Seattle's Child Article by Rebekah Denn

Wow. I realize this published in JUNE for the 4th of JULY issue of Seattle's Child, and it is now the end of AUGUST, but I just read Rebekah Denn's interview with me, so I'm sharing it now. I actually thought it didn't get published, and was too shy to ask why it didn't, but see now I was merely too buried in pork and brisket to find the article.

If you live in Seattle, you know Ms Denn. She is one of those writers that has her finger on the pulse of the Foodieville. She is one of the Big Girls in the Northwest and she does it all with a toddler in tow. We talked and e-mailed about the challenges of balancing family and work and neither of us came up with an answer. Sorry.

I guess we all have to roll with it. We also talked about giving yourself a break when you are trying to be a super barbecue mama. If you want charcoal, cook with charcoal. If you need dinner RIGHT NOW because the kids are so hungry they're spinning out of control and are mixing the entire bin of Leggos in the bathtub with a bottle of Molasses they somehow snuck out of the cupboard...go with gas.

Read more about our conversation here.

Smokin' Pete's BBQ voted Best BBQ by Seattle Weekly

Just coming up for air from a busy busy catering summer to spread the good news: Smokin' Pete's was voted Best BBQ by the Seattle Weekly.

Read the whole scoop here.

In other restaurant news, we are part of the InBallard.com group. Check out their website for all the best Ballard has to offer. Every Tuesday, there are special events during the summer.

Wordless Wednesday Video Post

Grilling Master Classes at University Farmer's Market this Saturday

I'm really excited to be a part of this event. Come this Saturday for a day celebrating local, farm-direct meats and produce on the grill. Here is the press release. I'm going to be demonstrating with some amazing folks (and I love the title they've given me: "Master She-Griller" I want that on a button):

Grilling With the Masters at U-District Farmers Market


When: Saturday, July 2 9:30 – 1:30 pm

Where: University District Farmers Market (located outdoors at University Heights Center on the corner of University Way and NE 50th)

Celebrate the coming of summer and barbecue season – and watch FREE master chef and producer classes all day long at the market!

The U-District Farmers Market is chock full of farmers and ranchers who raise/produce some of the best meats, poultry and salmon available anywhere in Seattle – all of it local, sustainable and delicious.

On Saturday, July 2, market shoppers can watch fun, expert demos on filleting fish, cutting meat, how to make the perfect hamburger, how to cut a whole chicken, tips on the best types of meat (beef, pork and lamb) for your barbecue...and how to grill it all to perfection.

The Master Line-up:

Becky Selengut, chef and author of Good Fish and the Cornucopiacuisine blog will show shoppers her secret to preparing the perfect fillet of fish. Becky will sign copies of her book which features sustainable seafood recipes from the Pacific coast.
Master butcher, Doreen Nelson, of Smokey Ridge Meats (Chewelah) will be on hand to explain and de-mystify fresh cuts of lamb, pork and beef for the grill and how to get the most value out of cheaper cuts of meat.

Farmer Janelle Stokesberry (Stokesberry Sustainable Farm) is an expert on all things chicken and loves to teach home cooks how to make the most out of every part of the bird. Learn how to cut, quarter and grill a whole chicken.

Farmers Eiko and George Vojkovich (Skagit River Ranch) will be on hand to show folks how to make and grill the perfect hamburger.
Julie Reinhardt, local author of She-Smoke, will be the Master She-Griller, demonstating in-person her mastery of the art of perfect barbecue. Julie is co-owner of Smokin’ Pete’s BBQ in Ballard.
Lissa James of Hama Hama Oyster Company will be on hand to show off her excellent fresh oysters and best ways to grill.
And vegetarians should know that recipes and great grilling tips for veggies and seasonal fruits will also be available.
9:30 – 10:30 am How to Fillet a Fish and Great Grilling Ideas for Fish Becky Selengut

10:30 – 11:00 How to Grill the Perfect Burger Eiko and George Vojkovich – Skagit River Ranch
11:15 – 11:45 How to Cut-up and Truss a Whole Chicken Janelle Stokesberry – Stokesberry Sustainble Farm

12:00 – 12:30 pm Perfect Cuts for Your Grill Doreen Nelson – Smokey Ridge Meats

12:45 – 1:15 Grilling Oysters Lissa James- Hama Hama Oysters

Master She-Griller Julie Reinhardt will be on hand to oversee the grilling and offer expert insider advice all day long!
The University District Farmers Market is open every Saturday, year-round (rain or shine) outdoors at University Heights Center on the corner of University Way NE (the “ave”) and NE 50th. Hours are 9 am – 2 pm.

