It's Fall, Y'all: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Frito Pie

Finally, the weather has gotten cool enough for Frito pies! At this posting, fall Arkansas weather has been its normal bipolar self: wicked-cold in the morning, and freaking balmy in the afternoon when the kiddos come home from school. Dressing for the day becomes a bit challenging and once the more fashion forward among us trades their polos and beach shoes in for flannels and Timberlands (or Doc Martens), we know cold nights are near. 

I'll be the guy standing next to a smoker in coveralls and Crocs, if you're looking for me. 

This chapter of Tailgating For Everyone is a fan favorite: Frito pie. 

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef/turkey/pork (Impossible Meat can be used if that's your thing, I won't be mad at 'cha)

12 oz red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Your favorite steak seasoning rub

Fire and Smoke Society's Thundering Longhorn barbecue rub 

One onion, diced

12 oz diced tomatoes 

1 tsp minced garlic 

Beef broth

Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Frito chips

STEP ONE. Because I'm working harder than the owner-operator at a gas station in the 'hood, this one can go either way: If the rain is too much and the forecast isn't agreeing with those old bones, turn on the oven to medium-high heat and brown the ground beef. For the rest of us, light your grill to 375 and give the cast-iron skillet enough time to come to temperature before adding the ground beef. Once it browns, break it down and don't forget to add the seasonings! 

STEP TWO. As the ground beef cooks down, add the drained beans, diced onion, minced garlic, and tomatoes and let everything get happy in the smoke. Give the mixture a nice pour of beef broth but not too nice - we're not making soup and continue their playdate to a consistency you can live with.

STEP THREE. Serve with Frito chips and cheese, and enjoy!

This is the time when having something warm on Friday night or Saturday at the stadium as our favorite teams give the opposing squads the business means a Frito pie with options such as extra cheese, onions, or jalapeno peppers are in order. Try this in a family-style setting to minimize  having to serve and miss bone crushing hits, three yards and a cloud of dust (or mud), the halftime show, or an immaculate reception. Thank you for reading this post: Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

Dry Brine, Still Moist Turkey: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Dry-Brined Turkey

I needed room in the refrigerator that the briner bucket wouldn't allow for. Also due to the fact I have had only two days off from work this month means that bird prep was going a different route.

INGREDIENTS

Turkey, 12-15 lbs (mine weighed 13 lbs.)

Meat Church's Honey Hog BBQ Rub

Tony Chacere's creole style butter

Kosher salt

STEP ONE. Thaw out the turkey for however long it needs to bust loose in the refrigerator. As a general rule of thumb, think three pounds per day with the big bird. Because my turkey weighed thirteen pounds, I went a little over four days before taking it out of the packaging.

STEP TWO. Once the turkey was taken out of its packaging, pat it nice and dry before you do anything else. Inside of the cavity are the turkey neck and a small bag of giblets: I'd tell you to save the neck and backbone that has been spatchcocked for stock along with the giblet bag for gravy but more often than not, I'll smoke the neck with the bird itself and throw the rest of the stuff away. Sidebar: For the purposes of this cook, I only kept the turkey itself. With the scents coming from my trash can, I'm really going to hate it for the sanitation crew when they come through next week.

STEP THREE. Unlike most years, I diverged from my normal wet brine path to first spatchcocking and then laying a pretty stout seasoning of kosher salt and Meat Church's Honey Hog BBQ Rub liberally on both sides, in the nooks and crannies, and anywhere good taste would touch the bird. Set the turkey on a wire rack and leave it alone in the refrigerator for the next 24-48 hours as the "curing" time afforded by the appliance's air dries out the skin making it crispy for the cook.

STEP FOUR. Two days later, a small miracle of time has elapsed and the turkey is ready for smoke. As a booster, I injected creole butter all over to ensure a moist turkey worth eating and reminiscing about until the next cookout. 

Wanna see the weapon I chose to use this year? It's my favorite - the PK!

Light the chimney with either briquettes or lump charcoal and if you didn't forget, have a water pan underneath the turkey. (I failed to pick up one but that one solid pecan wood log which served double duty as both a heat shield and flavor infuser were sufficient enough.)

STEP FIVE. Like brisket, turkey is another protein that can get away from you if you're inclined to set it and forget it. As the grill cooks at/around 325, make sure to check on it once an hour for both color and temperature. Turkey is done in the breast at 165, and the dark meat is super tasty at 175 degrees. Pro tip: Once you get the desired color, use aluminum foil to tent over the skin so it still looks golden brown. My bird below got a bit darker but the same tasty elements were already there. 

STEP SIX. Man, I've gone into some detail. Allow the turkey to rest about thirty minutes and enjoy!

