From Friendship Road With Love: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Country Style Ribs

Well, country is as country does.

Y'all know I'm a son of Friendship, and today's cook is something super easy and tasty in country-style ribs. They are easy enough to cook like pork shoulders - and also as a cheaper version of regular pork ribs to practice with for our families and friends. Would I use them as a substitute for competition ribs? Nope, because they are boneless and protein integrity is sometimes negligible at best. Just because they don't always look good doesn't mean country-style ribs are hot garbage.

Here's how we made them prettier.

But first, what are country ribs? AI has a definition for them below:

Country-style ribs are actually thick, meaty strips cut from the pork shoulder (or sometimes loin), rather than the rib cage, offering a, tender, and budget-friendly option. Best cooked low-and-slow (under 300 for 2–3 hours), they can be roasted in the oven, smoked, or slow-cooked until falling apart.

See, this is how we make barbecue cheap again.

INGREDIENTS 

Country style ribs

Wright's BBQ rub (use your favorite rub, this is in the spice cabinet)

Optional: Mustard as a binder

STEP ONE. Remove the ribs from the packaging and pat them dry. Slather them in mustard and get ready to apply rub on all sides. Set aside and light up the grill.

STEP TWO. Today, my beloved PK gets the assignment: Bank the charcoals to one side in my typical two-zone fire, and once it is ready, position those ribs on the other side of the grill to cook indirect for an undetermined period of time. Check on them (and flip) after one hour, and once again when you've got the desired color. Around 190 degrees, the country style ribs can go into a small aluminum pan with a secret liquid to tenderize them until they are nearly fall apart.

STEP THREE. Bring them in, rest those country ribs, and enjoy!

Although they were super tender, I did not get the original taste because I was smoking a few pork butts and a picnic roast for next week's meal prep. That possibly means that I'll eat them later today or tomorrow for Sunday dinner with corn and mashed potatoes. 

Thanks for riding through the country with me, feeling the gentle wind blow from east to west, and reading this post. Could I have done it in the crackpot? Yet, but where's the fun in that? Y'all 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 a Jerk! Dub Shack BBQ Presents Jerk Chicken Wings

It's time for wing season as if we ever stopped cooking wings. 

A couple of years ago on vacation, my wife's cousin Tesha (sp?) gave us some serious game about eating a lot for next to nothing to the extent that on my first trip to Walmart after we got home was to get a Caribbean jerk seasoning packet, add two pounds of party wings, and chunk them into the air fryer until done. Well...we're putting these dudes on the flames. Jerk wings are super easy and really do not take very long to cook on either side. Make plenty because they might be gone before the next batch is made!

INGREDIENTS 

2 lbs party wings

1 Great Value Caribbean Jerk seasoning mix

STEP ONE. Instead of seasoning the wings first (you're gonna do it anyway, hold your horses), go light your grill! Today's weapon of choice happens to be the Weber kettle, but use whatever you've got. If you're just starting out, a $20 Walmart special isn't a bad place to begin; however, if you can absorb the initial cost, Home Depot near me is selling them all day long for $149 with the army green ones retailing for $199. Light your charcoals until they ash over and then bank them to one side to maintain good fire management skills. Once ready, do this...

STEP TWO. Season your wings. I used the marinade bottle for my wings this time, so all that required was placing twenty or so flats and drums in a ziploc bag and pouring marinade over them. Allow them to get happy for the next half-hour and once the grill is ready, bring 'em out for the fire fest.

I know I said use the packet or when this bottle of rub like this one, but you may use any jerk marinade in its stead as long as you make them your own.

Remember the dance craze "You're a Jerk" by New Boyz circa 2014? Here's a brain break - and a throwback moment - that we might need. Of course, don't ask me to dance: It ain't happening. Click on the link to watch the video.

STEP THREE. With your wings on the cooler side of the grill (hence, indirect), leave them alone until they hit around 160 degrees and then give them a flip. Wings can be eaten at 175 degrees, but for this recipe, feel free to pull them between 185-200 degrees. There is nothing wrong with a little char: However, there is something terribly wrong with burned wings. Give them a few minutes to rest and enjoy!

My thoughts: Alongside this Red Stripe I've been sipping on, jerk wings are a good way to start off the week. If the Meatlist doesn't speak up for the remaining wings, I guess they're headed back to work later this week. For the limited energy and effort I put into this cook, I am pleased. 