For more information contact the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance at 206 632-5234 or go to: http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/

Pacific NW Eggfest

I had a ball at the 6th Annual (my 2nd) Pacific NW Eggfest on June 11. I went with a single item - Kalbi Beef Short Ribs, served with rice made on my Egg. Eric cut the ribs for me on the bandsaw in our walk-in at Pete's, so they were thick and meaty. The ribs marinated for a day. They could have used another day, due to their size, but I had plenty of compliments, including "These are the best short ribs I've ever had." I'll take that.


My two neighbors were Egg-o-matic machines. Every time I looked over, they were coming out with a new dish. I think I might have to step up my game next year and at least add a breakfast or dessert item like these: apple crisp, giant pancakes, and my tent buddie's Planked Twinkie Chocolate Marshmallow Bonanza thingy.

For those of you that haven't been to an Eggfest, it is a meeting of Eggheads, cooking on Eggs. In this case it was open to the public for the purpose of selling Eggs. Folks could purchase the grills we cooked on, at a discount. A good deal when you figure we helped season their grill for them.

Brian from Left Hand Smoke was there again, representing the PNWBA, as were the Butt Rub folks. -Brian brought some tasty home-cured bacon, and the Butt Rub dude is shown here with a mouthful of his own biscuits and gravy.

 And the bonus? It's held right across the street from IKEA, so I was able to pick up a few more platters for the shop, along with a giant wheel of Skandinavian cheese and five other things I did not need.

My Eggnest in honor of the Eggfest 2011

For the second year in a row, I cooked at the Pacific NW Eggfest. The week prior, Eric made our Big Green Egg a perfect nest.

This old fire pit came with our house and used to have a wishing well roof. It would have needed a lot to make it a working grill, though it does have an ash/access door, but the Egg fits just perfectly in it.

I'd always worried that someone might roll off with our Egg. I know that's silly. The thought of a drug addict rolling a Big Green Egg into a pawn shop is comical. But our neighborhood has had issues with theft. It's getting better, but we've had many things disappear from our yard. Eric knows my paranoia so he made this protective nest as a surprise.

It's the little things, or in this case, the really big heavy things, that keep a marriage fresh.

Some of our regulars at Smokin' Pete's

We have a regular biker group that rolls in to Pete's about once a month. Thank you to Pat Ferris (of Dysfunction Junction fame) for the great photo from the other night!

Memorial Day Greetings

Hello from Barbecueville. We've been doing a lot of this lately:

Making yummy things like this:

And a little bit of this:

Greetings on Memorial Day. Today, may you remember your loved ones passed on with joy of their lives instead of sorrow from their passing.

A May Day Bouquet and a Challenge

It seemed strange today to be enjoying a perfect sunny spring day in Seattle, while storms rage in the South. My Alabama cousins are seeing devastation that is hard to describe. So these flowers are for them.

We used to fill construction paper baskets filled with flowers from our yard and hang them on doors of the little old ladies in the neighborhood. We'd ring the doorbell and run. With giggles behind bushes we watched them smile as they took the flowers inside.

I love the surprise and secrecy of the May Day basket. Some people need much more than flowers right now. I challenge you to send someone a little May Day help this month without their knowing who sent it.

Just ring the doorbell and run.

May Day BBQ 7:15pm Pork Butt in the stall....

May Day BBQ 5:30pm: Beef Short Rib Dinner

The final glaze gave these ribs a nice sweet ending. I mixed equal parts strawberry jam with apricot nectar juice, plus 3-4 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce. The kids loved it. 3 1/2 hours on indirect heat, after some direct grill time was perfect to get them tender. These were pretty small. The short ribs we get in the shop that Eric cuts with the bandsaw are much much bigger and need more time.