The reasons why I did not post this one Thanksgiving Day are 1)most of us ate roughly the same thing, and 2)I didn't have the written content ready as I spent the week battling flu and exhaustion from my night job. Hope your Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving Day festivities were great even as the things that can and often divide us such as politics, worldview, or not cheering for the Cowboys mean little in the grand scheme of it all. Now that I'm getting back to normal, y'all know what I am about to say. Thank you for reading this post. Try this one out sometime before the cold weather ends up conquering our ambitions and goals of great barbecue on an every day basis. Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

Wanna Be A Baller

I wanna be a baller, shot caller...

I can't spit the lyrics from the Lil' Troy song as this is a mostly family-friendly space about nine second- and third-grade girls, two coaches who were friends from long ago, and a large support system learning the game better than what we saw during the Olympics or sloppily spiking on each other in the backyards during the last cookout. What they did and became, some middle school volleyball coach might end up sending them invitations to their summer camps. 

They bumped. They served. They returned. 

Most of all, they played like a veteran team - and the untrained eye would not have known that the Volley Queens came together for ten regular season games for the very first time without any collusion unlike some superteams from other sports. Each girl aimed to please not only the folks in the stands but also keep serving them up to places the opposing teams could not reach. They have not been starstruck by the moment one bit and rose to the challenges of trailing during matches, between sets, and even when the pivotal third set began rocky. Their coaches kept them levelheaded focused on the next point instead of what the board read. 

Don't think they didn't have fun: Our girls broke into an impromptu happy birthday song at least twice...and there was Halloween.

Thanks to coaches Chasity and Chastity for devoting a few nights each week to teaching Caeli, Khloe, Ryleigh, Brynlee, Ireland, Brooke, Abigail, Ava, and Sadie the game of volleyball in addition to the shenanigans of Friday night practices of watching them serve overhanded lobs and bump to the track above the court. [I didn't do anything special - just be Dad and take a few okayish pictures through a phone camera with a sketchy screen protector and bring out the balls at practice]. None of this would be possible without the family and friends who supported each girl throughout the past couple of months and stayed in line the day tryouts were held. 

Did we win? With a 8-2 record, we finished second in the regular season. 

Meet the 2022 Benton Parks and Recreation Volleyball Tournament runners up!

Volley Queens on 3: 1, 2, 3! Volley Queens!  

Ancient Names of Africa

Before the European settled for the word Africa, the continent was called many other names. They include Corphye, Ortigia,Libya, and Ethiopia, Alkebulan

Other names such as the land of Ham (Ham means dark skins), mother of mankind, the garden of Eden, Kingdoms in the sky, and the land of cush or kesh (referring to the Cushites who were ancient Ethiopian) were used.

No one knows the source of the names for sure. However, the theories below shed some light on how this second largest continent got its new name.

Roman theory

Some scholars believe that the word originated from the Romans. Romans discovered a land opposite the Mediterranean and named it after the Berber tribe residing within the Carnage area, presently referred to as Tunisia. The tribe's name was Afri.

Weather theory

Some believe that the name was coiled from the continent's climate. Deriving from aphrike, a Greek word that means a land free from cold and horror. A variation of the Roman word aprica, which means sunny, or even the Phoenician word afar, which means dust.

Africus Theory

This claims that the continent derived its name from Africus. Africus is a Yemenite chieftain who invaded the northern part in the second millennium BC,It is argued that he settled on his conquered land and named it Afrikyah.

Phoenician Theory

Another school of thought suggests that the name is derived from two Phoenician words friqi and pharika. The words mean corns and fruits when translated. Hypothetically the Phoenician christened the continent as the land of corns and fruits.

Alkebu-lan “mother of mankind” or “garden of Eden”.” Alkebulan is the oldest and the only word of indigenous origin. It was used by the Moors,Nubians, Numidians,Khart-Haddans (Carthagenians) and Ethiopians.

There is little or no certainty on the source or meaning Africa. Several scholars have tried to explain the origin of the word, but none is convincingly correct.

#africanhistory #blackhistory  #knowthyself #blackhistory365 

Ancient African History

Return of Da Dip: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Smoked Salmon Dip

With the game that predominantly matters for bragging rights comes a dip: You should know me well enough by now the game I am referring to is the Battle of the Ravine between HSU and OBU. 

INGREDIENTS

One salmon filet preferably skin-off 

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Black pepper

8 oz cream cheese

Dill*

Chives*

8 oz sour cream

Lemon juice 

Somehow I forgot the sour cream. Gotta make a quick jaunt to the store...

*In lieu of dill and chives, Fire and Smoke Society's Fish Monger can be substituted. In this application, we're only using the tail of the salmon filet. 

STEP ONE  Using everything we've learned about smoking meat and from past Tailgating For Everyone episodes, light your smokers to 225 degrees. If you so desire, use a light wood such as maple or pecan - or do without, I won't gripe. Season the filet with olive oil, salt, and pepper and smoke to 145 degrees. 

