ROADSIDE BBQ

Sometimes it is a gamble to eat and enjoy bbq that you have not prepared yourself. Today we will roll the dice literally at the brand new 'Graton Resort & Casino' in Rohnert Park California. Indian casinos are popping up faster than I can eat a side of ribs. This is the latest and largest casino to date. Gambling is not on my large list of vices but bbq is. "Roadside BBQ' is located in this fancy new gambling den. It is located in a food court in the casino. Food Court? Is this a red flag of our meal to come? We rolled the dice and would like to share our winnings with you.

What can you say about a food court? Going to the mall for a meal is foreign territory for me. Roadside BBQ has several other locations and this will be their latest. While you are pondering the menu you can watch the numerous servers prepare your meal. This was the second week of their grand opening and the meal assembly process looked clumsy and inefficient. We noticed several people returning with mistakes to their order. We slowly received our food with no hitches because of my astute attention behind the sneeze guard.

We found a table in this busy food court. Our plates looked a little tired from possibly sitting under the heat lamps.Chicken & pulled pork for Ms. Goofy and brisket & ribs for me. We both agreed that all our meats had really good smoke flavor. Ms. Goofy loved her moist and flavorful chicken. Her pulled pork had seen better days. The accompanied sauce came in a little plastic tub. It could of come out of a "K.C. Masterpiece" bottle. It was sweet and unmemorable. Ms. Goofy is a mac & cheese aficionado. After trying this glob of cheese glue pasta she almost began to cry with sadness. My ribs, cooked to perfection, smokey, and well seasoned were cold. I still cannot figure this one out because of their location under a heat lamp. The brisket was  very thinly sliced and okay. The beans had come straight out of a can. I did like the vinegary cole slaw. It was refreshing in this meal of mediocrity.

The verdict is: do not gamble on an empty stomach. Roadside BBQ located in a casino food court, is an okay place to have lunch. It has its problems that will possibly work out with time. This place is set up to serve a lot of people. The meats were decent but not award winning. This is not a destination restaurant but if I am donating to the casino I would not hesitate to grab a bite to eat.

Graton Resort & Casino

VIETNAM HOT

They do not call me Chilebrown for nothing. I love discovering new hot sauces and peppers. We were at the Ferry Plaza's Farmers Market and visited our old friend Leah. She always is an inspiration in all things pepper. A customer brought her some seeds from Vietnam, which she planted. The middle bin, top and bottom are those harvested peppers. The top bin with the orange peppers is hot and the bottom with the red is sweet. I had to give them a try.

Leah said these peppers are strains of the chinense variety. This variety is famous for the very hot habanero pepper. We cut into them for a taste test. We tried the sweet pepper first. There was no heat at all. The flavor was very mild and fairly bland with pepper flavor. I would rate this as an ornamental type pepper. The hot was next. This had a pleasant heat level of 2 stars out of 5. It did have the faint characteristic flavor of a habanero. That being a fruity, floral type flavor but with not the habanero bite. These peppers would be good in  a salsa or to spice up any dish. I think I will save some seeds from the hot pepper and try to grow them.

BACON DEODORANT

It was bound to happen. Bacon deodorant is a new item that has a welcome place in my arsenal of personnel hygiene items. Yes, it does smell like bacon. I would like to share what is said about the product with the accompanied literature.

"Using PowerBacon will probably make everyone drawn to you like you were the most powerful magnet on Earth And by everyone, we mean friends, acquaintances, beautiful strangers, dogs, bears, swamp alligators , lions and even pigs. Use your new power wisely because with great bacon power comes great baconsiblility."

TEXAN CHIPOTLE MAPLE BBQ SAUCE

We are having fun trying the products of ‘Culinary Twist’ Today we are sampling a barbeque sauce called; ‘Texan Chipotle Maple BBQ Sauce’. Just reading the colorful label sounds tasty before we have even popped the top. The combination of chipotle peppers and maple syrup is the perfect match of bbq flavors. If our last experience with ‘Baja Sauce’ is any indicator of quality we should have a great meal. This sauce is all natural, fat free and blends honey, maple syrup and chipotle peppers for a robust flavor. Our vehicle to sample this sauce  will be some meaty beef ribs. I love beef ribs and cannot wait till dinner.

