Grill Wok Chicken on the Char Broil Urban Grill

Getting Ready to Grill Chicken and Vegetables in a Grill Wok

I had some chicken thawed out and decided to grill wok that with some vegetables. My son put on some rice while I marinated the chicken, green peppers, and onions and fired up the Char Broil Urban Grill.

You can use any type of oil to marinate chicken and vegetables to wok cook on the grill. Today I was using Garlic Gold, since that is one of my favorites. It's olive oil infused with organic garlic. Really great stuff.

My college son (not the younger one) loves spicy food, so I broke out the Too Hot for Momma. Gary sent me that, and I'm been chomping at the bit to try it but was waiting for another hot fan to be around to enjoy some heat. This was a free product to try out (no strings), and I'm a huge fan or the original Gary's seasoning blend.

Loading up the Grill Wok with Chicken and Vegetables

After letting the grill heat up (important), I sprayed the grill wok with a little Pam non stick spray, put it on the grill and let it heat a couple of minutes, and then I added the chicken chunks (quarter size bites) plus the vegetables - also cut in bite sized pieces.

Every minute of so I'd use a spatula (large spoon would be fine as well) and stirred quickly so that the chicken and veggies would cook evenly.

Grilled Bread on the Side

We love our bread around here, so I put some Texas Toast on beside the grill wok. It's super easy to grill Texas Toast.

Yum! Grilled Dinner in Less Than a Half Hour

It took about 15 to 20 minutes to grill wok the chicken and vegetables and to finish off the grilled bread which takes only a couple of minutes.

Time to Dig In

Caleb had the rice ready, and I plated up our grilled chicken and vegetables with grilled Texas Toast. I especially liked the little extra kick with Gary's Too Hot for Momma, and NO it was not too hot for this Momma.

The meal was a as good as it looks. Trust me. I'd tell you if it wasn't. I hate to waste my food and time. This is a real easy and very tasty meal. It's also inexpensive if you look for the boneless chicken breasts on sale. I used about $1/worth of meat for this meal. Can't beat that.

Grilled Cheese with Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette

We had grilled cheese this afternoon. I'd been waiting for my son to get home on spring break from UNC Chapel Hill to break out the halloom cheese. He's heard me and his brother raving about this cheese and has seen the photos here on Barbecue Master.

For anyone who has not tried grilled cheese, I must say that you are missing out. I'd rank grilled cheese right up with high quality chocolate. Yes. It is that good. I'm not even a huge cheese freak. I've never been one to just sit and eat plain cheese. I'd go with crackers with cheese. But . . . not with cheese on the grill. It just melts in my mouth, and I could eat tons of this stuff.

When grilling cheese, you want to marinate or brush it will oil or an oil based product. My favorite oil for grilled cheese is Garlic Gold. The last time I grilled cheese, I used Garlic Gold Oil. This time, I had a sample bottle they sent of their Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette. Both worked great.

If you're not familiar with the Garlic Gold company, they have a ranch called Seven Oaks Ranch where they grow organic products like their garlic and then create and sell hand crafted garlic nuggets, oils, and vinaigrettes. I fell in love from the first taste, and the company keeps in touch. You really couldn't ask for nicer people, and I like to support great people making great products.

Getting the cheese ready was as simple as pouring some of the Garlic Gold Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette over the cheese. That's as easy a recipe as they come. Since the Garlic Gold oils and vinaigrettes are flavor infused, there's no need to add anything else. You don't, after all, want to overpower the cheese, and the Garlic Gold products are subtle but terrific.

I heated up the Char Broil Urban Grill which is a small two burner gas grill that is perfect for my small family. It is important to heat the grates well. So, I put the grill on high and put the lid down. When the temperature gauge hit about 600 degrees F, I opened the lid.

After the grill was good and hot, I opened the lid and waited about 5 minutes. You do want the grates hot but don't want a whole lot of heat otherwise. This is cheese after all, so don't go with high grill heat like a steak, or you will have a mess. A couple of my friends had this happen. I'm sure they just had too much heat going with the barbecue cheese. I've never had a fail on grilled cheese (knock on wood).

