SAUCED BBQ & SPIRITS

The Racing Honda’s destination was Livermore California. We had a smoky tip that ‘burnt ends’ were being served at ‘Sauced BBQ & Spirits’. Say no more. It is our duty as certified ‘Master Judge’ bbq freaks to investigate this meat candy allegation. Sauced is located in downtown Livermore. Livermore is no longer a dusty cowtown but a trendy wine producing destination. Sauced is located right smack in the middle of this smart, modern, new urban area. A large building surrounded by an outdoor patio has two wood pile stacks that offer a tease of possible barbeque greatness inside. We have arrived at Sauced BBQ & Spirits.

Upon entering Sauced we are immediately seated by the hostess. We have seating choices of the large sports bar area or equally huge dinning area. The place is pretty full for the noon hour. Sauced has a fun vibration. We learn that live bands play in the evening. There are numerous televisions for sporting events. We are seated and I immediately survey the four large squeeze bottle containers of bbq sauce housed in a beer six pack container. I have not even looked at the menu and I am sampling sauces.

Pig Candy, Tin Roof, Hot Tin Roof, and a fourth called Georgia?  All of these sauces were cloyingly sweet. The Tin Roof was tomato based with a pronounced honey flavors. The hot version was fueled by habaneros and had a bite to prove it.  Pig Candy was another sweet sauce. The name escapes me so we will call it Georgia, had a mustard tang. All of these sauces were sweet and I am glad we have the choice to use them or not.

The three -way combo allows you to sample several meats and my choices were: burnt ends, ribs, and sliced brisket. The plate was brought from the kitchen promptly. It was a beautiful plate. The sliced brisket had a fabulous smoke ring. The burnt ends made me drool with its shiny carmelization. The ribs were dark and looked inviting. If only I could eat with just my eyes. The sliced brisket was tender and the pull test offered partial proof. In spite of a spectacular smoke ring, smoke flavor was absent. The beefy flavor that I crave was also missing. The burnt ends were on the mushy side. I so wanted that beautiful bite of flavorful meat candy. The ribs had a chewy crust that encased pockets of unrendored fat. Each bite I took was full of grease from  fat. Most noticeable of all three meats was the lack of seasoning. They had to use some rub demonstrated by the nice coloring of the finished product. These rubs must have lacked salt which resulted in lackluster flavor that just did not have any pizzazz  The sides were no different on the seasoning issue. A pinch of salt could have saved  this pedestrian Apple Cole slaw. The cornbread was a sticky sweet dry disappointment.

Ms. Goofy ordered pulled pork, one of her all-time favorite barbeque items. The cooks slathered her pulled pork with a vinegar sauce. Vinegar sauce with pulled pork is a traditional sauce and done correctly can be a work of brilliance. This offering was inedible  The only thing you could taste was vinegar. Ms. Goofy claimed the Mac & cheese was gloppy and gritty. Ms. Goofy left a full plate of food which is a very rare occurrence. The server even noticed the full plate of food. She said another customer had the same complaint. The server offered to give us a plate of food to go of some un-sauced pulled pork. This un-sauced pulled pork was very good. It was a nice offering by our friendly server but a little late.

I would like to mention a feature of the bar. Whiskey on tap is offered. Where have I been? I do not think you can order it by the pitcher but they do have a great selection of local micro-beers that you can. Sauced BBQ & Spirits is a fun lively place with a great wait staff. The barbequed meats need some work, a lot of work. The kitchen turned out some great looking food but neglected to properly season these offerings. We may return because of the fun factor and whiskey on tap. There are other menu items that sound tempting like the pimento cheese sandwich or the pulled pork stuffed jalapenos. See you soon!

Sauced BBQ & Spirits

CHILEBROWN MEETS THE GOAT SUCKER

Be forewarned, you will now experience a typical day in the life of Chilebrown. I have met and conquered El Chupacabra (The Goat Sucker). When I am not judging BBQ competitions, managing farmers markets, searching for the ultimate Chile-Verde and local butcher shops, hot sauces are my passion. Yes, I admit that one of my favorite hangouts is ‘Heat Hot Sauce Shop’ of Berkeley California. Let’s start from the beginning. CaJohn’s is a manufacture of high quality hot sauces. I was a recipient of a free hot sauce from a giveaway on Facebook. This particular sauce is considered a super ultra-hot, non extract elixir. This sauce is not for the hot sauce challenged. I was a little apprehensive and possibly a little afraid of this heat bomb. In the next several moments we are going to meet the sauce, the tasters and tell you how it tasted. Please, continue reading at your own risk.

The Sauce

A journey into the unknown and unexplained tells us of a beast that devours and mutilates livestock. This is the legendary El Chupacabra. El Chupacabra hot sauce like the beast, may cause harm to us after ingesting this potent line up of super hot Caribbean chile’s.  An all-star exotic line up of Bhut Jolokia, Scotch Bonnet, Trinidad Scorpion, 7-Pot, Trinidad Scorpion Moruga peppers is putting fear into me now. There are also carrots, onion, mustard, vinegar and spices to tame this bevy of peppers. This may be one of the hottest sauces (non extract) on the market today

The Tasters

Dylan & Becky are owners of the newly opened hot sauce shop “Heat”. They have a great shop that has an extensive inventory of wonderful hot sauces. They even bottle and sell three sauces of their own. Dylan & Becky are more than willing to open a hot sauce bottle to sample and taste. These two have knowledge and fortitude to share this bottle of El Chupacabra. I trust that they can handle the heat of this formidable hot sauce. Ms. Goofy did not want any part of this experiment. I was having a few reservations myself. This would be a serious tasting. A bottle of milk was purchased just in case. Drinking dairy can sooth and calm the burning sensation. Dylan, Becky and I were ready to try El Chupacabra.

