This is a killer dish from my first book, Barbecue Secrets, followed by a recipe for the best taco filling I've ever had. Thanks to Cindy Crescenzo for the request. Hope you enjoy it! (It should also work fine if you don't want to go through the trouble of adding all the filling - just throwing in some grated cheese and chopped pimentos as the filling would work just fine, too.)

Cowboy Cornbread with Taco Filling

Makes 6–8 servings

This recipe is a meal in itself, but is also a great side dish. I adapted it from a recipe that my Texan friend Amy Walker shared with me.

11/2 cups | 375 mL cornmeal

1/2 tsp | 2 mL baking soda

2 eggs

1 can (14 oz | 398 mL) cream-style corn

1 tsp | 5 mL kosher salt

1 cup | 250 mL milk

1/4 cup | 50 mL olive oil

1 cup | 250 mL Mark’s Otherworldly Taco Filling (see recipe below) or, in a pinch, taco filling made from your favoriate commercial seasoning mix

2 Tbsp | 25 mL cornmeal

1 cup | 250 mL chopped onion

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

3 jalapeño peppers, chopped

1 jar (2 oz | 57 mL) pimentos, chopped

1/2 lb | 250 g grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350˚F | 180˚C. Mix the 11/2 cups | 375 mL cornmeal, soda, eggs, corn, salt, milk, and oil together. Set the batter aside. Warm up the taco filling in a skillet. Sprinkle the 2 Tbsp | 25 mL cornmeal in the bottom of a greased 11 x 7-inch | 2 L casserole dish. Pour in half the cornbread batter. Layer the taco filling, onion, green pepper, jalapeños, pimentos, and grated cheese. Top with the remaining cornbread batter. Bake the cornbread for 60–70 minutes. Cool it for at least 5 minutes before serving it.

Mark’s Otherworldly Taco Filling

Makes 4 servings

We’ve all had tacos made with ground beef and commercial “taco seasoning”—a cheap, sorry imitation of this wonderful dish, which is a staple food in Latin America. This rich, luxurious “chorizo” (a kind of loose version of what we normally think of as Spanish sausage) comes from famous Southwestern chef Mark Miller’s ground-breaking Coyote Café cookbook. It’s a great filling for quesadillas, tacos, or burritos. You can also mix it with scrambled eggs, spice up a soup with it, or just eat it right out of the pot. When I make it I usually double or triple the recipe and freeze some for future use.

1 lb | 500 g fresh ground pork

1/2 lb | 250 g fresh lean ground beef

2 small cloves garlic, finely minced

4 Tbsp | 60 mL ancho or New Mexico chili powder

1/2 tsp | 2 mL cayenne

1/8 tsp | 1/2 mL ground cloves

1/2 tsp | 2 mL freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp | 10 mL ground cinnamon

1 tsp | 5 mL ground cumin

1 tsp | 5 mL kosher salt

3 cups | 750 mL water

 Fry the pork and beef in a heavy skillet or big pot over medium heat. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and do not allow it to brown. Add the garlic, spices, salt, and 1 cup | 250 mL of the water. Cook the mixture slowly over low heat for at least an hour to allow the flavors to marry. Add extra water as needed, though the finished mixture should not be wet; all the excess water should have evaporated and the chorizo should be cooking in its own fat (which you shouldn’t drain off because it’s so full of flavor!). Adjust the final seasonings by adding salt and pepper to taste.

Hey barbecue fans. If you're in the Vancouver area this weekend, come by Hadden/Vanier park and taste some pink salmon, some of it cooked by yours truly. See the news release below for details.

NEWS RELEASE

Pink Salmon Festival – A Celebration of Health & Plenty

August 30th, 11am – 5pm Hadden/ Vanier Park, Vancouver BC.

(Vancouver) Each summer in BC, millions of salmon return to their home rivers to spawn and rejuvenate our west coast ecosystem. On August 30th, the Pacific Salmon Foundation is hosting a celebration of the return of one of the greatest, yet under-appreciated, resources in the province – Pink Salmon. While sockeye populations on the Fraser River have not returned in the expected numbers, all indications point to a run of up to 15 million pink salmon coming home to the Fraser over the coming weeks.

The PSF Pink Salmon Festival is a celebration of all that Pink Salmon represent and offer. Pink Salmon are the base for BC’s coastal ecological systems, they are sustainably harvested, and their delicious and delicate texture and are prized by culinary experts the world over.

Foodies take note: this free event features Robert Clark, the visionary and celebrated executive chef of C restaurant as well as the chefs from Raincity Grill and Nu preparing specialty pink salmon creations for the public to enjoy. In addition, barbecue evangelist Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk will be preparing a West-Coast classic: cedar-planked pink salmon with his signature whisky-maple glaze. This all-star culinary team will be preparing close to 3,000 pounds of beautiful, succulent pink salmon in free, sample-sized portions for what is sure to be an appreciative crowd.

Pink Salmon will also be celebrated with live music by Highrise Lonesome, fish painting by the Stream of Dreams Society, magicians, entertainers and a 60 foot salmon story telling tent! Attendees can try their hand at fly fishing and fly tying as well as enjoying a salmon art show and a fundraising silent auction and raffle. Displays from community partners such as the Vancouver Aquarium’s OceanWise program in addition to the PSF education areas featuring ocean creature touch tanks will inform people of the important role Pink Salmon play in BC every year.

Pink Salmon are a wonderful example of the health and plenty of British Columbia. Please join us in celebrating their return home this year.

Hosted by the Pacific Salmon Foundation

A few years ago I launched Barbecue Academy^ⓒ. It's a day-long corporate teambuilding workshop that teaches participants about championship barbecue in a fun, relaxing atmosphere with plenty of room for socializing.

