THE BBQ SONG

Here is a catchy little tune from some good ole 'Southern Boys'. It is fun and brings a little barbeque knowledge. Hope you are inspired to fire up that grill.

“SMOKIN’ ON THE DELTA”

{ from: Contra Costa County Fair }

"November 12th and 13th, 2011 Fall Faire 2011 is sure to have something for everyone! We’re bringing back our ever popular tradition of holiday shopping with 2 buildings filled with quality crafters and local businesses. Come enjoy a great variety of jewelry, clothing, holiday items, woodworking, novelties, food, and so much more.

New this year…we’re proud to present “Smokin’ on the Delta”, our first KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Competition. Professional BBQ teams will be at our event, putting their best grill forward! We’re also hosting our 3rd annual amateur Backyard Cookout Contest with local teams from all over Contra Costa County, they’ll be grilling up some fall fun during the festivities…you can even be a part of the fun by taking part in our public judging of the chili cook off!

As always, our Kids Zone will be FREE! Take a break from all the festivities and let the little ones have some fun of their own including visits with Santa on his sleigh! Fall Faire 2011…don’t miss it! "

Event Hours:

Saturday 10am-5pm Sunday 10am-4pm•

Admission:

Adults $5 Kids 12 & Under FREE•

FREE Parking

BACON WRAPPED TATOR TOTS

When life gives you bacon, wrap them around some tator tots and fire up your grill. Today we are inspired from a fellow barbeque enthusiast Chris, from ‘Nibble Me This”. He can work come crazy magic with his ‘Big Green Egg. Bacon and tator tots just seem right together. We are using some wonderful bacon from Swingle Meats (Jackson, Ca.). The tator tots are from any Wally Marts freezer case.


The magic of this recipe is in its simplicity. Wrap some thinly slice bacon around some frozen tator tots. Place on a wire rack seam side down. Sprinkle with a rub that has a tiny bit of sugar in it. Salt and pepper with a pinch of brown sugar will work just dandy. Place wire rack on an indirect fire. Twenty minutes later you will be snacking on the best bacon snack ever. Thanks Chris!

WILLIE BIRD

Wild turkeys are dancing, stalking, clawing and taking over Northern California. Wild Turkey, is it a nuisance in your backyard or a blessing in a tumbler full of ice? Today we are getting ready for ‘Turkey Day’ with a domesticated Willie Bird. Let’s fly up to Sonoma County and visit the Willy Bird store. This store has been around for a while and it shows it age. Do not mistake this for the Willie Bird restaurant; this is a retail meat market. May be I should say a den of processed fowl.


This store is a treasure trove of turkey delights. All the turkeys are raised on certified organic grains without the use of hormones or antibiotics. The birds and allowed to roam freely outdoors. Free range, organic, all natural, humanely raised, a couple of more buzz words and Zomie will buy the store. (Sorry)

Once inside we were greeted by a very helpful feminine staff. The meat lockers were full of turkey treasures. Turkey in so many ways: Turkey bacon, smoked, diced, turkey marinades, many flavors of turkey sausage. Fresh or frozen is your big decision.


We ordered our turkey in advance, which is a wise thing to do at this time of year. This is their busy season and they are definitely prepared for the Holiday. Why take a chance and be left without your Willie Bird? Thanksgiving is a couple of weeks away and we are prepared. Gobble, Gobble!!!

Willie Bird Turkeys

CHILE PEPPER SPICY ALE

Beer and chile peppers are two of my favorite ingredients. “Six Rivers Brewery’ has combined chile peppers and wheat ale to create spicy ale. Will these two ingredients meld together and be complimentary? Is this just a gimmick to lure me to purchase said beer? There is one way to find out. ‘Six Rivers Brewery’ is located in Mckinnleyville, California. The peppers are grown locally and are fire roasted. On the bottle the peppers are only listed as an assortment so we will have to guess on their pedigree. Let’s pop the top.

The beer was poured into a chilled 16 ounce glass. The aroma that emerged was of roasted green chile. I love that smell. Visions of chile verde and salsa danced through my taste receptacles. Once the froth had subsided a generous swig was taken. I tasted high quality wheat ale with no pepper flavor for the moment. Wait a minute! It is hitting me now. There is a little afterburner pepper flavor that grabs your attention. It is not scorching hot and I could not identify any particular chile pepper. What a unique flavor sensation.


This beer is definitely not for everyone. I was glad to have experienced it. We served this beer with some barbeque. It did not really compliment our meal because it is so unique. Your senses are assaulted with chile aroma initially. The beer finishes with chili warmth. This is one unique spicy wheat ale that probably will not be purchased again.

Six Rivers Brewery

ELEVATION 66

A Microbrewery that has been open for the last several months has passed under the radar of The Mad Meat Genius. “Elevation 66” located in ‘El Cerrito, California has been open since September and we only found out about it last week. We jumped in the ‘Racing Honda’ and raced down to the latest contribution to the local microbrew scene. ‘Elevation 66 is located on the busy street, San Pablo Avenue. It is strategically located next to the Rialto movie theater. This will be a great place for refreshments before or after a flick. We got lucky and found parking and proceeded to belly up to the bar.

The interior is small with a very high ceilings. With just a few families and the T.V. blasting the noise level was very loud. The place is sparsely decorated with local art work hanging on the walls. So much for decorations, we were there for the beer. We met David Goodstal the head brewer/managing partner sort of. He was busy watching his college football team and only would speak to us during the time outs. We ordered some suds to give Elevation 66 a try.


Ms. Goofy had an ‘East Bay IPA’ and I a ‘Golden Age Ale’. They both were hoppy and fresh tasting. These beers had a lot of flavor and made us curious to try others. Today was only a pit stop and we will have to return to try the food and other beers. We did take a gander at the menu and noticed the most of the food is sourced from local farms and bakeries. We did see the house made pickles with onions and they looked very tempting.

Elevation 66 has 6 house crafted beers on tap with several guest brews for good measure. When we visited several of the house beers were out. I think Elevation 66 has great potential to be a destination stop. We will have to return to give it a fair shake. It would be great to have some refreshments before the movie.

Elevation 66 Brewing Company
10082 San Pablo Avenue

El Cerrito, CA 94530

510.525.4800

JERSEY DEVIL CHOCOLATES

A flying biped with hooves or a dark chocolate bar spiked with chipotle chile studded with tart cranberry bits? Let’s explore the latter. This chocolate bar was named after a creature that was the thirteenth child of a local whore, Mother Leeds. As she gave birth she cried out: “Let it be the Devil”. Enough of this tall tale and lets taste some chocolate from New Jersey. This chocolate bar has 54 percent cacao content. The cranberries are locally sourced from New Jersey. (Did you know New Jersey is the third largest cranberry producer in the United States?).

Dark chocolate goodness with little crunches of tart cranberry is your first taste impression. All of a sudden a little warmth of chile pepper will be knocking at your taste buds door. Chipotle chile is a smoked jalapeno pepper. This pepper has a lot of flavor profiles; smoke, fruit, chocolate, coffee, jalapeno and can be hot as the devil. In this candy bar there is a light hand with the chipotle. You will only experience a little warmth that lets you know that this candy bar is devilishly good. This candy bar hits on all cylinders. Sweet, tart and heat combine for a lovely chocolate treat. ‘Jersey Devil Chocolates’ is a candy bar I wish I could get in my ‘trick or treat’ bag!

Jersey Devil Chocolates