Barbeque'n With Bobby

What makes a great pit master?  Well, in Bobby Seale's case you found the Black Panther's, disrupt the 1968 Democratic Convention, go to jail, get arrested again and again and -- oh yes, make really great barbeque.

Well it may not be the most conventional resume for a cookbook author, but it may be the most interesting.What can one say?  Even revolutionaries gotta eat.  Don't for a moment think that you are going to get some ribs spread with Kraft Sauce stuck in an oven.  This is Bobby Seale. The man knows his 'que and there are no shortcuts.  His "quick" barbeque sauce has 18 ingredients! 

Pork is not the only white meat out there.  Bobby grills chicken, turkey, game hens, fish, and beef.  His marinades, rubs, and sauces are complex and involved -- he leaves no stone unturned. 

While the cookbook was published in the late 1980's, it has a very modern feel.   Much of his attention turns to sides and vegetables to accompany the barbeque, though many would make fine meals, in and of themselves.

Seal if fond of "goobers" and points out that the goober is a generic African word that refers to nuts in general, not the peanut in particular.  In this recipe the goober of choice is the black walnut.

Goober Carrot Raisin Slaw

4 medium sized carrots, washed and finely grated
1 cup cabbage (white or red), finely grated
1 1/3 cup raisins
1 cup crushed black walnuts
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon each ground black pepper, onion parsley salt (or to taste)
Parsley for garnish

In a 3- or 4- quart bowl, combine and mix together grated carrots, cabbage, 1 cup raisins, and walnuts with mayonnaise or salad dressing.  Season to taste with black pepper and onion parsley salt. garnish with bits of fresh parsley and the remaining 1/3 cup of raisins.

 As Bobby Seale says,

"Thousands of culinary experts, particularly in the South, guard and keep their secret recipe methods.  I happen not to be one of them."

Take him up on his barbeque knowledge.

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Pitt Cue Co.

OK, we saw this book quite a lot.  It seemed to be quite popular.  But in the end we let prejudice get in the way.  After all, what could Brits possible know about barbecue?  What a joke, right?  Then our fellow bloggers led us down the cookbook path.  We willing admit, it is not hard to lead us down that path.  Then one of our favorite bloggers, Matthew Rowley of Rowley's Whiskey Forge wrote about this book, Pitt Cue Co.

Rowley was in Britain and browsing in a bookstore when someone articulated my very prejudice, Why would you want to buy a barbecue book in Britain?  Well, Rowley says the authors, Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner, understand the credo of cue -- low and slow.  What makes the book interesting is their use of local ingredients.

Fine, but this what captured my attention:

Pickled Hot Dogs.  This was a first for me in a barbecue book, in fact, it was the first in a preserving book.  You had me at pickled hot dogs.... The other big plus, they never shy away from adding booze to anything.  They are very nose-to-tail.   They feature one of my favorite sides, hominy and cheese.  They put chicken skin on their deviled eggs.  They make barbecue sauce into jelly.  These guys are great.

The drawback to the book is that often lamented problem of the restaurateur as cookbook author.   When one is used to cooking in a big, fully equipped kitchen, with minions to run errands and cook for you, it is often a bit hard to translate that experience in a way that the home cook can accomplish it without ordering from said restaurant.

But did we mention they pickle hot dogs?

Our Pickle Brine

water                                   1.5 liters
cider vinegar                       1 liter
caster or demerara sugar    700g
sea salt                                30g
optional aromats (peppercorns, bay leaves,
fennel seeds, coriander seeds, mustard seeds,
star anise, cardamom pods, root liquorice)

Put all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar and salt are dissolved.


Pickled Hot Dogs

Our Pickle Brine              1 liter
hot dogs                           1kg
chillies                              3
garlic cloves                     4
sprigs of thyme                3

Put the pickle brine into a pan and bring to a boil.

Stack the hot dogs neatly in 2 large sterilized glass jars with the chillies, garlic and thyme spread evenly throughout the jars.

Pour over hot pickling liquid and seal the jars.  Leave to cool, then refrigerate for 1 week before eating.

 Did we mention they pickle hot dogs?  We sincerely apologize that we dismissed this book based on the nationality of the writers.  It is now our very favorite book on cue!

The authors of the book — restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

The authors of the book — restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

The authors of the book — restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner — - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

restaurateurs Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard Turner - See more at: http://matthew-rowley.blogspot.com/2013/11/bookshelf-pitt-cue-co-cookbook.html#sthash.geohmKEa.dpuf

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Where There's Smoke

D.C. chef  and sustainability advocate, Barton Seaver has published a grilling book entitled, Where There's Smoke. He brings his usual take on sustainability and applies it to everyone's favorite summer past time -- the barbecue. While most barbecue books concentrate on giant slabs of meat Seaver applies his sustainability ethics to what he puts on the grill. He includes a lot of vegetables and a lot of fresh seafood. Seaver is a firm believer in barbecuing with wood -- he loves the smoke. He believes in cutting his own wood.