Grilled cheese can also be done over charcoal, and that adds a nice smoked flavor. In that case, do the same as with gas but offset the charcoal. The grate gets hot, but you have the space with no direct heat to actually grill off the cheese.

When the cheese starts to look melty (begins to droop slightly between the grates), it's time to turn the cheese. I just use grill tongs. The cheese holds together just fine.

Grilling cheese only takes a few minutes. I think I went around 6 minutes today with the lid closed part of the time due to the low temperatures outside. Brrrr. On warmer days, I may or may not close the lid. I don't leave the lid closed for long (maybe a minute), because I don't want to melt the cheese through the grates. So, this is a really simple grilled dish but one that you want to watch close.

My son from college thought the grilled cheese was fabulous, and he's going to pick up more at Whole Foods in Chapel Hill. I can't buy grilling cheese around here. I'm hoping Harris Teeter will start carrying it, because we sure do love it.

Wink's Barbecue Restaurant - Salisbury, North Carolina - Restaurant Review

If you're looking for classic wood flavored North Carolina barbecue, then Wink's of Salisbury, North Carolina should be on your "to visit" list. There are few real wood burners left, since slow smoking pork barbecue is labor intensive, and health department regulations make it difficult to open new barbecue joints with wood fired pits.

I grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina, so I've always gone to Wink's and other barbecue restaurants in the area. This is western style barbecue country. That means that our barbecue is pork shoulders (versus the whole hogs done close the beach of North Carolina), and the sauce is vinegar base with some red (no red in eastern barbecue sauces). "Red" is, by the way, some tomato like a little ketchup. The barbecue sauce just has a little more flavor and a slightly sweeter flavor.

When I moved to Texas for a couple of years, I was rather shocked to get a plate of sauced ribs when I ordered barbecue. I really didn't know our barbecue was such a small niche - just the piedmont and beach areas of NC. While I've come to love all styles of barbecue, I must confess that North Carolina barbecue will always have a real special place in my heart.

My earlier memories of Wink's were of the old restaurant which was a road over from where they are now. We'd go there when they had bluegrass night. The place would be packed and running over, and you shared your table, because it would be a real shame for anyone to have to go home and miss the barbecue and bluegrass.

Wink's now is at 509 Faith Road, Salisbury, NC 28146-7011 (704) 637-2410. If you take the Albemarle exit off I85, you need to fork up past the Lowe's and Tinseltown complex. A little past that shopping center (a block or so), you will see Wink's (just a couple of minutes drive). This is about 20 minutes from the north edge of Charlotte if you're not from the area. You can stop right off the exit to get help. It's a friendly town. People are good about helping out. ‎

You can get a variety of foods at Wink's, but they are most known for the wood smoked barbecue and then the fried fish. I, of course, go for the barbecue.

The most common way to order North Carolina barbecue is by the tray. You get a combination of chopped pork barbecue and red slaw (made with the barbecue sauce rather than mayonnaise - so zippy). Some people eat it with a fork, but locals will usually put the pork and slaw on the barbecue bread (thick sliced bread in the basket) or on a bun (need to ask for one - unless ordering a barbecue sandwich). You'll also get some hush puppies which is common at barbecue joints. The Wink's hush puppies are good, but I like the sweeter ones up the street at Blue Bay Seafood better.

There are a number of classic southern side dishes on the menu. My favorite is the fried okra. The guys love the macaroni and cheese and French fries (fries are the frozen steak cut - but served hot and not real greasy).

I'm not a heavy eater. I eat with gusto but not a whole lot at one time. I've never had a dessert at Wink's (no room after barbecue), but the guys say the banana pudding and cobblers are great. They do look good. Some day I will stop by and just get dessert.

Other favorite dishes at Wink's are the biscuits (good breakfast pick) and the pimento cheese sandwich (classic southern lunch option).

