A surprisingly competent barbecue how-to video on Texas beef ribs and brisket from Austin-based director Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Sin City, Once Upon A Time in Mexico, Spy Kids). This is actually taken from the Planet Terror bonus features and also containing similar grimey production values.
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–Monk
– It’s Saw’s BBQ in Birmingham, AL vs Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby, NC for the championship in Garden and Gun’s Ultimate Barbecue Bracket Challenge; vote until 10pm ET Thursday
.@Sawsbbq or @Red_Bridges_BBQ? Who will be crowned our #GGBBQBracket winner? http://t.co/sEIJjPFpSv pic.twitter.com/Ceeikiv4jt
— Garden & Gun (@gardenandgunmag) March 31, 2015
– RIP Old Hickory House – it is closing in large part due to the light rail blue line extension construction slowing down business but could reopen somewhere else; CBJ’s article on the closing
Old Hickory House BBQ will close its doors for good on April 4. The well-known, family-run barbecue joint has been in business since 1957, and has operated at its current spot at 6538 N. Tryon since 1972.
– Ed Mitchell’s whole hog barbecue is now available at Midwood Smokehouse as of 5pm on Monday:
While y’all were still in bed dreaming of the weekend we were up early continuing to hone our craft… https://t.co/Cr3B90bV5l
— Midwood Smokehouse (@MidwoodBBQ) March 30, 2015
– Speaking of Midwood, looks like things are starting to take shape at their forthcoming Ballantyne location
Say hello to my little friend! – Just finished the installation of this beast in our Ballantyne location opening soon pic.twitter.com/nfdZ0PSpNC — Midwood Smokehouse (@MidwoodBBQ) March 26, 2015
– A few barbecue terms you may not be aware of, including “dip” and “outside brown”
– More on the recently uncovered Lexington barbecue pits from Our State Magazine
The Great Lexington Barbecue Cover-Up http://t.co/XormsOI8Wm pic.twitter.com/akS5yHVrW6
— Our State Magazine (@ourstatemag) March 31, 2015
Sure, the halls of City Hall are lined with Barbecue Festival posters going back to the first one, in 1984, and there’s a little pig statuette across from the municipal cashier’s desk, but the outside is just boring, a squat one-story yawn of an office with a pointed gray roof and white stucco that sounds hollow when you tap it. And even here there is barbecue, archaeologically speaking. “They found the pit,” Vinson says, really punching the last word.
– Marie, Let’s Eat! takes in Bama Boys BBQ in Henagar, AL and Sugar’s Ribs in Chattanooga, TN
– From the sports world, the latest in the “bbq”/”barbecue” vs “cookout” debate
BECAUSE IT WAS A COOKOUT pic.twitter.com/FreMfzw2S3
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) March 27, 2015
Name: Peace -N- Hominy Q Shack
Date: 3/25/15
Address: 403 E Catawba St Ste 200, Belmont, NC 28012
Order: “Pul’d” pork sandwich with BBQ slaw, hush puppies, and Sun Drop (link to menu)
Price: $9.50
Monk: Belmont is a small town situated just off of I-85 between Charlotte and Gastonia that is mostly known for being the home of Belmont Abbey College, a small Catholic college. I haven’t really spent much time that way but last year a promising looking barbecue spot called Peace -N- Hominy Q Shack opened up. Being that Belmont is actually a little bit closer to where we currently live than barbecue restaurants in Fort Mill, Concord, or Kannapolis (since I’ve exhausted most Charlotte options), I decided to check it out.
I quite like the space that Peace -N- Hominy occupies at the rear of an older building that also houses Belmont’s Drug Store. It’s a smaller space and there aren’t but a handful of tables available in the main dining area (which were all full that day during lunch), so I headed back to the barstool seating against a wall just off the open kitchen.
Peace -N- Hominy state on the menu that they smoke their pork for 13 hours with apple-wood and hickory but from what I could tell, they do their smoking with a gasser. Which you could taste in the dry and coarsely pulled pork I had on my sandwich. The chunks that did have some bark were a notch above the other pieces but on the whole it was crying out for one of their table sauces (available in hot, vinegar, and mustard).
Speedy: Which sauce did you try? Did it help?
Monk: I tried the vinegar sauce, which helped a bit in terms of dryness. Another thing that helped was the barbecue slaw on the sandwich itself. One suggestion, though – they should put the slaw on top of the pork (as most places do) so that by the time I receive the sandwich the bottom half of the bun isn’t soaked through due to the weight of the meat sitting on top of the slaw. This resulted in me having a somewhat hard time eating the sandwich without it falling apart.
The hush puppies come lightly dusted with what I believe is cinnamon sugar and is almost more dessert than savory side. Nonetheless, they are quite good despite being somewhat inconsistent – some were a little more underdone than others.
And a note about the paper straws they utilized. Props to Peace -N- Hominy for refusing to use styrofoam products – I wish more restaurants would do this – but a paper straw is where I draw the line. Its just not natural to sip through a straw that is slowly disintegrating and breaking down with every sip. I try not to hyperbolize too much (I usually leave that to Speedy), but a paper straw truly is the devil’s instrument.
Speedy: I have no idea what you’re talking about…
Monk: Sure you don’t, Speedy…
In addition to having a pretty good name, Peace -N- Hominy Q Shack is a decent little barbecue joint. They are unfortunately at a bit of a disadvantage by not using a wood burning smoker from the get-go but are worth checking out in Belmont.
Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs
– The “Elite Ate” of Garden and Gun’s Barbecue Bracket has been posted; in the Mid Atlantic region Skylight Inn has been eliminated by Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge and faces Lexington Barbecue. The rest of the bracket is located here and voting ends Thursday at 10pm
– Speaking of brackets and barbecue, Red Clay Soul’s Georgia BBQ Bracket Challenge is also down to its “Great Eight”
– Last week, Robert Moss took a deeper look at barbecue spaghetti in Memphis
– Marie, Let’s Eat! stops at Hodges Bar-B-Que in Decatur, GA and Blue Sky Barbecue in Woodstock, GA in two of his latest chapters
– The pitmasters for the 2015 Big Apple Barbecue Block Party have been announced, and Ed Mitchell is not attending this year
– Another reminder that the NCBBQA cooking and judging school is this Saturday, March 28
– Aaron Franklin is a James Beard finalist for Best Chef: South
– If, like me, you are less than familiar with Alabama and Georgia barbecue, here’s a primer
When it comes to regional barbecue, some people claim that neither Georgia nor Alabama has a distinctive style. We say, think again.
Sure, you can find everything from Texas brisket to Memphis ribs in Atlanta, but on the two-lane highways, a definite Georgia style emerges. Pork shoulders or hams are cooked over hickory and dressed in a thin tomato-and-vinegar sauce. They’re served with Brunswick stew, a hearty combination of chicken, beef, or pork (or all three) simmered with tomatoes and corn. Some of these elements carry over into Alabama—chopped pork dressed in tomato-and-vinegar sauce, plus a somewhat thinner Brunswick stew. But there’s too much variation to identify a single Alabama style. Sauces range from ruddy, tomato-based mixtures to thick mustard-spiked concoctions. Most distinctive is Alabama’s mayonnaise-based white sauce. Some are traditional, others more modern, but one element unites: They’re all delicious.