BBQgeek

Grilled Pizza on the Bubba Keg Grill

So, I've been putting the Bubba Keg through a rigorous series of tests to see how it performs.  So, far it does everything it says it will.   I've been very impressed with the ability of the grill to get up to 800 degrees.  One of the tests I've been really interested in trying is a grilled pizza with the Keg at maximum heat.  I'm hoping I can produce a crust similar to Varasano's pizzahere in Atlanta - thin and crispy, with a nice bit of char.  My only worry  was that the crust might stick to the grates and cause an awful mess.  So, today I received an email from the fine folks over at teakwickerandmore , who specialize in outdoor furnitureand grill equipment, offering up a chance to review this cast iron grilled pizza panfrom Cuisinart.  Although I haven't had a chance to try it yet, I'm betting this pan and the accompanying skid is all I need to make this project work efficiently.

So, the real question is what should I put on the pizza?  I think a pulled pork pizza makes sense.  I can also see a beef brisket pizza with caramelized onions and blue cheese.  What other combinations do you folks think I should try?  Leave me a comment with your suggestion.  As soon as the pizza pan arrives, I'll fire up the Bubba Keg and then report back with the results on the pan as well as whatever combinations we come up with.

Because Carol loves to laugh

Bacon - The Superman of Meat

Theodore Gray, the Mad Science guy over at Popular Science, may be my new hero.  Take as proof this quote from his jaw-dropping article, "I recently committed myself to the goal, before the weekend was out, of creating a device entirely from bacon and using it to cut a steel pan in half." 

Trust me when I tell you that you want to read this article.

In other bacon related news, my friend Carol over at Alinea at Homeposted a hilarious article on odd food pairings with bacon.  Among the combinations are bacon and peppermint, bacon and graham crackers, and bacon and anchovies.  Don't miss out on the fun.

Bacon is so hip that I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and redesign BBQgeek to proudly proclaim my preference for this primo porcine foodstuff.  Check it out here.

Tri Tip - The Best Beef BBQ you can make in under an hour.

When most people put beef and BBQ together it  usually means  brisket.  Those who BBQ frequently understand brisket requires nearly the most cooking time of entire BBQ family, short of a whole pork shoulder or a whole hog.  14+ hours is not unusual at all to take an extremely difficult cut of beef from shoe leather to succulence.  What if I told you that there is a readily available cut of beef that will give you more flavor and more texture than brisket with a fraction of the time investment?  Sounds good?    Well contine reading more here....

Pickled Ramps!!!

This post should be called "Why it's great to have chef friends!"  I stopped by Haven restaurant yesterday to visit chef Stephen, and he hooked me up with a beautiful bunch of ramps (with the dirt still on the roots).  For those of you that don't know, ramps are as easy to find in Atlanta as leprechauns, so this was a very lucky day for me.   Ramps are much more commonly found in the Northeast than in the South.

Unfortunately, I had to travel the next day and could not eat them all fresh, so I decided to pickle them instead of letting them go to waste.  Using a recipefrom Serious Eats, I had the ramps pickled in just 15 minutes and stored in my refrigerator awaiting me when I return from my travels.  If you happen to stumble across ramps in your local market, I strongly urge you to pick them up and give them a try.  They have a really distinct flavor that's somewhere between a green onion and garlic.  As far as how to prepare them, the options are endless.  You can saute, grill, or pickle ramps and they go great with just about everything.

 Spring has sprung!  Thanks, Stephen.