In terms of service, everyone is relaxed and friendly. They don't go overboard with the southern shtick. Boy, I hate places that get all over that "honey" and "sweetie" thing. You'll just get treated like a real person, and if you ask questions, you'll get honest answers. They're always on top of it at Wink's, and that goes across decades now.

The Democratic National Convention will be in Charlotte, North Carolina this year, and Michelle Obama already said she wants to try local barbecue. She won't get classic barbecue in Charlotte, but she can drive 20 or 30 minutes and find it in Salisbury. Wink's is an excellent pick.

If you're in the area for the convention or any other reason, the drive is worth it.

I'll try to get some more Salisbury barbecue joint reviews up soon and maybe some travel pieces on Fun Things to See and Do in North Carolina blog. If you're looking for suggestions, just drop me a comment or email.

Bandiola Blazin Hot Spice - Seasoning Sprinkle Review

Bandiola Spice Company - 104 Degrees Blazin' Hot Spice

I decided to pep things up last night with Blazin' Hot Spice by Bandiola Spice Company on our grilled chicken. Michael Gochnour is one of my Facebook friends, and he sent me a free sample of Blazin' Hot seasoning sprinkle to try out. He didn't ask for anything in return other than an honest opinion. Since he's out of Nebraska and operates a small company, I would not have known about his spices, but he offers them online. Most of my favorite barbecue and grilling spices, rubs, and sauces come to my doorstep these days, since I discovered online shopping. (Don't leave me alone with the computer and a credit card for long.)

Blazin' Hot is a spice blend rather than a barbecue sprinkle specifically. If you're only trying out products that say "barbecue," then you're missing out. I rotate in a lot of different products to get unique flavors in my grilled foods.

I'm a hot freak, but my son is not. I went light on this spice mixture, since it's a new one.

The first thing I did was open the cap and smell this seasoning. I could tell that it had sugar and pepper. So, this one is a sweet heat with some zip - perfect for grilled chicken I was thinking.

I lightly sprinkled the chicken (which I first rubbed with olive oil) with the Blazin' Hot Spice mix (and a little black pepper) and then slow grilled the chicken with offset baskets in the Weber Kettle. The olive oil helps the seasoning stay in place and also makes the chicken brown and crisp nicely.

My neighbor said, "Hey, this has a little zip to it." Yes. It did. Even with a light hand, we could definately taste the heat. And, it was a good heat. I don't care much for the "hot for the sake of being hot" products and especially the ones that have a bitter taste. Blazin' Hot Spice had the sweet flavor under the hot kick, and the peppers and other spices had a pleasant flavor rather than that burn that sticks with you all evening.

I would call this Bandiola Spice an excellent all purpose seasoning for meats, vegetables, potatoes, and even popcorn. It's a dry sprinkle, so it's easy to use to jazz up foods. The taste is layered with sweet and hot with the heat being the takeaway note. You get the blaze without the back bite with some seasonings. I would suggest going easy on the sprinkles to start with to figure out how much you and your family can handle though.

And . . . here's the grilled chicken. Another very tasty grilled dinner on a beautiful weekend evening in North Carolina.

Google Algorithm Changes #Fail and Tank Foodie and Recipe Blogs and Sites with Recipe View

Google changed their algorithm on Thursday (2-24-2011), so if you are visiting Barbecue Master - bless you and thank you.

While Google maintains that the changes to the automated search rules were designed to weed out spammy web sites (including content farms and content mills) and news sources are repeating that as gospel, the reality is that the application of the new algorithm has not been so clean. eHow (one of the worst content mill sites online) and about.com (content mill and link farm) click in high on Google search while many small and non-spammy web sites virtually disappeared from search.