I think it's the only event of its kind in the world. There are lots of hands-on barbecue workshops for the public, and some of the big barbecue celebrities in the U.S. do corporate cooking demos and catered events. And there are even some corporate team building workshops based on cooking contests. But, as far as I know, this is the only corporate workshop that creates a competitive environment for participants, who divide into teams, prep and cook real barbecued chicken and ribs, and vie for cheap plastic trophies just like the big boys.

I've done three of them so far, for energy companies in Calgary, with positive feedback.

Here's what some of the participants have said:

I love putting on these workshops, and I want to do more. So far, I've done them only in Calgary, where I've found a great facility, but the concept is portable. I'm now booking sessions into this fall, and I'd like to do at least one in Vancouver.

Here's a promo sheet:

Download BBQ Academy promo

Please pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested.

This article appears in the latest edition of Calgary's City Palate, and I'm pleased to share it here.


North American society has nearly killed its beloved hamburger.

The anti-fat movement, which shamed us into using extra lean ground beef, robbed the meat of most of its flavour. And worries about E coli contamination led to stringent regulation that pretty much requires today’s restaurants to cook the life out of their burgers.

As a result, most fast-food burger patties are not much more than dry, grainy hockey pucks – charred, pitiful pieces of meat that, to be palatable, need to be overwhelmed by their toppings and shielded by their buns. Even real restaurants often resort to frozen, pre-maid patties.

That just ain’t right. Although there are some notable exceptions to today’s crappy, overcooked commercial burgers, it’s left to backyard cooks to keep the sacred tradition of the real, tasty, juicy hamburger alive.

And so, dads everywhere have developed their perfect burger recipe. This is the story of how I arrived at mine.

When I challenged myself to imagine the perfect burger, I couldn’t help but think back to my youth.

I remembered hot, juicy A&W teenburgers, delivered on a tray that hitched onto the window of my family’s two-tone ’56 Chevy, devoured by my brother and me in the back seat and washed down with long drafts of cold sweet root beer from heavy glass mugs.

And then there was my first Big Mac. At 49 cents when it came out in 1968, it was an expensive gourmet treat, the tallest and fanciest restaurant burger of its day. Its super-soft triple-decker sesame bun, two all-beef patties and combination of American cheese, iceberg lettuce, pickles, onion and special sauce sent my palate to new heights, and the red sleeve of 10-cent fries and cardboard cup of ice cold Coca-Cola were the perfect accompaniments. The Big Mac was the first burger I can remember where you needed to unhinge your jaw to take the first bite, which would always leave a trail of shiny juice running down your chin.

Of course, I can’t forget the homemade burgers grilled over charcoal briquettes at our family cottage at Alberta Beach – softball-sized lumps of charred ground beef laced with crunchy bits of chopped raw onion. After having the life squeezed out of them by dad’s spatula, those homemade burgers were almost as dry as the restaurant burgers of today. Luckily, it was a condition that was easily cured by a cold, clear bottle of Crush cream soda.

I recount these memories because, as with any classic comfort food, our best early memories become the Proustian references by which we judge every other burger we eat. The perfect burger is the one that comes closest to the idealized conglomeration of one’s remembrances of burgers past.  

It comes as no surprise, then, that Canadians are not adventurous burger eaters. A Harveys/Ipsos Reid survey in 2007 found that 61 percent of respondents order the exact same toppings on every single burger they eat, and the three most popular toppings are cheese, onions and ketchup. Interestingly, the distinguishing characteristic of prairie burger eaters is that we’re the most likely to eat naked hamburgers. Don’t mess with that Alberta beef!

But then there’s the other 39 per cent of us, who still want our burgers to hit that comfort-food nerve, but also need a little adventure and appreciate some extravagance now and then. One of my favorite adult burger memories is a lamb burger served with goat cheese and roasted red pepper on a toasted ciabatta bun at River Café in the spring of 1994. Another one that stands out in the current decade is the hilariously extravagant, Daniel Boulud-inspired $28 Feenie Burger, stuffed with braised short ribs and topped with a slice of seared foie gras.

On a hot August day in the summer of 2003, at the Canadian National Barbecue Championships in Whistler, B.C., everything I’d ever learned about what makes a great burger came together.

I knew it had to be juicy and tender, so I added a spash of cold water to the meat as I blended the seasonings into the ground beef with my hands, taking care not to overmix. (In this case I had no choice of meat, but the ideal would be to get your butcher to custom-grind chuck with at least 20 per cent fat content and mix it with ground pork or veal.)

I knew it had to be rich and unctuous, so I stuffed the patty with a frozen disk of butter that had been blended with fresh basil, mint and parsley. Freezing a log of the herbed butter made it easy to slice it into disks and also prevented overcooking. (James Beard used to put an ice cube into his burger patties to keep them moist and juicy.)

I knew it had to be smoky, so I cooked it over hardwood charcoal with a chunk of cherry wood thrown in.

I knew the toppings had to add richness, complexity and balance to the flavour and texture of the burger, so I slathered it with creamy, tangy Saltspring Island goat cheese, topped that with a filet of roasted red bell pepper that had been soaked in extra virgin olive oil infused with fresh basil leaves, and topped the whole thing with a dollop of sweet, shiny brown caramelized onions that had been flavoured with cinnamon, sugar and a touch of cayenne pepper.

And I knew the bun had to be soft and tender, but to add some extra flavour I brushed it with some melted herbed butter and toasted it for a few seconds on the hot grill.

That burger won first place in the burger category at the Nationals, so technically I cooked the best burger in Canada that year. What matters more to me is that, years later, my kids still think their dad makes the best burger ever.

