Home Of Hoss's BBQ & Catering Co.

Ramp Cognac Cream Sauce

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This is a recipe for a ramp cognac cream sauce I made for a peppercorn crusted ribeye. You can substitiute the ramps with, mushrooms(really good with morels!)to make a mushroom cognac cream sauce. Cayenne in small amounts (a pinch) gives a cream sauce more depth.

Ingredients:

• ¼	Cup Chopped Ramps
• 1	Clove Garlic Minced
• 1	Clove Shallot Minced
• 1	pt Heavy Cream
• 1	Tbs Butter
• ½	Cup Cognac or Brandy
• tt	Kosher Salt
• tt	White Pepper
• t	Cayenne

Preparation Directions:
• Have everything chopped and near by when you start.

Cooking Directions:
• Melt butter in a hot saute pan
• Saute the garlic,shallots and ramps till soft
• Deglaze with Cognac.(carefully this will ignite!)
• Reduce the Cognac by half.
• Add the heavy cream and reduce till desired thickness
• Seasone with salt,pepper, and the cayenne
• Serve over steak or any other grilled or sauted meats

Special Instructions:
• If using mushrooms add the mushrooms first let them cook for a while then add your garlic and shallots or else they will burn.

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May 18th & 19th Danville Va. 2007 Competition!

This past Friday and Saturday the Hoss's BBQ team traveled to Danville Va. for the 7th annual Pigs In The Park BBQ Competition. 

This years team was made up of Hoss, Wayne, Jodi, and Dan.

   

We arrived after a slight delay during our travels.

Once we were set up we started prepping for the Anything Butt categories.  We prepared a smoked pizza off the Egg for the entree contest. 

Then we had a chocolate mousse brownie for dessert.  After the Anything Butt turn-ins we shared our food with other teams and got to see many old friends and meet some new friends.  Often the late night hours when everyone is up watching their pitts, is the only time that cookers get to spend with each other. 

Saturday morning was busy with trying to get all of our turn-ins ready for the judges.  The first turn-in is chicken which is due at 12:00.  After Chicken is the Rib turn-in at 12:30.  Followed by Pork at 1:00 and Brisket at 1:30.  Then it is time to break down camp and wait for the awards ceremony. 

We placed 29th overall out of 46 teams.  We were 26th in chicken, 22nd in ribs, 42nd in pork and 12th in brisket.  In the Anything Butt categories we placed 12th in entrees and 8th in dessert.  We got to see many of our friends such as Dizzy Pig BBQ, Red White and Que, Pure and Sinful BBQ, and My Side of The Mountain get call-ups during the awards ceremony. 

This contest is put on by Bill McMann and his crew of volunteers for the city of Danville.  It is always one of the best contest that we have ever traveled to compete in.  They take extremely great care of the cooks and our teams to ensure that we have a great weekend.  Once again we were not disappointed by their hospitality!

So once again the teams got all their cooking done on time.  Hopefully with a little more rest we will be back next year!

To see our competition boxes please go to the photo album for turn-ins.

Waldorf Eggfest 2007

On May 5th I traveled to Waldorf Md for the 2007 Eggfest.  An Eggfest is a festival put on by a distributor of Big Green Eggs to help spread the awareness of the Egg. 

The Eggfest in Waldorf is sponsored by Seasonal Distributors.  Many different people cook on demo Eggs throughout the day, and then the demo eggs are sold at a discounted price.  I was able to see many friends of mine that I have met over the years on the BBQ circuit.  It was also a great time to meet some of the Big Green Egg forum users face to face. 

My Dad, Mike Hess also made the trip down to the Eggfest, with my little brother and sister.  Dad enjoyed seeing all the new ways he could use his Egg.  He also found the solution to cooking multiple racks of ribs on his Egg.

The competition rig of the Wimer's was also really cool to see in person.  The way all four of the XL models look inside their trailer is amazing.  There were also other teams represented such as Dizzy Pig, BBQ Guru, and Free Range BBQ to name a few.  Also Ray Lampe AKA Dr. BBQ was set up next to Dizzy Pig cooking on one of the demo Eggs.  It was a pleasure to meet Dr. BBQ and get both my book and Dad's book signed by Ray.