To compound the problems, Google rolled out Recipe View along with the algorithm changes. If you search for recipes now, you are directed to major content producers like Food Network. Such sites have tech support and huge budgets, so they have HTML code that specifies recipe ingredients, nutritional information, and calorie counts as well as the time needed to prepare a dish. Big recipe sites also have professional food photos that are not reflective of what you're likely to see in your own kitchen or in your backyard if you're grilling. This is all well and good (I suppose), but it was never difficult to find the big cooking spaces and cookbook style recipes. Big template-style food sites didn't need a search engine boost, and the new Recipe View simply serves to limit your choices.

To put this all in real world terms, you now have a McDonalds approach to searching for recipes and cooking information on Google. They have it down to a science. You click boxes, and Google provides you with a slick recipe from a big name online site. This may be just what some online surfers want, but you suddenly lose Grandma, Mom, or a guy who grills in his back yard who will share information and tips along with personal photos that capture the indoor or outdoor cooking experience. The personal touch is lost. You no longer have the option to post a comment or send an email to the person who took the time to share a favorite recipe. It's all big business, and you're on your own.

Am I just sour grapes? No. I've had this barbecue grilling blog for six years. The idea was to provide useful information and help others get started grilling and to offer new ideas and grilling recipes. It took four years to make the first cash out from Google AdSense, because the threshold is $100 earned to get paid. I'd be nuts if I were banking on a food blog for income. No. I was not in it for the money. I simply enjoyed sharing information. Now Google decides that they know best, and they bury the little guys. Perhaps everyone should just buy a Betty Crocker cookbook and call it good. Google has organized the internet to death. Instead of having the world at your fingertips, you now have Food Network and a time estimate on how long it takes to crock pot a Boston butt.

Bandiola Spice Company - Uncle Mike's Seasoning on Grilled Chicken Fillets - YUM

Bandiola - Uncle Mikes Lucky 333 Spice Blend

It was another fast food night with grilled chicken fillets or tenders. I can grill those up faster than I can go pick up food, so I keep the tenders on hand for busy nights, and I dress them up with different seasonings and barbecue sauces.

Mike and I are Facebook friends, and he sent me several free samples of his spices to try out on the grill. I do reviews when I have some extra time - mostly the small companies. And, I give my honest spin on what we thought here. It's a gamble, but I've found some real gems over the years.

Some of the Bandiola blends are specific barbecue spice mixes. Others are general purpose spice mixes which are also fine for grilled foods. I went with Uncle Mike's 333 this week, because the description made me smile. You're invited to email to find out what is lucky about 333, and I have not done that yet. I will, but I don't want to spill the beans. I'm sure some savvy readers will check that out and get the scoop. I'm keeping mum when I do find out.

Uncle Mikes seasoning blend smelled great when I opened it up. It's a richer and more complex combination of scents - kind of like Grandma's house or maybe Thanksgiving time.

When I'm trying a new spice mixture on grilled foods, I keep it simple so that I get the full taste of the seasoning. I rubbed a little olive oil on the chicken so that the spice mixture would stick and also to prevent sticking on the grates. Then, I warmed up the grill until the grates were hot (also helps prevent sticking) and then backed the heat down a bit and put the chicken on.

Chicken fillets cook quick on the grill. I didn't stand there and time it, but I go around 5 minutes per side. It can be longer with thicker pieces of chicken and less time with thin or small chicken tenders.

One way to eyeball it is to look at the sides of the chicken fillets. When you see the white start to creep up the sides of the chicken, then it's time to flip it. You can see the chicken just flipped above.

I pulled the chicken off the grill, and we checked it out. Chicken grilled this way is good on buns, but we just ate it plain to get the full flavor of Uncle Mikes.

Just as the seasoning smelled complex, it also had layers of flavor as we were eating the chicken. There's some pepper in there, but this is not a hot rub. It's an all purpose seasoning.

The first flavor I noticed was rosemary which is one of my favorites, but I seldom taste that in spice mixes. The guys didn't pick this up, but they aren't likely to notice any particular taste - just whether they like the overall flavor or not. Both thought the taste of Uncle Mikes was excellent, and my son was quite glad that he did not have to run off looking for a glass of milk (as I've hit him with some hot foods lately).

