from Kim, she used to work at Fatted Calf and now works for Stonehouse Olive Oil Company. It was an innocent little email, the subject header only read, "have you seen this?" The body contained an url to an article. SOUTH TO NORTH, Smoking chipotles can become a great habit, written by Jacqueline Higuera McMahan. I read through the article a few times, I love the little smoky beasts. It seemed innocent enough, but I knew better. It isn't easy maintaining a low temperature fire (under 200 degrees) for long periods of time. I wasn't interested at first, but after doing a little research I decided to go for it, immediately.

Yes you are correct. I have posted several ways of dealing with a pork shoulder roast, bone in and otherwise. Yes you are correct, they came out very pleasingly and worth the time and effort. Even so, I would really like to get something mouth watering explosive right out of the smoker. This means you don't need to shred it and fry it in lard with more spices. Which is fine, believe me. But I want a large thick hunk of meat to have stunning mouth splitting flavor from the center all the way out to the edges. This time, I succeeded.

Welp, it was time to smoke the little quails. I spent some time after work cleaning out the smoker, getting things ready. This year has seen a lot of meat run through the beast and it needs looking after. I got the fire started a little later than I had planned, but after seeing how tiny these little stuffed quails were I figured I had more time to fuss.
I used mesquite as my main heat source with large chunks of raw hickory to bring up the flavor side.
And boy did we get flavor, let me tell you whut.

Are you holding on to something? Maybe you should sit down, a good sit. MeatHenge Labs is proud to introduce our very own La Caja China Roasting Box. This year we'll be able to roast a 100 lb pig. Since I figure I'll need a little practice, turkeys get to go first. My eyes are vibrating along with shaky hands as I get this down on monitor. The Caja China is a portable plywood box lined with steel. The marinade injected meat goes inside on a rack over a fat tray. Once loaded, a charcoal tray goes on top. In this tray goes maybe 14lbs of Kingsford charocal briquets. It's kinda like a pressure cooker, a big pressure cooker. There is no smokey flavor, just roasting like in a big fricken' oven. This is a fine wonderful thing.

This last weekend has to have been one of the most exciting weekends in quite some time. Both Saturday & Sunday was filled with shopping, preparing, experimenting & cooking/smoking/roasting meat. There will be a lot of information both informative & fun over the next few days, so please keep yourself propped upright long enough to get through it, K?

The catalyst for the last few days was the arrival of the La Caja China Roasting Box. I purchased it a few weeks ago, maybe 3. I had planned on roasting a pig for my birthday party that's coming up, but realized it was too much too late. I attempted to cancel the order, but it showed up anyway. Fine, I'll find a use for it.
I figure I can do up some turkeys, that's straight forward enough. One of my first rules about cooking for a party is to not do something for the first time that day. This means I have to learn how to inject meat with a marinade (no, I haven't been through that yet) and make a few runs through the roasting box before the following weekend. I can do that. But first I wanted to try out my personal injection technique & recipes before ruining 2 14lb natural turkeys. Which means today we're going to figger out how to inject a marinade in to a Boston Butt Pork Roast. Baby Steps.

If you're a fan of the Henge, there are posts that you expect to see. At the root level, we're talking about cooking food. Just above that, maybe MEAT and then all hell breaks loose.
Well, it's been about 14 months since we went up and this will be our first Is My Blog Burning (IMBB).
Aroo ?!??! you say? It is a game that a fellow food blogger (Il Forno ) put up on
the wall. To play you have to cook the Food Theme called, then either post it directly to the host or put in your URL of your blog. There really aren't any rules, just some people getting together for some fun.
It can be interesting to see what people come up with when you say, RICE !!! Or SEAFOOD. Sure as hell I'm going to cook something with rice differently that someone in Manila.
This time it is all about Grilling / Barbecueing. I thought this might be the time to step in.

This conversation comes up far more often than you'd expect. Mostly because sometimes there ARE leftovers from cooking out of doors.
Here you find yourself with a rack of pork ribs or 3 lbs of smoked beef brisket. Today we have the 3 lb smoked beef brisket I got from Rick's Quality Meats of El Cerrito. I'm glad I called that second on Monday, because by the time the meat came out of the smoker (82 pounds), it was all sold. I got mine and here it is. But that was yesterday, now it is cold and the fat has solidified. No problem.

Ham, it isn't just for holidays anymore. I picked myself up a brined ham (needs cooking) this last Saturday from the Fatted Calf, just a little one. Not the 9 pound beast like last time, this one was about 2 pounds. Perfect size for a little snack treat. And a wondeful luscious treat it was.

HOOYAH there are some happenings about town today. I know over the past year I've mentioned Rick's Quality Meats of El Cerrito a few times. He, back then, was smoking meats out of the backyard smoker I sold him (he modified it considerably to make it more efficient). This means he was only able to do a dozen half chickens or so at a time. They were usually pre-sold, if not they were gone that day. Times have changed for Rick.

pre-thought side note: Coming soon will be a picture of my new awning for outdoor living. It is almost complete, I just need to purchase and lash down the bamboo roof and what-not. It is 10' x 20.8' and will give us a great space to be. Yay for us.

As far as parties go, meat or otherwise. What pops in to your mind when someone says Memorial Day? That's right, people everywhere, drinks a-flowing and great food as far as the eye can see. I know you expect no less of MeatHenge Labs. Yeah well, we were tired and enjoying the fact we didn't have to deal with acres of friends and/or family. It was really nice to spend a few days just puttering about doing what we wanted, when we wanted. This, and yelling at the children, breaking up fits and fights.
Early Sunday morning I was driving around in my truck for no good reason and the radio told me to go buy some Luscious & Meat Pork Ribs on Sale, $1.99 a lb. Rarely do I buy Grocery Store meat, rarely. I was weak and sped over to get myself one of two packages left. They looked just fine and didn't smell all manky. I had something 'to do' on Monday.

Sauce - Unmixed.

I don't know of anyone that hasn't at one time or another had to deal with a barbecue sauce of some kind. Do we grill dry and dip at the end? Do we sauce at the beginning and watch it char? Do we sauce near the end to watch it glaze over with glistenny love? These are only a few ways to handle a que sauce and they are many more. The quest will always go forth.

January in these parts can be wet and tends to be a bit chilly. In the last month it's been quite wet and this last Monday was sunny and about 65 degrees. This was the day I had been waiting for. The previous week I had purchased a small slab of pork ribs figuring on smoking them that coming weekend. I made a fresh home made dry rub and it sat that way all weekend. Oh well, the longer they sit, the more that rub would have a chance to do it's business.