STEP TWO.

This step depends on the group size as my recipes can be scaled upward to fit your crowd. Using one softened block of cream cheese and 2 oz of pulled smoked salmon - please remove the skin, add the lemon juice, Fish Monger, and sour cream to the mix and stir to satisfaction. Serve immediately!

This concludes this season's Tailgating For Everyone series. Aside from the break I needed from my own self-imposed pressure of dropping something awesome weekly, this has been a solid campaign of working the pit and feeding my family and the meat list a number of uniquely tasty side - and main items. I'll leave a link to everything in a later post for future reference likely in a comprehensive end-of-the-year post before the actual 2022 in review one. Thanks for reading the stuff from this space and as I've mostly removed myself from the hot button cultural issues arena to maintain my family's privacy and the eternal pursuit of minding my own Black-ass business, I sincerely hope that barbecue alone has not bored you. As always, be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

You're Reading It Right: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Meatz-a-rella Sticks

You read the title right.

I was watching YouTube one day and saw something truly interesting and wondered to myself how good this recipe could be if I decided to try it out. I do like cheese, meat, and mozzarella sticks but what if I threw them on the grill and made a meatz-a-rella stick (or twelve)? Here's what came of it.

All are within the meat budget.

INGREDIENTS

String mozzarella cheese

Jimmy Dean sausage

Fire and Smoke Society's The Usual barbecue rub 

STEP ONE. If you've ever wrapped cheese or stuffed things into meat, this is an easier take of it. Using one cheese stick, flatten what would normally be a sausage patty and wrap it around the cheese unitl it is completely covered. Set aside and repeat for how ever many cheese sticks you have. Once the meat sticks are stuffed with cheese, set them in the refrigerator to firm up for a few hours to overnight.

STEP TWO. Once you're ready, go outside and light the weapon of choice to 325 degrees. Allow the meatz-a-rella sticks to come up to room temperature before placing them on your grill. I tell you that time doesn't matter; therefore, let the sticks cook up to at least 165 degrees for food safety (we're working with ground sausage here) and pull when the color is there. If time is really a big deal, then earmark an hour or so to cook this appetizer.

STEP THREE. In the miracle of time, meatz-a-rella sticks are done. Give them a little time to rest before eating them! Peep the cheese pull...just like a gooey regular cheese stick. 

Who's your daddy? 

For all of the R&D I do during the week, I have never seen anything like it. Thanks to Bradley Robinson of Chud's BBQ for putting this recipe together on his channel and showing the ingenuity taken in making barbecue cheap again. With or without mariana sauce, meatz-a-rella sticks can be an additional star at your next tailgate party. As always, thank you for reading this post and your support. Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

Popeye Wants Da Dip: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Grilled Spinach Dip

I took last week off because I was tired and failed to prep. With a conversation my wife and I had the other night, I chose to rectify that part with grilled spinach dip.

INGREDIENTS

(2) 12 oz packages of frozen spinach

1 stick of butter

2 cups of Italian-style shredded cheese

(2) 8 oz blocks of softened cream cheese 

16 oz sour cream

1 tsp minced garlic

8 oz roasted bell peppers

Fire and Smoke Society's The Usual BBQ rub

1 package of onion dip seasoning mix

Eat spinach, flex the gun show like Popeye. #DubShackBBQ🏚️ #everydayisaGREATdayforbbq #pitmasterlife #igotthesauces #TailgatingForEveryone #spinachdip #DaDip pic.twitter.com/L8EJZXUgEB

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) October 29, 2022

STEP ONE. I kind of cheated a bit and I somewhat encourage it in this case, but hear me out. Melt the butter into into a skillet and add both packages of frozen spinach for five minutes or until it reduces down. Add the minced garlic and roasted bell peppers and stir until everything this nicely incorporated.

STEP TWO. Remember the softened cream cheese? Add and the sour cream to a mixing pan such as any cast iron skillet or an aluminum pan. Pour in the spinach mixture plus the onion dip seasoning and The Usual barbecue rub and mix the entire gang to a consistency.

STEP THREE. Get your grill lit to 325 degrees and set it directly above the charcoals. As it cooks down, don't forget to stir periodically to satisfaction - or in my case, creamy enough to give Applebee's a run for their money if not beat it down at its own game. Make sure all of the cream cheese is melted thoroughly before pulling it from the grill and let it rest for fifteen minutes before enjoying. Serve with chips, pita baguettes, or whatever you have that can stand up to your dip. 

I realized I had my Weber kettle for one year with this cook

All I can say is ooh, wee!

Find a bag of chips and a game to watch, and enjoy the heck out of your bowl! Thank you for reading this post; as always, be blessed, be safe, be careful, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!