I say thumbs up to Bandiola Uncle Mikes Lucky 333. It's bold without being overpowering. The flavor is textured with the high note for me being the rosemary. I think I'll use Uncle Mike's the next time I make turkey stuffing (which will be a while - as it's not close the holidays). Uncle Mikes is rich enough (I think) to work there, and we have a family member who can't eat sage. That has complicated making great stuffing, and I think this spice mix would bump up dressing and make up for the lack of sage (unless that secret ingredient turns out to be sage).

C-Dub's BBQ Rub Review - Lots of Flavor but Not Over the Top

Tonight we tried out C-Dub's regular BBQ rub on beef ribs. C-Dub also has a Voodoo version which is hot. My son prefers milder flavors, and we've set him on fire a couple of times over the last few days, so a milder night seemed to be in order.

I'm friends with C-Dub's at Facebook, and they contacted me about testing their new hot wing rub. They weren't kidding when they said hot on that one. It was in the Poppaw range, and he ate the hottest foods of anyone I know.

Along with the wing product, C-Dub's put in one nighter packs of the regular and Voodoo BBQ rubs. They are convenient packs good for a single meal. Since we only did one rack of ribs tonight, we didn't need the full pack, so I can try out C-Dub's on something else later.

C-Dub's BBQ rub is designed for any meat on the grill, but it's a good general rub that would also be fine for a lot of different dishes including grilled vegetables, French fries, chili and so on. If you need flavor and not over the top, then you're fine with C-Dub's original.

We had the barbecue rub on beef ribs. Since I had Open House today at the college, I was not on the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet tonight. Jimmy did the honors, and this was his very first rack of beef ribs. He did a really nice job on those.

As far as the C-Dub's rub, it was terrific. It includes sugar, salt, and pepper which is pretty classic for a rub but also some infused garlic with organic spices and herbs. No. I can't tell you what spices and herbs. C-Dub would probably have to shoot me if I told. Plus, I don't know.

On the first bite, I picked up the traditional rub taste but then that lovely garlic kicked in. It's faint - not enough to throw the mix off balance and shift it away from the spirit of a BBQ rub but enough to set it apart from other rubs. Then, there are some other little back notes - perhaps some celery and cinnamon (not certain). C-Dub's regular has a slight kick but not a whole lot. It's the kind of barbecue rub that I could serve to any group from those who are flavor shy to gourmets.

My guess is that I'll favor the Voodoo rub, but I run in the medium-hot to hot range on my favorites most of the time. Most of my family members don't like quite as much heat, and my son is really a mild kind of guy (though his brother is a heat freak).

C-dub's is certainly a thumbs up - great complex flavors. I think the combo pack would be a good bet - try out both the regular and hot versions. I can say that the C-Dub's regular is excellent and good for any group, and I'll check back in on the Voodoo which smells similar but with a little more fire.

Jake Albert's BBQ Sauces and Rubs - Sweet with Some Heat

Jay Calvert sent me samples of his collection of barbecue sauces and all purpose rubs from Canada. His products are under the Jake Albert's brand line, since people often hear his name and think that he is Jake Albert rather than Jay Calvert. That could, for sure, be confusing to the ears.

My rubs are under the "in development" stage, so folks will see a different label on there but the same collection of rubs. The barbecue sauces would be easy to spot with the dark bottle and signature label.

There are four rubs in the Jake Albert's collection, and I went with the Prima tonight. It is a salt free rub, and I know that many people are looking to cut back on salt. I'm a pepper freak myself, so I've never had a heavy hand with the salt. So, I still look for products that are low or no salt and still taste great. I'll check back in on the rubs later.

There are two sauces in the Jake Albert's collection. Both are real honey sauces with habanero peppers so have a combination flavor of sweet and heat.

The Fuego Rojo has pomegranate while the Fuego Azul has wild blueberry. The sauce I'm using tonight is the Fuego Azul with the blueberry kick. Wish my college son was home. He loves blueberries, but I have some left and will hook him up when he comes in.