He offered up one piece of advice that is different from many a barbecue book. He opts one the side of not soaking the wood before you put on the fire. After doing several studies where he soaked the wood, then cut through it to test the water absorption, he found that the soaking didn't actually get moisture into the wood and was probably more trouble than it was worth.

There are great sauces, sides, and desserts all infused with the power of smoke. This grilled broccoli rabe should be on every summer menu.

Grilled Broccoli Rabe with Walnut Anchovy Dressing and Egg

1 bunch broccoli rabe

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

One 2-ounce can oil- packed anchovies

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

2 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled, yolks remove for another use

Trim off and discard about 1/2 inch from the stem end of the broccoli rabe. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and cook for 7 minutes, then drain it and lay the pieces on a baking sheet to cool to room temperature. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Heat the anchovies and their oil with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Gently mash them into the oil with a spatula, then add the walnuts. Cook until the anchovies have melted into the oil and the walnuts are lightly toasted, about five minutes. Add the lemon juice and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and reserve.

Grill the broccoli rabe over the coals of the medium fire until it begins to char, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not turn or otherwise move the rabe until done.

Transfer the broccoli rabe to a platter and toss with dressing. Grate the egg whites onto the broccoli rabe with a box grader or by pushing them through the holes of the colander. Serve hot off the grill or at room temperature.

If you are looking for a great new addition to your summer cookbook list, Where There's Smoke is a must have.

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Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book

It’s Alabama Week here at Cookbook Of The Day. This week we are going to feature cookbooks from Alabama. In 2009, Alabama produced cookbooks as fast as they grow kudzu. Not the self-published type but those big, bold, colorful, national cookbooks.

Miss Caroline printed her name on the blackboard and said, "This says I am Miss Caroline Fisher.  I am from North Alabama,
from Winston County." The class murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of the peculiarities
indigenous to that region. (When Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, Winston County seceded from
Alabama, and every child in Maycomb County knew it.) North Alabama was full of Liquor Interests, Big Mules, steel
companies, Republicans, professors, and other persons of no background.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Scout might have changed her opinion of North Alabama, surely of Morgan county, if she had ever eaten at Big Bob Gibson’s Barbecue.


At 6’4” and weighing in at nearly 300 pounds, Big Bob Gibson came by his nickname honestly. After working for years on the railroad and building a family with six kids, Big Bob was at a crossroad. He didn’t think he could keep working for the railroad, but he had a family to feed. When he wasn’t working, that is exactly what he was doing, feeding his family. He became an expert at cooking pork for his family. If he could feed a wife and six children, maybe he could feed other people too. In 1925, Big Bob and his wife, Ellen, known as Big Mama, opened up a barbecue joint in Decatur, Alabama. It’s still there.



Actually, it has moved time and time again. And today, under the direction of Big Bob’s great grandson-in-law, Chris Lilly, there are three locations in two states. Chris Lilly has led the Big Bob Gibson barbecue team to ten World BBQ Championships. They have also won a sauce championship. It was a natural progression to a cookbook, Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book.

One of Big Bob’s signature sauces is their famous White BBQ sauce. For a long time North Alabama was the only place you could purchase the sauce. The “white sauce” recipe was a closely guarded family secret, but Chris Lilly notes that in the history of the restaurant, there have been hundreds of cooks, so the recipe was hardly as secretive as it once was.

I never went to North Alabama that I didn’t come away bottles of Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce. When my BFF Beverly sent me “Care “ packages from Alabama there was always a bottle of the white BBQ sauce. Beverly relayed my love of the sauce to her friend Molly, a foodie in her own right, and she told Beverly she might be able to get the recipe. A short time later, I got page torn from a small spiral notebook with Molly’s Big Bob recipe.


I immediately tweaked it, believing it needed to be spicier. (I tend to think EVERYTHING needs to be spicier!) Then I played with the ratio and came up with my own "Big Lucinda's" white sauce. Imagine my extreme joy when this book was published. There at the very back of the book was the white sauce recipe. We had all missed the “secret ingredient” failing to add the horseradish, but other than that, we had gotten pretty close.

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q White Sauce

2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper


In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and blend well. Use as a marinade, baste or dipping sauce. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

If you have never had White BBQ, are you crazy! Print this recipe, turn off your computer, got to the store, buy the ingredients along with a big chicken and get to work. Seriously, you NEED this sauce. Really. Why are you still reading this? Go.

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