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'