I really love the country ribs at the IGA grocery store here in town, so I went with those for the grill out tonight. Country ribs are not ribs like racked ribs. They grill up more like pork chops.

First I rubbed the ribs with Jake Albert's Prima rub and then let them grill until done. Then, I lathered on some Fuego Azul barbecue sauce (more of a glaze actually). The reason I cooked the country ribs through first is because a honey based sauce is not a mop sauce to put on grilled foods early. It is a rich sauce with natural honey sugar which will burn if heated too much. Honey based sauces really just needs heating which takes only a couple of minutes.

I found the Jake Albert's ribs to be absolutely delicous. I wasn't so sure to start with. The sauce smells . . . different. I had a quick taste from the bottle and found it pretty hot like that (which is fine as I do love spicy). But, heated on the meat, the sauce rocked. It had that perfect balance of heat from the peppers and then the sweet back note. Really nice.

My teen son who loves honey was not a fan. I should mention that he is also not into heat. He would consider even a Kraft hot barbecue sauce to be hot. I had hoped the honey would offset that, but the peppers got him. He did not get my genes on heat.

I would say that the Jake Albert's barbecue honey sauces are gourmet or foodie products. People who appreciate different notes in the food would find the sauces interesting to delightful. I was frankly blown away. Warmed and on the meat, this sauce was fabulous. I look forward to trying the Fuego Azul again and think maybe chicken next time. Jay also told that it's great on ice cream, so I need to give that a try too.

I would not pick Jake Albert's sauces for a general family gathering where I have Kraft BBQ sauce fans who just want a basic tomato flavor with very faint heat or seasonings. What can you say? Some guests are not going to go for layered notes or much heat. Pass the ketchup. Different strokes. This would a line for those who like more complex flavors and more kick. With honey, blueberry, and peppers, Jake Albert's is a complicated combination that comes together very nicely. If you want to treat your buddies who like interesting layers to a sauce or glaze, then this is one that will impress and have folks talking.

Michele Obama Looking Forward to North Carolina BBQ at Charlotte Democratic Convention 2012

The news broke yesterday that the Democratic National Convention will be in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012. This morning Tom Breen of the Associated Press called to see if I'd check in about our local barbecue for his AP BBQ story, since Michele Obama mentioned that she was excited about having barbecue in Charlotte. I'm not sure how Tom found me, but I'm always glad to talk about our local barbecue.

Charlotte really is not a barbecue city. It falls outside the western range which pretty well cuts off in my home town of Salisbury. People think of the foothills and mountains of NC when they hear west, but the barbecue world is divided a little different in our state. There's the western barbecue region which is Lexington style and then the eastern style which would run from roughly Raleigh over to the beach. Raleigh is kind of a mixed bag with some eastern and some western and some hybrids.

The difference in eastern and western barbecue is mainly that eastern barbecue is whole hog and a vinegar sauce with spices while western is shoulders (or Boston Butts - a portion of the shoulder) and a vinegar based sauce with a little "red." By red, I'm talking about ketchup or other types of tomato products. The western barbeuce sauce is still vinegar based and thin, but it is usually a tad thicker than the plainer eastern style mop sauce and has a darker color.

Both eastern and western style barbecue in North Carolina is chopped pork. I often hear people call it pulled pork, but it's not pulled. Pulling is easier than chopping. Pitmasters in North Carolina use knives, and it takes a lot of knife work to fine chop pork barbeuce.

For folks outside the area, North Carolina barbecue may be a surprise. As I mentioned, it is chopped pork. Typically it's served on a white bread bun or on barbecue bread (which is just thicker and sturdier white bread) with slaw on top. There's a nice zip with the meat and the cool crunch of the slaw.

Barbecue slaw in North Carolina is white or red. White has a mayonnaise base and is what most people think of when they think of slaw. The red slaw has some of the sauce mixed in so is tangier and does have a red color.