May Day BBQ 2pm: Beef Ribs on the grill

I love beef short ribs. I like them sliced thin on the cross cut (marinated long, then grilled hot and fast) and I like the thick cross cut sections like these. They need a fair amount of time to get tender, but I love the flavor from direct grilling.

I marinated them in the morning, though these really are best marinated the night before. The marinade is a basic soy-ginger sauce: Fresh ginger, soy sauce, a little bit of rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, plenty of brown sugar, and a little bit of fruit juice to stretch it.

I started them over direct heat of my Charbroil infrared grill, then moved them to the indirect side and to the top rack. The Hopefully they will be ready for dinner to go with some grilled zucchini.

May Day Virtual BBQ: 9:30am, 11am, 12:20am....Moppin' Time

The mop, a total throw-together recipe from the fridge: Apple cider vinegar, bit of ketchup, puri puri spice (hot!), and the end of the orange-mango jam.

8:12am Pork butt in (I'm already and hour behind....)

It's in. In between all this, I am cleaning an apartment to show today. I come from a long line of people who like to double and triple book themselves. I'm also supposed to be working the lunch and dinner rush at the restaurant today. And I want to get the kids to the park.

Luckily I have a husband that doesn't plan beyond his morning coffee, so I can move some of my plans over to his column. He's cutting me some cherry wood off our clippings to add to the smoker as we speak....

So come y'all, whatcha got goin' on?

7:35 am: Charcoal lit

6: 40am The coffee shop is closed

I know this coffee shop used to be open at 6am on Sunday. Cafe Vita is where I wrote most of She-Smoke, and on Sunday mornings I often beat the employees here.

No problem, I walked up the street to Marketime, where everybody knows my name....and the gals got a good laugh at my froggy voice, bed head, and the clothespin stuck to my jacket.

The Making of a May Day BBQ

6:21am Julie there is no coffee in the house.

6:25am She pulls out the pork butt, and seasons it with a mix of spices from her cupboard, then puts it back in the fridge.

6:35am Julie realizes speaking of herself in third person all day could get really annoying.

I head out for coffee. I am thankful to live in a city, in a neighborhood, where I can walk to a coffee shop. The morning is beautiful! Birds are singing, the sun is shining.

It's a good day for a barbecue!

May Day Virtual Barbecue (and giveaway)!

It's spring and you, yes you, are invited to a virtual barbecue. Since May Day is a holiday that celebrates spring, fertility, and other outdoor activities, I thought we could all honor this fest with some outdoor cooking. (Though please, for safety and for the sake of being neighborly, please don't grill naked). Come join the party this Sunday, May Day, share what you are cooking, and maybe even win a book.

This isn't my first virtual barbecue here at She-Smoke headquarters. Before the book launched, I held a contest for folks to upload videos to YouTube for a video virtual barbecue. The entries I did get were amazing, like this one from my kinfolk, however I learned an important lesson about contests and events: make them really really easy to enter.

To join in the virtual potluck, simply post a comment here about what's on your barbecue on May Day, or comment and/or upload a photo on the She-Smoke facebook page. I'll pick three favorites (or maybe we'll figure out a way to vote on facebook) and give away three copies of my book.

Easy. Fun. Invite all your friends, especially those far far away so that you can be with them, virtually, at a barbecue.
An little end note for research junkies like me: The archives from the University of Missouri explain how May Day began, in case you aren't familiar with this somewhat forgotten holiday. The website includes some wonderful pictures of ladies dressed in white, dancing around the maypole.

Spring Baby Backs Part 2 (repost)

I changed the title from "Spring is time for Baby backs" to "Spring Baby Backs" because really, any time is time for baby back ribs. Here is the continuation of the recipe. In case you missed it, see Part 1 for Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce.

On one of the recent schizophrenic spring days here in the Northwest (it's been alternating between sun and snow or sleet), I fired up the Weber after a 3-month hiatus. A hiatus filled with spit up, 1am, 3am and 5am feedings, and the daily challenge of figuring out how to do anything with two kids. Ive become a pack-mule and have had to learn to slow down to a zen-like speed that would annoy an overfed turtle. Some days, by the time I get the baby fed, all of us dressed, and the bag packed, the "window" of getting out slams shut and it's time for another round of diapers, naps, lunch and meltdowns. Why am I going on and on about this? Because standing at the grill on a beautiful sunny day with nothing but a pair of tongs in my hand made me feel so light and giddy, I thought I might just fly away with the clouds.