Before I close out this post, be sure to try out your own version of backyard jerk wings. While your own rhythmic variations of the Jerk dance are yours - we see you and do not judge, it always will be a good time. Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

Comeback

We're making a comeback!

Remember last Good Friday 2025 when I found out that I had prostate cancer? 

One year later, the comeback is in full swing! 

At the moment, I'm still cancer-free and glad that I was forced into the prostaterectomy by the better half and urologist as they know I would've refused chemotherapy otherwise. Things have changed regarding lifestyle and some of the habits mostly for the better: Have you noticed the weight loss? I won't ever get back to being APO pledge or Wampus Cat skinny again yet I do appreciate not having to shop in the big and tall sections of department stores for reasonably stylish fits. As for my feet...let's say the Jordan Brand still isn't the best for standing on my feet for seven hours per days. There will be an addition of Air Max running shoes to the weekday roster sometime after payday and the adult stuff of paying bills and taking care of home are completed. 

In the Great Comeback (and I'm trying to keep it short), the goals are still the same although the redirection is very real. I greatly appreciate your prayers, well-wishes, conversations, and support along the way. As John 15:12 reminds us, love one another without condition or question. Below is the passage:

John 15:12 CEVDCI

[12] Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you.

https://bible.com/bible/303/jhn.15.12.CEVDCI

God bless, I'm out. 

Brighter Day: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Grilled Ahi Tuna

Sometimes the need to redo a recipe comes from taking some time away from the original one and on to a different plan of attack. Does it always work? No, but in this case, it was magnificent. Shout out to Jackson's Meat Market in Conway (hey, Mark and Stephanie) for sourcing the two steaks that turned out to be 3/4" thick and super tasty!

INGREDIENTS  

Two ahi tuna steaks

Fire and Smoke Society's Fish Monger as rub

Marinade

Soy sauce

Ginger powder

STEP ONE. After getting the tuna home,  pat it on both sides and place it into a Ziploc bag to hold the marinade. Make the marinade by combining both the soy sauce and ground ginger and pour into the bag with the fish - but keep it in there for ten to fifteen minutes before it overtakes the flavor of fresh fish. Apply the rub as soon as the steaks are taken out of the marinade and begin the remainder of prep work prior to cooking.

STEP TWO. Hopefully you've lit your grill by now, but if not...get out there and do it! For today's cook, the Weber kettle gets the assignment. Once your charcoals ash over, bank them over to one side and close the lid until the grill reaches a searing hot temperature: If you don't know what that is, wave your hands over hot charcoals. If you find yourself pulling back instantly, then it is ready. Bring out the tuna!

STEP THREE. Tuna steaks do kit take terribly long to cook, and the best way to do them is searing each side for 45 seconds to two minutes depending on thickness - and like Chud says, don't forget the sides: that's a rookie move. At 120 degrees, tuna ahi is ready for a brief rest before getting shoved down the pie hole. Slice and serve immediately!

In the miracle of time (and 125 degrees), we're done

For those averse to myoglobin - the red color in cooked fish and beef - feel free to take yours up to 140 degrees but be warned:  Anything further will dry out the protein.

My thoughts: Clearly I learned my lesson from a few years ago and made it a lot better tasting. Don't be scared of grilling fish!

Before I figure out what Cooking w/My Friends is going to look like this week, and continue to both navigate through Lexia during working hours and work on the garden at home (watch my wife's videos on all social media platforms), shout out to not only Mark at Jackson's Meat Market for the ahi tuna but also my fellow CHS '97 classmate Ed Linck and his Barnham's Beef Snob meat sticks - gotta try them if you haven't had them yet - he gets the stamp of approval with those friendly pitmaster snacks. If you like what you just read, keep hanging around this space for more barbecue content. Be blessed,be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ! 

See, What Had Happened Was...

Just to make it short, I no longer work at Arcwood Environmental after thirteen years. Here's what led to the career change - and prayerfully, eventual redirection:

Quarter snap, matcha on the way

On October 3, I found out that my position was being eliminated at the end of the month thanks to corporate viewing a few of us as replaceable pieces on a spreadsheet and citing cost-cutting measures to maintain profitability. Because I was in the midst of covering a coworker's vacation, I found myself visibly upset to the point of losing my appetite. 