It is common for barbecue joints in North Carolina to serve a basket of hush puppies with the barbecue. Those are kind of like cornbread balls deep fried. Every barbecue joint seems to do those a little different.

Other common side dishes include fried okra, baked beans, mac and cheese, green beans with fat back, white potatoes with some sauce in there, and brunswick stew (although brunswick stew is more often seen at eastern style bbq restaurants).

Sweet tea is the most common beverage at barbecue restaurants, but Cheerwine (a soft drink that is just colored red like wine - hence the name) bottled out of Salisbury is also a classic along with barbecue. Cheerwine is especially good out of the bottles made with real cane sugar.

While there are many barbecue joints across North Carolina, there are only about thirty what we'd call authentic barbecue restaurants left. Those would be the wood burners. They chop (or buy) wood and slow smoke the barbecue usually on site though some also cook off site now.

Out of Charlotte, the Obamas would likely need to look to Salisbury, North Carolina where Richard's and Wink's both have fabulous wood smoked barbecue. I'm guessing they would need to have someone pick it up though, since I can't even imagine trying to bring in a President and his family to a small town barbecue restaurant. Then again that could be fun, and I'd be glad to pick up the tab for Barack, Michelle and the girls for a barbecue meal from my town from a real wood smoking joint.

There are a number of reasons why there are not a lot of our wood burners smoking barbecue the traditional way. Health codes in many areas now disallow fires on site at restaurants. Established barbecue joints were grandfathered in, but if they close down for some reason, that's the end of that.

Another reason that you can't find a lot of the wood burners now in North Carolina is because it's so labor intensive to wood smoke. Some bbq pitmasters smoke the meat all night, run the restaurant during the day, and even split their own wood to prepare for the next night. That, as you can imagine, takes a lot of dedication.

Many young people are not interested in following in those footsteps, and it takes a lot of heart to do wood smoked barbecue, since it's way more an art than a science.

For obvious reasons, good pitmasters are hard to find and keep. The ones who stick with it are worth their weight in gold.

I hope the Obamas will get to try some of our North Carolina real slow wood smoked barbecue. It is really a treat and not that easy to find these days. There is some very good gas or electric smoked barbecue across the state, but the wood smoked barbecue captures both the taste and the heart of North Carolina, and it's well worth the time to search out the real thing.

How to Grill Cheese - Halloom Cheese on the Char Broil Urban Grill

My son asked me if the cheese in the refrigerator was grilling cheese. Eli adores cheese. In fact, he had a kidney stone last year at age 16. He is the ultimate cheese freak, but he only gets it for a treat now.

I confirmed that the Halloom was, indeed, grilling cheese, and I told him that if he'd fire up the Char Broil Urban grill that I'd try grilling up a pack and use the olive oil that he brought back from Europe this summer to surprise me.

Basically, I did the Halloom grilling cheese just as I'd done the Yanni before.

I sliced the Halloom about 1/4 to a bit more thick. Then, I brushed it with olive oil. Then, I sprinkled it with Garlic Gold Nuggets. The GG garlic is super mild, so if you use regular garlic, then go easy on it. You don't want to overpower the flavor of the cheese.

You can also also use different seasoning sprinkles on the cheese too. One of our very favorites is Gary's Seasonings. But, again, use a light hand when seasoning cheese, since it already has a lot of great flavor.

The Masterbuilt barbecue smoker winner, Fred, had brought the Halloom from Canada as a gift to us, so that's how I happened to have some in the refrigerator. I briefly considered pan frying the cheese, but we really had loved the Yanni grilled. I decided to give it a try and see if I could get good results with Halloom cheese.

First, I let the Char Broil Urban grill heat up good with the lid closed. This was to get the infrared grates good and hot. Foods stick to cold grates, so preheating really is important when grilling.

After about 5 minutes (does not take long to heat the Char Broil infrared grill), I opened the lid and let some of the heat out and turned the burners down low. The time on that was around a minute with the lid open. I wanted hot grates but not a whole lot of heat for cheese. It is, after all, cheese!

