Back at it

I'm back at it after a lay off and getting ready to travel to Europe this summer so I'll be writing about food and fun. I hope you'll join me along the way! Cheers

Sisters Oregon BBQ

Sisters was our latest stop for BBQ at Slick's Que Co. Authentic Pit Bar-B-Que (www.slicksque.com). This is a different dinning experience from the road side and event vendor wagons we've visited so far. Right off the main road through town, Cascade avenue, you can't miss it. There's a BBQ pit cooker right along the road in case you don't notice the western front building housing this new restaurant.

Five of us dropped in for dinner the other night and got to sample several items on the menu. We tried the baby back ribs, beef brisket, turkey, and the pulled pork for our meat selections. Ribs are Friday and Saturday night only, they also offer coleslaw and or potato salad with your order. I have to say the potato salad is unique and tasty for sure. All the meat had a good smokey flavor but not overly strong. For extra sides you can get mac and cheese, baked beans (with some nice sweet fruit bits added), and some garlic mashed potatoes. We tried them all!

If you go to their web site you will find this quote; "We use the "Low and Slow" split-wood method of smoking our meats. We make our own rubs, sauces and sides. We stick to simple and time-proven Texas and Southern "Que" Quality Standards. Come try Authentic Pit BBQ!"

let me know what you think.

BBQ cookin by the book

I just purchased this book on Amazon, I've had an earlier book Steven published that has been a great resource for recipes and ideas. I'm looking forward to trying this one out, if it's anything like the book I have I'll be using it regularly. Let me know if you have a copy and what your favorite recipe is.

Oklahoma BBQ on highway 99 in Eugene

This past week I dropped in to the Oklahoma smokehouse BBQ for lunch. As you can see from the menu that have a pretty good selection of BBQ to choose from. I decided to go for the pulled pork sandwich along with a side of beans. They include some really good gritty corn bread, the kind that has some substance to it! The pork was tasty and the beans have a distinct flavor, kinda sweet with some underlying spice to them.

This is a roadside stand that was custom built for the owners back in Lawrence Indiana. I caught Joe splitting wood and loading up the fire pit when I came by. He was cooking on this large custom built rotisserie pit with hardwood. Oak this day, but they'll use fruit tree wood when they can get it.

Joe tells me his brother Aron and him opened up this stand two years ago. Aron learned to BBQ back in Norman Oklahoma where he went to school to learn meteorology. He did BBQ and sold it on the street to football fans heading to the game and was mentored by a local and got direct feedback from the fans on the quality of what he was doing.

They typically cook a beef brisket for 13 to 20 hours, chicken for 4 or 5, and pulled pork for 10 to 12 hours. Joe tells me the pulled pork sandwich is the specialty. My friend Vern told me he tried the Alabama white sauce and liked it.

You can get their gameday tailgater for $65, including a rack of ribs, 1 lb of beef brisket, 1 lb. of pulled pork, 4 large sides, and 9 pieces of corn bread. Sounds Gooood! Open Monday through Saturday 11:00 to 7:00 at 1055 Hwy 99 N (2 miles south of the beltline). 541-912-9674. Give it a try!

4th of July weekend BBQ's

Look at that Turkey! Golden brown and cooked to perfection. After all, the Turkey was going to be our National bird so it's only fitting that Sam cooked this 20 lb bird in his new Traeger. Along with BBQ beans, salad, a fruit bowl, lemonade (spiked if you like it), bread, and family, what better way to celebrate our independence.

Sam soaked the bird in a brine all night and then fired up the BBQ at 5:00 AM. Although it took a little longer than he planned (dinner at 3:00 PM) he pulled the bird off at 4:00 and served it up. It was moist and flavorful. I know I've mention these BBQ's before but I continue to be impressed with the results coming off these wonderful BBQ's.

For desert Tammy made some red, white, and blue cupcakes. They made a great centerpiece and an even better desert along with some vanilla ice cream. The picture does not do them justice but I can assure you they were good.

Yesterday we had some more home made BBQ at the graduation party for a good friend of ours son in Canby. Bill (his dad) and his friend Steve cooked up a whole hog on Steve's Traeger BBQ. They started in at 4:00 AM and started pulling pork just after 6:00 PM. Bill also smoked a turkey for the party.

Alex graduated from college down in San Diego in June and took a job nearby where he was living so he'll be returning to California. It was a great party and some wonderful BBQ to celebrate his accomplishment.

Not BBQ, Just Good

Sometimes you're in a place where you just can't find BBQ, such was the case over the last weekend when Brent and I took off north to McMinnville for the annual Obsolete Porsche Parts campout. Saturday night we headed in to town to the old Oregon Hotel roof top bar for dinner.

It was the communications breakdown burger for him and some mac & cheese for me. It's a great view from on top the Hotel looking out at the coast range and over downtown McMinnville.

What are you going to do while you wait for dinner other than to check you I phone?

The next morning we woke up early and headed back into town for our annual breakfast at the Wild Wood Cafe. Now if you like good food this is the place to go for a great home made style breakfast. The speciality of the house is their Wild wood french toast. This is a thick slice of homemade bread, dipped in egg batter and roled in granola (I think) and grilled. Served up with some eggs, bacon, and warm syrup, it's umm umm good!

The Wildwood is located right on old highway 99 on the south end of town, northbound at 3rd street.

I stopped by the BBQ King today at lunch time to check it out. BBQ King is located on 18th street in Eugene between Pearl and Oak, just east of Willamette. They have been there since 2005, I'm not sure exactly where they were before that but the sign says "since 1980". Although technically this isn't on highway 99 I figure it's close enough if you were traveling through Eugene you could stop in.

I went up to the window but nobody was in the shack, after checking around back I found who I think is the owner and another employee taking a break. I asked about lunch and got immediate service.

The menu is somewhat limited and it seemed like they weren't quite ready for the lunch crowd (even though it was noon) because my choices were limited to what he had in the kitchen. I had the pulled pork sandwich. The pork was very flavorful, plenty of smoke and it was more like a chopped meat as opposed to truely "pulled pork". It wasn't quite warmed up either, probably another indication they weren't quite ready to serve lunch. the meat is served on a standard hamburger bun with some heated up BBQ sauce which is very good, and some cole slaw on top the meat.

I didn't get to try any of the sides and I think the ribs are the real specialty of the King's place. I didn't get to interview him, however I know they cook the meat out back on the BBQ and they are there cooking most of the time. I'll go back and try the ribs.