Ingredients;

Tomato puree (Tomato paste, water) sugar, water, apple cider vinegar, honey molasses, sea salt, brown sugar, maples syrup, corn starch, dried chipotle peppers, spices hot sauce ( peppers, distilled vinegar, salt xanthan gum) onion powder, natural honey flavor, garlic powder, natural smoke flavor, organic chili powder, caramel color, natural maple flavor, dried orange peel are the listed ingredients.

Aroma & Texture;

The top is opened and a fairly traditional smell greets your sinuses. I smell vinegar, molasses and tomatos. There is also a faint aroma of smoke. This is a thick, dark red puree. No seeds are present.

Taste;

This sauce has a great chipotle flavor. Texan has a smoky jalapeno flavor. This is a mild sauce by all means but has a flavor blast from the peppers. The combination of maple syrup, honey and molasses keep the heat in check with good balance. This has all the components of a traditional smoky bbq sauce. The garlic and onions with the spices are in the background to enhance and compliment. This should be a good sauce for our beef ribs.

Heat;

This is a mild sauce with the heat meter tipping to one star out of five.

Food;

Smoked beef ribs on a covered grill will be our tasting vehicle. Our ribs were smoked for two hours, wrapped in foil and cooked for an additional hour. They were cut and slathered with our sauce. They were returned to the smoker for several minutes to set the sauce.
  I took several bites and started to sing the praises of contentment. My oh My was I in beef rib heaven. Sweet, Sticky, Smoky, Savory, Succulent, Sensational, Sinful, Satisfying, Sexy, are several describing terms. This is a traditional smoky sweet sauce that is the essence of traditional bbq. This flavor is what we all love.

Overall:

‘Texan Chipotle Maple BBQ Sauce from ‘Culinary Twist’ is another fantastic product. Do you want incredible tasting beef ribs? This sauce is a must have component for that traditional sweet, smoky barbeque dinner. We were very pleased with this sauce and highly recommend it to you.

Culinary Twist
http://www.culinarytwist.com/

MEAT COMICS

Chris Cosentino; celebrity chef, salumi producer, hot sauce maker, bicycle racer and now comic book writer. Chris Cosentino has teamed up with Marvel Comics and wrote his first comic book. Yours truly has obtained a first edition autographed copy.
 Our story begins at “The Annual Urban Outlaw Cycle-Cross Cross-Dress Bike Race’. Two dead bodies have been run over by the ‘Cross Dress” racers. These bodies are not only dead but have been butchered literally. The police have no choice but to bring in celebrity chef Chris Cosentino to help identify the butcher/murderer. Chris and ‘Super Hero Wolverine” team up to solve this crime. The story goes on from this morbid but colorful beginning.
  I have not read comics since my ‘R. Crumb’ underground comic days. This was a fun read that was a little dark but humorous. Meat and comics are a great mix. Chris Cosentino you are a ‘Super Hero’ in my book.

POT PIE PARADISE

Quick and easy are frozen pot pies. These are not the pies you may remember from your youth. These frozen pot pies are healthy, all natural and have no preservatives so says the website. We have been on a pot pie roll and wanted to give them a try. We found these pies at the Rockridge Farmers Market. They sure were yummy for being so healthy.

Pot Pie Paradise

COBBLESTONE BAKERY

We at the 'Friday Richmond Farmers Market' are proud to announce the presence of a new vendor; Cobblestone Bakery. Each Friday they will bring freshly baked goods for your pleasure. I can personally vouch for they yummy factor of the cannolis, bear claws and chocolate chip cookies. They sell the most amazing pretzel rolls not to mention a selection of pies. Cobblestone Bakery is a welcome addition to our market.

Friday Richmond Farmers Market
Fridays 8-3
24th & Barrett Ave.
Richmond, Ca.