Ribs mopped with a bourbon barbecue sauce aren't always associated with the words "light" and "airy" but I'm calling these "Float on a Cloud Baby backs" all the same. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce (part 1)

Apple juice (in spray bottle if you have it)

Modified Feisty Girl Rub - this rub is in my book, but I've added a little more sugar. Any spicy brown sugar rub will do. Quantity is per rack.

6 Tbls. brown sugar
2 Tbls. sea salt or kosher salt
1 Tbls. fresh ground pepper
2 tsp dried mustard
1 Tbls. paprika
1 Tbls. Cajun seasoning mix
A few dashes of cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

1-2 racks baby back ribs (membrane removed)

Step by Step
1. Pat rub all over ribs 1 hour to a day ahead.

2. Make your fire for Slow and Low and "Get Your Smoke On". In other words - light a quarter to a half chimney (about 20 coals) and dump, when coals are turning ash gray, into a tight pile on one side in your charcoal grill. Add a chunk of wood or a 1/2 cup of wood chips and close the lid. After 10-15 minutes, place ribs on indirect heat side of grill.

3. Target inside grill temperature is 200-250 degrees. Note how I've put a remote thermometer through a potato so that it doesn't sit directly on the grill.


3. Close lid and leave it. After 30 minutes light a new batch of charcoal in your chimney starter or a second grill. Feed already-hot coals to your pile 45 minutes to an hour into cooking. Add wood as necessary for the first 3 hours.

4. After one hour and every 45 minutes to an hour thereafter, spray mop your ribs with the apple juice. Keep that lid closed as much as possible to maintain your heat and smoke!

5. Ribs will take 4-5 hours. Brush racks with barbecue sauce in the final 20-30 minutes.

6. Remember, "falling off the bone" is a misnomer. You want to be able to bite the meat without losing half of it on your shirt.

Feel free to ask any questions or comment on the recipe!
Originally posted on 04/18/2009

Spring is time for babybacks: Part 1

I'm reposting a few of my favorite blogs and recipes from the past two years. In part because I have a lot more readers now than when I first started this blog, and it's new to many, and also to give me a little break from the blog this spring. Without further ado, from April of 2009.....


The first sunny day this past week I uncovered the Weber and stoked up the coals. I usually don't let inclement weather stop me, but this winter I also had a newborn to care for. I was lucky to get a frozen pizza pocket cooked in the microwave. It felt good to stretch my smokin' muscles after a three-month hiatus.

I also needed to clean out the fridge. (I'd clearly taken a three-month hiatus from it as well.) So I first made my Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce. My Uncle Jack loves to eat and he loves to make a deal. Making a tasty sauce out of items on the brink of the garbage bin tickles him pink. He'll tell you his recipe is a secret. What he means is you-don't-wanna-know what's in it. I once watched him unload the contents of my Aunt Sandra's fridge into the sauce pot - a fridge that was always chock full and contained a number of the world's greatest mysteries inside. What he did admit to me is that as long as certain ingredients were included in the recipe, the rest was mere nuance.

My sauce didn't have anything too scary. I included the certain ingredients: ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and salt, then added the bits and ends in my fridge to make the sauce. I had some bourbon, old ginger, and the end of a bottle of maple syrup to throw in. It made a rich, dark sauce. Here is a picture of my ingredients:

Here is my recipe. Remember - barbecue sauce is one of the easiest sauces to make. You can use my ratios of the base ingredients and clean out your own fridge. After that you can fire up the grill to make some baby back ribs (Part 2).

RECIPE: (Ode to) Uncle Jack's Clean Out The Fridge Barbecue Sauce

2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 Tbls. spicy brown mustard
3 Tbls. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
End of a bottle of maple syrup with 1/2 cup hot water to swish it all out
2 Tbls. bourbon
1 Tbls. molasses
1 tsp. finely grated ginger (can use powdered ginger too as shown)
1 tsp. salt

Saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat, stirring. Just as it begins to brown, add ketchup. Add remaining ingredients and reduce to low. Simmer sauce for about 45 minutes before serving or before cooling to bottle for the refrigerator.