BLUES BREWS & BBQ DAY ONE

Mother Nature shined on the first day of the ‘Blues Brews & BBQ’ event in Brentwood California. There was a slight breeze to keep the competitors on their watch to produce award winning barbeque. Today Scott & Pam Hares of the “Too Ashamed to Name” competition barbeque team took the walk to the platform and claimed the ‘Grand Champion”. The combined scores from the four meat categories; chicken, pork ribs, pork and brisket propelled them to the top. Ms. Goofy and I were privileged to help score these meaty entries. We can both attest that this was some of the best barbeque that we have ever had.

Children are an important factor of this barbeque equation proven by this home made booth sign. The young artist is a future barbeque competitor. This event has something for everybody. A car show with vintage and custom showings lined the side of the venue. Crafts booths with a farmer selling cherries were ripe for your shopping pleasure. These booths were surrounded by some of Brentwood’s finest boutique and chain stores. You could shop to you drop.

There was plenty to eat today. There was a ‘People Choice’ category for the public to sample the competitor’s offerings. If that did not float your boat there was everything from hot dogs to pizza and ice cream. We are waiting for the KCBS to add a pizza category to the competition. This pizza rig was standing by just in case.. I will not mention the Microbrewery that was a block away. Of course plenty of ice cold Sierra Nevada beer was available for consumption.

One of the best things about this competition is we get to repeat it again today. Yes, if you missed the festivities yesterday there is still time to eat, shop, listen to Blues and enjoy a barbeque day in Brentwood. Hope to see you there.

Blues Brews & BBQ

CHARCOAL BONANZA

It is that time of year to stock up on charcoal briquettes for the BBQ season. Our local large chain home supply store always discounts charcoal for the Memorial Weekend. We take advantage of this charcoal bonanza. A double bag of Kingsford brand briquettes, 13.9 pounds, set us back $ 5.88. Last year the double bag was two 20 pound bags. It is still the best price of the year and we purchased 278 pounds of these compressed fuel rounds. Does that sound like a lot? Not really, because we love to barbeque. I hope it lasts to 2013.

BLUES BREWS & BBQs

Brentwood PAL presents "Blues, Brews & BBQ's" at THE STREETS is a two day festival to be held May 26th-27th 2012. This event is free to the public. Included in the weekend of activities is the "Bad to the Bone" car show on Saturday and Sunday. Live music Saturday and Sunday starting at 11am, both days include a sanctioned KCBS & CBBQA BBQ event featuring Pork, Ribs, Brisket and Chicken. These professional competitive cooks will be competing for a prize package of over $18000.
Come out and taste the Great BBQ & cast your Vote for the People's Choice Awards at 12:00 pm Saturday.

Ms. Goofy and I will be judging and hope you can make it.

PEAS PASS THE BEEF RIBS

This is a true story except for the parts that are not. Beef ribs are my favorite rib of choice. We were traveling on the train to Bellefontaine playing Parcheesi with Marmaduke Gunk. She suggested a dinner of beef ribs. The only problem is finding meaty ribs. The best beef ribs are usually reserved for restaurants. Our local Wally-Mart had some nice looking ribs that I could not resist. A quick trim of fat and membrane with a dusting of rub was our only preparation for our trusty smoker. A combination of hickory and apple wood will be the smoke flavor today. Five hours in a smoker set at 225 degrees transformed these ribs into meat candy.

We are harvesting fresh peas daily. For the next two weeks we are experiencing ‘Whirled Peas’ that are the sweetest treat ever. Today we served these green orbs of pleasure with pasta that was new to us. It was spinach chow mein noodle that we found at our local International Market. Some ‘Damn Fine Bacon’ coated the bottom our pan and provided a little bacon love. Onions, garlic, tomato was simmered with the bacon. The peas were added at the last minute to briefly touch the heat. This was all tossed with pasta and numerous cheeses from Ms. Goofy’s cheese vault.

Sweet, sticky, smoky, beef ribs with peas and pasta. This is how we role on most weeknights. Peas pass the beef ribs Marmaduke Gunk!

GREEK STYLE

Pretty Dog Hot Sauce has created a very flavorful and tasty hot sauce. Lemons, Greek oregano, olive oil and peppers melt together to form a Greek style sauce.

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MOTHERS DAY

I love you Mom!!

DOUBLE D BBQ

This was an adventure in futility and perseverance. ‘Double D BBQ’ is a small barbeque restaurant located in Oakland, California. They have a reputation for having some of the best BBQ in town. They are only open 4 days a week with limited hours and even then are known for not always being open. To complicate the scenario they are in a location that is not easily found. Our first attempt at going to Double D BBQ we could not even find it. We had the address but no GPS.(1240 1st Av.) Simple enough address but not easily found in the maze of the numbered streets of the area. My second attempt was on a Wednesday during their posted hours. I was in the area and had a Google map in hand. Closed! Several weeks later on a Thursday I was shut down again. Double D BBQ has a cult following and we wanted to know what all the buzz was about. This time we called and they were open.

We found Double D BBQ with out a hiccup. It is located on a small street on a small lot between two tall buildings. You would never stumble across this location unless you were looking for it. Once inside, it looks like an old style burger joint. It is decorated in ‘Oaktown’ specific kitsch. An Oakland Raider fan would feel comfortable here. Yes, we are Raider fans and we loved the vibration. The menu is small with the four meats, links and a couple of sides. We placed our orders. Ms. Goofy ordered her pulled pork sandwich and I a combination of brisket and ribs.  It was a beautiful day to take advantage of the outdoor seating area located on the side of the building. This area was colorfully decorated with plants and urban style murals. Our food was brought to our table.

It was time to see what all the hype was about. How did it taste? Dr. Biggles used to tell me; “You can have the best BBQ meal in your life and come back three hours later and have the worst meal ever”. Timing can be everything for good bbq. We must have hit it at the wrong time. The brisket was full of gristle and fat. It was overdone to the point of being mushy. No bark, lack of seasoning and to top it off no smoke flavor. The ribs were not much better. The meat was overcooked, no smoke, and I received the end piece that is full of little bones and cartilage. My side was Cole Slaw. It was full of big chunks of black pepper but not salt. It was dry and lifeless.  Ms. Goofy’s pulled pork was decent but she said all she could taste was the sauce.

The highlight of this meal was the sauce. This was a sweet tomato based sauce with good seasoning and just the right amount of heat. Maybe we came at the wrong time. When is the right time and when will they be open? Double D BBQ was a disappointment. There are too many good barbeque restaurants to make the effort to return.

Double D BBQ

1240 1^st St

.Oakland, Ca. 94606