Taste

The sauce is an inviting red/orange thick smooth puree. No seeds are present. The top was ceremoniously removed. Pure hot exotic pepper aroma filled the shop and instilled fear into my mind. It is time to meet El Chupacabra. We pour cautiously into our tasting spoons. We glanced at each other. I made sure the milk was handy and ready. I taste fruity hot peppers, Dylan tastes mustard, and Becky is feeling a little dizzy. These are our initial thoughts and feelings. The second wave and experience is the heat building in your mouth. Did I just swallow a live hot coal? That is an exaggeration but it is a heat that puts your endorphins into overdrive. Dylan and I both had sinus reactions that put the Kleenex to use. Becky was fine with a couple of sips of coffee.

 When the fire subsided, we all agreed that this sauce did have great appeal. The peppers did have a Caribbean flair with its mustard, carrots and onions singing backup. You cannot ignore the heat. It is there and needs to be respected. We are professionals. (Did I really just say that?) CaJohn’s has a unique and very special sauce with El Chupacabra. This sauce will make any serious Chilehead happy. I am glad I was able to share it with Dylan, Becky and You the readers. We have conquered El Chuacabra!!!!!!!!

LOUD ORANGE SUNSHINE

'Loud Orange Sunshine Mango Habenero Sauce' made our Cinco de Mayo shout with flavor. We made some fantastic guacamole with this mustard based sauce. Recipes and a review can be viewed by clicking the link below.

Recipes & Review Here

MULBERRIES

“All Around The Mulberry Bush The Monkey Chased The Weasel”

Super Food; Cancer prevention, life extension, blood tonic, kidney strengthener, liver cleanser, anemia treatment, cold & flu prevention, premature gray hair remedy or great tasting berry. To be honest I have never saw a monkey chase a weasel or tasted a mulberry until now. Contrary to the nursery rhyme the mulberry is grown from trees. They are making an appearance at local Farmers Markets. Two varieties, blond & red, and different sizes are there for the offering. We picked up a mixed basket to give them a try.

The texture is soft like a blackberry. I would compare the flavor to a blackberry also. The reds were sweeter than the blondes. Ms. Goofy compared the flavor to peach or apricot. They are delicate and would be great on top of your morning cereal. We decided to make some mulberry corn bread.

The weather has been sizzling with summer like temperatures, so instead of heating up the kitchen we opted to cook our corn bread in our trusty black iron dutch oven. We used a simple recipe that works well in our outdoor ovens. This fruity corn bread was a ‘Super Food’ winner. We may have gained some health benefits but truth be told it was darn tasty!

FAT CAT

There is a new review on Peppers & More. We tried a fun sauce from Fat Cat called 'Surprisingly Mild Guajillo Ghost' Sauce. This is a mild sauce that pairs well with many foods. Check it out!

Read Review Here

VEGGIE STEAMER

"Never Give a Sucker an Even Break"                             

                                         W. C. Fields

 I am a sucker for gadgets. There is a drawer in the kitchen to prove it. This weekend we were at the Asparagus Festival and a peddler was hawking this vegetable steamer. His fancy patter proclaimed asparagus could be cooked in 30 second with this newfangled contraption. Well I bought hook line and sinker.

  The operation is simple enough. Place your vegetable is said pouch and push microwave button.' By George' it works perfectly. The asparagus was steamed without any water, oil or fat. What a healthy and simple way to cook asparagus. I immediately spread butter over my steamed asparagus and  then dipped them into mayonnaise. What a treat!!!!!!!!

ASPARAGUS FESTIVAL 2013

It was a beautiful weekend for everyone but Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut. He was forced to relinquish his throne to Matt 'Megatoad' Stonie as 'World Championship Asparagus Eater'. Megatoad  devoured 9.5 pounds of deep fried asparagus in 10 minutes of time to claim his victory. Megatoad is the new King but Jaws still holds the World record of 9.8 pounds. Ms. Goofy and I were not there to witness this culinary upset. We did make an appearance Sunday to take in the festivities of the '2013 Stockton Asparagus Festival". We would like to share a couple of images with you.

It was hot. The thermometer hovered in the low 90's. We were strolling down the food court area when asparagus lemonade caught my fancy. Against my better judgement the greenish/yellow libation was purchased  'Reversal of fortune' did not occur but it was close. Cloyingly sweet with a chlorophyll bite finishing with a bitter aftertaste made the gag reflexes shutter. I can check asparagus lemonade off the bucket list.

Acrobats entertained us with high wire feats. We watched them briefly because we did not want to miss the show at the 'Skyy Dog Arena'. These dogs performed and demonstrated agility that our dogs can only dream about from their comfortable couch. I would like to point out the dog that is leaping over the volunteers in the image below. WOW!!

Today's band was a blast from the past. Foghat rocked the house with hits that reloaded the memory banks.Dancing and swaying with the music was minimal because the heat was relentless. To make things even hotter, I took refuge in the arms of two Oakland Raiderettes. What a great day!!! We always enjoy the Asparagus festival.