Man, oh, man. I need a perfect burger right now, don’t you? To help you hit that burger nerve, here are three of my favorite burger recipes, ranging from the over-the-top extravagance of my award-winning herbed-butter-stuffed burger to the comfort food flavour of what I call the Classic Dadburger Deluxe. I hope at least one of them is perfect for you.

BURGER RECIPES

Beef Burger with Herbed Butter Core and Caramelized Onions

Makes 4 burgers

This recipe won the burger category at the Canadian National Barbecue Championship in Whistler, British Columbia, in the summer of 2003. More than a burger, it is the Atkins equivalent of a jelly doughnut (if you forego the bun). It’s a life-shaping experience that should probably be accompanied by some kind of parental guidance message. Be careful to whom you serve this—your guests may stalk you until you cook it for them again.

11/2 to 2 lb | 750 g to 1 kg of ground beef, 20 percent fat content
1/2 tsp | 2 mL freshly grated nutmeg
4 1/2-inch | 1 cm discs of frozen Mediterranean Herbed Butter (butter whizzed in a blender with fresh herbs like bazil, mint, parsley)
1 Tbsp | 15 mL Dijon mustard
Championship Barbecue Rub (or seasoned salt)
4 hamburger buns
extra softened Herbed Butter for the buns
granulated garlic
1/2 cup | 125 mL chèvre (a creamy white French-style
goat cheese), at room temperature
2 large roasted red bell peppers, torn into quarters
Caramelized Onions (see recipe below)

Combine the beef and nutmeg in a large nonreactive bowl. Mix together the spice and the meat lightly with your hands, being careful not to overwork it. Split the meat into 4 equal portions and roll it into balls. Poke your thumb in the middle of each ball to create a hole and insert a frozen disc of herbed butter. Encase the butter in the burger as you shape it into a classic burger shape about _-inch | 2 cm thick, ensuring that there are no openings where molten butter could run out. (It may be helpful to dip your hands periodically into cold water to prevent the meat from sticking to them.)
    Coat the burger patties lightly with the mustard and sprinkle them with a light coating of the rub. Preheat your grill to medium heat. Either spray the burgers with vegetable oil spray, or coat the grill with oil. Place the burgers on the grill and cook for 4–5 minutes per side, or until the patties become firm, but not hard, to the touch.
    Remove the burgers from the grill, tent them with foil, and let them rest for 4–5 minutes. In the meantime, coat the buns with the softened herbed butter, sprinkle them with a little granulated garlic, and toast them for 30–60 seconds on your grill.
    Dress the burgers with a slather of goat cheese, a piece or two of roasted red pepper, and a dollop of caramelized onion. Inhale. (Note: Warn your guests that the burgers have a molten filling or they could be in for a shock! In any case, have plenty of napkins at the ready. These are very juicy burgers.)

Caramelized Onions

Makes about 1 cup | 250 mL

This makes a great topping for burgers but is also an excellent all-purpose condiment. Try it as an omelet filling or as a topping for grilled pork chops. Mix it with goat cheese and spread it on crackers for a tangy, sweet appetizer. It’s also a great topping on a planked round of brie.

2 Tbsp | 25 mL butter, olive oil, or a combination of both
4 medium onions, peeled and sliced into rings
1/2 tsp | 2 mL kosher salt
1 tsp | 5 mL sugar
1/2 tsp | 2 mL ground cinnamon
pinch cayenne

Heat the butter/olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and sauté them until they’re soft, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and cayenne and continue to sauté the onions, stirring them regularly, until they are shiny and brown, about 15 minutes, being careful not to burn them (add a little water, if necessary,  to prevent burning).


Classic Dadburger Deluxe

Makes 12–16 patties, depending on how big you like them

This recipe will feed a crowd, or four teenagers. You can easily halve the recipe. If your kids are like mine and don’t like bits of onion and garlic in their burgers, substitute 1 tsp | 5 mL each of granulated onion and granulated garlic for the fresh variety.

For the burger mix:
6 lb | 2.7 kg medium ground beef
(or half-and-half ground beef and ground pork)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 head roasted garlic, cloves
squeezed out and mashed with a fork
1 Tbsp | 15 mL toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp | 25 mL dark soy sauce or
Worcestershire sauce or a combination
1/2 tsp | 2 mL freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp | 1 mL cayenne
(or more, if you like more heat)
lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup | 125 mL cold water

To finish the burgers:
your favourite barbecue sauce
12 to 16 cheese slices (optional)
12 to 16 hamburger buns

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Mix the burger ingredients together with your hands in a large nonreactive bowl. Wet your hands in cold water before you form the mixture into chunks the size of tennis balls. Flatten them into patties, placing them on the cookie sheet. Each patty will be about 1/2 lb | 250 g before cooking. Place them in the freezer for an hour to firm them up.
    Preheat your grill for medium direct heat. Take the burgers out of the freezer and grill them for 6 minutes per side, or until they are springy to the touch, glazing them on both sides with barbecue sauce. Top each patty with a slice of cheese for the last couple of minutes of cooking. Serve the burgers on buns with your favourite condiments.


Lamb Burger with Molten Goat Cheese Core

Makes 4 burgers

We North Americans eat so much ground beef that we almost forget what beef tastes like. When you eat a lamb burger you actually taste the lamb and it makes for a deliciously different grilling experience. The goat cheese stuffing adds an orgiastic twist. Don’t forget to freeze the goat cheese!

