NORTH STATE BBQ CHAMPIONSHIP

This bbq competition is the third is a series of qualifiers for the championship round. It will be held at the fairgrounds in Anderson, California. Ms. Goofy is loading up the Racing Honda as we speak. It should be a fun bbq weekend. We hope to see you there.

North State BBQ Championship

From the NSBC website:

Round #3 will be on Saturday August 16th at the Shasta District Fair Grounds in Anderson, CA will feature 40 of the top BBQ pitmasters in the Northstate, as the competition heats up  so does the tempature and the shade trees of the Shasta District Fairgrounds are looking good. The gates open at 11:00 am to the public with BBQ sampling...s on sale starting at 1:30. 106X radio will be having their Birthday Bash and providing entertainment with Live music and activities for all those attending. Free cooking demonstrations featuring top pitmasters on the art of low and slow BBQ will be held at 3:00pm then after the demo enjoy a cold beverage at the beer garden with proceeds going to the Friends of the Fair Non Profit Group.

LA FAMILIA SALSA COMPANY

We review two heavy hitting salsas that are fueled by the exotic Moruga Scorpion peppers. These peppers sting and bite heat that will humble the bravest Chilehead. Read our latest review by the link below.
                                                          Read Review Here

SMOKED BOLOGNA BABY

The label is scary and a little bit creepy. Is this bologna made for babies or just called baby for its size? We are not sure and there is not a whole lot of information about this product. Bologna is only a distant memory from grade school sandwiches. If memory serves me correctly I was not a big fan back then. This will be a challenge because I am not sure what good bologna tastes like. Today, we are going to season and smoke our 'Bologna Baby' on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Is there such thing as a good tasting bologna? We shall see.

The scary wrapper was removed. The meat tube revealed was as pale as a babies behind. (So sorry, I could not resist.) We scored the sausage and applied a spicy rub. The smoker was fueled with hickory wood for flavor. The bologna was smoked for about an hour and one half. This allowed enough time for the smoke to gently kiss the surface and heat the bologna through. You may notice in the image we also made some bacon wrapped cream cheese filled jalapeno poppers. (ABT's). The rendering bacon added a little extra love to our Bologna Baby. Well, here comes the million dollar question; how did it taste?

This tasted like a very mild hot dog. The rub added a spicy element that was a welcome addition to this bland meat. Smoke was present coaxing some much needed flavor. The texture was soft like the bologna I remember. Was it good? Let's just say it was not bad. If you are a fan of bologna maybe this is for you. This was a one time adventure that we wanted to share with you. I have a lot of smoked balogna leftover and really have no desire for a sandwich. Oh well.

BALOGNA BABY

You thought Sharnado was scary, 'Balogna Baby' may be the next scary phenom. Our bbq competitor friend Jon from 'Pork Dynasty' pointed us in the direction of this food product. I say food product with a little hesitation. You can enlarge the image above to access the ingredient list but do so at your own risk. In the name of research for the Mad Meat Genius readers we will try this 'Balogna Baby'. Stay tuned and be afraid my friends.

BRENTWOOD COOK OFF & CAR SHOW

This should be a fun one. Cars and bbq will be the theme at this festival located in the corn growing region of Brentwood, California. Hope to see you there.

5th Annual Brentwood Cook-off & Car Show
When • Saturday, August 9
Time • 11am to 4pm
Where • 6651 Lone Tree Way, Brentwood, CA 94513

OAKLAND ART & SOUL FESTIVAL

We are in downtown Oakland for the "Art & Soul Festival'. Two days of music, crafts and good eats was the goal of this festival.. Saturday two separate bbq contests were held amongst the towering skyscrapers of this colorful metropolis. The heavy hitters, the Pro division cooked the four meats; chicken, ribs, pork shoulder and brisket. The 'Backyard Division cooked tri-tip, ribs, and chicken. We are present with our shiny judges badges ready to serve and protect the integrity of good bbq.

 There was an auxiliary category of desserts that both divisions were eligible to compete. Ms. Goofy drew the lucky straw and won a chair to judge the dessert division. I got the short straw and had the duty of Table Captain. The Table Captain presents the desserts to the judges and compiles the scores. The Captain does not taste the entries unless there are extras. I only got to drool at cheesecake (1st place with an 180 score), pecan pie, pineapple upside down cake, etc., and even chocolate covered bacon.

After our judging duties we strolled the grounds and enjoyed the sites. We caught up and visited with our competitor friends. Harry Soo, a celebrity pit master was in the house today. He is selling his new line of bbq rubs and was enthusiastic to promote them.

The Oakland Art & Soul Festival was an event Oakland can be proud of. We witnessed a lot of happy event goers. We could see their smiles under the bbq sauce covered faces. Our faces had smidgens of bbq sauce too. Ms. Goofy's grin might of been the biggest after eating all those desserts.

BACON PIZZA

This beautiful slab was found at 'Bud's Meats' in Penngrove California. Look at the meat to fat ratio. This is one meaty hunk of cured swine. The smoke is slight but present. Salt and sugar are in balance. The only fault I can find in this specimen is the rind is on. It may be a minor inconvenience but when removed you are also losing a sliver of possible smoke flavor. In my opinion: rind on is just plain wrong. The flavor is very meaty with porky goodness. This bacon makes Meat Adventures worthwhile.

Lately, we have been enjoying bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. The tomato's are ripe and with the addition of this fantastic bacon, we have sandwich perfection. Today we are having some fun by making a bacon pizza. We bought some convenient tasty pizza dough from the Berkeley Bowl West. A quick sauce was made from our vine ripe tomato's. We partially cooked the bacon to ensure crispness before we placed them on sauced and three cheese assembled pie.. A quick trip to our ultra hot wood fired beehive oven and we were in business. This was a fun dinner.