How am I supposed to keep the bills paid? What does this do to my resume? Have I aged out of the role as a result of DV jobs in manufacturing becoming scarce? I remember declining an offer based in southern California a few years mostly because I was worried about return-to-office: Living in Orange County is a LOT different (and way more expensive) than Saline County. My family has gotten acclimated and as comfortable as we can be given the political and socioeconomic climates of the day; selling the house to move into an apartment across the country was a no-go. 

Did my file show anything negative? Nope. 

In those same thirteen years, I only missed eight days of work none since 2023.

Was loyalty the thing that made me complacent? Yeah, that lifestyle creep was a mofo indeed. 

When the job created some of the most entertaining, inspiring, and fun things I've ever made plus the memories of starting out from Ground Zero to what some hobbies have evolved into with the barbecue, blog, and Black history content as part of the kaleidoscope of who I have become over the years, it can almost make me misty-eyed. You know, that includes the Dad Chronicles and the hellscape that 2025 became through my war against prostate cancer. 

The blog - A Dollar and a Dream - has always been me at my most authentic self, if you cannot tell from the self-deprecating humor. As academic as it sometimes sounds (I taught for five years, and now I'm somehow back in the kid business albeit in a completely new world from what I departed from in 2012), my writing has grown from the stuff that should have paid me to the stuff that makes the world a better place - and with interesting pro-Black perspectives that occasionally spooks a few folks from my past.

Back to the job.

Once the word spread around the plant, I knew that my days driving back and forth to Haskell were coming to an end. Would I be able to go out in a blaze of glory with two middle fingers in the air on the way out? I only kept a plain manila folder with training notes and a meme reminding me of the work purpose, so no real emptying a cubicle was required. I wrote the training manual in one weekend, and as much as I wish I had gotten the market value for the document (in 2012 dollars, my contract fee was $600), I received nothing due to it becoming company-owned intellectual property. 

Another circumstance that arose was insurance. I hadn't fully beaten cancer at the time, so my biggest worry concerned the expenses from the treatments, appointments, and supplies. Just because the company treated me like shit didn't mean I was in a position to reciprocate said feelings.

Yet.

I studied our savings and discovered that earlier in the year I had hit my crossover number: I won't divulge that number; however, it is enough to take a leap of faith and follow God's calling for real with a few modifications in lifestyle. As He provides and that mustard seed of faith necessary is all I need, I made that first step. Nearly three months after that meeting, Christmas Day was my final goodbye to the swamp. To some, it is admirable to make a drastic change, and to others, idiotic. Today, I'll agree to lean somewhere in the middle. Although the pay gap between the past and the present is significant - and will be made up in time - I am a LOT happier.

As I hold on to the bull's horns to enjoy the ride and grimace at those unexpected expenses, keep us - and each other - in prayer for the next move whether it is to fully commit to education, fill out a Buc-ees application, finally get my Dub Shack BBQ sauces in stores, or venture in a completely different direction. Every day is an adventure to travel one step at a time; Cooking w/Friends begins in April, if you're so inclined to join in. 

God bless, I'm out. 

I Got That Bang: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Bang Bang Wings

My Weber kettle keeps dropping bangers.

But, before I get into this two-ingredient recipe, let me shout out the inspiration behind this week's recipe: Caeli! My daughter has exquisite (for an 11YO) taste, but for real, here's how she became the muse for great barbecue. Earlier during the break, I didn't feel like cooking so being the Dad I can be, I asked her want she wanted. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled out of the Panda Express drive-thru pointing the truck towards Kroger to the idea of bang bang wings. I made bang bang shrimp back in September 2023 during Season 3 of Tailgating For Everyone, so why not try it with wings? Here is what came of it.

INGREDIENTS 

Chicken wings (approximately two pounds)

Bang bang rub

Bang bang sauce

STEP ONE. Take your wings from the packing and pat them dry on all sides. Remember, dry wings cook better in high heat than otherwise if you're curious about why your pellet or charcoal wings taste better than the ones that get oven baked. Apply a moderate shaking of Bang Bang rub on both sides of the wings and set aside for the flavors to permeate into those flats, drums, whole wings, and those dang flippers I forgot to throw away when I broke down the 40 lb box I bought a while back from my local grocery store. 

In the meantime...