For the tzatziki:
1 tsp | 5 mL ground cumin
1 cup | 250 mL plain Greek
full-fat yogurt
1 Tbsp | 15 mL finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/3 long English cucumber, finely grated

To finish the burgers:
Softened butter that’s been blended with some fresh herbs like mint, basil or flatleaf parsley
2 large fresh rounds of pita bread
fresh sliced tomatoes
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
1 bunch fresh arugula, washed and
dried

For the patties:
11/2 lb | 750 g ground lamb
2 Tbsp | 25 mL chopped fresh mint
1 tsp | 5 mL dried oregano
1/2 tsp | 2 mL kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 oz | 75 g soft goat cheese (chèvre),
frozen and sliced into 4 1/2-inch | 1 cm discs
2 Tbsp | 25 mL softened herbed butter
kosher salt and freshly ground black
pepper to taste

To make the tzatziki, dry-fry the ground cumin over medium heat for 30 seconds, or until it becomes fragrant and browns just slightly. Transfer the cumin from the hot pan into a bowl. Add the yogurt, mint and cucumber, mix them together thoroughly, cover the tzatziki, and refrigerate it until it’s needed.
    Gently mix the lamb with the mint, oregano, salt and a few grindings of pepper in a nonreactive bowl with your hands. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions and shape them into balls. Make a hole in each patty with your thumb and insert a disc of frozen goat cheese. Carefully seal the hole and shape the ball into a patty 3/4 inch | 2 cm thick, making sure to cover the cheese with the meat. Season the outside of the patties with salt and pepper. Lightly brush them with olive oil and grill them over medium direct heat for 4–5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature is 160˚F | 71˚C.
    Take the burgers off the grill and spread a thin layer of the herbed butter on top of each one (if you don’t have any herbed butter, drizzle them with a little olive oil—just enough to make them glisten). Let them rest for 3–4 minutes. Just before you’re ready to serve them, toast the pitas on the grill for 10–15 seconds per side. Cut the pitas in half, open them up, and stuff the burgers inside. Dress them with the tomatoes, onion, arugula,  and tzatziki.


Barbecue Secret
For extra-juicy burgers, add some cold water (about 1 Tbsp | 15 mL per lb | 500 g) to your raw burger meat before you mix it. For extra-tender burgers, don’t overwork the burger mix.

Hamburger History
We can follow the roots of the modern hamburger back to Hamburg, Germany in the 19th century, where cheap cuts of beef were chopped, seasoned, and served cooked or raw to the lower classes. The “Hamburg Steak” first appeared on New York menus in the mid-1800s, and by the end of the nineteenth century it was served in restaurants as far away as Walla Walla, WA. It’s a lot harder to determine exactly which American state’s residents first had the idea to create a sandwich out of that chopped beef steak to create the burger we know and love today—there are at least five different claims ranging from Wisconsin to Texas.

A Library of Burger Toppings
We’re all so used to iceberg lettuce, ketchup, mayo, ballpark mustard, green relish, and sliced onion and tomato on our burgers that we hardly notice them any more. Try these unusual toppings for a change and experiment with your own combinations.

• thinly sliced button mushrooms sautéed with a smashed garlic clove in butter and olive oil
• crunchy-style peanut butter, bacon, raw onion and lettuce
• an egg fried in butter, over easy, with a leaf of iceberg lettuce and a slather of mayo
• avocado slices, bacon and tomato salsa
• caramelized onion, roasted red pepper and goat cheese
• tomato slices, thinly sliced red onion and fresh arugula
• black olive paste and slices of hard-boiled egg
• brie or Gorgonzola cheese

The ultimate “special sauce” – Margie’s Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Mayo

This invention of Calgary caterer Margie Gibb is the best burger condiment I know, but it’s also great on just about anything.

11/2 cups | 375 mL mayonnaise
1 whole head roasted garlic, cloves squeezed
out of their skins
1 tsp | 5 mL finely ground cumin (preferably made
from toasted cumin seeds)
1 Tbsp | 15 mL chopped chipotles in adobo sauce
(add more chipotle if you like it hot)

Please all ingredients in a food processor and whiz them until they’re thoroughly combined.

Now I see why the neighbors complained.

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

.

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!

Hey barbecue fans! Barbecue Secrets DELUXE! is now on bookstands across Canada and I've begun the big cross-Canada media tour.

My first TV appearance was May 2, when I visited Global TV B.C.'s Saturday Morning News program. Had a smoky and delicious time with anchor Sophie Lui, sports anchor/reporter Jay Janower and weekend meteorologist Kristi Gordon.

On the program I took the opportunity to announce the big Barbecue Secrets DELUXE1 BBQ Tweet Contest, and I got an instant response. Here are some of the first tweets that rolled in:

graemeb3@rockinronnie The easiest and most delicious BBQ salmon recipe: salmon covered in mild salsa placed on tinfoil. Great when camping too!

walkingpoles@rockinronnie Thank you for the Awesome demonstration on the News this morning. Nothing like a good BBQ. Don Marshall

dougflet@rockinronnie fav bbq appie: blanched asparagus with red pepper strips wrapped in prosciutto and grilled with maple bbq sauce.

dougflet@rockinronnie What an awesome concept--using social networking to build your business. Very impressive! Good luck with it.

carib1028@rockinronnie/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

erlewilliams@rockinronnie Grilled Squid 1lb squid .5c evo 6 garlic, minced 2 tbsp parsley, minced Juice of 1 lemon .5c mustard .5 tsp S&P

wendylangridge@rockinronnie side dish of mushrooms, foil them with chunky onions, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce.

SusanMain@rockinronnie I am a big fan of the BBQ! My friends and fam have been @ my house many times. Still use charcoal - not propane

wendymcleod10@rockinronnie I do my burgers with Gorganzola stuffed inside, instead of your herb butter, love BBQing, the man does not touch the BBQ

CortneyLessard@rockinronnie just saw you on the news, def making those ribs for the canucks game tonight! 

