"bbq" news and stories

We'll be the first to admit it: We don't get to watch as much food TV as we'd like. When you're hunched over a humming stand mixer and covered in buttercream, it simply isn't practical to keep an eye on the LCD in the next room for the latest casting call of fourth-string regional chefs, freakish "ordinary Joes" and pseudo-celebrity kitchen dabblers (Brian Boitano? Really?) trying their hand at the reality cooking circuit.

But sometimes, in the winter lulls between the endless variants of Chefs "Top" and "Iron," we can't help but leave the sifter in the drawer, crack open a box of Cheez-Its and veg out for a little while on the sofa. Here's what we dropped in on this past week.

"Worst Cooks in America": We're not quite sure what purpose, exactly, the Food Network's latest amateur-abomination is supposed to serve. It certainly doesn't have the would-be sexy, aspirational-lifestyle qualities of Bravo's cooking shows ("Chef Academy," we're looking at you) -- unless, of course, you consider befuddled soccer moms and socially awkward copy editors fumbling with pasta makers "sexy."

How does Georgia barbeque differ from Kansas barbeque? Quiz yourself on barbeque recipes from all different regions of the country.

Photo: Bobbique

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly establishments across the country.

In New York City, August struck for real last Saturday. With the last bastion of summer upon us and only a few more weeks of heat before the weather starts to cool off, all the remaining weekends are "getaway day" musts!

For America's largest city, getting away often means heading to the shores of Long Island. In the waterfront village of Patchogue, patrons at Bobbique can grab great barbecue and great beer all in one spot ... and hear live blues music on the side. Brews, blues and barbecues: If those things don't say summer, what does?

Still, according to manager Jessica Higgins, "Business booms all year round. We have such a diverse selection of beers; we attract a lot of locals." And local patrons like local beers. "We try to stock at least one Blue Point on draft, which is extremely local," Higgins says, referring to the Long Island brewery located less than a mile from their door. "We keep some Brooklyns on too, but we also like to showcase a lot of beers you can't get anywhere else."

The draft list, after the jump.

Cow head in banana leaves at Hill Country. Photo: Kat Kinsman

There comes a time in every girl's life -- when she's ripping open the long-braised skull of a short-lived calf in order to better wobble out its beer-marinated brain -- that she smiles contentedly and realizes she loves her life an awful lot. Then she goes for the eyes.

Well OK, not every girl's life -- but at least those of a troika of squeam-free dames including Hill Country's executive chef and cookbook author Elizabeth Karmel, Homesick Texan writer Lisa Fain and lucky, lucky me. And it all happened because of Twitter.

See a step-by-step barbacoa making slideshow and read a description after the jump. Warning -- it's not for vegetarians or the faint of stomach.

As promised, we're beginning our recap of the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party this past weekend, featuring 15 of the best pitmasters from around the USA. After you take a dip in the barbecue sauce fountain, courtesy of Mike Mills and Amy Mills of 17th Street Bar & Grill, click on the post to see our photos. "Peace, Love & Barbecue," everyone!