Category — food_and_drink

Most of you have already seen these as I put links to the vids on Facebook the other day.

But in case you didn’t get a chance, here are some videos I took quickly before going to my friend’s annual rib-off event.

I still have to edit the video from the event, I’ll try to do that tonight, but I didn’t shoot a lot of footage.

Note: I wasn’t in last place this year (according to the hostess), but I didn’t place in the top 3 (they only announced the top three this year).

Vid 1 – Quick Intro

Vid 2 – Glazin’

Vid 3 – All done

I once read a story about Chuck Norris that I’d like to share.

[Disclaimer- I can't remember where I read this story, and it's possible that I read it about Superfoot Wallace , or Master Hee Il Cho, not Norris]

Supposedly a young Chuck would show up at various karate tournaments with many extra uniforms in his equipment bag. As any good competitor, he would get there early, and scout the facilities, the locker room and the other competition.

But young Chuck would also go an extra step. He’d chat up the referees of the tournament. He’d find out about their background. Maybe one ref had come from a Tae Kwon Do background, or perhaps another from Shotokan (Karate) or another from Judo or Kyokushin.

Chuck smartened up- he’d figure out which ref would be judging his next match and wear the uniform from that ref’s background. ie -If the guy who had studied Judo for 10 years before studying Karate was judging, he’d wear a Judo uniform.

Supposedly this gave just the slightest edge to the young competior in his matches. And in closely matched bouts, you need any edge you could get. Ask anyone who’s been to Vegas.

Since then rules have been changed and standardized so I don’t think this is possible any more, but I like the story.

So wtf does this have to do with BBQ? Well, I’m going back to my friend’s BBQ Rib Cookoff event this weekend. Remember those videos from last year? (see below)

Well last year I went in blind, I didn’t get all the facts that I could have before the fun. I made BBQ ribs the way I like them- drier than normal- and clearly that wasn’t the way to go.

The fact of the matter is, I’m not particularly fond of baby back pork ribs. And I’m not a fan of bbq sauce. But it doesn’t matter- the judges ARE. The rest of the crowd is into sickly sweet sticky sauce. So I’ll adapt. I’ll float like a butterfly and sting like a chipotle. Cause I’m comin’ at ya!

Btw, I don’t hate pork ribs, it’s just that I’ve only liked a few different recipes in the past few years- Kev & Lisa’s Hawai’ian ribs, Kenny & Patrick’s Ribs, some ribs I had at TownHouse in Emeryville and that’s about it. And I’m sure Melissa C makes good ribs given her cooking skill and home state.

I’m just a bbq brisket lovin’ Texan who likes his sauce on the side.

Okay, enough ranting … here’s something fun.

After watching that Begbie (Robert Carlyle) Johnnie Walker vid the other day (wait, it looks like it got taken down…), I stumbled across Ralfy’s videos on youtube (under ralfystuff).

He’s a whisky anorak and posts a lot of reviews. They’re actually pretty damn good.

My favorite so far is this one below- It’s a bit long, so skip to 8:20 and watch it for a minute or two if you’re in a hurry. But either way, subscribe to his youtube channel.

40(!?) takes to shoot this ad:

The fog’s starting to burn off- I hope it goes away.

The tamal should help.

at the ferry building

(Bryan sent me this) If you aksed me- “how about some tacos with homemade tortillas and braised beef?” I’d say, “fuckin’ A, hand me some!”

But if I knew that there would be hentai-inspried spikes involved, I’d probably pass.

Check out this awesome vid from Foodtease called Braised Cow Lips.

The part that freaked me out is when he dragged his knife across the spikes after cooking. That noise haunts me.

Go watch it on their site though- it’s much better in the larger format.

I want some tacos now…

Cory, Jen, Jane & I ate brunch at The Kitchen Table in Mountain View.

I had a Chakchouka and it was really good.

The Kitchen Table is a Kosher restaurant and they’re closed Friday night – and on Saturday.

Chakchouka for brunch

update:

people keep asking me about the dish- It was served with a fresh (homemade?) pita bread. It’s like a Jewish-Tunisian Huevos Rancheros… and it was damn good.

This is for Cory, Marc and Kevin–

St George's Whiskey ... Gelato?

Gelato at Naia, that place near Angie’s in the ‘Stro

St George’s (Hangar One)

I found this post via vinography…

-Retailers and restaurateurs are at the mercy of the small number of wholesalers who provide them with wine. The retailers and restaurants must choose only from the wines that wholesalers provide. This is despite the fact that there are many other wines they’d like to carry on their shelves and menus but are by law prevented from purchasing because they must deal only with wholesalers.

-Restaurateurs and retailers, just as in pre-prohibition times, often feel obligated to not criticize and follow the directions of the wholesalers for fear they will be “cut off” from the limited supply they actually have access to.

In essence, the corrupt circumstances that the three-tier system was meant to clean up after Prohibition ended now exist again, only with the wholesalers in charge.

and:

Yet, just as more wholesalers are needed to handle the demand and the growing number of producers, their number has been reduces to usually no more than three or four distributors in each state handling all distribution. In some cases, such as Texas, two wholesalers (Glazers and Republic) control 99% of the market

READ IT!

Melissa sent me this, now I have to memorize it

(I’ve never learned to play that damn song on guitar, wtf?)

Oh, the reason she sent it to me is because I posted a pic on FB of the care package my mom sent me today:

ltd ed pez dispenser?!

How cool is that?