The Eggfest was a great time and experience to see how many different uses there are for the Egg.  It was nice to be an observer this year and I will hopefully cook for the next Eggfest. 

Book Review:Smokestack Lightning

Smokestack Lightning Adventures In The Heart Of Barbecue Country was written by Lolis Eric Elie and photos were taken by Frank Stewart. Published originally in 1996.

This book is the result of two men and their journey to find the best Barbecue in the country. Their journey took them through the country from the Carolinas, St Louis, Kansas City Texas and up to Chicago.  Lolis and Frank ate at many of the famous BBQ shacks in every stop they made.  Often traveling way off the beaten path to find the ultimate BBQ.  The stories that they are told by many of the legends such Ollie Gates of Gates& Sons Bar-B-Q, in Kansas City. 

The pictures in the book are all in black and white and many of are different pitt masters and their pitts. I love the quality and agelessness that the black and white photos produce.    The stories that are told about how the BBQ changes from one region to the next are awesome.  The book also has a few recipes in the back of the book from many of the different restaurants they visited on their trip.  This book was part of the inspiration for Drew and I during our travels this winter. As we traveled across the country to see friends and family with  my Big Green Egg we often stopped at different BBQ Joints where ever we were.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is intrested in the history of BBQ.  Here is the link to the book on Amazon.com.  http://www.amazon.com/Smokestack-Lightning-Adventures-Barbecue-Country/dp/1580086608'

Pastrami

Here is the recipe that Hoss uses at work for fresh homemade pastrami.  This can be cooked on any type of smoker that you have available.  Please see the Photo album for pictures that were taken during various Pastrami Cooks.

Ingredients:

• 10	lb Fresh Corned Beef Brisket
• 2	Cup Coarsely ground Black Peppercorns
• 1	Cup Freshly Ground Coriander Seeds
• 1	Cup Garlic Powder
• 1	Cup Onion Powder

Preparation Directions:
• Soak the fresh corned beef brisket in water overnight. Changing the water at least 3 times throughout the soak.
• Mix all the dry ingredients into a rub.
• Remove the brisket from the water and dry off any moisture.
• Coat with the peppercorn rub

Cooking Directions:
• Smoke at 220f till an internal temperature of 200 degrees is reached. Let the pastrami rest at least 20 minutes before slicing. You can also let it cool overnight slice the pastrami cold then reheat to serve.

What Happens At A Competition?

The BBQ Competitions that we participate in are sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS).  This sanction group has four categories which a competitor must enter to be eligible for Grand Champion.  The four categories are ,Chicken, Ribs (Spares Or Baby Backs), Pork (Whole shoulder, Butts or Picnics), and Beef Brisket. 

Some competitions have optional Categories that are called Anything Butt.  These categories are entries that are not part of the main four meat categories.  Often dessert and side dishes are entered in this optional category.   The Anything Butt competitions are usually held Friday night during the competition.   During the Anything Butt part of the competition is when our team can showcase some of our culinary training.  This is also a great time to meet some of the other BBQ teams at the competition.

Since the Brisket and pork butts take up to 15 hours to cook, we spend most of the night up with the smoker.  We watch to make sure the smoker stays at the right temperature through out the night.  Around 3 or 4 in the morning we start to prep up the ribs to get them ready to put on the smoker.     The chickens are then prepped up around 6 in the morning, since they have the shortest cooking time. 

The main categories start at noon on Saturday with the chicken entries.  Followed every thirty minutes by each of the other categories.  The ribs are after the chicken followed by pork and then the brisket.  This is often the crunch time for competitors, trying to make sure their boxes are perfect.

After the final category there is generally about 3 hours before the awards ceremony.  Often this is the time that we share with our friends from other teams.  By trading each others BBQ you get to learn more about what different teams are cooking.  Many start to pack up during this time for the long trips home after the awards ceremony. 