GiseleLaRose@rockinronnie Hi Ronnie! My secret weapon in my homemade bbq sauce or hamburgers is sesame oil and cumin. Sooo good, you have to try it!

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

YVRBcbudz@rockinronnie 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

mrkeithk@rockinronnie try marinating in Tequila, lime and chili poweder for some Mexican flavor

codias@rockinronnie Mediterranean Burger w/ cucumber, red onion, feta cheese (in core of burger), diced green+yellow pepper, tomato+sliced olives

Please feel free to join in the fun and tweet your own tip, recipe or story, or just post a comment (140 characters or less) as a comment on this blog post.

Woo hoo!  I just got word that Ronnie & Denzel's Natural Champions Honey Mustard BBQ Sauce has one Gold in the BBQ Sauce/Glaze/Marinade category of the 2009 Napa Valley Mustard Festival's World-Wide Mustard Competition! That mean's we're in the running for the Grand Champion Award, which will be announced at the awards gala at Black Stallion Winery in Napa on March 13th. This year's competition garnered more than 300 entries from seven countries in 19 categories.

The win follows on the heels of our two first place victories in the 2009 Scovie Awards. Our Island Heat BBQ Sauce came first in the World Beat category and our Southwestern Red BBQ Sauce won best Chipotle-based sauce.

In the industry's most rigorous blind tastings, a panel of the country's top culinary experts sampled hundreds of the world's most lauded gourmet foods, and the top scoring products each won a coveted Scovie banner. The awards are named for Wilbur Scoville who pioneered a rating scale for spicy foods.  The Scovie Awards have become the industry standard for excellence, with over 600 products from around the world competing for top honors in 60 categories.

Congrats to my Natural Champions partner Denzel Sandberg, who has been winning international awards for his line of delicious Denzel's Hot Sauces for years. Denzel cooks up our Ronnie and Denzel's BBQ sauces in his commercial kitchen in Enderby, B.C.

Ask your favorite gourmet food retailer to get in touch with Denzel and bring in our sauces in time for barbecue season!

Hey barbecue fans! Just a quick note to invite you to come see my grilling demos at the BC Home and Garden show this weekend, where I'll be on the Terasen Gas stage.

On Saturday at 5.00 p.m. my theme will be grilled desserts:

And on Sunday at 2.30 p.m. I'll be focusing on some great starters and sides:
Hope to see you there!

This just came over the wire. If you know anyone in Houston, please spread the word.

Here's the third installment of my interview with communications guru Steve Crescenzo.

Here's part two of my interview with old pal Steve Crescenzo (seen pictured on the right, with me and team mate Tom Masterson at the Nationals in Whistler in 2004). In this episode, entitled: Are You a Chicken or a Pork Butt, I get to the main courses of my barbecue-as-a-metaphor-for-communication theory.

In addition to my life as a barbecue fanatic, I am also a communication consultant. I have been working for years trying to find a way to put these two parts of my life together in perfect balance, and I'm coming close. This interview with me, in a recent podcast by my friend, communication guru Steve Crescenzo, has me talking about what barbecue can teach us about how to improve communication in the workplace. It's the first of three segments. Hope you enjoy it!

Saints be praised! The folks at Weber have finally decided to do a major overhaul of their Weber Bullet, which hasn't had a design change in many years. A comprehensive review on The Virtual Weber Bullet website reports that the new models are a backyard barbecuer's dream come true.

I'm particularly excited about the new, bigger 22-inch model, which features
• a built-in-thermometer (finally!)
• a two gallon water pan (it's about time!)
• a side door with an innovative bottom hinge that allows it to flip open (long overdue!)
• sturdier legs (right on!)
• a nifty extra handle on the lid (cool!)
•  a heat shield at the bottom to protect your deck or lawn (great news!).

All that, and the sucker will fit three or even four pork butts or three full racks of pork ribs (lying down) on a single cooking grate.

Apparently they're coming out next month at selected dealers, with a full rollout expected before Christmas.

Don't tell my wife, but I gotta get me one!

A few years ago I launched Barbecue Academy. It's a day-long corporate teambuilding workshop that teaches participants about championship barbecue in a fun, relaxing atmosphere with plenty of room for socializing.

I think it's the only event of its kind in the world. There are lots of hands-on barbecue workshops for the public, and some of the big barbecue celebrities in the U.S. do corporate cooking demos and catered events. And there are even some corporate teambuilding workshops based on cooking contests. But, as far as I know, this is the only corporate workshop that creates a competitive environment for participants, who divide into teams, prep and cook real barbecued chicken and ribs, and vie for cheap plastic trophies just like the big boys.

I've done three of them so far, for energy companies in Calgary, with positive feedback.

Here's what some of the participants have said:

Please forgive the promotional tone of this post. I'm doing this because I love putting on these workshops, and I want to do more. So far, I've done them only in Calgary, where I've found a great facility, but the concept is portable.

Here's a promo sheet: Download bbq_academy_promo.pdf

Pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested.

Here's a series of recipes that consitute a superb Jamaican-style summer meal.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Thighs

I had the pleasure of visiting the north coast of Jamaica in 2007 and got to taste some fantastic cooking in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, including the spicy, smoky jerk chicken that’s as close to the taste of the original barbacoa as you can get. Jerk Centres are everywhere, and each one has its own distinctive style. The common flavours are extreme chili heat and intense smoke – the heat derived from the infamously fiery habanero or scotch bonnet chili and the smoke coming from pimento wood, which has a sharp, mesquite-like aroma. The pimento tree berry is known outside of Jamaica as allspice, which is another of the key flavours of any jerk seasoning.

