# 1st Place Chicken at the Westport Blues and Views BBQ Festival!!!



## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

One of my HS and one of my college friends and I decided to give the BBQ cook off world a try.  This was our first competition operating under the team name Generation Swine.  We competed against 22 amateur teams and 6 pro teams.  We took 1st place in chicken for the backyard chef's group.  What made the win even more special is that our chicken scored higher than 5 of the 6 pro teams!  Just a couple of pics to induce some salivation.  We did a grilled lamb chop over mashed white sweet potatoes and sauteed purple carrots for chef's choice.  For the Iron chef round we did a stuffed pork loin with a bourbon sauce and grilled sweet potatoes and zucchini on the side.

*Generation Swine*







*1st Place Chicken!*






These ribs were tasty and looked great.  Too bad the meat wasn't as fatty as we needed and resulted in a less than juicy rib.


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## deadheadskier (Sep 27, 2010)

very cool.  congrats!


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## ctenidae (Sep 27, 2010)

Nice.


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## legalskier (Sep 27, 2010)

One of everything please!


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## gmcunni (Sep 27, 2010)

i'm hungry


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## Glenn (Sep 27, 2010)

Awesome! That's cool that you beat some of the pro teams.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

I really think if we had a better cut of baby back ribs we would have made a run for top 3 in pork rib.  I tasted the 1st place pork rib and ours looked and tasted much better.  But they definitely had us on tenderness.  We'll get our revenge next year.


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## EOS (Sep 27, 2010)

You should hook up with a local meat cutter for next year and have them hand select the cut for you.

Cangrats on the win!!  That's awesome.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

EOS said:


> You should hook up with a local meat cutter for next year and have them hand select the cut for you.
> 
> Cangrats on the win!!  That's awesome.



We have a specialty market in our area that we got the ribs from.  There is a lot of variability from brand to brand.  But as you suggest, we are going up the food chain so to speak next year.  There is a really good place 30 minutes from us that has some really good ribs.


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## severine (Sep 27, 2010)

Congrats!

And that looks so much better than the Peanut Butter Pretzel Clif Mojo bar I had for lunch.


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## o3jeff (Sep 27, 2010)

You need to put "I only dine on swine" on the back of the shirt!

Congrats!


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## severine (Sep 27, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> You need to put "I only dine on swine" on the back of the shirt!
> 
> Congrats!


Except they had chicken....?


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## o3jeff (Sep 27, 2010)

severine said:


> Except they had chicken....?



Then they need to add foul to the shirt too or they don't have to eat it.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

o3jeff said:


> You need to put "I only dine on swine" on the back of the shirt!
> 
> Congrats!



Jeff, the back of the shirt had the name of the website I am going to launch tonight (if I can get the first article edited tonight).  Looking to jump into the world of tailgating as a part time job and hope to turn it into a full time gig.    If that crotchety old AZ admin is cool with it I will post up a new thread here with the link and some info.  

We also met and made an important contact, Rick Browne.  He is the author of around 10 cookbooks and is the host of PBS's Barbecue America.  He stopped by and hung out with us a few times during the event.  He saw our chicken as we were boxing it up and gave us some much appreciated praise.


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## severine (Sep 27, 2010)

Grassi21 said:


> Jeff, the back of the shirt had the name of the website I am going to launch tonight (if I can get the first article edited tonight).  Looking to jump into the world of tailgating as a part time job and hope to turn it into a full time gig.    If that crotchety old AZ admin is cool with it I will post up a new thread here with the link and some info.
> 
> We also met and made an important contact, Rick Browne.  He is the author of around 10 cookbooks and is the host of PBS's Barbecue America.  He stopped by and hung out with us a few times during the event.  He saw our chicken as we were boxing it up and gave us some much appreciated praise.


Very, very cool! Good luck with the new venture!


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## deadheadskier (Sep 27, 2010)

Grassi21 said:


> We have a specialty market in our area that we got the ribs from.  There is a lot of variability from brand to brand.  But as you suggest, we are going up the food chain so to speak next year.  There is a really good place 30 minutes from us that has some really good ribs.



Breed is what you should be most concerned with.  Berkshire is the breed you want for highest fat content / flavor.  It's often referred to as Kurobuta Pork.

Snake River Farms produces the best pork I've tried.  I would give them a call and see what retailers down by you might carry it.  It does not appear that they offer Baby Backs online.

I would expect to pay in the neighborhood of $9-10/lb at a butcher for SRF ribs

http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/kurobuta


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## 2knees (Sep 27, 2010)

nice job grassi!


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

deadheadskier said:


> Breed is what you should be most concerned with.  Berkshire is the breed you want for highest fat content / flavor.  It's often referred to as Kurobuta Pork.
> 
> Snake River Farms produces the best pork I've tried.  I would give them a call and see what retailers down by you might carry it.  It does not appear that they offer Baby Backs online.
> 
> ...



Thanks DHS!  I trust your opinion/suggestion on this matter.


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## bvibert (Sep 27, 2010)

Nice job Grassi!  

I can't believe it hasn't been said already... I expect you to be practicing your craft in the Sundown parking lot this season!  I'll taste test... :beer:


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## wa-loaf (Sep 27, 2010)

I think you need more parsley next time!

Congrats! You should bring your skills to some AZ events ....


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## severine (Sep 27, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Nice job Grassi!
> 
> I can't believe it hasn't been said already... I expect you to be practicing your craft in the Sundown parking lot this season!  I'll taste test... :beer:


S7!!!!!!!!!


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

severine said:


> S7!!!!!!!!!



Ding!

If Sundown would let me throw down in the parking lot I can write an article on the event from a food perspective.  I would love to cook for the hungry AZers.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 27, 2010)

wa-loaf said:


> I think you need more parsley next time!



It is overkill but is actually considered good presentation.  My first two attempts here are sloppy IMO.


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## powhunter (Sep 28, 2010)

Great job Chris !!


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