STEP TWO. Light your grill and set it up for two-zone cooking. Because I would rather be in-and-out on these emerging hot days, my Weber kettle got the assignment plus the underrated private lump charcoal that Tractor Supply gives steady work! Once my chimney ashes over on top, I remove it and bank those coals to one side for the quickest fifteen minutes of the week. 

STEP THREE. What I did not tell you is how cramped two pounds of chicken wings are on my kettle. However, those suckers cook fast! Give them a flip after five minutes and then again at the ten-minute mark. Party wings (rather, wings in general) are edible at 165 degrees but it is always wise to take them up to 185-190 degrees - a little char is the flavor boost they need. Pull the wings at 185 and let them rest for another fifteen minutes before serving. 

Remember that ugly bottle of boom boom shrimp sauce that I snagged from Walmart? You can pour the sauce on your finished8 wings, or set them aside in a dipping cup. Since I was also cooking shrimp (see the picture below), I took pitmaster liberty of saucing the shrimp heavily and a more moderate approach to the wings. 

Enjoy!

My take: This recipe happened because Little Miss Sunshine wanted Panda, and it does not disappoint. I also find myself in a season of experimental cooks before the traditionalists come out of the woodwork griping about my flavor profiles on grilled or smoked meats. Both proteins were certified, and my miss stems from using store brand boom boom sauce. Maybe I'll make my own bang bang sauce next time.

Anyway, thank you for reading and trying out this recipe. Y'all know I got that bang on me, so be on the lookout for fun stuff over the next few weeks. Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!

How to Make the Best Steak You've Ever Had

Hint: It's not from your favorite steakhouse.

I think the best steaks ever come from home whether they come from the local grocery store, your preferred meat market, etc.

Above is the suggested temperatures for doneness. 

INGREDIENTS 

Your favorite steak (these are strip steaks)

Your favorite rub (I used Killer Hogs Steak Rub)

STEP ONE. Take the steaks out of the packaging and pat them dry. Since I slice my own steaks, I typically do enough to where I do not have to make constant visits to the preferred grocery store to buy steaks every time I want one. You'll thank me later. Apply a medium shaking of The Steak Rub to all sides - yes, you'll want to season the fat for it adds flavor to your steaks and set aside.

STEP TWO. Go outside and light your grill! Some steaks are better in a cast-iron skillet while others are certified beasts grilled hot and fast. I brought out the PK aka the steak cooking machine, but don't let your type of cooker deter you...even if yours is a pellet grill. Once it reaches a searing temperature [ex. 500+ degrees], lay the steaks directly on the hot side of your two-zone fire and prepare to turn for even doneness. 

I typically go 90 seconds to two minutes per side on strip steaks such as these two with a 90 degree twist after the first two minutes before flipping and repeating the process for another two minutes. 

STEP THREE. Because no one deserves well-done steaks - you and your sharp teeth absolutely will eat chicken instead, make sure you check doneness with a temperature probe. Below are standard targets:

Blue rare: Up to 118 degrees.

Rare: 119-125

Pittsburgh rare (my favorite): 126-130

Medium rare: 131-135

Medium: 136-145

Medium well: 146-159

Well-done: 160+

On the off-chance you're eating and preferring a well-done steak, do NOT ask me to cook it for you. Your ass gets chicken thighs because that shoe leather has no flavor to it regardless of how long it is marinated or its original primal cut. Doing it to a wagyu or prime steak is unforgivable in some quarters, but the friendly pitmaster will simply clown you for the one day.

Pull it off the grill and let it rest for ten to fifteen minutes before eating your hard work!

Cooking steak over fire is vital to owning a grill and to me, one of the most important items to cook on one. As much as we talk about ribs every Saturday or chicken drumsticks during the week, getting steak down is really going to not only instill pride in your ability to provide a great meal without an obscene price tag but also save some serious bucks. I cooked two eaters this time around; had I entered either one in a steak cooking competition, I would have finished last based on temperature alone. The taste and tenderness were there: Did you see the crust? The SCA (Steak Cooking Association)frowns upon any steak that goes much past Pittsburgh rare no matter how the thing tastes in the end, and again, these two made it to medium - the furthest I would take them along to.

Anyway, that was a much-needed steak tutorial for those who have never read AD&AD or anything related to Dub Shack BBQ. Go out there and practice until your steak keeps you away from the mid-level steakhouses, and on a plateau with the best hunks of goodness you've ever had! 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!