I’m using skinless chicken thighs here because the slow cooking technique tends to make chicken skin rubbery. If you leave the skin on, finish the dish by crisping the skin side of the chicken pieces over medium direct heat.

Note: The habaneros make this quite hot. If you want a milder jerk, substitute jalapenos or serranos. In any case, wear vinyl gloves when you’re handling them and watch not to get any in your eyes!

For the marinade:
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups green onion, trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp|22.5 mL fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
1 or 2 habanero chilis, chopped
2 tsp|10 mL whole Jamaican allspice, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan and then finely ground (or pre-ground allspice if you don’t want to fuss)
1/2 tsp|2 mL ground cinnamon
1 tsp|5 mL freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp|5 mL freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp|10 mL sugar
1 tsp|5 mL kosher salt
3 Tbsp|45 mL neutral flavored cooking oil like canola or corn oil
2 Tbsp|30 mL cider vinegar
1 tsp|5 mL of browning (liquid caramel – if you don’t have any, use 1 Tbsp|15 mL dark soy sauce or liquid gravy seasoning like Kitchen Bouquet or Bovril
a splash of Appleton Estate dark rum

4 lb|1.8 kg skinless chicken thighs (or one chicken cut into parts)

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend thoroughly. Reserve about 1/3 of the mixture and set aside.

Put the chicken in a lasagna pan or large baking dish and pour one cup|250 mL of the marinade over the chicken. Move the chicken pieces around so they are covered completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 or 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice to make sure the pieces stay coated evenly.

Prepare your smoker for barbecuing, bringing the temperature to 200–220˚F/95–100˚C. Just before you’re ready to put the chicken on, toss one chunk of mesquite (or pimento wood if you can get it) on the coals. Place the chicken pieces on the cooking grate and smoke for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting regularly with the remaining marinade, until the temperature at the thickest part of the biggest piece reads 160˚F|71˚C. (At this point, if you’re using chicken with skin on, you can crisp it up on a medium grill.) Remove from the cooker and let rest, lightly tented in foil, for five minutes. Serve with Coconut Beans and Rice and Jamaican Cole Slaw (see recipes below).

Alternative grilling method: If you want to cook the chicken on a gas or charcoal grill, prepare the grill for indirect low-medium heat (about 250˚F|120˚C) and cook as above, using mesquite as a flavoring agent if you like. At the end of the cooking time, raise the temperature of the grill to medium and crisp up the chicken pieces for a few minutes over direct heat.

Jamaican-style Dry Jerk Seasoning

Classic jerk is made with a wet marinade and takes time to prep and more time to marinate your meat. This rub gives chicken, pork or snapper – or whatever else you’re grilling – a classic Jamaican flavor without any fuss.

2 Tbsp|30 mL granulated onion
2 Tbsp|30 mL dried onion flakes (get flakes that aren’t too big)
1 Tbsp|15 mL ground dried thyme
1 Tbsp|15 mL kosher salt
2 tsp|10 mL ground allspice
1/2 tsp|5 mL freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp|5 mL ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp|15 mL sugar
2 tsp|10 mL freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp|10 mL cayenne or chipotle powder
1 1/2 Tbsp|22.5 mL dried chives

Note: Double or quadruple this recipe so you have some on hand. It’s super easy to make a great jerk marinade simply by whizzing 1/2 cup|125 mL of this rub in a food processor with a splash of cooking oil, a chopped habanero, a chopped onion and some chopped scallions.

Jamaican Cole Slaw

This recipe, adapted slightly from the excellent Jerk From Jamaica cookbook by Helen Willinsky (I’ve added raisins), is a superb side. If you want to serve it with something other than jerk, substitute your favorite rub for the Dry Jerk Seasoning.

4 cups|1 L shredded purple cabbage
3/4 cup|185 mL grated carrots
1/4 lb|125 g golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts, pistachios almonds or anything else you like)
1/2 cup|125 mL mayonnaise
1 Tbsp|15 mL cider vinegar
1 Tbsp|15 mL Jamaican-Style Dry Jerk Seasoning

Combine all the ingredients in a salad bowl and toss. Cover and chill for at least an hour and toss again just before serving.

Jamaican Rice and Beans

In Jamaica this dish is a staple. Jamaicans call it rice and peas, but it often features red kidney beans so I’ve renamed it to avoid confusion. The creamy, sweet richness of the coconut milk helps make this dish a perfect complement to jerk chicken or any spicy grilled meat.

2 14-oz/398-mL cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-oz/398-mL can coconut milk
2 thick slices double-smoked bacon, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 habanero chile (whole – do not chop)
2 cups|500 mL long grain white rice
2 cups boiling water
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a frying pan, sauté the chopped bacon until it’s starting to brown but is not yet crispy. Drain off the excess fat and set the bacon aside.

In a large saucepan combine the beans, coconut milk, bacon, green onion, thyme and the habanero. Cook over medium-high heat just until the mixture comes to a simmer. Add the hot water and stir in the rice. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to low and cook without disturbing for about 25 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Fluff before serving and don’t forget to remove the habanero so it doesn’t surprise anyone!

The Butt Shredders had a great time over the weekend at the Canadian National BBQ Championships. About 25 teams showed, despite a rock slide that turned a 2-hour drive into an 8-hour detour, but it was more than worth the trip. The highlight: we won the Budweiser King of the Grill contest (which is basically a chef's choice/unlimited category) with wild B.C. sockeye salmon with a Jack Daniel's and maple syrup glaze.  We also did well in chicken (2nd place thanks to the great work of Vince Gogolek) and butt (4th place, which is okay considering we had a smoker catasrophe at four in the morning when a lawn sprinkler went off and soaked our cookers while everyone was asleep).