With tongs, I placed the cheese on the grates. The olive oil combined with the cold temperatures outside produced a lot of initial smoke as you can see. Plus, I could hear a little sizzle.

I don't doctor up my photos, and I try to show you exactly what to expect. So, here you can see that you do get a little cheese sticking to the grates. It was minimal. This photo shows the extent of any sticking. I get a much bigger mess if I'm using barbecue sauce.

The cheese basically "set" when I placed it on the hot grates. With the heat pretty low and the cheese sliced somewhat thick, I closed the lid and let the cheese grill and smoke for around a minute with low heat.

I then opened the lid on the grill and flipped the Halloom grilling cheese and left the lid open. I could tell by the feel with the tongs that the cheese was basically ready, but I let the bottom side also set up and get grill marks. Again, this took very little time - under a minute I'd say. It could vary depending on the heat. I'd just lift a piece of cheese slightly and check.

The grilled Halloom cheese turned out perfect. It was delicious, and Eli said that he hopes we have it "at least once a month." I'm sure he'd say every day if he did not have that kidney stone issue.

I still rate Yanni grilling cheese as the tops, but Halloom is very good as well. My son at UNC can get Halloom or something similar, so we'll be grilling cheese around here.

If you've not tried grilled cheese, give it a try. It's easiest to do on a gas grill, since you can control the temperatures better, but I also do it on charocal. With charocal, I offset and do the cheese on the side without direct charcoal heat. It's a little harder to master charocal grilled cheese, but you get extra smoke flavor.

Barbecue Meet Up at Lexington #1 Including a Visit to the Smoke House

Today, I got together with a couple of North Carolina Barbecue buddies (John and Wayne) as well as the Masterbuilt BBQ Smoker winner, Fred from Canada, at Lexington # 1 Barbecue in Lexington, NC.

Yesterday, I had a chance to meet Fred and hand off the smoker that he won here on my blog when Masterbuilt sponsored a nice contest for readers in the fall. We worked it out for him to swing by here on the way to see his parents in Florida.

Here's the barbecue crew in Lexington #1 where the man at the next booth was kind enough to snap a photo for us. I'm easy to pick out, since I'm the only female. Fred is to the left with Eli (my son) sitting beside him. Wayne is close the front with me standing behind him. Then John and his son Johnathan are at the table across, because they would not fit in the booster chairs, and a big church group took up all the large tables.

We all had, of course, chopped barbecue. And, it's Lexington style served on buns with slaw and vinegar based barbecue sauce. Though it could be argued as to has the best barbecue in Lexington, the lines at Lexington #1 would certainly give a clue that they do know how to rock Carolina BBQ.

Today was no exception. The barbecue was yummy as usual. But, I think the really stand out thing at Lexington # 1 is the sauce. That's the mop sauce, and you have to order extra for the table. There's a hotter version they have bottled on the table as well, but that fresh steaming mop sauce from the kitchen is . . . yum . . . all that.

The guys even had room for cobbler with ice cream. I never can eat dessert after a barbecue meal. I should have been born taller I think.

We asked about seeing the pit, and the nice lady at the cash register sent us around back to find Rick and Rick. Yes. That does sound like a radio DJ team, but they are the pitmasters.

We followed one Rick around back. The fire feeds from both sides. And, we found out that he's been the pitmaster at Lexington # 1 for 23 years, and that was his mother at the front register who sent us out back to find the Ricks.

Rick gave us a peek at the barbecue shoulders. Pretty amazing. We'd just eaten, but that meat smelled so good, we were all tempted to eat again.

Here we are with pitmasters Rick and Rick. Yes. This does look like a police line up huh? Everyone can decide who looks like the guilty party (-:

On the way out, I snapped a shot of the smoke stacks. Yes. That's smoke. The sky was a solid beautiful blue. The air was filled with the scent of wood burning and shoulders slowly smoking. Hard to beat that!