"barbecue" news and stories

As we approach the height of grilling season, you may discover that your grill grate is still covered in gunked-on residue from last year's meals.

Dads who love to cook, eat or drink typically consider themselves the household "top chefs" and taste-testers. These Father's Day gifts will give him the tools to cook more efficiently, experiment more wildly and consume food and beverages with a sense of humor. (Useful and funny? We can't think of anything better.)

Check out our product picks after the jump.

New York City may be known for a plethora of culinary delights -- pizza, bagels, knishes and more -- but authentic regional BBQ has seldomly been counted in its repertoire. However, as the 8th Annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party took over Manhattan this past weekend, 17 famous pitmasters flooded in from BBQ capitals around the country to share their meaty goods with an estimated 100,000 New Yorkers.

Organized by Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, Jazz Standard and Blue Smoke, the event featured BBQ meats galore, live music by acts like Bob Schneider, Carolyn Wonderland and Nick Curran & The Lowlifes, plus a slew of free cooking demos and culinary discussions in the Every Day with Rachael Ray seminar tents.

The event skewed toward beef and pork, as ribs and whole hog dominated the menu, most notably by the Texas Salt & Pepper Beef Ribs of New York's Blue Smoke pitmaster Ken Callaghan, the succulent, fall-off-the-bone sweet St. Louis-style ribs from Dallas's Baker's Ribs, and whole hog from both Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville and The Pit in Raleigh, N.C.

Some great pitmasters may guard their secrets, but there are plenty of you out there who are willing to share, and we pitmaster wannabes thank you for that. Blogger joshbousel at Meatwave, a devotee of "The Legend," three-time Grand World Champion Mike Mills, cooks up some smokin' good ribs with a tropical touch, and provides readers with a how-to, complete with the recipe for the rub he dubs Magic Dust. The twist here is to smoke, then braise, then smoke again. The result? "The pineapple, honey, and garlic flavors, along with the extreme tenderness [of the meat], produced one superbly succulent rib," he says.

Check out pitmaster Mike Mills' Apple City Ribs, in the cookbook "Peace, Love and Barbecue", or take your pick from the recipe selection at Kitchen Daily. Or share your own secrets to your best ribs recipes in the Comments section here. And finally, here's a shout out to Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Q, in Wingdale, N.Y., where I've never taken a bite of a rib or a brisket that wasn't smoked to perfection.

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While traditionalists still take their eggs in the morning and their 'cue in the afternoon, a few experimental pitmasters are putting their own spin on the "eggs on everything" trend that's lately seized high-end pasta joints and pizzerias.

At Luella's Bar-B-Que in Asheville, the most popular brunch dish is a scramble of pulled pork, collards and eggs. And over in Houston, restaurant critic Robb Walsh recently conferred 'favorite dish' status on Plantation BBQ Trailer's tortilla crammed with barbecued brisket and scrambled eggs.

"When you crack that yolk over a barbecue sandwich, you've just added creamy lusciousness," says Luella's owner Jeff Miller, likening the combination to the bacon lardon and poached egg that might surface on an Old World salad.