Check out a few photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140011&l=7088e&id=838345116

Had a great time over the weekend helping out the folks at the BC Salmon Marketing Council promote one of the best foods on earth, BC wild salmon. I joined Vancouver chefs Karen Barnaby and Rob Clark demonstrating recipes from a fabulous new recipe booklet featuring BC's best wild salmon recipes.

Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday I'll be down at the Eat! Vancouver show helping promote one of my favorite foods to grill, plank and smoke -- Wild B.C. Salmon. Drop by the BC Salmon Marketing Council booth. I'll be sampling my favorite planked salmon recipe, Wild B.C. Spring Salmon with Whiskey Maple Glaze, and also selling my cookbooks and Ronnie & Denzel's BBQ sauces. Hope to see you there!

This just in:

VANCOUVER, BC – Barbecue Champion and cookbook author Rockin’ Ronnie Shewchuk and International Award Winning Hot Sauce maker Denzel Sandberg are proud to announce the launch of their “Ronnie & Denzel’s” line of all-natural barbecue sauces.

The newly formed partnership has produced four lip-smackin’ sauces that pay tribute to the unique barbecue regions of the Southern States and the Caribbean. They are:

•    Kansas City Style, a classic tomato-based sauce with a bit of spice and a nice tang;
•    Southwestern Red, a naturally smoky sauce with the flavours of New Mexico Chiles and spices;
•    Honey Mustard, which is loosely based on the sauces of South Carolina; and
•    Habanero Heat, a truly fiery sauce with flavours reminiscent of the Caribbean islands.

“Denzel is a great cook and it’s been a lot of fun collaborating with him to create this line of classic barbecue sauces,” says Ronnie. “They’re true to tradition at the same time as they reflect our unique styles.” The sauces are all natural and are made in small batches with high quality ingredients that are totally free of chemical preservatives.

Ronnie will be sampling the sauces at three launch events in the Lower Mainland:

North Vancouver: Saturday, May 17 from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. at Johnstone’s Barbecues & Parts, 165 Pemberton Ave, North Vancouver, 604-985-0234.

North Vancouver: Saturday, May 31 from 9.00 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at Westlynn Meats & Seafood, 1199 Lynn Valley Road (in the Lynn Valley Mall), (604) 988-7644.
 
Langley: Saturday, May 31 from Noon to 3.00 p.m. at Well Seasoned, A Gourmet Food Store, 20771 Langley By-Pass, (604) 530-1518.

Rockin’ Ronnie has authored two cookbooks, Barbecue Secrets and Planking Secrets, and was named one of “America’s greatest grillers” in Food & Wine magazine.  His competition BBQ team the Butt Shredders are two-time Alberta champs and they also won the 2004 Canadian Nationals. Denzel’s hot sauces have won 14 international food awards including the coveted Golden Chile at the 2005 Fiery Foods Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas as well as several 1st place showings in the Scovie Awards held in Albuqueque, New Mexico. To get your fix of Ronnie & Denzel’s new barbecue sauces, visit www.denzelshotsauce.com or see your local grocer.

Contact: Ronnie Shewchuk, ron@ronshewchuk.com (604) 351-1999.

My year-long sabbatical from the world of barbecue is officially over and I'm back in the saddle.

Although I'm sure this blog hasn't had many visits in the time it's been inactive, I'm very gratified that people are still listening to and watching my podcast archive to the tune of about 600 views a month. In the coming year I hope to do a bit more podcasting, but in the meantime, I've got several pieces of news:

* I've partnered with international hot sauce champion Denzel Sandberg to put together a new line of sauces under the brand "Ronnie & Denzel's All-Natural Barbecue Sauce." Watch for the official launch soon.

* I've begun work on my next book, Barbecue Secrets DELUXE!, which will be, as the title implies, a deluxe version of my first cookbook that will incorporate the best of Planking Secrets, a bunch of new recipes, new colour food photos, and some extra surprises.

* Just a few days ago I started twittering under the name rockinronnie. If you don't know about twitter, it's an interesting way you can keep in touch with friends or follow news about a topic or person you're interested in. Some have called it micro-blogging. I'm going to use it to update folks on the progress of the sauces and new book, share barbecue tips and generally twitter about outdoor cooking. Check it out at http://twitter.com/.

So, get on board. The Rockin' Ronnie train is about to leave the station on a new round of barbecue adventures.

Yours forever in smoke,

Rockin'

My friend Don Genova is a longtime radio personality specializing in food. His excellent blog, Pacific Palate, features an item on me and my latest cookbook, Planking Secrets. Check out the blog post, or download the mini-documentary and give it a listen.

[Sorry if you had trouble viewing this podcast. I initially posted the wrong media file, and also, I think libsyn doesn't support video on its player in the right hand column of this blog. So, here's a link directly to the podcast download.]

In this edition I follow pitmaster Adam Protter of Big Smoke Mountain Barbecue in Whistler, B.C. as he prepares, cooks and serves a whole hog at a special event at Dusty's Bar & Barbecue, home of the Canadian National Barbecue Championships.

VIEWER ADVISORY: This podcast contains graphic scenes of raw hog preparation and is not for the squeamish.

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Rockin' Ronnie Shewchuk is the author of Planking Secrets: How to Grill with Wooden Planks for Unbeatable Barbecue Flavor, and Barbecue Secrets: Unbeatable Recipes, Tips & Tricks from a Barbecue Champion, published by Whitecap Books. Find him, and tasty barbecue recipes, at www.ronshewchuk.com.

