Now I see why the neighbors complained.

(Find out the real story here and check out this stunning animated view.)

Just before Father's Day, my friend Gary Johnstone, owner of Johnstone's BBQs and Parts, and I talk about grills and accessories on Vancouver-based chat show Urban Rush.

The cool charcoal cooker at the beginning of the segment is a Cobb cooker, my favorite portable charcoal grill/barbecue.

Hey, barbecue fans.

First, let me apologize for being late in announcing the winners for the last three weeks of my BBQ tweets contest. I had a death in my family earlier this month and was completely preoccupied with that, as well as other work and barbecue responsibilities.

It's been a fun contest. Although the number of entries I received was pretty small, those who entered showed a lot of imagination and good humor and shared some interesting and useful tips.

WEEK FIVE

In week five (the week of June 1), I got some excellent recipes. Steve Hagemoen shared his technique for "No mess roast garlic. 1 head peeled. 1pc parch. paper wrapped alu foil. olive oil. Salt pepper. 425F 45 mins. No burnt fingers."

That week I also got a couple of good hobo pack recipes. From Sandra Post in Vernon, B.C. came this recipe with an icy twist: "On the BBQ put foil packet of potatoes, onions, & carrots drizzled with butter and an ice cube. Provides just enough moisture to help steam veggies and speed up cooking."

Week five's winner, from Barb and Gord Parker, only slightly tops Sandra's with the addition of some extra flavor: "On foil slice 1 pepper/2C mush/1C broc/add 2T butter/2T oyster sauce/fold foil shut/10m or tender/top 1T parm." Congrats, Barb and Gord!

WEEK 6

Deciding on the week six winner was a no-brainer for several reasons: it's a nice, simple recipe, it names me -- and it was the only submission I got that week! "Place boneless chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag along with one of Ronnie's excellent dry rubs.  Pound to flatten with mallet - grill until done.  Neat and delicious!" Lucky it wasn't a dud! Thanks and congrats, Harold Watson of Calgary!

Finally, last week's entries were among the best of the bunch. My friend Angie Quaale (@AngieQuaale) shared some barbecue wisdom: "Give a man a bbq feed him for a day,teach a man to bbq ,feed him for the summer-Jesus You don't make friends with salad." Ha!

Award-winning BBQ Chef Bubba-Q (@BBQTalk) sent in a some hot tips: "Boil rice, not ribs! Never ever boil your ribs! Also, never take a laxative and a sleeping pill in the same night!" I have to say I like the laxative tip more than the rib one (I like to simmer ribs but I do agree you shouldn't boil the heck out of them.) and "Hot Tip #2: 1 beer for every 20 minutes on the grill!" Thanks, Bubba-Q! I can't think of many better ways to mark time.

WEEK SEVEN

Those are great tweets, but the best of the bunch from the final week of the contest comes from @cachesk from Montreal, who calls herself a "nature loving gadget queen." It's a superb barbecue tip featuring an unusual ingredient to put in the smoker. "Meat done, still got smoke? Open can black beans, rinse, put can in smoker. Smoke 1hr., Store for use in salads, salsas."

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS!

And now, a drum roll please!

The Grand Champion, and winner of a Weber Q120 portable gas grill from Johnstone's Barbecues, a Bottle of Ravenswood Zin, a Ravenswood set of barbecue tools with matching straw cowboy hat, a complete set of all three of my cookbooks, a set of Ronnie & Denzel's NATURAL CHAMPIONS BBQ Sauces and a package of cedar cooking planks from Westcoast Lifestyles is:

@YVRBcbudz: "I had real BBQ from a southern grandma the day the LA riots started and it was a coming together of races over pulled pork."

Second place (or Reserve Grand Champion, as we say in the world of competitive barbecue), and a Cobb portable charcoal grill from Johnstone's Barbecues, a bottle of Ravenswood Zin, a Ravenswood set of barbecue tools with matching straw cowboy hat, a complete set of all three of my cookbooks, a wet of Ronnie & Denzel's NATURAL CHAMPIONS BBQ Sauces and a package of cedar cooking planks from Westcoast Lifestyles goes to:

@8chocolate: "When cooking fish on barbq, wrap seasoned fillets in cabbage leaves. Protects fish, keeps juices in and can eat the cabbage 2."

Tied for third, fourth and fifth prizes, which are a copy of Barbecue Secrets DELUXE!, a bottle of Ravenswood Zin and a set of Ravenswood BBQ tools are:

@dougflet:  "Dad bbq'd a turkey when I was a kid. While resting, dog got at it. When served, no one asked where the leg went! Good stuff!"

@DivaQBBQ: "32rawshrimp 8orangesliced 32skewers shrimponorange piercewithskewer sprinklewithvegeta grill indirect glazemandarinBBQsauce"

@cachesk: "Meat done, still got smoke? Open can black beans, rinse, put can in smoker. Smoke 1hr., Store for use in salads, salsas."

Congrats to the winners, who I'll be contacting directly to arrange to get you your prizes, and thanks to everyone who participated in and followed this contest!

The dust has finally settled for me after a couple of weeks of intense book promotion activity, including a great four days in Calgary and a fun appearance last Thursday on Vancouver's Urban Rush.

The BBQ tweets have gone down to a trickle (I'm not sure barbecue fanatics are active twitterers....yet.) But the ones I did receive have been great. Here are the winners.

Week three's best BBBQ tweet is a story, told well in 140 characters or less, from @dougflet:

"Dad bbq'd a turkey when I was a kid. While resting, dog got at it. When served, no one asked where the leg went! Good stuff!"