The awards ceremony is where you get to find out who won in each category.  Often you get to see many of your friends get called up and hopefully your own team!

The Big Green Egg

Well it is time to discuss one of the other tools that we use at Hoss's BBQ and Catering Co.  That tool is The Big Green Egg.  This cooker is made of ceramic and is extremely efficient in how it cooks. 

This cooker can sear steaks at temperatures of 750 degrees F, and yet can maintain temperatures as low as 200 degrees F for cooking BBQ. 

You can also bake bread and pizzas on the egg using some other ceramic accessories. 

It takes a lot of wood to run the Catering Rig for one or two pork butts.  Where as the Egg can sustain cooks up to 15 hours on one load of lump charcoal. 

The fact that the Egg is so versatile is why it is loved by many BBQ enthusiasts.  Both of Hoss's parents now have Big Green Eggs at their homes in Tuscon, Az and Washington DC. 

Hoss's Favorite Websites

We have created a list of BBQ related websites for easy access to other sites we find valuable.  We hope that if you are looking for information, or BBQ products you will visit these sites.  Many of the sites are from friends that Hoss has met on the competition trail, others are ones he found doing research.  The links list is located in the about section of the site.

Paella

This is for making paella on a Large Egg. I used the egg to sear the chicken by opening the bottom vent to control the heat of the pan. I then cooked at a 350 f dome temp.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½	tsp Saffron threads	• 1	medium white onion small diced
• 2	Cup water	• 1	jalapeno pepper minced
• 1	tsp black pepper	• 6	Clove garlic minced
• 3	tsp paprika	• 1	red bell pepper short Julienne
• 1	tsp garlic powder	• 1	bunch scallions bias cut green part cut white part in 1/2 inch segments
• 1/8	tsp cayenne pepper	• 2	Cup medium grain rice
• 3	tsp Kosher salt	• 2	Cup Chicken stock
• 1	lb raw chorizo	• ¼	Cup Olive oil
• 1	lb 16x 20 shrimp peeled and cleaned	• 1	Cup frozen peas
• 8	thighs chicken	• ¼	Cup Madeira, or white wine

Preparation Directions:
• Toast the saffron threads in a sauce pan till you smell the saffron's aroma. Then add the water. Simmer 5 minutes. then let sit 10 minutes. This is called saffron tea
• Combine the Black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper, Kosher salt. This will be the rub for the chicken
• Rub the chicken and let sit covered in frig for at least one hour.
• Break the raw chorizo up into pieces or dice chorizo if you have cooked sausage.
• Cut scallion tops on the bias and reserve for garnish. Cut the white parts into ½ inch pieces to cook into the paella
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Cooking Directions:
• Heat the paella pan up on the egg. Add olive oil. Sear the chicken till nicely browned. (this may take two batches) then remove chicken from pan
• If pan drippings are not burned at all  proceed to brown the chorizo
• once chorizo is browning add the onions, Jalapenos,bell pepper,garlic and the white parts of the scallions saute approx. 2 minutes.
• Once vegetables and chorizo are sauted add the rice. You are trying to coat the rice with the oil and lightly toasting the rice. This takes about 1-2 minutes.
• Deglaze with the Madeira or white wine.
• Next add all the saffron tea.
• Add the seared chicken to the pan, and then cover with chicken stock. All the stock may not fit at this time it depends on your pan.
• Close the BGE lid and maintain a 350 degree dome temp.
• After Approx ten minutes add the shrimp and frozen peas. You can stir them into the paella now or later. Also if all the stock did not fit you can add the rest now.
• Let cook another 10 minutes and check the doneness of the rice and chicken thighs. The paella may take up to another 20 minutes.
•

Special Instructions:
• Garnish with bias cut scallions
• You can add any other seafood you want. Clams and mussels should be added in with the chicken. They should open after 20 minutes.

Price Quotes!!

  We strive at Hoss's to provide our guests with unique party experiences.  This means that due to specific needs of each party we calculate the pricing based on your needs.  Please contact us for a price quote.