My thanks to everyone who attended the big Planking Secrets book launch event on May 16 at Vancouver's Hamilton Street Grill. What a great party, enhanced greatly by HSG chef Neil Wyle's hospitality, along with complementary food from Whitecap Books and delicious beverages from R&B Brewing and Appleton Estate rum.

The big thrill of the evening for me was a surprise visit from my planking mentor, famed barbecue chef Ted Reader, author of Sticks and Stones, a great book about planking and other things.

Thanks also to Johnstone's BBQs & Parts for providing the Weber Genesis grill that all the food was cooked on, and Johnstone's Bryan O'Connor for taking the fab photos of the event (see them here. Thanks, Bryan!)

Better late than never, I say.

First of all, a big thanks to all the participants in our big Secrets of Championship Barbecue workshop on Saturday, May 13.

For the first time in the ten-year history of the event, we staged a mini-contest at the end of the day, with two-person teams turning in their chicken and ribs to a group of judges provided by the Barbecue on the Bow Society, which held a judging workshop in conjunction with our event.

Good idea, and well organized by the wonderful Linda Matthie-Jacobs. Problem was, the turnout for the judging workshop was so high that we had 20 judges tasting each of 16 entries in two categories, so it took longer than expected to get the results tabulated.

So, thanks for your patience. Here are the winners...drum roll please.

CHICKEN

6th place: Kiss My Ash
5th place: Choke 'n' Smoke
4th place: All Ribs and Rooster
3rd place: Beavis and Pork Butt Head
2nd place: Our Butts are Glazed
1st place: Smells Like Smoke, Tastes Like Chicken

RIBS

6th place: Saucy Meat Masters
5th place: Porkaholics Anonymous
4th place: One Bone to Chew On
3rd place: Beavis and Pork Butt Head
2nd place: Kiss My Ash
1st place: All Ribs and Rooster

BEST TEAM NAME

Honourable Mention: Kiss My Ash
1st place: Porkaholics Anonymous

OVERALL RESULTS (COMBINED CHICKEN AND RIBS)

6th place: Choke 'n' Smoke
5th place: Saucy Meat Masters
4th place: Smells Like Smoke, Tastes Like Chicken
3rd place: Kiss My Ash
RESERVE GRAND CHAMPIONS: All Ribs and Rooster
GRAND CHAMPIONS: Beavis and Pork Butt Head

Congrats to the winners and thanks again for all who participated. I hope you all had fun!

Please note: first place winners in each category need to email me at rockinronnie@ronshewchuk.com with your mailing address so I can send you your cheap plastic trophy!

Also, those who either did not get a diploma please at rockinronnie@ronshewchuk.com with your correct name and mailing address and I'll get one out to you.

Yours forever in smoke,

Rockin' Ronnie

Just a quick note to all who participated in the big Secrets of Championship Barbecue event on Saturday, May 13 at the Big Rock Brewery in Calgary. I will be posting the results of the mini-competition on this blog as soon as they are available. Thanks to everyone for the great barbecue spirit, and watch this space for the winners!

Ronnie

This blog doesn't allow me to post more than one photo per entry, so here's a picture of my friend Rocky Danner, who was interviewed in Barbecue Secrets #5, which you'll see below.

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Barbecue Secrets podcast, a show celebrating the many pleasures of outdoor cooking. E-mail questions, tips and suggestions to barbecuesecrets@ronshewchuk.com. In this edition:

• 2:20 An interview with World Barbecue Organizer Rocky Danner who talks about how the people of the West Indies used empty U.S. Army oil drums to make the precursor of the modern back yard grill (the photo at the top of this post is an authentic Jamaican barbecue grill made from an oil drum)
  
• 12:41 Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn of amazingribs.com and I answer a couple of questions about ribs from listener Craig Jolly one about marinades and rubs, and another about the infamous "Texas crutch"
  
• 33:24 Competition Corner -- Jeff of Light My Fire BBQ asks about the merits of wood pellets and Glenn Erho of House of Q wonders if there's a better way to clean the cooking grates of his Smokey Mountain Cooker.
  

Links

Rocky Danner is a reporter for the National Barbecue News

Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn is the creator of www.amazingribs.com and he has a special section on marinades at http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/marinades.html

For more information about hardwood pellets, visit Traeger Industries' Web site at http://www.traegerindustries.com/tips6index.htm

There's a section of The Virtrual Weber Bullet, a Web site for afficionados of the famous Smokey Mountain Cooker, where they talk about cleaning the cooking grates of the Bullet. http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cleanup.html

Podcast #5  Recipe: Marinade for Pork

Since Craig and I talked about marinades, here's one of my favorites:

Pork tastes great no matter how you prepare them, but this sweet, aromatic marinade nicely offsets the richness of pork and gives it an exotic edge. You can use this for ribs, chops or tenderloins.

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently until sugar is dissolved.  Cool before marinating meat in a sealable bag for at least an hour, or overnight in the fridge if you want a stronger flavour.

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Rockin' Ronnie Shewchuk is the author of Planking Secrets: How to Grill with Wooden Planks for Unbeatable Barbecue Flavor, and Barbecue Secrets: Unbeatable Recipes, Tips & Tricks from a Barbecue Champion, published by Whitecap Books. Find him, and more recipes, at www.ronshewchuk.com.

This is the place where my bi-weekly podcast is posted, but I just realized that I'm also able to blog in this space. So, I hereby launch the Barbecue Secrets blog, in which I'll try to post thoughts and photos periodically, and answer questions, if you have any. Blogs are about conversation, so please, if you visit here, post a comment to keep the ball rolling! Yours forever in smoke, Ronnie

Just wanted to post a picture of the Cobb, a really great portable cooker from South Africa. Listen to my interview with Johan Olsen of Cobb Canada in Barbecue Secrets podcast #4 below.