And last week's winner is this excellent, very condensed recipe for barbecue beef tri-tip from @TailgatingTimes:

"3lb tritip/1slcd onion/1can stout/2TB hrsrdsh/2tsp ppr/2TB djn mstrd/1bch rsmry/TB evoo/slt/-mix/mrnte12hrs/smoke&mop@250/2hrs"

Once again, thanks to everyone who entered...and get your tweets in for this week for your chance to win a copy of Barbecue Secrets DELUXE! and a chance at big grand prizes to be awarded Father's Day weekend. Here are the contest rules and a rundown on the grand prizes. Get on it!

The volume of tweets last week was down a bit but entrants made up for it with some great recipes, tips and tricks. Again, it was hard to choose.

Here are the best of them, with the winner at the end:

An easy, elegant dessert from @ruthlesscrab: Blackberries&Jim Beam Whipped Cream. Great after-bbq dessert. Whp 500ml(2c)crm w 2 T brn sug+2 T bourbon. Srv on fresh berries

Nice appetizer from @erlewilliams Mushroom Appetizer: Marinate mushrooms in balsamic vinager, seasame oil, soya sauce, chili peppers, S&P. Grill a few minutes.

Another lip-smackin' dish from @erlewilliams:  2 chick breast. 2/3c rum, grated ginger, 1/3c oj, 6 clove garlic, 2T worcestershire, 2T br. sug, selantro, Marinate 3h. Grill.

Excellent common-sense tip from @danklassen: make sure to have some extra propane handy in case you run out... unlike my last weekend

Simple and delicious spuds from @sbouchard: love grilling sliced potatoes (brushed with a little evo right on the grill. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Delicious!

This pork recipe from @denisyb got my juices going: roast pork loin smothered in maple and apricot jam glaze (with a little cider vinegar) + oiled & grilled apple slices = mmm

An over-the-top classic sausage log from @DivaQBBQ: 5lbsausage 5tbsponion 4japsdiced 3tbspfavBBQrub mx tologshape wrapw/2lbbaconbbqindirec-165glazew/sweetBBQsauce make friends

And, finally, the WINNER for this week, a lovely shrimp skewer, again from @DivaQBBQ: 32rawshrimp 8orangesliced 32skewers shrimponorange piercewithskewer sprinklewithvegeta grill indirect glazemandarinBBQsauce

Thanks to everyone who entered...and get your tweets in for this week, there are only two days left! Here are the contest rules and a rundown on the grand prizes. Get on it!

I picked up some great beef tri-tip at the supermarket the other day. It's almost impossible to find this delicious, juicy cut in Canada; I figure all our tri-tip, which is the bottom half of the sirloin, gets exported to the U.S., where it's one of the more popular grilling cuts. When my family was in Maui a couple summers ago I learned an old Sam Choy recipe that I'm happy to share with you.

Hawaiian Tri Tip Steak

2 1/2 lb tri tip steak (the one I got was cut into strips but it's also great grilled whole)
1/2 Tbs. salt (I used Hawaiian red salt but any good sea salt works well)
1/2 Tbs. cracked black peppercorns
1 Tbs. garlic, minced
1 Tbs. ginger, grated
1 Tbs. shoyu (light soy sauce will do)
white pepper
1 Tbs. brown sugar

Marinate meat in above ingredients for 30 to 45 minutes. Grill the steak to desired doneness, being careful not to overcook it. Tri-tip is quite lean and is ruined if cooked beyond medium rare. I basted the steak strips with the marinade that was left in the pan I marinated them in. Carve into thin slices and serve with a vegetable stir fry and some rice or mashed potatoes.

My friends Gary Johnstone of Johnstone's BBQs and Parts and Angie Quaale, organizer of BBQ on the Bypass, join me on a season-opening barbecue panel talking about outdoor cooking with broadcasting icon Terry David Mulligan, on his food and wine show, The Tasting Room.

Hey barbecue fans! The first week of the big BBQ Tweet contest ended Friday and I'm delighted to report that I received lots of great tweets and e-mail entries.

There were simple, delicious recipes like graemeb3's: "The easiest and most delicious BBQ salmon recipe: salmon covered in mild salsa placed on tinfoil. Great when camping too!"

Carib1028 had my mouth watering with this nicely condensed recipe for a stuffed burger: "saute onions, shitake/load on thin patty w/ cheese/top w/ thin patty/seal/grill w/ R&Ds BBQ sauce/serve on toasted bun/ooz'n."

GisellLaRose shared a delicious take on burger seasoning: "My secret weapon in my homemade bbq sauce or hamburgers is sesame oil and cumin. Sooo good, you have to try it!"

I also got some excellent tips, like this one from 8chocolate: "When cooking fish on barbq, wrap seasoned fillets in cabbage leaves. Protects fish, keeps juices in and can eat the cabbage 2."

All excellent, and worthy of honorable mention. It was a hard choice, but here is the winner, which is a very short but touching barbecue story from YVRBcbudz: "I had real BBQ from a southern grandma the day the LA riots started and it was a coming together of races over pulled pork." That pretty much captures the spirit of barbecue as far as I'm concerned.

CONGRATS! YVRBcbudz, e-mail me at rockinronnie@ronshewchuk.com with your address and Barbecue Secrets DELUXE! publisher Whitecap Books will get a copy in the mail to you right away.

Please keep the tweets and e-mails coming and I look foward to announcing next week's winner. Don't forget, there are great prizes for the grand champion and four runners up. Find out more about the contest at this Whitecap blog post.




 

Had a nice visit with Vancouver CKNW radio talk show host Christy Clarke and had a chance to take some great listener questions.

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On May 1 some friends came over for the first barbecue feast of the season. On hand was writer Laurie Cooper who captured some moments of brisket ecstacy on her Flip camera and posted it on YouTube. Thanks for sharing, Laurie!